Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waited for me at the top of our tree house. I dragged myself toward them.
My chest hurt every time I tried to inhale a chunk of air. Shallow breaths were all that I could manage. Anything more than that, and I’d be squirming in pain. Obviously, nothing was broken, but I was still far from fine.
Earlier that day, we had found a mysterious hut in the forest, but that alone hadn’t been worth the sacrifice. My curiosity had made me lean forward because I had thought I’d seen somepony approach the hut. With all three of us clutching onto the same branch, it had snapped under our combined weight.
“At least we found a hut,” Scootaloo broke the silence. “That’s something…”
I sighed. If our adventure had ended without any of us getting a cutie mark, I’d still be a fairly happy filly, but the plunge had really taken a toll on me. Apple Bloom had been lucky and had managed to grab onto the stump of the branch while Scootaloo and I’d fallen through the crown of the tree.
My horn ached at the spot where I'd hit it on the way down, and I still felt pricks all over my body from the thorn-bush I’d landed on.
“I was worried it'd be a bust, but that turned out to be an awesome adventure!” Scootaloo said.
“Maybe for you...” I sighed.
“It would have been even better if we snuck closer to the hut and peeked through the planks. I wonder what went on in there...”
“No!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Grown-ups don’t like it if you disturb them when they’re doing stuff. I remember when I walked in on my brother once...”
“What was Big Mac doing?” Scootaloo cocked her head.
“If you don’t know what I mean, I don’t want to talk about it, either.” Apple Bloom’s eyes shied away.
“How in Equestria would I know what you’re talking about if you don’t tell me? You’re not making any sense.”
Usually, I tried to join in every conversation, but I couldn’t even pay attention to the chatter at the time. My mind was preoccupied with replaying the failed mission. When I had recovered from the shock of falling, I’d started hollering and crying like there was no tomorrow. Even after Apple Bloom had climbed down and had, together with Scootaloo, tried to calm me down, I’d still whimpered. Eventually, I had tired of my drama and had stepped out of the bush. That’s when we had decided to just go back to our clubhouse.
I was getting better, but I still wasn’t completely out of the hurt. My scratched red skin, under strands of hair, seemed more blueish each time I looked at it. If it were only that, I could just clench my teeth and work through the pain, but my horn was what really worried me. It pinched whenever I gathered the nerve to move forward, even when I tried to keep my head very still.
After I made a mistake of touching it with a hoof, my whole body jerked from the ache that followed. It also felt loose, but I wasn’t sure if that was actually the case. To check on it yet again, I raised a hoof and tried to wiggle my boney cone. The pain made me so giddy that the whole world seemed loose. I made another mental note not to do that again.
Apple Bloom unstrapped her saddlebag. “I wonder who lives in that hut.”
“Perhaps It’s Zecora’s holiday cottage for get-togethers.” Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever the case, there must have been a wild gathering going on inside since the whole place was shaking. Those zebras sure can party hard.”
“Or maybe there were just two, rocking each other’s world.” Apple Bloom blushed.
“What do you mean?”
“Ya know… Like the animals in the barn…”
“The animals throw parties in the barn?” Scootaloo raised both eyebrows as she looked at her. “What kind of farm are you Apple family running?”
“Oh, never mind!” Her gaze shied away. “The next time I see Zecora, I’ll ask her if she met somepony she likes. Who knows? Maybe she’s not that stiff, after all.”
I decided to quit feeling out myself. At that point, I understood the meaning of the phrase ‘bad kind of touch’. I really should have kept my forehoof on the ground where it belonged. Besides, my friends were already waiting for me at the entrance of our clubhouse. I clenched my teeth and limped toward the top of the ramp.
Apple Bloom turned to me and pointed a hoof at the big bruise on my torso. “Does it still hurt?”
I stopped in my tracks before I came within the reach of the yellow hoof. I knew she wasn’t going to touch my scratch, but the mere thought of something getting near it frightened me. Still, I wouldn’t let my bad condition get between my friend and me.
I tried nodding at her, but the pain in the base of my horn forced me to stop.
“And your horn, is it alright?” Apple Bloom pointed a foreleg to it.
I sucked some air through my teeth. After tensing my muscles, I very slowly turned my head left and right. If I were to nod at her, she could think that I was getting better, but I wasn’t even okay enough to do a proper shake. I wanted the pain to stop! Sure, the horn hurt less and less since I’d scraped it on a branch, but I still felt the blunt thumps at all times, even when I wasn’t moving it.
“Can you still use magic?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I don’t know. Just thinking about it hurts.” The edges of my mouth drifted down. “What if I’ll never be able to use magic again?”
“Hug?” she asked.
I felt a smile forming on my lips. “Yes, please!”
With her muzzle, Apple Bloom brushed through my mane and lay her head on the back of my neck. She reached out to embrace me.
I lifted a forehoof and softly rubbed on her foreleg while snuggling with my head against her mane.
When she moved closer, the hair of her coat lightly touched my scratched skin. The pain rushed through my body, but I clenched my teeth and kept my yelping at bay. Hugs are important and shouldn’t be interrupted, no matter what!
Despite some extra pain, Apple Bloom’s comforting embrace made me feel a little better. I didn’t have an urge to cry anymore, even though I had every right to let out my tears. It’s okay to cry when you’re hurt as bad as I was.
“It’s probably just a scratch.” Scootaloo downplayed my agony. “It’ll heal up in no time. You won’t even see it after a few days.” She walked into our tree house.
I nuzzled against Apple Bloom’s cheek while I slowly pulled back. I stepped with all four hooves on the planks of the balcony. “Thank you, Apple Bloom.” I smiled at her.
She returned the smile and hinted at the entrance.
Scootaloo pruned her wings inside. “What about my horn?”
“What about it? You just bumped it a little on a branch. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Scootaloo looked away and waved a wing at me in disregard.
Apple Bloom joined her inside.
“Can you please look at it.” I walked to Scootaloo and slowly bowed my head before her.
Scootaloo sighed. “You’re such a pussycat.”
I ignored her name calling and persisted, “Is it still whole?”
“Yes, Sweetie Belle, it’s perfectly—wait!” Scootaloo leaned closer and gasped.
“What is it?” I cried out, “Tell me!”
“Well, there’s a crack on the back of it”—Scootaloo waved a hoof up and down above her head—“but that could have been there since before.”
“A crack?” I gasped and limped to Apple Bloom. “Is there a crack?”
She bit her lower lip and leaned in.
I knelt before her.
“What? You don’t believe me?” Scootaloo stood on her hind legs and placed both forehooves firmly on her hips. “Why’d you even ask me about it then?”
“There really is a crack, Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom said. “But it’s super small. You couldn’t even see it from a distance.”
Scootaloo laid down near the podium and sighed.
Things were wrong, and I didn’t think slacking was the right way to fix them. The pain in my horn was the wrongest, and I wanted it gone! “It really hurts when I jerk it.” I poked at it and yelped in pain.
“Well, stop playing with it then,” she said without even glancing at me.
I pressed down my foreleg with the other to prevent myself from poking at my horn. My voice cracked when I tried to raise it. “What if it’s something serious?”
Apple Bloom put a hoof on my shoulder. “Injuries heal themselves. It’s just something that they do. And even if they wouldn’t, you could always ask Zecora for help. See?” She tapped on her front tooth with a hoof. “I drank that pink potion of hers after I chipped off my tooth, and suddenly it was as good as new.”
“Oh, I hope you’re right.” I sighed and looked out the window. Not even half of the day had passed, and my mind drifted off as if it was already bedtime. All four legs pulled me down more than they held me up. Either that or maybe there was something wrong with the gravity. I wouldn’t be surprised at the latter since Twilight told me that, given time, even the smallest of events can shatter a universe.
Apple Bloom sat down within the circle that marked our special thinking spot.
I didn’t feel like relaxing. My heart kept pounding as if it wanted to burst out. I intentionally kept my muscles tensed and at the ready. It helped my mind focus on something other than hurting.
Apple Bloom leaned her chin on a hoof while Scootaloo kept herself busy by observing the ceiling. The silence got uncomfortable. Self-pity was taking over me again. They must have already been tired of my whining. I sure was. Everything was wrong and I wanted it fixed, yet we just stood in the middle of our clubhouse, doing nothing. There wasn’t much to say. We failed. Again.
Snorting, I looked at them. “I think we're doing it wrong.”
“Doing what wrong, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom stood up.
I slowly turned back to her. “The crusading.”
Scootaloo rolled over. “What makes you say that?” After some flapping with both wings, she scrambled on all four legs.
I wasn’t sure how to put it into words. “Our ideas. They are wrong, somehow.”
Scootaloo walked around our thinking spot, looking up at the lamp above it. “Is this thing busted again?” After standing up on her hind legs and pulling the string with her mouth, she turned the light on and off repeatedly.
I looked to the side so I wouldn’t get dizzy from looking at the flashing light. “We’re doing everything we can think of, but nothing works. Everypony else in our class already got theirs and most of them weren’t even trying to get it.”
“Maybe they were just luckier,” Apple Bloom said.
I sighed. “If Twilight can be trusted—and I do trust her because she’s smart sometimes—we should already have them.” I slowly tilted my head and glanced back at my blank flank. “Ugh!” I spoke toward the floor. “Why did she and Stalin Glimmer have to mess with this universe?”
“Her name is Starlight Glimmer, and please don’t tell me you believe that mumbo jumbo about time travel.” Scootaloo snickered without taking her eyes of the flickering light.
I gazed at one of the floorboards, which was a bit raised compared to the neighboring planks. I thumped on it with a forehoof, and it slid back into place.
Scootaloo stopped playing with the lamp and dropped down on all four hooves.
Apple Bloom’s eyes fluttered open when she turned to me.
“It doesn’t even matter if that’s true or not,” I said. “If we want to get our cutie marks, we need to follow an actual plan.”
“Do you have one?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, sort of...” I’d usually just gone along with their ideas, but the last attempt had turned out really bad for me. My coat was muddy and dirty. With all the scratches, I looked as if I had been clawed by my sister’s cat Opalescence. There had to be a better way of getting cutie marks—a less painful one.
“Let’s hear your plan, then.” Apple Bloom leaned toward me.
“Our plan should be to find a plan instead of just doing the first thing that one of us thinks of,” I replied. Even if that wouldn’t work, it might, at least, keep us away from any potential hurt for some time.
“And how do you plan to find a plan?” Scootaloo glanced at the lamp again.
“I don’t know.” My train of thought didn’t go that far. All I had was a hint of an idea. I lifted the hoof that held my suggestion, so it would be harder for them to ignore it. “That’s why we should ask somepony.”
“We’ve already done that.” Scootaloo waved with a wing in disregard, almost blowing away my good suggestion. “We’ve asked Applejack, and Fluttershy, and…”
“They didn’t tell us anything useful.” Apple Bloom summed up Scootaloo's point before she finished making it.
Ignoring Apple Bloom’s interruption, Scootaloo kept talking, “… and, Rarity, and even the awesome Rainbow Dash.”
She sat down and looked up at the picture of her heroine posing in a blue furtight bodysuit. Her eyes shivered with pure adoration.
“I know, but what if we asked the wrong ponies?” That didn’t come out the way I thought it would.
Scootaloo jumped up as her purple eyes pierced me. “Rainbow Dash is not a wrong pony!”
“What I meant was, they weren’t even trying to get their cutie marks. What if they all just got lucky somehow? Maybe we should ask more ponies how they got theirs, instead of just trying to force our cutie marks all the time. If we couldn’t make them appear until now, it means we’re not doing it right.”
She faced away from me, ignoring everything I said. Her wing softly brushed across the framed picture on the wall. “You’re not a wrong pony, Rainbow Dash. You’re not.”
Maybe I was the wrong pony for not having wings like the Wonderbolt in the picture and her faithful fanfilly. Sighing, I glanced at Scootaloo’s feathery limbs. Not all of us could use those to slow down our falls. Some of us weren’t given that privilege. I didn’t really mind being a mere Unicorn most of the time, but when it came to falling from great heights, Scootaloo held an advantage over me. Despite not having much more than the primaries, she could glide just fine.
I turned to Apple Bloom and opened my mouth to get her attention. The idea was already somewhere in my mind, but to hear what it was, I had to voice it first. “We should find somepony who tried something that worked. After that, we could try their method, and we might end up with our marks. Couldn't hurt more than what we did today.” My eyes shifted from one friend to another as I smiled with open mouth. What I just said almost sounded as if it made some sense.
That plan seemed a lot safer, and I felt pretty sure it wouldn’t end up in aches, pain, and scratches, as was the case with that day’s crusade. Not to mention all the tree sap, pine needles, and leaves. I liked getting dirty just as much as the next foal, but getting covered with muck on a daily basis becomes old after a while.
“I’ll make a list of ponies to interview.” Apple Bloom stood up and slid closer an inkwell, quill, and several sheets of paper with her agile hooves.
In our clubhouse, we always kept writing equipment at the ready. If we ever had a brainstorm of ideas, we could write them all down before we forgot them.
“So, Sweetie Belle, who do you want to talk to?” She picked up a quill with her snout, dunked it in ink, and leaned over the paper.
Think big if you want to make it big. That’s what my big sis Rarity had often told me. I knew exactly what she meant by that because I did, indeed, want a big cutie mark on my flank. “We interview everypony!” I announced.
Apple Bloom's quill zigzagged from her open mouth through the air to the paper lying on the floor. Scootaloo gazed at me with raised eyebrows. She then cocked her head and cleaned an ear with a hoof.
“Every-pony?” Apple Bloom asked.
I stretched my neck up and down to imitate a nod. My horn only slightly hurt when I moved it that way.
“But that will take us forever!” Scootaloo waved both forelegs at me. “And most of the grown-ups aren’t nearly as cool as Rainbow Dash. What if I get bored?” She gasped in shock and horror after saying that last dirty word. Her body violently shook in response to the potential terror of dullness.
“It won't take forever if we get right to it!” I exclaimed.
Apple Bloom nodded.
“Fine,” sighed Scootaloo.
My lips almost formed a smile. Things were finally going my way. Stopping the crusading at that point would just make me feel sorry for myself for the rest of the day. Staying active, on the other hoof, would distract me from the hornache.
I wedged a spiral bound notebook, several quills, and two sealed inkwells into my saddlebag. I used my hooves and didn’t even attempt to cast levitation which Princess of Friendship had taught me during Twilight time sessions. It was harder that way, but at least it wasn’t as painful as charging my damaged horn could be.
Apple Bloom picked up her quill and notebook then placed them in her saddlebag along with a sealed inkwell.
Scootaloo slowly walked to our stash of writing equipment. Most of the items were leftovers from our journalism days. Just when she was about to pick up a quill, she stopped and spun around. Her saddlebag flew across the clubhouse and crashed in the farthest corner.
Apple Bloom and I raised our eyebrows as we gazed at her.
“What? I'm sure I'll remember if they say anything important.” She said with a defensive voice as if taking notes was something that only the uncool ponies did.
I turned forward and stepped out of our clubhouse. The warm spring breeze, heavy with the scent of flowers and hay, blew through my mane. Sunbeams reflected from my few patches of coat that were still fairly clean. I felt like an adventurer about to set off on a quest for exotic cultures and wondrous discoveries. Unlike with our recent hazardous mission, I felt completely safe with my latest project. I smiled and turned back to them. “Come on. Let’s do something right for a change.” Limping, I descended down the ramp.
When I reached the ground, Scootaloo gently jabbed me in a fairly healthy spot of my torso. “Sweetie Belle, where do you want to start?”
To gain some safe space, I took a step away from her. “We should storm the ponies at the edge of Ponyville and work our way through it until we get to Friendship Rainbow Kingdom Castle,” I suggested.
Scootalo snickered. “That name still gets me. Bet I coulda come up with a dozen cooler names without even trying.”
“Oh yeah?” Apple Bloom grinned. “Prove it.”
“Um… I don't wanna. They'd be too cool and Twilight would have to rename the crystal castle. After that, she’d also have to reprint all the tourist brochures and throw away the old ones. It's not worth it."
“I actually kind of like the name Rainbow Kingdom Friendship Castle.” Apple Bloom said.
“Whatever. Let’s go to the center of Ponyville where most of the ponies are,” Scootaloo countered my suggestion.
“My way will make it easier to keep track of the ponies we’ve already interviewed,” I explained as a mischievous smile snuck upon my face. “Unless you want to interview the same ponies over and over again?”
Scootaloo gave me a blank stare. “Ugh!” She shook her head. “Um, no thanks!” She turned to Apple Bloom. “Do you think we should bring some snacks with us?”
Apple Bloom's stomach grumbled.
I gave her a smug smile and turned to Scootaloo while I pointed a foreleg at Apple Bloom’s tummy. “I think that was a yes!”
Scootaloo walked back up the ramp.
I turned to Apple Bloom.
She blushed a little.
“Hug?” I asked.
She nodded and smiled.
I reached out to her with both forehooves and embraced her.
Scootaloo looked back from the top of the ramp and sighed. “Can you two stop hugging each other all the time, please! It’s getting old...”