"Safety"
When Cherilee finally got up, she had little time to process what had happened. A student was gone, but she had twenty-two others to protect. If she knew one thing she knew it was unsafe where they were. With school almost a mile off, the nearest heavy structure in town was the Carousel Boutique... Cheerilee knew that, being a business, it had to have a first-aid kit. With two fillies on her back that's where they headed.
While Cherilee felt a little woozy, and didn't realize she was bleeding from the chin, this was nothing compared the state of her injured students. Dinky let out a soft whine as she wobbled on her teacher's flank, while Scootaloo was just starting to open her eyes... and feel pain. The pegasus filly cried quietly, having no clue where she was or what was going on.
During the walk to Ponyville Cheerilee's students remained quite close (and very scared)... some of them staring off into the sky, while others fixed their gaze onto the horizon... waiting for the bird to come back down and pick another one of them off, as they had all seen it do to Snails. Every filly and colt was quiet... eyes big and frightened. Even Snips, Snail's best friend, remained dead silent. He'd have to process the loss later on. They all couldn't get back soon enough... Cheerilee kept both her eyes on their destination.
Once inside Ponyville most of Cheerilee's students broke off and scattered... despite her shouting to stick together:
"This is an emergency! You must stay with me!"
They were all scared and Ponyville was at least familiar. No pony in town seemed to notice anything particularly unusual from their homes -- just a group of loud, screaming students not listening to their teacher, as usual. Cheerilee at least recognized the paths each student took... they were all headed home. She sighed.
Had the ponies in town actually bothered to look out their windows, however, they would have noticed the two fillies on Cheerilee's back, but the Boutique was too close to bother shouting for help. It would take longer to get somepony's attention than it would to get there, not to mention it would frighten the remaining students even more than they already were.
"Just a little bit further girls..."
Apple Bloom remained close... as did Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Most of these fillies lived outside of Ponyville, after all. Soon Sweetie Belle would be home, the Boutique's doors open to anypony in need... especially after coming in from something like that.
"Miss Cheerilee... are they going to be okay?" asked a genuinely frightened-looking Diamond Tiara.
Cheerilee didn't answer. She was too focused on getting them there safely. At this point, it was a matter of less than twenty feet... she could taste it.
The doors to the establishment flew open. Rarity clearly didn't see who was coming, starting in with her usual:
"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! Where every garment is chic, unique, and-"
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle squealed over her sister's lyrical routine, cutting her short and causing her to wince.
"Sweetie Belle...?" Rarity blinked. "Whatever are you-" It was then that the unicorn got a good look at the two ponies resting on Cheerilee's back. "... oh, dear."
* * *
Thirty minutes later the Carousel Boutique had become a bustling place of business... but not for the reasons Rarity had ever intended. There were ponies there to look after the fillies, take them home; ponies there asking questions, and ponies there to look over the two banged-up little fillies. The Carousel Boutique had seldom been so busy outside of the occasional show, yet this was one event Rarity couldn't wait to be over with.
Upstairs Dinky lay on Rarity's guest bed, shaking, a blanket draped over her shoulders. A few of her remaining classmates had first tried to comfort her (mostly Sweetie Belle), but it did no good. Scootaloo lay beside the tiny unicorn, now quite awake and irritable, her tail neatly bandaged... no great surprise that it was broken in two places. They had been cleaned up and Doctor Stable was there to check their vitals... noticing Dinky's pupils were still dilated half an hour later.
"Mmm... quite a scare," he concluded, looking at them both as he hoisted up his saddlebags. "You are both going to be fine. Your families will be here shortly to pick you up. Scootaloo, try not to move your tail too much and it should heal within a few weeks. Tell an adult right away if it goes numb."
Scootaloo nodded, glaring out the window at the pink mare outside who had pulled her tail so hard she actually heard it snap.
Doctor Stable headed towards the door. Leaning against the frame was Applejack. She nodded to the Doctor as he passed. She had been just down the street with her brother making deliveries when she saw the commotion. With attention turned towards the Boutique, it could all wait an hour... for the time being she would be there for the girls. She entered the room casually.
"Your mother'll be here soon, Dinky," Applejack said. "For the time bein'... is there anything either of you might need?"
They both turned to her and looked up. Their eyes said it all. Even she couldn't keep a straight face.
"Aw, hey now... it's over. Y'all ain't got nothin' to worry about no longer!"
The fillies didn't so much as smile in response.
Truth be told, Applejack wasn't exactly sure what had happened... just that they were away from it. With Apple Bloom safely on her way back to the Acres with Big Mac... the filly looking apprehensively at the skies, Applejack would have a long talk with her when they all got back. Apple Bloom, like a number of her fellow students, had seen it all. Mare-sized talons were what carried Snails off... that image would be in her mind forever.
Above it all Derpy was flying down to collect her little muffin. While it meant losing a couple hours at work, when she heard that there was trouble, the mailmare immediately thought Dinky had done something wrong... boy, was she in for a surprise. Rainbow Dash unfortunately would take a while longer... being loyal to everypony meant she would sometimes be hard to find, this time having decided to help Fluttershy move big cans of doggy kibble in her cottage basement.
* * *
In the fresh air, nursing a mug of warm Darjeeling Rarity had so kindly made her, Cheerilee sat in the shade... recapping the events to the officers that left her one student short. They couldn't believe it.
"I'm telling you the truth," Cheerilee said, plainly. "The bird took Snails away, then I carried them here. It was the size of a house, there was nothing I could do!"
"It's not that we don't believe you, Mrs. Cheerilee," said the unicorn taking notes.
"It's Miss Cheerilee," replied the teacher. "Or just Cheerilee... anyway, what's the problem?"
He said what she already knew:
"Birds like what you're describing are the stuff of old pony's tales. Legend." He scratched his head. "Unless I'm mistaken they haven't been seen in centuries!"
"Well, I've got twenty-two traumatized students that can vouch for me." Cheerilee narrowed her eyes. "But I wouldn't recommend asking any of them today."
The officer smiled, setting down his notebook... then leaning towards the teacher. His friendly demeanor had suddenly shifted.
"About that... Do you mean the group of foals you let scatter off the moment you entered Ponyville?"
"They were all headed home. I had to remain focused on my two hurt students!"
"Headed home..." He smiled again, leaning a bit further forward. "How do you know that? They could have been headed anywhere."
"I know where they all live." Cheerilee sipped her tea nervously. "I'm not saying that was the right thing to do, but at least we were safely in town."
The officer sat back, glancing over at his partner leaning against the outer wall of the Boutique. They grinned, the officer furthest from Cheerilee passing his partner another notebook... full of pink papers.
"There are a number of things you did wrong today, Mrs. Cheerilee," said the Officer, calmly. "Where shall we begin?"
Cheerilee stared at him, setting down her tea and gulping the last sip she had taken.
"You tell me."
The officer looked back at his partner and grinned... it appeared as though they were both going to enjoy this.