Sweetie Belle laid alone on her couch, or better on the couch of her first apartment in Manehatten. She stared at the now white walls, into the empty closets and to the lost two packed boxes. She sighed, as she reminded String's last question.
“Do you really want, that I buck off, Sweetie?”
She had sounded so hurt so desperate, but the former unicorn just frowned crestfallen. She nodded and opened her mouth to apologize, but her ex marefriend snorted and turned away sobbing.
“B...but I'm sorry. Really really sorry.”
Sweetie shivered and sobbed too. She fought down the last picture of the sobbing mare in her mind and tried to forget String Tamers shivering last words.
If faded out right before she could hear it.
Sweetie's right front hoof touched carefully over her bandaged left back hoof and the mare flinched away from the strong pain. The splinted hoof shivered and even with the ointment on it, it hurt as hell, like a broken hoof was supposed to.
A galloping mare and directly behind her a little filly with buzzing wings ran into the room and gazed at Pinkie very worried. Scootaloo looked scared to the sobbing mare, but didn't approached her. Blue Hope on the other hoof wasn't quite so insecure and jumped closer quickly. She just stopped herself from hugging the former unicorn tight and just nuzzled her cheek.
“Are you okay, au...Sweetie?”
The filly didn't know how to address the mare and swallowed the more familiar address. But Sweetie deluded it with a fake smile and leaned her head against the little filly's. She nuzzled over her cheek with a few tickling strikes and tried to cheer up the worried filly.
Scootaloo was able to pull herself together enough to do something besides nervously drawing lines with a hoof and approached the giggling filly and the mare.
“I just did something really stupid, Blue.
I'm such a klutz sometimes.”
Sweetie spoke as gentle as she could and forced a smile back on her face. Blue didn't notice it and answered with an uncertain hug.
Scootaloo leaned closer to the mare and whispered in her ears.
“And you do want return for real?
I...had thought...”
She whispered a few more stammered words, but Sweetie just smiled and raised her head. She laid a hoof around little Blue and raised the other one to hug Scootaloo. Her expression changed into a lyrical one and she cocked her head.
“I want, if you want too, Scoots.”
This loving naming brought a hint of red back onto Scootaloo's face and the mare stepped even closer.
She answered the following gentle hug from her marefriend, or better her very special somepony with a very gently nuzzle and an almost hasty kiss. Sweetie blushed even more and closed her eyes.
“I have wished for that, since you've left Ponyville, Scootaloo.”
The other mare finished her hug quickly and flinched nervously away from Sweetie Belle's side.
“Uhm, I have to put the boxes away.
Blue you packed everything, didn't you?
Please don't forget anything.”
Scootaloo returned quickly to the hasty tone and the little filly bounced away from Sweetie Belle and squeaked.
She cocked her head and put on a puzzling expression.
“I've packed everything, Mummy.
I think?”
Scootaloo nodded and turned to the boxes. She grabbed the first one with both front hooves and lifted it slowly.
“Very good, then take them here and I'll take them into the corridor.
Please look out, that you don't forget anything.”
Blue nodded eagerly, nuzzled the smiling mare on the couch very quickly as a form of goodbye and dashed out of the room.
Scootaloo wanted to follow the little whirlwind, as Sweetie raised her head and whispered something.
“Do you really want to got back?”
Scootaloo avoided the inquiring look from Sweetie Belle. She trembled and drew circles on the ground. Finally she turned her head back to the door again and wanted to step one step closer, without any attempt to answer.
But Sweetie jumped on her hooves, felt a harsh pain, as her back hoof also moved and fell forward facing. She shut her eyes close, as the ground came closer quickly.
Two gentle hooves caught her and the familiar buzzing of wings sounded in her ears. Scootaloo had dropped the box and jumped as quickly as she could to Sweetie Belle.
At the same time her wings unfolded themselves, like they had a mind of their own and helped her to reach the small unicorn in time. The mare hovered in front of Sweetie Belle and nuzzled her shivering.
“You...you are a...”
Sweetie stopped her nervously stammering friend with a whisper and nestled gently into her chest.
“Thanks Scoots.
And look you're flying finally!”
Scootaloo started to shiver even more, landed quickly and pressed her wings very firmly against her body. She pushed Sweetie gently back on the couch and mumbled something.
“I..I didn't mean to...”
She sounded so awful nervous and desperate, that Sweetie raised both hooves quickly and hugged her.
She pushed her head gently against her chest and tried to whisper a few encouraging words.
“Please don't worry, Scoots.
It's long ago and I got over it.”
Scootaloo raised her head and laid it against the soft cheek of the smaller unicorn. She bit her lips and fought down another sob.
“I...I didn't mean to.
I...I'm so sorry, Sweetie.”
The orange mare pressed her face closer into Sweetie's shoulder and sobbed finally. The former unicorn sighed and she remembered the dreadful day.
First she remembered the wind. It played with her mane, blew over the streaks beside the horn and the eyes. She tried to brush it away, but the wind didn't let go and caught her carefully braided pigtails.
Finally it flew under her tail and blew it in the air. The unicorn blushed and sensed the second thing she remembered.
The warmth and the blending rays of the sun high above. The view was gorgeous and the light in the blue sky brought the next few things back.
The location, the Pegasus training grounds and finally the other present ponies. First she heard what they spoke.
“Come on, Squirt, stretch your wings.
You have to warm up as good as you can.”
Rainbows voice sounded clearly over her and Sweetie turned around.
The blue mare was bigger, then she remembered, the Wonderbolt uniform curved perfect on her body. She stretched her wings out as fas as she could and a few cracking sounds sounded.
Beside her stood Scootaloo in a Wonderbolt's recruits exercise uniform and tried to coordinate her lanky legs and her strangely slanting grown body. But she wasn't really able to do it, her growth spurt was way too fast for this.
She had a huge smile on the face and her eyes glowed in excitement, despite her stiff movements.
“Of course Rainbow!”
In these few words was so much joy, that it almost numbed the nerviness in Sweetie.
“Are you sure...”
Scootaloo frowned bugged, as her friend tried to emphasize her worries. She even rolled her eyes about it and pushed herself off from the ground, before Sweetie could raise a trembling hoof and touched her.
Rainbow cocked her head, grinned shortly and mumbled something, what sounded like an apology.
“Don't worry, Sweetie Belle
What could go wrong?”
This question echoed in her thoughts, as she watched both pegasi by their exercises. Scootaloo's performance by the Best Young Flyer competition was in only one week and it was time to practice it.
Of course the tricks went way more daring and cooler, every hour the pegasi flew. Finally the smaller adolescent filly glided as high as she could and dived down under the loud cheerful screams from Rainbow.
She fell faster and faster, pressed her wings firmer and firmer against her body and whooshed down to the ground. Sweetie just watched her falling and couldn't sit still much longer, so she stood up.
She stepped hesitantly closer and saw the first forming of the colourful streams and spotted the drag on Scootaloo's flittering mane. Sweetie Belle breathed faster and faster, as her friend fell deeper and deeper.
The pegasus pressed her eyes to small slits under her goggles, pressed the wings firmer against her body and tried to get faster. But then happened something.
Scootaloo spread her wings scared, as a sudden blast drew her out of the pattern. Her eyes got so huge and round, that they would already fall out of her eyes, as the wind pressed the wings back against her body.
She didn't spin, she was too fast for this and the compression was way too high. She whirled around, as the wind tightened his grip on her and lost completely the sense for above and below.
Sweetie could see, how her friend looked around in panic, but suddenly she rolled her eyes so that only the white was visible in them and her head just moved back and forth in the wind.
She had passed out midway in the swoop!
Sweetie cried out, her horn started to glow and she galloped on the training field. Rainbow dived down, high above her with stretched out hooves, dreadful wide eyes and a panic she hadn't seen on her face since or before. She dived after Scootaloo, maybe she would be able to get her before...
Scootaloo woke up finally, stretched her wings and the wind pushed her away from Rainbow. The mare couldn't alter the direction of the fall any more and had stop her scoop.
Scootaloo crashed directly into her younger friend. It was way too late to catch her with magic, too late to protect her head with the hooves and even too late to simply jump away. So Sweetie could just shut her eyes close and tried to absorb the crash by dumping down.
Something hit her head. The pain on her forehead mixed with a horrid snap, that she heard every time, when she was alone.
She lost herself into a sudden darkness and returned finally to the present time.
Sweetie Belle snuggled her cheek against Scootaloo's forehead and rubbed slowly down her face with it. She nuzzled gently over Scootaloo's tearing eyes and whispered calmly into her trembling ears.
“I know, Scoots.
And I forgive you.”
A loud sob was the only answer and Sweetie nestled her head closer on Scootaloo's cheek.
She petted gently over her mane and whispered a few more words.
“We should go home, Scoots.
Back home.”
The orange mare nodded trembling and hugged her oldest friend very gently. Or better her very special somepony.
The last box stood in the the corridor and the three Cutie Mark Crusader looked around for the last time.
Sweetie Belle sighed from the couch and nodded. Apple Bloom smiled gently and placed herself on the left side of her.
Scootaloo gazed shortly to Sweetie Belle too, put on an inquiring expression shortly and followed the other pony's lead and went on the right side.
The former unicorn cuddled first against her earthpony friend, then against the pegasus and tried to stand up. She almost tripped, but both friends laid a hoof around her, held her firmly and led her slowly out of the room.
Sweetie Belle turned around, as they arrived the door and looked into the mirror. She sighed to her reflection, forced a smile back on her face and mumbled something.
“Farewell Manehatten.”
Her reflection smiled for a moment, until it lost the smile again and Sweetie turned away. She stumbled on three legs over the threshold and her friends held her again, as she entered the corridor. A gust of wind shut the door with a bang and the sound of the hooves from three ponies faded slowly away.
Finally the lumbering sound fell silent and nothing could be heard.
For a few moments. How many moments?
Weeks, months?
In any case the door opened slowly again and a light blue light touched for the light switch.
“When you need anything, we're downstairs, the first door to the left.”
An insecure pair of green hooves stepped over the threshold into their new home.
So started a new Blues, a new Manehatten Blues.