When You Need Them Most

The sun was up, the animals were out, and Scootaloo was up and at 'em, trying out new tricks and routes around Ponyville with her scooter, as always. She went around, buzzing through town, getting the occasional gasps and such in response to her awesome moves. She loved living dangerously, but was smart enough to know her own limits and when to play it safe; however, today she had felt exceptionally dangerous, and had chosen a route she usually ignored, a path a short ways from the Everfree Forest. Upon straying from her usual riding routes, she had come across a trail covered in rocks and holes, and despite her best attempts to stay the course, a wheel had gotten lodged in a hole and had broken off, which had led Scootaloo to crash into a hollow tree as a result. She smashed right through it and had gotten lodged into the trunk, her scooter now totalled and destroyed only a few feet away from her. Struggling to get out of the tree proved to be fruitless, and had only made her more uncomfortable and desperate to be broken free.

Of course, Scootaloo had chosen that moment to wonder why she had chosen the dangerous route in the first place, and had no real answer for her own reckless behavior.

"Why did I choose this stupid path anyways!? HELLOOO?! ANYPONY? HELP ME!" she cried.

She scanned her surroundings after crying for help, but saw no real indications of help ever arriving.

"Great, nopony heard me."

She couldn't help but think about her friends and loved ones, already believing the tree would be her final resting place. She had always been bugged about her wings, and was always getting picked on about her blank flank without Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, so why would it be different with her gone anyways? Maybe it was the depressive stage in the final moment of her life talking, but she couldn't help but feel hopeless at that point. Why would Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom want her anyways? They probably just saw her as something that slowed them down anyways. Those two could do well by themselves, and probably never even saw Scootaloo as a real friend, but instead something to help them in their quests to get their Cutie Marks. Maybe she was obsolete, and was only seen as an annoyance to her peers? Maybe, she didn't truly fit in? Maybe she truly didn't have a place on this world..

Just then, her thoughts were interrupted by a rustling noise beside her. She waited and gazed at the source of the noise, ready for whatever fate had set for her. The longer she stared, the louder the rustling got. It grew louder, and louder, and louder before Scootaloo accepted her final moments and covered her eyes just as the rustling had stopped. She trembled slightly and kept her eyes shut, opening them up again seconds later as she wondered why she hadn't been taken away yet. Up ahead was Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, investigating her scooter before they both caught sight of their orange friend.

"Scootaloo!" The two said.

"Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom! I though you guys forgot about me!"

"Forgot about you? That's crazy, we'd never leave a fellow Crusader behind!" Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, plus we wouldn't know what to do without you!" Sweetie Belle added.

The two nodded in agreement and walked over to try and pry Scootaloo free from her wooden imprisonment.

"RRGH. This thing won't budge!" Apple Bloom sighed and let go of the tree. She sat down and thought of her next course of action. "Aha! We could break the tree!"

"Break it?" Sweetie asked.

"Yeah, break it! If this tree wasn't empty on the inside, there would've been no way Scootaloo could've ended up in it like that! Sweetie Belle, you take the left side, and I'll take the right; let's buck this tree open!"

Sweetie nodded and took a position on Scootaloo's right, and Apple Bloom had taken the left.

"Ya ready?" Apple Bloom called.

"Yeah!" Sweetie said.

"Yup! Get me out of here!" Scoots replied.

"Alright! Three... two... ONE!"

The two kicked the tree, and Applebloom, having been taught about proper bucking techniques from Applejack, was able to break the tree on her side, where as Sweetie Belle had merely pushed it, causing it to fall Apple Bloom's way.

"Woah. Woah! WOOAAH! APPLE BLOOM! LOOK OUT!" Scootaloo cried.

Sweetie Belle watched the plant fall over on Apple Bloom and couldn't help but gasp and stare, hoping the two were alright. Seconds later, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both popped out of the plant's leaves, covered in tree sap. Sweetie Belle ran to hug them.

"Guys, you're alright- uugh, tree sap!" She backed away.

Apple Bloom smiled and hugged her orange, sappy friend.

"So, you wanna go back to Ponyville?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Oh, you betcha!" Scootaloo replied.

The two got out of the tree, where Apple Bloom met up with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo walked up and struggled to pick up the three broken pieces of her scooter. She was joined by the other two, who both picked up pieces of the scooter and smiled.

"Come on, let's go get this thing fixed." Apple Bloom smirked.

"Hey maybe we could get some fixing Cutie Marks from this!" The three gasped and started running back to Ponyville.

And maybe it was just the 'near death' experience talking, but as Scootaloo raced to her hometown, for once in her life, she had truly felt loved and accepted.

Like she was truly meant to live there.

The end.