I Always Wanted to be Like You – Part 2
Scootaloo ran unlike she ever had before. Twilight warned her that she wouldn’t like what she saw, but she didn’t listen. Rainbow Dash was tough; she could keep her head in any situation. Without her… Scootaloo didn’t know what she would do.
Where do I go? I don’t want to be found… I need to think… I need to be alone… I can’t live without her! Rainbow… she thought frantically, tears streaming and being left behind in the dirt.
She was thinking of how she would live the rest of her life. Her parents had died years before. She was told that they had simply gotten lost in the wilderness and would return someday, but she knew they were gone forever.
Rainbow Dash and the Crusaders were the closest to family she had left. Without Rainbow, she simply couldn’t live.
She snapped out of her thoughts to find herself at the Crusaders’ clubhouse. Thankful that she had a place to stop, at least for a while, she made to go in.
When she neared the door, she heard a soft sniffling. Scootaloo cautiously pushed it open, tears that had been fresh but a moment ago already drying from the wind on her face. She saw a pink mass huddled in the corner.
I think I recognise her… is that… ‘Pinkie?’ she asked tentatively.
The pink pony was definitely Ponyville’s resident party-goer, but her mane had completely lost its natural frizz. It was now lying unnaturally flat against her neck. Her tail was in a similar way.
‘Don’t call me that! Call me Pinkamina. Only my friends call me Pinkie, and I don’t deserve any friends.’ She retorted.
‘Sorry Pink- a… mina…. What are you doing in my clubhouse?’
‘Hiding. After I saw Rainbow so hurt, I just wanted to be alone. Please, please tell me she’s okay!’ Pinkamina pleaded.
‘She… she’s alive,’ Scootaloo said slowly.
‘Oh…,’ said Pinkie, dejectedly. ‘Well… how bad is she?’
‘Maybe you should…’ she had been about to say “see for yourself”, but after seeing it first-hoof she couldn’t bring herself to. A mere two minutes ago she had never wanted to see anypony ever again, but now she didn’t want to be left alone. She knew, somewhere in the back of her subconscious, that if she was left alone, she would do something stupid and end up worse off than Rainbow. ‘Can I… sit with you? I need company… I-’ she couldn’t even finish her sentence. She knew if she kept talking eventually her voice would break and she would cry, and she refused to do that in front of anypony.
‘O-okay’ said Pinkamina, holding back more tears. She trotted over to Scootaloo and sat close to her.
She’s nothing but a filly in a mare’s body, thought Scootaloo. She is going to take this far worse than anypony else. They sat together for what felt like an eternity, before finally drifting into sleep next to each other.
---
‘She left her scooter,’ said Applebloom
‘Well, duh. Way to go, Captain Obvious!’ retorted Sweetie Belle.
Neither were very happy about anything at the moment. Applebloom had stopped showing emotion at all. Her movements were slow, and the normal happy twinkle of her eyes was gone, leaving them dull and saddened. Sweetie Belle was acting the opposite, showing anger and frustration at everything, and making quick, erratic movements.
‘Well, maybe we should find her. She’ll want’a be left alone, but the best thing for her right now’s somepony to talk to,’ suggested Applebloom.
‘Fine. If she thinks I’ll forgive her so easily, though, she has another thing coming! How can she just leave us? We all think highly of Rain-… of her’ said Sweetie Belle, now fighting back tears. ‘Let’s try to find Pinkie. She always knows where everypony is. I don’t know how, she just does.’
‘Well, where would she go? Ah don’t think she’d go back to Sugarcube corner if she’s in a sad mood. Nopony ever goes to happy places when they feel sad,’ said Applebloom increasingly quietly until she was barely audible, her muzzle hanging mere inched from the ground.
‘Sure, whatever. Come on, let’s take her scooter back to the clubhouse. I don’t want to have to carry around this dirty thing any longer than I have to,’ said Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle deposited the scooter on her own back and began to trot at a brisk pace toward Sweet Apple Acres. After a moment Applebloom began to trudge after her, barely keeping pace. She felt like collapsing. Just lying down and never getting up again. She caught up with Sweetie Belle and began to walk alongside her.
---
‘Oh, Rainbow…’ muttered Applejack. A sole tear ran down her muzzle and fell to the floor.
After a moment, she seemed to realise she was being closely watched by the others and leaned back from the bed. She continued watching the unconscious pony, a deep frown on her face as she tried to hold back her tears.
Fluttershy suddenly let out a great shuddering sob. ‘Oh, it’s all my fault! I should have told her not to, I could have told her it was too dangerous, but no! I can’t be assertive at all; I just let all this happen! While she was getting ready, I realised how dangerous it was and I still just watched from the sidelines. Why? Why did I have to do that? I just… I… Oh!’ she squeaked.
Everypony in the room turned to look at her. Rarity was the first to speak up. ‘Fluttershy, it’s not your fault, she wouldn’t have listened. Just be glad that you were there to help when she needed it. If you hadn’t been there, Celestia knows what could have happened.’
‘Yer a good friend, ‘Shy,’ said Applejack in a wavering voice.
‘But… But…’ She broke down into more quiet tears, burying her face in Rarity’s mane. It goes to mark just how serious the occasion was that Rarity didn’t immediately pull away from Fluttershy who was wetting and ruining her mane.
‘Hold on, y’all… Twilight, can’t you write to Celestia and ask f’r help? Ah’m sure she’d be happy to do everything she could, and do not try to tell me this ain’t an emergency!’ said Applejack, putting on a brave face.
‘Well… okay… but I’ll need to go and talk to Doctor Hoovington to find out what exactly happened. I’ll be back tomorrow with help, visiting time finishes in an hour, if I’m not mistaken’
‘Okay darling. We’ll be sure to come and get you if anything happens,’ said Rarity, only now leaning slightly away from Fluttershy (still sniffling) and trying to flick her mane to the other side of her neck.
---
Wh… where am I? This isn’t anywhere I know… why’s it so dark? Oh, my eyes are closed.
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She immediately recognised that everything was white and fluffy. She was in the clouds. Looking around, she began to recognise the landmarks as that of Cloudsdale. Looking to the far end of town, her house was clearly visible. It seemed closer than she remembered... I must just be imagining it.
She began to trot down the main street. Wait, why am I walking? She unfolded her wings and tried to fly, only to realise that she couldn’t lift off the cloud. What’s going on? Oh well, I guess I’m grounded. She looked down through the cloud to the earth a mile below. Sort of.
Hang on… why is there nopony around? She looked up to the sky. ‘Hello? Is anypony out there? Hellooo… alright, this is weird,’ she said to herself.
‘I’ll just head home,’ she said while beginning to trot towards her cloud house on the edge of Cloudsdale. After a few steps, she became aware of an extreme pain in her right foreleg. What’s going on? she thought. She looked down and noticed that her knee was bent at an odd angle then, right before her eyes, a cast appeared on it.
Wait, does that mean…? She glanced back at her wing as, it extended and bits of bandage and gauze appeared on it. She felt sick watching her perfect wing suddenly become so mangled and broken.
Something weird is going on here…
She continued limping slowly toward her house. If she needed to leave her house, surely Tank would be happy to help her. He had done so in the past, after all.
Right as she thought this, the tortoise flew towards her. Attached to his shell was the special fan Rainbow had designed to help him fly and walk on clouds.
‘Hey, Tank. Do you think you could help me get home?’ she asked.
Tank flew towards her.
He’s not stopping. ‘Tank, slow down! Any time now!’
She tried to move out the way, but suddenly realised she couldn’t move at all. She saw medical apparatus appearing all over her body and she was suddenly bound to several machines. Tank flew right through her.
‘Aahh! But… No… That’s impossible. Tank? Tank! Don’t leave me here! TANK!’
She tried to turn to see him, but couldn’t move her neck.
Out in the real world, she didn’t even twitch.
---
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had arrived at the clubhouse. They didn’t hear anything inside, so they assumed that Scootaloo wasn’t there after all.
They trotted to the door and Sweetie Belle leaned the scooter against the doorframe, then entered. Applebloom merely stopped moving mid-step, but Sweetie Belle let out a shriek when she saw the two ponies lying in the corner together.
‘Scootaloo, you scared us half to death!’ yelled Sweetie belle, before realising they were asleep. Pinkie stirred.
‘BATS! Leave me alone! Go away, baaattsss!!! Oh, it’s you, Sweetie Belle. You scared me, hahah!’ said Pinkie Pie. Her hair returned to normal and she was bouncing around them, smiling brightly. ‘What happened? Why am I here… and… oh,’ she said. Her hair suddenly deflated with the sound of a balloon being let go. She had remembered exactly why she was there and what had happened.
‘Oh… well… I think I might go and see D-D-… her… now.’ Pinkie couldn’t bring herself to say the name of her friend.
‘…Okay… I guess I should go back too. She… she’s my hero… And I just ran out like that. I can’t leave her. I’ll go, as well,’ said Scootaloo.
If anypony else were there, they would have been proud of the braveness Scootaloo was showing right then. Even Rainbow Dash herself would have been impressed.
As it were, Pinkie and Applebloom being depressed, and Sweetie Belle being angry, nopony seemed to notice how much courage it took Scootaloo to say what she just had, and they would not notice how much more difficult it would be to return to Dash’s side.
‘Well, we can’t do it now. Visiting hours are over. We have to wait until tomorrow,’ said Sweetie Belle, shooting a murderous glance at Scootaloo for running away and forcing them to leave, too.
‘Okay,’ said Applebloom, ‘maybe Applejack is still in town and can take me home.’
They left as a group to head back to town.
---
‘Ah’d better be gittin’ home soon,’ said Applejack, breaking the silence that had again settled over the group.
‘Yes. We all should. A pony needs her beauty sleep, after all,’ said Rarity.
Fluttershy let out a small sniffle and began to shuffle out of the room, followed closely by all but Applejack.
‘Applejack, are you coming?’ asked Rarity
‘Yeah Ah… Ah’ll just be a minute…’
She bent low over Rainbow Dash, filled with memories of their rime spent together. The running of the ponies last Autumn. The Iron-Pony Challenge. All of these had brought them closer and closer until, finally, something had just changed. They had become… intertwined. Wherever one went, the other was with them, spiritually or physically.
As another tear rolled down her muzzle and she gently pressed it to Rainbow Dash’s cheek. ‘Darn mask’ she muttered at the oxygen mask. ‘Ah love you Rainbow. Please don’t leave me’.
She turned and left.
---
It began to rain. It never rains in Cloudsdale! What is going on here?!
She began to get wet. Tasting the rain, she noticed it was salty. She felt her face and realised that the rain was mixing with her own tears.
Why am I crying? I have got no idea what’s going on . Suddenly a soft, caring voice could be heard. It was faint, but it was there.
‘Ah love you Rainbow. Please don’t leave me’.
Wait… was that…? ‘Applejack! Applejack help me! No, why am I being left here all alone?’
She fell to her haunches and began to cry harder as the rain stopped. She suddenly felt more alone than ever before.
---
The night came and went. Scootaloo had stayed with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. Both were equally sad. Both were unwilling to talk when greeted by the Cakes. Applebloom had found Applejack in a right state waiting outside the clinic. Even though she was pacing in circles, she didn’t seem to be watching where she was going; rather staring off into the distance where Cloudsdale was barely visible.
Sweetie Belle had walked straight back to Rarity’s Boutique. She hadn’t even been told off for returning home so late. Opalescence sensed something was wrong and gave a rare show of affection to try and cheer Sweetie up, but to no avail.
Twilight had, indeed, talked with the Doctor and found out the exact damage. It was worse than she thought. Her foreleg was more than just fractured, it was cleanly broken. She would permanently be lame, if ever she woke up. Her fragile wing bones had fractured here and there, too, and he said that she would never be speed flying again. She would be lucky to fly at all, once again, if she ever woke up. Small shrapnel had been found embedded in her lungs after a rib had snapped, but that had already been taken care of; the shards already removed and small punctures healed.
The instant Twilight returned home, Spike berated her for being so late and missing dinner. Immediately after he wished he hadn’t, as he now knew something was wrong. He had never seen Twilight this sad; not even when there was a fire in Canterlot and her favourite books had been burned. She had him write a letter to Celestia explaining what had happened and what the damage was. Spike was also in a sad mood by the time he sent the letter off and went to bed.
First thing in the morning, they all cancelled their day’s appointments, except for Applejack who had stayed up half the night doing her chores, and had headed together to the clinic to see if there was any change. The Cutie Mark Crusaders went with them and Applejack met them at the door.
Scootaloo was deep in thought the whole way to Dash’s room. This will be the first time I’ve seen her since I ran away. Oh, I hope she looks better. I need to keep calm this time. I can’t run away again, I owe that much to her. Maybe I should have brought a gift? No, what good would a gift do, she’d never use it. Don’t think that! She will get better! I’m sure of it. But even so…
Her conflicting thoughts didn’t leave her mind until the door opened. The curtain that normally blocked the bed from view was open. Dash had been moved since last night. Her bandages had been changed and she looked a bit better. Even so, all thoughts left Scootaloo’s mind and a strange calm came over her. She trotted over to Rainbow’s bed and climbed up onto a chair to see her better, then broke down.
It is impossible to explain in words the magnitude of her sadness. She simply couldn’t cry. She went limp in shock at seeing her hero in such a state and began to shake violently, then went limp again. She had fainted.
‘Uhh… maybe we should, uh, y’know… Help her?’ said Applejack, unhelpfully.
‘No’ said Twilight. ‘We should leave her alone for now.’
They began to swap stories of times spent together with Rainbow. Any laughter was dry and empty. It was still too early for any real laughter. Eventually they fell silent again and watched Rainbow and Scootaloo sleep. Applejack carefully lifted Scootaloo up and placed her at Rainbow’s flank. She began to smile slightly in her sleep.
---
Scootaloo began to dream. She appeared in Cloudsdale, just as she remembered it. She had been born there, of course, but had moved to Ponyville when she was just a filly. She barely remembered anything of Cloudsdale, as nopony would take her there lest she fall when nopony was around to help.
She was at the aerodrome. This was one of her favourite places in Cloudsdale before she moved. She noticed a short way away was Rainbow Dash. She had her cutie mark on her flank, but she still only looked like a filly. She was at the start line of the track, against two mean-looking ponies. A gunshot rang out and they all flew around the track, blurry from the intense speeds. This was a happier time. Nothing could or would ever go wrong.
As soon as it had begun, the race was already over. Scootaloo realised she had been so caught up in watching Rainbow move that she hadn’t noticed how fast they were going. Rainbow Dash came over to her. She began to speak, but the words seemed hollow and echoed, as though spoken through a long hallway.
‘Scootaloo, I know you look up to me. Those ponies over there, you see them? They’re the Junior Speedsters. I was one of them when I was your age. In fact, I basically led them. I was the fastest on the team. The coach said I was the fastest he’d ever seen. Now it’s time for you to take over. My time is past. I’m too old for the junior teams, so you need to do better. You need to go above and beyond. Train and train and maybe one day you’ll even pass me.’
‘But Rainbow Dash, nopony can do better than you!’
Her voice was suddenly much sharper, though still not perfectly clear. Rainbow Dash didn’t laugh in the slightest. If anything, her tone became even more serious. ‘Yes, they can Scootaloo. Not anypony, though. Only you. The only one who can surpass me, is you…’
‘Rainbow!’ she called out to the apparition slowly being blown away like dust in the wind.
Rainbow's voice seemed to reverberate throughout the world. ‘You can do it, kid. I know you can.’
Rainbow dash completely dispersed, much as a cloud blowing away. The rest of the dream faded and disappeared in a similar fashion.
She found herself back in the room with the real Rainbow Dash and the others. The Crusaders were sitting on the chair she had fallen unconscious on and the others were either watching her or, in Applejack’s case, staring unblinkingly at Rainbow Dash.
She looked behind her and noticed that she had been asleep next to Rainbow. As much as she wanted to stay next to her hero, something in the back of her mind told her not to. She climbed back down to the chair and sat between Applebloom and Sweetie Belle who immediately rested their heads on her neck comfortingly.
‘Did anything happen while I was out?’ she asked blankly.
‘No. I’m glad you’re okay. You had us worried there,’ said Twilight with a small, fragile smile.
‘Girls… I need to go. There’s something I need to take care of,’ said Scootaloo, excusing herself.
‘What is it? Can we help?’ asked Applebloom
‘No, I don’t think you can. This is really personal to me. I need to go.’
She left without a backwards glance and immediately headed out to retrieve her scooter from the waiting room. She had to begin training as soon as possible. She would drive her scooter at top speed to practise holding her wings straight then she would begin beating them fast enough to take off and build up her wing muscles. This was going to be a difficult path for her to follow.
For Rainbow Dash.