"Cutie Mark Crusader Repair Ponies!"
"Wait," Sweetie Belle piped, about to ruin the mood. "Didn't your sister say that we shouldn't touch the heavy farm machines?"
Scootaloo could only face-hoofed. How were they ever supposed to get their cutie marks without a little work? Applebloom stepped up, prepared to assuage all concerns.
"Don't worry Sweetie Belle, Ah see Applejack use the wood chipper all the time to mulch up branches and stuff! It's just a couple buttons, nobody will get hurt or nuthin'!"
"Yeah, Applebloom is right!" Scootaloo said, piling on Sweetie Belle. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we can do it!"
With the conclusion of their rousing speech, Scootaloo and Applebloom dashed off to the other end of Sweet Apple Acres, where there was a wood-chipper in dire need of repair. Sweetie Belle followed at a slower pace, still unconvinced.
"But we're Cutie Mark Crusaders, we never get anything done..."
"No Scoots, put that wire in the other wire!"
"Applebloom, I don't know anything about wires! What the hay am I supposed to do?"
"And Sweetie Belle, are you gonna fix that jam? We can't fix this without getting that stick outta the gears!"
Sweetie belle sighed, having to deal with Applebloom standing on the top of the chipper and command them all was exhausting.
"I'm trying!" Sweetie exclaimed. "But my magic still isn't strong enough to get it out!"
"Well use your hooves silly! Get in there and get dirty, we don't have all day ya know!"
"Fine..." Sweetie belle said with another sigh, sliding herself down the chute where anything needing to be chipped, mulched or otherwise destroyed is put. Using one forehoof to prop herself up and putting her hind legs against the bottom of the chute, she used her free hoof to poke and prod at the debris sticking out, trying to wrest it out.
"Come on, you stupid stick," she muttered.
"Hey Applebloom!" Scootaloo yelled from under the chipper. "Did you mean this wire?"
Applebloom hopped off the top of the machine, tired of Scootaloo's inexplicable lack of knowledge with electronics.
"Come on Scootaloo, get it right! There's only two wires!" She yelled, standing on her hind hooves and throwing her legs up in the air.
"Oh, so it must be..." Scootaloo said with a grunt. "THIS one!"
"Hey guys! I got the-" Sweetie Belle called, before being interrupted by the large machine whirring to life.
The noise was deafening, but neither Scootaloo no Applebloom would ever forget the piercing scream of Sweetie Belle being mulched by some terrifying machine.
"Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo called out, ripping the wired out furiously.
Crawling out from under the machine, the very scared filly pegasus ran to the front of the machine, only for her heart to plunge into her stomach. Her mind could hardly believe what her eyes were telling her, and tears started to well up.
"I-I'm gonna g-go get... get help..." she stuttered before sprinting off as fast as her young legs could, desperate to find someone, anyone that could help.
Applebloom had not moved an inch from her spot, eyes stuck wide open, her face covered in blood and the liquefied remains of Sweetie Belle's leg.
However fast Scootaloo ran to find an adult, Applejack ran twice as fast. When she arrived to the scene Scootaloo could hardly describe whilst babbling and sobbing in front of her, she could hardly stomach it.
In front of her was Applebloom sitting on the ground, sobbing, whispering, and holding Sweetie Belle from behind tightly. Sweetie Belle was a wreck, covered in blood spatter and tears, both of which were still streaming from her at an alarming rate. The worst part though, was her left foreleg, which was shredded below the knee, her pristine hoof and much of her leg simply gone. Strands of bloody flesh and skin flowed out of the stump, and a jagged end of a bone was visible. She did her best to clutch her injured leg with her good one to stem the flow.
"I'm sorry Sweetie I'm so sorry..." Applebloom muttered to her mutilated friend, rocking her back and forth gently. "It's all my fault and I didn't mean it it's all my fault, please I'm so sorry..."
Applejack stood watching for a moment before returning to reality, realizing that the situation was urgent. Taking a hair tie out, she fashioned a tourniquet around Sweetie Belle's leg and gave her a nuzzle on the head for comfort.
"I'll be back as soon as I can with Twilight, or a doctor..." She said, her voice raspy and choked up. "Just... hang on Sweetie Belle."
Applejack ran towards Ponyville, her heart heavy and tears starting to fill her eyes.
It had hardly been two days since the accident, but Sweetie Belle was already well and recovering at the hospital. Despite the complete loss of her left foreleg below the knee, her spirits remained high, and she was even cracking hoof jokes with Scootaloo. She received visitors often, and was happy to see half the town wished her a speedy recovery.
She wished Applebloom was there too, but since that fateful day, she had only visited once. Applebloom merely apologized, holding back tears and refusing to look at her best friend before running away. Sweetie Belle didn't understand why she ran, she still loved her best friend and didn't hold any hard feelings. When she asked Rarity, her older sister merely sighed and said Applebloom would come around with time.
Another few weeks passed, and Rarity had already conferred with Twilight and many others to draw up plans for a prosthetic hoof. She even went as far as to make sure it would be compatible with any and all fashion. While she explained the concept to a very interested Sweetie Belle, a nurse poked her head in.
"You have a visitor," she said, opening the door for a miserable looking filly to shuffle in.
"I think I'll leave you two alone for a moment," Rarity said quietly, giving her sister a kiss on the head before letting herself out.
With only the two of them in the room, the silence was deafening. Sweetie Belle was sick of this, and she couldn't stand to see her like this any longer. She wanted her friend back.
"Applebloom... are you okay?"
Upon hearing those words from the pony she hurt so much, Applebloom looked up at Sweetie Belle, tears filling her eyes.
"Am... I okay?" She choked out before charging the bed and hopping onto it, wrapping her friend in a tight embrace. "How can you ask that?! this is all my fault! You lost your leg because of me and you ask me if I'm okay?"
Sweetie belle wrapped both legs around her tightly, trying to comfort her friend.
"Come on Applebloom, I forgive you... we're all still Cutie Mark Crusaders. We stick together."
"Yeah..." Applebloom released her friend, sitting back and wiping tears away. "Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"Hey..." Sweetie Belle said, raising her bandaged stump and waving at her. "Cutie Mark Crusader Amputee?"
Sweetie Belle earned a punch on the shoulder from her friend, and Applebloom cracked her first smile in a month.
