"I... can't."
Lyra stared at Scootaloo. The filly wasn't making any sense. She had always seemed to be the adventurous sort, was a member of the Adventurer's Guild, and had just been invited onto an adventure. Why would any such young pony pass up the chance? Lyra eyed the bandage on Scootaloo's knee.
"If you're not well enough to take on a contract today, I'm happy to wait until you're all rested up and ready to go!" She reached out and patted Scootaloo on the head. "We can always do one tomorrow, or even the next day!"
Scootaloo ducked out from underneath Lyra's hoof and backed up a few steps.
"You don't understand," she said. "I can't do any contracts with you. If Rainb–" she stopped herself mid-sentence and quickly changed course. "Um, if anypony finds out I'm a member of the guild..."
Lyra smiled and held up a hoof. "Okay, I get it. You're not the only one who doesn't want anypony knowing you're partnered with the Flim Flam brothers." She tapped her horn. "It's fine. I can get you out of town unnoticed."
Scootaloo blinked up at Lyra. "What's wrong with the Flim Flam brothers?" Lyra raised an eyebrow and Bon Bon looked ready to chip in, but Scootaloo shook her head. "Nevermind. Look, even if you can somehow make it so that nopony knows where we're going, it's still no use." She sighed and hung her head. "I've never completed a contract! I've been stuck on trying to complete this one contract for days now, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't do it!"
Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other, and Scootaloo cringed.
"Oh, right," she mumbled, pawing the floor with a hoof. "You weren't supposed to know about that."
Bon Bon looked ready to speak, but she was again interrupted as a customer walked into the shop. She hurried forward to deal with the customer as Lyra led Scootaloo into another room.
Once they were out of the shop area, Lyra waited for Scootaloo to look her in the eye.
"So the Flim Flam brothers let you take on a contract without my knowledge?"
Scootaloo looked back at the floor again. "Yes," she mumbled. A moment later she was looking back at Lyra intently. "But it's not their fault! I'm... I just..." She closed her eyes a moment and seemed to compose herself. "They said I could practice so I could get better and, you know, it would be better for the guild." She looked back up at Lyra. "But I still can't do it. I don't have the right gear and I... I'm not sure if I even want to try anymore."
Lyra regarded Scootaloo. Here was a young pony who was trying desperately to find out where she fit in the world. It was this realization that confirmed a hunch Lyra had.
Pinkie Pie had mentioned that nopony knew who the members of the Adventurer's Guild were. She had also said to look for a 'diamond in the rough.' Lyra had found that in Diamond Tiara, a filly who, while sometimes a bit bratty, was having a rough time dealing with her father's partnership with Trixie. Pinkie had somehow predicted who to look for, and Lyra knew that Pinkie's predictions weren't something to be ignored.
She had also mentioned that one of the members could be 'somepony trying to discover who she is.' That fit Scootaloo perfectly, as not only was she always running around with her two best friends trying to earn a cutie mark, she was also trying to find a way to fit into the Adventurer's Guild. Two of Pinkie's predictions were spot-on.
That meant that Lyra just had to find somepony's sister, somepony's brother, and somepony to look up to. Unfortunately, there were a lot of brothers and sisters in Ponyville, and there were plenty of ponies to look up to. One of the princesses, perhaps? Regardless, it was going to take time to figure it out, and she had a perfectly good adventurer right here in front of her.
If only she could help Scootaloo to realize that and start believing in herself.
"So you need some gear, huh?" Lyra asked. Scootaloo's ears perked up, but she didn't answer. Lyra continued. "I might be able to help you out with that. I can't really afford to give you any gear, as the shop needs to earn a lot this week just to stay afloat. What I can do is loan you some equipment." She had Scootaloo's full attention now, and she spoke quickly. "You can take it with you on our adventure, use it, and pay for it later once you've earned some bits from the contracts. Remember, guild members get discounts, too. If you feel the need to upgrade, you can just borrow something better and repeat the cycle. What do you say?"
Sometimes, all it takes is one small victory to get one's self out of a slump. For when one is hit with hardship after hardship, what might seem to others as insignificant can often times be the spark that leads to a figurative explosion of good fortune.
And so, when Scootaloo looked down momentarily, hesitant about what may or may not be to come, then lifted her head and offered a hoof to Lyra, a spark was suddenly brought to life with the utterance of a single word:
"Deal."
..o0o..
Of course, not every spark is quick to ignite.
"Oww..." Scootaloo groaned. She lifted her face from the ground and spit out some dust before looking back at Lyra and Bon Bon. "Couldn't you put that shield around me? It'd be a– ow! –lot easier!"
Lyra raised her eyebrows with concern and shrugged. "I'm sorry. My magical talent is better when focused on small, precise movements. Trying to maintain a magical shield in motion is just outside of my capabilities."
Lyra had already considered trying to assist their newest adventurer, but decided against it. Scootaloo needed to find out her worth for herself. It would do nothing for her confidence if Lyra were to complete the contract for her.
Scootaloo stood up and brushed herself off. She was wearing what might pass for armor that had been patched together from various items Lyra had in her shop. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. It did have one benefit in particular:
"At least I'm not bleeding this time," Scootaloo murmured. She looked back at Lyra and Bon Bon who both urged her on. She sighed and walked back towards the bear cub. The cub was sitting underneath a tree, playing with the missing picnic basket. It growled a warning as Scootaloo drew near.
Scootaloo frowned. She looked over to the large mother bear resting nearby. The mother bear was watching her. It had never interfered with Scootaloo, as she was likely not seen to be a threat, and actually seemed to enjoy watching Scootaloo's struggle as if it were amusing.
Scootaloo walked within a few paces of the cub and stared at it.
"I'm not going to fight you," she said sternly. "I just want you to give me that picnic basket. It's not yours!"
She was rewarded with a paw to the flank. She yelped, but stood her ground. It didn't actually hurt all that much anymore; it was just annoying. The bear cub, used to seeing Scootaloo get knocked onto her face, blinked.
"I'm not moving. I... I'm not giving up, so if you're going to hit me, just hit me and get it over with!"
The cub swiped at Scootaloo again, but this time it was slow and uncertain. It looked over to its mother, but the mother bear gave no response. The cub lifted a paw again and gave a short growl, but this time the paw only swiped lightly at the air in front of Scootaloo. As if realizing that it had lost its dominance over the filly, the cub finally let out a cry and ran to its mother. The mother bear nuzzled her cub gently, but did not coddle it. It would need to come to terms with its defeat on its own.
Scootaloo watched the cub retreat, then realized that the picnic basket was sitting right in front of her, completely unguarded. She arched her neck towards the basket, hesitating long enough to ensure that the mother bear wouldn't suddenly attack, then picked it up in her mouth and galloped away from the tree and back to Lyra and Bon Bon.
"You did it!" Lyra exclaimed. She began hopping in place. "You completed the contract!"
Scootaloo blinked and set the basket down, and Lyra could almost see it in Scootaloo's eyes as comprehension slowly sunk in.
"I guess it didn't hurt as much as before, thanks to this armor," Scootaloo said. She lifted a hoof, admiring the lack of injuries. "That cub's little claws just couldn't get through the material, and then it just kind of gave up and..." She stopped talking and looked up at Lyra with her big purple eyes. "I... I did it! I completed a contract!"
Lyra was almost dragged to the ground as Scootaloo leaped up and wrapped her little hooves around her neck.
"I completed a contract!" Scootaloo repeated. She buried her face in Lyra's mane.
Lyra looked at Bon Bon, who nodded approvingly.
The spark had just been ignited.