The rain had lessened greatly by the time Twilight and Scootaloo reached the castle. No longer was it the downpour that made things difficult to see with lightning that shook the ground. Now it was more like a light drizzle against their coats. Twilight was thankful for this change since it made it much easier for her to find her way back to the castle. That and because Scootaloo was laying on her back, curled up into a ball.
For a moment, Twilight glanced back at the filly to see that her eyes were closed. Twilight could only imagine what it must have been like for her, lost in the storm like that and probably scared out of her mind. It must have left her drained, both physically and emotionally, because shortly after Twilight found her the filly began to nod off. Remembering what she had read from several books, the alicorn knew that the best thing she could do was to let her own body heat keep the filly warm as they made their way back to the castle.
She did, however, wish things were moving a bit faster. For some reason, she could feel herself becoming a bit lightheaded and dizzy. She tried to use her magic to teleport them back home only to have the spell fizzle out. Twilight could have used her wings to fly back except she wasn’t confident in her skills with a sleeping filly on her back. So that meant she had to do things the long way.
But now here they were at the castle entrance. Twilight could feel her lips moving to smile as she once again tried to use her magic to open the gates. Her head began to throb as she channeled her magic this time before fizzling out once again, much to her annoyance. Sighing in defeat, Twilight pushed the door open as hard as she could. As she did so, she found it odd that she was getting this much resistance. She had seen her friends opening these doors all the time without and difficulty. So why was it that it was taking all of her strength to move it several inches at a time?
With the door finally open, Twilight moved indoors. Before she could turn around to close the door, she spotted both Spike and the nurse rushing down a hall towards them. Both, the alicorn noticed, where looking at them with wide eyes.
“Twilight!” cried Spike as he ran over to her and hugged her leg. “You were gone so long that I thought I’d have to go looking for you! Or maybe even send a letter to Princess Celestia asking for a search party!”
“I’m,” began Twilight but stopped to cough several times. “I’m fine. And I found Scootaloo.” Twilight turned to look at the nurse while Spike moved to close the door. “Do you think she’ll be alright?”
Twilight watched as the nurse moved over to her and pressed a hoof against the filly’s head. “Her head’s a tad warm,” said the nurse before removing her hoof and looking at Twilight. “Normally, I’d suggest taking her back to the hospital. But I think we should keep the poor dear out of the cold and let her get some rest. If she’s not feeling any better in the morning, please bring her to us as quickly as you can. Also…are you feeling alright princess?”
“Hmm?” went Twilight, somewhat startled by this question. It was then that she noticed that the nurse was looking more than a little concerned as she stared at Twilight. Before the purple alicorn could say anything more the nurse had brought her hoof to Twilight’s forehead. The moment it made contact the nurse’s eyes widened in shock while pulling her hoof away quickly as though she thought a snake might strike her from Twilight’s mane.
“Princess,” gasped the nurse. “You’re burning up!”
“I thought she looked a little bit redder in the face,” said Spike as he appeared in Twilight’s vision. For a moment, she thought she saw him shoot a nasty look at Scootaloo. Twilight was about to say something when he looked back at her with concern written all over his face. “Let’s get you dried off and in bed.”
The next thing she knew, Twilight was being ushered up the stairs by both Spike and the nurse. With each step Twilight took, she could feel herself get a little weaker as well as a bit more disoriented. The world around her was turning fast enough for her to misplace several of her steps. If it wasn’t for the firm holds of the nurse and Spike, Twilight was sure that she would have slipped and fallen with Scootaloo in tow.
Soon the events before her began to blur. Twilight was vaguely aware that the nurse had noticed several cuts on her body. She was sure that the nurse was asking questions about them to which Twilight did her best to answer. Then, with a suddenness that was very alarming to the poor mare, Twilight found herself in the bathroom with just Spike who was drying her off. The princess asked where the nurse and Scootaloo were which seemed to alarm her dragon assistant. As he continued to dry her off he told her that nurse had taken Scootaloo to her room. Her eyelids became heavy while he spoke and she could feel her body becoming heavier. The next thing she knew was that she was cleaned off and in bed with an ice pack resting under her horn. She tried to speak again, but her voice refused to work this time. All she could do was look at her trusted assistant until sleep overtook her.
-x-
Scootaloo tossed about as she felt the light of the sun touch her face, refusing to wake up. The lure of sleep right now was just so intoxicating that she would welcome eternal night if it meant getting to sleep longer. It felt, however, that with each passing minute the sun was rising faster and brighter in order to rip her away from her comfort so that she could begin her day.
Slowly, Scootaloo opened her eyes as she surrendered to the call of day. As she settled into a sitting position she was, however, met with confusion. Why was she in her room in Twilight’s castle instead of the hospital’s room or on the road like she had planned? As she sat there the events of the previous night began to return to her. Scootaloo began to remember being out alone in the storm with nopony to help her until, like the one camping trip, Rainbow Dash saved her life. She remembered the talk they shared followed by seeing Twilight searching for her in the rain.
Once again, Scootaloo felt guilt wash over her as if she were back in the rain. Slowly, she pushed aside the covers before sliding out of the bed Twilight had provided her with. Gritting her teeth with this realization, Scootaloo began to walk around the room with her ears flat against her skull and head held low. Now the shame and guilt she had felt was made ten times worse as she was surrounded by the acts of kindness that were given to her.
Scootaloo stopped before looking over at the door. She knew that somewhere beyond that door was Twilight a well as the scolding of a lifetime. As much as Scootaloo wanted to wait here in order to put it off as long as ponily possible, maybe even using that time to work on her homework so she could get the tiniest bit on Twilight’s good side, she knew that wasn’t what she should do. Rainbow Dash had told her that she needed to talk with her sister. Heck, even if Rainbow Dash hadn’t said it Scootaloo knew it was the right thing to do. The longer she waited, the worse it would be for both of them.
So after taking a deep breath, Scootaloo made her way to the door. As she opened it Scootaloo was surprised to see that the door hadn’t been locked. Nor was there a spell in place to keep her in. It was odd, given how she had run out twice already, that Twilight would trust her not to do it a third time.
For a moment, Scootaloo just stared at the door as a frightening thought entered her head. What if Twilight no longer cared? What if, after last night, she had finally given up on Scootaloo? That she no longer cared if she ran away or not. If this had happened yesterday, it wouldn’t have given the filly pause for concern. Most likely she would have taken it as a sign to continue doing what she had been doing or even leaving when the weather was better. If this was true, did it mean there was no chance that she’d be able to make up with Twilight? Had she pushed away her family before ever getting the chance to be a family?
Scootaloo didn’t know how long she stood there, staring at the doorway with the same sense of foreboding as if it lead to a den of timberwolves. Eventually she summoned all of her courage and stepped out into the hall. As she walked, she kept telling herself that she was a brave filly and wouldn’t let herself give in to her fears. That Twilight wouldn’t do something like that. She went after her during the storm, same as Rainbow Dash. There was no way she would have brought her back here and then just not care. This had to be a sign of trust or something.
…Right?
Soon enough Scootaloo had made her way down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. She figured that it would be the best place to start. Judging by the scent in the air Spike was at the very least there hard at work making everypony’s breakfast. The chances were good that Twilight would be there and, if she wasn’t, she could just ask the dragon if he knew.
As she entered the kitchen, Scootaloo looked about to see that the only other individual there was Spike. Said dragon was standing on a large stool in front of the stove with a wooden spoon in his claw. As the door closed behind her Spike looked up from the pot he had been stirring in surprise which quickly morphed into outright hate. So much so that Scootaloo actually took a step backwards in surprise. Seconds passed in silence before Spike snorted flames out of his nose and then turned back to his breakfast duty.
“What do you want?” he asked coldly without looking at her. “If it's breakfast you’re fending for yourself.”
“Ah, ok?” said Scootaloo who was slightly shocked by this treatment. “Actually, I was kind of hoping you knew where Twilight was?”
“In bed,” snapped Spike as he roughly reached for a bowl. His claws trembled as he began to pour what looked like porridge into the bowl while gritting his teeth the entire time. Once it had several scoopfuls in it, Spike all but slammed it onto the counter before speaking to her again. “She’s not feeling well so don’t bother her.”
“Not well?” echoed Scootaloo dumbly as she eyed Spike savagely slice up an apple. “You mean like she’s sick or-”
“Of course she’s sick!” yelled Spike, flinging whatever was left of the apple across the room. Frightened, Scootaloo stood there with her mouth hanging open as Spike jumped down from his stool to march towards her. “She was out in that storm, running around in a panic looking for YOU! Maybe it was the cold or maybe that cut she got became infected or maybe it was both. I don’t know! All I know is that she was burning up by the time she got back.”
“Spike,” Scootaloo managed to say, her voice cracking up a little as she did. The filly had never imagined something like this could have happened. Briefly, she wondered what might have happened if she had gone the right way in that storm and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help look for her. Would Twilight have continued to look for her in that weather until she collapsed, being left there in the rain until morning? The thought caused her eyes to moisten.
Slowly, she began to wonder how else her actions could have harmed those she cared about. What if Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle had found out somehow that Scootaloo had run away as well? They might have gone out into that storm looking for her. They could have also gotten sick. Or perhaps something worse could have happened to them. One horrifying example that came to mind was that mud puddle. They could have gotten stuck in it the same way she had before Rainbow Dash saved her. Or they could have fallen down Ghastly Gorge!
Spike, meanwhile, snorted green flames from his nostrils again before turning around to get Twilight’s breakfast. After grabbing it roughly, the dragon turned towards the door while giving Scootaloo the nastiest look he could muster as he stormed out of the kitchen. Scootaloo remained where she was as she heard the door open and close behind her.
Leaving her all alone.