"You'll still be you when it's over."
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing you need to be sorry for.”
“But-”
“Scootaloo.”
The pegasus flinched, wings snapping to her sides as her ears went down, shortly followed by her head. She stared at the floor of the hospital room. It was immaculately clean, which wasn’t a common state for floors as far as she knew.
There was silence from the bed and she raised her head carefully to look at the pale olive-coated pony lying in it. Her red hair, usually tied back with a ribbon, was left hanging free around her face, which was staring past her, at the reason any of them were in the hospital in the first place.
Staring at what Scootaloo had caused, despite all assurances to the contrary.
They’d been practicing for the school talent show, each working on a different aspect of their performance.
Scootaloo had been writing the music.
Sweetie Belle had been making the costumes.
Apple Bloom had been trying to come up with a dance routine.
Scootaloo had shown her a few tricks, culminating in a complicated spin that she could do because she had wings to keep her balanced and in tune with the flow of air.
Earth ponies didn’t have that, especially young ones.
So, Apple Bloom had tried spinning.
…
Scootaloo didn’t know legs could bend that way, and she’d frozen at the scream. She couldn’t move, couldn’t react, couldn’t help-
She felt a warm body press against her side and she glanced at Sweetie Belle, whose worried eyes met hers, flicking over her face. Scootaloo tried to smile, to show that she was fine.
But she wasn’t fine, because her friend wasn’t fine.
And it was her fault.
“No it wasn’t.”
Scootaloo twitched her wings at Apple Bloom’s tired voice and she moved towards the sound of her voice, gently reaching a hoof out to touch the filly.
“Was that out loud?”
Apple Bloom chuckled wryly. “It’s written all over your face. We all made mistakes, and we learn from them, right? So you know not to use your head as a percussion accompaniment to your music, I know to leave spinning to the professionals, and Sweetie Belle…uh…”
“I’ll leave the fashion to ponies who know how many legs ponies are supposed to have?”
Apple Bloom giggled, then winced as her leg was jostled. Scootaloo chanced a glance at the weird system that kept the heavily-braced limb elevated off the bed and her stomach twisted in on itself and she looked away, wings shivering.
“It’s not so bad,” Apple Bloom said in the quiet void. “At least I don’t have to help on the farm for a while.”
“Or go out with us when we try to get our marks,” Sweetie Belle pointed out with a frown. “That means we might get it without you.”
“Then we won’t do anything that’ll lead to us getting marks,” Scootaloo said with a determined stomp of a hoof.
“We still have to go to school,” Sweetie Belle pointed out wryly. “What if we score high on homework and our marks show up?”
“Mark…from…doing homework?” Scootaloo said in slow-dawning horror. “You mean I’d have to stay in school forever?” She looked around desperately, wings buzzing. “Help me find something to break my leg-”
“I doubt that’s going to happen,” Apple Bloom said with a snicker, rolling her eyes. “I’m not going to be in here long. Earth ponies heal quickly thanks to our magic, and as immature as mine is, Applejack’s sure I’ll be…” Her face scrunched up. “Am-bu-la-tory before long.”
“She’ll be back on her hooves,” Sweetie Belle translated for a blank-faced Scootaloo.
“I knew that,” Scootaloo said quickly, before there was a knock on the door.
“Come in!” Apple Bloom called.
Rarity stepped inside, followed by Applejack and a nurse, who shooed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle away from the bed so she could check on Apple Bloom’s vitals.
“How is she?” Applejack asked, body trembling. She’d stopped short when she came galloping through the trees, having heard Apple Bloom’s scream, but had swiftly and expertly gotten her sister onto her back, back to the farm, in the cart normally used for hauling produce into town, and headed to the hospital in a matter of minutes that had left Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gasping for air behind her.
They had followed properly once they’d filled in Big Mac and Granny Smith, who pooled together the funds they’d need to pay for everything and would be along shortly.
Scootaloo vowed to put everything she earned into paying them back, no matter how long or loudly they told her she didn’t need to.
“Kids are going to be kids,” the nurse replied. Sweetheart, that was her name, Scootaloo dimly recalled, wrenching her attention back to the forefront. “As long as she doesn’t make a regular habit out of it, she should be fine. She’ll be out of here in a week, and probably fully healed five to eight weeks after that.”
“That’s halfway through fall,” Apple Bloom said gloomily. “So many leaf piles I won’t get to jump in.” She brightened. “Or pick up. Can we stretch this out to winter?”
Applejack’s stare was enough by itself.
“Come along, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said. Sweetie Belle looked at her sister, then reluctantly said her goodbyes and the two unicorns trotted out of the room. Scootaloo watched them go, wings flicking in and out absently.
“I should probably get going too.” She smiled at Apple Bloom. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“You know where to find me,” Apple Bloom said cheerfully, and the pegasus took her leave.
Apple Bloom watched the door close and looked at her sister. “So… How much trouble am I in?”
Applejack arched a brow. “None. This was an accident. Accidents happen, ponies get hurt, and we go on.” She tilted her head to the side with a slight grin. “Just don’t make a habit out of it. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Scootaloo cantered through the streets of Ponyville, making her way generally in the direction of her home. She wondered if Holiday and Lofty had heard the news yet, and wondered how long she’d be in trouble for hurting someone as badly as she did.
Her steps slowed as she approached her house and her feet were dragging like lead weights by the time she reached the door. Gathering herself, she opened the door.
“I’m home!” she called.
“Welcome home, dear!” chorused two voices she hadn’t heard in a long time, and she galloped into the living room.
“Mom! Dad!”
The little filly was swept up into a hug from a pegasus mare and an earth pony stallion, who ruffled her mane.
“We read the latest letter from your aunts and decided to stop by for a visit,” Snap Shutter said, giving his daughter a nuzzle.
“When can we meet your friends?” Mane Allgood asked, wings flapping excitedly. “I’d love to meet them!”
Scootaloo deflated like a balloon and winced. “Ah…er…” Words tumbled from her mouth without order and she shrank back. Her parents looked at her in confusion before Snap Shutter stepped back and took a deep breath.
“Alright, first,” he said, moving towards the couch. “We should relax, unwind, and start from the beginning of the day, rather than leaping to the end of it.” He sat down, joined by his wife, and their daughter jumped up and snuggled between them.
“What about us?”
Holiday, an earth pony mare, and Lofty, a pegasus mare, poked their heads in from the kitchen, where a delicious smell was wafting throughout the house, and looked at the group on the couch.
Mane looked at Scootaloo, who nodded. “Might as well join so everyone’s on the same page.”
The two aunts took seats in adjacent armchairs, bringing a tray of drinks with them that they passed out to everyone, and everyone then looked at Scootaloo, who took a breath of the warm fragrant tea in her hooves before telling them how her day went.
When she finished, there was silence. Mane stroked her chin and Snap removed his hat, turning it over in his hooves.
“It’s not your fault,” Holiday said, setting her cup down on a small table beside her.
“Accidents happen,” Lofty added, stirring her tea leaves.
“Everyone says that, but it doesn’t make me feel any better,” Scootaloo said, leaning against her mother, who wrapped a wing around her as she deposited Scootaloo’s empty cup on the table beside the couch..
“That’ll come with time,” Mane said. “What’s important is that the damage was minimal and treated expertly. Better a leg now where you’re safe than something… worse somewhere dangerous.”
“Speaking from experience?” Lofty asked.
Mane’s lips twitched. “Unfortunately.”
Snap rubbed the back of his head. “That one – at least I think I know what you’re talking about – was my fault.”
“Yes, it was,” Mane replied. “And you owned up to it and paid me back, and I forgave you.” She looked at Scootaloo. “It’s not your fault, and even if it was, Apple Bloom would forgive you.” She kissed the top of Scootaloo’s head. “Because that’s what friends do.”
“Just don’t go making a habit of it,” Snap added.
“Something else everyone keeps telling me,” Scootaloo sighed.
Lofty chuckled. “You’ll come to find that a lot of adults say the same things, both to themselves and others, for many different things, over the course of their lives.” She glanced at Holiday. “‘I love you’, for example.” Holiday rolled her eyes and snorted affectionately.
“And here I thought your favorite mantra was ‘Holiday! Why are the dishes still stacked to the ceiling?! We need to eat!’”
Mane and Snap took quiet sips of their drinks as the aunts glared at one another, before stupid grins crossed their muzzles. Scootaloo stared at them blankly.
“So,” Snap said, getting everyone’s attention, before he looked at Scootaloo. “You said you were doing things to get a mark before the event? Did anything really click for you?”
“Not really,” Scootaloo admitted. “A lot of it just felt like… work, rather than something fun, or that’d I’d like to keep doing.” She tapped her hooves together sheepishly. “Giving Vera a clown hairdo was funny, but she was in tears over it, and I wouldn’t want to make that my life, you know?”
“You said you’d showed Apple Bloom a dance before she tried it herself, didn’t you? What was that like? How did you feel?” Lofty asked.
“It was…good. Easy. It felt like a part of me.” Scootaloo frowned. “But I don’t know if that’s what I want.”
“Figuring out what you want to do is part of growing up,” Mane said. “And you have a lot of growing up to do, and no reason to rush through it all at once.” She raised her brows. “Childhood only comes once, after all.” She stroked over Scootaloo’s wings. “Enjoy it, try everything that comes to mind, and of course, stay safe. Don’t do stupid reckless things just because they sound or look cool.”
“Not unless you have professionals there to keep an eye on you,” Snap said.
“And don’t forget your friends,” Lofty said.
Holiday gazed at Scootaloo. “They can help you whenever you need it, and you can offer experience they lack. Together, the three of you will no doubt get your marks.”
“And remember,” Mane said firmly. “No matter what it is, you’ll still be you when it’s over.”
Scootaloo looked at her with a frown, and Mane looked away for a moment, before meeting Scootaloo’s eyes.
“Some ponies try to trick themselves into getting a specific mark,” she said softly. “That they have to be good at something specific, and they lose… themselves.”
Snap reached out and took his wife’s hoof in his and she gave it a squeeze and the two fell silent as they rested their heads together.
“My brother found her when she was lost and guided her back to who she was, and into our family after that,” Lofty said. “And so they went off exploring, had you, spent years trying to make you comfortable-”
“What a disaster that was,” Holiday stage-whispered, causing Snap and Mane to blush. “Kept asking Lofty and I for tips.”
“What is family for, after all,” Lofty said, sticking her tongue out at Snap.
“We have a betting pool on who will complain about the quality of the tent first every time we set it up,” Mane said. “Turns out just because you’re good at exploring, doesn’t mean you’re good at camping.”
“Without fail, I always manage to find the one rock sticking out of the ground at least once per trip,” Snap said wistfully. “Oh, how I grumble about how we could be back home, where it’s warm, dry, and with a meal only a few hours away-”
He looked down as Scootaloo’s head thumped heavily against his leg and he glanced at his wife. Together, they picked up their sleeping child and carried her to her room.
Mane tucked her in and kissed her forehead, causing the little pegasus to wriggle happily, before settling into deep sleep.
Author's Note
Been rewatching MLP, and there's a pretty sickening crack when Apple Bloom tries spinning during The Show Stoppers...
Lotta small details that I missed the ~~first~~ ~~second~~ ~~fifth~~ many'th time around.
