Chapters Visitor 1: Twilight Sparkle
The pages of “Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue” gently flipped about as Twilight Sparkle looked for the chapter she and Scootaloo were on. Of course, everyone in Ponyville knew Scootaloo’s primary motivation for listening to so much Daring Do was because of Rainbow Dash’s status as a huge fan, but Twilight was more than willing to encourage reading in Ponyville’s children. Cheerilee did a fantastic job educating the children, but to Twilight, there was no such thing as too much reading.
Scootaloo liked it whenever Twilight Sparkle came to care for Scootaloo for a night. Her parents were pretty much a non-factor, and her aunts were only around maybe once a week at best. As a result, it really came down to the residents of Ponyville to ensure Scootaloo received proper care at her home. Of course, this was the friendliest town in Equestria, so most of the town was willing to pitch in when needed. While her biological family was rarely there for her, the fact that an entire town, not to mention one of the most powerful royal figures in the universe, took the time to ensure she was well loved and cared for made her feel better and special.
As with most of Twilight’s nights, it came with a packed meal that Spike had made, which Scootaloo greatly enjoyed. To her credit, Twilight was actually quite capable in the kitchen, but most agreed that Spike was her superior in the culinary arts. Thus, as Scootaloo consumed her dinner, Twilight would unsurprisingly dive into a book of Scootaloo’s choice.
“Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue” was a choice that Twilight saw coming, and they had drilled through half the book on Twilight’s previous night. The time had come for the journey to continue as Twilight Sparkle got herself comfortable in a cushioned chair near Scootaloo’s bed, Scootaloo sat comfortably in the aforementioned bed devouring pancakes with syrup, (Twilight had provided a spell to keep the bed clean.) and Daring Do was uncomfortably being tied to a stone platform by a cackling Ahuizotl.
“Ah, but I already have gotten away with it, Daring Do,” Twilight read in her best Ahuizotl imitation. Of course, having actually been involved in a battle against Ahuizotl, her imitation was actually pretty good. Scootaloo was very much invested in the story by now. As Ahuizotl flipped the switch and all sorts of traps came out to destroy Daring Do, she was very excitedly chewing on her pancakes in suspense.
“What happens next? Tell me!” she chanted.
“Daring Do struggled and squirmed about as best she could to try and escape, but it was no use. The ropes were too strong and tight for her to escape, as the walls got nearer and nearer to her. Spiders crawled from the walls, snakes, bats, and even sand all surrounding her in her final moments!” Twilight was clearly enjoying herself immensely, but Scootaloo didn’t notice. She was too wrapped up in the conflict to notice the big grin Twilight was wearing as Rainbow Dash’s hero got swarmed by every single animal that adventure stories throw at a typical archeologist hero.
“Out of all other options, Daring Do grabbed her hat, and launched it away, knocking it around the walls, spikes, traps, and pillars. Right into the switch Ahuizotl used to turn on the trap, shutting the whole thing off!” Twilight revealed the massively improbable and scientifically baffling escapade of one Daring Do to a delighted Scootaloo.
“That’s so cool! It almost sounds like something Rainbow Dash would do…” Scootaloo said with delight. Twilight giggled, Scootaloo was right that Rainbow Dash would probably try to attempt something similar to that. Though it was probably due to her reading all the books several times over.
The pair continued on through the rest of the book, Scootaloo frequently barging in to ask questions, or comment on how exciting something was, or ask what Rainbow Dash’s favorite parts were. Twilight would patiently answer any questions, and would occasionally provide her own banter on parts of the book herself. Soon enough, the entire book was complete, though Scootaloo still had around an hour before Twilight tucked her into bed.
What happened at this point was generally a wild card. Scootaloo pretty much always expected Twilight to get pretty into reading time, so what happened with extra time was nearly impossible to lock down. Scootaloo felt this was ironic, given how organized Twilight Sparkle was.
Gently closing the book, Twilight set it in a nearby bookshelf as she got up out of her chair. “Now then, we still have about an hour left before you go to bed, how about we have some fun?”
Fun with Twilight had a pretty broad definition, given this was a princess who could do just about anything she wanted. “What sort of fun?”
Twilight smiled as her horn lit up. “I think you’ll like what I have in mind.” A silver cocoon appeared around Scootaloo, to her surprise and confusion. It completely enveloped the small pegasus, gleaming brightly as its effects activated. A few seconds later, it was gone, as Scootaloo was back in her normal environment with a very pleased looking Twilight. Notably, the type of look when she pulled off a spell. “Now then, how about we go for a flight?”
At this point, Scootaloo noticed the pair of clear butterfly wings on her back, far larger than her normal pegasus wings.
Words cannot describe the shriek of excitement that was emitted from Scootaloo’s household upon this discovery, though Ponyville was spared thanks to a quick bubble of silence from Twilight.
After 5 minutes of Scootaloo squealing, Twilight managed to calm her down. “The wings will only last for a short while, but I thought you might want to go for a short flight with me tonight before bed.”
Scootaloo launched herself into embracing Twilight. “Yes! Thank you so much, this is going to be so awesome!”
After the hug, the two exited the house and took to the air. Scootaloo proved to be quite good at flying, Twilight suspected it was due to her status as a pegasus, and probably from watching Rainbow Dash all the time. The two flew all around Ponyville, even passing some other pegasi that were out in the sky that evening who happily waved at Scootaloo. Not to the surprise of anyone in town, Scootaloo was primarily attempting stunts, flips, and all sorts of maneuvers one would see Rainbow Dash perform, albeit clumsily. Twilight did help her out though, forming rings out of clouds for Scootaloo to go through, making small tracks, and all sorts of things that Scootaloo gladly interacted with as the evening went by. Several pegasi came out to watch the spectacle unfold, a few even getting involved by adding their own twists to a track, or providing a gust of wind to launch Scootaloo with.
But alas, after fifteen tracks, two tornados, and one race against Blossomforth later, it was bedtime for Scootaloo. Scootaloo’s wings slowly vanished from sight as Twilight carried her back to the house, both waving goodbye to everyone who joined them in the fun. Getting Scootaloo in bed wasn’t too difficult, she was in an incredibly good mood now, and Twilight had bedtime to-do lists aplenty.
A few minutes later, Twilight was magically tucking Scootaloo in for the night before she would go upstairs to her bed for the night.
“Thanks again for coming over and reading to me, Twilight. And for the wings! That was so much fun!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Scootaloo. I had a good time as well. I’m guessing you’ll want to tell Rainbow Dash all about it in the morning?”
Scootaloo nodded in anticipation. “You bet!”
Twilight clicked out the light in Scootaloo’s room as she gave herself a light in her horn to get upstairs with. “Oh, and Scootaloo?”
“Yes, Twilight?”
“Would you like to go flying again next time?”
The bed creaked as Scootaloo bounced up in excitement.
“Absolutely!”
Author's Note
First chapter of my first attempt at this sort of thing. I don't intend to do this very often, and am not sure if I will continue, but I enjoyed writing it out. The throwaway line in "The Last Crusade" about how the citizens of Ponyville usually stayed with Scootaloo stuck with me, so I thought I would jog down a few ideas. I hope you liked it!
This time around, it was Rarity handling Scootaloo for the night. Of course, this would seem like an odd combination for Scootaloo to have. Scootaloo was active, loved physical activity, and was generally the most boisterous Crusader. Rarity was elegant and refined. Not exactly a pair you would expect to have together for the night, and yet here they were.
Unsurprisingly, Rarity was seated, knitting, while Scootaloo constructed a train set. Sometimes Rarity would bring Sweetie Belle along and the two fillies would run amok, but she was with her parents that night (a surprise, I know) and it thus fell to Scootaloo to build the rails herself. Scootaloo’s favorite train to use was actually a model of the Crystal Empire Express, given how different it looked from most other trains in Equestria. Rarity wondered how the toy manufacturers managed to get permission to make it, though she suspected they went through Shining Armor instead of Cadance.
Soon enough, the Crystal Express was chugging through a model of Ponyville, complete with sound effects from Scootaloo and the occasional “whoo whoo” from Rarity. After crashing through the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, it promptly ran over Lord Tirek, went straight through city hall, and then took an unexpected shortcut through Everfree Forest back to the Crystal Empire.
“What was Lord Tirek doing on the railroad anyway, darling?” Rarity asked. She had rather quietly observed the early departure of one Lord Tirek, who’s plastic model (nobody knows why they exist) met an unfortunate demise at the wheels of a train.
“He was planning something EVIL,” Scootaloo explained. “So I hit him with the train.”
“Yes, well, I suppose that’s one way to stop somepony from taking over Equestria. I shall have to bring it up to Twilight next time we have to save the world again,” Rarity remarked. Scootaloo snickered in response, before the Crystal Express proceeded to charge up the mountain to Canterlot. Thankfully, there were no figures in the path this time, though some might claim Queen Chrysalis was hit by the train somewhere in Everfree Forest. If anybody cares about her after what she tried to do to Fluttershy in the Season 6 finale.
Nobody messes with Fluttershy and gets away with it.
Rarity set aside her knitting for a while and magically floated a model of the Ponyville Express onto the board, joining the game. The game got far more intense by this point, as Rarity sought to keep schedules, collect passengers, and deliver goods properly while Scootaloo continued to act as a sentient battering ram crushing all in her path. The two would even engage in some competition, as Scootaloo attempted to ram Rarity off the rails, only for Rarity to magically add tracks at the last second and make an escape through a legally questionable shortcut that just happened to be “found.”
“Now, if the Crystal Empire keeps trying to destroy my train, all of my passengers are going to be late to their meeting at Canterlot. You don’t want that to happen, do you Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo grinned and launched another attack, only for Rarity to bore a hole through the mountain and escape again.
“How do you keep finding or making all these short-cuts, anyway?” Scootaloo asked. "I've never seen anypony come up with so many so quickly."
“Well, I have my ways. You might not believe this, but Sweetie Belle has the exact same set as you. She’s generally less destructive, but she has her moments. It pays to memorize the layout of the board and keep several back doors open.”
Scootaloo gasped. “Sweetie Belle plays with these?”
“Not as much as you do, of course. But every so often she’ll drag it out of her closet in the boutique and give it a run. I like to join her every so often.”
“That’s so cool! Next time she comes over, do you think we could all play?”
Rarity smiled. “I’m sure she would like that very much. Oh, but Scootaloo?”
“Yeah?”
“You forgot to keep your eyes on the game.”
True enough, Scootaloo had gotten distracted by Rarity’s discussion and took her eyes off of the game board.
Rookie mistake.
The Friendship Express pounded into the Crystal Express head on, bashing into the side of the crystal train and sending it rolling off the track and down a mountain in a destroyed heap. Right onto King Sombra, who now died for the millionth time. Turns out Rarity was a veteran train wrecker after all, and Scootaloo felt her wrath in locomotive form as her train paid the price.
“Wait, when did you get there?”
“I took that shortcut on the mountain when you weren’t looking, darling. I never pick fights with Sweetie Belle, but if she tries to ram me off the rails I will fight back. Just don’t tell her about that shortcut.”
Scootaloo paused to look at her destroyed train as Rarity set it back on the tracks to continue playing. Letting out a laugh, the Crystal Express continued on its way to probably destroy more real estate. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
Author's Note
"If your enemy is overpowered, hit them with a train."
Of all the caretakers Scootaloo might receive, every single citizen of Ponyville agreed that things couldn’t get more unpredictable than when Discord took up the duty. (Though Pinkie Pie was a close second.) Pretty much everyone was surprised when Discord first took the job, but Discord claimed that doing the unexpected was as chaotic as one could get, and nobody could really argue with that claim. Furthermore, Discord hadn’t really caused any serious threats in quite some time, and was known to be close to the Crusaders already. As a result, the residents of Ponyville agreed it was fair to let Discord have a go at it. He had done it a few nights by now, and it always proved to be quite the occasion when Discord came over. He had previously opened a wormhole to outer space, which turned into an extensive adventure for the duo as Discord took Scootaloo on a cosmic tour and destroyed some asteroids.
This time Discord walked through the door with a baseball bat.
“What’s the bat for, Discord?” Scootaloo asked. Innocent enough question.
Discord instantly snapped his paw and the two were at a baseball field. Along with Twilight Sparkle. And Rainbow Dash. And Applejack.
Actually quite a few ponies were there, and from the looks of it, none of them saw this coming.
Twilight sighed. “Discord, why are we all here?”
“Well isn’t it obvious? We’re going to play a game of baseball, because it’s my night to watch Scootaloo and I thought we’d have some fun.”
After some general mumbling and checking the schedules, it turned out Discord’s claims were legitimate and everyone resigned themselves to this fate as Scootaloo got into her seat in the audience.
“Just one problem, Discord,” Twilight said.
“What’s that?”
“We don’t have anypony to play against.”
Discord looked about, realizing Twilight had him there. “Hmm, yes, you might be right. Well, that’s easy enough to solve.”
With a snap, nine more Discords showed up to be the opposing team. Soon enough, the game began. Twilight Sparkle wound up being the pitcher as the top of the first inning kicked into gear, with Scootaloo right at the front stands.
Discord #5 turned out to be a lousy batter, and was rather easily dispatched by Twilight via strike-out.
Discord #3 actually did manage to hit the ball, but it was a pop-fly and caught by Pinkie Pie.
At this, Discord #3 attempted to launch a complaint, saying that “the sun was in my eyes.”
After Rainbow Dash not so subtly pointed out that the moon was out, Discord #3 was ejected from the game in great humiliation.
Discord #2 got slammed in the face by an intentional pitch after he insulted Celestia. Bean ball, Discord #2 marched onto first base while dancing to polka music.
Discord #8 struck out, ending the top of the first inning.
Discord #8 attempted to launch a complaint, saying that “the moon was in my eyes.” Scootaloo burst into laughter while Rainbow Dash ejected Discord #8 from the game.
The bottom of the first inning went pretty much the opposite way. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all slapped the ball past the short-stop, transitioning into a grand slam from Bulk Biceps, complete with a “YEAH!” Discord got a double, followed by another double from Spike, a home run from Rarity, another home run right after that from Applejack, and then Trixie hit the ball out of the park.
Soon the score was 27-0 in the bottom of the first inning before Team Ponyville intentionally struck out through sheer boredom. Discord got annoyed and walked up to his duplicates.
“You guys are TERRIBLE!” He announced. All the opposing Discords grumbled in annoyance, as the ponies prepared to destroy them in the top of the second, complete with an in-depth chart Twilight made on optimal pitching and fielding strategy. The team was ready to go to battle, and lay waste to the opposition.
Which is exactly what happened.
Discord #10 bunted the ball, rather easily getting eliminated by Rainbow Dash.
Discord #9 struck out. The wind-up on the third pitch was so intense, the Discord spawned a tornado from the spin afterwards. He was promptly put in time-out and ejected from the game by Discord.
And Discord #5 struck out. To the surprise of all involved, he didn’t launch any complaints.
After some consultations, the mercy rule got declared, much to the annoyance of the opposing Discords.
After that, Twilight looked over the box scores while Scootaloo came down to where everyone was talking.
“That was the most boring game ever! Can’t your clones actually play right?” Rainbow Dash complained.
“Well, it’s hardly my fault if they got the game mixed up with field hockey,” Discord rebutted.
Discord #9 attempted to exit the dugout, but everyone glared at him. Discord promptly snapped him out of existence.
“I simply must apologize for #9’s behavior, I should have realized after the go-karting incident he wouldn’t be good tonight.”
“Yeah, keep him from coming next time we have a game night. I don’t want him body slamming us or somethin’,” Applejack grumbled.
“Now, it’s not my fault he poked your tires!”
“Technically, it is.”
“Well, I never! The nerve of some ponies. I should have brought Big Mac instead.”
With that, Applejack was popped away, back to the farm. Twilight only briefly looked up from the box scores.
“Twilight, how was my batting tonight?” Discord asked.
Rookie mistake.
Twilight instantly launched into a deep dive on everyone’s batting averages and strengths, though it was largely positive, given how incompetent the opposition proved to be.
“Great job, Discord, you set her off!” Rainbow moaned.
“Do let me know when she’s done,” Rarity said, now knitting.
Scootaloo chuckled.
“Well, this turned out to be less eventful than I expected,” Discord said. “Thank you everypony for coming. I would distribute MVP awards, but I think Twilight will try to make a deep dive on the box scores to try and deem the ‘most valuable player’ and then we would all be stuck here for another half-hour. As a result, nopony gets the trophy tonight.”
This was met with several groans, barring from Fluttershy and Rarity, who didn’t care.
“Well, I must be on my way now. Goodbye!”
With that, Discord and Scootaloo vanished, leaving everyone stranded on the field. Except Fluttershy, who was conveniently returned to her home.
Discord and Scootaloo showed back up inside Scootaloo’s room, complete with her bed made and ready. “Now then! That was less chaotic than I had hoped.”
Scootaloo smiled. “Don’t worry, Discord. I had a fun time! Thanks for coming over again.”
“Anytime! I always love an opportunity to get to annoy Rainbow Das-”
Discord noticed Scootaloo raising an eyebrow.
“APPLEJACK! Yes, that’s right. Always a fun time annoying Applejack.” At this, Discord picked Scootaloo up and launched her into the bed. Somehow, rather than slamming into the wall, she stopped directly above the bed, turned ninety degrees, and dropped safely.
This didn’t even faze Scootaloo, given who was responsible. “Goodnight, Discord.”
“Goodnight. Waffles in the morning!”
As Discord turned off the light and went upstairs, Scootaloo could hear Discord trying to decide what shapes and sizes he should make the waffles.
Scootaloo smiled, and headed to sleep.
Author's Note
IDW Friends Forever Issue 2 actually established Discord as being really close to the Crusaders, so I thought I would bring him into the fun. Thank you all for the positive reception, and I hope you enjoyed this one as well.
