“Class is dismissed!” The school teacher Cheerilee declared as the bell rang, ending the last period. Fillies and foals bolted out the classroom doors, excited to get back to their own homes, or to hang out with their friends. The daring trio, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were the last to leave the building. In the middle of closed discussion, the fillies kept close to each other.
“So ah gathered up enough bit together to bah me a pack o' pony'mon cards,” Applebloom announced to her friends.
“Yeah, the new editions just came out a few days ago!” Sweetie Belle added.
“Pfft,” Scootaloo stopped in place, “Puh-leez, pony'mon cards are a waste of time!”
“Come on Scootaloo,” Applebloom turned to convince her friend, “why don't'cha try it, it's more than just collectin' 'em, y'know,”
“...What are ya talkin' about?” the pegasus filly raised an eyebrow.
“Me and Applebloom play pony'mon cards together every time at lunch, didn't you notice?” Sweetie Belle trotted back to Applebloom.
“I... I thought you were just showing them off to each other,” Scootaloo replied honestly. Her head was always in the clouds during lunch. And in those clouds she would find her role model, Rainbow Dash, piercing through the horizon, charging right for her. The little pegasus' imagination would lead her in many adventures with her idol.
“Well...” Applebloom brushed a hoof through her mane, “We sometimes do that if we get new cards...”
“Even that's pretty fun!” The white filly hopped in the air.
“Hmm... Well, I guess I could try it out...” Scootaloo didn't really want to, even regular card games were a bore. Card games meant sitting still, and sitting still was something Scootaloo couldn't do. If she wasn't busy cutie mark crusading, she's be hunting down Rainbow Dash. The only restrictions were school and her curfew. Her grades and attendance record showed where her priorities were placed in.
“Great!” Both friends cheered, glad their friend was willing to try something new. Scootaloo sighed as they began walking again. Her mind jumped back into the clouds, searching for her idol. The young pegasus spotted her growing in the horizon, flying in her direction. A smile grew on Scootaloo's face eager to meet up with Rainbow Dash.
The rainbow pegasus showed no signs of stopping as Scootaloo opened her arms, ready for a tackling embrace. Gazing further, it looked as if Rainbow Dash's eyes began to glow eerily, but it barely phased the young pegasus as she remained in place. Scootaloo held her gaze as the rainbow pegasus drew closer.
“Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash's lips moved, but it wasn't in her voice.
“...Ah-Appleblo-?” Scootaloo replied, instantly cutoff by the impact that caused her to black out instantly.
“Scootaloo!” Her friends' voices faded away.
“it's been two days...” a voice echoed in Scootaloo's head, stirring her from her unconsciousness. Everything was dark, but what was worse was everything was hurting. Hooves, legs, arms, torso, neck, head... The headaches were the worst.
“Coma... No response... Stay strong,” the volume of the voice fluctuated dramatically as Scootaloo tried to pinpoint the voice to a pony. She tried to open her eyes, but darkness was all to be seen beyond her struggling eyelids. It didn't take long for fear to take over. Her body twitched slightly, trying to escape her binds. Deep down, she knew this was some kind of twisted dream.
“Oh! She's awake!” Another voice called out, a familiar one, easing the suffering filly's tension some.
“Scootaloo!” A pair of hooves grabbed at her arm, scaring her back into unconsciousness.
A few hours passed before another pair of hooves brought her back to her senses. The pain was still there, it wasn't a dream at all. Tears flowed from the young pegasus' eyes.
“Scootaloo, dear?” A female voice unknown to her called out. She tried to reply, but her throat felt so numb, “we're gonna take off the bandages around your eyes, okay sweetie?” Not being able to talk at the moment, Scootaloo only nodded.
The young pegasus cringed as the rough fabric was undone, light flooding her eyes. Closing them didn't do much goods, but she kept them shut.
“Scootaloo, honny,” The pegasus recognized this new voice as her mothers, “open your eyes, for mommy at least?” she followed her orders, slowly peeling her eyelids apart. The extra light caused the poor pegasus filly to tear up, her emotions let them flow freely. Her eyes felt swelled up, the idea of having bruised eyes scared her into more tears.
“Why would you wanna hide those pretty eyes?” The nurse, a yellow maned, blue pony, commented, trying to rouse a smile out of the orange filly. However the attempt was in vain as Scootaloo remained in her tears.
“I know it hurts dear,” her mother could only assume the pain she was dealing with, brushing a hoof through her hair, “...Daddy's still at work, he said he'll come visit us the moment he's done!” The news calmed the filly's sadness slightly and with the help of her mother's gentle hoof, Scootaloo found herself falling back asleep.
When Scootaloo woke back up, darkness surrounded her. And not because the bandages were put back on. It took the pegasus a few moments before she figured out that it was night time and the room lights were turned off. She shivered, the darkness alone was scary, but not having the ability to turn the lights back on only made it worse. Her only sense of security was the light seeping in from the crack under the door.
Eventually, the filly was able to make outlines of some of the objects, her fears beginning to disappear. But the silence got her mind thinking. She wondered why she was in the hospital, out of all places, why she was in so much pain. It all went by in a dark flash and Scootaloo couldn't put the pieces together. The little filly couldn't help but let her sadness out. Her fear returned, her parents weren't around to explain things to her.
She was lost...
Morning arrived sluggishly, creeping through Scootaloo's blinds. The young pegasus found the strength to push out a small yawn.
“Well good morning!” The nurse from before greeted her.
“H-hi,” she spoke with a rasp in her throat.
“You seem like you're doing a lot better!” The blue earth pony smiled.
“My... Voice hurts,” Scootaloo struggled to speak.
“I know hunny, I know,” The nurse approached her, rubbing a hoof through her hair. It wasn't as comforting as mommy's, but at least somepony cared.
“Wha-... Why am... I here?” Tears started again as she braced herself for what ever would be thrown at her.
“Dear... It's pretty gruesome, are you sure you want to know? You're an awfully young filly... But you should have the right to know... You really want me to tell you?” Scootaloo nodded, desperately wanting the information.
“You... You were hit by a motorized carriage... It was in the testing stage, it seemed to have went haywire and started speeding out of control... It was unfortunate for you to be in the wrong place at the wrong time...” Her explanation seemed confusing... “A motorized carriage? What the hay is that?”
“I... I wanna go... Hooome,” Scootaloo groaned.
“I know hunny, but I'm sorry, you still need to do some resting up. Plus I heard your parents are coming by for a visit later today!” The news hadn't lifted the pegasus filly's mood any. The conversation didn't last much longer once the food came by. When the nurse tried to feed her, Scootaloo pushed the eating utensil away, requesting if she could eat herself.
“Are you sure?” The nurse was astonished, but Scootaloo still had one good hoof to work with. The filly silently nodded. “...Well, okay then, but if you need anything, You can press this button right here,” The nurse pointed out on a nearby corded remote.
“Okay...” Scootaloo held her tray on her lap.
“Don't be afraid to press it, we're here for you,” The nurse went to ruffle up scootaloo's mane, but decided against it after she saw the bandages around the filly's head. Silence instilled as the nurse made her leave. Scootaloo made the food last as there wasn't much else entertainment to go around. After the food was gone, the filly set the tray aside and lounged back onto her pillow for another nap.
Scootaloo mentally awoke to the familiar sound of her mother, who was using baby talk as she stroked her daughter's mane. Scootaloo hated that tone, and a few seconds of wishing it away didn't work. There wasn't much of a choice but to wake up and make it end.
“Well good evening sleepyhead!” Her mother greeted her with a warmhearted smile, “we have a surprise for you!” A small burst of excitement welled up in Scootaloo's chest, but she chose not to show it.
“Hmm?” The filly rubbed the dust from her eyes, trying to focus on the blur in front of her. The image slowly fell into place. Scootaloo could see both of her parents, her mother sitting on the bed while her father standing next to her.
“We picked up your friends so they could visit you too!” Her mother spoke as her father stepped out of the way for the little ones to squeeze in.
“Scootaloo!” Her friends shouted with joy, happy to see her friend.
“Hey...” The filly responded, not expecting this. The thing she wanted most was to go home. Her friends visiting as nice, but not under these circumstances. She was reduced to slings and bandages and plus her parents were here. Scootaloo's parents always had an unintentional knack of embarrassing her. They were especially known for treating her like she was younger than she actually was, which led to a lot of razzing later from the foals who saw.
“We're really glad yer doin' okay Scootaloo!” Applebloom spoke as she and Sweetie Belle stood up against the bed with their fore-hooves.
“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle added, “We even made you a get-well card!” The filly passed it along to the pegasus filly.
“Open it!” Applebloom hopped in place. Scootaloo opened it without saying a word. Inside the folded half was a message scribbled in crayon. Each word was a different color which spelled out the message of how heartbroken they were that the accident had happened. The two fillies also went as far as to doodle on the picture as well, portraying the Cutie Mark Crusaders doing an array of activities.
Scootaloo thanked them as she was carefully drawn into a group hug. Her mother moved the card onto the small table next to the bed. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom took turns discussing their day. Scootaloo tried her best not to giggle when they brought up the whoopee-cushion prank they pulled on Diamond Tiara.
“You should'a been there to see it!” Applebloom said between laughs.
“Yeah, it was so worth the time we had to spend after school,” Sweetie Belle added. Then it hit Scootaloo, she missed out on all the cool things the Cutie Mark Crusaders got to do together. The pegasus filly fell silent again, growing depressed again.
“What's wrong Scootaloo,” Applebloom asked, concerned about her friend.
“I don't wanna be here, I wanna go home, I want to go outside, I want to ride my scooter...” The filly broke down in tears. Her friends felt uncomfortable, they never seen Scootaloo cry before. Her parents tried to console her to the best of their abilities. Eventually her friends had to leave, seeing as it was a school night. It wasn't too long before her parents had to leave as well.
Fortunately the nurse came in with good news: The recovering process starts tomorrow. The nurse showed Scootaloo a wheeled walker. The filly squinted at them, never seeing anything like it before.
“Isn't that for old ponies,” Scootaloo didn't get what was going on. “I'm not turning into an old pony am I?” the filly was a little frightened at the thought. Her comment made the nurse laugh at the silliness of it all.
“Not at all dear! This is to help keep you balanced when you walk!” Scootaloo's ears perked up at the word.
“I'm gonna walk again?” At this point the pegasus filly was grinning.
“Who said you weren't?” The nurse sat down next to the filly.
“Am I gonna start walking right now?” Scootaloo attempted to climb out of the bed, only to have the nurse hold her in place.
“Not so fast now, I said we would be doing this tomorrow!” She placed the filly back onto the bed.
“Aww, come on...” Every second not spent recovering was another second missed with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Patience honey,” She ruffled the filly's hair gently with a hoof.
“But I wanna get better nooow...” Scootaloo complained. The nurse could only console the filly until she fell asleep. Unknowingly to her, Scootaloo had faked her tiredness. Once the filly was out, the nurse left the room, dimming the lights. Mistakenly, she also left the walker in the room as well... Just as Scootaloo had hoped for.
Peeking an eye open, the pegasus filly saw that the room was empty of life. She scudded across the bed, until her hind hoofs hung off the edge. Taking a glance down at the floor, the poor lighting made the drop look higher than it really was. Scootaloo didn't know this however, her handicaps made her think twice about jumping.
Taking a deep breath, the filly lowered herself down bit by bit, keeping her good hoof gripped on the bedsheets. A sigh of relief overcame the filly as her hind hooves met the ground. Looking back up, Scootaloo realized the bed was just as tall as she was, and she was still on her hind legs. She let go of the bedsheets, deciding to plan her ascent back later. Right now was a time to recover.
Scootaloo limped over to the walker, desperately trying to keep balance. She placed her good hoof on the holding bars of the walker, but little did see know that the wheels weren't locked up. The fragile filly took a swift spill onto the floor, face first.
The pain from the fall made tears well up in her eyes. Scootaloo tried her best to suppress the urge to cry, it would give her away. There was just one problem... Her casts on her arm and leg made climbing to her hooves more challenging than before. Scootaloo felt like a turtle stuck on it's shell, it was the sting of her injured limbs that kept her down.
She drew in another deep breath before pulling herself all the way up. It was painful, but it was all worth it as she was back on all fours. Scootaloo wobbled back to the walker again, taking great caution this time around. She positioned herself with more balance and evened her weight out, doing her best not to lean forward on the bars.
Scootaloo took baby steps with it, any drastic movement could risk the filly's safety. She spent a few minutes with it before returning to her bed. But it wasn't that easy, there was still the climb back up. Before she attempted the climb, Scootaloo put the walker back where the nurse left it. Having it misplaced could really some suspicion.
The little filly grasped the bedsheets in her good hoof and tested them for their stability. After a few firm tugs, Scootaloo deemed it was safe enough to pull herself back on. It took a few attempts before the pegasus was comfortable taking her bad hind leg off of the ground. Once most of her body was over the edge, she heaved her other half onto the bed.
Out of breath, Scootaloo calmed down a bit before pulling the sheets over herself and laying her head down. She knew she was gonna really feel her efforts in the morning
This was the first night at the hospital that Scootaloo got a good night's sleep. She was awoken by the nurse.
“Good morning sunshine!” The nurse greeted her. The filly was still busy trying to wake up. “I came by earlier to see you had a messy nose and a bruised snout...” Scootaloo felt up her nose. It was swollen, pain surged with each touch. “Did something happen?” The nurse sat on the bed next to the filly.
“N-no, I don't know what happened,” the pegasus tried to look innocent as best as she cool.
“Hmm, you don't toss and turn in turn in your sleep do you?” The nurse asked, Scootaloo decided to play on it whether she knew if she did or not.
“Uh, yeah, sometimes when I'm feeling restless,” Scootaloo let out a forced yawn, “I didn't get much sleep.”
“Did you want to go back to bed dear?” The nurse stroked a hoof through the filly's mane.
“I... I actually wanted to start trying to walk again,” Her act was so far so good, the nurse didn't suspect a thing.
“Really? I don't want you falling over now,” she smiled down at the filly.
“I won't, I was looking forward to this all night!” Scootaloo bounced up into a sitting position.
“Well aren't you full of energy now,” The nurse chuckled as she helped the pegasus out of bed. She offered a hoof to Scootaloo, helping her over to her walker. The filly didn't really need that much help moving, she's already gotten a taste of limping on her own, but the better she faked it, the faster she'd be out of here.
Once Scootaloo's hooves were gripped on the handle bars, the nurse gave her a talk on how to operate it. There was a little latch that locked the wheels in place whenever the walker wasn't in use. She also pointed out how the walker had manual breaks on the handlebars in case there was declines in the filly's path.
The nurse took Scootaloo out into the hallways where there was more room to walk. They began their route around the desks, the pegasus eager to be released from this place.
“Scootaloo dear, slow down!” The nurse noticed the filly was pushing herself hard.
“I wanna go home!” Scootaloo grunted with each step. The nurse sighed, frustrated with the filly's stubbornness. The pegasus struggled against the nurse's grip on the walker. The bars slipped through the nurse's hooves as she tried to grasp Scootaloo. The filly made a break for it, not daring to look back. Going back into her past, Scootaloo treated the walker as scooter, working her good leg onto one of the lower bars and using her cast covered leg to propel herself forward.
Scootaloo tried to work her wings, but the casts kept them in place. An annoyed growl came from the filly's lips, these restrictions were holding her back much more than she would like. With her wings stiff in place, the pegasus put extra stress on her other leg.
Little did Scootaloo know that the walker didn't work exactly like her scooter. Her makeshift scooter wouldn't turn when she wanted it too, but it was too late to adjust to it's limits. The escaping filly plowed right into the wall, bouncing back on to the floor. The nurse was in shock, rushing to Scootaloo's side.
“Oh honey! Are you okay?” The nurse asked as the pegasus was in tears.
“I just wanna go hooome...” Scootaloo sobbed as the nurse scooped her into her arms.
“I know dear...” The nurse could only console the injured pegasus as she carried her back to her room, “but if you keep this up, you won't be going back for awhile, you need your rest.”
Once they made their way back, the nurse placed Scootaloo back in bed slowly, tucking her in. The little filly calmed down as the nurse wiped away her tears with one hoof and stroked her hair with the other. However the tears didn't stop flowing from Scootaloo's eyes, her emotional pain tugging at the nurse's heart.
“I'll see if I can pull some strings to get you back home as soon as possible, how's that?” The nurse smiled at the filly.
“...Okaaay,” Scootaloo nodded sluggishly. The nurse stay with the filly until she fell back asleep.
