As Rainbow drew near the edge of the Everfree after a long day of busting clouds over the forest, she could see a large group of ponies gathered around a small orange dot. As she sped through a few small tufts of clouds and spiraled towards the ground, a few of the ponies began to separate from the group and slowly walk towards her. Though she was flying at a breakneck speed towards the ground, she landed with the grace of a butterfly on a small patch of grass, breaking only one of the blades.
“What’s goin on?” She asked as she approached the first of the small group with a sense of urgency, worry and doubt beginning to fill her thoughts.
“Rainbow Dash… T-There was an accident… I-it’s best you stay over here,” Roseluck said, one of the three ponies who had came to stop her from whatever had happened a few hundred feet away.
“What’d ya mean? Who is it?!” Rainbow nearly yelled to the three ponies before her. There were only two orange ponies she knew in Ponyville, and if either one was hurt…
“Rainbow Dash…” came a barely audible squeak from a tan earth pony as Rainbow’s mind began to race.
“Applebloom!!! Is AJ alright!!?” Rainbow screamed in fright, the fear for her friend’s safety overriding her manners, making the young filly cower a tad.
“Y-Yea.. Applejack’s fine… it’s S-Scootaloo…”
Rainbow’s heart sank as she heard Applebloom’s answer, Scootaloo… the one pony that she promised would always be safe… her very near flesh and blood sister. “W-what happened…” she asked slowly as her wings drooped and her eyes began to water.
“..We were walkin through the forest, goin to Zecora’s, when we heard a howl. We ran through a patch of trees and got cornered by a Timberwolf. H-he charged at us, so we ran, and got out of the forest, but he jumped and tried to claw me and Sweetie Belle, but Scootaloo jumped in between us and him.
“L-let me see her..” Rainbow said calmly, though her mind was moving at sonic speeds, her sister was hurt and needed her.
“Ah d-don’t think that’s a good idea Rainbow… s-she’s pretty hurt…” Applebloom said through a few tears that lingered behind, slowly making their way down her cheek, as if waiting for others to join them in a stampede to the ground like others before them.
“I Don’t Care!! I want to see her!!!” Rainbow yelled, causing Applebloom to cower again before she stormed through the small group of ponies trying to hold her back.
As she tried to run to her sister, she could feel a weight on her tail, slowing her down. She could hear what sounded like Applejack grunting behind her, trying to halt her progress, though to no avail, Rainbow was Determined to get to Scootaloo, and she wasn’t letting any pony stop her.
As she made it to the large group of ponies, she could hear the sounds of the doctor, calling for tools from an assistant, and screaming from a pony to her right. She could see what appeared to be Twilight at the other end of the group, watching the forest closely for any sign of movement that indicated the Timberwolf’s return.
“.. I need the scalpel Shy, that and a clean rag, this cut is pretty deep…” came the sounds of the Doctor as he worked on the frail Pegasus before him.
Rainbow finally made it to the center of the crowd after having pushed most of the other ponies half a meter away to either side. What she saw was horrifying… Scootaloo had three massive cuts, each at least three inches across and four inches deep, across the left side of her face and down her neck before finally leaving at the base of her chest. By the looks of it, the doctor had already treated two of the three gashes, and was working on the final one, which he was nearly done with.
“I-is she gonna be alright…” Rainbow asked solemnly, her heart in her throat as she waited for the doctor’s answer.
He looked up from his work, which he had just finished by the last stitch in Scootaloo’s chest and answered her.
“Rainbow Dash, this was one of the worst, if not the worst Timberwolf attack I have ever seen, but I think that in time, and a lot of therapy, Scootaloo will be right as rain, but her road to recovery is gonna be riddled with hurdles, and she’s gonna need all the help she can get,” he said as he packed his bag back up before walking out of the group, towards Ponyville.
Scootaloo’s right eye began to open as she woke up, and seeing her big sister next to her brought a smile to her face, though she winced at the pain it brought.
“H-Hi Rainbow Dash…. f-funny seeing you here,” she said painfully as she tried to joke.
“Hey there squirt, how ya feeling?” Rainbow answered, her jaw clenching as she fought back tears. Though she knew that Scootaloo was going to make it, the sight of her fighting the pain for a chance to impress her was getting to her, because it reminded Rainbow of herself, right down to the crooked grin.
“Did I do good Dash? Did I make a good hero?” Scootaloo slurred as she began to fall asleep, the pain finally winning over her consciousness, beginning to bring her into a rough form of sleep.
“Yea Squirt, you did good… you did good…” Rainbow said with tears streaming down her face.
“It seems like you're quite the hero Scoots, any better and you would’ve made me look bad,” Rainbow said, trying to cheer up the young filly.
Scootaloo laughed weakly before wincing at the pain it brought to her. She looked over to the right and seen her best friends, smiled and closed her eye to rest while Applejack lifted her gently onto her back and began the walk to Sweet Apple Acres, where her road to recovery would begin...
