Beyond Infinity

"Wh...where am I?"

Scootaloo slowly began to open her eyes. She became increasingly aware that her body was in pain. Not much pain, mind you, but enough to keep her from moving around. Her wings also seemed pretty stiff, although she couldn't quite tell why. She opened her eyes a little more, and saw she was in a white room. It looked familiar, but she wasn't sure where she had seen it before. After a moment, she opened her eyes completely, and realized she was in Dave's room, in the exact same spot that she had first appeared in when she had arrived here.

"Is this really happening?" she thought to herself. "How did I get here?"

Scootaloo looked around. She was tucked in under the covers of his bed, and she had to admit it was quite comfortable. Dave wasn't in the room, and the door was only open a crack. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She tried to shrink down as low out of sight as she could. Dave had been worried before about his parents seeing her. What if it was one of them? What if they were mean? His mom had seemed really angry when Scootaloo had been exploring the television. Who would it be?

It was Dave! He had a glass of water and something else in his hand that Scootaloo couldn't quite see. He slowly pushed the door open, and quietly looked over at her. "Scootaloo? Are you awake?"

Scootaloo gingerly raised herself up. "Yeah, I guess. I feel really sore."

Dave grimaced. "I'm sorry about that. I tried treating your wounds as best I could but honestly I don't know that much about taking care of a young horse." He chuckled, then added "Especially not ones with wings."

Scootaloo turned away. "Not like they're of any use anyway."

Dave cringed at that, and Scootaloo felt a little bad. "Sorry," said Dave. "Once we get you fixed up, I'll see what I can do to help you out with that. That's a promise."

Scootaloo's eyes widened, but just as quickly as it came the happiness was gone. "Why should I believe you? You told me you'd be there for me and then you left me in the woods."

Dave turned away. Scootaloo thought for a moment that he was upset, but he turned back around and said "Here, drink this."

It was a small red and white cup. Scootaloo looked at it, her curiosity overcoming her anger. "What is it?"

Dave replied "It's soup. I think you'll like it, and it should hopefully help you feel better."

Scootaloo cautiously took it, and took a sip. She perked up a bit. "Hey, this is pretty good!" Dave smiled as she drank the soup enthusiastically. It was nice and warm. Not so hot that she was burned, but just about right. It was a nice creamy tomato soup, pretty similar to what Rarity had made for her and the other crusaders during one of their sleepovers.

While she drank, Dave went over to the other side of his bed, and grabbed a long object. It had an oddly shaped black body, and it had six metal strings going through it. There was a wire connected to it that extended to...well, she couldn't quite see where it connected to. "Dave, what is that thing?"

Dave glanced up. "I'll show you. Go ahead and drink the soup though, it looks like you're beginning to perk up a bit. You were asleep for a pretty long time, you'll need it." As Dave sat down, he reached over behind the bed. It sounded like he pressed something, because Scootaloo heard a click. After he sat back in his chair, Scootaloo noticed a slight buzz. Not unpleasant, just a very faint buzz.

What happened next, Scootaloo wouldn't soon forget. Dave began to pluck the strings. It reminded Scootaloo of when Octavia had visited Ponyville, and Ms. Cheerilee had taken the class to her recital. It was almost hypnotic. The melody that Dave was playing was simple and relaxing, but at the same time the sound of the strange instrument was almost alien. The more she watched, the more the object seemed sort of familiar, but she couldn't quite figure out how.

"Dave...what is that thing?" she asked.

He glanced up and paused. "This is my guitar." he replied.

Now she remembered! It was called a guitar. Ms. Cheerilee had had Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and one of their friends come in ("what was his name?" Scootaloo thought to herself), and all three had shown off their styles of music for a lesson. Vinyl had showed them some music that made everypony want to get up and dance, Octavia performed a song that had someponies falling asleep while others were transfixed. But the third pony ("oh yeah! It was Devin Bucksend!") had brought in the same kind of instrument that Dave was playing now. Scootaloo didn't remember everything Mr. Bucksend had said, but she remembered feeling similar to how she was feeling now. "I don't know why, but I suddenly feel a little better." Scootaloo commented.

Dave gave her a small smile. "That's what I was hoping for. Music for me...it's relaxing. It's feels right. Natural, even." He continued to play for a few more minutes, and then set down the guitar. He took a deep breath, and then began to speak. "Now Scootaloo," Dave began. "I need to apologize."

"Huh?" Scootaloo thought. "What for?"

Dave looked her in the eye. "A few things, I guess. First and foremost, I really should have looked for you a little harder in the forest. I don't know if you realize this, but you've been asleep for two days. You've been pretty sick, and the bruises don't help either."

"Two whole days?!?!?!?" "You mean that? I've been asleep for two days?" she asked.

Dave nodded, wearing an odd, almost grim expression. "You were conscious a few times, but you didn't seem to be aware of much. I would give you water and you'd almost immediately go back to sleep." He took a deep breath, then continued. "When you and I were out in the woods, and you went missing, I looked around for about 10 minutes. I should apologize for that. I should have looked longer."

Scootaloo thought for a moment, and before she could think of a different question, the words flew out, "Not to be rude, but why do you care? I've asked you this before, what makes me special? Why is that, all of a sudden, poof! I'm in your room and you're so willing to take care of me, or so you say. Why? How do you even know who I am?"

Dave opened his mouth to respond, but it looked as if words were going to fail him. He closed his mouth and looked away, lost in thought. There was then a moment where it looked as if he had made a decision, as he nodded to himself. "You know what, Scoot? I can't put that into words. How about I show you instead?"

Scootaloo immediately replied "What do you mean?" Although she wouldn't admit it because she was mad, she was also very curious to see what he meant. Dave reached over into his desk and pulled out a black object that he opened up like a book. It had a wire attached to it that was glowing blue at the tip. "What is that thing?"

"It's called a laptop. It's kinda similar to the television." Dave replied without looking up. He was making some clicking noises on it. Scootaloo got the impression he was urgently looking for something. But what?

"How are you going to show me why I'm special?" she asked curiously. "What does that thing do that the television doesn't?"

The clicking stopped, and Dave looked up with a nervous expression. "Well, a laptop is also a tool. Think about your notebooks in school. This can do that, as well as provide entertainment, like the television. It can do alot of other things too, but those things aren't important right now. What is important is what I'm about to show you." All of a sudden, Scootaloo felt a little nervous as well. "You see Scootaloo..."

As Dave turned the laptop around, Scootaloo's jaw dropped. Staring back at her from the laptop...was herself. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were also there posing. The Crusaders all had a goofy grin on, and Scootaloo could actually remember what she had been doing in that picture; the crusaders had just finished remodeling the clubhouse and had asked Rarity to take a picture for them.

Scootaloo was stupefied. "Wha...wha...how...where did you find that?"

Dave looked her in the eyes. "You see Scootaloo, you and your friends are actually television stars, on a show called My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic."

Dave turned it slightly towards him again, made a few clicks, and turned it back. Right before her eyes, she was watching Applejack lead her and the other crusaders to their clubhouse for the first time.

"Where are you taking us?" asked Applebloom.

"We're almost there, young'uns!" exclaimed Applejack.

Scootaloo watched the laptop in shock and wonder. She watched as the crusaders were shown the then crumbling clubehouse. How Applejack had told them it was theirs to use. How they had all expressed their doubts. How she, Scootaloo, had then made a map of Ponyville and raced through town to show the other crusaders. How Applebloom had shown her all the hard work she had put into the clubhouse to make it suitable for them. Later on, she saw how she had struggled to write a theme song. "You mean...you know about all of that?"

Dave nodded, and chuckled. "If it makes you feel better, I'm not much better at writing songs than you are, Scootaloo."

Without warning, Scootaloo giggled. "I dunno about that, did you hear those lines?" Then something dawned on her. "Wait...television stars?"

Dave replied "Think about how the Wonderbolts are world famous. You and everyone else in Ponyville is famous. I don't mean to make you feel nervous or anything, but millions of people know who you are, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo gently laid back on the bed, and stared at the ceiling in utter shock. "I'm famous..." she said softly. She slowly looked over and asked "So if everyone in ponyville is famous, why am I special? Why not Rarity, or Apple Bloom, or Cheerilee? Is it just because you're being nice?"

Dave looked up, and Scootaloo thought he seemed a little sheepish. "Well, it's true that I'm a nice guy," he said "But mostly, it's because you also happen to be my favorite character on the show."

Of all the possible responses, that one was incredibly low on Scootaloo's list. "I'm...your favorite?" she said, disbelievingly.

Dave nodded. "It's hard to explain, but I'm tired of using that as an excuse, so I'll give it a shot." He took a breath, and then continued. "You see Scoot, when I first found out about the show, I was a little apprehensive. Originally, the show was intended to be seen by younger girls, rather than by guys like me. It soon caught on with guys like me, and I was hesitant. I had seen a few parts of it, but not much."

"Then I saw the time when you and Sweetie Belle first met Apple Bloom. When you guys formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And I realized, I could relate to all three of you. None of you really know what your special talent is, right? Well, I don't either. Just like you three, I'm good at lots of things and I'm interested in lots of things."

Scootaloo interrupted, "Why me? Why not Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom? At least they have more interesting lives. I'm just a school filly who likes thrills."

Dave said "It took some time for you to grow on me. But as I continued to watch the show, I realized that out of all the characters, the one I was most like was you. You remind me of who I used to be: as a kid I was adventurous, always wanting to try new things, and above all else, happy. Watching you and the other crusaders made me smile even when I was feeling down, and I can't thank you enough for that. I haven't been happy much at all lately, and you are one of the few bright spots in my life, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo's eyes began to water. "Nopony has said something that nice about me in a long time. Thank you, Dave."

Dave smiled. "Anytime, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo sat up, and before Dave could react, she gave him a hug. He seemed surprised at first, but he returned the hug soon after.

"Ow! I guess I'm still a little sore." said Scootaloo, rubbing her wings.

Dave said "Lie back down, and relax. There's no need to rush yourself out of bed yet, you're still healing. Hopefully by tomorrow you'll have gotten back some of your energy, and we can get you out and about."

"Ok, that sounds like a good idea." said Scootaloo. "Can I ask you something though?"

"Sure, what is it?" replied Dave.

"Well, if you don't mind, why were you so sad?" Scootaloo said hesitantly. "I mean, I remember you were telling me about the other day when I got here, but is that it?"

Dave looked away. "Well...it's kind of a long story."

Scootaloo said "It's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon, silly. I'd be happy to listen."

Dave gave her a grin, and said "You've got a good point there."

"I don't have many friends. I never really have had that many. But as a result, the friends I do have are really close to me. About a year ago, I made this great friend. She had the best qualities of you and the other crusaders: She's silly, she's funny, she makes me smile, she's really nice, and she just makes for a great friend. But not long after I met her, my house flooded. It was horrible. I had lived there for 20 years, and in a night, it was all trashed."

Scootaloo gasped. "That's...horrible. I'm so sorry, Dave."

He nodded, and then continued. "We stayed in the area for another few months. At first, it looked like we would be staying in the area permanently. We began looking at other homes in the neighborhood, my dad was always at work, and even my mom was spending more time with friends than she ever had. But then, my dad got a job up here, and my job...well the less I say the better, but it wasn't fun. Anyway, I got home and was told we would be moving up here. Where I used to live, it was warmer. It was further in the South, so you didn't get as much of the cold that I get up here, which is pretty far North. I don't know anyone up here. All I had were some pen pals, for lack of a better word. It's hard to explain, since you don't know much about computers or anything, but basically, my only friends were people that I talked to with messages, not face to face. Over time, they all began drifting away. Except for one friend."

Dave paused, and looked away with a tear in his eyes. Scootaloo frowned. At first she thought he was talking about the girl he had met, but that wouldn't have made sense; she lived down south, in his home town. But then the truth hit her, and she involuntarily gasped. "Your dog..."

Dave nodded. He wiped his eyes and continued with a stone-faced expression, but Scootaloo noticed that he wasn't staring at her anymore, but rather to a spot behind her. She even got the impression that he couldn't even see her right now. "My dog was always there for me. He couldn't talk, obviously, but at least he would listen. I would spend all my time with him, because I had no one else. I'm not as close to my mom and dad as I would like to be; they're disappointed in me, and to be honest they have every right to be. I'm supposed to be special. I'm supposed to go above and beyond every time. I'm supposed to be the bright one, the smart one, the successful one. But I always came up short. Always. It's starting to reflect on their attitudes, as well as on my own."

Scootaloo said "I'm sure you're trying your best. Aren't you? Don't they see that?"

"Yes, but when you're consistently coming up short, it starts to wear on your patience." Dave replied. "They're starting to realize that I'm not as good as they originally believed. That's frustrating, and I think they still hope I can be that good someday, so they continue to push. I was a really bright young kid, but they just don't know what went wrong. 'Why can't you succeed? We're giving you all you need to succeed!' They'd say those types of things all the time. Eventually, as I got older, I found that school wasn't for me, and I've just been trying to work ever since. Some jobs were ok, some jobs had their moments, other jobs, like the job I had before you arrived, were awful. But I've been bouncing around like that ever since I decided to stop going to school. I've never really had any idea of who I wanted to be; it was always just a fantasy. 'Yeah, I'd like to be an athlete...' 'Yeah, owning my own business would be cool...' 'Yeah I should be a writer...' but they always just ended up being just that: fantasies. I didn't have the ability or the strength to be an athlete, I don't have the necessary skills to be a businessman, and as far as being a writer...well...I don't think I'm very good at that."

Dave paused for a moment, and took a sip of water. Scootaloo took the moment to interject, "Well, I don't know you very well yet, Dave, but you seem really good at music. And you're good at helping people. What if you did something like that? Used your music to help people?"

Dave paused mid sip. "I don't know...I guess I've just never thought about that." But then, his face dropped again. "It's not like it would matter. You'd need to be really good at music to do something like that, and I'm not that good. I'm barely ok. I can't even write one song, let alone help people with my music."

Scootaloo struggled, but she pushed herself up. Dave made a motion to tell her to lie down, but she quickly said "I'm fine, but listen to me." She managed to stand up. The pain was horrible for her, but she toughed it out. "Now listen here," she said, pausing for effect and because her back was in pain. "You might not be the best at something, but so what? Since when do you have to be the best?"

Dave stumbled over his words. "Well...I mean I..."

Scootaloo waved her hoof. "You don't need to be. You just need to like it. If you've seen me as much as you say, you know that my ideas to get our cutie marks involve things that I think would be awesome. Zip lining and writing rock operas! Those are awesome! And if you remember, I'm not really the best at either of those. But I had fun! I did it with my friends and I had fun! That's all you need! Good friends and fun. Don't tell the other crusaders, but I hope we never get our cutie marks. I'm worried that one of us will get our cutie marks and then we won't be friends anymore, and that would make everything less fun for me! Life is supposed to be fun! You're supposed to like what you do! And that's what I do with my friends! Things that are awesome and fun! If you like music, do it! Just do your best, and it'll be like Twilight always tells us. If it was meant to be, you'll know. Do you like playing music?"

Dave stuttered, "W-well I mean I guess so...I feel a sense of calm and peace when I play..."

Scootaloo nodded excitedly, all soreness forgotten for the moment. "That's it! That must be the feeling you get when you've found your talent! You need to get a cutie mark in music! Just like Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Devin Bucksend!"

Dave nodded slowly, and eventually his smile returned him. "You know what? You're right. I WILL go for a career in music. I don't know if I'm going to be very good, but I'm going to try my best and that's all I can do!"

Scootaloo smiled. "That's the spirit!"

Dave grinned. "Only if you promise to do the same for yourself! When you get back to Ponyville, I want to see you trying your best to get your cutie mark with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle! No excuses!"

Scootaloo said "It's a deal!"

The two hugged. It was a nice moment, and Scootaloo's heart felt a little warmer. This felt right. Dave was almost like a father and an older brother rolled into one. She had never had either, and it felt great.

Scootaloo let go, and winced. "I guess I still need some rest, heh heh."

Dave gave a small laugh. "That you do. You weren't in great shape when I found you, so you'll still need rest before you're ready get back to normal. Here, go lie down and I'll get you a glass of cool water. It'll just be a moment." He walked out and lightly closed the door behind him.

Scootaloo lightly laid back down with a smile. "This just feels...right." she thought, and she closed her eyes in contentment.

"I am glad you are enjoying thyself, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo sat up with a jolt. Standing in the room, with a serene smile on her face, was Princess Luna.