The Phantom

[Mairzy Doats]

After her conversation with Dr. Stable, Rainbow Dash had needed to clear her head a bit. She had gone for a fly. She zoomed up into the air and flew streaks over Ponyville. She shouldered past Thunderlane, who was struggling with a stormcloud, and pushed it right out over Froggy Bottom Bogg in twenty seconds flat. She then aggressively went after the other clouds, cutting through all of them and causing them to dissipate. The charcoal colored stallion, who boredly hovered at a lower elevation, snarkily muttered "Finally decided to show up to the job, Rainbow Dash?"

Dash stopped in her wingflaps "What!?!" Her voiced cracked a little. She zipped down to Thunderlane's level "Listen to me you canary-winged liar!" She still hadn't gotten over the time he had lied about being sick, getting a number of ponies ill as well and ultimately costing Rainbow Dash her record when it came to providing Cloudsdale's water supply. "I am not in the mood for your dragon dung today! Do you understand?" She said, getting in the stallion's face. "I am not in the mood!"

Thunderlane visibly became smaller "Oh...Miss Dash...I- uh...hear my laundry calling!" He explained, before zipping off. Dash watched him go, blowing steam out of her nose.

This was ridiculous. Every cloud over Ponyville was gone and Rainbow Dash still needed something to mess up. This in mind, she dashed to the apple farm. The trees, when bucked, gave more resistance than the clouds, and each buck absorbed some of her anger. Half ripened apples fell to the ground, but Dash dodged them. She had done about a dozen when an orange pony in a Stetson hat came sauntering up. Looking at the grounded apples, she raised an eyebrow and said "Ugh, Ah appreciate th' help," she walked over to one of the bucked trees and picked up one of the green, shrunken fruits "but it'sa little too early in the season for apple buckin'."

"Applejack!" Dash exclaimed. She did not have any more bucks in her. The pegasus was a strong flyer- her power was in her wings. Muscle was heavier than fat or even bone, and as such, it was a good idea not to tone her thigh muscles muscles like AJ did. She would be loathe to admit it, but she was already tired.

"Is som'thin' wrong, Sugarcube?" Applejack continued with that wry but concerned tone.

Rainbow Dash scratched her six colored mane with her hoof before beginning. "Applejack...I'm the fastest, most awesome pony in Ponyville right?"

Inwardly, Applejack rolled her eyes "Yeah, you can say that."

"And a pony who's as awesome and fearless as me would me a doubly awesome sister, wouldn't she?"

Applejack blinked this time. The conversation had taken a sudden sharp turn into what-the-hay territory. That question certainly came out of left field. "Um..." Applejack said "ain't you an only foal?"

"Well, duh, technically."

Applejack's eyes shined with a new light as she thought of something "Hey, Rainbow Dash, your parents ain't expectin' another little ball a'joy, are they?" Applejack could not keep the smile off her face, and she was brimming, waiting to tell Rainbow Dash a number of baby-Applebloom stories, but the pegasus mare cut her off.

"What?!? No! I mean, what if I wanted to became another pony's sister..."

Applejack blinked again "Another little pony?" She had lost the thread of the conversation. Rainbow Dash looked her hopefully. Applejack searched her face for some clue and, when she didn't find it, her mind wandered. She wanted to be somepony's sister? What did she mean by that? She looked suspiciously at Rainbow Dash again. There was an old mare's tale about ponies with rainbow maines. Applejack had had no reason to believe it before, but...

"Uh, Dashie," she said "I'm not sure what you mean by that, but just in case yur thinkin' what I think yur thinkin', I just want you to know, I'm flattered, but I'm not really lookin' for, uh..." she blushed, not sure how to finish the sentence. Ruby eyes blinked several times, then Rainbow Dash facehooved.

"What? Oh- AJ! Don't tell me you believe that old mare's tale about rainbow manes!" She said "I mean, even if I was, do you really think I'd just ask you to be my very special somepony out of the blue like that?"

Applejack blushed deeper. Now she had embarrassed herself and her friend. "Alright. I gotta say I'm relieved. But I got no idea what you're talkin' about, Dashie."

Dash sighed. Clearly she needed to tell AJ the facts once and for all in order to avoid any more confusion. "Alright, so this morning when I woke up, Owl Eye came to visit me at my cloudhome and..." so the whole story came out. Dash told Applejack all about finding Scootaloo in Whitetail Wood, about taking her to Fluttershy's, what she had discovered there, and the subsequent trip to the hospital.

At first Applejack was skeptical, as the farm pony was apt to be, but as Dash continued, and more details about the encounter with Scootaloo came to light, AJ was inclined to believe the pegasus. She then shifted to happiness when she found out the friend of her little sister was alive and okay, but then concern as she heard more about what Scootaloo's tiny breakdowns throughout the day. Dash paused talking, but Applejack could tell she wanted to say something else, so she prodded the weather pony until Dash finally told her about her conversation with Ponyville General's top doctor.

"But, he's just a judgmental bag of wind, isn't he?" Rainbow stated, all stuff and bluster, her wings out at a challenging angle. Applejack simply stood where she had been and thought.

"Rainbow," she said "ah cain't answer that question."

Dash blinked "Why not?"

"Cause I don't know the answer." She said, borrowing a line from her brother. "Ah just want to give you a bit of advice. It sounds to me that Scootaloo doesn't just need a sister right now. She needs, well, a parent. Now I can tell you easier than anypony how hard it can be to somepony's sister and parent."

Rainbow's ears perked. Applejack rarely, if ever, spoke about her departed parents or how they had left the world. She waited for the earth pony to continue, but it seemed Applejack didn't have anything else to say. Instead she looked at her, expectantly, and Dash knew why. It was her decision to make, ultimately. But she still felt like she was between a rock and a hard place.

"What do I do, AJ?" She put her ears down, now at Applejack's mercy.

Applejack paced the few steps to where Dash stood and put her hoof on the other pony's chest. Dash remembered the misunderstanding minutes before and watched Applejack nervously, but the earth pony only said "You gotta do what this tells ya ta do." And put her hoof down.

Rainbow Dash pressed her ears to her head "That was helpful." She said sarcastically.

"Oh tarnation- you know what I mean! Follow your heart you silly pony!"

"Still not helping!"

Applejack sighed. She had an urge to do a facehoof herself. "Look," she said "if you cain't be her sister, at least be her friend."

Dash didn't follow, so Applejack went on, giving her more than a hint "When ya'll were in the hospital, what did your friends do?"

"Ya'll- I mean you- came and visited me?"

Applejack tilted her head and gave Dash a wry look.

"Oh! Right!" Dash said, rocketed into the air, and was gone.

***

Dash was told she could see Scootaloo, but the filly was likely sleeping at the moment, so the mare shouldn't be too upset if she was too tired to visit. Dash understood this, and left the nurse's station to go to the filly's room. It was dark, and Dash tried to make her hooffalls soft as she came in. "Dash?" The filly asked the air.

Rainbow Dash closed the space between her and the bed "Hey," she said in a soft voice "how's Equestria's number one scooter...scooter-er..." Scooterler? Scootaloo?

But the pony didn't notice as, in front of her, the filly started writhing in bed, her face distorted with pain. Unable to get peace, the filly thrashed about. She looked a bit like a bratty foal who had been told that his parents weren't going to buy him a new toy, but Rainbow Dash knew this wasn't like that. She was having a wing cramp, and a bad one. "Scootaloo!" She yelled, then got some air and shouted. "HEY! SCOOTALOO!"

Once she had the filly's attention, she said "I want you to try some wing stretches with me, OK?" She then landed on the bed, and in full view of Scootaloo she put her wings in a pose "Act like you're trying to touch both sides of the room with your wings, like this. Just do the best you can, okay? I know it looks like it will make it worse, but you'll be Ok." She promised emptily. The way her wings were broken, the stretches Dash was showing her might not help at all, and the mare knew this. But if anything, concentrating and Dash and the stretches at least got her mind off the cramps.

[TunaticTyler]

The thrashing of the filly was dying down a little, as if her body was adapting towards the pain. It still stung and made her hiss like a frighten animal, but the foal could somewhat control herself. Her magenta eyes watered and soon enough she began to hear a voice to her left. At first, she thought it was some nurse that would come in and take a mere check-up on her. The usually "make sure bandages were on, ensure she wasn't in pain, and leave with a friendly smile," type of routine. Honestly, whilst the staff of the hospital was friendly and kind, the pegasus wondered if they truly meant the emotions they emitted. That of care and helpfulness, well, to most ponies that answer would be obvious.

For Scootaloo, it was hard to trust anypony anymore. Why? Funny you should ask, even she doesn't fully know herself. Remnants of her past warned her, seeing how grim and dark the world really is. What life is like outside of Equestria, and how grateful ponies should be for their seemingly peaceful society. Scootaloo didn't fully understand what happened in the past year, but it was defiantly a life-changing experience. One that, whether she like or not, would have to live with for the rest of her days.

Focusing back on her wing cramp, the cringing filly soon heard Rainbow Dash's strong voice boom throughout the room. As if some natural reaction, she completely stopped crying and looked up. Her wings still twitched in pain, but for a brief moment the foal had her bright eyes centered on her idol. "D-Dash!" she exclaimed in happiness, wincing again as she tried to move a little. Trying to formulate some words, the foal sat up, the pain beginning once again to escalate slowly in intensity. Hearing her instructions, the filly did her best to follow them.

Which, with a pair of broken wings, didn't exactly work that much. Scootaloo was able to stretch them out a little, but due the fractures such movement was generally limited. Plus, if she tried to strain them, it would only cause more damage. So the foal was stuck in this odd "limbo" position if you will. Trying to stretch her wings to stop pain, but stretching them may possibly cause another form of pain. Still, within a few minutes, her face calmed down as the cramp was beginning to subside. Continuing to stretch, she looked at the mare, the bed sheets pulled up to the foal's neck.

"R-Rainbow Dash, a...Thanks for the help. D-Does the town know that I'm here?" Scootaloo asked in a soft voice, trying to sound spunky but mainly just wanting to communicate with her idol. It had been so long, and so chaotic ever since the two met in the Whitetail. But, for once, Scootaloo felt like she could have a more relaxed conversation with Dash. You know, without Dash bathing her or carrying her flank above the whole town and back.

[Mairzy Doats]

The filly finally noticed her and started aping her movements to the best of her abilities. She saw that Scootaloo was straining herself trying to mime Rainbow Dash, so the pegasus adjusted her stretches slightly. She could see the worry on her face- not wanting to cause herself any injury. But after a time, Scootaloo's pains did recede enough that she felt better.

Scootaloo immediately asked about whether anypony knew she was back yet. In her head, the mare took an inventory of Fluttershy, Applejack, Dr. Stable and all the nurses who had seen Scootaloo. It didn't matter; Ponyville was a small town. They'd know soon enough.

"It will happen soon." Dash said "You ready to make your grand entrance?" Whether she was or not, she really didn't have a choice. Recalling her conversation with the doctor, Dash wondered if she herself wanted to keep Scootaloo a secret for another reason. She wondered if she had planted this need for secrecy in Scootaloo's brain, and she frowned.

"So, there's something we should talk about," she said, finally getting off Scootaloo's bed. She didn't want to talk to Scootaloo about it, but it was paining her to keep it to herself. "I guess it's a good thing;" she said "people knowing about you, because...

"Well listen. The doctors want to do surgery to fix your wings. But before they can make a decision about that, you need to have somepony to speak for you. Since you're not an adult yet." She coughed. "Someone who...is kind of like, your family."

She looked at the filly and was overcome suddenly. This filly who had disappeared for a year, who had faced the wilderness alone, who bore scars of traumas that not even she could recall. Dash wanted to be her sister- to the be the pony who could reach out and take her under her wing mend her up and get her back on her feet. But it wasn't out of pure pity. It was admiration as well. It wasn't the same thing Dash felt for Spitfire- Scootaloo had endured so many unspeakable hardships and she was still able to crack a smile. Even before all this happened, Dash was admired Scootaloo in a certain way. Her independent spirit, her tenacity, her adoration of her idol. Dash was so much like Scootaloo at that age. She still was!

But the doubts of Dr. Stable, and the less obvious hesitancy of Applejack, swirled in her cranium. Neither of them thought she was up to the job. And what if she wasn't? This wasn't another problem Dash could solve by going fast. In fact, Scootaloo kind of needed the opposite of that. Dash didn't like to admit that was bad at anything, but it was true. If she was asked to do Rarity's job, she'd have no idea where to start.

"So, yeah. A guardian." She chewed a piece of her mane. "Until we find somepony like that, there's not much they can do for you here except keep you comfortable."

"But uh, hey! You don't need to decide that kind of thing right yet." Why did she change the subject? Because it was hard for Scootaloo, or because she didn't want to hear what Scootaloo had to say? "I came to visit my friend in the hospital- to make her feel better. So I brought these," she opened up her saddlebag and took out some books with her mouth, one by one. She laid them on the side table, covers up. "I started reading Daring Do Adventures when my wing got broken," she said, winking at Scootaloo. See? It happens to awesome ponies too. "At first I was embarrassed," she said, which was unusually humble for her, but Rainbow Dash really wanted to make Scootaloo feel comfortable "which was dumb," she admitted "because Daring Do is the most badass pegasus in print."

She hoofed the first in the series over, hoping Scootaloo would understand what loaning this books meant to her.

[TunaticTyler]

Scootaloo's face was written with pure worry, concerned on how the town would react to her arrival. Surely the ponies of this humble town would be more than overjoyed to hear that one of their most beloved citizens had not fallen pearl to the cold grasps of death. Even those that did not know Scootaloo directly would probably find comfort that a filly that used to live her hasn't died to various amounts of reasons. Still, she worried that she would be viewed and treated like some mental asylum patient gone loose. With a absurd amount of care and distance, pushing herself away from anymore social interactions with any other ponies.

Plus, there came her other crusaders.

Her best friends that she considered sisters, Scootaloo honestly pondered and how much has changed since her disappearance. With Applebloom having her cutie mark, the little pegasus wondered if her little group of friends honestly still hanged out or have grown a bit while she was gone. The whole point of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was to find their cutie marks, so what happens when you finally find them? Do you help other, younger ponies get their cutie marks? Or do you just move on with satisfaction knowing that you have finally matured in life?

Her questions rattled her brain, and until she met Sweetie and Applebloom those questions could not be answered. Keeping general quiet as she thought, Scootaloo was slowly informed by Dash about her situation.

Her wings needed surgery...but nopony was her guardian to approve that.

Instantly, dreams and hopes of being Rainbow Dash's sister flew in her mind. Flying together, spending time together, keeping each other close as their soaring hearts flutter above the skies. It was a fantasy of Scootaloo that she knew would never fully come true. Why? Because she knew what it toke to be a Wonderbolt. A duty and honor that was so prestigious, one often distances themselves from even their family. As much as the little filly didn't want to admit it, she never wanted to *be* Dash's sister. It would only hold her back, slow her down, and degrade her one, true idol.

A sacrifice if you will. A sacrifice on both ends of the spectrum. One must understand that she can only watch in awe, and nothing more. While the other must fly as fast and elegant as she can, for the sakes of her friendships that she would leave behind. Sure, the Wonderbolts allowed you to visit your hometown and see your friends here and there, but nothing will ever be the same. Time moves on, and along with it the ponies that inhabit the seemingly perfect world of Equestria.

Fluttering her broken wings a little, the young foal sighed heavily as she rubbed her magenta eyes. "So, what, am I being put up for adoption now?" she asked in a annoyed fashion, a sense of anger in her a little. The foal didn't want or need parents, she never needed them before. Nopony asked about it before, but now suddenly the crying damsel-in-distress needed a big pony to come in and cradle her away? Just because she was dragged into the unknown for a year and now came back half-dead and half-alive?

In her mind, it seemed silly and hypocritical.

Hearing Dash change the subjects briefly, Scootaloo faintly nodded in agreement as it was clear she didn't want to talk about that subject or dwell in it in any fashion. Perking her ears at the word "friend", the foal's troubled heart rested as she brightly smiled. Dash always seemed to make Scootaloo generally more positive on everything, maybe it was the sense of her fantasy sisterhood rising back within her. If anything, it was clear that the mare could technically take care of her from the standpoint of calming her down from any predicament.

"Books? But..." she murmured, looking at them oddly even after the praise Rainbow Dash gave them. "These are usually soo boring, Dash! You know I've never been much of a reader..." the filly whined faintly, remembering how she practically slept through Equestrian class when Cheerilee taught it. Looking at the covers, she smirked looking at the awesome pegasus swooshing in on a rope whilst a alligator narrowly missed biting off one of her hooves.

Maybe she was wrong on this one.

[Mairzy Doats]

Where had the days gone! Between getting caught with all her weather work, helping Pinkie Pie with her puppet show, and trying, in vain, to control the rumor of Scootaloo's return, Dash had barely gotten an hour of free time. There was also sleeping that needed to be done, but not before the whole town was buzzing with the news that their the lost filly had returned; safe, but not entirely whole. After this, Ponyville reporters showed up, eager to get the scoop of Scootaloo's mysterious disappearance. They asked questions about the blank spot of her memory, threatening to make her protective walls crumble again. This is why Rainbow Dash became something of a protector- stationing herself at the door of the hospital room and interrogating anyone who wanted to visit the filly.

Pinkie Pie's excited reaction to the news also came and went- and not as bad as Dash feared it as well. The hypercharged pony brought Scootaloo a slice of cake. "I didn't know what your favorite was," Pinkie Pie admitted "so I mixed all the ingredients and made a white-yellow-red velvet-chocolate-coffee-carrot-angel food-cheese-strawberry-sponge cake!" Pinkie Pie only showed up, though she promised to arrange a "small get together" sometime after Scootaloo was out of the hospital. She tried to put on a preview of her new puppet show, but Dash explained that she thought maybe Scootaloo was a little old for that and shooed the pink earth pony from the room.

The only other ponies Dash allowed in were those she knew personally. Scootaloo had some minor surgeries to prevent further damage to her wings and ease some pain. After Rainbow chased off yet another gaggle of soldiers, Dr. Stable came around. He looked surprised to see the pegasus and sidled up next to her. "Rainbow Dash, are you aware you've been here since this morning?"

"What's the big deal? You worried I'll forget about my turtle or something?" Rainbow Dash snapped. Dr. Stable was Scootaloo's doctor, but Dash had not been friendly with him over the last couple of days.

Dr. Stable got a funny look on his face, then, sternly, he turned on a heel. "I'm sending you home, Rainbow Dash. Nurse Sweetheart can take your place at guard duty."

"I'm as capable of keepin' reporters out of here as anypony else." Rainbow Dash barked.

"This isn't about Scootaloo, Miss Dash. This is about you. About your health. Go home and get some sleep. Scootaloo will be here when you come back."

Dash didn't have a snappy remark, nor did she feel like arguing with the doctor yet again. I really do feel tired. So she left, and took a nap in her cloud home. When she woke up, Princess Luna had still not raised the night. Dash felt refreshed and, realizing that she still had a few hours of her own, did some things around the house. Checked the mail, took Tank for a walk/fly, solidified some of the misty spots of her walls. Still having a few hours, she decided to do something she'd wanted to do for a while.

In her kitchen, leaning in a corner was the spear Rainbow Dash had found in Whitetail Wood just before finding Scootaloo. Such a strange relic is was. When she had gone back for it, a part of her had expected it to be gone; moved by some mysterious for. But there it was, untouched. But of course- she had left it in the serene Whitetail Wood, not int he the strangely animated Everfree Forest. She still had no idea what it was, but, in some part of her mind believed that something about the spear would tell her what had happened to Scootaloo. In the present, Rainbow Dash picked this up with her teeth and fly out over the town with it.

Dash angled down when she got over the tree that housed the Golden Oaks Library. Not one to use doors when another option presented itself, she made for an upper window. Seeing a certain lilac unicorn on the other side of the glass, she tapped on the window with the spear until Twilight took notice.

[Mairzy Doats]

When three ponies have a dynamic that is as tight as what they shared, removing one of those ponies changes the dynamic drastically. One day, Scootaloo was there, with them, planning their latest scheme. The next, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle couldn't find her anywhere. Annoyance that Scootaloo was hiding turned into worry as another day passed without any sign of her. They had enlisted their sisters to help, who had in turn enlisted their friends. When the whole town got involved in the search, and still Scootaloo didn't show up, their attitude turned from "Cutie Mark Crusader Search Party!" To "Something is seriously wrong."

The rift between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle appeared slowly, creeping in between the two of them like a deadly snake. At first, they decided that they would put all the business of their club on hold until Scootaloo was found. Summer came in full swing. Waiting for the pegasus to come back became more of a chore. So, hearts both heavy, they decided to resume the duties of what they had founded the CMC for anyway: finding their own cutie marks.

They gave it a good effort. The earth pony and unicorn resumed trying just about everything under the sun, picking up where they had left off that summer. But though they kept doing the same things, there was something missing. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had never realized it consciously, but the their club had a secondary goal: to have fun with one another. Doing the same things, but without their third member- it put a strain on them. A strain that was difficult to overcome.

The fight happened the first time their big sisters went to the Crystal Empire. It was a stupid thing; really- a disagreement about with cutie mark finding activity they would do next. Seeing that the Summer Harvest Parade was coming up, Apple Bloom wanted to get a start on building a float to represent her family's farm. She had some ideas for a new engine and was very excited. But Sweetie Belle wanted to do something else. There was no third voice to turn the tide of the argument in one way or another, and the two ponies kept fighting until finally they told each other, angrily, that they didn't want to be friends anymore.

This may be obvious to the reader, but Apple Bloom was unable to see that her fight with Sweetie Belle didn't have to do with the Summer Harvest float. It had to do with having emotions that she didn't know how to deal with. For someone so young to deal with the loss of another young person, not to mention a close friend, is quite a shock. To Apple Bloom, death was something to happened to old ponies. Yes, her parents were gone, but that had happened when she was too young to remember. In other words, she had never gotten to know them, so she had not felt that she had lost anything. But she knew Scootaloo well enough to be her friend, and she had no reason to believe the pegasus would not a permanent installment into her life. To make it all worse, she never got a chance to properly mourn Scootaloo, because nopony knew for sure that she wasn't alive.

Though it didn't make sense, and it wasn't fair, Apple Bloom was angry at Sweetie Belle for not being more like Scootaloo. It was a cruel thing to think, and at the same time, Apple Bloom loved Sweetie Belle and cherished how different the unicorn was from the departed pegasus. And in truth, she was even more furious with herself. She simply did not understand why she continued to exist when Scootaloo was gone. She felt like she had inadvertently cheated at life.

Apple Bloom built the float alone. She became single minded, locking herself in the back room of the barn for ages while she worked on the device. Her older siblings often checked on her, trying to talk her into going to play outside or visiting Sweetie Belle. When the earth filly informed Big Macintosh and Applejack that she and the unicorn were no longer on friendly terms, the adults became quite concerned indeed. Apple Bloom started getting into arguments with her siblings over leaving the workshop, arguments that culminated in yelling and insults.

Finally it came to the point where it was all Applejack could do get her sister to eat dinner with the family and go to bed at a regular hour. As it was still summer, Apple Bloom did not even need to leave the workshop to go to school, and without Sweetie Belle swinging by the farm anymore, the earth pony was relatively free of distraction.

The float came along beautifully. A big, ripe apple to symbolize her family farm. It was not just a float- it was a car. Like the others, it could be driven from within, and even steered. At first Apple Bloom had painted the apple red, like her brother's cutie mark, but coming to her workshop the next morning, the earth pony didn't like it. With her allowance, she purchased five more cans of paint, and turned the apple into a giant zap apple. With it's six garish colors, that was an apple to be proud of!

The week of the parade Apple Bloom's cousin from the city came to visit. Apple Bloom had threatened to lock her workshop and throw away the key if she didn't give the filly from Manehattan some attention, so, grudgingly, Apple Bloom took Babs on a tour of Ponyville. Noticing the other's lack of a cutie mark, Apple Bloom mentioned the CMC- before stating that the club was no more and dropping the subject abruptly. It was half over when they ran into Snips and Snails. The two colts seemed taken by Babs's accent and demeanor and wanted to know everything about her life in Manehattan. Putting on a macho attitude, the other blank flank took easily to boasting to the young colts. Feeling that her work was done, Apple Bloom went back to the workshop.

The float wasn't Apple Bloom's only project. She had, through means she wasn't exactly proud of, come into possession of Scootaloo's scooter. Apple Bloom remembered the amazing flips and tricks the pegasus used to do with this thing. But what amazing things could Scootaloo do if the scooter was rocket charged? And so Apple Bloom went about making improvements on the scooter. This would be an awesome present if Scootaloo came back! She also borrowed Twilight's balloon a couple of times to study it and figure out how to make lighter than air crafts, and built a music box for Pinkie Pie, and even drew up a blueprint for a cider making machine- not unlike that which had visited Ponyville the year before, but this one would be powered by good only fashioned earth-physics, not unicorn magic.

There came interruptions to her work. Worried about her sister, Applejack took Apple Bloom hiking into the unicorn range. The trip was filled with many pregnant pauses (though not for lack of trying on Applejack's part), surly glares and arguments that erupted from tiny sparks. Apple Bloom pushed Applejack even further away, and the mare grew deeply concerned. But her attention was taken by the reunion- a parade of one social activity after another, each one physically painful to Apple Bloom. She was depressed, and every bit of socializing and merry making Applejack suggested grated against her very being. Apple Bloom didn't want to race six legged with Babs, and she didn't want to go on hayrides. All she wanted to do was work on her projects, because when she got lost in her work, she could disappear.

Somewhere, in this flurry of activity, a certain blemish appeared on Applebloom's side. The earth pony didn't notice it, as she had made a point to stop doing activities that reminded her off Scootaloo, including checking her flank. Given that she really only saw her family for supper times then ran off, she didn't become aware of her cutie mark until days later when Granny Smith had come to visit her in the workshop. When the elderly mare pointed this out, Applebloom let out a squee of pure joy.

"My cutie mark? My cutie mark! Oh Celestia!" She said, rearing. "Wait until I tell Sweetie Belle and Scoo-"

She stopped mid rear and put her hooves to the ground. Tears suddenly came to her eyes, inexplicable as they had never appeared before since Scootaloo had disappeared. Suddenly unable to face Granny Smith, she ran off at a gallop. Tears continued to build and obscured her vision as she ran. When she finally stopped, she under one of the apple trees. She learned her forehead into the bark and sobbed. What is wrong with me? This should be the happiest day of my life!

***

She was back?

Scootaloo was back?

Apple Bloom had not known how to react to this information when it had reached her a few days before. Should she be happy? She should be happy right? But Scootaloo had been gone for so long. Everything had assumed she was...gone-gone. So, she should be shocked, right? But if Apple Bloom had really never expected her to show up, then she wouldn't have fixed her scooter.

It wasn't like not knowing how to feel was anything new. Her emotions just weren't equipped the right way anymore. Everything she tried to feel was like wearing pants on your forelegs. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled. She know how much her family loved and worried about her, and that she was being mean to them, but she hated them for butting into her life. Her favorite foods tasted wrong; her favorite song was like nails on a chalk board. Even the brief happiness that had come when she got her cutie mark had only become a torment.

And so it was with an indifferent attitude that Apple Bloom walked to the hospital. The filly walked in a weird, two legged gate. One forehoof was leaning against the handlebar of Scootaloo's scooter, the other hanging uselessly, and she walked on her two back legs while using the scooter to balance herself. It made her feel like some kind of weird, freakish, furless creature from a fantasy novel.

A nurse pointed her in the direction of the room. Apple Bloom had not even had to introduce herself- the nurse knew her. She and her friends had been treated for minor cuts and bruises here- signs of their cutie mark questing. And besides that, they had all volunteered as candy stripers for a day. That was a long time ago; when Scootaloo was not disappeared and Apple Bloom was a pony who belonged in the world.

And so she came to the door. She knocked.