Applejack boosted gently but quickly away from the manic fashionista towards the crystal castle, the conversation having left her thoroughly disturbed. She began to doubt to herself whether the new devices were a net benefit to their lives or not. She knew that it had made that morning's work easier, and that's all well and good, but it had kept her mare up most of the night. It was nice that it gave Rarity new avenues of commerce, but seeing that hunched and cackling creature in the boutique would haunt her mind for some while yet.
Her mediations were interrupted by her noticing a line of ponies waiting outside the crystal castle. It seemed like half of the ponies that had the jetpacks were standing in line waiting for something. This boded well, maybe Twilight had found the solution to their problem and she just hadn't gotten the news yet. She saw her sister and Sweetie Belle standing apart from their pegasus friend. This boded poorly, why weren't they shoulder to shoulder like always.
Scootaloo had the harassed, annoyed, impatient look of a hungry patron waiting for their meal at a fast food restaurant that was one second away from causing a scene. Applejack landed next to her sister and inquired, "Hey y'all, what's going on? Any news?"
Both of the younger fillies gave each other an uncomfortable look before answering. Applebloom made a stab at answering her sister. "Wayull. . . No, nawt really. Not in the deerection of." She grew quiet and leaned over to whisper in her sister's ear. "Not in getting these thangs offa are backs." Both Apple sisters flinched as Scootaloo shot them a murderous glare, Applejack only now seeing how bloodshot and haggard the small pegasus eyes were. She glanced back to her sister who bobbed her head to the side signaling they should speak in soliloquy.
The elder sister boosted gently into the air, and began to glide further away, until she noticed her sister was using her hooves rather than the jetpack. "Somethin wrong shu. . ." She cut herself off when she noticed the hungry stare the small orange pegasus was giving her.
Applebloom silently signaled she should remain quiet until they were out of range. The orange earth pony landed next to her sister and hissed, "What had gotten into that gal?"
The younger sister sighed hard and gave a concerned glance towards her friend who had gone back to glaring at the door to the crystal castle. "AJ, she's never been able to flah til yesterdee, so it ain't surprisin that she's a mahght attached to these here mo sheens, but. . ." She sighed again. "But Ah think she's gone just a wee bit overboard. She wouldn't land the whole tahme we was hanging out, n when she ran outta fuel she made me n Sweetie Belle give er are's!" She gave a pleading look up into her sister's eyes. "Ah don't wanna be a stingy hog er nuthin sis, but Ah think Scoots over there mahght be going just lahke Rarity."
Applejack stared in shock at the hungrily waiting pegasus and her heart sank in her chest. The question is whether this new technology was a benefit or a curse was now leaning decidedly into the negative. All assembled flinched when the door finally cracked open and a very tired looking Starlight Glimmer appeared in the doorway. She had to yawn before giving a weak greeting. "Sorry everypony, big castle, hard to hear whether or not anypony's actually knocking or not." She punctuated her excuse with another cavernous yawn.
Trixie raised a hoof to speak but She was interrupted by a very grouchy pegasus. "MORE FUEL!" Starlight flinched back in shock at the volume and intensity of the demand. She attempted to respond, but the impatient filly could tell even without having to hear what she had to say wasn't getting her any closer to being back in the air. "Our jetpacks are out of fuel! We need more! Where's Twilight?!" Scootaloo snarled, all but literally foaming at the mouth.
The overwhelmed unicorn wasn't psychologically prepared to handle this confrontation, so she buckled and simply opened the door. Scootaloo pounced into the castle like a hungry predator, and the rest filed in slowly, trying to keep their distance from the disconcerting filly. Starlight led the small herd to the lab, a task made more difficult by Scootaloo darting in front of her at every doorway, and she called out, "Uhm, Twilight, we've got a situation. . ."
Everypony in the herd, even Scootaloo, had to gawk at the sheer size of the chalkboard Twilight was levitating herself in front of, each craning their necks to see the very top corner in the large vaulted room. Applejack cringed when she saw her friend. Twilight looked worse than anypony else she'd seen today. Her mane was in disarray, her eyes were both glazed with mental and physical exhaustion, and yet still slightly manic with mental exertion.
The alicorn snapped back in her dry exasperated cracked tone, "YES STARLIGHT! I KNOW! Gallopger's equation on animating the inanimate isn't compatible with Starswirl's theory of the soul, and." She gasped in horror when she noticed half the ponies she'd shackled to her latest experiment gone awry all staring back at her. She teleported down to Starlight and seized her muzzle. "What are they doing here?!" She hissed, more in fear than in reproach.
The purple unicorn took a reflexatory step back, her ears laying flat against her head with embarrassment and confusion. "Well they."
"MORE FUEL!!!" Scootaloo repeated, her patience all but expended.
That gave Twilight a moment of thunderstruck pause. "More fuel?"
Scootaloo got muzzle to muzzle with the princess and whined. "Yeah! We're all out and we need more! Now! Please!!!" She clutched at the alicorn's ankles. The small herd all nodded in less vehement agreement at the sentiment expressed by the manic pegasus.
Twilight's eyes went wide and the whole room shook as the princess accidently slipped into royal Canterlot voice. "YOU'VE BEEN USING THEM?!!!" Everypony took a step back in fear. A passed out Sunset Shimmer's head popped off a work desk, a pencil still stuck to her cheek, at the volume.
Scootaloo's mania lost its junkie edge, but she was still adamant in her desire to return to the air. "Well duh! You expect me not to fly?"
The Great and Powerful Trixie took a step forward to finally seize the spotlight. "Yes, The Great and Powerful Trixie was practicing incorporating the jetpack into her routine when suddenly it died on me." A small hum of agreement came from the ponies behind her.
"Were we not supposed to Twah?" Applejack said in concern.
The princess cast a dumbfounded glance at the expectant faces of everypony assembled. "No! Of course not!" She snapped a hoof at the giant equation on the massive chalkboard. "We're trying to get these things to STOP thinking they're a part of you! Why in Equestria would you KEEP USING THEM?!" Her pitch had risen into a cracked shout.
The orange earth pony's ears lay back in embarrassment. "Wayull, it was sure useful round the farm. N makin breakfast this mornin."
Applebloom stepped up next to her sister. "Yeah! We got the whole day's work done in two ares!"
Fluttershy took a timid half step forward and weakly added. "And I just couldn't resist letting my birds rest on the extenders. They were so tired." Again the small hum of agreement sounded.
Hearing the benefits from her labor softened the princess' overwrought mood. She sighed hard and rubbed her tired eyes with a hoof. "Girls, I'm glad these have been so helpful to you. Really, but you must not use the jetpacks ANY MORE!" Twilight levitated herself up to the center of the giant equation of arcane symbols, gesturing to a series of symbols nopony but she understood the meaning of. "These things think that they're a part of you all! We can't reinforce that bond any further. So please! Please please please! DO NOT use the jetpacks any more."
Applejack put a hoof on her tired friend's shoulder. "Alrahght Twah. Iffn y'all say we shouldn't, we."
"NO!!!" The shrill shriek cut through the air like a broken off helicopter blade. "I CAN'T GO BACK TO BEING GROUNDED AGAIN! I WON'T GO BACK!!!" She crouched on the floor like a wild animal, her eyes bloodshot and wild.
Applebloom moved forward to try to calm her panicking friend, speaking in a slightly fearful, but consoling tone. "Now Scoots, just calm down! We'll just." She was interrupted by an orange streak darting across the large room. Scootaloo's wild eyes had finally landed on what they had sought all morning, a large beaker of sparkly glowing blue fluid. With a speed none had ever seen her use before the pegasus snatched the precious fuel off of the table and emptied its contents into the tank on her back.
"No! We need that for testing!" Twilight called out impotently as by the time she had crossed the room the maniacally giggling pegasus had already zoomed out of the castle. The princess stared impotently at the fading blue and orange streak leading out of the castle and tears began to fill her eyes.
Applejack siddled over and rested a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "It's alraght Twah. We've been through rougher spots n this n you'll figgur it at lahke ya always do." She turned towards her sister and Sweetie Belle. "Y'all youngins, see iffn ya can't track down Scoots, make sure she doesn't do somethin foolish. N the rest uh us won't use the jetpacks no more. Honest. Won't we gals." A gentle murmur of agreement sounded throughout the room.
Twilight gave a single sniffle and wiped a tear away from her eye. "Thank you Applejack." Her weak smile of gratitude dropped into a sullen guilty frown. "And I'm so sorry! All of you! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! It didn't happen on any of the days of testing, and. . ."
"We know. We know Twah. Don't none uh us here blame ya." Applejack said, giving her friend a gentle squeeze.
Fluttershy siddled over and embraced her friend. "Of course not! You were just trying to help." Everypony stepped forward and joined into a group big around the guilty princess.
Twilight gave another sniffle and joined in the embrace. "Thank you girls. Thank you all! But now!" She straightened up and squared her shoulders. "We've got work to do!"