"...I was scared, too."

Scootaloo studied the blades of grass and trails of dirt below her hooves as she walked. Just a few feet in front of her, Rainbow Dash lead the way back through the woods to the cave they had all been camping in. The rainbow pony's swishing spectrum tail kept popping up in the filly's peripheral vision. To think that the fastest, coolest pegasus ever was going to take her under her wing, and even better, become the big sister she'd been wanting for, like, ever!

That said, one thing was prodding Scootaloo's mind. Something that simply didn't make any sense.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, squirt?" The mare responded, using a hoof to push aside some bushes and branches. The gaping wide entrance to the cave was now in sight, and Dash made a triumphant snort, as if it was some great accomplishment to relocate the cave cliff, visible over the trees as it was.

"I was just wondering...how did you know how to find me? I, I thought you were sleeping when I left the cave earlier."

Dash's high-spirited trot came down to a steady walk. She cocked an eyebrow, looked back over her shoulder and made eye contact with the little filly as they trotted into the mouth of the cavern. Dash lowered her voice noticeably as to not make an echo that'd wake the others.

"Well, it was kinda weird, actually." Dash began. "I had a dream where I was in the Wonderbolts. We were flying around and showing off our stuff at a show rehearsal. All of the sudden, just before I was gonna wow Spitfire with my moves, Princess Luna popped out of nowhere and told me you were in trouble, and that you'd ran off into the woods by yourself. I woke up and saw you weren't there, so I came out lookin' for you as fast as I could. I heard your voice over by the river after following your scooter tracks. Turns out I got there just in time, as always!"

S-She got visited by the Princess, too!? Scootaloo thought to herself with a cute bite of her lip. Her tiny bumblebee reminiscent wings fluttered so fast they made a buzzing sound. Princess Luna really had been looking out for her, hadn't she? She not only talked to Scootaloo about confronting her fear, but she even saved her life, too!

"Well, here we are. Home sweet cave. Now it's seriously time for some of that shut eye I've been cravin'." Dash chuckled, walking over to her cozy sleeping bag and flopping down on it with a thud. She tucked her lower hooves down inside, and gave a contented smile at the cool temperature of the fabric. Within moments she was happily tucked against her pillow, blissfully unaware of the tangerine filly, who was now garnishing a sudden wide-eyed expression.

Returning thoughts of the horse from her nightmares had begun flooding Scootaloo's mind all too quickly. She peered around, expecting to see a dark shadow, or to hear that horrible neigh she had heard before fleeing the cave in the first place. That noise was...it had to have been the Headless Horse. What other creature could have made noises like that? Even if it had followed her out from the cave, it might have followed her and Dash back in...what if it got her? Or Rainbow Dash? Or one of her friends, or their sisters?

The cave was quiet for a moment. Scootaloo made a nervous sigh and trotted over to her own slightly smaller sleeping bag, throwing the covers over herself and laying down, trying to ignore her thoughts. A rock dislodged and tumbled down from the walls somewhere out of view, and the fillies' jumpy heart rocketed into her throat.

"R-Rainbow Dash..." she said with a weary voice.

"Mmmm?" Dash monotoned.

"I-I really don't feel that sleepy..."

Dash groaned a bit to herself. After a moment, she sacrificed her more than comfortable position in order sit up, laying on one elbow. She stared at the filly, who, now suddenly put on the spot, loudly cleared her throat and chuckled meekly, kicking off her blanket and putting her front hooves casually behind her head. Dense and fatigued as Scootaloo's 'big sister' was, Dash hadn't the faintest clue what was really going on. The connection from 'don't feel sleepy' to 'still scared' was a lost message to her.

"Alright, fine, I'll bite. Why can't you sleep?"

"I...uhhh...well, I guess I'm just still a teeny tiny bit sca-"

"-are you all wired up cause of your dip in the river? I bet the water musta been kinda cold this time of night, huh?" Dash guessed.

Scoots stoppped mid-sentence. After a moment of blank-faced thought, she giggled and nodded.

"Hah, umm, yeah, it was pretty cold."

Rainbow nodded knowingly and got out of her sleeping bag completely, circling around and prodding the covers for something.

"Thought so. Well, how about this: AJ brought along one of my favorite books when I asked her to, cause I figured I might get bored at some point along the trip. I could read some of it to you if you want. It's a pretty awesome story."

Dash made a barely audible 'aha!' when she found said book hiding underneath the end of her pillow. Grabbing it with her mouth, she stood up straight, made a glance or two at Applejack and Rarity's over-the-top sleeping tent, then put the book back down.

"Maaaaybe it'd be a better idea if we read out by the campfire. I don't need AJ or Rarity getting on my case about waking them up with my reading. 'Rainbow Dash, I'll have you know I need my beauty sleep, and I can't have any with you reading so loud.'"

Scootaloo couldn't help but giggle at more of Dash's Rarity impression. She had to admit, the idea of a story-a non-spooky story no less-sounded like a good way to keep her mind off of the Headless Horse. More reassured than before, Scootaloo followed her idol out of the cave. Dash had begun dragging her nap sack with her.
--
Once Dash had relite the campfire for light, and positioned her sleeping bag appropriately for maximum exposure on her book, she reintroduced herself to the comforting inner folds of her nap sack. Sighing and laying the book out in front of her, she laid back against the wrapped up head of her sleeping bag.

"Alright squirt. Figure out where you're gonna be, cause' I'm all set."

Scootaloo nodded and smiled just long enough for Dash to return the expression, then turn to focusing on her prized book. Unfortunately, Scootaloo was torn. Wrapped up in the potentially calming story, she had forgotten to grab her own sleeping bag, and wasn't about to gamble a meeting with the Headless Horse or even the Olden Pony by going back alone to grab it, now. She scuffed her hoof against the ground, muttering an 'umm' or two before forcing herself to trot up to Rainbow, who had already started to reread the opening of the story to herself quietly.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, do you think I could just sit with you? Heh, I forgot my sleeping bag and don't wanna go drag it all the way out here. Ya know, since you already have yours, and all."

Dash had finally turned her attention away from the story, and was about to reply. The wind howled, branches shook and leaves swirled in a spasmodic dance down to the ground by the fire, causing shadows to float along the fire-lit ground. A moment later, Dash found the orange filly already in the sleeping bag with her.

Kid sure could move fast when she wanted to...

"Ummm, yeah, sure, whatever. Alright, here we go. You're gonna love these stories, even I couldn't put them down. This one's called, 'Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue'. Twilight showed me it this one time when I broke my wing, and I was stuck in the hospital until it got better. I was hesitant, but then I found out that not all books are brainy or boring."

Off in the distance, the wind rattled the trees further, and an animal scurried around in the bushes. With no room to move or look around, Scootaloo pressed herself against the warm blue pony torso available to her, more. Dash smiled a little, instinctively wrapping her free hoof around the tangerine filly's back.

"You're bein' awfully clingy, squirt. Don't tell me you're still spooked over those ghost stories I was telling you earlier."

"Me? Hahaha, n-no, not at all, no way! I'm not scared of those silly old stories anymore! Heh, yeah, no fear here!...*ahem*, I'm just...cold. The fire isn't that warm, ya know, heh."

"If you say so. Well, I suppose this pegasus can double for a pillow as well as the storyteller pony for tonight." Dash remarked, playfully ruffling the filly's mane before beginning to read.

Just as Rainbow Dash herself had done when she first traversed through the hot, mosquito-filled tropical jungle with Daring Do in her adventure to find the Sapphire Statue, Scootaloo listened intently, hanging on every word. When the jungle cats attacked, Scootaloo's mouth hung slightly open as she attempted, and failed, to read further ahead of where Rainbow Dash was out of anticipation. When the mare was caught by the dastardly Ahuizotl and placed in an impossible trap, the filly made the appropriate 'whoa...', and then when she escaped, 'awesome!'.

As pages went by, the strength of the beckoning flames from the campfire diminished, and so too did the young fillies' consciousness. The warm rainbow pony hadn't budged since the story had begun, and Scootaloo was sure she had found the comfiest thing to cuddle up to when trying to fall asleep, ever. By the time Daring Do had swiped the statue from Ahuizotl's clutches and left the beast to yell her name in frustration, the young orange pony had lopsidedly fallen asleep against Rainbow's chest.

"Out like a light." Dash commentated to herself in a whisper, closing the book with one hoof and using her wing to maneuver the silently sleeping filly out of the sleeping bag. Packing up her things and gently placing Scootaloo on her back, she fluttered back into the cave. She laid the pony back into her smaller sleeping bag, let her own things down to the cave floor, and then, for what she hoped would be the final time that night, snuggled herself into her bag and let her head hit the pillow.

Upon the moon, visible to nopony, asleep as they were, the regal face of a smiling alicorn peered down on her kingdom of night below, satisfied with her sleeping subjects.

Author's Notes:

While we all wait inevitably for me to get on with 'Sisterhood, Defined', a story of which I've yet to figure out what I want to do with or where I want to go with, here's a short one shot that's akin to 'Tumultuous Disharmony' in the sense of it being a bridging scene, and thus a story that's supposed to be read as an add-on to the already existing story, which in this case, is 'Sleepless in Ponyville'.

~Thanks for reading