Harmony's Wake

Chapter 4: Reconciliation

“What is it?”
“There has been an escape at Trottingham Arena.”
“Impossible... Are you sure?”
“Positive. The spell cannot be mistaken. A pony has managed to get out.”
“Is it who I think it is? All compounds like these have the spell on them, and there are a lot of ponies in each one...”
“Yes. It’s him, all right.”
“Where is he now?”
“I cannot be certain. The spell can detect breakouts, but it cannot track them down.”
“Them?”
“He brought a friend with him. He also had help from the outside. You should know the ponies in question.”
“Very well... then you’ll have to track them down yourself. Find them and bring them here.”
“That shouldn’t take long. Right away.”

***

Splinter groggily opened his amber eyes. His biological clock had long set itself to wake his body at the exact same time each morning, but even so, it had been overwhelmed by the exhaustion of last night. The sun could not be seen in the gray sky, but by the amount of light he saw, Splinter knew that he had slept in far later than he usually did. Gazing up into the gloomy, oppressive-looking sky, he wondered whether it had always been like this, or whether it was the work of those damnable humans...

“The sky wasn’t always like that, you know.”

It took a second for Scootaloo’s voice to register in Splinter’s mind. She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Rolling over onto his hooves, he got up and got his first proper look at Scootaloo. Her coat was a bright orange and the spiky mane was coloured magenta. Both were somewhat darkened by dirt and small debris. She had amethyst eyes that radiated both kindness and strength, and Splinter managed to see the mark on her flank clearly: it was a wheel of some sort, with a pair of white wings coming out of the sides. A streak of fire, and the fact that the wings were swept back, gave the impression that it was supposed to be moving at high speed. She didn’t seem to be much older than him. There were probably about only ten years separating them, give or take one or two. She was lying on her back, leaning against a log beside the cloud that held the still-unconscious Leiney Arc.

“So, you’re finally awake,” she said with a grin, taking a bite out of the apple she held. “If you weren’t snoring like an Ursa Minor I’d have thought that you died in your sleep or something.”

Splinter cocked an eyebrow. “I do not snore.”

“Do so. I heard you last night, you were going like...” Scootaloo tried to do an imitation of Splinter’s snoring, which wound up sounding like a choking pig with laryngitis. Splinter couldn’t help letting out a small snort of laughter.

“You know, I could swear that I heard those exact same noises coming from you last night. What kind of creature did you use as a pillow?”

Scootaloo laughed. “Never expected you to have a sense of humour. I think we’ll get along quite well.” She took another bite of apple.

“I suppose I do have my moments.” Splinter shrugged. “Anyway, what were you saying about the sky again?”

“Well,” Scootaloo said wistfully, her smile quickly fading, “there was once a time where the sky was blue and the clouds were white and puffy. The only time you would see skies like this was when the pegasi brought a rainstorm. The trees were healthy and green, too, and you could hear the birds chirping wherever you went. I don’t know whether you were around then, I was just a filly myself. Anyway, those were the good days. Everything was peaceful, and everypony was happy. I would get up, go to school (and get bored out of my mind, but don’t tell Cheerilee that if she’s still around), hang out with my friends... Practice flying with Rainbow Dash...”

Scootaloo’s voice trailed off, and she sighed nostalgically.

“Good times...”

Splinter closed his eyes tried to envision the Equestria that Scootaloo had described, finding it quite difficult at first. It was quite hard for him to imagine the trees being bright green, since the trees all had an unhealthy-looking grayish-green colour. As well, the arrival of the humans had probably decimated the bird population, as the sound of birds chirping was rare. But then, some hazy memory stirred awake inside him. He remembered the blue skies and white clouds that Scootaloo had described, as well as a colourful town that seemed to be bustling with ponies. It must have been from the long-lost past and clouded by age, since Splinter couldn’t make out anything more. He opened his eyes.

“Were you from a town?” Something inside Splinter, triggered by the memory, made the question slip out.

Scootaloo blinked, slightly surprised by the question. As she swallowed another mouthful of apple and opened her mouth to answer, a faint moan could be heard from beside her.

Splinter hurried forwards, and Scootaloo got up off the ground, sticking the rest of the apple into her mouth. The turquoise pegasus with the prismatic mane was stirring. She opened her heterochromatic eyes drearily, as though awaking from a long nap, and saw an orange shape in her blurred vision.

“Uhhh... Auntie Scoots?... And... Ohhhh...”

As the world came into focus, Leiney noticed the pony beside Scootaloo... and sank right back into a dead faint.

Splinter pawed the ground awkwardly. “Was it something I said?”

***

A few hours passed before Leiney came to (again). This time, most of her field of vision was taken up by Scootaloo’s face, as the older mare leaned over her.

“You’re not about to pass out again, are you, squirt? You really had me scared.”

The pale turquoise pegasus shook her head. There was an infernal throbbing pain in her head and a dull pain in her right side and bandaged stomach. She then remembered the earth pony that had been standing right beside Scootaloo.

“Wh... Where... Is he?” she asked weakly.

Scootaloo took a deep breath. It was better to get the awkward business over with sooner, rather than later.

“Will you please promise me not to faint again?”

Leiney nodded, swallowing. Somehow, she didn’t like that statement one bit.

Scootaloo drew back, and stepped aside. Standing right behind her, previously invisible to the wounded pegasus, was Splinter.

“Um... Hi?”

Once again, Splinter saw the rose and green eyes fill with panic. She inched away from him to the edge of the cloud, obviously wanting to roll over the side and fly away but prevented from doing so by her injuries.

“No... Get away from me... Don’t hurt me, please...” she pleaded in a feeble voice.
Splinter felt a twinge of regret inside him. Even though he didn’t have a choice in the ring, he knew that he would never get a second chance at a first impression. And he had obviously made a bad one. He stepped forward and raised a forehoof. Leiney curled up into a fetal position. Raising her own hooves protectively over her head, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the blow to come.

But it never did.

Instead, Leiney felt somepony running a hoof through her mane, gently stroking her head and the back of her neck. She opened her eyes and lowered her hooves, and she saw that the “somepony” was Splinter.

“Look... I’m sorry. I really am.”

The whisper was somewhat gruff, but it sounded sincere. Leiney was slightly taken aback, both by the tone of voice and the soothing gesture, but still wary. This stallion had tried to kill her before. What’s to say that he isn’t just softening her up so that he could finish the job?

“I don’t believe you...” she replied, in a slightly stronger voice.

Splinter sighed. “In the ring... I didn’t have a choice. Just look.”

He held up his other forehoof, and Leiney could clearly see a mark that circled his hoof that could only have been made over numerous years by the same type of chains that had been put on her hooves at the arena. She looked into his amber eyes, and saw genuine sorrow and regret, but no deception. She felt her heart contorted by sympathy as she realized that he was as much a victim as she was.

Splinter continued, removing his forehoof from Leiney’s mane. “I know I made a bad first impression, and nothing I do can change that. But if you give me a second chance, I’ll make it up to you, and I won’t hurt you again. I promise.”

“Do you Pinkie Promise?” asked Scootaloo.

“Uh... sure, I Pinkie Promise.” Splinter had no clue what he had just agreed to, but he might as well go with it.

“Okay, then repeat after me: cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Scootaloo recited, drawing a cross over her heart and putting a hoof to her eye.

“Do I have to?”

“Of course you do! You agreed to the Pinkie Promise!”

Splinter sighed again, this time in exasperation. “F-Fine. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye... OW!” he said, imitating Scootaloo none-too-enthusiastically (but forgetting to close his eye). “For the record, I am NOT doing that again.”

The turquoise pegasus lying on the cloud tried her very best to stifle a giggle, but still failed miserably. “Well, since you Pinkie Promised, I guess we can start over.”

Splinter was glad that at least his ego had not been sacrificed in vain. “So, no hard feelings, right Leiney?”

Leiney propped herself up with an elbow and rolled her eyes. “Please don’t call me that. I hate that name,” she replied, feeling much more comfortable around Splinter. He didn’t seem to be as heartless as she expected him to be.

“Well sorry for only knowing you by that one name,” replied Splinter. “What do you prefer to go by?”

“The name’s Dash. Prisma Dash.”

Splinter held out his hoof to Prisma. She took it, and they shook. She then turned to Scootaloo.

“Hey Auntie, where are we?”

“In the forest, about ten miles from Trottingham city.” Scootaloo replied.

“Did we really go that far last night?” asked Splinter, surprised at how much distance they had covered.

“I flew up and checked out the surrounding area this morning, and it turns out we have.”

“We should still get moving,” said Splinter. “The humans must have noticed the breakout by now. They’ll catch up sooner or later, even on just two hooves.”

“I agree, but do you think it’s a good idea to move Prisma while she’s in this condition?” asked Scootaloo.

“I’ll be fine,” Prisma replied. “Being in the open air is a lot better than being chained up by those humans.”

Splinter nodded. “Well, I guess that’s settled. Shall we get moving?”

He turned to leave in a random direction, when he was stopped by Scootaloo’s wing.

“Let me lead from here, Splint. I know exactly where we can go.”

Though Splinter was slightly annoyed by the way Scootaloo addressed him, his interest was piqued. “You do? Where?”

Scootaloo smiled. “The last town standing: Ponyville.”