Ponyville hospital is a large three story building with several windows. The entrance is two glass doors with a wooden frame. Immediately inside is a waiting room with several chairs and a couple tables with magazines of various subjects on it in the middle. Near the end was a counter that was often occupied by a nurse ready for any emergencies.
A nurse left a room on the second floor leaving two pegasi alone. A little after she left, when the young adult of the pair felt they could talk in private questioned the filly, “Okay squirt, you heard the nurse, everything's fine. Physically at least. Now, are you going to tell me where you live?” then cringed immediately afterwards as she said that a little more harsher than intended. Rainbow found it frustrating and odd that everypony except Pinkie Pie had no clue where Scootaloo lived. It was almost impossible how that could happen, surely somepony had to find her parents to complain about her at one point or another, and/or lived next to them. She knew Pinkie would never tell. So what better pony to ask than the filly herself?
Scootaloo took a calming breath. She had plenty of time to prepare for this and prepare she did. “Like I was saying before we were rushed here, I’ll be happy to show you where I live.” This was something Scootaloo had somehow managed avoid for two years. She suspects Pinkie had helped her out a lot to make that true, but could never be sure.
“Okay… but why can’t you just, you know tell me where you live? ” Rainbow Dash asked confused and annoyed. She didn't see what the big deal was. She couldn't think of any good reason why Scootaloo couldn't just tell her. It made no since. It intrigued her though and she wasn't about to let this go. The fact Applejack, Rarity, and herself didn't know where she lived nagged at her. Pinkie knew and that put her mind at ease if only slightly.
“I... I just got to show you ok, and please don’t tell anypony else my... I just got to show you ok?” Scootaloo responded acting like she wanted to tell her something but couldn't, which happened to be how she felt. Scootaloo hated lying because she knew exactly the kind of anguish it can cause. However, she got use to it and became a pretty good liar, a fact that she hated. Her biggest fear was that her friends and Rainbow would find out the truth and she would lose them. She has no doubt that’s what would happen.
Rainbow reluctantly agreed feeling a little on edge and they left for the waiting room. On their way they saw Rarity accompanying Sweetie for her checkup with the same nurse leading.
It didn’t take long for Rainbow and Scootaloo to get back to the waiting room. They settled in with Applejack, Applebloom and Twilight who were waiting around one of the tables. The sword was under the table by Twilight as she blankly looked at the book. Applejack and Applebloom, who already got a check up, were talking.
“Ah’m sorry sis’ Ah made sure we were prepared. Ah got a rope, compass, map, canteens, Ah had Sweetie get the snacks, and Scootaloo leave the note,” Applebloom said compromising and pleading at the same time while taking out and showing the items as she said them from her saddlebag and motioning to Scootaloo. Scootaloo smiled at that, she found it clever.
“Ah see that ya did, and Ah’m mighty proud ya did, but yall ain’t getting off cause ya were smart about it,” Applejack replied then sighed, “Applebloom, Ah was wondering if ya would like to join me on a week vacation to Manehatten?”
Rainbow, and Scootaloo looked at Applebloom who went in deep thought not expecting this. Applebloom had been raised on their farm all her life. Sure she’s been to Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, and several other places but she hasn‘t really been anywhere outside of Ponyville for longer than a day if the train, camping, and royal wedding is excluded. She also would surely be able to meet up with her cousin Babs and finally get to meet the new-ish crusaders. The more she thought about it the more she liked it, “that sounds like tons fun. Of course ah’ll go,” she said enthusiastically, getting a smile from Applejack.
“Ugh, what about our crusading Applebloom? Summer doesn’t last forever,” Scootaloo complained. She just didn’t want Applebloom to be gone for a week.
Before Applebloom could respond Rainbow Dash jumped in, “Hey, don’t worry squirt. I’ll be going as well and that means you can come to.”
“It’s true." Applejack confirmed, as Scootaloo shot a questioning look, "Rainbow Dash and Twilight will be coming along as well. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie can’t make it and Ah’m not sure if Sweetie will be coming or not Ah was gonna ask her parents when we get out of here,” Applejack said gesturing to the ponies and location in question. Applejack was glad to see that Applebloom was looking forward to this vacation as much as she was, but Applebloom was still grounded.
Throughout that whole time Twilight had been lost in thought until she heard her name. “What? Yeah, I can’t wait to go on that vacation it’s going to be so much fun!” she said getting her mind off all the possibilities running through her head.
“Ya okay there Twi? Ya seem a little spaced out.” Applejack asked.
Twilight gave a fake smile, “Oh yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking about what caused them to pass out and what could have happened to them. Well, we will find out soon enough when I test them with my equipment in the libraries basement,” she ended in a slightly hectic voice. She couldn’t stop worrying about her students. She felt so much pride with the idea that they’re her students even if it’s not official yet.
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In one of the second floor rooms three ponies got done finishing several tests. “Well everything checks out here,” the nurse said looking at Rarity. The doctor already got a blood sample and X-ray and left to examine them for anything out of the ordinary. He had to mail Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight his findings once he got them.
“That’s a relief to hear,” Rarity responded and relaxed, while the nurse got a sucker and gave it to Sweetie Belle who gladly took it and thanked her. “Do... do you know what possibly could have knocked my poor little sister out for a day?” she asked curious.
“Unfortunately, I have no clue what spell caused that... Princess Twilight would probably have a better idea than me,” the nurse responded trying to be as helpful as possible. The staff of the hospital was made aware of the large magic orbs but had never heard anything like it before. With that the nurse left to check on other patients while Rarity and Sweetie Bell headed to the waiting room.
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When Rarity and Sweetie arrived in the waiting room all except Rainbow, Scootaloo, and Applejack left for the library. Rainbow and Scootaloo said that they’d meet them back there soon but had something to do first.
Rainbow asked Scootaloo to lead the way once they left the hospital. Scootaloo did so and took her to the outskirts of town near the Everfree. There were three, one story, houses there. Two of which Rainbow had visited earlier in her attempts to discover Scootaloo home. One of the houses had a pony that just moved in across the street from the other two and didn't know much. The one closest to the town was occupied by one of the flower ponies that freak out easily. The last house was abandoned according to her.
Rainbow Dash followed as Scootaloo went up to the flower ponies house and knocked. After a couple seconds a pale magenta earth pony with a lime green mane, dark green eyes, and two daisies for a cutie mark opened the door and looked at Scootaloo then Rainbow Dash a little scared and said, “Oh oh, h-hi Scootaloo. I didn’t say anything I swear,” quickly, shaking like a leaf.
Scootaloo smiled, brightly at her fearful behavior, “That’s okay Miss Daisy, I know you didn’t. I’m just here to let you know it’s okay to tell her.” Daisy lightened up at that.
“Tell me what? What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash questioned, a little confused by Daisy’s behavior.
“Oh, um okay, you um Rainbow Dash I didn’t tell you she lives next door to me earlier today because her parents don’t want me telling anypony where she lives because they fear that she will get foal-naped to hold her for ransom because of how rich they are,” Daisy said leaving out details of how it seemed much more like a threat. She remembered the overly buff looking pegasus guard looking at her unemotionally from across the street and not responding to Scootaloo’s wave.
“Yeah, my parents are really overprotective like that... and they also didn’t want to spoil me which is why my house doesn’t look too good on the outside, or inside for that matter,” She said a little quickly. “Well, thank you for clearing things up Miss Daisy but we have ponies waiting for us at the library,” Scootaloo said walking away and waving goodbye.
Rainbow followed Scootaloo as they made their way to the library. She felt something was off, but wasn’t sure what. She looked back to the building one last time, noting it for future reference. She took her mind off that and remembered that she still had to tell Scootaloo about the misunderstanding they had last year. After a little walking she spoke up, “Squirt, I need to talk to you about something,” she said stopping and looking at Scootaloo who did the same.
Scootaloo panicked on the inside what did she do wrong? Did she know before even coming here? “A-about what?” she replied as she began to shake slightly.
“I-I think, I mislead you and I didn’t mean to. It’s just, I’m not your sister. Don’t get me wrong, I think you’re a cool filly and fun to hang around but we’re not related...” Rainbow Dash watched her carefully as she said this, while mentally hitting herself for being so bad with words.
Scootaloo was completely taken off guard by this she had believed Rainbow agreed to being her sister, and began to question as such. “But I thought you said...”
Memory hit Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo like a brick and they knew exactly what she said that night. “I said, that I would take you under my wing, and I meant that.”
Scootaloo’s world shattered. The first time this happened she cried till she felt she would no longer need to cry again, ever. Deep down she knew this could happen. She knew Rainbow never actually said she’d be her sister, but it was close enough that she could believe that’s what she said. It’s the reason why she never called Rainbow sister in front of her, only around her friends did she do that. It was a lie she desperately wanted to be true. It opened up old wounds. It hurt. Even then, this wasn’t a total betrayal like last time. It wasn’t even a betrayal and she knew it, but that didn’t stop it from hurting just as bad. She was so off guard that she didn’t feel much of anything at the moment outside of what lingered from that initial jolt of shock, “Oh, that’s, that’s fine as... I guess, I misheard you back then didn’t I? Ehehehe,” she ended with a high pitched laugh to cover up the cry she was about to make as what just happened began to settle in.
Rainbow felt strange at the moment. She didn't like this feeling too much but at least Scootaloo seemed to be taking this better than she feared. “I guess you did," she answered, just now realizing what Scootaloo thought, "but don’t feel too bad even I forgot exactly what I said that night till just now. You’re still the coolest filly I know,” she said ruffling the squirts mane playfully.
Scootaloo closed her eyes breathed in to calm herself. She forced a smile, “Of course I am and you're the best flyer in Equestria,” she said as chipper as she could.
Rainbow smiled at that, “You know I am! Now, let's go see what Twilight has in store for you.”
The whole walk to the library was like torture for Scootaloo because all felt like doing was crying. She kept a happy appearance the whole walk. She hated that she could lie about her feelings so easily.
Rainbow on the other hoof felt mixed about the situation. She’s not sure why either, but at least Scootaloo seemed to take it well.
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At the library four ponies entered starting with Twilight carrying the sword and blue book in her purple magic field, followed by Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle. “Spike! I’m back!” Twilight yelled loud enough to be heard throughout the library. It wasn’t sooner after Spike came running downstairs and gave Twilight a hug which she returned. Spike had been worried sick over Twilight. “Spike take a letter,” she said while separating. Spike got a paper and pen. At this point Spike wasn’t really needed to send letters to Celestia but Twilight wanted to save such occasions for emergencies. She went over everything that happened today and asked for a translation book of old Equestrian.
They didn’t have to wait long before Spike burped out a flame that constructed a scroll in front of them. Spike took it and read it out loud.
Dear Twilight,
I am pleased to hear that you found the three fillies and I am also concerned over what happened to them. I will send the archaeologist Fossil Records to retrieve the sword and bring you a translation book within two days. I’m interested in the contents of that book and look forward to receiving your findings on it. I ask you to exercise caution and not cast any spells it may hold.
Your friend Celestia
After that Twilight got them all downstairs in the basement. The basement was filled with lab equipment from vials/flask to a full body magic sensor. Twilight asked Rarity if she could test Sweetie first since she didn’t want to start with Apple Bloom until Applejack got back. Rarity agreed and she began to hook Sweetie up to a newer version of the machine that failed to help her out with Pinkie Pie. It had several sensors that read magical output in key parts of the body. When everything was hooked up she flipped the switch. It turned on and began writing readings on paper which she studied. “Hmmm that’s odd I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary. This makes no sense something magic related definitely happened to Sweetie Belle but I’m not seeing any unique magic readings.” The readings in question are a set of waves that are similar to a lie detector on someponies pulse. If there’s a sudden large spike or lack of spike that is out of a normal pattern then that’d mean something is different. The size of the pattern determined how much magic a pony had and Sweeties seemed about right maybe slightly larger than average. Depending on the race, ponies have a unique magical pattern that only strays from said pattern if inflicted by something magical. She got an idea and levitated a table and a coin in front of Sweetie Bell. “Okay Sweetie Belle I want you to levitate this bit for one minute keep it in place and don’t move it.” She figured she might as well see if the casting pattern is any different. The casting pattern for unicorns is the same regardless of the spell that’s being cast and that’s a mystery that researchers at Canterlot are trying to solve. The only times it’s been recorded as different is when the caster has a magical effect that’ll at least affect their casting like Rarity did when she got corrupted.
“Okay, Twilight I’ll do my best.” Sweetie replied. Sweetie didn’t like being hooked up to this thing, it’s uncomfortable. She looked at the coin and began to concentrate on it. The coin was engulfed in a light green glow as she imagined reaching out to it while her horn glowed rather bright. Just as she tried to rise it she saw it disappear. At that same moment she felt what could only be described as a full body jolt/explosion followed by numbness. She couldn’t hear anything and her vision began to get blurry as she began to think about chores for some reason.
Rarity, Applebloom, and Spike yelled Sweeties name as soon as they saw her light up like a hearth's warming tree. Twilight jumped to the sound of something exploding and Sweeties name being yelled. She quickly turned to see what happened. Twilight saw smoke coming from the equipment on Sweetie and immediately used her magic to take all the equipment off her.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Twilight asked with worry riddling her voice as she moved close. She got a look at Sweetie and saw some charred marks left from the equipment all around her and even more so on her head and mane. Luckily it looked more like residue from the equipment more so than her fur being burnt.
Sweetie wobbled around a little and said, “But Rarity I can’t take out the trash with my magic like you can yet,” and fell to the ground in unconsciousness.
Applejack just entered the library when she heard the commotion in the basement. She quickly ran down the stairs and came in to see Rarity and Apple Bloom dusting the soot off of an unconscious Sweetie, Twilight looking at a long piece of paper and Spike picking up the burnt equipment. “What in tarnation happened down here?” Applejack questioned.
Applebloom looked up and said, “Apparently Sweetie blew up Twilights machine.”
Twilight was just staring at the piece of paper not hardly aware Applejack arrived. Spike was still picking up burnt parts of the machine while looking at the soot on the ground in annoyance and complained, “And I just got done sweeping this place yesterday.”
By this point Sweetie Belle began to stir. She opened her eyes and brought a hoof to her head, “Oh my head what happened?” Rarity gave her a quick hug and said how worried she was. Applebloom told her how she saw all the equipment on her suddenly light up with a loud noise that sounded kind of like thunder.
Applejack walked over to Twilight while saying her name a couple times. She didn’t respond still staring at the paper. Applejack put her hoof on Twilight and she was a little surprised by that. “Oh sorry Applejack, I guess I got lost in thought again,” she said while looking towards Applejack and continued, "I'm just concerned about what these readings suggest, it's actually pretty scary." Before Applejack could respond Sweetie interrupted them.
Sweetie was still recovering from the mock explosion the equipment created. She didn’t like what Applebloom was telling her. It sounds like she broke Twilights machine and she knows it was going to be used to test Applebloom and Scootaloo. She began to feel bad because this equipment had to be super expensive. She felt like she was a horrible pony. Twilight had always been nice to her. She even was helping her learn to use her magic even though she didn’t need to. Sweetie filled with guilt quickly ran to Twilight tears almost in her eyes, “I’m sorry Twilight I didn’t mean to break your machine! I’ll help you pay for it... somehow!” Twilight gave her a quick hug and assured her it was not her fault and not to worry about it. Sweetie felt a little better with that. Twilight also said she had to tell everypony something when Rainbow and Scootaloo arrived.
While waiting Applejack told Sweetie that she could go on vacation with them. Sweetie was confused because she had no clue what Applejack was talking about but Applebloom seemed excited and that made her excited as well. During their celebration Sweetie suddenly stared into space for a second before asking where they were going. Applejack was quick to answer before Applebloom as she had to tell both Rarity and Sweetie that their parents where going on vacation tomorrow. Sweetie frowned at this, they just got back from a vacation like a week ago and they didn’t say anything about another one. Rarity questioned/complained to Applejack about just that and apparently one of their friends had two tickets for an airboat cruise set to leave from Canterlot tomorrow and they couldn’t make it so they gave it to their parents. Sweetie couldn’t help but wonder why they almost never take her on vacations but instead leave her with Rarity. She knew they loved her and Rarity. They were very caring and supportive but they were just constantly gone for weeks at a time sometimes, even missing her birthday. It was frustrating to Sweetie how it seemed she practically lived with her sister at times. She often found herself complaining about them to Scootaloo who, as far as she knew, had some grievances about her own parents.
Twilight was unsure what to think. The amount of magic the paper suggested Sweetie has is more than even Celestia and Luna combined. The equipment burnt out which means the reading could be wrong. It still burnt out which means Sweetie definitely has a lot of magic or something else happened. She didn’t even understand why it burnt out like it did. Sweetie didn’t lose complete control of her magic like she did when she was a filly. She wondered why it couldn’t detect the magic before she used it. Maybe whatever was suppressing the magic couldn’t stop it from expanding to the sensors and frying them? As far as she knew only dragons were capable of concealing their magical potential from sensors and she only knew this because of Spike. It was another mystery that she’d have to solve.
Once Scootaloo and Rainbow got back most of the burnt machine attachments were scrapped and set aside. Twilight asked that Sweetie not use her magic for anything unless she was around. Sweetie agreed still feeling bad about the machine and a little scared about the fate of the bit that disappeared. Twilight was unable to determine what, if anything, happened to Scootaloo and Applebloom magically. If she could then Princess Celestia would have known not to challenge Queen Chrysalis in a duel of pure magic power, and she’s not aware of any spell that can examine a ponies magic. It's partly why there's so many different devices to research magic. She asked them to keep an eye out for anything unusual and used Scootaloo picking up the sword like it was nothing as an example. Rainbow Dash wanted a better look at the sword, so Twilight let her do just that. Twilight also sent another letter to Celestia to inform her on the new situation and press for the translation book. She got a swift reply and will be seeing Fossil by tomorrow morning. There was nothing else she could do till she reads that book or gets replacement parts for the machine. So they each went about their Tuesday except Sweetie and Applebloom who got grounded for the next couple days.
End Chapter 5