You're Wanted

by SciWriter

Sleeping

There was no time. My wings shot open on impulse and I leaped into the air, firing off towards Ponyville general.

Once at the hospital I shot down to the doors and burst quickly through them. Everything was a blur. I explained the situation hurriedly, the doctors having to calm me down, once they understood, they started moving efficiently, pegasi preparing a stretcher and unicorns preparing equipment for when the patient was brought in. When the pegasi were ready I shot out ahead of them so they could follow.

I came back to the scene. The pegasi gently place the earth colt on their stretcher. Lightning was being held back by Vinyl, who was crying herself as the filly screamed her brother’s name over and over. Lightning had long since become horse from screaming, but the sound of her pleading still sent chills down my spine.

Apple Bloom had run into Vinyl’s house, like she were hiding from the scene, while Scootaloo laid down on the ground, forelegs over her head, covering her head and ears, trying to block out Lightning’s pleading. Scootaloo’s eyes were tightly shut.

Dusk was flown away.

I went over to Scootaloo and picked her up, watching as Vinyl hugged her small student Lightning to herself. I was as silent as the mute unicorn myself, having no idea what to say. I carried Scoots on my back as I retrieved Apple Bloom from the house.

(***)

In a few minutes I had flown Apple Bloom back home. I knocked on the door. “Hold up ya’ll,” AJ said. In a few seconds she opened the door and her eyes fell on her sobbing little sister. “Apple Bloom?” She looked at me. “Ah… what-“ as a subconscious reaction I grabbed my friend and hugged her tight. “Um… ah… it’s okay ya two… three, ah am right here… let me know what’s happenin’ when ya’ll can…”

In Apple Jack’s home, Apple Bloom had been sent to her room where Big Mac was trying to comfort her. AJ and I talked in the living room. We both held mugs of hot chocolate, having a very hard time talking at all. Finally AJ broke the silence. “So… ya think he’s still alive?”

“He was breathing,” I answered. “Just ya know, really shallow.” Scootaloo had remained with me and was sipping hot cider herself.

“How did it happen?” AJ asked.

“I don’t know,” I looked over at Scootaloo. “I wasn’t there when what happened… happened, but you were Scoots.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “I don’t know. One minute he was dancing, having fun with Apple Bloom and the next he just dropped. He crumpled like a doll to the ground, it was like he just stopped being… alive… I’ve never seen a pony do that before,” she started shaking. “Was it real?” I nodded my head and drank a little. “Dusk might be new to the crusaders, but he’s still my friend… is he gonna be okay?”

“I don’t know,” I slowly admitted.

“How was his sister doing when ya left?” AJ asked.

“Panicking.” I said simply. “We all know she has a chronic fear of being separated from him. I don’t know what this did to her, but you could hear the pain in her voice when he was taken away. She wanted to be with him but…” I bit my lip, remembering her pleading not to have her brother taken away.

“Ya think it would be a good idea to let the girls go see either of them?” AJ asked.

“Um… maybe? I mean not until the doctors say so for Dusk, but Lightning… I don’t know if there’s ANYTHING we can do for her.”

AJ nodded. “Well, ah’m gonna try still. Seems right to try to do somethin’ these are their friends after all. If she’s up to it, I’ll take Apple Bloom to Vinyl and see if there’s anything she thinks can be done. Maybe you should go to the clinic with Scootaloo and wait to see if Dusk can get visitors in a while… ah mean, his sister might not be able to make it if she’s panickin’ too bad.”

I looked over at Scootaloo. “You think you can come with me to the hospital?”

Scootaloo swallowed. “I think. At least, maybe I can talk to him when he wakes up?” A small glimmer came to her eyes. “He’s gonna wake up right?”

I so wanted to lie to her there. How hard would it have been to just say, “sure, he’ll wake up in a few hours!”? Course, I knew nothing about what was wrong and if he didn’t wake in a few hours… “I hope,” I said.

Scootaloo bit her lip. “I remember when I got bit by a timber wolf. Dusk always walked beside me whenever the Crusaders hung out until I got better. He’s called me the bravest filly alive like a hundred times… when he wakes up, I want to be there.”

(***)

I flew her to the hospital. Dusk did not wake up, apparently he had gone into a coma. The doctors said they had a diagnosis, but that was only for his family at the moment. However, friends and family could visit for the time being.

Seeing a six year old laying unconscious in a bed, like an arranged doll, just laying on his back with equipment sticking every which way out of him… I had a really hard time sitting in that hospital room. Scootaloo sat in a chair next to her friend. Through tears she smiled at him. The doctor had left us with the thought, that even if Dusk couldn’t respond, there was a pretty good chance he would hear us.

Scootaloo decided she would take that to heart. “Hey, Dusk?” she asked. “I know you can’t answer, and that’s okay, I’ll do the talking okay?” The only response was beeping machines and an artificial respirator. Scootaloo swallowed. “Maybe I can make you want to wake up sooner, who knows…”

“Hey, remember when we met?” she asked. “You were dancing in the hospital. You were awesome, and I tried so hard to copy you.” She smiled. “I’m getting better at dancing, watching you do it, and practicing when you’re around, it’s really fun. Oh and hey when you wake up, we’re gonna dance again, I promise.” She sighed.

“Look, I know how you first heard about me. In the orphanage you lived in, a bard named Trixie sang to you all stories about me and my friends. You told me she told you we went around Ponyville fighting evil villains with a combination of bravery, well intended mischief and feminine charms.” Scootaloo chuckled. “By the way, Apple Bloom still doesn’t like being called feminine. Maybe eventually you’ll learn, we’re no where near what she said… I do like that you still think I’m that brave.”

She paused for a bit. “I’m sticking around Dusk. Remember a few months ago when I got bit by a timber wolf? It hurt just to move, but I still wanted to hang out with everyone. Everyone protected me and was so helpful. You said you were worried you weren’t really doing anything, that you were a bad friend. Dusk, no matter how slow I moved, you always stayed by me… I don’t even know why, but you did. Your sister would always shoot ahead and goof off, but you just stayed with me… I’m staying with you.”

Scootaloo sighed. “I’m not as brave as you think, but… I will try to be. I don’t want to be here, seeing a friend like this, but… your sister, she’s so scared without you, I’m not sure what she’ll be able to do when you wake up, but I’ll be there for you. Don’t worry about Lightning, Apple Bloom’s got her, just wake up… please… please wake up…”

For a moment I had hope that her pleas might have reached him… but the machines just droned on, his machine aided breathing not changing. I sighed, waving my wing at Scootaloo. “Squirt, we need to go home and get some rest.”

“I’d like to be here when he wakes up, so he doesn’t think I was lying.”

“He knows you’re not lying, we’ll be back… sides if he heard what you said he can hear us now. C’mon… we can walk and talk if you need to.” I wanted to fly out of there, actually I hadn’t flown in a while today but… acing muscles or not, some things are just more important. Scootaloo got up and we started to walk home.

(***)

Home was on the horizon. A question had been nagging at me for a while. “So… you and the crusaders… you still gonna leave them?”

“Lightning, Dusk and Sweetie or Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked. “After all this, I’m sticking by Dusk’s side, you calling me a liar or something?” she gave me a slight glare.

“Of course not, I mean Apple Bloom. You basically said you wanted out of the CMC- you remember Dusk heard about you through the CMC right?”

“He heard a bunch of stories. Dusk thinks we slayed a dragon. I’m gonna be there for him, but Apple Bloom and me… she did what she did.” Well that sounded damning.

“She’s gonna be helping Lightning, and Lightning and Dusk are gonna get back together I’m pretty sure… so…”

“I’ll be nice. Lightning and Dusk were never mean to daddy, so why should I be angry at them for that anyway? I know they don’t like seeing me and Apple Bloom fight,” she grunted and looked to think for a bit. “I just won’t talk to her.”

“Can you forgive her?” I asked.

“Why? She didn’t apologize to dad, he’s the one she hit. In fact, why doesn’t that bother you anyway? You forgave him, remember? So ponies get to just hit him now? He needs to just take that?” she demanded.

“I… well… I don’t know, I understand why she did it…”

“So you want to hit him?” Scootaloo stopped walking and glared at me.

“No… I mean if I had to.”

“So you want to, you just can’t justify it? You forgave him! That meant nothing didn’t it?”

“I… he hurt you, I can’t just forget that!”

“Remember when Lightning hit Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom completely forgave her. Should I watch Apple Bloom for her hitting Lightning, because if she does…”

“She won’t, that’s different,” I said. “It’s different…”

“Daddy made a mistake, he went to jail, he stayed away, he got help, what do you want?! He hasn’t even been fighting you on how you treat him. This is ridiculous! You just hate him!”

“I love you!” I yelled back. Her words were biting, I didn’t know what to else say. She… she… wasn’t wrong.

“Is it because he’s a stallion?” Scootaloo said with a glare. “Don’t think I won’t protect Dusk from you.”

“Now don’t twist this!” I shouted at that. “This isn’t about stallions! I broke your mother’s jaw remember? I don’t treat mares any different.”

“Violet isn’t my mother remember? You are… but you don’t hurt my dad. You tell him to go or you be nice, you can’t tell him to stick around just so you can hurt him,” Scootaloo started to grind her teeth.

I wanted to tell her I was right but… I relaxed my shoulders. “Look, I don’t know Purple like you do, so looking past what he did is hard for me but… you’re right. I was the one who asked him to stay, so I really should work on my attitude towards him.”

“And Apple Bloom?”

“On her? She has every right to feel however she is going to feel, I’m sorry. And you have the right to not be her friend if you want because of that, but… is it really what you want?”

“She shouldn’t feel that way!”

“Feelings aren’t right or wrong really kiddo. I guess Apple Bloom was being rude, but she’s made her feelings known before… guess we kinda forced a confrontation without thinking about it. We can ask her to be polite, but saying she had to let someone she doesn’t like hold her, is a bit far.”

Scootaloo sighed. “I guess you’re right… still she wan’t giving him a chance even before that.”

I nodded my head. “And while I’m obligated to give him a chance, she’s not.”

Scootaloo nodded. “And if she’s gonna treat my dad that way, I don’t have to stay her friend right?”

“Scoots, you don’t HAVE to be anyone’s friend. I understand why you’re angry but… you can’t demand other ponies feel the same way you do. You can’t even demand they understand how you feel.”

“So… should I be her friend or not?”

“You decide that. I can say this much. Lightning and Dusk want you two to get along. You’re right, I should start taking a stand on things like this. I can’t let someone treat someone else badly. I should have stood up to Apple Bloom… really I should have stood up to you, I knew how she felt.” I swallowed. “Be nice to Apple Bloom around them or I won’t let you around Lightning and Dusk either.” Scootaloo’s ears drooped.

“You’re making me be her friend?”

“No, but be nice. Can you do that for your other friends?” Scootaloo bit her lip, but nodded. I walked over a put a wing over her. “Hey, it’s not just cause I said so okay?”

“I get it.”

We walked the rest of the way home together.

(***)

Sleeping that night was hard. The image of Blue laying on the pavement like that was haunting me. And, so help me, as much as I knew I had no say in Scootaloo’s relationships, I so wanted her and Apple Bloom back together. Apple Bloom had been so important to Scoots for so long. Was there anything I could do?

I finally slept.

(***)

The next day I took Scootaloo to the hospital again. We entered Dusk’s room and both our jaws dropped.

Scootaloo raced into the room, jumping up beside Sweetie, who was apparently there also. Dusk was awake.