The party had gone well at Vinyl's house, and for a moment there Sweetie thought she might actually get a DJ cutie mark. That was a story for another time though, as Scootaloo and a worried Applebloom approached the Carousel Boutique
"Ah'm tellin' ya Scootaloo, she's probably just sick."
"And I say it doesn't seem right, she never misses school. And I could swear that somepony has been following us around lately."
"They probably just want to make sure we aren't doin' anything crazy for cutie marks."
"It doesn't feel like that, it just feels like I'm being watched."
"Well we're here so let's just see what Sweetie's up to."
Applebloom knocked on the door to the store. After a couple minutes, the door swung open. Rarity stood there holding several pieces of cloth and needles in her telekinesis.
"Oh hello girls, terribly sorry but I'm too busy right now to chat."
"We're looking for Sweetie; she didn't meet us to walk to school this morning."
"She probably just went to school without you, now run along." The door swung closed in the fillies faces.
"But we already checked the school." Applebloom sighed; sometimes talking to Rarity was like talking to a diamond dog. They either didn't care or couldn't understand.
"Well if she were at school I would have seen her when I flew by on my way to Sweet Apple Acres."
"Nothin' we can do now, let's just go back before class starts."
"You go ahead; I'm going to take a look around from the air." Scootaloo flew away without waiting for a reply. Ever since she got done trying out the DJ equipment with Vinyl, there had been a pit in her stomach. It was the same each time; there would be a movement in the corner of her eye. When Scootaloo turned to look, the culprit was gone.
Scootaloo couldn't see anything from the sky, despite the naturally excellent vision of a pegasus. She landed at school and stood around outside waiting for Applebloom. She should have been here by now, so Scootaloo looked in the classroom window. There was still no Sweetie Belle.
"Well, if it isn't our favorite sewer rat. They'll let anypony into school these days." Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked up to Scootaloo.
"I'm not in the mood, buck off." Scootaloo didn't even turn around to acknowledge them.
"Such vulgar language from such an uncouth rat, no wonder you're still a blank flank." Silver Spoon laughed obediently at Diamond's joke.
Scootaloo spun around to face them. "I said I'm not in the mood." She advanced and stared Diamond Tiara right in the eye. "Buck. Off."
Silver Spoon did back up, but Diamond was too ignorant or snobby to notice the threatening tone of Scootaloo's voice. "Like you'd do anything, everypony knows you’re a chicken. Probably had Twilight cast a spell to help you fly so you could get adopted by Rainb—" Diamond probably had a witty joke about Dash, sewer rats, or chickens. She wasn't able to finish her sentence due to a hoof smacking her square in the jaw.
Diamond Tiara lay on the ground wondering what had just happened. The world was spinning, and no pony had ever hit her before. Spitting out some blood, she struggled to stand back up. "Now you're going to get it, when my fathe—" Silver Spoon interrupted her.
"Diamond please, just leave her alone. Her friends aren't here and I think she'll hit you again." Silver didn't dare get any closer to the pair.
"For once I'm going to agree with Silver Spoon. Get lost!" Scootaloo was still staring into her eyes when she heard the last voice she wanted to hear.
"Scootaloo! Come here right this instant!" A livid Cheerilee had walked outside after witnessing the short lived fight.
"Come on! I don't have time for this, Sweetie and Appl—" Cheerilee marched up to Scootaloo.
"My office, now!" Cheerilee moved to grab Scootaloo, as Diamond smiled at her misfortune.
Before either mare could react, Scootaloo was fifty feet in the air and climbing. It was just one of the benefits of being a pegasus. She was going to figure out why Applebloom wasn't there yet, and why Sweetie was neither sick nor there. The first place she headed was back to Rarity's.
Ignoring the formality of opening the door, Scootaloo barged right in. When Rarity didn't acknowledge her, she flew right in front of her.
"Rarity! Sweetie isn't as school and now Applebloom's missing."
Rarity nudged her out of the way. "I don't have time for any games darling; I'm falling behind on an order due this afternoon!"
"I think something happened, I just have this feeling that something is wrong."
"MMhmm." Rarity continued sewing, obviously ignoring the orange filly.
"Fine, when Sweetie doesn't come home tonight I'm telling everypony you didn't even try to look for her!" Scootaloo kicked open a window and flew outside. Something had to be wrong, aside from the elements of harmony; ponies just didn't vanish in Ponyville. If Twilight just up and vanished, it would be royal business. But for her friends to get lost?
Scootaloo landed in a crowded neighborhood far from the school to gather her thoughts. She slumped down next to some pony's porch, not even caring if they were home. The door opened without her noticing when Derpy stepped out.
"Oh Scootaloo, shouldn't you be in school? Dinky had her first day today and she should have met you there."
"Oh, I uh. . . I'm sick I didn't go today. I didn't see Dinky either when I flew by."
"Oh I hope she isn't lost. I better start my mail route early today; she could be wandering around town square for hours! Oh my dear muffin!" Derpy vanished back into the house for a moment, and then flew out with her saddlebags.
"Well this just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Three fillies don't show up to school and Diamond picking a fight. I must have just woken up on the wrong side of the cloud today." Scootaloo sighed and smashed a flower growing next to her.
"Three fillies playing hooky? I don't suppose you've seen any angel statues around town?"
Scootaloo looked over to the doorway. "What? Why would I see statues around town? I can't find my friends and I'm worried."
"Did you try going back to the school? Maybe you just missed them." Mr. Whooves sat down next to Scootaloo.
"I can't, I sorta punched a filly in the mouth."
"Oh well, I see the dilemma. What happened?"
"Sweetie was sick or something and didn't meet us for school, we went to Rarity's but she ignored us. I flew ahead of Applebloom, and then she didn't show up. And Diamond was being a Donkey's a—was being a jerk, so I tried to knock a couple teeth out. I decided to hide here, and Derpy doesn't even know where Dinky is!"
"Interesting." The Doctor was staring at something in the sky only he could see. "Four gone missing, four will see. In the forest, they will be. . ."
"Anyone ever tell you that you're a mad stallion?"
"I am a mad stallion, with a blue box. But I hardly see how that is relevant. I think you should head to Applejack's apple stand. Say hi to her and Fluttershy for me." The Doctor walked back in and closed the door.
"Maybe we should have found Dinky a different family . . . " Scootaloo flew up into the air towards town square. At least Applejack would care that Applebloom hadn't shown up to school. It didn't take her long to get there.
"Applejack!" Scootaloo landed next to her. "Oh, and hi Fluttershy." The yellow mare nodded meekly.
"Scootaloo, ya look awful worked up. What's wrong?"
"Sweetie didn't show up to school, and then Applebloom didn't either, and Dinky must have got lost . . . ugh I'm getting tired of explaining this. Fillies didn't show up to school! It's bad! I can feel it!"
"Slow down darlin', so your friends didn't show up to school. You sure they're not there no waitin' for ya?"
Scootaloo slapped a hoof to her forehead. "This is starting to piss me off."
"Eeep! Language, Scootaloo." Fluttershy somehow stared at her with both authority and shyness at the same time. Scootaloo wasn't sure if that was a command or a question.
"There you are! Applejack, grab her!" As soon as Scootaloo heard Cheerilee's voice, she was taking off through the air again.
Scootaloo was gaining altitude when she recalled an important fact. Cheerilee asked Applejack to catch her, a world class rodeo champ—Scootaloo folded her wings in and dove for the ground just as a lasso soared past where she had been a second ago. Opening her wings at the last second, she flew low through an alleyway. If Cheerilee was here, then she could check the school real quick. By the time they caught her for giving Diamond a well-deserved hoof to the mouth, she'd at least know her friends were safe.
Scootaloo was flying blind through the alleyways to stay out of sight, when she rounded a corner and flew straight into a frying pan.
"And then she hit Diamond and knocked a tooth out. Her, Applebloom, and Sweetie are all ditching school and I can't figure out what must have happened to make them so upset." Cheerilee walked down the street with Applejack and Fluttershy.
"Ah reckon we'll find out soon enough. Applebloom knows better than to play hooky, and she knows she can't hide from her sis."
Fluttershy walked along quietly, the gears in her brain turning. Most ponies assumed she was quiet only because she was shy. She also understood that you could learn far more from listening then from speaking. Fluttershy had been the only pony today to truly hear Scootaloo's words. The fear in her voice, the concern for her friends, the sense that something was just off. . .
"I uh, forgot my saddlebag, I'll meet you two at the school." Fluttershy flew off towards Dash's house.
"Fluttershy? How'd ya lose it way up there. . ." AJ and Cheerilee shared a confused glance, and continued on towards the schoolhouse.
It didn't take long for Fluttershy to find Dash. "Rainbow, I think we have a problem. Sweetie, Applebloom, and Dinky have gone missing, and I'm afraid Scootaloo is next."
The cloud Dash was on vanished as she woke up, instantly flapping her wings. "Tell me everything, Fluttershy."
Scootaloo had crashed into plenty of hard objects in her time doing stunts on a scooter and learning to fly. This felt about . . . 20% worse than all of them combined. Her ears were ringing so loud she was convinced two whistles were lodged in them. A throbbing knot on her head was flush with warmth and pain. Her vision was blurry and doubled as she blinked her eyes to see what she had run into.
"Rise and shine my little chicken." Scootaloo felt a feather ripped out of her wing, jolting her to her senses.
"Gah, where am I?" Scootaloo looked around and saw spinning wooden walls.
"You're right where you belong, under my care until I say otherwise. And you have been very naughty."
Ice gripped Scootaloo's heart. She knew that voice, and in an instant she knew who she had been seeing stalk her in the corner of her eye.