Fly Away, Sweet Scootaloo

A group of ponies saw Scootaloo falling and gathered around her, aflutter with talk. Dash landed clumsily next to her, tucking in her wings, her heart pounding with worry. Scootaloo was badly hurt. Dash could tell she had broken her legs, and from the way she was positioned, it looked like her back was broken too. There was blood seeping from her nose and mouth. "Damnit, squirt!" she wailed, "why would you do that?"

Scootaloo looked at her with scared eyes. "I- I- I'm sorry, I really did it this time, didn't I?"

It felt like hours before the ambulance came and they whisked here away, with Dash beside her. Clouds were beginning to build.

Dash paced nervously in the waiting room for almost four hours, cursing herself, angry at herself for reacting poorly. She hadn't had to yell at Scootaloo, or bring up her foster father. Damnit, Dash, damnit, damnit, damnit. This is all my fault. If only I had reacted differently, Scootaloo would be okay.

Finally the doctor came out and asked Dash if she was Scootaloo's mother. Dash hesitated for a minute and then confidently said, "YES." If the hospital thought she was Scootaloo's mother, it would be impossible for Bubba to call and locate her.

Scootaloo had to have emergency surgery. Three of her legs were broken, her left wing was broken and two of her ribs had broken too. One of her ribs splintered and tore through her lung. The impact snapped her spine in two. She would never walk again. Right now she was heavily sedated. Dash went to her room and sat down beside her. It was dark and quiet, and the only sounds were the breathing machine and heart monitor. Scootaloo was all bandaged up with her back leg raised in a pulley. Dash brushed her wing over Scootaloo's face. The filly fluttered her big eyes and smiled when she saw Dash. "Hey kid," Dash said.

"Dash, I'm s-s-sorry," Scootaloo whispered through tears, "now what did I do?"

"Don't worry about it, these things happen."

"Am-am I ever going to walk again?"

"WALK? Who needs to WALK? Especially when you have ME here to teach you to FLY! AND you could have an awesome, so cool, one of a kind, all-electric scooter to get around on!"

"So… so no."

Dash looked at her. "No, kid. The doctor says probably not."

Scootaloo let her head hang down, her eyes torpid.

Dash spoke up, "But you'll be ok Squirt! I'll be here to help you every day!"

Scootaloo just stared blankly.

The nurse came in and straightened blankets, fluffed pillows, took vitals and administered her pain medication. Scootaloo took the pills in her mouth and Dash noticed that she started coughing into a napkin that was under her pillow. The pain was unbearable.

* * *

Matthew and Lenna had felt that Scootaloo's life was in danger and had insisted the adoption process be spurred on. The adoption agent granted the request and expedited the process, and in only a few short hours Scootaloo was the official adopted daughter of Matthew and Lenna Bridleton. The adoption agent as well as two police officers escorted them to Bubba's house to pick up Scootaloo.

Bubba answered the door.

"Were here for Scootaloo," said one of the police ponies.

"She's not here," Bubba replied, indifferent about the whole situation. Seeing Matthew and Lenna standing behind the police, he called out, "I told you, she runs away ALL the time." He was wearing a shit eating grin. Matthew wanted nothing more than to beat this horse to death but knew it would affect the adoption.

The police ponies looked around the house, inside and out, and informed Bubba that his foster duties had been relinquished and that as soon as Scootaloo returned he was to bring her to the police station.

As they were all walking away, Matthew looked back at Bubba with eyes that could kill. Bubba smirked, "Too bad you didn't get to her first," Bubba whispered, "now you just get the sloppy seconds." He winked at Matthew and slammed the door.

Scootaloo was nowhere to be found. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom didn't know where she was. Cheerilee hadn't seen her. Fluttershy said that Scootaloo sometimes helped her feed her animals, but she hadn't seen her today. Everyone they could think of was called. They looked everywhere and anywhere and finally called the hospital. Nothing. The only pegasus pony who was admitted was the daughter of Rainbow Dash.

* * *

Dash sat with Scootaloo all day. Neither of them talked much, if at all. Scootaloo slept a lot. Dash brought her some cookies and a milkshake, but the little pegasus just couldn't hold them down with all the morphine in her system. Dash came to visit her every morning and stayed with her until the night. She sat by her bed — most of the time not a word was exchanged, they just sat in silence, Scootaloo holding on to Dash's hoof. Scootaloo liked to watch cartoons and that sometimes made her laugh a little. Dash noticed that the little filly never complained about anything.

The next morning before Scootaloo was awake, Dash went out to pick up a surprise for her: a custom made, all-electric scooter with hoof buttons to steer it in any direction. It was a beauty! It was black with chrome trim and Dash paid to have Scootaloo's name written on the side in fancy lettering.

Dash wheeled the scooter into the hospital and when she arrived at Scootaloo's room she noticed that the light was shining through the window to the hall. That was a great sign, Dash thought, that meant that she wanted the curtain open and that meant her spirits were lifting. Dash wheeled the scooter in and said, "HEY squirt! LOOK what I'M going to teach you to ride!" and noticed her bed was empty. That was an even better sign! That meant she had been moved, that she was improving enough to move to a different floor.

The nurse noticed her looking around quizzically and took her to the lobby where she told her to sit down. Dash suddenly felt sick. The doctor came out and sat down next to Dash, putting his hoof on her knee, before telling her what she had already known. "Scootaloo died this morning."

"WHAT?!" Dash shouted. "What?  What do you mean… she DIED?! I was just here last night, she was FINE! What do you mean?! You must have her mixed up with another patient!"

The doctor explained to her that Scootaloo hadn't taken her pain medication for three days. She'd been spitting them out in a napkin under her pillow. Earlier that morning she'd taken the fatal dose. She'd died peacefully.

"Can I see her?" Dash asked, grief-stricken. She was taken to a quiet room where Scootaloo was lying, covered in a white sheet. Dash broke down and sobbed, hugging her and holding on to her lifeless body. Scootaloo's tortured life was no more. Dash was going to ask why… but she knew why. Scootaloo found a way out and took it.

Dash moved the blanket from over her head. Scootaloo looked peaceful, the most relaxed she'd ever looked since Dash found her. Dash put her wing around her. The doctor came in and handed her a piece of paper. "We found this next to her bed," he told her. Dash opened it up and read the scribbling,

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I'm sorry I made you upset. I'm sorry I hurt you. Please don't think any of this is your fault — it isn't. I just can't stand to hurt anymore. I miss my mom and dad so much, I want to be with them again. I hope you can understand, and I hope you can forgive me. Please tell Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom that I said goodbye, and thank you for being my friends. I am going to miss them. I am going to miss you the most, Rainbow Dash. That night I spent with you was the best night of my life. Please know that when you're reading this, I am happy again. I'm with my mom and dad and all my pain is gone, and I can run again and I can fly. Goodbye, Rainbow Dash. I love you.

-Scootaloo

Dash let the paper fall to the floor and she sobbed. She put her head on Scootaloo's body and wrapped her arms around her, and cried for hours.

Finally feeling able to leave, to deliver the news to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, she started to cover Scootaloo with the sheet and saw it — she had to do a double take — she couldn't believe what she'd just seen! Scootaloo had finally earned her cutie mark! Dash brushed her wing over the mark. It was true, it had come — it was a little pegasus filly with the wings of an angel, hugging a purple heart. A brave little angel.

Rainbow Dash left the hospital and ran until she collapsed. With the rain falling soft and steady, she looked up into the sky. Today heaven received a brave new angel — a  little orange pegasus with a purple mane and big lavender eyes.

Fly away, sweet Scootaloo.