Scootaloo was running. She ran past the bushes, through the thorns, getting a small slash on her front hoof. She ran through the horrible forest as she looked behind her.
"Where is it?"
She had panic in her voice. She could feel the dirt in her eyes as she turned right rapidly, making a small cloud of dust.
She knew she was doomed, she was simply trying to gain a little time.
"Now to the left... Don't trip..."
She didn't know why she was talking to herself. After a moment of thought, she realized it was to keep her sanity. Funny thing, why would someone running for her life talk to herself?
Lost in thought, she slipped on her front hoof and stumbled a bit. She thought "irony" to herself for a small moment, considering what she told herself seconds before. She regained balance, and when she looked up, she saw that she was running into a tree.

The impact was inevidable, she knew that she would crash, get caught and eventually fail. Sad thing was, she did not know what she had failed. Randomly find something like that, and then someone starts stalking you. Not the average day for an orphant schoolfilly.
---
She was on the ground, a big bruise on her head. She got up again and started to walk. She didn't run. She was getting tired of it. It would eventually find her, no matter how much she tried to run. She didn't actually know where it was, she could simply feel it's presence. If it was right next to her, watching her or very far away.
She could feel it right away. Right now she knew that it was behind her. She closed her eyes and turned around. She didn't want to open her eyes again, fearing it would be the last time. She felt the grass under her hooves, and the wind blowing past her.

Scootaloo opened her eyes, and gasped.

"Oh... Shit." Lots of thoughts entered her mind at that moment, being so close to the thing that had scared her more than anything else in her entire life.
She was facing the creature and the last thing that came to her mind was what it actually could be.
She thought of if it would hurt, how she would react within the next hour, or if she would even live to the next hour. It was all a mystery.
All the things she missed. She'd never look up in the sky and see that firm and solid rainbow trail after the most awesome pony she knew. She would never meet up with her two best friends and do stupid, but funny stuff for a stupid cause.
It was a stupid cause... Why did they want to know what they would do for the rest of their lives? Maybe it was something boring. But on the other hand, it was the talent just for them, it would adapt to their needs and likes. She hoped so, at least.

Scootaloo snapped out of it, thinking about that she was alive now, and that she should try and keep it that way. She looked with intense at him. It wasn't very big, perhaps a foot higher than her. It had the shape of an ape with a piglike head. It reminded her of the statue of Discord she had seen that one time.
It had a long black robe, decorated with jewels. Still, it could move perfectly fine, even with the robe dragging the ground.
She looked a little close and noticed that it was hovering!
"Look at your face, so filled with confusion. `Oh my, he can fly, but he has no wings! What a surprise!´ I'm surprised that you haven't even considered anything else than I'm just a monster who stalks kids!"

The little filly was dumbfounded. Not only was this creature flying and able to talk. He was being sarcastic! Either she was experiencing the most fucked up thing ever, or she was insane by now. The latter seemed most believable to her, considering the things she had seen the past week. She needed help, and she knew it. She had to escape.

She looked around and scanned the area. She could see some branches and a small path where she came from, but not much more. Not even the sky were visible under the trees, which made it dark. She slowly moved towards the branches, hoping she could use one of them as a weapon.
The ghostly creature ahead of her sighed loudly.

"Yes, do that! Grab the branch and desperately try to attack me. Goddamn it, are you even trying? Just try and cooperate with me and we wont have to play hide and fucking seek!"
A sudden burst of rage welled up within the little filly, telling her not to flee, but to attack. She held it back, and screamed at him instead.
"Cooperate?
COOPERATE!?
You stalk me for days, you break into my house, you appear from nowhere and decided to take me to some castle? I'm a little filly, following the creepy guy to the woods! Isn't that just plain dandy? HUH?"
The creature flew closer and closer, with a heightened brow, slightly annoyed with her screaming. It felt like he was staring right through her.
Scootaloo was getting tired of all the running, fighting and the damages. She hadn't felt anything before in the rush, but now she started to feel her head aching from the tree and her slash on her front hoof was screeching with pain. As she looked down on it, she noticed it was bleeding far worse than she had expected.
She decided to make her move and run to her friends.
Scootaloo grabbed one of the branches confidently, and then hurled it towards him and turned around. She started to run, blinded with adrenaline. Sadly, it didn't work out quite as she had expected.

Thud!

Confused as she was, right behind her was another tree, and being hunted by a thing that looked like an ape with a piglike head, she did not notice it until it was too late. She ran into the tree, head first and collapsed.
She woke up about a minute later, staring into the dark red eyes of her stalker. They weren't filled with evil, more like annoyance. It was also like they were hiding something beneath, and that he was trying to play it off with comedy. In her opinion, very bad comedy.
"Why, who knew that you would care that much about the environment. Some people are simple treehuggers, but you take the prize.
"OH COME ON!...... Fuck you and your sarcasm!"
The creature looked at the face which was constantly changing emotion. He could see how the anger welled up within her and he didn't care enough to stick around with a screaming little girl. He could simply sense how the little pony ahead of him became less filled with panic, and decided to make his move.
"Hey kid, knock knock.
"I!" She slowly started to stand up.
"HATE!" She got ready to charge with the last of her energy.
"YOU!" She ran forward, but of no use, as the creature teleported right next to her.
With amazing speed he hit her firmly, but still soft on the neck and she collapsed immidiatley. He grunted and said to himself
"You got knocked down!" A second later he realized how bad that joke was, and was glad that nobody heard him.
As he looked around himself in the forest, he grabbed the body in front of him and shot up in the sky. Moving towards the shabby castle he sadly had to live in for the next few months.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scootaloo! Wake up will ya'? Applebloom and Sweetie belle stood outside of the small house. They had been waiting 5 minutes for the windows to open, and they grew more impatient.
They knocked on the door, and waited a little longer. The looked at the clock hanging in the town square, and noticed that it was still pretty early.
"What do we do now? Wait here until she wakes up?
"Nah, we'll go to the clubhouse an' prepare for some stuff, an' then we'll come back'ere and get her!
They both agreed it was a good idea, as long as they thought of at least one idea that they thought was completely dangerous, because that's what Scootaloo would've chosen.

The two friends walked off to the clubhouse, thinking about ideas on their way. They didn't talk much on the way there, and even though they had a lot of ideas on the road, when they sat down by a table and started to talk they all seemed inappropriate.

"So... What're we gonna to do t'day?" Applebloom asked with an unsure smile.
"Well... We could swim? "
"Already done it, sugahcube..."
"what about... Running a race?"
Applebloom looked at her with a grin that implied Sweetie belle was lying to herself.
"Hmm...Oh screw this!"
Sweetie belle put on a nasty face implying that she was grumpy, which pretty much everyone in Ponyville hated. Applebloom opened her mouth slowly to say something, but stopping herself before any sound came out. She repeated that, but whatever came into her mind didn't fit the situation. She carefully observed her smile and knew what she meant by it.
As a matter of fact it could mean anything, but thankfully she and Scootaloo had a feeling of knowing what troubled her, anytime; anyday.
"Wanna go back an' see if she's awake?"
Sweetie belle's weird face disappeared immidiatley she beamed with a huge smile.
They started to walk towards Scootaloo's house, discussing about everything in Equestria, laughing wildly when they were talking about the time when Rarity brought in a huge rock which she called "Tom". Sweetie belle kept using the term "Astonishingly hysterical!" Which Applebloom found very funny.

They were kind of happy during that walk, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Scootaloo's house, and stopped in the middle of their conversation.
"Hey Applebloom, what's the time?" Sweetie belle asked, not taking her eyes of the house.
"Ah' dunno, 'bout noon?"

They knocked on the door, listening hard after the sound of hooves. They didn't hear anything for a minute, so they touched the door gently and noticed it was open.
They slowly walked in with unsure expressions.
The door slammed shut behind them.
At first sight, it looked like only the hallway was used. The house looked kind of odd inside.
There was a huge hallway, which went from the door to the window in the other side of the house. The hallway had 4 rooms on the left side, and on the right side there was a few mirrors, a table with some fruit in a bowl on it and a painting that resembled a rainbow.
"Bet'cha five bits Scoots hanged that one up" Applebloom giggled to herself, but Sweetie belle looked at her seriously.
"Applebloom, did it ever occur to you that we were never allowed in here? Scootaloo always said "Because her uncle wouldn't let us" but here is no sign of any grown-up pony!"
Applebloom thought about it for a second, and looked in the hallway again.
There was only one coathanger, it was kind of dusty on the floor, and in the open closet it was only saddlebags, scarfs and other items designed for a little filly.
Applebloom, like Sweetie belle; started to become suspicious.
"So, are you saying Scootaloo lived all be her own all this time?" Applebloom said with doubt in her voice.
"Well, no grown-up is here and this is where she lives!"
"Whatever... Let's check trough the rooms?"
Sweetie belle thought about it for a second, before nodding firmly.

In the first room there was a living room that looked like it hadn't been used for years. It was dust and spiderweb all over the room, and the vividly coloured rug looked completely grey now. The table in the corner of the room had a unlit candle on it, and an empty glass. There was also a trashcan right behind the door, with a piece of paper in it.
Sweetie belle picked it up and read aloud, so Applebloom could hear.
"Congratulations miss Scootaloo! You have been awarded with 1000 bits for participating in the -Most spectacular pegasus move of all time- quiz and naming the right answer! I hope you will one day complete the amazing sonic rainboom aswell!
/The wonderbolts contest section"

"Well, ah guess that'll explain how she lived all by her own." Applebloom said softly... The room flashed for a second, and Sweetie belle panicked for a second.
"What was that!?"
"Don't worry, probly' nothing... let's go to the next room."
The next room looked normal. It was what a simple pony would call a kitchen. Basically it was only a refridgerator and an oven, with some other stuff like a baking desk and some cupboards.
There was no table, so they assumed that she was eating in her room. As they were about to leave the kitchen, the room flashed again. This time, Sweetie belle turned around a few times, before shrugging and moved out of the door. As they kept going, they lost their courage more and more, being afraid of what they would find.
Sweetie belle was shaking a bit, and she just couldn't find out why.
There were an atmosphere in the house that felt... Unwelcoming. They tried to shake it off, but it was always there, touching them mentally.
They went on to the third room and they knew this was Scootaloo's room. Maybe it was a sixth sense telling them, or it because of the sign on the door saying "Scootaloo's room"
Applebloom went in first and looked at everything.
What she saw scared her. Whoever lived in this room could NOT be their friend Scootaloo. The first thing was that it was clean. Very clean. Everything was so organized, it looked like Twilight sparkle would come every week and clean it. Second of all, it was pink everywhere, with pictures of princesses and Sapphire shores all over the walls. Scootaloo was very tomboyish, and didn't like pink, girly stuff and she especially hated pretty much everything made by Sapphire shores. The third thing, and probably the most important one, was that under the bed there was a weird item.
Applebloom crouched down under the bed, and noticed it was a ragdoll of Rainbow dash.
It was torn to pieces, shredded by what looked like giant teeth. Applebloom pulled back, schocked; and smashed into Sweetie belle, who cried with cracking voice "Hey, watch it!"
As she said that, the room flashed again. None of the two noticed it this time.
Applebloom tried to speak, but just stood there shaking. Sweetie belle dragged her out of the room, closing the door behind herself.
"Alright, what is it?" Sweetie belle demandingly.
"Shredded..... A... A-a shredded doll of Dash..."
"I know that doesn't sound like Scoots, but why does it frighten you THAT much!?"
"No.... I- it talked to me. It whispered horrible, horrible things to me!"
Sweetie belle didn't want to stay longer in the house, so she made Applebloom snap out of it with a slap on the face, and told her just to look in the last room. Applebloom held back her tears, gulped and slowly nodded.
Sweetie belle had regained a bit of her fear again and said in a cracking voice.
"Since Scootaloo is basically in love with Rainbow dash, I will be expecting some good thing of her in the last room, don't you think?"
Applebloom stared at the door and nodded.
Sweetie belle opened the door with a light thud and noticed she had guessed right.
In the last room the walls were plastered with paintings. Pictures, drawings, texts... It was all there. And all of them had something to do with Rainbow dash.
"Whoooa..... She must REALLY like Rainbow dash." Sweetie belle said amazed.
Applebloom, now feeling better from the shock of a talking shredded ragdoll; Said sarcastically: "Nah... Really? What made ya think that?"
She finished with a sarcastic grin, and started to look at the walls. A lot of pictures of Dash flying, a few of her sitting at home, and one was a detailed image of the sonic rainboom. She had seen it in a picture that Twilight had showed Applejack once, but she didn't understand how Scootaloo knew what a sonic rainboom looked like.
"Perhap-" She stopped herself when she saw another picture with Scootaloo on Derpy hooves back, with a text above that said "Thanks Derpy, for taking me to see my hero! I don't mind the crashes or the fact that you flew the wrong way, we got there!"
She lowered her ears, and said in a sarcastic tone: "Oh."
"What?" Sweetie belle suddenly asked, making Applebloom jump.
Applebloom looked somewhat irritated at the walls and made grunts every other second.
"We've found a'bunch of weird things t'day, and we don't even have a clue where Scoots is!"
Sweetie belle shook her head and started to look at the walls. "We'll find her, don't you worry!"
They could see simple drawings, poems, all kinds of stuff. Suddenly, Applebloom froze. She looked at a paper different from the others, and took it down from the wall.

-Where is MY sister? Outside of my dreams?? Why am I so lonely in here??-
Above the text there was a picture of Scootaloo and Rainbow dash on a cloud, both smiling. No... Not on a cloud. In a cloud, as if it was a dream, or thought.
Sweetie belle said suggestively: "Turn the paper around"

Applebloom did so, and saw a letter strapped to it. She turned around to Sweetie belle, but before she could utter a word, she noticed the camera on top of the door quickly before the room flashed again. Two fillies as themselves didn't have the perfect nerves, and rushed out as fast as possible.
"Alright, what the living shit just happened??" Sweetie belle screamed out furiously.
"It was a camera! It took pictures of us, an' ah bet somethin' happened with Scoots! What do we do??"
"We can't do anything!" Sweetie belles voice cracked in every word she said.

Slowly, Sweetie belle was starting to get a hold of herself and started to think back at what had happened.
"Right, so we got a missing Scootaloo, something recording, or taking pictures of us... We can't find her like this, I feel like I'm being played out, like a doll. And what do we do with that letter?
"We can't find her, but others can. Get mah sister, get Rarity, get the entire goddamn town if ya need to!" I'll get the most important one.
"She lived alone for years Applebloom! Who could possibly know anything about this? Let alone help us? And what about the letter!?

Applebloom held up the paper in her hand, and with a sad expression put her hoof on the words "My sister"

She wrapped up the piece of paper, and started to walk towards the house of Rainbow dash. Quickly glancing back saying "Ah'll read it with her, ah think that'd be a good idea; don'cha think?
She walked a few steps and listened. Suddenly she heard Sweetie belle run in the other direction, and with a bit of guilt put on a small smile.
"This is gonna be a hell of'an adventure."

Next Chapter: Chapter Two Estimated time remaining: 28 Minutes