//------------------------------// // A Filly-Shaped Powder Keg // Story: Disappear // by ShimmeringStallion //------------------------------// A Filly-Shaped Powder Keg Night had fallen upon Ponyville’s citizens, and Rainbow Dash was brought to Twilight Sparkle’s library. Her friends carried the unconscious pony up the stairs to Twilight’s bedroom area, so that she could be placed in Twilight’s bed comfortably. Applejack and Pinkie Pie stayed with the Cutie Mark Crusaders as Fluttershy followed Twilight upstairs to be treated for her injuries, though Rarity had told her friends that she was going to stay below Cloudsdale for a moment, and that they should go on ahead without her. Scootaloo was visibly upset, as was everypony; none of them felt like they had the power to truly do anything when Vanish had challenged Rainbow Dash, and now she was wingless and unconscious, with a massive mark on her back and the areas where her wings used to be, barren and charred. Apple Bloom paced around in frustration as the tension in the air slowly began to build. “It’s not fair! How could Rainbow Dash had done anythin' against that guy!? He just used Scootaloo to distract her n’ din’t even care for her safety! That lousy no-good…” Applejack stomped in anger. “Apple Bloom! Watch what y’say, you weren’t raised t’talk like that!” Applejack composed herself. “We’re all steamin’ mad ‘bout what happened, but now ain’t the time to dwell on it. That won’t solve nothin’ fer nopony.” “Applejack’s right.” Twilight returned to the library lobby from the upper floor, with Fluttershy having bandages wrapped around her wings, torso, legs, and her head. She smiled sincerely, but Pinkie Pie felt insulted, scoffing at the sight. “All that time, you were just playing dress-up!? Well sheesh, Twilight, why not put some makeup on her, too!?” Pinkie was not feeling ‘pinkie keen’ right now, as Fluttershy clearly saw. “It’s okay, Pinkie. I’ll be fine. Twilight just took a look at my injuries and bandaged me up. It’s just a few bumps and bruises, nothing a little rest won’t fix.” As she said that, Angel, her pet bunny rabbit, hopped over to offer a flower for his injured owner. Fluttershy giggled softly and sweetly at the sentiment. “Thanks, Angel-bunny.” Twilight heard some of her friends begin to argue again, but chose to cut them off after noticing something. “Everyone calm down.” Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom snorted with a sound of displeased anger, but noticed that Twilight was pointing at somepony who clearly needed a friend to talk to: Scootaloo. Fluttershy went up to her and Sweetie Belle, the latter of which shrugged in surrender at the situation. Sweetie Belle had been trying to talk to her friend ever since Cloudsdale, but Scootaloo seemed to have a dark cloud hanging over her that didn't look like it was going to clear up. Fluttershy placed her hoof on the young filly’s head, getting her attention mildly. “Are you okay, dear? We’ve been worried about you for a while now, and you don’t seem to want to talk to anyone. Is there anything we can get you?” Scootaloo turned her head back around, seemingly rejecting Fluttershy’s offer, until she finally spoke. “… Get that guy who took Rainbow’s wings.” She seemed angry, but tears could be seen falling down from her eyes and down her cheeks. “Oh, sweetie…” Fluttershy motioned for a tissue box, which Twilight offered, as the yellow Pegasus pony held a tissue in front of Scootaloo, which the filly took notice of. However, she ran straight past it and right at Twilight, letting her tears get trapped into Twilight’s short fur coat on her chest. Twilight was surprised that Scootaloo ran to her, but she sat down and awkwardly used her front-left hoof to stroke Scootaloo’s mane in an attempt to comfort her. As Scootaloo let her emotions out, she tried speaking through her tears. “Wh-Why couldn’t h-he take my wings i-instead!? Why did h-he take R-Rainbow Daaaash!?” She was struggling to find the words through her tears, but didn’t care about how she sounded, and even less about how her words came out. The others understood this, but one unicorn feigned ignorance regardless as she approached the others, having just made her way into the library. “My dear, Rainbow Dash wasn’t taken, just her wings; wings that were taken to the Cloudosseum.” Rarity had walked in, balancing Scootaloo’s discarded scooter on her back. Scootaloo turned around and began to shout at the unicorn, clearly using Rarity as a target for her anger. “Why didn’t you help!? Where have you been!? You probably went to go see that creep instead of helping us get Rainbow some help, isn’t that right? Well? Isn’t it!?” Rarity walked up to the orange filly, sitting down in front of the young filly so that the scooter slid gently off her back. Then Rarity looked into Scootaloo's eyes and used her front-right hoof to bring the filly into an embrace, so that she could cry on her. Scootaloo didn’t resist; she was clearly overcome with emotion. Rarity patted the sorrow-ridden pony's head with her hoof, talking gently to the young filly. “There, there…” Twilight felt as sorry for Scootaloo as everypony else had felt for her, but realized that Rarity probably knew something. “Rarity, you said that Vanish is at the Cloudosseum? How do you know that?” Rarity looked up, but stayed comforting Scootaloo as she spoke to Twilight. “While I was fixing the hat that Vanish gave me earlier to repair, I noticed it was cut twice: Once on the hat itself, as well as some damage to an inner 'fabric' inside the hat. It seems that hat was made of two materials: a hard outer ‘shell’ and a soft inner lining. When I saw that, I placed some small jewels inside while he was talking with Rainbow Dash, before fixing the tear in it.” Rarity nudged Scootaloo in the direction of Applejack and Apple Bloom, who Scootaloo walked over to, clearly tired from the day’s events as well as from her session of crying, before Rarity continued speaking. “I walked under Cloudsdale in the hopes that I might see something. My horn picked up the presence of gems in the clouds, and that’s when I noticed that somepony seemed to be moving clouds around.” Rarity picked up the scooter with her hind leg, leaning it against a bookcase before turning her attention back to Twilight. “If I had to guess, I’d say that it's likely he's getting ready to meet his client.” Twilight frowned at the knowledge that Vanish had accomplished his goals, but shuddered at the notion that he was preparing for the next phase. What worried her even more, were the pictures from his saddlebag that the mares saw earlier. She pondered several questions regarding them that didn’t seem to have visible answers: “Why did he have those pictures? Were those targets to take the wings from? If so, then why did Vanish have a picture of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ Clubhouse, yet he chose not to attack Scootaloo when he had her trapped above the clouds, neither before nor after dealing with Rainbow?” Twilight felt like Scootaloo knew something, but needed to talk to her alone. “I’ll go check on Spike. Scootaloo, could you come with me?” Fluttershy knew that Spike was upstairs with Rainbow Dash, and was worried about how Scootaloo might react upon seeing her; she was clearly not in any shape to see the Rainbow in her current state. “Umm, e-excuse me, Twilight? Are you sure I can’t be of help instead of Scootaloo? I-I don’t mind, really!” Twilight nodded her head in acknowledgement of the offer. “I appreciate the offer Fluttershy, but right now, I need Scootaloo.” Scootaloo was clearly tired, too tired to even turn down Twilight’s request. Moving past the other ponies in the room, she walked towards Twilight with her head held low as the two of them began to make their way upstairs, leaving the other ponies and fillies in the library lobby, staring at each other with uncertainty and worry reflected in their eyes.