//------------------------------// // Requiem for the Lost // Story: A Case of the Scoots // by Ephedianroyalty //------------------------------// I woke up in a cold sweat and shot into a sitting position as my eyes flew around wildly, taking in the room and its occupants. It was the second time in two days I had been in the Nurse’s Office, though the day before felt so much longer than that. I fell back against the bed, panting. I turned my head to the side, taking in the sight of Rainbow and my aunts sitting there watching me. Rainbow leaped at me, pulling me into a hug. “Squirt! You woke up!” I could have sworn I saw tears in her eyes, but I brushed off the thought, ‘cause Rainbow never cries. I looked over her shoulders at Aunty Lofty and smiled a little. “Why didn’t you tell me you got a concussion?! I would have flown you here immediately after you save Sunset!” I winced at the sharp look I got from Aunty Holiday at the mention of a concussion. Then a new thought popped into my head, and I quickly looked around. “What are you looking for, Squirt?” Rainbow was clearly confused, so I decided to enlighten her a little. “Where’s Applebloom? Did she go home already?” Shoot, that came out a lot more desperate than I wanted. I turned to get a look at Rainbow’s face and froze at her look. “I- I’m sorry, Squirt. Applejack couldn’t hold on.” Rainbow tried to pull me into a hug, trying to comfort me, but I pushed her away. “No. No! WHERE’S APPLEBLOOM!” She looked shocked for a moment, then her face turned determined. She moved to put her arms around me again, but I pushed her away, more forcefully, but this time she pushed back. After I realized in some dim part of my brain that wasn’t in shock that it wasn’t working, I escalated. I start throwing punches. “Scoots!” she yelled, trying to grab my flailing limbs. “Scootaloo! Hey, she fell! Applejack couldn’t hold on, and Applebloom fell, and AJ beat herself up for it!” No! No! I don’t want to hear it! I don’t care if Applejack regrets it! She let Bloom go! “We stopped the portals, but we lost Applebloom, and Twilight couldn’t forgive herself! Sunset’s had to stay with her to keep her from doing anything drastic!” She should feel horrible! It’s her fault! It’s all Twilight’s fault! She’s the one who started it! It was her portal that Bloom fell into! “And I couldn’t get there in time to help! I couldn’t get there, my element was being used to stop the portals! I let AJ down.” her voice softened, and I blinked a little, realizing that my eyes had teared up as I flailed. My hands slowed, and that’s just what she needed. She got a hold of my hands and looked into my teary eyes. “I failed you, and I’m so, so sorry.” A sob escaped my lips, and the tears started flowing freely. I couldn’t keep them in anymore, and I really didn’t want to. It hurt so much, and I couldn’t do anything. Rainbow pulled me into a hug, and I could feel her tears hit my head. I beat my hands weekly against her chest, and I don’t know why, but she let me. And I slowly stopped, realizing something. I couldn’t blame her. Anyone but her. Rainbow and Bloom, the two most important people in my life. And I had just lost one while the other sat in front of me, blaming herself for the loss of the other. She held me close, and I cried into her shirt. “I’m sorry, Squirt,” she said softly, “Applebloom’s gone.” My world shattered. Bloom was gone, and there was nothing anyone could do to change it. One moment, I’m talking with her, and the next, poof. I couldn’t ever see her again. Never again. I would never hear her voice cry out a new crusader cheer, never see another bad movie with her. I’d never taste anything cooked by her again, or hear her laugh at one of my stupid jokes. God, why did I make so many jokes? Why couldn’t I have just spent time with her, and listened to her? Who cares about what movie we were going to watch, or where we were going to eat? I lost so many precious seconds angry at her for little things, and I left her. I abandoned her, didn’t I? I left her all alone in the middle of that track. All because of that stupid clone! I couldn’t bear the thought of that imposter stealing her body like that. How dare she! How dare she make me leave Bloom to be comforted by a stranger? That was MY job! And I… I wasn’t there. My body went numb slowly as I processed this, and by the time I took notice, I was like a rag doll in Rainbows arms. And just like that, a tidal wave of exhaustion crashed over me, and I  had to push to get anything else out. Rainbow laid me back down on the bed, and she looked at me, and I stared back, our matching tear-stained faces blank as we gazed into each other's eyes. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled, my voice thick with tears. Rainbow gave a small smile at that and leaned down to kiss my forehead, moving my messy bangs with her hand. “I know, squirt, I know,” she whispered against my head, and then pulled back. I grabbed her hand. And she smiled wider, and I mustered up a weak one back. She squeezed my hand as my eyes slowly closed, and I was dead to the world once more. When I woke up again, Rainbow was gone, she had to go to class. Turns out I was knocked out for a day and a half. Makes me wonder why they didn’t send me to the hospital, actually… I spent the rest of that day in the office, and Redheart woke me up when Sweetie had come to collect me. Apparently, now my Aunts wanted me to come home. So now I was riding in the back of Rarity’s car, staring aimlessly out the window. “..there? Scootaloo? Darling, are you listening?” I looked over at Rarity, blinking my eyes as I tried to process her words. “I’m sorry, what?” I smiled sheepishly, and Rarity glanced at me through her rearview mirror. I saw the concern there, and I looked away. “I asked how you were holding up, Darling.” She repeated, turning her eyes back to the road. “Oh, fine,” I said noncommittally, running the front of my jacket sleeve over my nose. I had pulled down the sleeves, trying to muster up some warmth into my body from the frigid cold. Sweetie said it wasn’t that cold, but I beg to differ. I had goosebumps all over! I felt her gaze back on me again, but I ignored her, going back to staring blankly out of the window. She sighed and changed targets. “And how are you doing, Sweetie? How was your first day back at school?” Sweetie grunted, responding even less than I did, and I smiled a little at Rarity’s huff, but it quickly fell off my face as we passed Sugarcube Corner. A hundred memories flashed before my eyes: birthdays, get-togethers, parties. I even saw some of the ones from my past life. Yeah, past life. I recently found out I was someone else like Bloom was. I don’t know if it was from birth or what, but I came to this world after purchasing a scooter. Specifically, the one that got bent earlier. All I know about it is the first memory came with a headache a couple days ago after I bashed my head against my scooter. Again. “We’re here!~” Rarity’s voice trilled on the last note, and I suppressed my urge to wince. I got out of the car, mumbled a goodbye to Sweetie, and stumbled into the house. After shuffling through the house, I tossed my bag on the desk next to my barely touch computer and plopped down on my bed face first. I heard the door crack open, and I knew that Aunty Lofty was watching me. I could feel her concern in her gaze, and I turned away from the door, curling up and clenching my eyes closed. She came into the room, and stood by my bedside, grabbing the blanket and gently tucking me in like she used to when I first stayed with her and her wife while my parents went wherever they go. She leaned over and kissed my forehead before walking out of the room, softly closing the door behind her. I sigh, relaxing my body. I knew I had slept for over 48 hours already, but my body felt bone tired, and I drifted off into a fitful sleep. The next week was horrendous. I slept, ate, went to school, and did the basic things a kid in junior high did, but I was like a wraith. I hardly ate, my sleep was horrible, and I ghosted through school, not speaking to hardly anyone, and barely getting the homework in on time, not even caring about the grade. I surprised myself with actually doing it, but I guess I was trying at least a little bit to keep busy. I know most of the time I wasn’t having horrible dreams that are hard to remember, I was doing some form of homework. It wasn’t all bad though. During that time, Rumble came over constantly, and I felt a little bad for taking advantage of his heart like this. He would coach me through my math, hold me as I cried for Bloom, and he was the first one to get me to eat. Oh, did I not mention that? I couldn’t eat the first few days. It felt like I was going to barf every time I even smelled something remotely related to apples, and with the loss of Bloom so close, everyone started taking up cooking apple related treats in honor of her. Well, by everyone I mean my auntys, the Belles, and the school. Although to be fair, Granny Smith is our lunch lady, so it was pretty much apples anyways. All in all, Rumble was great. I felt bad for ditching him on the last date we had planned, even though I had been unconscious during our planned meeting. He said he spent that time sitting by my bedside, waiting for me to wake up. He’s such a sweetie. If I didn’t know I was like the worst person ever, I would totally take him, but right now I knew he deserved better. But every time I told him so, he just responded with the phrase, “but I want you.” Such a sappy, cliche thing he had going on. Girl gets hurt, guy comforts the girl, guy confesses love for the girl, they shack up, girl falls for the guy. Maybe not in that order though, I sometimes mix them up. And you know what the stupidest thing was? I think I was in love. Me, a twenty-some odd-year-old fully grown adult falling in love with a little boy barely starting to grow into a man. Ridiculous! But there was something there. Some just beginning, and I could feel excitement stirring when I thought about it. Excitement, and something else. Definitely not fear, because even when their heart is broken, cool kids don’t feel fear. I know Rainbow Dash wouldn’t, at least. I noticed somewhere around the end of Doomsweek One that the imposter was gone too. I hadn’t seen her since the Friendship Games, but it took me a week to really realize she was gone. Rumble, my eyes and ears when I was deaf and blind to the world -a.k.a. Doomsweek- said that the imposter was there the first day of school, but had disappeared by lunch. That’s why everyone was mourning Bloom, not just the ones who knew that there were two. Both were missing, and one was seen falling into another world, while the very next day the other turns up missing? So suspicious. My energy came back little by little, and I started interacting with the world again. I smiled a little bit less and stuck to myself a bit more, but I was coming back. Then the second week hit, and I started hearing voices. I would think of a joke and turn to say it, only to realize Bloom wasn’t there. I would look for Sweetie, who for some reason had distanced herself from me -I blame my week of disconnect for it- and look on as she coped a different way, choosing to bury herself in work and things to do. After over a baker’s dozen of these occasions I stopped looking for Sweetie and just rested my chin on my arms. Right around then, Bloom’s voice started sounding off in my head in response to the joke, and I would surreptitiously look around for just a hint of who had said it. I didn’t want others to think I was crazy, after all, but there was a chance it had come from outside my head, and I had to take it. Then something magical happened during the end of the second Doomsweek, ending those days for what I hoped would be a long time. I leaned against the wall of the school, trying to muster up the courage to go into the classroom for another day without her. And then I heard her voice again, busting through my willpower like a hot knife through butter. For once, though, it didn’t come in response to a thought. “Howdy, Scoots!” I looked up, a little shocked to see Bloom standing right in front of me. I looked at her for a second, feeling myself on the cusp break down, and then mentally steeled myself. “That’s just great,” I muttered, “The depression clearly wasn’t enough, and now I’m just going mad.” The vision of Bloom cocked her head to the side, a clearly confused expression on her face. “What ya mean? Ah’m right here, in front of ya, ain’t Ah?” I pushed myself up off the wall and set my face in a glare. “You’re dead, Applebloom! Dead! People don’t just walk that off, this isn’t a Disney movie!” I rubbed my eyes with my left arm, trying to stop the next wave of tears again. “I think I can safely conclude that none of this is real, and I’m just losing my mind.” I looked back, expecting something to happen, and was met with a solid Bloom impression of her ‘I don’t get paid enough for this’ patented look. “Ah wouldn’t be able to react to what ya sayin’ if I weren’t here,” I shook my head, taking another step towards her. “My brain is just making this up! I’m only hearing want I want to hear.” I felt the lie on my tongue, spitting it out like a moldy piece of bread. There’s no way for her to be back here, anyway. The kids passing by probably think I’m crazy. And then she took my hand. Honest to God touched me. She covered it with her other left one and looked into my eyes, speaking softly. “If Ah were a ghost, Ah wouldn’t be able to touch ya,” She gave me a little smirk. “Are ya convinced now, Thomas?” I had trouble finding my voice. I reached up and shakily rested my hand on her shoulder. My voice cracked as I whispered. “If you were just air, my hand would have gone right through you.” After a second, I threw myself around her, trying to hug the stuffing out of her. “I’m so glad you’re back!” my voice was muffled by her hair, and she laughed as if it tickled. “Ah’d never leave mah friends in the lurch, Scoots.” She hugged me back, then pulled away. “Now then, where’s Sweetie Belle?” I blushed a little. “I haven’t seen her; nor have I seen Pip,” I admitted. “He’s probably around though; he wouldn’t miss school for anything.” I saw her droop a little. “Thanks for that. Ah hope nobody else is too surprised though.” “Things have been a little crazy around here lately,” I thought about the weird things that had gone on, counting them off on my fingers. “Flying students, she-demons, overcompetitive students-” Applebloom cut me off. “Well, that’s funny, comin’ from you!” I felt some color run to my cheeks. “HEY! I get enough grief from liking Rumble. And don’t even mention Sweetie Belle loudly blurting out the fact I took dance as my elective!” I shivered at the memory of the embarrassment that followed. “Ah’d imagine you’d be good for that,” Applebloom began, a sly smirk crossing her face “.You’re nimble, got dainty feet, look so sweet in a dr-” “shut up!” I shouted. My face was burning in embarrassment as I looked down and scrapped my foot against the floor. “I just don’t like being seen as girly.” “Yer secret’s safe with me, partner,” the bell rang, and for the first time in a while, the world was centered again. “Great,” Bloom moaned, “Another day, another lesson with Mr. Discord.” “He is a little zany,” I admitted, and then smiled at her. “But even though the lessons may be dull and hellish, at least you don’t have to go through them alone.” “Aw, thanks Scoots,” Applebloom looked thought full for a second, before snapping her fingers. “Well, at least Anon-a-Miss didn’t strike in this world,” “Who’s anonymous? ‘Cause that’s the worst alias I’ve ever heard. I mean, seriously, ‘Anonymous?’ That just screams ‘I’m doing something suspicious’!” A dull aching sprung up, but I pushed it aside, not ready for another memory dump. After all, Bloom was alive!