It was fairly late at night as Scootaloo strolled through the streets of Ponyville. She just could stop thinking of the sight of her best friend, Apple Bloom's dead-grandmother and that horrifying-look on her face as it contorted into a twisted, permemant scream of pain and terror.
"Hey there, squirt! Whatcha ya doin' out here so late?" Scootaloo's thoughts were interrupted by her idol, Rainbow Dash as she swooped down and perfectly landed on the ground, in front of her.
"I needed some time to think..." Scootaloo replied with a sigh as she tried to mask her inner-trauma with a mask of false-strength in an attempt to impress her idol.
"Still bummed about what happened to Granny Smith, eh? I tell ya what; why don'tcha come over to my house for some hot, apple-cider?" Rainbow Dash offered.
"Sure, that sounds great." Scootaloo agreed with a small-smile, before Rainbow Dash lifted her into the air and flew toward her house with Scootaloo in her fore-hooves. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom did not have a very difficult time falling asleep that night, after having been worn out by the turmoil-filled day that she had just experienced. Despite how easily she was able to fall asleep however, this did not guarantee that she had pleasant dreams. Apple Bloom dreamed that she was standing out in the middle of a forest.
When she looked behind her however, she took notice to the fact that she was strapped to an old pull-cart that a familiar, pink and blue Pegasus was sitting inside of.
"Well, that's just great! Look whatcha did now, ya stupid-Mule!" Firefly complained as she suddenly disappeared from the cart and reappeared next to it, staring at the cart's broken-wheel. Apple Bloom no longer had control of her own body as she slowly began to approach the pink-Pegasus. She slowly began to turn around, before raring back and delivering a harsh, unexpected-kick to the back of Firefly's head, smashing her face up against the cart.
Apple Bloom did not stop there, however as she continued to kick the back of Firefly's head with her hind-legs a few more times. Her back-hooves completely smashed Firefly's skull as blood splattered all over her hindquarters. Once this action had been completed, Apple Bloom made her way over to a nearby-lake where she stared down at her reflection. The reflection staring back up at her from the lake, however was not her own as she saw the face of none-other than Bartholomule staring back up at her. With a Horse-like whinny and a Donkey-like nay, Bartholomule's reflection emerged from the water, suddenly grabbing ahold of Apple Bloom with his fore-hooves and dragging her to the bottom of the lake with him.
Apple Bloom seemingly awoke with a gasp, only to notice that she was now in a dark-room, surrounded by fog. Apple Bloom looked around when she took notice of a large, eery portrait of the Pony who's head she had just smashed on the wall, above her as the pink and blue Pegasus seemed to glare down at her in disapproval.
"Hey, who's that?" Scootaloo asked once she had taken notice of the exact-same portrait from Apple Bloom's dreams hanging on the wall of Rainbow Dash's kitchen.
"Oh, that's my great grandmother, Firefly. She was brutally murdered by some upity-Mule that snuck up on her and attacked her from behind. What an unfair-advantage...I like to hang up her portrait on the anniversary she was murdered on..." Rainbow Dash explained bitterly as she stared up at the portrait, along with Scootaloo.
"That's horrible...What happened to her and all..." Scootaloo muttered as the memories of all of the horrible things that Bartholomule's spirit and done to her and her friends had begun to flash through her mind.
"Yeah...It really is...Good thing the jerk's dead now, though..." Rainbow Dash snarled, before returning to the stove to tend to the cider. Scootaloo took a few steps closer to the painting, staring up at it intently as she took a seat on the floor.
The longer Scootaloo stared up at the portrait, the more Firefly's eyes seemed to glare right into her soul and become more-realistic. The minute Scootaloo blinked, the portrait of Firefly changed drastically as Firefly now had sunken-in, black-eyes and a gaping-mouth that draped open further than any Pony could ever open their mouths. The orange, Pegasus-Philly blinked a few more times and shook her head in disbelief, before glancing back up at the now-normal portrait. Scootaloo figured that she must have been so tired from the lack of sleep she had received from Apple Bloom's sleepover that she was beginning to hallucinate. She continued to stare up at the portrait, however as it seemed to hold some sort of trance over her.
Meanwhile, in Apple Bloom's dream, the pale-yellow Philly attempted to gallop out of the room she was in when the door suddenly slammed shut, trapping her within the room.
"Somepony help me! Anypony!" She shouted as she pounded on the door with her hooves. Scootaloo heard a pounding noise at Rainbow Dash's front-door, almost as if it were being struck by hail. The orange Pegasus-Philly peered out of Rainbow Dash's kitchen-window, only to see the horrifying-sight of a large Colt with Donkey-like ears, wearing a full-body cover standing in Rainbow Dash's front-yard.
Scootaloo rubbed her eyes in disbelief as it was impossible for any Pony other than a Pegasus to be able to stand on a cloud but here this Mule was, staring directly into her soul.
"Hey, um...Rainbow Dash? Have you ever noticed anything weird going on, around here?" Scootaloo asked as she briefly turned to look over at her idol.
"Is this about Granny Smith bitin' the dust? Listen squirt, Everypony dies eventually, especially when they're as old as Granny was..." Rainbow Dash explained as Scootaloo looked back over to the window, but when she looked back outside, Bartholomule was no longer standing there.
"It's not that..." Scootaloo replied with a worried-expression.
"Whata ya mean?" Rainbow Dash questioned as she put the finishing-touches on hers and Scootaloo's apple-cider.
"I dunno; it's just the weirdest, weirdest thing...It seems like everywhere I go, I just..." Scootaloo began.
"You what?" Rainbow Dash pursued. Meanwhile, in Apple Bloom's dream, Apple Bloom was still pounding her fore-hooves against the door when she noticed the shadow of a large Colt with Donkey-Like ears walking along the wall even though there was no other Ponies in the room with her. Apple Bloom watched in horror as the shadow of the Mule made its way over to the portrait of Firefly. Once the Mule's shadow was behind the portrait, it slowly turned to face Apple Bloom.
Two, large, blue-grey hooves slowly began to emerge from behind Firefly's portrait, before wrapping around themselves around it. The full-body of a Mule wearing a full-body cover then emerged from the wall as well, charging at Apple Bloom as it kept the portrait of Firefly over its face. The face of Firefly that was in the portrait, however opened its mouth to let out the shrill-whinny of a Pony, followed by the piercing-nay of a Donkey with an angered-glare. Meanwhile, back at Rainbow Dash's house, The portrait of Firefly suddenly flew from the wall and smacked Rainbow Dash in the back of her head, rendering her unconscious.
"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cried. Realizing that there was nothing she could do, the orange, Pegasus-Philly was quick to exit her idol's house to get help as she quickly galloped into Rainbow Dash's front-yard. The orange-Pegasus did not make it far, however as she was harshly reminded of the fact that Rainbow Dash's house was located several feet above ground. Scootaloo peered down from the edge of Rainbow Dash's cloudy, front-yard as she contemplated a way to get down without hurting herself since she could not fly.
When Apple Bloom had climbed her way out of the wreckage that had ensued as a result of Bartholomule's attack against her, she had noticed that she was now outside of the house she was just in a moment ago.
"Hey, ain't that Rainbow Dash's house?" Apple Bloom noted once she had gotten a better look at the outside of the house. She then looked ahead of her to see one of her best friends, Scootaloo standing in front of her, staring into her soul with an emotionless-gaze.
"Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom questioned as she took a few steps closer to her friend.
"Apple Bloom...I'm sorry..." Scootaloo murmured, before Bartholomule appeared in between her and Apple Bloom. He glared down at the pale-yellow, Earth Pony menacingly, before raring back and using the strength of his hind-legs to kick Scootaloo from the edge of Rainbow Dash's front yard. The real Scootaloo had also felt the force of Bartholomule's kick as she was sent flying from the edge of her idol's front-yard as well.
Scootaloo desperately fluttered her under-grown wings in an attempt to save herself but it was no use as she was impaled by a sharpened, tree-trunk, ending her life along with Apple Bloom's nightmare. The pale-yellow Earth Philly had awoken from her nightmare in a cold sweat. She was relieved that what she had just witnessed had only been a dream but she was also unnerved by how vivid and realistic the dream felt. Exhausted, the Philly promptly shrugged off her feelings, before falling back into a deep slumber.
TO BE CONTINUED...
