The Raid on Ponyville Hospitalby JJ GingerHoovesChapters'No buts'Planning and PreparationIt begins'No buts'Chapter 1: 'No buts' It was a typical sunny afternoon in Ponyville, and two fillies were sat inside a clubhouse, waiting patiently for their friend to arrive. Scootaloo absentmindedly traced a circle on the wooden floor with her fore hoof and Sweetie Bell was making ‘pop’ sounds with her mouth. The conservation had dried up, but when Apple Bloom came, it would reignite again. Scootaloo sighed, rolling onto her back, sticking her hooves into the air, wiggling them around lazily. “Sure taking her time.” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “Wonder where she is...” Sweetie Bell’s voice trailed off at the end of her sentence, as she began to think of where the yellow filly could be. Suddenly, a blur of yellow and red burst into the room, much to the other’s surprise. Both of the previously bored fillies suddenly jolted upright onto their hooves to see Apple Bloom skidding on the floor in an attempt to slow down. The wood squeaked under the earth filly’s hooves as she slowly halted to a stop. She then jumped and turned in the air, facing her two comrades. “Girls, girls, girls!” she exclaimed, panting heavier than normal. “What, what what?!” replied the other two, big grins on their faces, wondering what exciting news Apple Bloom had brought. “Well, Applejack just came from the hospital and-“ “Is she okay?!” interrupted Sweetie Bell, a look of worry forming on her face. Apple Bloom gave a blunt look at the unicorn, “Can I finish?” Sweetie Bell nodded quickly, feeling a little embarrassed at her overreaction. Scootaloo snickered quietly to herself, and then brought her attention back to Apple Bloom. “As I was sayin’, Applejack came from the hospital today. She’s fine...but...” Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo now, making sure the pegasi was ready to hear the next piece of news. Scootaloo just tilted her head in confusion and gestured with her hoof for Apple Bloom to continue. “...but Rainbow Dash broke her wing today.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle winced a little, expecting Scootaloo to burst into an explosion of worry and dread. Her actual reaction though, was far different. “I don’t believe it. She’s called Rainbow Dash for a reason, not Rainbow Crash.” She had a serious look upon her face; clearly she didn’t find this funny at all. “But it’s true! Honest! You gotta believe me!” pleaded the earth filly. Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin with her hoof, thinking: “I dunno Apple Bloom, it does sound unlikely.” Then her face lit up as an idea struck her on the noggin. “I know! We’ll go to the hospital and give her a visit!” “That’s if she’s even there.” Scootaloo remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes once more. Apple Bloom let out a groan of frustration, but then sighed deeply, holding onto her composure. “Look, trust me on this Scoot. Ah wouldn’t lie about something like this.” Scootaloo looked into Apple Bloom’s eyes, assessing her sincerity. “I suppose...but I just want to make sure!” She then headed for the exit and went down the ramp, onto the fresh grass. Apple Bloom smiled, glad that her fellow Crusader finally believed her, and followed Scootaloo out of the door, leaving Sweetie Bell behind. “Uh, Cutie Mark Crusaders patient visitors?” Sweetie Bell shrugged, following her friends out of the door. ____________________________________________ The three Crusaders stood in front of the Ponyville local hospital, gazing at the entrance doors. “I don’t like hospitals...or doctors. They give you nasty shots.” Sweetie Belle shivered, remembering the horrible time Rarity had to take her here to get a shot. She created a huge scene, so much so, Rarity refused to go to take Sweetie Belle to the hospital for a check up ever again. Getting a needle in your flank when you didn’t even need one was a shock to Rarity, to say the least. Apple Bloom blinked, looking at Sweetie Belle with a shocked expression, “They fill yer with holes?!” The white filly giggled, “No silly, it’s the thing with the needle...and they...yeah...” she shivered again. “Oh! Right! I knew that...” Apple Bloom rubbed her neck, making an embarrassed smile. She then noticed Scootaloo was absent. She looked at the doors, then at Sweetie Belle, inclining her head towards the entrance before finally walking and pushing open the doors, Sweetie Belle following her. They found Scootaloo jumping repeatedly in front of the receptionist’s desk, trying to grab any member of staff’s attention. “Excuse me! Excuuuuse me!” A yellow pony with a curly blue mane and a nurse hat soon entered through the doorway next to the desk. She went behind the desk and peered down at the pegasi, “Can I help you?” “Yes! Do you know if Rainbow Dash is being treated here?” The nurse raised an eyebrow, looking confused. “Uh, which one is she? We had a couple of new patients today.” Scootaloo frowned deeply, looking un-amused. “She’s the one with the rainbow mane...” she explained bluntly. The nurse looked like she had been slapped in the face, and then chuckled to herself lightly in an attempt to mask her surprise. “Ah yes of course. Yes, she was brought here with a broken wing from a nasty accident. I assume you’re here to visit her?” It took a while for Scootaloo to answer the question, her mouth slowly going agape. She looked like she had seen a ghost and then been turned to stone by a cockatrice for good measure. The nurse attempted to quell the pegasi’s fears, “Oh don’t you worry, she’s fine. Just needs a few days rest is all.” Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief, looking like she was deflating as she did so. Her fellow Crusaders, who had now joined her, performed a similar action. “So, who are you?” the Nurse asked, tidying up some papers on the desk. “Oh! I’m Rainbow Dash’s number one fan!” replied Scootaloo, leaping into the air. The nurse’s face quickly turned sour, she snorted at the Crusaders, “Well, ‘number one fan’, what Rainbow Dash needs is plenty of rest. Certainly not a rabble of over excited fans disturbing her. I’ll have to ask you three to leave. “B-but!” whined the trio, now looking very disappointed, especially Scootaloo. “No buts.” And with that, their fate was sealed. Hanging her head dejectedly, Scootaloo ambled towards the exit, pushing open the doors with her head, Sweetie Belle followed closely behind but Apple Bloom gave the nurse a loud raspberry, then caught up with her friends, her head held high in defiance. “Once they say ‘no buts’, it’s pretty much game over.” admitted Sweetie Belle, the ‘no buts’ line was one of the most common things her sister said to her, along with a variation of ‘do nothing’, so she was well versed in its practices. “At least we know she’s fine.” Apple Bloom remarked, trying to reassure Scootaloo, who looked very downhearted. “C’mon, let’s go back to the clubhouse. We can start plannin’ for tomorrow.” She looked to the skyline. The day was slowly drawing to a close, but Apple Bloom reckoned that they could squeeze in an hour or so until they had to go their separate ways. ____________________________________________ Scootaloo kept quiet during the trek back to the clubhouse, following Apple Bloom’s lead. Sweetie Belle chatted with the Apple Bloom most of the way, but both occasionally glanced back at their orange companion, to check if she was okay. Once they got back, they all entered the interior of the wooden structure. Scootaloo sat down in roughly the middle of the room, looking at the floor. Sweetie Belle planted her rump down and looked at her comrade with concern. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine and be out before you know it!” she said, doing her best to reassure the glum pegasi. Apple Bloom meanwhile had gone over to the desk and grabbed an apple juice carton. She planted it on the floor and kicked it to send it sliding across the floor, bumping softly into Scootaloo. The winged filly slowly shook her head and rejected the carton, pushing it away with her hoof. “It’s not that.” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other in confusion: “Huh?” “This was my chance to prove that I was her number one fan, y’know? Give her my support and stuff.” “Oooooh.” The other two both said at exactly the same time and tone. “Well, we can’t exactly sneak in.” pointed out Sweetie Belle. Following this, Scootaloo raised her head up in a flash, a wide grin starting to form on her face. “That’s it! We’ll sneak in and give her a surprise visit! Like...like...” she rubbed her forehead with a hoof, thinking of the right word. “Like ninjas?” Apple Bloom asked, she was also grinning, liking the idea . “Yeah! Ninjas! We’ll be so awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed, Apple Bloom nodded at her eagerly and then the two looked to Sweetie Belle, who seemed a little unsure. “Well...I guess it’ll be cool...” “That’s the spirit Sweetie Belle! It’s settled then! We’ll spend tomorrow planning and then the day after, we’ll put our plan into action!” Scootaloo stomped her hooves on the floor repeatedly to show her excitement. Sweetie Belle exchanged looks with the other two, now grinning in the same, ecstatic manner. The Crusaders then each took in a deep breath and shouted at the top of their lungs: “Cutie Mark Crusaders ninja force go!” Planning and PreparationChapter 2: Planning and Preparation “So it’s simple, we just sneak in through a window, find Rainbow Dash’s room, chat for a little while, then sneak out like nothing ever happened!” Scootaloo proclaimed much to Sweetie Belle’s and Apple Bloom’s confusion. “Don’t you think that’s a bit...simple?” Sweetie Belle asked. It was a bit of a basic plan and stuff like this in the movies always involved complex planning montages. “Yeah and...the windows will be closed. And we can’t just smash ‘em!” Apple Bloom made a light punch in the air in front of her. The three were sitting in their clubhouse, which was the normal for their planning sessions. But even missions to get their cutie marks had more planning than this. Scootaloo tapped her chin with her hoof, thinking. “Hm, then...we’ll just throw a rock at it!” She grinned to herself; she was such a genius. “Won’t that be a bit...loud?” Sweetie Belle questioned, once more. “I know!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, raising a forehoof. “We can cut in a lil’ neat circle and just climb through! We’ll be as quiet as mice!” “That’s a great idea Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo responded, then paused, frowning a tad as she realised something. “We’ll need something really, really, sharp though.” “Sweetie Belle’s horn?” Apple Bloom pointed at the filly in question, which triggered a confused look from Sweetie Belle. “Nah. Too blunt.” Replied Scootaloo, in a blunt fashion, oddly enough. “Hey!” Sweetie Belle protested, but her cries were ignored and they moved on. “Wait...Sweetie Belle; doesn’t your sister use Spike to dig up gems?” Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle, as did Apple Bloom. “Sometimes. I think he uses his tail though.” “His tail? Doesn’t he have claws?” Apple Bloom wondered. “I imagine he doesn’t want them to get dirty.” Scootaloo said, all three snickering at the joke. “Well, he’s the best shot we got for the time being.” “Let’s recruit him then! C’mon!” Apple Bloom commanded, leading the charge out of the door with a brisk pace. ____________________________________________________________________ “No.” “Aw c’mon Spike! It’ll be awesome!” Scootaloo begged in a whiny fashion. The three Crusaders were stood outside of the library, which was carved into a tree. A pretty impressive feat, especially since the tree was still living. Its leaves were a healthy, emerald green and the bark was a bold brown. It was probably the only library that was carved into a tree in the whole of Equestria. Well, the Crusaders liked to think that; it made them feel more proud about their town. They always found it odd though how a dragon who could breathe fire lived inside an extremely flammable place... Spike stood in the way of the entrance, holding the door open. He had little patience and his body expression showed it, eyes narrowed and his left foot tapping on the floor repeatedly. Twilight Sparkle was out collecting various items and so Spike was left to do his chores, as was the norm for him. “Every time you three do some scheme, you always fail and get covered in tree sap. I’m not going to humiliate myself and get covered in gooey sap!” Apple Bloom interjected at this point: “To be fair, we only get covered in tree sap sometimes.” Her fellow Crusaders nodded in agreement. “That doesn’t change my opinion. I mean, if you’re not covered in sap, you’re probably covered in something else.” Spike snicked, imagining various liquids covering the three before him. “Wait! We’ll pay you!” Sweetie Belle yelled so she would have the dragon’s full attention. Spike rolled his eyes, shaking his head softly. “I’m not interested in getting-“ “In gems.” Spike paused for a moment, his face going blank. He then licked his lips and brought his full attention on the white filly. “Go on.” “Um...” Sweetie Belle looked at the floor, thinking, then back to Spike. “Uh, two?” “Only two?! Make it six.” “Three?” “Six.” “Three and a half...?” “Still six.” The other two fillies looked at the two as they spoke, as if they were watching a heated game of tennis. Sweetie Belle sounded increasingly desperate the longer the exchange went on for. “Four and that’s my final offer!” Sweetie Belle flailed her forelegs around a bit. Spike stroked his chin, thinking this over. “Hmmm. Fine, you got a deal.” The three Crusaders then leapt into the air and cheered, then landed, grinning at Spike. “You won’t regret it Spike!” Scootaloo said, nodding rapidly. “We promise!” added Apple Bloom. Spike sighed lightly, nodding to the three, and then closing the door on them, muttering to him as he resumed his chores. “I think I will.” Outside, the Crusaders checked their flanks. Still blank, as expected. “Darn it, I thought we might one for persuasion!” Apple Bloom stomped her hoof on the ground in annoyance. “Um, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo turned to the white unicorn. “Yeah?” “How are we going to get four gems?” Scootaloo asked, sounding a little snarky. Sweetie Belle tapped her head with a hoof, smiling smugly. “I got it all figured out. Follow me!” ____________________________________________________________________ “So, we’re gonna steal from your sister?” Apple Bloom seemed very unsure of this idea. Mess with the Rarity, you get the horn. And hooves. And magic. And loud screams of anger. “That’s the plan!” Sweetie Belle replied, sounding chirpy and a little naive. The Carousel Boutique was certainly an extravagant building. With its decorations and flashy colours, it was a stark contrast to the innovative library they were just at. Sweetie Belle led the way, pushing the front door open with her head. The bell rang as the door made contact with it. The three left the door to shut by its own accord and looked around the main room. Rarity was no where to be seen. “She’s probably working on some clothes.” Sweetie Belle suggested, leading the others up the stairs and to the door that led to Rarity’s working room. Or, her ‘creative process room’ as she sometimes referred it to. Didn’t change the fact it was a complete mess though. She tried to justify that by calling it ‘organised chaos’. Sweetie Belle slowly nudged opens the door, revealing the chaotic mess of a room. Rarity was inside, using magic to add accessories onto new dresses she had made (both were very extravagant to say the least). She dropped everything however when she saw the door opening, frowning a bit at Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, what did I tell you about knocking?” Sweetie Belle blinked; she completely forgot about this rule. “Oh, sorry sis...” She looked down at the ground, avoiding Rarity’s gaze. Rarity then noticed the other Crusaders and her eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh you brought your friends! Perfect!” She wasn't sarcastic in saying this, for once. This unexpected response from Rarity mystified all the Crusaders. They looked at each other, sharing their confused looks, and then titled their head at Rarity. All three saying: “What?” Rarity never normally liked the three together in her home. She had nothing against them personally, in fact, she found them very endearing. It was just their antics often made ‘organised chaos’ all over the Boutique. “Yes darlings! I have a new line of clothes for fillies and I need you to try them out!” Rarity trotted closer to the trio. Sweetie Belle immediately pushed Scootaloo and Apple Bloom closer to Rarity. “They will!” This trigged an annoyed response from Scootaloo, and a look of confusion for Apple Bloom. “We will?” they both asked, but their different reactions meant their tones were vastly different. Before they could say anything else, Rarity brushed past them and exited the room, shouting from the stairs: “Come along then you two! You’ll look so precious!” Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sighed with frustration, mumbling quietly to themselves as they shuffled slowly out of the room, their heads held low. Sweetie Belle rubbed her hooves together with glee. This was the perfect distraction! And a bit of a sacrifice for the others. They’d get over it. Sweetie Belle rushed over to Rarity’s gem chest and used her forehooves to open it. It wasn’t easy to open, as it was quite heavy for the filly, but at least it wasn’t locked. She then went to the window and pushed it open. All she’d have to do was drop the required gems out of the window. Simple! She returned to the chest and grabbed a gem with her teeth. This was bright and sparkling sapphire in colour. But it was also quite heavy for her. And hard to bite. She hurried to the window and dropped the gem down below. She repeated this process three more times, but each time used a different coloured gem. She wondered if, to dragons, different coloured gems stood for different flavours. After dropping the last gem, she licked her teeth, now aching slightly from the effort, and closed the window before closing the trunk. She smiled to herself proudly, this being simpler than she thought, and she skipped out of the room and headed downstairs. She burst out laughing as soon as she reached the ground floor. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were both standing there, both in the same outfit, but in different colours (Apple Bloom in green and Scootaloo in blue). They wore big sun hats, with fancy, multi-coloured feathers sticking out from the hats. Apple Bloom’s bow, therefore, was absent. They both wore fancy dresses, with big cuffs on the sleeves and fabric that covered the top half of their body, which was covered in shiny, silver gems. Stemming from this was the rest of the dress, transparent and very long, reaching the ground. Suffice to say, both of them looked more than annoyed. “Perfect!” Rarity commented, “You both look adorable!” she said in a voice that probably wasn’t intended to sound patronistic, but to the pair, it certainly was. Scootaloo gritted her teeth and glared at Sweetie Belle, which made her control her laughter to a stop. “You owe us soooooo much.” Scootaloo said, narrowing her eyes. This only made Sweetie Belle giggle more. ____________________________________________________________________ The Crusaders, all back in their normal state, were making their way back to the library. Sweetie Belle had to go grab her saddlebag in order to carry all the gems. The weight bore down upon her though, and she was getting tired. Granted, it was suitable revenge for laughing at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked to Apple Bloom, “Let’s never speak of this again.” Apple Bloom nodded firmly once, “Agreed.” Sweetie Belle giggled again, “I will!” The other two glared at her. “It’s not like you haven’t been in that situation before. Remember the school paper and those pictures?” Apple Bloom reminded her of that shockingly awful photo. Sweetie Belle stopped giggling, the joke now not funny at all. She not only wanted to burn that picture physically, she wanted to burn it from her mind. But successive banging on walls only gave you a headache. “I’m just glad ma bow’s back.” Apple Bloom looked forward, smiling at she patted her red bow. Scootaloo looked at the filly’s accessory. “Don’t you always wear that? Don’t you ever, you know, wash it?” “Oh no Scoot, I just have hundreds of them lying around at the farm.” Apple Bloom replied sarcastically. Scootaloo just rolled her eyes in reply. By now they had reached the library and all three knocked rapidly on the door in unison. After a few seconds, the door swiftly opened, revealing Spike once more. Twilight hadn’t returned yet, it seemed. The rapid opening of the door meant the three fillies knocked at thin air for a short while, after quickly realising this, they all retracted their hooves and smiled awkwardly at the dragon. “You got the stuff?” Spike peered around; three fillies giving him an enclosed saddlebag looked kind of...odd. At least in his view anyway. “Yep!” Sweetie Belle happily said, the other two pointed at her saddle bag. Spike walked over to Sweetie Belle and opened her saddle bag, saying: “These better not be fa-“he interrupted himself as he saw the gems, his eyes grew big and he started salivating. “Yeah they’re real...so real...” Sweetie Belle shied away slightly as she felt dragon spit on her body. It was warm... Spike juggled the gems in his arms and tossed them inside the library. “Different colours. Nice!” Sweetie Belle blinked, “So they do have different flavours...” she whispered to herself. Spike then went back over to the entrance of the library and looked over at the three. “Haven’t you considered the moral implications of this?” The Crusaders titled their heads, not understanding what he meant. Living with Twilight, you learnt a lot of complex words other people, especially fillies, couldn’t understand. “Moral whut now?” Apple Bloom asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Y’know...it’s a hospital and ponies won’t want to be disturbed in the dead of night.” Spike clarified, scratching his belly. “We just wanna see Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed, grinning, all thoughts of morals gone from her young mind. Spike merely shrugged in response. “Fair enough.” It beginsChapter 3: It begins Three dark figures and a baby dragon jumped out of a bush near the Ponyville hospital and crept silently to the nearest window that wasn’t lit up on the inside. It was the dead of the night, with the moon shining high in the sky to prove it, accompanied by many twinkling stars. There was no wind, but it was still quite a chilly night. The Cutie Mark Crusaders wore black jumpsuits that concealed their manes, but their tails poked out of the end through a small hole. For Scootaloo though, her wings poked out of holes on the side of the jumpsuit. Apple Bloom had decided to go a step further, incorporating two lines of red paint on her cheeks. Spike, however, wore nothing fancy. Nothing at all actually; no one in Ponyville made jumpsuits for baby dragons. The four tip-hooved (or in Spike's case, tip-toed) quietly to the side of the window (located at the back of the complex), trying to keep their breaths as quiet as they could. “Spike, do your thing.” Scootaloo whispered, not bothering to look at the dragon; it was too dark to see much. Spike nodded quietly, not that any of them could see mind you, and snuck to the window, looking inside. It was darker than the outside world, so it was probably an empty store room. Spike turned around, his back now facing the glass, and touched the window with the end of his tail. He closed his eyes and started to dig his tail into the glass and move it in a circular motion. Screeeeeeech! Everyone bit their lip and covered their faces as they heard that ear-piercing sound. Nevertheless, Spike kept going, but it soon became apparent that he was only making scratches on the glass. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dived into the nearest bush, trying to conceal themselves in the leaves as best they could. Spike just stood there, continuing, too worried to perform any other action. The sound felt like it lasted an eternity and all the Crusaders could do is hope that no pony actually heard them. Crash! Suddenly, a rock had found itself flying through the window, narrowly avoiding Spike and breaking through the glass. It made a decent sized hole, one big enough for all four to fit through. Spike stopped scratching at the glass with his tail and opened his eyes, gasping. “What the heck was that?!” Thankfully, Apple Bloom had seen the whole charade and sprung out from the bushing, pointing a hoof accusingly at Scootaloo. “What did ya do that for?! Are you trying to get us spotted?!” she whispered angrily at the pegasi. Scootaloo shrugged, advancing towards the hole in the window. “If Spike had kept going, we would’ve been caught anyway.” Spike clenched his fists and looked at Scootaloo, who was now slowly climbing through the hole, avoiding shards of glass on the way in. “You could’ve hit me!” he whispered bitterly. He then climbed in the whole after Scootaloo, not as carefully though, as his scales protected him from the glass shards. “Well I didn’t.” Scootaloo inspected her surroundings. Or lack of them. The room was almost pitch black, but she could just make out shelves. At least they found the right room to enter in. After Spike came Sweetie Belle, followed by Apple Bloom, who both took great care to avoid glass on the way in. Sweetie Belle sniffed the air, reluctantly stepping forward. “Smells like...hospital.” she said, a bit unsure of the smell in question. “You don’t say?” Spike replied sarcastically, snickering quietly to himself. “C’mon, let’s find the door.” Apple Bloom whispered, cautiously stepping forward. She noticed a slimmer of light at the end of the room, which must have been the door way. She began to trot towards the light, stopping just before it and looking up, noticing the door handle. She reached up to turn it, but couldn’t make it; this wasn’t a room for fillies. “I need a boost!” She looked back, her friends now a bit more visible as they stepped closer to the light. “Hold on, I’ll give you one.” Scootaloo went forward to Apple Bloom’s side and knelt down. “Climb on.” Apple Bloom nodded and slowly placed two hooves on Scootaloo’s back, followed by the other two. Scootaloo immediately began to tire under her friend’s weight, and gritted her teeth, using all her power to stay still. “Got it!” Apple Bloom grinned and turned the door knob and pushed open the door with her head. Perhaps she used to much force to do so though, as she toppled over Scootaloo and landed face flat in the hallway. Spike brought his hand to his face, shaking his head softly. “For Pete’s sake...” he muttered to himself. Sweetie Belle quickly ran over to Apple Bloom and helped her up. “You ok?” Apple Bloom merely nodded and stood up on all four hooves. Scootaloo then snuck into the hallway, followed by Spike, who was just casually walking at this point. He closed the door behind him by leaning against it. Thankfully, the door didn’t make a loud noise as it locked into place. “So, how are we finding Rainbow Dash’s room?” Spike asked. He had already asked this previously and got a vague answer. It seemed he was just reminding the others, or just him being his snarky self. “I told you...we’ll just get lucky.” Scootaloo replied, hiding her uncertainty as best she could. Spike shrugged half-heartedly, “Well, if this all goes-“Spike then spontaneously burped out green flame, a scroll appearing from the flames and dropping onto the floor. The rest of the Crusaders froze into place as they heard the distinctive sound of Spike receiving mail from Princess Celestia. “Are we being punished?” Sweetie Belle sighed, sitting down onto her rear. “Great idea Scoot, let’s recruit the dragon that randomly burps out letters!” Apple Bloom whispered harshly at Scootaloo, rolling her eyes. “Hey! You went along with it!” Scootaloo quickly replied, raising her voice a little. Apple Bloom was about to make a retort, when she and Scootaloo were hit on the head with a scroll in quick succession. “You’re both being as stupid as each other by arguing!” Spike interjected, waving his scroll around. “Spike’s right, let’s all shut up and move on.” Sweetie Belle said quietly, going up onto all four of her hooves again and preparing to advance once more. __________________________________________ A dark blue Unicorn with a brown mane sat on the sofa in the Hospital staff room, using magic to hold up a newspaper in front him so he could read with it ease and comfort. Newspapers were his stalwart companions during the night shifts; since patients were asleep, you couldn’t really have a chat to your fellow co-workers. The staff room was an average sized rectangular room. In one corner was a coffer table, surrounded by brown sofas that clung to the walls. This is the blue stallion sat, reading his newspaper. In the corner opposite the coffee table, was the ‘kitchen area’. The light green carpet that normally covered the room was stopped by white tiles. Again, like the sofas, kitchen cupboards and appliances hugged the walls. The rest of the room was mainly dead space, save the odd magazine or coffee cup here or there. The only other thing of note was the coffee machine next to the sofa corner. The blue stallion shook his head in confusion as he read his newspaper, “I’ll never understand newspaper comics. They’re never funny.” Soon after this, the door slowly creaked open. An orange pony with a grey mane entered the room and quietly shut the door behind her. The stallion lowered his newspaper and gave the newcomer a nod, which she replied to by nodding herself. Nodding had become the way to say ‘hello’ to another pony during the night shift, since it was silent and to the point. The mare walked over to the coffee machine, the stallion tracking her movements. Upon realising where she was going, he spoke out. “It’s dry, I’m afraid.” The mare blinked and looked at her co-worker. She sighed in frustration. “Damn, was just what I needed.” The blue unicorn chuckled quietly at her statement, “Heh, we all need it during the night hours. Don’t worry, it should be filled up by tomor-“he suddenly froze, and his ears twitched ever so slightly. His co-worker raised an eyebrow, “Uh, something wrong?” Using his magic, the stallion folded up the newspaper and put it on the coffee table. He stood up and walked over to the door, a stern expression on his face. “I think I heard something. ...sounded unnatural.” “Unnatural?” asked the earth pony, heading towards the stallion. “Y’know, like magic.” He slowly opened the door (again, using magic) and peered down the hallway. He then turned around to face his co-worker. “I’d rather be safe than sorry. Tell the others to be on high alert, I’ll grab my flashlight.” __________________________________________ “This room smells of old ponies.” Sweetie Belle whispered, quietly shutting the door. “She’s not in there.” “So that’s three rooms where she’s not in then.” Spike said, reminding himself out loud of how many rooms they had all checked. “Yeah, its lucky everypony’s asleep.” Apple Bloom whispered, heading for the next door. The low light intensity meant that the four were forced to stay close to each other so that they didn’t get lost in the darkness. Due to the fact that they had heard nopony else, they were all comfortable will whispering casual chit-chat with each other. “These jumpsuits are itchy...” Sweetie Belle groaned, fighting the urge to itch herself. “Just deal with it.” Scootaloo replied, blankly, more focused on the task at hand. They soon reached the fourth door, and once again, Scootaloo knelt down to allow Apple Bloom to turn the door knob. By now, both of them were used to the procedure, and were able to do it quickly and easily. After slowly pushing the door open, the two snuck inside and peered about. Sweetie Belle and Spike stood outside, on guard for any medical staff. Inside room number four, were two hospital beds that were quite a distance from each other. Both patients, as expected, were asleep. One was snoring particularly loudly. Scootaloo crept forward to one of the beds, whilst Apple Bloom approached the other. They got close enough so they could just make out who the pony was. Once again, neither was Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo shook her head silently and headed out of the door. Apple Bloom soon followed, and closed the door by pushing it lightly and leaping into the hallway before it closed. Spike and Sweetie Belle took this as a sign that the room was absent of the rainbow pony and moved on to the next door with the others. But then, all of them froze as they heard the sounds of a distressed patient from upstairs: “Help, burglar! Burglar! Someone’s trying to steal my slippers!” “This isn’t going to go down well...” Spike whispered to himself, as all four of the intruders started to panic.
'No buts'Chapter 1: 'No buts' It was a typical sunny afternoon in Ponyville, and two fillies were sat inside a clubhouse, waiting patiently for their friend to arrive. Scootaloo absentmindedly traced a circle on the wooden floor with her fore hoof and Sweetie Bell was making ‘pop’ sounds with her mouth. The conservation had dried up, but when Apple Bloom came, it would reignite again. Scootaloo sighed, rolling onto her back, sticking her hooves into the air, wiggling them around lazily. “Sure taking her time.” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “Wonder where she is...” Sweetie Bell’s voice trailed off at the end of her sentence, as she began to think of where the yellow filly could be. Suddenly, a blur of yellow and red burst into the room, much to the other’s surprise. Both of the previously bored fillies suddenly jolted upright onto their hooves to see Apple Bloom skidding on the floor in an attempt to slow down. The wood squeaked under the earth filly’s hooves as she slowly halted to a stop. She then jumped and turned in the air, facing her two comrades. “Girls, girls, girls!” she exclaimed, panting heavier than normal. “What, what what?!” replied the other two, big grins on their faces, wondering what exciting news Apple Bloom had brought. “Well, Applejack just came from the hospital and-“ “Is she okay?!” interrupted Sweetie Bell, a look of worry forming on her face. Apple Bloom gave a blunt look at the unicorn, “Can I finish?” Sweetie Bell nodded quickly, feeling a little embarrassed at her overreaction. Scootaloo snickered quietly to herself, and then brought her attention back to Apple Bloom. “As I was sayin’, Applejack came from the hospital today. She’s fine...but...” Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo now, making sure the pegasi was ready to hear the next piece of news. Scootaloo just tilted her head in confusion and gestured with her hoof for Apple Bloom to continue. “...but Rainbow Dash broke her wing today.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle winced a little, expecting Scootaloo to burst into an explosion of worry and dread. Her actual reaction though, was far different. “I don’t believe it. She’s called Rainbow Dash for a reason, not Rainbow Crash.” She had a serious look upon her face; clearly she didn’t find this funny at all. “But it’s true! Honest! You gotta believe me!” pleaded the earth filly. Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin with her hoof, thinking: “I dunno Apple Bloom, it does sound unlikely.” Then her face lit up as an idea struck her on the noggin. “I know! We’ll go to the hospital and give her a visit!” “That’s if she’s even there.” Scootaloo remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes once more. Apple Bloom let out a groan of frustration, but then sighed deeply, holding onto her composure. “Look, trust me on this Scoot. Ah wouldn’t lie about something like this.” Scootaloo looked into Apple Bloom’s eyes, assessing her sincerity. “I suppose...but I just want to make sure!” She then headed for the exit and went down the ramp, onto the fresh grass. Apple Bloom smiled, glad that her fellow Crusader finally believed her, and followed Scootaloo out of the door, leaving Sweetie Bell behind. “Uh, Cutie Mark Crusaders patient visitors?” Sweetie Bell shrugged, following her friends out of the door. ____________________________________________ The three Crusaders stood in front of the Ponyville local hospital, gazing at the entrance doors. “I don’t like hospitals...or doctors. They give you nasty shots.” Sweetie Belle shivered, remembering the horrible time Rarity had to take her here to get a shot. She created a huge scene, so much so, Rarity refused to go to take Sweetie Belle to the hospital for a check up ever again. Getting a needle in your flank when you didn’t even need one was a shock to Rarity, to say the least. Apple Bloom blinked, looking at Sweetie Belle with a shocked expression, “They fill yer with holes?!” The white filly giggled, “No silly, it’s the thing with the needle...and they...yeah...” she shivered again. “Oh! Right! I knew that...” Apple Bloom rubbed her neck, making an embarrassed smile. She then noticed Scootaloo was absent. She looked at the doors, then at Sweetie Belle, inclining her head towards the entrance before finally walking and pushing open the doors, Sweetie Belle following her. They found Scootaloo jumping repeatedly in front of the receptionist’s desk, trying to grab any member of staff’s attention. “Excuse me! Excuuuuse me!” A yellow pony with a curly blue mane and a nurse hat soon entered through the doorway next to the desk. She went behind the desk and peered down at the pegasi, “Can I help you?” “Yes! Do you know if Rainbow Dash is being treated here?” The nurse raised an eyebrow, looking confused. “Uh, which one is she? We had a couple of new patients today.” Scootaloo frowned deeply, looking un-amused. “She’s the one with the rainbow mane...” she explained bluntly. The nurse looked like she had been slapped in the face, and then chuckled to herself lightly in an attempt to mask her surprise. “Ah yes of course. Yes, she was brought here with a broken wing from a nasty accident. I assume you’re here to visit her?” It took a while for Scootaloo to answer the question, her mouth slowly going agape. She looked like she had seen a ghost and then been turned to stone by a cockatrice for good measure. The nurse attempted to quell the pegasi’s fears, “Oh don’t you worry, she’s fine. Just needs a few days rest is all.” Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief, looking like she was deflating as she did so. Her fellow Crusaders, who had now joined her, performed a similar action. “So, who are you?” the Nurse asked, tidying up some papers on the desk. “Oh! I’m Rainbow Dash’s number one fan!” replied Scootaloo, leaping into the air. The nurse’s face quickly turned sour, she snorted at the Crusaders, “Well, ‘number one fan’, what Rainbow Dash needs is plenty of rest. Certainly not a rabble of over excited fans disturbing her. I’ll have to ask you three to leave. “B-but!” whined the trio, now looking very disappointed, especially Scootaloo. “No buts.” And with that, their fate was sealed. Hanging her head dejectedly, Scootaloo ambled towards the exit, pushing open the doors with her head, Sweetie Belle followed closely behind but Apple Bloom gave the nurse a loud raspberry, then caught up with her friends, her head held high in defiance. “Once they say ‘no buts’, it’s pretty much game over.” admitted Sweetie Belle, the ‘no buts’ line was one of the most common things her sister said to her, along with a variation of ‘do nothing’, so she was well versed in its practices. “At least we know she’s fine.” Apple Bloom remarked, trying to reassure Scootaloo, who looked very downhearted. “C’mon, let’s go back to the clubhouse. We can start plannin’ for tomorrow.” She looked to the skyline. The day was slowly drawing to a close, but Apple Bloom reckoned that they could squeeze in an hour or so until they had to go their separate ways. ____________________________________________ Scootaloo kept quiet during the trek back to the clubhouse, following Apple Bloom’s lead. Sweetie Belle chatted with the Apple Bloom most of the way, but both occasionally glanced back at their orange companion, to check if she was okay. Once they got back, they all entered the interior of the wooden structure. Scootaloo sat down in roughly the middle of the room, looking at the floor. Sweetie Belle planted her rump down and looked at her comrade with concern. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine and be out before you know it!” she said, doing her best to reassure the glum pegasi. Apple Bloom meanwhile had gone over to the desk and grabbed an apple juice carton. She planted it on the floor and kicked it to send it sliding across the floor, bumping softly into Scootaloo. The winged filly slowly shook her head and rejected the carton, pushing it away with her hoof. “It’s not that.” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other in confusion: “Huh?” “This was my chance to prove that I was her number one fan, y’know? Give her my support and stuff.” “Oooooh.” The other two both said at exactly the same time and tone. “Well, we can’t exactly sneak in.” pointed out Sweetie Belle. Following this, Scootaloo raised her head up in a flash, a wide grin starting to form on her face. “That’s it! We’ll sneak in and give her a surprise visit! Like...like...” she rubbed her forehead with a hoof, thinking of the right word. “Like ninjas?” Apple Bloom asked, she was also grinning, liking the idea . “Yeah! Ninjas! We’ll be so awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed, Apple Bloom nodded at her eagerly and then the two looked to Sweetie Belle, who seemed a little unsure. “Well...I guess it’ll be cool...” “That’s the spirit Sweetie Belle! It’s settled then! We’ll spend tomorrow planning and then the day after, we’ll put our plan into action!” Scootaloo stomped her hooves on the floor repeatedly to show her excitement. Sweetie Belle exchanged looks with the other two, now grinning in the same, ecstatic manner. The Crusaders then each took in a deep breath and shouted at the top of their lungs: “Cutie Mark Crusaders ninja force go!”
Planning and PreparationChapter 2: Planning and Preparation “So it’s simple, we just sneak in through a window, find Rainbow Dash’s room, chat for a little while, then sneak out like nothing ever happened!” Scootaloo proclaimed much to Sweetie Belle’s and Apple Bloom’s confusion. “Don’t you think that’s a bit...simple?” Sweetie Belle asked. It was a bit of a basic plan and stuff like this in the movies always involved complex planning montages. “Yeah and...the windows will be closed. And we can’t just smash ‘em!” Apple Bloom made a light punch in the air in front of her. The three were sitting in their clubhouse, which was the normal for their planning sessions. But even missions to get their cutie marks had more planning than this. Scootaloo tapped her chin with her hoof, thinking. “Hm, then...we’ll just throw a rock at it!” She grinned to herself; she was such a genius. “Won’t that be a bit...loud?” Sweetie Belle questioned, once more. “I know!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, raising a forehoof. “We can cut in a lil’ neat circle and just climb through! We’ll be as quiet as mice!” “That’s a great idea Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo responded, then paused, frowning a tad as she realised something. “We’ll need something really, really, sharp though.” “Sweetie Belle’s horn?” Apple Bloom pointed at the filly in question, which triggered a confused look from Sweetie Belle. “Nah. Too blunt.” Replied Scootaloo, in a blunt fashion, oddly enough. “Hey!” Sweetie Belle protested, but her cries were ignored and they moved on. “Wait...Sweetie Belle; doesn’t your sister use Spike to dig up gems?” Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle, as did Apple Bloom. “Sometimes. I think he uses his tail though.” “His tail? Doesn’t he have claws?” Apple Bloom wondered. “I imagine he doesn’t want them to get dirty.” Scootaloo said, all three snickering at the joke. “Well, he’s the best shot we got for the time being.” “Let’s recruit him then! C’mon!” Apple Bloom commanded, leading the charge out of the door with a brisk pace. ____________________________________________________________________ “No.” “Aw c’mon Spike! It’ll be awesome!” Scootaloo begged in a whiny fashion. The three Crusaders were stood outside of the library, which was carved into a tree. A pretty impressive feat, especially since the tree was still living. Its leaves were a healthy, emerald green and the bark was a bold brown. It was probably the only library that was carved into a tree in the whole of Equestria. Well, the Crusaders liked to think that; it made them feel more proud about their town. They always found it odd though how a dragon who could breathe fire lived inside an extremely flammable place... Spike stood in the way of the entrance, holding the door open. He had little patience and his body expression showed it, eyes narrowed and his left foot tapping on the floor repeatedly. Twilight Sparkle was out collecting various items and so Spike was left to do his chores, as was the norm for him. “Every time you three do some scheme, you always fail and get covered in tree sap. I’m not going to humiliate myself and get covered in gooey sap!” Apple Bloom interjected at this point: “To be fair, we only get covered in tree sap sometimes.” Her fellow Crusaders nodded in agreement. “That doesn’t change my opinion. I mean, if you’re not covered in sap, you’re probably covered in something else.” Spike snicked, imagining various liquids covering the three before him. “Wait! We’ll pay you!” Sweetie Belle yelled so she would have the dragon’s full attention. Spike rolled his eyes, shaking his head softly. “I’m not interested in getting-“ “In gems.” Spike paused for a moment, his face going blank. He then licked his lips and brought his full attention on the white filly. “Go on.” “Um...” Sweetie Belle looked at the floor, thinking, then back to Spike. “Uh, two?” “Only two?! Make it six.” “Three?” “Six.” “Three and a half...?” “Still six.” The other two fillies looked at the two as they spoke, as if they were watching a heated game of tennis. Sweetie Belle sounded increasingly desperate the longer the exchange went on for. “Four and that’s my final offer!” Sweetie Belle flailed her forelegs around a bit. Spike stroked his chin, thinking this over. “Hmmm. Fine, you got a deal.” The three Crusaders then leapt into the air and cheered, then landed, grinning at Spike. “You won’t regret it Spike!” Scootaloo said, nodding rapidly. “We promise!” added Apple Bloom. Spike sighed lightly, nodding to the three, and then closing the door on them, muttering to him as he resumed his chores. “I think I will.” Outside, the Crusaders checked their flanks. Still blank, as expected. “Darn it, I thought we might one for persuasion!” Apple Bloom stomped her hoof on the ground in annoyance. “Um, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo turned to the white unicorn. “Yeah?” “How are we going to get four gems?” Scootaloo asked, sounding a little snarky. Sweetie Belle tapped her head with a hoof, smiling smugly. “I got it all figured out. Follow me!” ____________________________________________________________________ “So, we’re gonna steal from your sister?” Apple Bloom seemed very unsure of this idea. Mess with the Rarity, you get the horn. And hooves. And magic. And loud screams of anger. “That’s the plan!” Sweetie Belle replied, sounding chirpy and a little naive. The Carousel Boutique was certainly an extravagant building. With its decorations and flashy colours, it was a stark contrast to the innovative library they were just at. Sweetie Belle led the way, pushing the front door open with her head. The bell rang as the door made contact with it. The three left the door to shut by its own accord and looked around the main room. Rarity was no where to be seen. “She’s probably working on some clothes.” Sweetie Belle suggested, leading the others up the stairs and to the door that led to Rarity’s working room. Or, her ‘creative process room’ as she sometimes referred it to. Didn’t change the fact it was a complete mess though. She tried to justify that by calling it ‘organised chaos’. Sweetie Belle slowly nudged opens the door, revealing the chaotic mess of a room. Rarity was inside, using magic to add accessories onto new dresses she had made (both were very extravagant to say the least). She dropped everything however when she saw the door opening, frowning a bit at Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, what did I tell you about knocking?” Sweetie Belle blinked; she completely forgot about this rule. “Oh, sorry sis...” She looked down at the ground, avoiding Rarity’s gaze. Rarity then noticed the other Crusaders and her eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh you brought your friends! Perfect!” She wasn't sarcastic in saying this, for once. This unexpected response from Rarity mystified all the Crusaders. They looked at each other, sharing their confused looks, and then titled their head at Rarity. All three saying: “What?” Rarity never normally liked the three together in her home. She had nothing against them personally, in fact, she found them very endearing. It was just their antics often made ‘organised chaos’ all over the Boutique. “Yes darlings! I have a new line of clothes for fillies and I need you to try them out!” Rarity trotted closer to the trio. Sweetie Belle immediately pushed Scootaloo and Apple Bloom closer to Rarity. “They will!” This trigged an annoyed response from Scootaloo, and a look of confusion for Apple Bloom. “We will?” they both asked, but their different reactions meant their tones were vastly different. Before they could say anything else, Rarity brushed past them and exited the room, shouting from the stairs: “Come along then you two! You’ll look so precious!” Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sighed with frustration, mumbling quietly to themselves as they shuffled slowly out of the room, their heads held low. Sweetie Belle rubbed her hooves together with glee. This was the perfect distraction! And a bit of a sacrifice for the others. They’d get over it. Sweetie Belle rushed over to Rarity’s gem chest and used her forehooves to open it. It wasn’t easy to open, as it was quite heavy for the filly, but at least it wasn’t locked. She then went to the window and pushed it open. All she’d have to do was drop the required gems out of the window. Simple! She returned to the chest and grabbed a gem with her teeth. This was bright and sparkling sapphire in colour. But it was also quite heavy for her. And hard to bite. She hurried to the window and dropped the gem down below. She repeated this process three more times, but each time used a different coloured gem. She wondered if, to dragons, different coloured gems stood for different flavours. After dropping the last gem, she licked her teeth, now aching slightly from the effort, and closed the window before closing the trunk. She smiled to herself proudly, this being simpler than she thought, and she skipped out of the room and headed downstairs. She burst out laughing as soon as she reached the ground floor. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were both standing there, both in the same outfit, but in different colours (Apple Bloom in green and Scootaloo in blue). They wore big sun hats, with fancy, multi-coloured feathers sticking out from the hats. Apple Bloom’s bow, therefore, was absent. They both wore fancy dresses, with big cuffs on the sleeves and fabric that covered the top half of their body, which was covered in shiny, silver gems. Stemming from this was the rest of the dress, transparent and very long, reaching the ground. Suffice to say, both of them looked more than annoyed. “Perfect!” Rarity commented, “You both look adorable!” she said in a voice that probably wasn’t intended to sound patronistic, but to the pair, it certainly was. Scootaloo gritted her teeth and glared at Sweetie Belle, which made her control her laughter to a stop. “You owe us soooooo much.” Scootaloo said, narrowing her eyes. This only made Sweetie Belle giggle more. ____________________________________________________________________ The Crusaders, all back in their normal state, were making their way back to the library. Sweetie Belle had to go grab her saddlebag in order to carry all the gems. The weight bore down upon her though, and she was getting tired. Granted, it was suitable revenge for laughing at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked to Apple Bloom, “Let’s never speak of this again.” Apple Bloom nodded firmly once, “Agreed.” Sweetie Belle giggled again, “I will!” The other two glared at her. “It’s not like you haven’t been in that situation before. Remember the school paper and those pictures?” Apple Bloom reminded her of that shockingly awful photo. Sweetie Belle stopped giggling, the joke now not funny at all. She not only wanted to burn that picture physically, she wanted to burn it from her mind. But successive banging on walls only gave you a headache. “I’m just glad ma bow’s back.” Apple Bloom looked forward, smiling at she patted her red bow. Scootaloo looked at the filly’s accessory. “Don’t you always wear that? Don’t you ever, you know, wash it?” “Oh no Scoot, I just have hundreds of them lying around at the farm.” Apple Bloom replied sarcastically. Scootaloo just rolled her eyes in reply. By now they had reached the library and all three knocked rapidly on the door in unison. After a few seconds, the door swiftly opened, revealing Spike once more. Twilight hadn’t returned yet, it seemed. The rapid opening of the door meant the three fillies knocked at thin air for a short while, after quickly realising this, they all retracted their hooves and smiled awkwardly at the dragon. “You got the stuff?” Spike peered around; three fillies giving him an enclosed saddlebag looked kind of...odd. At least in his view anyway. “Yep!” Sweetie Belle happily said, the other two pointed at her saddle bag. Spike walked over to Sweetie Belle and opened her saddle bag, saying: “These better not be fa-“he interrupted himself as he saw the gems, his eyes grew big and he started salivating. “Yeah they’re real...so real...” Sweetie Belle shied away slightly as she felt dragon spit on her body. It was warm... Spike juggled the gems in his arms and tossed them inside the library. “Different colours. Nice!” Sweetie Belle blinked, “So they do have different flavours...” she whispered to herself. Spike then went back over to the entrance of the library and looked over at the three. “Haven’t you considered the moral implications of this?” The Crusaders titled their heads, not understanding what he meant. Living with Twilight, you learnt a lot of complex words other people, especially fillies, couldn’t understand. “Moral whut now?” Apple Bloom asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Y’know...it’s a hospital and ponies won’t want to be disturbed in the dead of night.” Spike clarified, scratching his belly. “We just wanna see Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed, grinning, all thoughts of morals gone from her young mind. Spike merely shrugged in response. “Fair enough.”
It beginsChapter 3: It begins Three dark figures and a baby dragon jumped out of a bush near the Ponyville hospital and crept silently to the nearest window that wasn’t lit up on the inside. It was the dead of the night, with the moon shining high in the sky to prove it, accompanied by many twinkling stars. There was no wind, but it was still quite a chilly night. The Cutie Mark Crusaders wore black jumpsuits that concealed their manes, but their tails poked out of the end through a small hole. For Scootaloo though, her wings poked out of holes on the side of the jumpsuit. Apple Bloom had decided to go a step further, incorporating two lines of red paint on her cheeks. Spike, however, wore nothing fancy. Nothing at all actually; no one in Ponyville made jumpsuits for baby dragons. The four tip-hooved (or in Spike's case, tip-toed) quietly to the side of the window (located at the back of the complex), trying to keep their breaths as quiet as they could. “Spike, do your thing.” Scootaloo whispered, not bothering to look at the dragon; it was too dark to see much. Spike nodded quietly, not that any of them could see mind you, and snuck to the window, looking inside. It was darker than the outside world, so it was probably an empty store room. Spike turned around, his back now facing the glass, and touched the window with the end of his tail. He closed his eyes and started to dig his tail into the glass and move it in a circular motion. Screeeeeeech! Everyone bit their lip and covered their faces as they heard that ear-piercing sound. Nevertheless, Spike kept going, but it soon became apparent that he was only making scratches on the glass. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo dived into the nearest bush, trying to conceal themselves in the leaves as best they could. Spike just stood there, continuing, too worried to perform any other action. The sound felt like it lasted an eternity and all the Crusaders could do is hope that no pony actually heard them. Crash! Suddenly, a rock had found itself flying through the window, narrowly avoiding Spike and breaking through the glass. It made a decent sized hole, one big enough for all four to fit through. Spike stopped scratching at the glass with his tail and opened his eyes, gasping. “What the heck was that?!” Thankfully, Apple Bloom had seen the whole charade and sprung out from the bushing, pointing a hoof accusingly at Scootaloo. “What did ya do that for?! Are you trying to get us spotted?!” she whispered angrily at the pegasi. Scootaloo shrugged, advancing towards the hole in the window. “If Spike had kept going, we would’ve been caught anyway.” Spike clenched his fists and looked at Scootaloo, who was now slowly climbing through the hole, avoiding shards of glass on the way in. “You could’ve hit me!” he whispered bitterly. He then climbed in the whole after Scootaloo, not as carefully though, as his scales protected him from the glass shards. “Well I didn’t.” Scootaloo inspected her surroundings. Or lack of them. The room was almost pitch black, but she could just make out shelves. At least they found the right room to enter in. After Spike came Sweetie Belle, followed by Apple Bloom, who both took great care to avoid glass on the way in. Sweetie Belle sniffed the air, reluctantly stepping forward. “Smells like...hospital.” she said, a bit unsure of the smell in question. “You don’t say?” Spike replied sarcastically, snickering quietly to himself. “C’mon, let’s find the door.” Apple Bloom whispered, cautiously stepping forward. She noticed a slimmer of light at the end of the room, which must have been the door way. She began to trot towards the light, stopping just before it and looking up, noticing the door handle. She reached up to turn it, but couldn’t make it; this wasn’t a room for fillies. “I need a boost!” She looked back, her friends now a bit more visible as they stepped closer to the light. “Hold on, I’ll give you one.” Scootaloo went forward to Apple Bloom’s side and knelt down. “Climb on.” Apple Bloom nodded and slowly placed two hooves on Scootaloo’s back, followed by the other two. Scootaloo immediately began to tire under her friend’s weight, and gritted her teeth, using all her power to stay still. “Got it!” Apple Bloom grinned and turned the door knob and pushed open the door with her head. Perhaps she used to much force to do so though, as she toppled over Scootaloo and landed face flat in the hallway. Spike brought his hand to his face, shaking his head softly. “For Pete’s sake...” he muttered to himself. Sweetie Belle quickly ran over to Apple Bloom and helped her up. “You ok?” Apple Bloom merely nodded and stood up on all four hooves. Scootaloo then snuck into the hallway, followed by Spike, who was just casually walking at this point. He closed the door behind him by leaning against it. Thankfully, the door didn’t make a loud noise as it locked into place. “So, how are we finding Rainbow Dash’s room?” Spike asked. He had already asked this previously and got a vague answer. It seemed he was just reminding the others, or just him being his snarky self. “I told you...we’ll just get lucky.” Scootaloo replied, hiding her uncertainty as best she could. Spike shrugged half-heartedly, “Well, if this all goes-“Spike then spontaneously burped out green flame, a scroll appearing from the flames and dropping onto the floor. The rest of the Crusaders froze into place as they heard the distinctive sound of Spike receiving mail from Princess Celestia. “Are we being punished?” Sweetie Belle sighed, sitting down onto her rear. “Great idea Scoot, let’s recruit the dragon that randomly burps out letters!” Apple Bloom whispered harshly at Scootaloo, rolling her eyes. “Hey! You went along with it!” Scootaloo quickly replied, raising her voice a little. Apple Bloom was about to make a retort, when she and Scootaloo were hit on the head with a scroll in quick succession. “You’re both being as stupid as each other by arguing!” Spike interjected, waving his scroll around. “Spike’s right, let’s all shut up and move on.” Sweetie Belle said quietly, going up onto all four of her hooves again and preparing to advance once more. __________________________________________ A dark blue Unicorn with a brown mane sat on the sofa in the Hospital staff room, using magic to hold up a newspaper in front him so he could read with it ease and comfort. Newspapers were his stalwart companions during the night shifts; since patients were asleep, you couldn’t really have a chat to your fellow co-workers. The staff room was an average sized rectangular room. In one corner was a coffer table, surrounded by brown sofas that clung to the walls. This is the blue stallion sat, reading his newspaper. In the corner opposite the coffee table, was the ‘kitchen area’. The light green carpet that normally covered the room was stopped by white tiles. Again, like the sofas, kitchen cupboards and appliances hugged the walls. The rest of the room was mainly dead space, save the odd magazine or coffee cup here or there. The only other thing of note was the coffee machine next to the sofa corner. The blue stallion shook his head in confusion as he read his newspaper, “I’ll never understand newspaper comics. They’re never funny.” Soon after this, the door slowly creaked open. An orange pony with a grey mane entered the room and quietly shut the door behind her. The stallion lowered his newspaper and gave the newcomer a nod, which she replied to by nodding herself. Nodding had become the way to say ‘hello’ to another pony during the night shift, since it was silent and to the point. The mare walked over to the coffee machine, the stallion tracking her movements. Upon realising where she was going, he spoke out. “It’s dry, I’m afraid.” The mare blinked and looked at her co-worker. She sighed in frustration. “Damn, was just what I needed.” The blue unicorn chuckled quietly at her statement, “Heh, we all need it during the night hours. Don’t worry, it should be filled up by tomor-“he suddenly froze, and his ears twitched ever so slightly. His co-worker raised an eyebrow, “Uh, something wrong?” Using his magic, the stallion folded up the newspaper and put it on the coffee table. He stood up and walked over to the door, a stern expression on his face. “I think I heard something. ...sounded unnatural.” “Unnatural?” asked the earth pony, heading towards the stallion. “Y’know, like magic.” He slowly opened the door (again, using magic) and peered down the hallway. He then turned around to face his co-worker. “I’d rather be safe than sorry. Tell the others to be on high alert, I’ll grab my flashlight.” __________________________________________ “This room smells of old ponies.” Sweetie Belle whispered, quietly shutting the door. “She’s not in there.” “So that’s three rooms where she’s not in then.” Spike said, reminding himself out loud of how many rooms they had all checked. “Yeah, its lucky everypony’s asleep.” Apple Bloom whispered, heading for the next door. The low light intensity meant that the four were forced to stay close to each other so that they didn’t get lost in the darkness. Due to the fact that they had heard nopony else, they were all comfortable will whispering casual chit-chat with each other. “These jumpsuits are itchy...” Sweetie Belle groaned, fighting the urge to itch herself. “Just deal with it.” Scootaloo replied, blankly, more focused on the task at hand. They soon reached the fourth door, and once again, Scootaloo knelt down to allow Apple Bloom to turn the door knob. By now, both of them were used to the procedure, and were able to do it quickly and easily. After slowly pushing the door open, the two snuck inside and peered about. Sweetie Belle and Spike stood outside, on guard for any medical staff. Inside room number four, were two hospital beds that were quite a distance from each other. Both patients, as expected, were asleep. One was snoring particularly loudly. Scootaloo crept forward to one of the beds, whilst Apple Bloom approached the other. They got close enough so they could just make out who the pony was. Once again, neither was Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo shook her head silently and headed out of the door. Apple Bloom soon followed, and closed the door by pushing it lightly and leaping into the hallway before it closed. Spike and Sweetie Belle took this as a sign that the room was absent of the rainbow pony and moved on to the next door with the others. But then, all of them froze as they heard the sounds of a distressed patient from upstairs: “Help, burglar! Burglar! Someone’s trying to steal my slippers!” “This isn’t going to go down well...” Spike whispered to himself, as all four of the intruders started to panic.
