A certain lavender unicorn hummed a happy little tune to herself as she trotted down the main drive of Ponyville, a giddy clip-clop to her gait, and her saddlebags filled to the brim with rolls of parchment.

“All right, let’s see,” she said to herself, not breaking her stride as her horn lit up and a small scroll flew out of her bag to unravel in front of her gaze. “’Morning – Buy Checklist Materials’” she read off, her snout buried in the parchment. With a tentative glance towards the sky she noted that the golden orb was just about to reach its noontime apex and beamed to herself before magically pulling a quill from her bags. “Check,” she confirmed cheerily. “Next, ‘Noon – Make Checklist of Checklist Materi-‘”

“Twilight!”

Twilight halted in her steps and she lost her magical grip on her checklist, which fell to the ground along with the quill.

Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash practically fell from the sky and landed very ungracefully in front of the unicorn. “Twilight! Have you seen Scootaloo anywhere?”

Twilight took a moment to regain her bearings from Rainbow’s slightly jarring entrance. “Um… no, I haven’-“

Before Twilight could even finish her syllable, Rainbow had dashed off with blinding speed and began to interrogate the next hapless pony to be in her line of vision.

“Have you seen a little orange pegasus?”

Twilight watched in stupefied fascination as this continued down the line through every pony that was out and about that day, until finally the pegasus galloped off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

“What was that all about…?”

A placid expression adorned Applejack’s face as she lifted her hind legs, preparing to deliver a swift and decisive buck to the apple tree directly behind her. All was calm, all was quiet; she felt completely at ease. She really did enjoy her job, being out in nature everyday was soothing.

“Applejack!”

The earth pony was ripped from her peaceful state of mind by the sudden call, causing her to lose her balance and topple forward onto her face.

Rainbow Dash, seemingly oblivious to Applejack’s state of rest, came galloping up to the downed mare and began to question her. “Have you seen Scootaloo?”

The reply Rainbow received was muffled, though distinctly irritated, seeing as how Applejack was still face-first in the dirt.

“I said-” Rainbow began, before an orange hoof shot up from the ground and stuffed itself into her mouth before she could continue.

“I heard ya tha first time…” grumbled Applejack as she lifted her face from the dirt and got back to her hooves. That was when she fully took in the sight in front of her. “Good heavens, Rainbow! What happened ta ya?”

Rainbow’s eyes were filled with an indescribably alien emotion, at least for the pegasus, and she seemed unable to stand still at all, her pupils shifting back and forth in her head as if she were expecting something to appear out of nowhere at any second. Overall she looked very haggard, her breath coming in short pants and her mane frazzled.

“No time to talk, have to-“

Applejack cut Rainbow off once more by placing her hoof against her lips this time, rather than stuffing her mouth shut. “Slow down there, pardner. Get a hold o’ yerself.”

Rainbow took several deep breaths to get her breathing under control as she visibly calmed down and became less antsy . “Have you seen Scootaloo anywhere?” she repeated after she had fully calmed herself.

Applejack contemplated the question for a moment. “Sorry, can’t say Ah hav-....” Her voice fell short as her eyes narrowed in sudden realization. “Hold on a second. ’Scootaloo’? Since when have ya been callin’ her ‘Scootaloo’? It’s always been ‘Squirt’ or ‘Kid’ with ya. And ta boot, why do ya even care so much where she’s at? Ya’ll never cared much before.”

Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words, her mouth opening and closing as an explanation tried to form. After a moment, she let her head fall, her gaze becoming glued to the ground. “I… I honestly don’t know.”

“What’s gotten inta ya, Rainbow?”

Rainbow took another deep breath before she raised her head back up to level her gaze at the earth pony. “I went to see Scootaloo yesterday, just like you asked. But when I found her, she told me that she was afraid of flying and that she had never flown before. Ever.”

Applejack’s expression became one of bemused curiosity as she noted how Rainbow’s features gradually began to fall, becoming more solemn as she spoke. The earth pony had never seen the pegasus look so... upset over something like this before.

“I don’t know… it just got to me, somehow. I barely slept at all, it’s just really been on my mind… A pegasus that’s never flown once.…”

Applejack’s eyes slowly widened as Rainbow finished speaking, her voice having become quiet and distant as she trailed off. It was all starting to make sense: Rainbow’s demeanor, the look in her forlorn eyes, the tinge of sorrow in her voice that spoke far more than her words. Perhaps it showed that Rainbow had started to care about somepony other than herself.

Placing a comforting hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, Applejack broke the silence, “Well, as Ah said before, Ah haven’t seen her. Ya’ll should go ask Apple Bloom, she’s out in her clubhouse in tha orchard,” Applejack said as she pointed in the direction of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse.

“Thanks, Applejack.” With a grateful nod, Rainbow turned and galloped off deeper into the orchards.

“Go find that filly, Rainbow.”

“What should we do today?” Sweetie Belle asked, her voice excitedly high-pitched.

Apple Bloom scuffed her hoof against the wood floor, her features downcast. “Ah dunno...” she replied distantly.

Sweetie Belle’s mouth twisted into a worried frown. “You’ve been like this all day. What’s with you?”

“Ah dunno...” responded Apple Bloom as she laid down on the floor, folding her forehooves beneath her chin and staring at the wooden planks of the floor as her glum expression only worsened. “Ah jus’ feel bad ‘bout Scootaloo.”

Sitting down next to her friend, Sweetie Belle laid a comforting hoof over Apple Bloom’s shoulder as her expression shifted to one of empathy. “You already asked your sister for help, so stop feeling so bad.”

“Ah know, Ah know, it’s jus’ that Ah shouldn’t o’ egged her on like that, callin’ her a chicken an’ all.”

Sweetie Belle felt the knife of guilt begin to twist inside of her as well; she had not exactly helped matters any up on that cliff. “I’m sure she’s fine, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom raised her head, diverting her attention from the floor to the young unicorn. “Then why hasn’t she come ta tha clubhouse all day?”

“I... I don’t know,” the filly replied awkwardly, as she truly did not have an adequate response. An uncomfortable silence enveloped the two as they just sat there, not really sure what to do or say.

“Hey! Anypony up there?”

Both fillies perked up at once and hopped to their hooves as they heard Rainbow Dash’s voice outside of their clubhouse. Racing to the nearest window, they peered out and spied that the rainbow-maned pegasus was indeed standing near their clubhouse.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Sweetie Belle called out as she waved her hoof enthusiastically. Rainbow Dash took this as an invitation and trotted up the clubhouse ramp and let herself in.

“What’re ya doin’ here?” Apple Bloom inquired as she and Sweetie Belle walked up to the mare.

“Well, I was just wondering if you two have seen Scootaloo around?” Rainbow asked, doing her best to maintain her cool composure in front of the two young ponies; she had a reputation to maintain after all. The two Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged looks before shaking their heads in unison.

“We haven’t seen her all day,” answered Sweetie Belle.

“We were kinda hopin’ ya’d talked ta her,” Apple Bloom chimed in, traces of her previous sad state seeping into her voice.

A sheepishly awkward expression lit up Rainbow Dash’s features as her ears fell back against her head as she looked around at everything but the two fillies in front of her. “Well, I did, and uh... well...” explained Dash, running her hoof back along her mane in an attempt to remain collected. “...I should probably keep looking.”

With that, Rainbow Dash was out of the door in a flash, leaving the two Cutie Mark Crusaders to wonder exactly what had just happened.

“You think she’ll find Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle wondered as she cast a glance over at Apple Bloom.

“Ah sure hope so.”