//------------------------------// // Regret // Story: One Last Flight // by BlankBlankBlank //------------------------------// Beep, beep, beep... Scootaloo's eyes opened as she heard the sound... it was faint, but loud enough that it took her out of her deep sleep. Her eyes burned when the light hit them, she brought up a hoof to shield her eyes -or at least tried- but her hoof was stuck in something hard. Was it a cast? That made the beeping even more familiar. She was in a soft bed, but it didn't feel like hers... She was in the hospital... Now she remembered it all. She was supposed to be dead. This wasn't making any sense, the fall, her bones snapping and dislocating under her, Applebloom calling out to her. Applebloom! How did she get there? Had she seen her letter? Was it an illusion? What was happening?! None of this was adding up, clearly she was alive, but how?! She wished somepony was there to give her answers. Just then, she heard multiple voices at the door, all very familiar. "Celestia, thank you so much for coming. I... hadn't expected you to respond to our letter on such short notice." She heard Twlight's voice. "I understand this situation is of upmost urgency to Rainbow Dash. However, please understand that this spell is not permanent-" "Nurse, can I go in now?! I have to see her!" Rainbow Dash butt in almost demandingly. "Now hold on there, Rainbow, the gal might not be all well, I say we give 'er a while longer to rest up." That was definitely Applejack. "You may see her now, but please.. be careful. She's in a very fragile state." Nurse Redheart spoke quietly and calmly. Before Scootaloo could even process and break down the words, her room door burst open and a flash of rainbow light sped towards her. "GHAH!" She yelped, feeling herself be tugged into a tight embrace. This hurt a lot more than it should've, she felt as if her entire body would shatter if she wasn't released soon. "SCOOTS! IM SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" A plethora of questions were hurdled her way, so many that Rainbow Dash's speech became slurred. Scootaloo had no time to respond. "RAINBOW DASH GET OFF OF HER!" Twilight yelled worriedly as Applejack soon began to pry her off by bitting her tail and yanking her back. Finally being able to breath again, Scootaloo realized all of the Mane 6, along with Princess Celestia herself, were in the room with her. She almost couldn't believe her eyes, and would've thought to pinch herself if it weren't for the emense amount of pain she was already in. She could tell the emotions were running high in the room. Pinkie Pie's hair had flattened as she stared at Scootaloo with multiple signs of sadness, relief, confusion, but mostly worry in her eyes. Fluttershy was sitting on the side of the bed next to her, holding her hoof in hers as she gently stroked it, not speaking once. Rarity's mascara had run down her cheeks, making it obvious that she had been crying. Applejack had her hat in her hooves, looking down at the floor in comeplete silence. Twilight was talking with Celestia in whispers in the corner of the room, her face going from concern to dread. Out of them all, Rainbow Dash had the most emotion in her tone and eyes. "Scootaloo... why did you do it? You could've talked to me, you know I'm always here for you. Please.." The multicolored pegasus' eyes were filled with tears beginning to rise as she sat next to her number one fan. She was clenching her teeth hard as she stared right into her eyes, she had never seen Dash this broken. It was clear she was taking this the hardest. "I'm sorry, Rainbow..! I just.. I.." She had no words. She leaned in forward, Dash soon getting the notion and pulling her into a much more gentle hug than before. "Don't ever do that again, I thought I'd lost you forever... I was so scared.." Rainbow's voice was cracking as she made no attempt to put on a brave face. "You're like a sister, a little me, don't take that away from me.. I don't wanna lose you.." Her eyes were shut tightly as she spoke, holding herself back from squeezing the filly into the hug even more. She was so glad she was safe. Scootaloo heard Fluttershy's soft weeping from her right, she had be quietly listening in and sobbing as she nuzzled her hoof. "You know we love you, Scootaloo." The pale yellow mare spoke softly, hiccuping inbetween her words. A few more words were exchanged before the mood lightened up again. Rainbow and Scootaloo were talking like normal, catching up on the newest news on the Wonder Bolts and Rainbow Dash bragging about how she always knew she could get in. Pinkie Pie seemed to also be cheery again, her mane had puffed back up and she was standing beside Fluttershy cracking jokes. Rarity and Applejack just sat beside eachother and laughed at Pinkie Pies antics. It was then that Scootaloo spoke up, "Hey, Twlight, you haven't said much since you got here.. are you alright?" She asked, turning her head over to the corner of the room to face the Element of Magic and her ruler, Celestia. All of the others smiled and agreed with her, Celestia went silent and closed her eyes. "Is.. is something wrong?" She asked, sitting up quickly. "Don't tire yourself out there, Scootaloo. You need ta save yer strength." Applejack cut in. "Ah, please. Scoots'll be up on her hooves in no time, she's just like me! And once she's good again, I'll take her under my wing." Rainbow Dash exclaimed proudly, a smug smirk on her face. "About that..." Celestia's voice was hushed, yet loud enough that everypony heard it and looked directly at her. "What?" They all asked in union. Twilight sighed, knowing she would have to explain. "Twilight, why're you looking all beat up?" Rainbow Dash questioned. The purple bookworm stood up slowly, trotting over to the bed and not looking up once as she did so. "I.. You can't.." Her voice instantly began to break, her bangs covering her eyes as she stared straight down. Everypony had eyes on her, all sharing looks of confusion and anticipation. Celestia soon also stood up, towering over everypony in the room. Her face was serious, and all ponies in the room knew she bared bad news. "Scootaloo, you are probably wondering why you're still speaking and breathing after such a horrendous attempt on your life," She started, Scootaloo nodded. "I have cast a spell on you that would prolong your life and heal your wounds so that you may live.." She paused, "Temporarily." "What does that mean, Princess?" Rainbow Dash quickly asked, which came out as more of a demand of an answer. "It means that.. this spell will not last long, and once it wears off.. Scootaloo will be with us... no longer." She said grimly. The room became still, all was silent. They all stared at Celestia, searching for any sign of an alternative solution, anything that would fix this. When there was none, Rainbow Dash spoke up again. "That can't be true! There's nothing else that can help her at all?!" Her voice rose as panic settled in. "Unfortunately, no. I wish there was more I could do, but-" "You're not even going to TRY to help her?! You're just gonna let her die, just like that?!" She yelled, no longer caring who heard her. "Please, you must understand that my magic is limited, and even if it weren't, it is not my place to-" "Not your place to what?! SHES GOING TO DIE! BECAUSE YOU WONT HELP HER! YOU'RE THE PRINCESS, ITS YOUR JOB TO HELP YOUR SUBJECTS!" She was screaming now, her eyes filled with fury and sadness. Tears were streaming down her face. Princess Celestia had stopped responding for the moment. Twilight was bitting her tongue, teeth clenched so hard that they could've shattered. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were balling their eyes out, Rarity had fainted, and Applejack had turned away, clutching her hat tightly as she held herself back from yelling at Rainbow Dash and Celestia. ".... I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do." The goddess of the sun said finally. And that was all she said. Scootaloo had just sat there. All the crying and screaming was washed away by her thoughts. She was the only one in that entire world with a voice now. To her, she was the only one making any noise. Everything else was just a blur of nothingness. Just like she would be soon. Amoungst the cacophony, only one thought remained... I'm going to die. I'm going to die, and I don't want to. This whole time she had spent her final days thinking about how much she hated her life, how much she desperately wanted death- that she needed it. And now, she had gotten her wish. She was going to die in this hospital bed, she wasn't going to die alone like she thought she would. She wanted to take it all back, the jumping off of that cliff, the diary entry, all those days she spent alone by herself instead of going out and talking to others. All of it, wasted. She had let her depression consume not only her emotions, but her social life and her actual life. She was going to die and there was nothing she could do to stop it, she had caused this. She didn't reach out to her friends when she should've, and now.. not only was she going to pay for it, but Rainbow Dash as well. This was hurting everypony in the room, and she knew that even the princess herself was hurting at this point, knowing that she was powerless to help a child who needed her more than ever. She rose back to the surface now. She could hear all the crying, the sobbing, the hiccups, the yelling.. the pain. She saw all her friends crying. Soon, she started to sob as well, knowing this was truly the end for her. "You can't, no... Scootaloo..." Rainbow Dash couldn't even speak properly at this point, her words were now just pathetic attempts at one coherent sentence. "The spell will not last long now.. it is best that we say what we have to now before it is too late." The white Alicorn said somberly, eyes closed. Within minutes, the ponies had said their goodbyes. All mentioned how much they appreciated her and how much they'd miss her. Applejack had to drag Rarity and Pinkie Pie out of the room soon after, due to Rarity still being unconscious and Pinkie refusing to let go of Scootaloo. Fluttershy and Twilight were the last to leave with the Princess. Twilight uttered her final goodbye. "I'm sorry we couldn't do more. I enjoyed teaching you so much, we will never forget you." Twilight kept a strong voice until she left the room, a hoof around Fluttershy to support the broken down animal caretaker. Now, it was just Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash in the room. The group agreed to let her say her final goodbye and be with her for her last moments. "Scootaloo, no.." She choked, her lips trembling as she felt her heart sink. "Rainbow Dash, don't cry..." The young pegasus tried to console her idol, her voice faint as she was losing strength. "It's not fair!" She balled her eyes out, clutching the bed sheets tightly. Scootaloo wrapped her hoof in Rainbow's, her eyes half open. "You know, I always looked up to you. Even though I knew I wouldn't be able to fly like you ever, I always wanted to dream.." "Don't talk like that!" She cried, "You can.. you just haven't learned to yet.." "You never give up, Dash. That's another thing I always liked about you.. please don't be sad.. I'll never leave your side. You've taught me so much, I'm sorry I have to go out like this.." Her voice got even more thin as the machines beeping got slower and slower. "Don't be sorry, I wasn't there for you when you needed me, it's my fault!" "Don't forget about me, Dashie..." Her eyes closed as the machine stopped beeping. "No, no, no... Scootaloo?" She whispered, tugging her hoof slightly. No response. "S-Scootaloo? Scootaloo!" She nugged her arm a little harder, the orange filly was limp. "SCOOTALOO, PLEASE! WAKE UP!" She yelled, shaking her lifeless body with force as her throat began to burn. "PLEASE DONT LEAVE ME! SCOOTALOO!" She was screaming into her chest, banging her hoof against the bed. This was the worst pain imaginable, even worse than all those times she'd landed herself in the hospital due to flight injuries. If she had been there sooner, if she had checked up on her more.. she could've prevented this. She couldn't believe it. Scootaloo was dead, she was gone forever. Her favorite little filly, who she had loved dearly.. she was gone. Forever. In that moment, Rainbow Dash just rested her head on Scootaloo's chest and sobbed endlessly, crying and praying for her to come back, to not leave her like this. I was too late...