Don't Play With Fire

Chapters

Chapter 1: Out in the Woods
Chapter 2: Fighting the Guilt
Chapter 3: Released

Chapter 1: Out in the Woods

Chapter 1: Out in the Woods

As another beautiful day in Ponyville came to a close four young fillies could be seen walking out into the White Tail Woods, their saddle bags filled to the brim with camping supplies. Each member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been given permission to go out into the woods to try and get their camping cutie marks, and Babs Seed, Applebloom's cousin, was coming along for the ride thanks to a suggestion by Applejack. Despite their disagreements with her they still agreed to take Babs along, if not just in the hopes of seeing her scream at night after they tell their ghost stories.

"Can you guys hurry it up, my hooves are getting sore" Babs complained from the back of the group. She did have a point, the Crusaders were going at a painfully slow pace, but they good reason to. They had never been into White Tail Woods on their own before, and had no real idea what to expect.

"AH!" Sweetie Belle screamed as a low hanging branch rubbed across her hooves, tickling her ever so slightly. She jumped backwards, slamming into Babs as she did, sending Babs straight into a small stream that was running along side their path.

"Agh!" Babs groaned as she looked at mud covered self once her eyes were clear, "Stupid Unicorn!"

"Sorry, it scared me..." Sweetie Belle admitted quietly, her cheeks flushing red as she looked at Babs. Babs got up out the stream, shaking herself dry like a dog, splattering mud everywhere. A small amount landed on Scootaloo's flank, landing with a loud wet smack.

"What was that?!" Scootaloo jumped, turning around so quickly that her tail whipped Sweetie Belle in the face, pushing her back into Babs again.

"Watch where you're going!" Babs shouted, pushing Sweetie Belle back towards Scootaloo, the two of them falling to the ground in a heap. They tried to get up, but their saddlebags got wrapped around each other. In their final attempt to get up they stumbled backwards and tripped Babs up, making her land face first in the dirt. When Babs got up she moved to push Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle into the stream, but she was stopped by Applebloom.

"Hey guys, stop fighting with each other, we're almost there" Applebloom said, putting a hoof out to stop Babs in her tracks. She looked angrily at Applebloom, but saw the clearing behind her, raising her spirits enough for her to forget about Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. As the four of them trotted happily over to the campsite Babs noticed a large pile of wood off the path. A thought crossed her mind of using the wood to prank the Crusaders, scaring them out of the forest.

"Come on guys, let's get our camp set up" Applebloom cheered as her and the other Crusaders dropped their saddlebags down to the ground. Within minutes they had their tents and sleeping bags all set up, except for Babs, who was still fighting with her tent.

"Are you okay?" Applebloom asked as she trotted over the Babs' tent. The tent looked as if a small windstorm had attacked it, with the poles sticking up at weird angles.

"Hey Babs, you're putting it together backwards" Scootaloo said as she trotted over to look at what was going on. Babs looked at the two of them angrily before kicking her tent away, hitting it at such a weird angle that it snapped everything into place. Everypony looked at the tent in confusion before shrugging and going on with their business. The day dragged on slowly, with the Crusaders running around to gather wood for a campfire. As the sun finally went down Scootaloo began to fight with the firewood, eventually getting a small fire going.

"There we go!" Scootaloo cheered before jumping up and turning around quickly, flapping her tiny wings furiously to grow the fire quickly. Her plan worked perfectly and she soon had a roaring fire going, warming up the entire campsite instantly.

"Nice job Scoots" Applebloom said happily as she trotted over to the fire, looking at it happily.

"Thanks, now all we have to do is-" Scootaloo started to say before freezing instantly, her face flushing red as the sudden need to pee overcame her. She quickly ran off into the bushes, which was then followed by a loud scream as Scootaloo slipped into a ditch, catching Sweetie Belle and Applebloom off guard. The two of them ran off into the bushes after Scootaloo, leaving Babs all to herself. When they were completely out of sigh Babs smirked, running off towards the pile of wood she had seen before.

"Woah, these are perfect for the fire..." Babs whispered to herself as she picked up a piece of wood, probably at least five ponies long. After struggling to get it over to the fire pit she let it drop, not noticing as a small piece of bark that was sticking out caught on fire, the rest of the log quickly catching as well.

"What the..." Babs started to say as she turned around, watching the entire log catch on fire. Her first reaction was to kick it away, and ended up sending it towards where the Crusaders had run of to. Babs watched in horror as the fire spread to all of the trees in the area, quickly sealing off the Crusaders from the camp as it lit every tree in the area on fire. As the fire continued to spread around the campsite Babs jumped into the nearby stream, hiding in the water to keep herself safe.

"What's going on!" Applebloom shouted from beyond the fire, making Babs fall to the ground in fear.

"I think the campfire spread to the trees!" Sweetie Belle cried as the fire shot out at her, singeing her horn.

"I hope Babs is oka-" Scootaloo started to say, cut off by Applebloom howling in pain as a burning branch snapped at her, smacking her right across the face, burning her eyes in the process. When Scootaloo moved to help her a branch fell from up above, slamming down on her back, effectively crippling her wings, causing her to shout out in pain. Sweetie Belle let out a yelp as the fire pushed her back, a loud snap being heard as one of the upper branches broke off, falling straight onto her horn, snapping it completely off. Babs was shaking in fear as she heard the Crusaders crying out in pain as the fire burned them them across their bodies, the cries digging into her skull. When the screaming stopped she broke down completely, thinking that she just caused their deaths with her own stupidity. It wasn't until the rescue ponies came by that Babs finally moved again, seeing the bruised and burned bodies of the Crusaders as they were carried away, each of them shaking violently as they tried to cry, finding it to be impossible due to the pain it would cause them.

"I'm sorry..." Babs whispered through her tears, not being heard above any of the ponies as they rushed around to put out the fire and look for any other ponies or animals caught in it.

Chapter 2: Fighting the Guilt

Chapter 2: Fighting the Guilt

Ponyville Hospital. The sterile white walls and cold tiled floors of the ICU made Babs think she was in some kind of jail, only disguised as a hospital. She sat alone outside room 106, the nursing staff quickly rushing past her into and out of the room, stacks of bandages, fresh or old, were being moved around in an attempt to deal with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Babs looked up at the sound of frantic hoof steps and saw a group of ponies running towards the room. Applejack, Big Mac, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were running towards the room, being led by Doctor Monitor.

"They're just in here" Doctor Monitor said as the group came to stop in front of Babs. Big Mac saw her sitting there, a look of guilt upon her face as she looked at each of the worried ponies, their eyes meeting when she got to him. They looked at each other for a few moments until Applejack called to him.

"You coming in or not?" Applejack asked sadly, her eyes already filling with tears from the horrid stench that hung inside the room.

"Eenope, I'll be there in a minute" Big Mac said slowly, shooting a glance at Babs to let Applejack know what he was doing. She nodded and closed the door, just in time too as one of the others started crying loudly, sounding almost like a wounded timberwolf. Babs watched as Big Mac sat next to her, looking at her once he was comfortable.

"What happened?" Big Mac asked sweetly, catching Babs off guard. With her history of bullying the Crusaders she thought that everypony was going to blame her, but Big Mac just smiled at her. Not a normal smile of course, it seemed to be one of pity, or maybe even concern?

"Your not mad at me?" Babs asked, her voice cracking due to her guilt. She looked to see Big Mac's smile was gone, now his face had a look of sadness on it.

"Of course I'm not mad Babs" Big Mac said calmly, "I'm just happy that you're okay, and I want to know what happened out there" Babs couldn't look at him anymore, his calm attitude was starting to piss her off. How could he be so calm about this, his little sister was in the room behind them, clinging onto her life along with her best friends. She started to choke up as she thought about what happened, what she caused...

"When they left the camp..." Babs started, her voice cracking again as she tried to hold back her tears. She told Big Mac the entire story, leaving out the biggest part of it. When she finished talking she was on the verge of a completely breakdown, but she was pulled back from the edge when Big Mac wrapped a leg around her, pulling her into a hug. When she felt him shake slightly she was thrown over the edge, and the two of them cried together for a long while.

"Babs, are you going to be okay?" Applejack asked as she sat down, her and Big Mac switching out so he could go see Applebloom. Babs didn't answer her, which only made her want to find out what was wrong even more than before.

"Did something happen out there?" Applejack asked quietly, her big green eyes looking straight into Babs'. She shook her head quickly and curled up into a ball, and Applejack got the hint. She went back into the room, only to be rushed out as one of the machines started beeping loudly, calling every member of the nursing staff to the room immediately. For a few minutes there was a large amount of banging coming from inside the room as the ponies attempted to maneuver around each other. Big Mac eventually came out, with Rarity and Rainbow Dash right behind him, having used him as a shield so they could get out. The girls talked quickly and decided that they would leave Big Mac here to watch the Crusaders conditions, only leaving if things took a drastic turn for the worst.

"Babs, do you want to watch them with Big Mac?" Applejack asked from the group, making Babs look at her in confusion. Did she know that Babs caused this, and wanted her to suffer for it? Babs shook her head quickly, and much to her surprise the girls were okay with it.

"Can you make sure to get their schoolwork for them Babs?" Big Mac asked, knowing full well that they could be in the hospital for well over a month due to the severity of their injuries. Babs shook her head eagerly, happy to find an excuse to get out of the hospital. With a quick smile she was off, running full speed out of the building and towards the school house. On the way she saw a few colts from the school playing tag, and she moved to join in before being interrupted by Diamond Tiara.

"Well, well, if it isn't our good friend Babs Seed" Diamond Tiara said happily, an evil smile on her face.

"What do you want?" Babs snarled, already having an idea what Tiara was smiling about.

"We heard a rumor there was a fire, and the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' were hurt" Tiara said, making a face when she said the group's name, "and that you were the only one to get out without a scratch"

"Yeah, what of it?" Babs asked, stepping forwards to threaten her, but it went unnoticed.

"Well, I wanted to congratulate you on getting rid of them for a while, they were really starting to annoy me with their whining" Tiara said, giving Babs a sly smile before she bounced away, being followed closely by Silver Spoon. Babs spat in their direction before running off towards the school house, arriving just as Cheerilee was about to leave.

"Cheerilee!" Babs shouted from the edge of the schoolyard, catching Cheerilee's attention as she went to lock the door.

"Oh, hello Babs, what brings you here?" Cheerilee asked sweetly, giving her a smile to match.

"I'm here to get schoolwork for Applebloom and her friends" Babs said sadly, her guilt coming back to her as she thought about showing up here everyday to get the work they were missing because of her.

"Oh, that's so kind of you" Cheerilee said happily before heading back inside, coming out with a large stack of papers sitting on her flank, "I'll come with you, I would like to see how they're doing"

"Uh, okay, I guess" Babs said slowly before turning around, waiting patiently while Cheerilee tried to put the papers into her saddlebags. After a few minutes of struggling they were off, heading back to the hospital in silence. Cheerilee tried to start a conversation a few times, but Babs just grunted back everytime, and she eventually got the hint that she didn't want to talk to her. As the hospital came into view the two of them picked up the pace, and were outside of the room in no time at all.

"Do you want to come in Babs?" Cheerilee asked when she saw Babs sit next to the door like she had been doing before. She shook her head quickly, and Cheerilee went inside alone, leaving Babs all alone outside. As Babs sat there she could hear crying from inside, coming from Cheerilee as she looked at each of her students. Eventually the sobbing made Babs breakdown from the guilt, and knowing that all of this sadness was because of her own mistake...

Chapter 3: Released

Chapter 3: Released

Two months, two months and seven days. That's how long the Cutie Mark Crusaders have been in the hospital, and everyday Babs had to go see them. At first it was horrible, having to see them always asleep, the only time they'd wake up was to howl in pain as the pain meds wore off. After the first month had gone by they were moved out of the ICU and were able to wake up without pain, which only made it worse as they started to praise Celestia that Babs was okay and thank her for getting the rescue team even though she didn't. Throughout the second month Babs had to be in their room at all times to help them get what they needed, or in Applebloom's case, help her to the bathroom. Babs continued to relive the past two months, remembering every little part of it, until Big Mac tapped her on the shoulder.

"Come on, time to go home" Big Mac said as he moved towards the door with Applebloom on his back, who was holding on tight to his yoke so she wouldn't fall off. Beside them were Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, both of whom had bandages on them from their amputations. Sweetie Belle had to have what remained of her horn removed so she wouldn't be bothered by having half a horn. Scootaloo had to have her wings amputated because of the damage done to them, if she didn't have them removed now, they'd have to be removed later.

"Are you coming Babs?" Applejack asked from behind Babs as Big Mac started walking away. She had managed to take the day off to help take everypony home. Rarity was supposed to show up to take Sweetie Belle home, but she was swamped with orders for the gala, and Rainbow Dash was in Cloudsdale to attend a weather management seminar, so Scootaloo would be helped by Applejack as well.

"I'm coming" Babs said as she took up place behind Applejack, trying not to be seen by the Crusaders. As they walked out of the hospital a loud bang went off from Pinkie's party cannon, causing Babs to jump as high as she could.

"CONGRATS ON GETTING WELL!" Pinkie shouted along side the rest of the girls, who had all come despite their previous arrangements. Babs looked around in surprise as all of the girls run at the Crusaders, followed by a few yelps of pain as the hugs hit their burns.

"Oh, sorry dear" Rarity apologized quickly as she let go of Sweetie Belle.

"It's okay, it just hurt a little bit" Sweetie Belle said quickly as she moved in for another hug. When Babs looked at Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo she saw the two of them doing circles in the sky as Scootaloo rode on her back, just above the rest of the group, as Scootaloo laughed loudly. As they played happily everypony else said hello to Applebloom, giving her hugs and checking how she was doing now that she was blind.

"I'm okay, just feels really weird seeing nothing but darkness" Applebloom said with a hint of sadness in her voice. Everypony continued to play with her, but with sad looks on her their faces as they did, knowing that the fun wasn't the same for her. Babs walked away from the group taking up a spot next to Big Mac who had let Applebloom run off so he could talk to Cheerilee.

"So what happens with her schoolin' now?" Big Mac asked, watching as Pinkie hopped high into the sky while Applebloom hung onto her neck laughing happily as the wind blew through her mane.

"I'm not sure, but she won't be able to attend school normally" Cheerilee said sadly, sighing loudly as she looked at the other two Crusaders, who were playing with their role models, "How did something so sad happen to them?" Babs shifted uneasily as the two adults stared silently at the three Crusaders, each of whom were playing happily despite their injuries. Only Babs really knew what happened in the forest, and if she told them about it who knows what would happen...

"Babs, are you okay?" Cheerilee asked, noticing the hurt expression on Babs face from thinking about the fire. Out of surprise Babs jumped, nearly falling into the ditch behind her when she landed, but Big Mac pulled her back.

"What's got you so jumpy?" Big Mac asked as he lowered his face down to Babs' level to look into her eyes. Babs tried to break away, but Mac held her in place so he could get her to talk. She didn't speak up, so Big Mac let her go with a loud sigh.

"Babs, you can talk to us at anytime" Cheeilee said slowly as she looked at Babs, who still wanted to get away, but didn't have a reason to do so. Just before she gave up and ran off the Crusaders walked over, each of them ready to saw goodbye to Babs. Once the goodbyes were said Babs and the rest of the Apples went home, staying silent the entire time. Applebloom had almost fallen off of Big Mac a few times, but she was always caught by Applejack.

"Okay Applebloom, watch your head" Applejack said as they made it to the front porch of the farm house. Applebloom hugged Big Mac's back instinctively so she could stay down and Babs watched as they tried to carry her in carefully, but she pulled her head up too soon and hit it on the doorframe.

"Ow!" Applebloom shouted for a moment.

"Are you okay?!" Big Mac and Applejack asked together with Applejack jumping up to see how Applebloom's head was doing. Applebloom shook her head quickly, but the action made her dizzy and she fell off of Mac's back. Without speaking Applejack rushed to pick her up and ran her upstairs, leaving Mac and Babs alone in the doorway.

"Is she going to be okay?" Babs asked, almost fearing Big Mac's answer.

"I don't know Babs, she as only released today, but..." Big Mac paused as Applejack's frantic hoof steps echoed throughout the house as she grabbed blankets for Applebloom's bed, "I really hope so..." His sad, and vague answer made Babs' heart drop fast. If it wasn't for her stupid prank idea none of this would have happened and they would still be okay. If she had just been a good filly they wouldn't have had to be released from the hospital today...