For Better or Worse

“Somepony, anypony, help me! I need help!”

“Oh my god … What happened to her?”

“Somepony get the doctor! He’s needed in emergency room four!”

“I've never seen anything like this. Are you sure this diagnosis is accurate?”

“Some of these scars are very old …”

“Has anypony gotten an identity yet?”

“How is she even still alive?”

“I hate to say it, but I honestly don’t know what I’m looking at here.”

“Doctor, quickly! She's going into cardiac arrest!”

“Somepony send a message to the Princess. We’re going to need her help…”

Cheerful voices echoed around the hall as several hundred ponies of all ages mulled about, preparing to take their seats in the orderly rows of chairs all facing towards one large stage. Every seat in the house was eventually filled, forcing several ponies to stand in the back while the sparkly eyed fillies and colts ran up and sat at the front amongst their friends.

Scootaloo peeked around the corner from where she was located backstage, her eyes quickly going up and down the aisles and rows of patiently waiting attendees. The sound in the room had lowered to just a dull murmur as she sighed and turned around. She cantered over to the door to the back offices which Applebloom and Diamond Tiara were standing in front of, catching a few words of their conversation as she approached.

“-and you absolutely must remember to thank the Manehattan donors, they came all the way here after all.”

“I know, Diamond,” Applebloom replied, sounding as though that wasn’t the first time she had said so.

“Do you want to go through the important subjects again?” Diamond Tiara asked hurriedly as she turned to a cork board on the wall completely covered in papers and pins. “And are you absolutely sure you don’t want me to prepare lines for you? There’s still time for–”

“Thank you, really, but I’m fine, Diamond. Figuring out what I’m gonna say ain’t my biggest concern about all this. And besides, you already prepared most of Scootaloo’s speech,” Applebloom said with finality, and while Diamond did seem like she wanted to press the subject further, she nodded and smiled. They both turned to look at Scootaloo. “Are they out there, Scoots?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “Not a one, but I don’t blame ‘em. That storm last night was something else, you know? I’m still surprised we didn’t have to cancel this event. Rainbow Dash and the gang are just really busy fixing all the damages, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, Applejack stayed up all night trying to put out the fires that sprang up from a lightning strike in the orchards, apparently.”

Diamond’s eyebrows raised in shock. “Fire? Was anypony hurt?”

It was Applebloom’s turn to shake her head. “No, nothin’ like that. The fire was a ways away from the barn and none of the animals were out, thank goodness. It just needed to be contained before it got way worse.”

“Well, that’s good news at least,” Diamond Tiara said as she closed her eyes and sighed. “That storm caused a whole mess of problems for all of Ponyville, and lots of ponies weren’t so lucky.”

Applebloom seemed to silently bow her head in agreement, but Scootaloo couldn’t help feeling that her friend was trying to purposefully avoid making eye contact with either of them. Diamond Tiara didn’t seem to notice, however, as she started walking over to a nearby desk covered in papers and open books filled with numbers.

“But we still got to hold this year’s event,” Diamond Tiara continued as she began flipping through one of the many books on the desk. “It means a great deal to a lot of ponies, after all. Including me.”

Scootaloo blinked. “Really?”

Diamond Tiara made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a short laugh. “Please, this day symbolizes more than just when you got your cutie marks eight years ago.” She turned her head and threw a grin over her shoulder. “It’s also the day that the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped me realize the type of pony I wanted to become and who my true friends really were.”

A sort of lopsided, embarrassed smile wound its way onto Scootaloo’s lips. Diamond Tiara had already turned back towards the desk though, so she didn’t see it. Things really had changed since that day all those years ago, the day that she, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle had finally figured out what their destinies were supposed to be.

She glanced at Applebloom and noticed that she was likewise looking wistful, but there was something more to it. There was a hint of what looked like regret hidden behind her eyes. Scootaloo sighed softly in agreement. If only they could go back and do things a little differently …

“Oh no, we reminisced too long!” Diamond Tiara said as her ears perked up, twisting backwards toward the stage behind them. She turned around and looked at the both of them. “Hurry, you two have to get out there!”

“What? Already!?” Scootaloo exclaimed, looking around for a clock.

Applebloom closed her eyes for a moment as she held in a deep breath. She let it out as she began to trot towards the stage, bumping her hips against Scootaloo as she passed her. “Come on, she’s right. They’re waitin’ for us.”

Scootaloo looked after her, once again feeling the anxiety of stepping out on that stage. Last year was the same thing, and that crowd wasn’t even half as big as the one tonight. She could fearlessly perform tricks and stunts on her scooter, but going in front of a crowd of possibly a thousand ponies … Well, her old school’s talent show had nothing on this audience.

“Go on, you got this,” Diamond Tiara said, bringing Scootaloo’s attention back around. Diamond was smiling encouragingly. She seemed to understand how Scootaloo was feeling.

“I just … I wish Sweetie Belle was here.”

Diamond Tiara’s smile softened a bit. “Hey, I mean it. You can do it. You and Applebloom are both strong, and this?” Diamond nodded her head towards the stage before continuing. “You can handle this, easy as pie.”

Scootaloo couldn’t help it - she felt a little bit better. “Thanks, Dee,” she said as she turned and hurried over to where Applebloom was waiting. They briefly looked at each other before Scootaloo glanced back, seeing Diamond Tiara give them both a wink of encouragement.

Applebloom and Scootaloo smiled and stepped out into view from behind the curtain that was tied on the side of the stage. Silence filled the room as they walked up to a podium at the edge of the stage, just above where the fillies and colts were sitting. Two microphones were raised up from the top of the lectern, each one angled so that both ponies could stand side by side comfortably.

“Well, today was quite a day, wasn’t it?” Scootaloo began as soon as she stopped at the right side of the podium with Applebloom on her left, the microphone catching her voice. Several speakers positioned around the room echoed her words loudly so that even the ponies in the back could hear her well. “But I personally feel like the Eighth Annual Gathering of the Cutie Mark Crusaders … has been a wild success!”

The ponies in the audience roared to life, hoots, hollers and cheers blowing up in response to Scootaloo’s statement. The fillies and colts at the foot of the stage all started laughing together, some smiling and hugging their friends, others keeping all their attention squarely on the two ponies onstage. Scootaloo and Applebloom shared a quick grin before turning back to their respective mics.

“When we opened the doors this morning, we didn’t know just how many of you were going to be able to make it,” Applebloom said, continuing where Scootaloo had left off, “but I have to say … I don’t think any of us expected today’s turnout to be double that of last year. Thank you all so, so much for coming today! We really mean that!”

The sound of hundreds of hooves stomping on the ground echoed about the room. Applebloom glanced at Scootaloo, letting her know that it was time for her main part to begin.

“However, everything has to stop eventually,” Scootaloo started, the crowd once again going quiet. “Thus we have come to tonight’s closing ceremonies. After nine hours of fun, camaraderie, and eating some really delicious food, here we are once again.”

Scootaloo scanned the crowd a little bit as she spoke. “As I look around this room, I am once again amazed by how many faces are here that I don’t know. Eight years ago, Ponyville was still just a small town. It wasn’t the big, bustling Crown City it is today, with towering buildings everywhere and a population of over five thousand. There was barely two hundred ponies who lived here back then, and I can honestly say I knew most of their names and all of their faces.

“But right now there are more ponies in this room than there was in all of Ponyville back then. Do you know how mind blowing that is for us!? None of us had any idea what we would be creating in just eight short years. The Cutie Mark Crusaders may have become a nationally funded organization, dedicated to helping ponies of all ages understand their destinies, but back then it was just the three of us, trying to find our own paths.”

There was a small bit of murmuring that swept the audience. Scootaloo decided it would be best to address it. “Yes, that’s correct. Most of you are new to our group, having joined us within the last year, so you wouldn’t know that there was actually a third founder of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her name was Sweetie Belle and she was a very close friend of ours, but she … she disappeared a little over a year ago.” Scootaloo coughed over the pained whimper that threatened to sneak out of her throat. Before continuing she took a deep breath to help relax her quickly tightening chest.

“After the three of us found our cutie marks in helping others, it was actually her idea to try and make it a real group where other ponies could come and find help. She was the first one to find volunteers that were willing to help us get established, and it was her idea to go to the Princess of Friendship with a request for funding. Her efforts started us on our path to becoming a national aid group with individuals working for us in every major city of Equestria, all for the goal of helping ponies find themselves. If it wasn’t for her, none of this would be happening.”

Scootaloo closed her eyes and bowed her head. She stayed like that for a few moments before she looked back out at the audience with a smile on her face. These ponies were here in celebration of what they had achieved, and today was supposed to be joyous and fun. She needed to get back to that.

“We have accomplished so much in the last year! All of us, together! The Cutie Mark Crusaders more than doubled its membership in the past twelve months, both in fillies and colts partaking in activities and helping one another, and also in volunteers and employees working to keep the organization prospering. Many ponies’ dreams have come together to see this rise to where it is today, and we want to thank all of you for doing your part.

“Today’s festivities was just the first of many ways that we intend to show you how much we appreciate everything that you do. We’ve talked it over and we have decided that the Annual Gathering will start being held in different cities every year, allowing us to reach out to more ponies in turn. We are well aware that about half of you all today aren’t residents of Ponyville and that you actually travelled here to be part of this, and that means a whole lot. Especially with that crazy storm last night, am I right!?”

Some hearty laughs rippled their way across the room and onto the stage, causing Scootaloo and Applebloom to share a grin again. Scootaloo turned back to the mic. “Over the course of the upcoming months, we will also be unveiling a few new grassroot opportunities that the Cutie Mark Crusaders will be starting up, that any of you will be able to take part in. We can’t say much more about them here, but we hope that you’re as excited about them as we are! We–”

Scootaloo cut herself off as a small earth pony filly with a butter yellow mane came galloping into the hall through the open doors at the back of the seating area. A few ponies had come and gone throughout her speech and she had never felt the need to stop talking before, but this time was different. This filly was moving as fast as she could, and she was heading straight for the stairs up onto the stage.

“I’m sorry everypony, just–just a moment.” Scootaloo stepped away from the mic, casting a glance at Applebloom and implying that she should continue the closing speeches. She quickly headed towards the stairs down from the stage that the filly was about to reach.

“Are you okay? What’s your name?” she whispered as soon as the filly got to the top of the stairs. She did her best to ignore the fact that most of the audience was not listening to Applebloom and was instead looking over at her and this newcomer.

The small pony was breathing very hard, sweat dripping from her nose as she began to speak. “M-My name is Buttercup, ma’am … P-Princess Twilight told me to fetch you! Right now! She said it’s urgent!”

Scootaloo frowned as she knit her eyebrows in thought. “Twilight sent you to get me? But she knows how important today is … Where is she?”

“She’s at the hospital, ma’am! She told me to tell you that … that somepony named Sweetie Belle has been found!”

Scootaloo’s heart nearly stopped. A ringing filled her ears as silence filled the room. Scootaloo swallowed hard and turned to look up at Applebloom who seemed to be frozen at the podium. She must have heard the message as well.

The sound of hooves reached Scootaloo’s ears as Diamond Tiara came up to her side, having come out from backstage to see what was happening. “Scootaloo, is everything okay? Is this filly hurt?”

“Dee … Sweetie Belle has been found.”

Diamond Tiara was just as stunned, but it didn’t last long. She hurried over to Applebloom to tell her that they needed to get going, and that she could finish the closing speeches. With a quick reassurance that it would all be okay, she shoo’d Applebloom away from the microphones and took over. Diamond Tiara had always excelled at finding quick solutions under pressure, and Scootaloo was thankful for it.

Scootaloo led Buttercup backstage and met up with Applebloom before she turned back to the filly. Her lips had gone dry and she felt somewhat nauseous, but she forced herself to speak. “Which hospital?”

The electric sliding doors of the Western Ponyville Hospital opened for Rarity as she ran inside, just as the last light of the setting sun disappeared over the horizon. Her breathing was quickened from having run all the way to the hospital, but she didn’t dare stop for a rest. With just a few short strides, the front reception area had come into view.

“Where is she!?” Rarity said emphatically, giving the stallion behind the counter a bit of a start. Rarity’s eyes were wide and she was breathing hard, giving her a bit of a manic appearance. “I was told that she was here! Please, let me see her!”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he replied, “but visiting hours ended half an hour ago. You’re more than welcome to come back tomorrow –”

“You don’t understand, she’s my sister!” Rarity said, cutting him off with the wave of a hoof. “Princess Twilight told me she’s been found, and that she’s being treated here! You must let me go to her!”

“The princess, huh?” the receptionist said, a slight smirk on his lips. “Look, I’m sorry, miss, I don’t know who you think you are, but rules are rules.”

Rarity’s eyes narrowed dangerously as a hot flush rose to her cheeks. She was getting quite tired of that reaction. Ever since Ponyville had been declared a Crown City and ponies had begun flocking to its borders, they’d been slowly becoming less and less … personable. “Phillydelphia, if I’m not mistaken?”

The smirk on the receptionist’s face didn’t disappear. “Excuse me?”

“Judging by your accent and the fact that you don’t even have a Hospital uniform yet” – the stallion glanced down at himself for a moment – “I’d say you moved here less than a month ago, with the dream of making it big in the brand new Crown City, ruled by the brand new Princess of Friendship. Am I right?”

The smirk had slipped away. “Uh… I don’t see how –”

“You got a job as a brand new receptionist in the brand new Western Ponyville Hospital, which was only completed less than four months ago, and because your viewpoint of the city is so shallow, naturally everypony else’s must be too.”

“Um …” The receptionist looked nervous. Other ponies in the area had stopped what they were doing and had begun to take notice.

“I on the other hoof have been living in this town my whole life and I was here when Princess Twilight first came to visit as a relatively unknown unicorn! I knew everypony’s names back then and everypony in town knew me! Now, I truly apologize for snapping at you like this, but I have had it! I don’t care if you think your station in life is above mine! Just please, please, tell me where my sister is!”

The receptionist was quiet for a moment, Rarity’s heavy breathing from all of her shouting the only sound that could be heard. Her glare never wilted, her nostrils flaring with every breath. The stallion before her fidgeted a bit in his chair.

“I’m sorry, but I still can’t let you go back,” he said at last. “Rules are rules, and visiting hours did end a half hour ago. I can’t just–”

“It’s quite alright,” came a soothing voice as the doors that led into the deeper sections of the hospital opened up. Princess Twilight Sparkle herself walked through, a smile on her face. “You’re absolutely right, sir. Rules are rules, and visiting hours have ended. I thank you for not breaking policy.”

Rarity turned and looked at Twilight. It was still amazing to her how much her friend had physically changed since they’d first met a decade prior. Of course there was the obvious development, the wings and the longer, more alicorn-esque horn. But even in the way Twilight held herself, her posture and her poise, and it certainly helped that she had grown to be a little taller since her ascension.

“However,” Twilight continued, casting a glance at Rarity before looking back at the now flustered receptionist, her warm smile still present, “she is not here as a visitor, so those rules do not apply. She is here by my personal request to assist with a patient, one that Doctor Clover asked for me to consult on due to the extreme complications of the patient’s situation. I have the paperwork right here for her permission, as a matter of fact. I was actually on my way to deliver it to you, but it appears she arrived before I did.”

The receptionist blinked several times as an embarrassed blush lit up his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but found his words to be stuck in his throat. He accepted the paperwork that Twilight levitated onto his desk.

“The doctor has given his approval for her to be here as long as is necessary,” Twilight continued. “There will also be two more ponies arriving in the next hour or so, and their names are on that form as well. Please be so kind as to permit them entrance when they arrive.”

“Of course, Princess …” the pony mumbled out bashfully, not daring to look away from the document.

“It’s good to see you, Rarity,” Twilight said, at last turning her attention towards her friend. “Thank you for coming as soon as I called.”

“Your guard said Sweetie Belle was found. If I could have teleported here I would have.”

Twilight nodded. “Follow me, and we’ll go straight to her. I know you really want to see her.”

Rarity wasted no time, immediately walking past Twilight and standing by the door. Twilight turned back to the receptionist one last time before leaving, however.

“I know you were just trying to do your job, and I want to thank you for that. But you might want to ask your superiors about the situation next time before you make assumptions about somepony. Give a pony a little trust, and you never know. They might surprise you.”

The pony appeared to be stunned as he looked up at Twilight. “Thank you, Princess,” was all he could say, his words quiet and shaky.

“You’re welcome,” Twilight replied, giving one last sweet smile before she turned and walked back through the open door, Rarity at her side.

They walked in silence for a little bit, Rarity looking at Twilight out the corner of her eye. Twilight was still smiling, but it was starting to look a little stressed. Rarity raised an eyebrow and coughed, drawing Twilight’s attention. Upon seeing her friend’s knowing expression, Twilight visibly sagged, letting out a long, shuddering sigh.

“I’m sorry, Rarity. I just have to keep up pretenses in public. There were lots of ponies out there looking at us, you know?” Twilight’s wings drooped a bit as she hunched her neck. “It’s been a long day.”

Rarity sighed as well and turned her eyes back to the front. They rounded a corner, passing a nurse who was carrying a box of stethoscopes on her back. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, Twilight, but I just want to see Sweetie Belle. I can’t think of anything else right now.”

Twilight nodded, a sympathetic look on her face. “I understand. Her absence was harder on you than anypony.”

Rarity didn’t reply, letting silence enter into their conversation again. Twilight looked at her friend a few times, concern coloring all of her features, but she didn’t ask any of the questions that were burning in her mind. There would be time for that later.

They stopped in front of a set of metal doors with no handles or doorknobs visible. Rarity glanced at Twilight and saw her lift a hoof and press a button that was on the wall beside the doors. It lit up and a few seconds later the doors opened, revealing a small, empty room on the other side that had no other entrances, and all the walls were shiny and smooth. The two of them stepped in, and the doors then closed behind them.

Twilight turned around and reached a hoof out again, pressing another button on the wall that had a number seven on it. The room they were in immediately began to vibrate as it started to rise up through the floors of the hospital.

“These really are quite amazing, aren’t they?” Twilight said, attempting to break the silence.

“Hmm?” was the only response she got. Rarity didn’t even look away from her reflection in the metal doors.

“Elevators, I mean. This is the first building in Ponyville to have one.”

“I see.”

“Do you know how they work? The technology is fascinating. It doesn’t use any magic, and instead it–”

“How is Sweetie Belle, Twilight?” Rarity said, cutting the alicorn off before she could get any further on the subject. “I’m confused why you have not yet said anything. Is she okay?”

Twilight grimaced. “Well … the truth is, no. She’s not okay. I wasn’t lying when I said to the receptionist that her situation has some extreme complications.”

Rarity looked Twilight right in the eyes. Her voice sounded strained as she spoke. “What kind of complications?”

Before Twilight could respond, the elevator stopped shaking as the doors began to open, revealing the main hub for the seventh floor. A sign on the wall read ‘Critical Care Center’ with an arrow to the left. Rarity’s heart sank when Twilight stepped out of the elevator and immediately turned in that direction.

“I don’t know where to begin, but … Rarity, she’s been through alot,” Twilight said as they kept walking, nurses and doctors stepping out of their path as they approached. “When she was found this morning, she was covered in multiple life threatening wounds and was nearly dead.”

Rarity’s breathing was getting faster. “Is she …?”

“She’s doing better now, and she’s going to live. Her condition has stabilized. But Rarity, there’s more. There’s … a lot more.”

Rarity looked down at her hooves as they continued to walk, her jaw starting to hurt as tears began leaking from her eyes. “Tell me.”

Twilight sucked in a deep breath. “Well, first off, she has scars all over her body, scars from previous, yet similar wounds to the ones she sustained last night. Whatever happened to her … well, it wasn’t the first time.”

Twilight glanced at Rarity out the corner of her eye. Seeing her friend looking so frail, like a broken tea cup that had been taped back together, made Twilight want to comfort her. However, there was still more to say.

“She also seems to be … fractured, so to speak,” Twilight said as she looked forward once again. “Whatever she experienced in the year she was missing has left her traumatized. She won’t eat any food that is brought to her, and she won’t speak to any of the doctors or nurses. Even I can only barely get her to just look at me. She instead prefers to simply sit in her bed, staring at the wall, not acknowledging anything that anypony says to her.”

Rarity’s entire face tightened like her jaw, her lips quivering as her tears started to flow faster and faster. She barely held back a sob that nearly forced it’s way out.

They stopped walking once they had officially reached the Critical Care Center. They were at the entrance to a large, circular room with a path that looped around the edge of it and came right back to the entrance. The desks for the hospital staff had all been placed in the very center. Over a dozen rooms for patients lined the outer wall of the pathway. The doors into the rooms were made entirely of glass, as was the immediate wall around them. This design, coupled with the circular layout of the ward, made it so that the ponies working in the center would be able to see any patient in any room from almost any angle. They needed to be able to respond quickly to patients that were having problems.

An overwhelming need to start galloping from door to door in order to find her sister started to race through Rarity’s mind. Somewhere nearby, in this very room, was Sweetie Belle, hurting and alone. Rarity let out a shuddering breath as she closed her eyes. Everypony had repeatedly told her all year long that Sweetie Belle’s disappearance had not been her fault, but she had never believed a word of it, not even once. Whatever hell Sweetie Belle had gone through between then and now was entirely Rarity’s responsibility, and she needed to make it right.

Rarity couldn’t begin searching for her sister though, because as soon as they had stepped into the Critical Care Center, a rather large earth pony stallion with maroon fur and a short cut greying mane and tail came walking up to them. He had on a white doctor’s jacket and a pair of half moon spectacles.

“Welcome back, Princess. Is this the pony you mentioned?” A thoughtful frown crossed his features as he glanced at Rarity and eyed her up and down.

Twilight nodded in response. “Yes, Doctor. This is Rarity, Sweetie Belle’s older sister.”

The doctor stepped over closer to Rarity. “Thank you for coming. I’m Doctor Clover.”

Rarity looked at him. “May I see her?”

“Of course,” Clover replied, though he did not move. “I assume Twilight has told you a little about her condition?”

Twilight spoke up before Rarity could even think about replying. “I told her the parts that I could. I figured it would be best to leave the more … complicated topics to you.”

Rarity’s eyebrows raised as she looked from Clover to Twilight and back again. “Complicated? I’d say it’s already complicated enough. How could it get any worse?”

Doctor Clover sighed heavily as he pinched the bridge of his nose with a hoof, knocking his glasses slightly askew. “Well, I’m not sure how to tell you this, but she shouldn’t even be alive.”

“She shouldn’t be alive?” Rarity looked at Twilight, but the downcast expression on her friend’s face didn’t help.

“To be more precise, we don’t know how she’s still alive. Her body is … different. It’s abnormal.”

Rarity was speechless for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m going to try and simplify the specifics,” Clover said as he stepped over to a nearby counter and grabbed a patient folder which had Sweetie Belle’s name on it. “A pony’s body parts all function in specific ways, each organ serving a different purpose. I’m sure you’re familiar with how the lungs work.”

Rarity began to fidget slightly. “Doctor, I know enough about the body to know how each organ works. What does this have to do with Sweetie Belle? Please get to the point so that I can just go see her.”

Doctor Clover flipped the folder open as he glanced up at Rarity, looking over the tops of his spectacles. He then spun the folder around and showed her a scan of a pony’s body that had been printed onto a document.

“This scan is of Sweetie Belle’s lungs from about two months before she disappeared. Once Princess Twilight confirmed her identity, we were able to request the files be transferred here from her old hospital. This scan is of a healthy and normal pair of lungs that you would expect to see in a nineteen year old pony, such as she was. As you can see, just like with everypony, her lungs had some scarring, which is represented in black on the scan, from when she was probably sick as a filly, or coughed a little too hard. But again, these things are normal. Every pair of lungs has some scar tissue.”

Clover then flipped the page up and revealed the one beneath it. “The problem is, this scan is as of three hours ago.”

Rarity stared at the paper, her eyes not believing what they were seeing; the scan of Sweetie Belle’s lungs were solid black. “But … That’s not possible.”

Clover simply shook his head. “I’m afraid it is. According to our scans, Sweetie Belle’s lungs are entirely covered in scar tissue, yet she is still alive and breathing just fine. That is a physical impossibility, so our current running hypothesis is that her lungs have … changed.”

Rarity glanced at the doctor before looking back at the scan. “Changed?”

He briefly locked eyes with Twilight before continuing. “Normally, I would not jump to such an unfounded theory so quickly, but this is a special case. First off, she is alive, and we diagnosed her physically as well, without magic. Her lungs are there and they are working, quite well I might add. Second, her lungs are not the only example of this in her body.”

Twilight stepped forwards a bit. “Most of Sweetie Belle’s internal organs are completely unrecognizable now when compared side by side with what a normal pony’s would look like. She is still alive, so obviously they must still be functioning normally, but … honestly, we cannot explain even remotely how or why. Per everything we know about the body, she should not be doing so well.”

“But … what exactly does this mean for Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked nervously.

Clover and Twilight exchanged glances before the doctor finally replied. “We honestly don’t know. They’re just more pieces to a very strange puzzle. We were actually hoping that you might have more information for us that might shed light on it. I am aware she’s been missing for some time and you haven’t seen her, but … still. We’re grasping at straws, and you were potentially the last one we could even reach for.”

Twilight looked Rarity right in the eyes, a soft frown on her lips. “That is, unless we can get her to talk to us.”

Rarity bit her lip as she looked down at the floor, her eyes tracing the lines between the tiles. She was silent for quite sometime. Eventually however, she decided on what needed to be done. “I need to see her.”

Doctor Clover nodded his agreement. He turned and started walking counterclockwise along the path that circled the Critical Care Center. Twilight and Rarity both followed right behind. They didn’t have to walk for long though, as quite suddenly Clover had stopped walking and tilted his head towards one of the rooms on their right. It had a glass wall and door like all the other rooms, but the curtains inside had been pulled to block the view. The door into the room was ajar.

“Room number seven-twelve,” the doctor explained, his eyes on the door. “Due to the nature of her condition, she’s registered in our system as a Private Guest, so we don’t give out her location to anypony. Twilight made a special exception for you and those two friends of hers who have yet to arrive.”

Rarity stared at the glass wall and at the curtains beyond them. She wanted to just rush in there and grab hold of Sweetie Belle, but she felt a certain trepidation. Her eyes shook as she sniffed and rubbed a hoof over her face. Twilight leaned close and nuzzled the side of Rarity’s cheek with her own.

“It’ll be okay, Rarity,” Twilight comforted, her voice small and soft. “I’ll be right outside the door.”

Rarity closed her eyes and pushed her own cheek back against Twilight’s before sucking in a deep breath and holding it in her lungs. As she let it out, she took the last few steps separating her from the door. With a quick telekinesis spell, the door was opened the rest of the way.

She stepped inside and closed the door softly behind her, listening intently to the sounds of the room. A soft beeping echoed out, just barely loud enough to be heard, presumably coming from one of the many pieces of machinery that hospitals had begun using recently to keep an eye on their patients. For a moment Rarity was concerned that there had been a mistake and that she had gone into the wrong room, but just then she recognized the very quiet sound of a pony breathing.

Swallowing her nervousness down, Rarity walked up to the curtain and magically swept it to the side, revealing the rest of the room. She almost gasped. There was Sweetie Belle, sitting cross-legged in the center of the one bed in the room, her hooves in her lap.

Twilight had been telling the truth; Sweetie Belle looked nothing like she used to. She really was covered in scars, a few on every leg, her stomach, her back, and even one large scar on the left side of her face that traced upwards and disappeared somewhere into her dirty, ragged mane. Her fur was matted and in desperate need of a brushing, whereas her eyes looked like they had seen more than her fair share of suffering. Sweetie Belle stared lifelessly at the foot of her bed, unblinking. She hadn’t even bothered to glance to the side and look at whomever had just walked in the room.

“Sweetie Belle …?”

Sweetie Belle gasped as her head jerked upwards, her eyes wide as she stared at the blank wall across from her. Her breathing was getting louder as she slowly turned her head and looked at her sister. When their eyes finally met, Sweetie Belle looked as if she might cry.

“Rarity …?” Her voice was quiet and hoarse, and Rarity had to strain her ears to hear it.

“It’s okay, Sweetie, I’m—”

“No! No, no, no!” Sweetie Belle squeaked out a few times before stopping to cough.

“What’s wrong, Sweetie Belle? Do you want me to leave?” Rarity asked, despite having no intention of actually doing so.

Sweetie Belle threw her hooves to her temples as tears started streaming down her face. She tore her eyes away from Rarity and screwed them shut, but it did nothing to stem the flow. She just kept repeating the word no, over and over, though it often came out between choked sobs.

“Sweetie Belle, it’s–it’s okay, it’s me …” Rarity said, taking a step closer. Her jaw started to hurt again as her lips trembled, but she refused to falter. Not here, not now.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Sweetie Belle started shouting, her eyes still screwed shut as she began to shake her head rapidly.

Rarity didn’t know what to say, not that she really could have said anything anyways. Sweetie Belle’s shouted apologies, while somewhat hard to understand amidst the shaking and crying, were loud enough that the nurses waiting out in the hall came rushing in to check on their patient.

“Ma’am, I need you to step outside,” one of the hospital staff, a big unicorn stallion, told her. He didn’t sound upset. Rarity knew he was just trying to do what was best for Sweetie Belle.

She allowed him to guide her back out into the hall, all the while Sweetie Belle’s continued shouting and sobbing filling her ears. She hardly even noticed when the door had closed behind her and a concerned Twilight had come up to her right side.

“Rarity, it’s okay. I’m here,” the princess said, her left wing unfolding and wrapping gently over Rarity’s back.

For Rarity’s part, she was amazed by how long she had been able to hold her composure throughout this entire ordeal, but now … the cracks in the mask were beginning to fracture. Rarity began to shake as her breathing quickly developed into hyperventilating. “I don’t know what to do, Twilight … I don’t know what to do!”

“I understand, I do. It’s a lot to handle.”

“I just … I can’t help but wonder …” Rarity began, pressing her head tightly against Twilight’s neck as she hugged her even more. “What happened to her? Oh god, Twilight! What happened to my baby sister!?”

The night Sweetie Belle disappeared

“And I think that just about wraps it up!” Scootaloo said, a smile on her face as she closed the planning book that lay on the table in front of her. “We’ve covered every idea that was presented for the seventh AGC.”

Applebloom, who had been collecting the garbage from the table in the corner, turned around and raised an eyebrow at Scootaloo. “The what now?”

Scootaloo scooped up the planning book and started walking over to one of the many shelves that were against the walls. “Come on, like you don’t know what I said. Annual Gathering of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is so annoying to say all the time, so I shortened it.”

A scoff and a grin was her response as Applebloom turned back around. “Whatever you say, Scoots, but by that logic it’d be AGCMC.”

It was Scootaloo’s turn to raise an eyebrow in confusion. “… What does the ‘B’ stand for?”

“The what?” Applebloom said as she tied her garbage bag shut and hefted it on her back.

“You said BAGCMC. What’s the ‘B’?”

Applebloom blinked. “Not BAGCMC. I said it would be AGCMC.”

“That’s what I said, BAGCMC.”

Sweetie Belle giggled into her hoof, having listened to the entire conversation over by the front door.

The three of them were located in their old clubhouse that they had used as fillies. Nowadays it was more of an office-away-from-the-office that they went to in order to relax while still collaborating their activities for all the ponies who were a part of the new Cutie Mark Crusaders. With Twilight Sparkle’s help, they had been able to take their little club and make it a national organization, dedicated to helping ponies of all ages discover their destinies. All three of them truly believed that they had found their calling, and while they did have an official office in the newly built and bustling downtown Ponyville, sometimes it was nice to come and spend time here without anypony else around.

“Sorry girls, but I have to get going now,” Sweetie Belle said, one hoof on the doorknob. “It’s already after ten. Sunset was hours ago, and that was when Rarity wanted me home by.”

“Awe, that’s right, I forgot,” Scootaloo chimed in, looking forlorn. She scuffed one of her hooves against the floor. “I thought you’d be staying the night with us here. It’s been years since we were able to do that the three of us. Remember?”

“Sorry, Scootaloo. I promised Rarity I’d be awake early tomorrow morning to help her prepare her shop for a special theatre troupe that’s coming through, so I need to be in bed soon.”

Applebloom gasped. “Wait, you can’t go yet!”

Sweetie Belle frowned as she removed her hoof from the doorknob and looked at her friend. “Why not?”

Scootaloo smiled as recognition lit up her face. “That’s right! You promised you’d show us your new spell that Twilight taught you!”

“Oh, right.” Sweetie Belle bit the inside of her left cheek in thought. “Mmm. Well, I guess I can show you right now. It doesn’t take long to explain, and the spell is almost instantaneous.”

With a flick of her magic, Sweetie Belle levitated a quill over from a nearby desk as Scootaloo and Applebloom trotted over to get a better view.

“So, the spell that Twilight wanted me to learn is something that she found deep in the Starswirl the Bearded section of the Spell Archives in Canterlot. I’ll use this quill to demonstrate and then I’ll explain what happened.”

Her friends watched with great interest as Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and lit up her horn even brighter than before. They waited patiently as she weaved her magic and completed her spell. At last, Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and their patience was rewarded; a small, purple portal was glowing in the air in front of them, with a yellowish sheen around it the same color as the glow around Sweetie Belle’s horn. The portal was flat and if a pony were standing next to it, they almost wouldn’t even be able to see it.

“Whoa, what is that thing?” Scootaloo asked, her jaw hanging open as she walked to her left to get a better view. Applebloom did the same but in the opposite direction. “It looks totally awesome!”

Rather than respond, Sweetie Belle floated the quill over towards the purple portal. When the quill entered the portal, it didn’t come out the other side. Instead, it disappeared entirely. Once it was gone, Sweetie Belle cut all of her magic and the portal disappeared as well.

It was Applebloom’s turn to look stunned. “Wait, where did it go? Did you send it somewhere?”

Sweetie Belle smiled but shook her head. “Nope, I didn’t send it anywhere.”

“Then where is it?” Scootaloo queried as she waved her hoof through the air where the portal had been floating.

“You won’t find it there, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle giggled. “It’s a part of me now!”

Scootaloo froze in place, looking quite silly with her hoof in mid wave. Sweetie Belle could almost see the gears turning in her head.

“Uh, what do you mean? How is it a part of you?” Applebloom asked, equally confused.

“Hmm. How do I put this …? According to Twilight, the science behind the spell is a bit confusing, as it temporarily removes the object in question from the physical universe, but due to the Weight Displacement Theory of Magical Exchange, first postulated by the High Magical Regaliant over three hundred years ago, the mass of an object cannot be removed during a spell that works with relative juxtapositioning, and instead impinges itself upon—”

Sweetie Belle cut herself off when she saw the blank looks on her friend’s faces. Their lack of comprehension reminded Sweetie Belle of how she felt when she was listening to Twilight talk. She realized that this must be how Twilight felt all the time. “Um, I put it in a magic pocket and it’s weight is now added to mine.”

“Ooooh!” her friends chorused in unison as smiles broke out on their faces once more.

“Yeah, sorry girls,” Sweetie Belle said, rubbing a hoof behind her head. “I guess I kinda went a little ‘Twilight Zone’ on you guys for a moment.”

All three of them burst out into laughter. It had been a while since any one of them had made that old joke, but Sweetie Belle thought that perhaps there had never been a more appropriate time. Once the laughing had died down, Scootaloo was the first to talk.

“So, does that mean you can like, carry things without saddlebags then?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, coughing a bit to try and get the redness from her laughing out of her cheeks. With a quick outtake of breath, she composed herself. “Yeah, essentially.”

Applebloom walked up and threw a hoof around Sweetie’s neck. “Well, thanks for showing us that, Sweetie Belle. That’s mighty cool.”

“You’re welcome! But I really have to get going now.”

With a quick round of goodbyes, Sweetie Belle had opened the door and set out into the night. The air was a comfortable temperature and the stars and moon were shining, bright and beautiful in the night sky. After she had walked a short ways, she turned back and cast one last glance at their old clubhouse.

It had always looked so cozy from the outside, but the warm yellow lights slicing out into the darkness from its windows made it look extra inviting. A part of her seriously considered just turning around and enjoying the rest of the night with her friends. She could handle Rarity being upset with her. After all, how long had it been since the three of them had been together like that? She honestly wasn’t sure.

But Sweetie Belle knew she couldn’t do that. She was an adult now, and she wanted to be the kind of dependable pony that could always be counted on. She had promised Rarity that she’d be there, and she was already running a little late getting home as it was. She turned back around and kept walking deeper into the orchards.

“Sweetie Belle! Wait up!”

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle turned around and saw Scootaloo galloping up to her, the orange of her fur getting more and more grey as the she got further away from the light of the clubhouse. “Scootaloo? What are you doing out here?”

Once Scootaloo had caught up, Sweetie Belle noticed that there was something hidden behind Scootaloo’s smile. She frowned a bit as she wondered what her friend could be thinking about.

“Oh, well, I just – I just wanted to ask you if … You know, do you think maybe you should blow off Rarity’s request just this once? Just, why don’t you come back with us?”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head slightly. “Us?”

“Uh, I mean, me! Or me and Applebloom, I mean. She wants you to come back too.”

“Scootaloo, I can’t just ignore what Rarity has asked of me. Why would you want me to blow her off like that?”

Scootaloo’s smile faltered and her expression shifted to one of anxiety. “Y-yeah, of course. You’re right … I only meant to say that, you know, you’re like … my best friend, and –” Scootaloo hung her head slightly, her eyes fixed on the grass at her hooves “–and I just miss you. I miss you a lot.”

Sweetie Belle was incredibly confused. They had just spent most of the night together, and they were even still going to be working together almost every day to get the event up and running. “I don’t know why you feel that way, but you don’t have to, Scoots.”

Scootaloo looked up slightly, her eyes hiding a deep sadness within them that Sweetie Belle could not figure out why it was there. Scootaloo had seemed totally fine just a few minutes ago. Sweetie Belle displayed a warm smile for her friend before continuing.

“I’m not going anywhere, Scootaloo. I’ll always be here for you and Applebloom. I promise.”

Tears began leaking from Scootaloo’s eyes, her lips quivering as she kept her expression stable. Catching Sweetie Belle by surprise, Scootaloo lunged forward and wrapped her friend in a tight hug. Sweetie Belle then sighed softly as a lopsided smile raised one side of her face. She wrapped her forelegs around Scootaloo and held her tight for a moment. She wasn’t sure what all this was about, but if her friend needed her … Well, her bed could wait a few more minutes.

However, just as suddenly as all of this had began, it was over. Scootaloo detached herself from her friend, wiped her eyes, and smiled goodnight. The next thing Sweetie Belle knew, Scootaloo was jogging back to the clubhouse.

Sweetie Belle waited until Scootaloo had closed the door behind her before shaking her head in confusion and turning back around. She was not even remotely sure what that was all about. She decided she’d ask her the next time that they saw one another.

Her mind switching gears back to the time and to Rarity’s possible wrath if she was exhausted tomorrow, she began heading home.

The road from Sweet Apple Acres back to Ponyville was a long and lazily winding dirt path that swooped around a lake, over some hills, and at several points butted up against one side of the Everfree Forest. Already rather late, Sweetie Belle wasted no time getting on the path and moved at a brisk pace, attempting to make up for lost time.

Her walk back to the city of Ponyville was relatively peaceful, what with the nice view of the sky and the gentle caress of the wind. The world surrounding her was dark and grey, and she noticed that it was more lit up than normal due to the moon being full. The starlight still didn’t pierce inside the Everfree Forest too much, but her path never went in there so she wasn’t concerned. She sighed, her concerns washing away in nature’s comfort.

“Sweetie Belle!”

She froze. Something was wrong. The voice had come from her right side, but there was nopony around. Her ears twitched as a shiver ran down her spine. She turned and found herself staring right into the gaping darkness of the Everfree Forest. The voice had sounded like an urgent whisper, as though somepony was trying to warn her about something.

Sweetie Belle didn’t respond. She didn’t even breathe. She was certain she had never heard that voice before, but somehow it sounded incredibly familiar. Staying quiet and waiting was the best thing she could think of. Every moment the enveloping darkness of the forest seemed to grow more and more imposing, as though it was reaching out from the trees and trying to grab her. However, nothing happened.

A breeze rolled by again, this one stronger than the ones previous, causing her to shiver for a second time. Whoever or whatever it was that had said her name seemed to have gone silent. Her curiosity commanded her to speak up or to run into the woods; the voice had sounded troubled, after all. Yet her desire to just get home won out. She turned back towards the city and took a step.

“Sweetie Belle!” the voice called out, this time from somewhere further inside the forest.

Something clicked inside her at that moment. She wasn’t sure what it was; the familiarity of this voice she’d positively never heard before; the note of urgency in their words; the fact that they were getting further away. Perhaps it was just her own desire to help somepony who sounded like they really needed it. Whatever it was, the next thing Sweetie Belle knew, she was charging headfirst into the forest.