Ghost rider

Scootaloo was coming home after a movie night with her friends, the moon and the few streetlights lit her way. When she finally got to her house, she found it all dark, deducing that her mother must have gone to bed a while ago. Careful not to make too much noise so as not to disturb her mother, she walked towards the kitchen, turning on the light so she could see better, noticing that on the table were the letters she had seen before. Ignoring them, she walked over to the water jug they had to pour herself a glass, but something at the edge of her vision caught her eye.

When she turned her head, she saw, near the trash can, a crumpled up ball of paper, something that caused her to frown in confusion. Spring was one of those mares who valued cleanliness a lot, and the times that Scootaloo had made the mistake of throwing something in the trash like it was a basket, she had ended up being scolded. With a frown, she reached out, grasping the ball of paper with her right wing, shifting her gaze to the letters on the table. It was obviously a letter that her mother had read, but... Why had she thrown it away like that? Scootaloo debated with herself whether or not to read the letter, but remembering that she had visited Doctor Horse, a nagging and worrying doubt formed in her head.

Why would her mother throw away a letter from the hospital? The only option she could think of was bad news. Praying to be wrong, she sat up and unfolded the letter, noting the hospital logo, confirming that it did come from there. Swallowing a bit of saliva, and trying to ignore that annoying voice warning her that it could be very bad news, she began to read.

We regret to inform you that your recent analysis revealed that your debilitated condition is caused by cancer, and quite advanced. We ask you to come in tomorrow morning to find out what type of cancer you have so we can suggest a treatment, although I can already tell you that judging by the results, it is a terminal cancer, so the treatment will not be easy.

Unfortunately, this also means that, with our current magical and medical resources, it will be impossible to completely eliminate the cancer cells. The most we can hope for is to delay its effects for a few years and give it as normal a life as possible and pray that in that time a new treatment capable of curing it arises.

My deepest condolences,

Doctor Horse.

Scootaloo felt the world crashing down on her, her mother... had cancer. The young mare kept her eyes on the letter, rereading it several times, with a childish hope that it had been wrong, but it hadn't, it was clear as day. Some tears came to her eyes, but she tried to contain them, looking around her, everything she saw reminded her of Spring, and the reality that, in a few years, she wouldn't be with her anymore it made it more oppressive. Crumpling up the letter and throwing it in the trash, she left the kitchen and hurried to the front door, grabbing her scooter before leaving, mounting it and shooting off into the silent streets of Ponyville. Not knowing quite where to go, she let her body guide her automatically, and when she finally focused on her surroundings, she saw that she was on the same hill as that morning, the forest where her training ground was in front of her. After a few moments, she headed down the hill and she entered the trees, forcing herself to pay attention to her path lest she get into an accident.

When she reached the clearing, she set her scooter aside and walked over to where she had rested next to Rainbow. Lying on the grass, she watched Ponyville in the distance, the moonlight illuminating the Castle of Friendship. Her mind went back to the letter from the hospital, and now that she was in a place much more isolated than her house, she let the tears fill her face, and for the first time, she allowed her sobs to flow freely. Although she considered Rainbow Dash her older sister, and her friends were part of her family, her mother was the only living relative she had.

Her paternal grandparents died even before she was born, she had no uncles, aunts or cousins, and her maternal grandparents, her mother told her, disinherited Spring as soon as she said she wanted to explore Equestria with Danger, and despite their daughter's many attempts to talk to them, they never responded to her letters. Her mother was the one who raised her, she was there when the doctors told her that she could never fly, she encouraged her with the stories of her father, she was the one who bought her scooter and taught her how to drive it. If her mother died, she didn't know what she would do.

Her sobs filled the clearing, and her only company were the moon, the stars, and the animals that silently watched her from their hiding places. After a few minutes, the animals tensed, standing up, looking at a point behind Scootaloo, down the small hill, quickly fleeing the place, terrified. The temperature dropped drastically, and a mist rose at the foot of the hill, and from it emerged the figure of a unicorn, appearing practically out of nowhere, almost as if he were a specter that took shape, and each step he took caused the nearby plants to be covered with a light layer of frost. He had bluish fur with a completely white mane, a small goatee growing out of his chin, his eyes were bluish, and his cutie mark was a golden cowbell. He was dressed in a black suit jacket with a red tie. He approached the pegasus, who had barely moved, silent, in fact, not even his hooves made a sound. He stopped a few steps away, looking at the moon for a few moments before speaking.

"Nice night, don't you think?"

Eyes widening, Scootaloo jumped and turned around, looking at whoever had invaded her privacy in shock. Trying to wipe away the evidence that she had been crying, the pegasus cautiously studied the unicorn, doubtful, that part of the forest was not very well known, and those who knew it knew that this was where she and Rainbow had their training area, for what they didn't go there often, and more importantly, who the hell would come there at this hour?

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"You don't have to be so hostile, Miss Scootaloo" the stranger said with a smile, earning a suspicious look from the pegasus.

"How the hell do you know my name?"

The unicorn gave a small laugh, apparently amused by Scootaloo's choice of words.

"It could be said that it is thanks to my work. I am Grob Abgar, in her service" said the stranger while making a slight bow.

"A strange name" said the pegasus with a slight frown, making the unicorn in front of her laugh.

"They tell me a lot" he said as he got up.

Scootaloo looked suspiciously at the one called Grob, who looked at her with a smile.

"May I know what you are doing here?" Scootaloo asked, still suspicious.

"I'm here for your mother, Miss Scootaloo" Grob said with a smile.

"My mother?" Scootaloo asked, taken by surprise, but soon she was frowning. "What the hell do you want from my mother?"

"It's simple, the truth is, thanks to my work, I've found out about her state of health, I've come to offer my... services."

Scootaloo soon dropped her defensiveness, the memory of her mother's condition hitting her again. With a groan, she rolled over and sat up, her back to Grob. She never liked that anypony saw her in such a vulnerable state, not even her mother, her sister or her friends, he would not be the exception.

"If you have found out, you will know that there is no salvation. I don't know what you could do..."

"Very much, Miss Scootaloo. If you let me help you, your mother will be healthy as a rose tomorrow morning."

Scootaloo turned her head to look at the unicorn doubtfully. Was he... was he telling the truth? Grob lit his horn in a reddish aura and took out an ancient-looking scroll from his jacket, tied by a single thread of rope.

"All you have to do is sign this contract," Grob said with a smile.

Scootaloo frowned, watching as the unicorn took a feather out of his jacket and offered her both items.

"A contract? What kind of contract?"

"It's a minor thing" Grob said with a shrug. "In this contract he only ensures that, when the time comes, you will work for me, a fair price for taking your mother's cancer away, don't you think?"

Scootaloo looked at the parchment with doubt, could he really save her mother? According to the letter from the hospital, there was no treatment, be it medical or magical, capable of curing her at the time, which aroused her suspicions.

"And how do you plan to do it? Are you a doctor or something?" Scootaloo said cautiously, noting Grob's amused expression.

"I'm not a doctor, but I'm very, very good at magic, Miss Scootaloo... You could say I've been doing magic since the beginning of time" said the unicorn with a sly look.

Scootaloo watched the unicorn closely, thinking. If he was a wizard, then…would he have a magic-based treatment? Since she wasn't an expert, she couldn't be sure of his fidelity, but… she had no other options left either.

"Surely what will cure my mother?"

"Completely, you sign the contract, and the cancer your mother has will be gone," Grob said with a sly smile. "Trust me, I never break a deal."

Scootaloo thought about it some more before sighing.

"Okay, I'll sign."

Grob smiled and held out the pencil, which Scootaloo caught between her teeth. The unicorn removed the thread from the parchment and unfolded it, showing the pegasus where she should sign. Ignoring her inner voice that said she shouldn't sign anything without reading, she wrote her name. From her perspective, saving her mother was worth far more than anything she had to do.

"Perfect" Grob said with a smile, rolling up the parchment again and taking the pencil from Scootaloo's mouth. "First thing tomorrow morning her mother will be completely cancer free."

Scootaloo nodded slightly, looking at the unicorn.

"So... when do you want me to start working with you?" Scootaloo said curiously.

"Don't worry" Grob replied with a wave of his hoof. "For now, enjoy your time with your mother, I'll let you know when I requires your services."

Scootaloo nodded, turning her head to look at the town in the distance, thinking of her mother, a part of her telling her that she had made a terrible mistake, and another, full of hope, arguing that it would be worth it if her mother was saved.. Deciding that it was time to return to her house, she turned to ask Grob if he wanted her to escort him out of the forest, but when he did, the unicorn was no longer there. The mist disappeared as quickly as it came, and the temperature rose again, though it would be a while before the plants were rid of the layer of frost, and it would take weeks for the animals to set foot again. Confused, Scootaloo tried to find the unicorn in the bushes, and even went down to her training place to see if he was there, but she couldn't find him, Grob had disappeared. Despite the terrible feeling she had about this, even more so seeing the ice on the flowers and grass, the pegasus buried her worries in the back of her mind, grabbing her scooter and walking away.

When Scootaloo woke up, she lay in her bed for a while, still tired from her night walk, but when the events of the previous day came back to her mind, she groaned to herself, rolling over in bed and sitting up, putting a hoof on her forehead as she thought about what she had done. After a restful night, and having processed the idea that her mother had cancer a little better, that voice that had warned her the night before grew stronger, berating herself for what she had done. She might as well have signed up to join a mob or worse. And now that she thought better of it, that unicorn hadn't given her any tangible proof that he really could keep his end of their bargain.

Cursing herself, she scrambled out of her bed and through the door of her bedroom, down the stairs to the living room. Her mother was nowhere to be found, which surprised her, but looking at the clock that hung over the fireplace, which was in front of the sofa, she noted that she had been sleeping until almost half past eleven, and if she remembered correctly, the hospital had asked her to be there early in the morning, so she was probably there. Scootaloo sighed and approached the kitchen, stopping at the entrance, not knowing quite what to do. She wasn't in the mood to make herself breakfast, so she sat at the table, waiting for her mother to come back.

She thought once more about the letter, wondering if her mother would be mad at her if she knew she had read it, but it was a risk she had to take if she wanted her mother to tell her about her health. If there was one thing Scootaloo had inherited from her mother, it was her habit of hiding her problems from her loved ones, and Spring was much more prone to that than she was. If she didn't tell her about that letter, her mother could very well stay silent for years. Her train of thought stopped when she heard the door open, and shortly after, her mother's voice.

"Scootaloo, are you home?"

Scootaloo frowned in confusion, her mother sounding too cheerful to have come from a hospital visit to determine what type of cancer she had.

"I'm here, mom."

When Spring appeared in the room, Scootaloo got another surprise. Her mother not only sounded happy, she seemed happy. She had a smile so big that she would make Pinkie proud.

"There you are, have you had breakfast yet?" she asked in the same cheerful tone, throwing Scootaloo off a bit more.

"No..."

"So wait here while I go get my bag of bits, let's go to Sugar Cube Corner, I'm in the mood for one of Pinkie's cupcakes."

Spring smiled and quickly walked away from the kitchen, into the living room and ready to go upstairs. Scootaloo, after brushing off her surprise, got up and quickly followed her mother.

"Mom!"

Spring stopped at the frame that separated the hall from the living room, looking at her daughter with confusion.

"What's up Scoots?"

"I… I read the letter last night…" she said at last, watching as her mother's cheerful demeanor seemed to fade a bit. "I... I know I wasn't supposed to read it, but I saw it lying on the floor and I…"

"Scootaloo, it's okay" Spring replied with a reassuring smile, walking over and placing her hoof under the teen's chin. "But you don't have to worry about me, do you understand?"

"B-but the l-letter..."

"That's why I'm so happy, Scoots" Spring interrupted, smiling happily again, moving away from her daughter a little. "This morning I woke up with much more energy than usual. For the first time in weeks I didn't have a single headache, dizziness, lack of sleep or exhaustion."

The memory of Grob flashed back into Scootaloo's mind, causing the pegasus to widen her eyes. It couldn't be, it shouldn't be possible, right? Meanwhile, Spring, too excited to notice her daughter's shock, continued with her little story.

"And at the hospital, after some magical analysis, they found out that I don't have cancer."

"H-how?" Scootaloo asked in shock, trying to process what she was hearing.

"Even I don't know" Spring said with a small laugh. "Dr. Horse was just as surprised as you or me. He said it was practically a miracle."

Scootaloo was silent, watching her mother, who continued to talk happily. Grob had kept his end of the bargain, he had, but…a small part of her mind told her there must be some trick. Nopony was cured overnight of something as serious as cancer... her thoughts were interrupted when she felt her mother hug her, a hug that the pegasus was slow to reciprocate.

"Don't worry Scoots, I'm fine and I'm not going anywhere," she said as she patted her daughter on the head.

Scootaloo forced herself to relax and hugged her mother tightly. After a few moments, Spring turned away from her and headed for the stairs, looking at her daughter with a big smile.

"Wait here, I'll go get my saddlebag and we'll go celebrate, okay?"

"Okay…" Scootaloo answered with a weak nod.

When she lost sight of her mother, Scootaloo tried to make sense of it all. Despite not being an expert in magic, she was sure that curing the cancer would not be that simple. Maybe... maybe her mother's first test was wrong and Grob just took advantage of that. But no, that was even more impossible. How was Grob going to find out that those tests were wrong before the very doctor who did them in the first place? More importantly, her mother was full of energy, much more than she had lately, it was too much of a coincidence that her headaches and dizziness disappeared overnight and just the same day she discovers that she had no cancer.

In some way that Scootaloo couldn't imagine, Grob had done it, done his part, and now the pegasus would have to do hers. Despite the undeniable joy he felt, there was a voice inside her that warned her that she had made a terrible mistake in signing that contract, and one day she would pay dearly for it, and she had a feeling that the price to pay would be very, very high...