//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - She's Out There; Promises Promises // Story: The Scoota Finale // by thedarktome //------------------------------// The scorching heat on the streets of Manehattan that was not blocked by Manehattan's skyscrapers was beating down onto the back of Babs Seed as she walked determinedly down the sidewalk with Gabby right beside her. Three days after Scootaloo was admitted to the home with Bright Snow, the two were back on the stone sidewalk. Somehow Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had went off the radar. They didn't know anything about what had happened with Sweetie Belle's suicide attempt. And that she nearly succeeded. They decided to continue the search without them later on during those few months. They both had a feeling she was in Manehattan. But they just didn't know where. So they decided to go to the local hospitals. Including the small centers. The first one they went to was the West End. They walked in and asked if they had admitted a young pegasus filly by the name of Scootaloo. And that they were her friends who were looking for her. The nurse of course said no. They then went to the North End and ended up with the exact same result. Now they were walking into the East End, which was a very long walk and Gabby didn't feel like flying in the Sun's exposed rays. They walked past the sliding doors and into the marble floored lobby, listening to the machines and whatnot of the conversing ponies working and walking past. Some were being admitted into the hospital while others were working. Cleaning up, sitting at the desks, and talking to other patients. Either way, they were headed to the nurses desk. Babs reached it first and jumped up, trying to grab the ledge of it with her small size. Gabby was about to laugh but held her tongue. "Why don't you just get on my back?" She asked instead. Then knelt down and offered her that space. "Oh...right." Babs quickly scampered on Gabby's back and got comfortable before she rose up again. Allowing her to see the top of it and the nurse behind it. The Unicorn nurse in question quickly looked up from her work after spotting direct movement in the corner of her eye and smiled at the two. "Hello," she greeted kindly. "How can I help you?" "We're looking for a pony," Gabby responded worriedly. "By the name of Scootaloo." The nurse nodded and asked another question. "Okay. Do you know what room she's in?" "No, we're lookin' for her," Babs clarified. "We know she's somewhere in Manehattan gravely injured and we want to see her." The nurse nodded and pulled up bunch of folders from a compartment in the desk with her magic. "Okay. How old is she?" Gabby looked up and muttered to herself, thinking out loud. "She's around eleven now." "If she's here then she would be on the ninth floor of the hospital in the children's unit. Do you know the nature of the injury?" "She slipped into a river and was carried downstream into a filter." The nurse was frozen with a face full of shock. Did this filly just say filter? "Well... Well then," she stammered, finally getting her wits back. "If she survived that, then she would be in the intensive care unit down here, and then moved upstairs. Do you know when the accident occured?" "A few months ago." "Then she would be upstairs by this point. We can go check. Follow me please." She stood up from behind the desk and made her way towards the elevators on the side, followed closely by an anxious Gabby and Babs. They waited for the elevator to lower down from the fifteenth floor and quickly got inside, headed to the ninth floor. "Most of the foals here would be running around at this time of day," the nurse added. "So watch your hooves and claws." The door opened up a few seconds later, revealing the brightly lit unit of the foals' floor. They walked out and made their way towards the nurses station, busy with other ponies and nurses getting things ready for their shift. "Doctor?" The nurse called out. Doctor Sore Health looked up from his conversation with one of the nurses and nodded to her. He then said something to the nurse in front of him then quickly made his way over to her. Nurse Goldhoof was looking at something on the board and taking some notes down nearby while they were talking. "These two are looking for a friend named Scootaloo who had suffered an accident." "Okay," he responded slowly. "Well I don't recall a foal by the name of Scootaloo on this floor." Babs sighed and nodded. "Do you know what they looked like? And are you family or friends?" "We're friends," Gabby answered. "She's a pegasus filly with purple hair and orange coat." Everyone around them, besides the foals stopped what they were doing and looked straight at the two of them with wide eyes, freaking out Babs a little. "Did you say... An orange pegasus?" One of the nurses, Goldhoof asked tentatively. She calmly approached them from across the hall. She was looking at a clipboard when she heard the description, immediately ripping her attention away from the document. "Er....yeah," Babs responded slowly, nodding her head. "She's orange, purple mane and tail, sort of active all the time." "Magenta," they all said. "Yeah. That's the color." "No, no," Goldhoof responded. "There was a filly that was administered here a few months ago that we found in a extremely bad condition in Manehattan Park. Really bad. We called her Magenta Streak, because she couldn't remember her name." Babs took note of that. A filly that fit their description, but didn't remember her name. Very important. "Did she wash up on the park?" Gabby asked excitedly. Doctor Sore Health nodded quickly. "Yes," he responded. "Due to regulation and laws, we can't tell you much about her unless you're family. But she was recently discharged." "So she WAS here!" Babs responded enthusiastically. "And still alive!" "Er...I guess so. But she's still healing even while out and is more than likely going through rehabilitation right now." "Do you know where she is?!" Gabby asked quickly. "We need to see her!" "Sorry, but due to rules and regulations, we're not allowed to tell you. Privacy laws. However—" "That's okay!" Gabby interrupted. "We can find her! Come on Babs, we got a Cutie Mark Crusader to save!" She quickly turned back with Babs' hooves wrapped around her neck and quickly made her way back to the elevator. Goldhoof and the doctor shared a look when they stepped inside and quickly closed the doors. Scootaloo was alive. But was now missing. The others had to definitely learn about this. Apple Bloom was currently walking through the Apple Orchards pulling a cart with her sister, picking up the apples that Applejack was bucking out of the trees and had fallen on the ground. She wasn't exactly strong enough to buck the trees, but she was strong enough to pull the cart and pick up the apples. So she was doing just that. The Cutie Mark Crusaders was over, so she claimed. Applejack didn't believe that. Nor did any other pony in Ponyville. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. That was their life. Being a Cutie Mark Crusader was everything to Applebloom. Sighing, Applejack attempted at conversation. "Apple Bloom—" "No," she interrupted. She picked up another apple and tossed it into the bucket that was inside of the cart before turning to her sister. "Don't even try tah' change up my mind, Applejack. I told ya'. The Cutie Mark Crusaders is over. We all agreed to drop it." Applejack sighed and turned to look down to her. "Apple Bloom, I don't believe for a moment that your society is gone," she responded. "Nor does anypony else in Ponyville. That was your life." "That died with everything else." She picked up another apple and tossed it in the cart, although a little more aggressively. "Everything else went downhill the second we laughed. Everypony in town laughed. Then Scootaloo left us. And went through those filters. The second everyone heard that loud and painful scream... At that moment... The fate for the Cutie Mark Crusaders was sealed. The second Sweetie Belle wrapped that noose around her neck, I knew right then and there that if we ever went back down that path, that another one of us is going down that same river. And straight through those filters." She grabbed another apple and tossed it into the cart. "But that doesn't mean—" "APPLEJACK, IT'S OVER!" Applebloom yelled, frustrated with her sister's persistence. She whirled around and yelled, "Even if Scootaloo's alive, she'll never forgive us! And she'll never be our friends again! Let alone return to Ponyville! Just drop it!" She grabbed hold of the cart and quickly pulled it to another area, missing the shouts of her name from the air. "APPLEBLOOM!!" Gabby yelled as the two came back down from a landing. Applebloom's ears twitched, but she didn't turn back around. "APPLEBLOOM!! WAIT!!" She groaned and turned back around, impatience clearly in her eyes. "WHAT??!!" She yelled, startling the two. "WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT?!!" "She's alive!" Babs yelled, quickly trotting towards her. Applebloom immediately calmed down and gave them a confused look. As well as Applejack who trotted over to listen. Gabby stopped in front of Applebloom, gasping for air. "We...went to all of the hospitals and searched all over the city," she explained tiredly. "At first we were just looking for you guys, but since you weren't around we just started searching the city. Then we went to the hospitals. Including the small ones." "West End and North End haven't seen her," Babs said, taking over. "So we went to East End. A nurse took us up to the floor and told one of the doctors that we were looking for her. We told him that we were looking for an orange Pegasus with purple hair and everyone just like froze. Then they were like a filly with that exact description was admitted to the hospital. And that they washed up on Manehattan Park in an extremely bad condition. They had been at the hospital but were recently discharged. Scootaloo's alive." Applebloom's mouth was hanging wide open with wide eyes, stumped at this revelation. "She's....alive? WHERE IS SHE?!" "I don't know, they wouldn't tell us. But she is alive and out there somewhere." "Well we gotta look for her!" Applebloom dropped the cart and quickly made her way towards the entrance of the farm, leaving Applejack confused. What the hay just happened? ~TSF~ Sweetie Belle was standing between her parents in the doorway to her sister's service room. All eyes watched Rarity finish up the gemmed choker that she had made custom for Sweetie Belle, so she could hide that nasty scar. It was a solid black color and had a small purple gem at the front of it. Her parents were nearby, watching the two interact. Sweetie Belle's voice had been affected more than slightly, but not deeply by the attempt in Manehattan. It was more of a scratchy and rough vocal by this point. It would give ponies the wrong vibe if she were to talk to them in a bad neighborhood. "Finished!" Rarity sung out loud. She unhooked the choker from the sewing machine and turned around to face her sister on the floor by her hooves. "Here you are Sweetie. Hold still." She stretched the choker in with her magic and looped it over Sweetie Belle's head, then settled it down on her neck comfortably. She adjusted it so the gem shone bright on the front and then let it go, allowing it to grab hold of Sweetie's neck. "There. I'll have to make some more for you in the future, but for now that would have to do." "Thanks Rarity," Sweetie responded, although downhearted. Rarity could clearly see the pain in her eyes, which seemed lifeless to her. Her voice was the most noticeable though. It was all rough and full of air more so than anything else. You would have to be quiet to hear her. The doctor did say that the muscles would swell in the throat over time and that the real results of the choking would kick in. This must be it. "You're welcome dear. Would you like anything before you go back out?" Sweetie shook her head slowly. "Okay. Well—" The front door of the boutique suddenly burst open, startling everyone inside. Applebloom quickly ran in with a face full of urgency, trotting straight up to Sweetie Belle, gasping her words out. "Gabby...Babs...hospital...there..." Sweetie Belle plugged a hoof into her mouth. "Deep breaths, Applebloom," she whispered, then took her hoof back. Her voice couldn't go high anymore. Applebloom nodded, taking deep breaths while Gabby and Babs strode in. "Alright. So—" "She's alive!" Gabby yelled, making them all jump again. "Manehattan East End had her for a while, then discharged her." "What?!" Sweetie croaked, confusing Babs and Gabby. Why was she so quiet? "What do you mean?" "Er....w-we uh....I'm sorry but why are you so quiet, it's very unnerving." Applebloom groaned and tapped Gabby's leg, motioning with her hoof to get her to continue. "Anyway, Scootaloo, just like we suspected, had washed up in Manehattan park in a bad condition." "According to all of those doctors and nurses on the pediatric hospital floor," Babs added. "It must've been really bad. They said they had received a filly there that was bad off and had kept her in. The nurse there said they called her Magenta because she couldn't remember her name. But that she was definitely there and discharged recently, but they couldn't give us any information beyond that. An orange Pegasus with Magenta hair." "So Scootaloo is still alive?!" Rarity asked in disbelief. "She survived it?!" "Apparently," Babs responded. "But we don't know where she is! They wouldn't tell us!" "They're not supposed to," Cookie added. "I don't think it'd be right for us to go out and just search for her either. Ask the Princess about this, maybe she could give you some answers and suggestions." That saturday, the institution was currently bustling with hooves running back and forth through the halls, playing, talking, and watching TV. But for Magenta, that just meant be cooped up in your room healing. Her back, hooves, stomach, definitely her flanks, and so much more were hurting if she moved. She wondered why they didn't let her stay in the hospital until one of the Matrons informed her that they couldn't keep her there for too long because of health bills, whatever that was. Moving too much was like someone was... Burning her. Just like metal when it's outside in the sun for too long and you touch it. Bright was in there with her to keep her company. But it seemed more like it was the other way around since she was doing most of the talking. She was sitting at the desk coloring something with a marker in her mouth. "I'm supposed to be going back to school next week," she informed Magenta without taking her eyes off of her work. "But I don't want to leave you alone." "I'll be fine, Bright," Magenta argued from the bed. "It's just a few more months and I'll be back up to full speed... Whatever speed I was before that is." "Yeah, I guess," she responded unenthusiastically. She sighed and spat out the marker. Then looked out the window in front of the desk at the garden between them and the other side of the wing. "It's a nice day out." "You should go play," Magenta responded. She shuffled around to change position from her side to her stomach with kind purple-gray eyes on Bright. "You don't need to be cooped up inside with me. You can move and fly. I can't do neither. One at this moment, and the other...forever." Magenta sighed and lowered her head into the pillow in front of her. Bright looked over and sighed. "Hey," she whispered, grabbing her attention. Magenta glanced up at her smiling face. "You know what I do when I'm sad?" "What?" "I listen to music!" She yelled. Then literally jumped out of her chair and flew around in a small circle. "I turn on the radio and I dance!" She landed on the carpet and did a little demonstration with her hooves. Magenta chuckled at her playfulness when she stopped and pointed a hoof at her. "You should try it!" "That's really sweet, Bright. But You're forgetting. I can't move yet. Well, I can. But not enough to do what you just did." She squinted her eyes at her. "What exactly was that exactly?" "Oh," she replied shyly, then began scuffing her hoof against the ground. "It's just a little thing I made up. B-But you can do something else." "I like it." Bright widened her eyes and looked back up at Magenta in surprise. "You can do your little dance if you want, I don't mind. I'd rather see you dance than color in a book all day. No...er...." "Offense?" "Yeah. No offense, But it's more..." "Interesting?" "Uh huh," Magenta agreed, nodding eagerly. "It's really interesting. I can't wait until I learn vocabulary. Not to mention move again." She shifted around again, although tentatively so her muscles could heal. "Where did you go to school?" "Manehattan Elementary School!" She cheered. "It's fun and I get to do what I want!" Magenta got confused. "But it's a school. Unless I'm wrong, there are rules and—" "Not for me!" Bright interrupted. She started walking in a circle with her head held high proudly. "I do what I want!" "Uh huh," Magenta responded with far less enthusiasm. "Whatever you say, sister." Bright stopped and smiled at Magenta while waving her off with a hoof. "Oh you'll see when you go to school." "Well I am not interested in school just yet if I have to deal with all of these scars and wounds. Not to mention what Lightning Dust told me about bullying because I'm a Flightless Pegasus. What if the teachers are the same way?" "The teachers are supposed to help you get away from the bullying," Bright clarified. She made her way over to Magenta's bed and walked up the steps to lay down next to her. She got comfortable and then looked to her with a half serious expression. "If they tease you too, you have to tell somepony about it. They are really, really, really, really, really mean to tease you because you lost your wings." "I can't help but think that they will," Magenta informed her. "From what I've seen, some ponies are mean. Like that... Filly." "The one that teased us?" Magenta nodded and answered, "Yeah, the light blue Pegasus. She was mean to you and I didn't like that." Bright sighed and nudged her lightly with a slight smirk. "You didn't have to stand up for me, you know." Magenta rolled her eyes and said, "Well I wasn't going to let my best friend, pretty much my sister, get teased like that. You and I? We're a team. And I watch out for my teammates." Bright chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, rookie." "What's a rookie?" "A new player on the team." Magenta gasped and began to protest before she paused, and glanced up at the ceiling. Then she shrugged. "Eh. I guess I am a rookie now. I probably wasn't before, but I am now." "Yeah, maybe. Now how about that music? We need a radio!" Magenta laughed and repeated, "Bright, I can't dance." "Then sing! I know you love singing! It's practically your special talent, no matter how many times you deny it." Magenta groaned and slowly shook her head. "I'm not really fond of singing in front of ponies," she excused. "I only sung to Nurse Goldhoof because she asked nicely. Other than that, I just let myself sing in... Privahmee." "Privacy." "Yeah, that. I only do that in privacy." Bright chuckled and draped a wing softly on her back. "Well then... Do it with your eyes closed," she recommended. "I think you should at least try with a small amount of ponies with your eyes closed. Then do it next with your eyes open to see what exactly makes you scared of singing in public. I'm sure we can find a difference." Magenta chuckled and said, "I can save us both the trouble of trying to figure it out. I already know why. It's because of what they'll think of me. I mean...look at me. Seriously." Bright backed away and looked at Magenta's bandaged body. "Does it look like they would pay attention to my singing looking like... Like this? Of course not." "Now that is not true! Come on, Magenta! Cheer up! Look when we first arrived here, they of course looked at you funny. I recall all of it." Three Days Earlier After the altercation with the light blue filly, the group walked outside into the hot air, beating down onto their coats as well as the other foals outside playing. Magenta was walking more slowly than anyone else there, which meant that kept Bright Snow back from her destination. Leaving her practically twitching with excitement. "Those are the swings over there!" She announced loudly amongst all the other foals around. "See? Right there? See 'em, see 'em?" Magenta looked up at where Bright was pointing at to see the five swing sets in the corner of the playground. They also had a sand pit where some colts were currently playing and digging. They looked up and spotted Magenta, then froze and just stared at her slowly moving form. She looked back at them but continued to slowly stalk forward. "Bright?" She asked, getting her friend's attention. "You're like a leaf. Just go and play, I'll be fine." "Not until you get on with me." Lightning Dust groaned and grabbed Magenta around the middle before she flew over to the swing set. Then set her down softly in front of one before she turned back to Bright Snow. "She's here now, see? Now can you please go and play? So you can stop shaking and your bones can stop rattling my ears? Please?" Bright immediately darted forward and propelled herself into one of the swings. The others walked forward and stopped in front of her as the swing circled the entire set over and over as she buzzed her wings. The new friends shared a look before they sat down and just watched her go round and round, squealing all the while. The other foals outside also stopped what they were doing and turned to the source of the squealing where Bright was continuously going round and around the swing set, so fast it was like a blur. Then they all gathered around and sat behind the friends and just watched her for a few minutes before she slowed down to a stop. She pumped her hoof into the air and yelled, "Yeah!" Before she noticed the fifty something foals outside all staring at her. "...what'd I miss?" Present Time Magenta was just staring at her excitable friend's grin with a knowing smirk. Then clarified slowly, "Bright? I'm super positive they were all staring at you." "Nope! They were definitely looking at you," she denied proudly. "Yeah... Sure." "But it's okay. They'll warm up to you," she appeased. "Just give it a shot one day. It doesn't have to be now, it doesn't have to be next week. It doesn't have to be next month, it doesn't even have to be next year! But promise me that you'll at least try and do it in public. At least once." Magenta pulled in her lips as she gazed into Bright's hopeful light blue eyes. Then sighed and coalesced, "Fine. Fine, I'll try to at least sing once in public. I promise." "Yay!" Bright bounced off the bed, nearly tossing off Magenta before trotting eagerly back towards her desk. climbing on it, she grabbed a spare sheet of paper and started writing on it with her mouth. Magenta watched her with interest before she spit out the marker and then grabbed the paper, holding it up so Magenta could see it. It read, "Magenta Promised To Sing In Public At Least Once!" Magenta chuckled and shook her head when Bright said, "This is a reminder! To remind you to keep your promise!" She flew over to her bed and pasted it onto her pillow. "Don't lose it." "I don't think I'll ever forget it, Bright. Especially this whole conversation." "YAY!"