One and A Half

She had been wheeling her way to Pinkie’s by herself since the hospital, and her arms were already starting to burn. To be quite honest, it was a bit frustrating for her. She knew Sugarcube Corner was a fair distance away but when she actually started to move across it, it seemed much, much longer. After around another five minutes, she was noticeably wincing a bit at the pain in her arms that screamed for her to stop.

“You alright, Scoots?” Rainbow asked her, looking down and seeing she had a bit of sweat present on her shirt. Her gloves were probably a bit wet, too. “I can wheel you around for a while if you’re getting tired.”

“No, I need to do this by myself!” She quickly told her, coming out a bit harsher than she intended. She didn’t seem to notice, and Rainbow didn’t say anything to it, either. “How am I gonna do this later if I can’t do it now?”

“You don’t NEED to do it NOW. They said practice, not do it by yourself all day!” Rainbow stopped in front of her, making Scootaloo stop. “The reason why they said practice is because you still got a long ways to go. You’re gonna hurt yourself if you just try and do it all now. Let me wheel you around for a while, okay?”

“But-“

“NO. BUTS.” Rainbow raised a fingers to her, poking her right knee.

Scootaloo deflated quite significantly at this. She wanted to be independent. She put her hands in her lap and sighed, looking down. “Fine.” Rainbow went around to the back of the chair and grabbed the two handles, pushing it the rest of the way to Pinkie’s. How am I going to make this work if I can’t do it for even ten minutes right now? She thought to herself, sighing shakily. “Rainbow?” She looked up to her sister. Her bottom lip was quivering slightly.

“What is it, Scoots?” Rainbow looked genuinely concerned when she saw that look on her face.

“Is Applejack still really upset?”

Rainbow stopped and thought about this for a couple moments. She still really hadn’t quite been the same since the accident. “I think she is.”

“Why? It’s not her fault!”

“It may not be her fault…” Rainbow knelt down in front of Scootaloo. They were only a short distance away from their destination, now. She could see it about a couple blocks away. “But she still feels responsible because she was the one driving. She’s threatening to sue the guy who was in the other car for the damages to her truck and your hospital tab, and she’s most likely going to go through with it.”

Scootaloo wiped her hand across her cheeks, even though there were no tears there. It felt like she was crying. “I hope Pinkie’s happier than me right now.” Her voice was shaky as if she was crying.

“Just take a couple deep breaths, squirt, okay? You’re going to make it through this. Remember what I said before?”

“What?”

“I’ll be here for you every step of the way. Okay? I’m gonna keep that promise. I mean it.”

“Okay.” Scootaloo held out her arms and Rainbow hugged her, and they sat like that for a good amount of time. Tears came down her cheeks and onto Rainbow’s sweatshirt as she cried. She hated feeling like this, being dependent on someone else to do something as simple as getting around. Rainbow’s hand rubbed her back, and she hugged her tighter. “I wish I could move around easier.”

“I know, Scoots.” She hugged her tighter, squeezing her and backing up for a moment, putting her forehead against hers. “We’re gonna get you through this, though. At the end of it all, it’s going to be like you never even had this whole thing happen to you, you’ll be walking so well.”

Scootaloo smiled at the thought of that. She chuckled and looked into Rainbow’s rose-colored eyes and then back down to her stump. “Let’s go to Pinkie’s.” She had quickly averted her stare back to Rainbow after a second or so, leaning back in her chair. “She’ll make me feel better.”

Rainbow nodded and stood back up. “That’s sounds like a good idea.” She pushed Scootaloo to Pinkie’s and literally lifted her chair up the steps, holding it above the step. “Kick the door, Scoots, like you’re knocking.”

Scootaloo laughed and kicked the door three times, and not two seconds later she saw Pinkie where the door would be if it hadn’t nearly been flung off its hinges when she opened it. She quickly moved to the side and let the two in, shutting the door behind them in a much more calm fashion.

“Hey Scootaloo! Hey Rainbow! I didn’t expect to see you guys here today, but that’s totally okay! Because I was making a batch of cupcakes and now you can try them and oh man Scootaloo you’re gonna love ‘em! They’re red velvet with vanilla icing and I even put cherries on top of them! I mean, I can take off the cherry if you want but-“

Scootaloo shook her head furiously and smiled the brightest she had all day. “No, I LOVE cherries! Keep them on there!”

“Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie glanced down to her stump every so often, and she walked over and hugged Rainbow first, kneeling down in front of Scootaloo in a very calm fashion. It didn’t seem to be in her character, really. “So, how’re you doing? I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you in the hospital. I’ve been bogged down with making food for parties and babysitting the Cake twins. You doing okay?”

Scootaloo nodded. “As okay as I can be, I guess. I mean, it’s never gonna be the same for me anymore, and I’m really bummed about it, but...” She sighed heavily before she smiled and looked back up to Pinkie. “Rainbow’s been there as much as she can. She even fell asleep in her chair next to me one night and woke me up when she snored.”

Pinkie giggled and snorted and giggled some more. “Dashie, I didn’t know you snore!” And just like that, she was back to her old self. Scootaloo was happy that Pinkie asked how she was. It showed she cared about her more than she had known. She never quite talked to Pinkie, but she had a feeling she would be talking to her a lot more in the near future.

The visit to Sugarcube Corner left her content and very full of all sorts of sweet treats. The red velvet cupcakes had been delicious, and Pinkie made a small cake for Scootaloo to take back to the hospital with her, as well as a couple brownies. The distance to Sweetie Belle’s house was much shorter than to Sugarcube Corner. It was only a couple blocks away, and Scootaloo wheeled the whole way there herself. Her arms hurt by the end, but she was glad she managed to get there on her own accord. She bumped into the step, getting her first pair of wheels over it. That wasn’t the issue. It was getting the back wheels over it.

“You got it, Scoots?”

“Lemme try something out here.” She pushed as hard as she could forward against the stairs. The chair started to move up, but it quickly fell back to the ground when she’d stop and start another attempt. She groaned in frustration, folding her arms and feeling defeated again. She couldn’t even go up stairs normally. It was to be expected, but now that she had actually tried it set in. “Help me up.” She mumbled. Rainbow barely heard her talk.

“What was that?”

“Help me up.” She said louder, sounding much more frustrated than her groan let off. Rainbow picked up the back of her chair and hoisted it over the step, letting Scootaloo knock. Rarity answered the door, and saw Rainbow.

“Hello, Rainbow!”

Rainbow cleared her throat and nodded downward, putting her hands in her pockets.

Rarity looked down and smiled. “Oh, hello, Scootaloo! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. Come in! Can I offer you two something to drink at all? I’m sure Sweetie Belle will want to talk to you.” Rarity turned around and called into the house for her little sister, who nearly tripped down the stairs she was sprinting so fast.

The whole situation made Scootaloo’s stomach tie itself in a knot. Rarity hadn’t even bothered to look down to see if she was there. Not to mention the fact that she saw Sweetie Belle sprinting. Down an entire flight of stairs. Unaided. It made her envious, and she felt horrible that it did. She gave her wheels a solid push to get over the doorframe and quickly wheeled past Rarity, hugging Sweetie Belle once she got over to her.

The two of them went into another room to let Rainbow Dash and Rarity talk, and Sweetie Belle pulled up a chair at the kitchen and dining room table, sitting down and glancing at her stump every so often. “So, how’ve you been doing?” She asked simply, guessing she may as well try some small talk to get a better conversation going.

“I’ve been good. I could be a little better today.” She told her, folding her arms and looking at her stump angrily, as if it had personally wronged her. “I still can’t get over the fact that Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara actually signed the card. I thought they wouldn’t have signed it.”

Sweetie Belle laughed. “Originally they didn’t want to, but then Miss. Cheerilee told the two of them what happened and they did it in a heartbeat.” She shifted a little in her chair and sat cross-legged. “So, how’s the rehab stuff going? Rainbow told Rarity you’ve been doing good. She’s been updating everybody every so often.”

“Yeah, it’s been… Good. I guess. Uh… I mean, they’re giving me a wheelchair to mess around in.” She shrugged, sounding really down on herself. Seeing Sweetie Belle crossing her legs made her cheeks turn red with anger. She quickly looked out the window, leaning her head on her hand and covering her mouth. She didn’t want Sweetie Belle to see her quivering lip beneath her hand.

“Scootaloo, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She said quickly. “I still need to visit Apple Bloom and Applejack, though. And that’s a bit of a trip.”

Sweetie Belle sat up excitedly. “Can I go, too?”

“I think it’s better if you stay here. Applejack will probably want to talk to me. So…”

She deflated into her chair again, sighing. “Okay… Well, since tomorrow’s Saturday, I’ll go and visit you!”

“I have to start doing my physical therapy tomorrow, so that’s probably not a very good idea.”

Sweetie Belle groaned and pouted.

Scootaloo looked up at her and scoffed. “Well, I’m sorry that I lost my leg in a car crash, okay?” She sniffled and started to cry. “I’m sorry that this is so inconvenient to you and that I’m messing up your weekend plans. I’m sorry that my rehab and physical therapy is getting in the way of us hanging out together.”

Sweetie Belle’s face turned red, rather embarrassed and suddenly feeling extremely selfish. “Sorry, Scootaloo… I didn’t mean-“

“I know you didn’t mean it like that, but that’s how it came off.” She cut her off, wiping her nose on her sleeve and making Sweetie Belle give a small look of disgust she didn’t pick up on. “So…” She tried to calm down, taking a couple deep breaths and wiping her eyes. “I think Rainbow and Rarity stopped talking. They’ve probably run out of things to say. So, I’m gonna go now.” She held out her arms to Sweetie Belle, who quickly got up and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I guess I’m not as used to this as I thought I was.”

“It’s okay. I forgive you. And I’m sorry that I acted like that before.”

“It’s alright.” She squeezed her friend into the hug more before she wheeled back into the main room, her eyes still a little red. “You ready to go to Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow?”

Rainbow nodded a bit and smiled, walking over to Scootaloo and wheeling her out. “See ya later, Rarity. Bye Sweetie Belle.”

“Bye guys.” Scootaloo sniffled once and waved to the two of them weakly, letting out a surprised squeak when Rainbow lifted up the chair to take her down the stairs, and the two began the trip to Sweet Apple Acres.