It seemed like just another day. I got up, had breakfast, went to Ponyville High, and practiced on my scooter for a bit. Time passed by in a blur. Then I returned home and I found out things would never be the same. I saw some ponies I had never seen before in my house, along with a sobbing wreck Rose Blossom, and I knew instantly that something had gone very wrong.

When she saw me she came running over, crying her eyes out as she held onto me with all of her strength. I tried to focus on comforting her, but I didn’t know what all the fuss was about. Had there been a fire? Or something important stolen?

Then they gave me the news. Star Gazer and Cloud Hunter, Mom and Dad, had died in an accident. I collapsed to the floor, my mind screaming NOT AGAIN!

“Scootieloo!”

As I curled up and shut my eyes tight I thought about how all I wanted was to just enjoy my life. Why did ponies I loved have to keep dying?

“Scootieloo!”

It wasn’t fair. I was too young to manage a house and care for Rose Blossom all by myself.

“SCOOTIELOO! SCOOTIELOO! SCOOTIELOO!”

I heard a voice calling out to me, felt myself being shaken hard. The sounds of crying faded away, and I opened my eyes to see Rose Blossoms face right in front of me, looking worried. I quickly looked around, and it was dark except for the illumination of the moon. It had only been a dream. Just a stupid nightmare. It hadn’t been the first I’d had recently. This one was just the worst.

“What’s wrong, Scootieloo?” asked Rosie. “I was just going to get some water and I heard you crying and talking in your sleep.”

“I…I…” I took a deep breath. “I’m…it’s nothing. Just a nightmare. Thanks for waking me up.”

“No problem!” Rosie said with a bright smile, hugging me hard. “I’d do anything to help you, Sis. Because you’re so helpful to me. I’ve been having so much fun learning to scooter ride with you…even if I do crash half the time.” She let out an embarrassed laugh. “Oh, well. I’ll get better with more practice.”

She stood up, giving me a quick kiss on my forehead. “I’m going to get my water and go back to bed. I hope you have some better dreams, Sis.” With that she left, and I slowly heard the sound of her hooves receding.

I lay in bed a long time, unable to fall back asleep. The memory of my nightmare was overpowering me. When I had lost my grandmare everything had changed. I had been so devastated that I had gone into a comatose state, and even after that it took me many months to recover and shift my thinking. This family taking me in had saved me from myself and the despair that wanted to engulf me.

Why? Why was I suddenly having these nightmares now? After years of having moved on past my first big loss why was it that these fears were invading my nights?

I started crying again as the image from my dream came up again, of Rose Blossom holding me tight and looking to me for support to help her after being told our parents were dead. Every day there was a possibility that that would become a reality. Just like how one day, after leaving Rainbow’s house on a regular day, I returned home to find someone I loved dead with no warning.

After tossing and turning for over fifteen minutes, trying to drown out the images that refused to leave me, I finally gave it up, and left my room. I debated on going for a nightly fly, but ultimately I knew that wouldn’t change a thing. I headed over to Rosie’s open door and gently knocked on it. She mumbled a bit, before I saw her move up slightly, looking at me with half-lidded eyes. “Yeah, Scootieloo?” she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

I walked into her room, sitting on the side of her bed, feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. “I…I need your help.”

I think she could tell what kind of mood I was in, because she instantly came out from under the covers and sat on my lap, putting her hooves around me. “What’s the matter? Did you have another nightmare?”

“No… it’s the same one. It was really, really bad. The worst one I’ve ever had. And I’m scared.”

She looked up at me, trying to be encouraging. “Come on! You fought a dragon by yourself. What’s scarier than that?”

I couldn’t answer. Rosie… she, just like me at her age, had never experienced the loss of someone she dearly loved. She couldn’t understand the utter devastation of feeling how deeply it scars you; couldn’t understand that feeling of knowing you’d never be able to talk with and play with and laugh with and receive comfort from someone who you invested a large portion of your heart to. “I don’t want to talk about it, Rosie. Right now I just need you to believe it was that bad and be there for me. Please!”

I could see a strained look on her face and a few tears came down her eyes as she resisted breaking down herself. She was trying to be strong for me despite her own hurt at seeing me in pain. “Of course I’ll always be there for you. I love you so much! I’d do anything for you, because I know you’d do anything for me.”

After a minute I asked, “Rosie… do you think I could sleep with you tonight?”

Despite herself, that brought a small giggle from her. I’m sure she was finding the role reversal amusing. She was usually the one who came to my room wanting to sleep with me because of either nightmares or not wanting to sleep alone. “Of course you can. My bed is your bed.”

“Thank you, Rosie. You’re a great sister.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said with another small laugh. The two of us got under the covers side by side. “Don’t be afraid, Scootieloo. And you don’t have to cry, either. I know I’m not as big or strong as you but I love you and will do anything for you. So don’t be afraid of those silly old nightmares.” I felt her hold tight to me just as I did to her. “I’ll protect you, Scootieloo. Okay? So you don’t have to be afraid anymore, because I’ll keep watch over you and make sure you sleep soundly.”

I squeezed her tightly, letting out a little sob. “Thank you, Rosie. That means a lot to me.”

Just having her next to me, her comforting words hovering over me and her hooves around me, made me feel a lot more relaxed and not as afraid. I slowly calmed down, my thoughts beginning to quiet, and a short while later I was out, having a deep and dreamless sleep.

When I woke in the morning I still felt her holding me. Rosie was snuggled in tight to me. I thought she was asleep too, but when I moved her eyes instantly opened, looking red with fatigue. In a drowsy voice she said, “Is it morning yet?”

“Yes, kid. It is.”

“Thank Celestia,” she said with a sleepy groan. “Now I can finally sleep.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I stayed awake all night.”

“Couldn’t you sleep?”

“That’s not why. I chose to stay awake.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I said that I’d protect you. If you started having any more nightmares I wanted to be sure I was right there and awake so I could wake you up again.”

My face clenched up as I began crying again, throwing my hooves around her for her considerate action. “You didn’t have to do that, Rosie.”

“Yes, I did! I love you too much. I don’t ever want to see you sad or upset.”

My heart filled up with all my love for my little sister. It was things like this that made me adore her so much. She was so unrelenting in her affection.

“I’ll go get you some breakfast, then you can go back to sleep for a little while. Remember, you only have a week left until you start school.”

Despite her fatigue I saw a big smile come to her face. “I’m really excited about that. I can’t wait until I meet all those new kids. Maybe I’ll find a scooter buddy and we can race and be rivals just like you are with Rainbow Dash.”

“That would be lovely. Just remember to always play fair in a race. That was an important lesson Rainbow Dash taught me. I was so fixated on winning that when we first started racing I was thoroughly miserable. It’s not about whether you win or lose. It’s about doing your best and having fun. So long as you can do that losing doesn’t matter.”

I went to grab Rosie’s breakfast. When I got back I could see her half-asleep and dozing off. She gratefully ate and drank her breakfast.

When she was done I gave her forehead a kiss as I rubbed her tummy a bit. “Thank you, Rosie. I mean that! I really needed it.”

A tearful smile came to her face. “I’m glad I can help you sometimes, after all the things you do for me.” Her eyes closed for a moment before she shook her head, trying to shake the sleepiness off.

I pushed her down onto her pillow. “Go to sleep, Rosie, and have some good dreams for me, okay? I’m going to school now, but what do you say we go to the park again later?”

“O…kay…,” She responded slowly, closing her eyes. I grabbed her favorite stuffed animal and placed it in her hooves, smiling as she held it tight to her. It was a teddy bear with an orange coat. It originally had brown hair, but she had dyed it purple and named it Scootie, saying it was so she could always have me with her at night even when she didn’t come to sleep in my bed. The depths of her love for me never ceased to warm my heart.

I still had a few minutes until I had to leave so I just rubbed her mane until I heard her breathing change and knew she had fallen asleep. She was always cute to me, but she just looked so adorable when she was sleeping.

“I’ll see you later, Rosie,” I said in a whisper as I left the room and headed to school.

The next few days I was too scared of sleeping alone to stay in my room at night. The days were normal, but I kept feeling afraid that something bad was going to happen soon, and I don’t know why. I knew Rose could tell something was off about me, but she was so excited and keyed up about school that I kept it from her. She got so upset the first time without even knowing the details. I didn’t think she could handle that truth.

I kept thinking of telling Mom and Dad, but I hid it from them too. I knew that they’d reassure me and tell me it would all be okay, but it felt like saying it out loud, letting my fears out, would somehow make them a reality. So I hid it from all of them.

The night before Rosie’s first day of school I decided to sleep by myself again. I hadn’t had any more nightmares so I thought I’d be okay. She said that she was going to miss having me as a bedmate, but she’d come and visit sometimes. I saw her bright smile and I followed suit. I kissed her goodnight and went to my room.

I took my books out and did a little more of my book report before packing it away and going to bed.

I had another nightmare. It wasn’t as bad as the last one. This time it was even worse! I was just having an ordinary outing at the park with my family. We were having a picnic under a tree. The pegasi were setting up for a storm. Lightning began crackling. One hit the tree next to us, causing a large portion of the tree to break in half, crushing all three of them.

I woke up, feeling cold all over and sweating. Again! I had a nightmare again! The instant I decided to sleep alone those horrible images came to me. It had started the day after I gave Rose my scooter and began training her in scooter riding. At first it wasn’t that bad, but each one was steadily worse.

I really, really wanted to go to Rosie’s bed to sleep, but her first day of school was in the morning, and I didn’t want her to be exhausted by spending the night awake to make sure I was okay.

I left the house, flying up into the air. I didn’t even care where I was going or where I was heading. I just flew as hard as I cou;d, trying to outrun my fears. I felt like I had regressed back to the frightened, worthless filly I used to be.

I flew and flew until my wings burned and I couldn’t stay in the air anymore. I was panting like crazy but it had only slightly alleviated my fear and pain. I collapsed onto the ground, staring up at the moon. A memory came back to me then. I remembered Princess Luna coming into my dreams, saying she was supposed to protect ponies from nightmares. I guess she either didn’t have time to get to every single one, or I just wasn’t asleep long enough for her to help.

Princess Luna had said to me back then that as long as I didn’t face my fears the nightmares would continue. Back then it had been about me not feeling good enough for Rainbow Dash to see me as anything special. I had finally confessed that to her, and she made me her sister. Following that my nightmares did stop.

But how was I supposed to do that here? What I was afraid of was my family dying or getting seriously hurt. How was I supposed to face that unless it actually did happen? I was so unsure of what to do, and I didn’t like it. My path had always been so clear for the past few years. Now I felt like the path had suddenly disappeared. Had I hit a dead end? Was there anything I could do about it?

I lay on the ground for a while, catching my breath. When it was back to normal I stood up and started the walk home. I had flew straight the whole way, so I knew I had at least an hour walk ahead of me, but I didn’t think I was going to get any sleep tonight.

I looked up towards the clouds, feeling that I needed to talk to Rainbow Dash about this in the morning. She had taught me so much about being tough. I think I needed another lesson from her. I really hoped she would be able to tell me what to do.

When I finally got home I don’t know how much later I was exhausted. My head felt so empty, and I sank into my bed, unable to stay awake any longer.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Best first day of school EVER! Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 50 Minutes