Hope,Determination and Kindness

Sweetie trudged along in silence, the harsh wind whipping at the exposed bits of her face. Her back ached, her face stung and tears threatened to fall from her tired eyes. She forced one hoof in front of the other as the cold snow painfully stuck to her hooves. A blizzard was raging and the snow obstructed her vision slightly.

"Sweetie? Are you alright?" Scootlaoo asked finally breaking the silence. It wasn't a big question nor was it a complicated one but... Sweetie struggled to give her answer. The usual 'of course I'm okay' halting in her throat for the first time in her life. Sure, she had been upset before and had at least cried once before but that feeling... that feeling was nothing to this...

"I-I-I-"Sweetie tried to say but she couldn't speak, she tried to breathe but her throat felt constricted.

In the howling wind and the falling snow. In the lost tranquility of a once peaceful village. In the silence as cold as the temperature in which they stood. There? There was a cry. A cry of a hurt animal, a hurt child. A lost child, threatened by the unknown. Her cry. Her pain. The sudden realisation of it all. She had DIED. Her heart had stopped beating, her last breath had been drawn and yet here she was. She remembered it ALL. The feeling of the bones piercing her chest, her blood seeping from the mortal wound. The pain, the sadness, the fear, everything her young mind had shut out to protect itself while she was blissfully busy. Too busy to think.

But now she stood here. Stood here as the mental barrier shattered and the memories came back... every second of it. The sudden pain before it released, leaving her in a nothingness. The suffocating black as a voice called out from the void itself. She hated the dark, she was scared of it. Never did she calm down herself without the comfort from her sister. Her sister... Rarity... so many unspoken things, so many regrets and arguments that she had yet to apologise for. Never would she have had the chance to do that if not for the RESET.

The RESET itself was a pain in itself. What was the point in trying if Scootaloo or whoever had the power to do so would just RESET and it would go back. How many times had it happened to her but she never realised?

Suddenly, warmth spread to her as hooves wrapped around her neck. Scootaloo hugged her. She hadn't hugged her. Apple Bloom hadn't told her to hug her. Scootaloo had done it by herself. They stood there while she cried, the tears crystalising as they fell. A pain shot through her back.

"Oww!" Scootaloo sprung back, alarmed by her sudden shout. "What did you put in this bag? It's so heavy!" But as the words left her mouth, the bag lightened on her back. "Nevermind, we need to keep going to find Apple Bloom." She quickly gave Scoots a hug before moving on, feeling a lot better already.

When they reached the clearing, the blizzard around them picked up. They were no longer protected by buildings from the harshest winds. They looked around, searching for their friend.

"You sure took you're time." Came from behind them. Spinning around they saw Apple Bloom leaning against a tree, the bow and arrows slung on her back.

"Sorry Bloom, it's just..."

"No I'm sorry. I just had to get out of there." Apple Bloom interrupted her before her eyes landed on Scootaloo's scarf. Her eyes shrunk to pinpricks and her voice shook when she spoke." You wearing HIS scarf? Why?"

"Whatever are you talking about?" Scootaloo decided to play dumb.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Nope."

"Uhh... fine. Let's get going, it's getting cold." Getting cold? It was a blizzard out here, how did she not see that?

They passed through the fog, ending up in a non snowy area. The jump between the two was so sudden that one second she was shivering while in the next she felt warmth envelope her body.

"What the?!" Scoots exclaimed.

"Shh... We're being watched." Apple Bloom suddenly said, interrupting whatever Scootaloo was going to say.

"What?! How do you know?!"

"Shh... I can hear them breathing" Apple Bloom's head bowed low as she waited in silence, obviously listening to something they couldn't hear. The two looked at each other before jumping as Bloom spun, an arrow flying to her bow and releasing before they could say another word. The same was for their follower as they were pinned to the wall with the arrow.

"Well. Well. What do we have here?"