Part Two
The Truth
Scootaloo didn’t know how to feel, the cutie mark crusaders were over. No more adventures, no more searching for their talents. Speaking of which, what was Sweetie Bell’s talent anyway? Zecora walked out of the crowd and put her hoof on Sweetie Bell’s shoulder.
“The lightning, little one, that bolt on your side, shows your true talent, and you should take pride. You move like the wind, like lightning you see, you run like a cheetah, much faster than me. This skill bears a price, all tasks must be dismissed, if you hear a cry from close by, you will have to assist.”
Sweetie Bell’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. She stared at her brand-new cutie mark, and reflected on how she had never had to act quickly before, never had to exercise her reflexes. It was pure luck, until today. She turned to Scootaloo to ask what she thought, but her mood was put to an end when she saw her face. It was contorted in such a sad fashion; it could break anypony’s heart. Her eyes were squinted, welling up with tears. Her cheeks rose showing her top teeth sinking into her bottom lip. She sniffed, trying to restrain herself from shedding tears in front of the ponies in town. She stood up, still shaking with adrenaline, turned around, and trotted slowly away.
After walking for about fifteen seconds, she let out a single, quiet sob. It shook her frail, tiny body and she shuddered with the exhalation. Her shoulders cringed and her legs weakened. She fell onto the ground and just cried to herself. She looked up; nopony even came over to see if she was all right. They were all to busy congratulating Sweetie Bell on her cutie mark. She worked her way to her feet, still crying, and wanted to go home. But she didn’t have one. Just the box behind the lumber warehouse outside Ponyville, near a river in the Everfree forest. She started to cry even harder remembering this. Still, nopony even noticed. She slowly walked away, contemplating what to do with herself.
Suddenly, a flash of blue caught her eye as Rainbow Dash descended to the forest floor in front of her.
“Hey kiddo, I heard you almost got creamed in town! I just came from Sugar Cube Corner, Lyra told me that Sweetie Bell saved you, and got her cutie mark in the process! Are you alright?” Scootaloo looked up, mildly glad that somepony had the decency to ask, and her hero, too. She wiped her face and replied.
“No Rainbow Dash, I’m really not.”
“Aw, why’s that? You walked away from it just fine.”
“It’s not that… now that Sweetie Bell has her cutie mark, we probably won’t hang out anymore.”
“Oh c’mon, don’t say that. Of course she-“ Scootaloo cut her off.
“No, Dash! Even if she does, it will never be the same! She got her cutie mark, why bother helping us to get ours when she’s gonna be all obsessed with her own!”
“Oh boy… you aren’t gonna want to hear about Applebloom.” Scootaloo began to panic, the tears stopped and a nervous sweat replaced them.
“Is she alright?”
“Kid…” Rainbow Dash put her hoof around her shoulder. “She got her cutie mark too.” Scootaloo’s jaw dropped open, shocked and appalled. Shock quickly turned to anger. The nervous sweat turned into boiling blood, her teeth clenched and her hooves digging into the ground.
“She WHAT!” Scootaloo yelled, scaring Dash a little.
“Another piece of the building came off and landed on some dude calling himself The Doctor, Applebloom helped out Nurse Redheart and quickly fixed him up, turns out her talent is in medical stuff.” Scootaloo’s temperature was rising, she could feel it. She started to pant and snort, her muscles tensing up. But before she could express her rage, she sighed, and started to cry again. Slowly.
“Aw kid, I’m so sorry. But hey, how about a quick fly with your idol, huh? Soaring through the clouds always seems to cheer me up!”
Scootaloo picked her head up and stopped crying. All of her life, she had put on a happy façade, just to keep Anypony from concerning themselves with her troubles. Never showing her true emotions, always hiding behind a fake smile. But this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The one thing that she had always wanted to do, fly with Rainbow Dash, her hero, her idol, had just been offered to her, and it could never happen. The blank expression stayed as she turned to Dash, and she turned to anger out of nowhere.
“I CAN’T FLY!” Dash backed up, shocked and frightened.
“What do you mean you can’t fly?” Scootaloo lifted her wings and hung her head, her scars revealed. She spoke through soft cries, and Dash had difficulty understanding her choked words.
“When I was younger, somepony evil broke into my home and killed my parents. Seeing me, just a tiny pony, he decided to maim me instead of just ending my miserable, wretched life there. He cut the tendons that a Pegasus uses to fly, then burned the house down and tossed me into a river. I washed up in Manehattan and just wandered for a while. Just a kid, Dash! No parents, no flight, nopony to love! Scared and lost, I wound up in Ponyville through the Everfree forest and was lucky enough to meet Applebloom and Sweetie Bell. They never asked where I was from, or anything.” She whipped her head up and yelled, “I live in a box, Dash! All alone and nobody ever asked!” Immediately feeling bad, she sobbed again and hung her head, and a single tear rolled down her face and dropped onto the ground. Rainbow Dash started to feel her eyes watering up, she walked up to Scootaloo and put her wings down.
“Kid…” she started slowly. “I don’t know what to say.” Her words were becoming choked. Scootaloo opened her eyes again and wiped the tears from her face.
“I need to be alone, Dash. I appreciate your concern, but please, just leave me be.” She started to trot away, right out of Rainbow Dash’s hold. Dash let her leg sink back down to the forest floor, crushed. She decided to go back into town and tell Sweetie Bell and Applebloom what she had just learned. All Scootaloo saw was Rainbow Dash taking off, and she continued drudging between the trees towards the pathetic excuse for a living space that was all she had to her name.