It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around being her usual joyful self, Fluttershy was tending her animals, Derpy was delivering the mail. So to most ponies, the day was perfect, but not to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash was nervously pacing her room in her cloud house, high above Ponyville. Should she tell her friends or not? Should she continue on living her life pretending nothing had happened when indeed something had happened? What could she do? She knew she couldn't keep on living a lie, but she had no solution to her problem. Throwing herself on her fluffy cloud bed with a huff, she picked up her favorite Daring Doo book and began reading, soon forgetting her internal struggle.
Knock, knock, knock. "Come in!" she yelled at whoever was at her door before becoming completely engrossed in the exciting tail. (Haha, pun intended.)
"There you are, I've been looking all over town for you! Has nopony told you what happened!" yelled Twilight, looking a bit flustered. After waiting a second with no response from Rainbow Dash, she decided to take matters into her own hooves. "RAINBOW DASH!!!" she yelled, this time right into the afore mentioned ear.
"Huh, oh hey Twi, what's goin on?" Rainbow Dash, not really caring what the response was.
"What's going on! What's going on! I'll tell you what's going on! YOU were supposed to take the CMC skydiving today, but since you never showed up, the CMC took it up on themselves to skydive, and alone too and-"
"Oh no!!! Twilight, I'm so sorry!!! I had an incredibly awesome day planned out. Something came up and I've been rather busy," apologized Rianbow Dash profusely, cutting off Twilight. Then, trying to remedied the situation, she asked, "Did they have any fun?"
"No, they did not have fun. Would you like to know what happened? Do want to know where they are now? In the Ponyville Hospital, that's where." Twilight finished her raving just long enough for her words to sink into Dash's thick skull.
"Wait, did you say Ponyville Hospital? What happened?" asked Dash, mentally kicking herself for forgetting, and, thinking back on the day previous, she did recall that she had promised Scootaloo to take the CMC skydiving and had completely forgotten after finding a letter in her mailbox the previous day...
Mail? Weird, I never get mail. Rainbow Dash thought to herself after finding a single letter in a Manila envelope in her mailbox. I wonder who it's from. After thoroughly searching the envelope for any sign of an address or a name and finding none, she ripped it open and began reading the letter inside.
Rainbow Dash,
Hello Dashie, remember me? If I recall correctly, today is exactly ten years ago from when we first met. You were still a school filly then I believe; just a freshman. Do you remember me? Dark orange coat, dark purple mane, scateboard cutie mark? I believe you do. I was just writing to say, Happy Tenth Anniversary. How's Scootaloo doing?
From, Your You Know Who
After receiving that letter, her sense of time and all promises associated with it had gone out the window. She had been pacing and trying to figure out what HE wanted all night. It wasn't that he'd had said anything offensive, it was that he HAD said anything in the first place. She had done her best to cover up her tracks but he always seemed to find her. What DID he want? In all of her aggravated worrying and pacing, she had completely forgotten her promise.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, is Scootaloo okay?" Dash asked worriedly. "I mean, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. Are they okay?"
"They'll be okay, well, at least Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle will be," Twilight answered. "Thankfully Apple Bloom only sprained her ankle and Sweetie Belle only bruised her right foreleg," then looking at Dash sadly, she continued, "Scootaloo wasn't as lucky, she jumped and did everything correctly but her parachute didn't open-" a sudden gasp from Rainbow Dash startled her but she continued, " Scootaloo landed hard and broke several ribs and her left foreleg..." she trailed off.
"Twilight, what happened to Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I need to know."
"Oh Dash, you are so close to her, I don't want you to be hurt, but I'll tell you," said Twilight, tears forming in her eyes. "When Scootaloo landed, she hit her head hard on a stone jutting out of the path. The doctor's believe it caused brain damage and she's been in a coma ever since."
"No! She has to be okay! She just has to!" yelled Dash, startling Twilight. Before Twilight could say anything else, Rainbow Dash had already taken off, presumedly on her way to Ponyville Hospital.
"I hope Rainbow will be okay. She's acting rather strange," thought Twilight. Then, she noticed that, in the wake of Rainbow's mad dash a letter had fallen off her bed. "Hm, I wonder what this is," she said to herself, picking it up. Although she felt a bit guilty, she picked it up anyway and read it. "Maybe this is what caused Rainbow Dash to forget, she usually never forgets. I'll have to ask Dash about it sometime."
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was bee lining towards the Ponyville Hospital. As soon as she arrived, though out of breath and panting, she managed to find the CMC's room. "Where's Scootaloo?" she yelled as she burst through the door.
"Darling, shh, the girls are resting. I am so very sorry to hear what happened," began Rarity, who was standing next to Applejack while the girls slept. "I had no idea that the girls would even try to go skydiving by themselves. I just do not understand why they insist on trying new things although they already have their cutie marks."
"What Ah don't understand, is how you could forgit sump thin so important as to watchin a few little fillies. If ya'd been there, none of this would of ever happened in the first place," Applejack said crossly. Then seeing Rainbow Dash'a upset face, she changed her tone. "Ah really am sorry bout what happened though, but Scootaloo's not in here. They've got her in sump thin called the ICU so they can monitor her Ah think.
"Girls, I'm so sorry, none of this would have ever happened if I hadn't forgotten. I was so stupid to forget something so important," Rainbow said, hanging her head low in shame.
"Darling, I believe I can speak on both of our behalf..."then after receiving confirmation from Applejack, continued, "mistakes happen dear. I have forgotten things plenty of times before. Although, I must admit, they weren't this important-"
Quickly stopping Rarity there, Applejack continued, "You're probably wantin ta see Scootaloo, Ah'll lead ya there." Applejack briskly trotted out the door and headed down a corridor to another room labeled Room 139 ICU.
Before going in, Rainbow turned to Applejack, "Oh Applejack, I don't think I would ever be able to manage without friends like you and Rarity." Then, after giving Applejack a quick hug, she braced herself and opened the door. The sight inside made tears immediately swell up in her eyes. Scootaloo was lying in a bed with her front left foreleg and chest both wrapped in a cast, but the sight that upset her the most was the heart moniter machine that was monitering Scootaloo's heart rate. "Oh my poor baby," she whispered to herself.
"What's that, Ah didn't quite catch what ya said," Applejack said after hearing Rainbow Dash mutter something.
"Oh, I said 'My poor baby sister', yeah, that's what I said," Rainbow said nervously. "Um, when are the doctors coming to check on her?"
"Ah'm not sure, Ah'll see if Ah can go find one," answered Applejack before leaving the room.
As soon as Applejack was gone, Rainbow Dash walked over to Scootaloo's bed. Looking downs the little orange filly wrapped in casts, she brushed some of her mane away from her face. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but start crying. "My poor baby, my poor baby," was all she managed to say before falling into a fitful sleep next to Scootaloo's bed.