Sweetie Belle’s bed was a lot softer than Scootaloo’s. She almost sank in to the mattress as she sat down after being invited in. Sweetie Belle yawned after closing the door and plonked herself down next to her friend. “Alright Scootaloo, tell me what you want to tell me,”
“Well, you were probably told that Rainbow Dash managed to get me out of my pit eventually,” Sweetie Belle nodded. “And that she took me back to her place,”
“Yeah,”
“Well, things went really bad when I tried to go to sleep. At first I thought that the stress was doing bad things to my head but I started hearing voices. It was a stallion at first, with a gruff voice and slight croak like his throat hurt. It then changed into a Mare’s voice. It was weird because I knew that I’d heard it before but I couldn’t put my hoof on it,”
“What did they say?”
“Things like: “Don’t listen to her lies” or something like that. I went down to see Rainbow about it but it just led to further trouble and I recognised the mare in my head; it sounded like, like *sob*!”
“Sounded like whom?”
“Like APPLEBLOOM! She told me not to listen to anypony and that if I did then bad things would happen! Dash took me to the hospital then and we met a nurse. I was too nervous to tell her the really bad stuff,”
“And this was?” Sweetie Belle questioned, gingerly lifting a hoof to place on her friend’s shoulder.
“They were telling me to kill myself!” Sweetie pulled in her friend to have her sob into her white furred collar. Tears were wetting Sweetie Belle’s shoulder and ran down to her thighs where they dripped onto the sheets.
“Come on Scoots, you know that Applebloom would never say such a thing right?”
“Of course! But it’s scary because it’s constantly happening and there’s nothing that I can do about it!” Sweetie Belle stammered, trying to think of what to say. She was being bombarded by so much information at once and her brain didn’t have much time to process it so she was in a muddle about what she was going to do. She decided to say nothing and just stroked her friend’s mane. She let out a loud yawn and rubbed her tired eyes.
‘Where am I? What am I doing? I’m in a bedroom I recognise. It’s not mine. Who’s with me? Sweetie Belle? Why am I at her house?’ Scootaloo looked around, her ear aching and eyes full of fatigue. Her head rested on the heart of her friend. She felt the soft beat soothing and calming. Scootaloo’s eyes felt hot and tingly like she’d just been crying.
‘Is someone talking in a different room?’ she wondered as a voice spoke in close proximity to her. Scootaloo looked around the room. It looked exactly how she remembered it looking from when she was last there on a crusade. Her desk clock clicked from 07:02 to 07:03. From behind the venetian blinds a ray of light illuminated the sides and providing enough light to see by. She was now becoming aware of the sounds. She heard the gentle breathing and felt the rise and fall of Sweetie’s chest with her hoof. There was a hoof wrapped around her neck, resting with no pressure. Scootaloo’s back legs were sprawled over the covers and her mane was a mess.
She daintily moved the arm from her neck and sat up, leaning against the wall. Why couldn’t she remember why she was there? She Slid off the bed and began to walk towards the door. Sweetie Belle’s eyes flickered open and she rolled over to face Scootaloo.
“Wh-what happened?” she muttered through a stretch. “Oh ow, my chest really hurts.”
“I’ve no idea what happened,” Scootaloo replied.
“We were talking, and I guess we must have nodded off,”
“I guess so,”
“Do you feel any better?”
“Any better with what?”
“Are you hearing the voices?”
“If you mean the one telling me to leave the room then yes,”
“Oh god! Why can’t you just get better?” Sweetie Belle facehoofed and gave an exasperated sigh. “Look, I want to help you but I don’t know how! I need you to co-operate here. Where can I help you?”
“I don’t know what are you asking me for?”
“BECAUSE YOU’RE THE ONE WITH THE BLOODY CONDITION!” Scootaloo fell silent. “Sorry, it’s just stress,”
“I dunno, but I don’t want to go into rehab because it sounds scary,”
“I hate to break it to you Scoots but that may be the best option for you,”
“But then I wouldn’t be able to see you! Sweetie Belle you are the light of my life, the only respite in the cold, dark depths of despair! You’re the pony who truly understands me and my feelings. I love you Sweetie Belle and I don’t want to leave you. I’d be bereft and it wouldn’t help at all. I want you to understand that this is harder for me than it is for you! After all, I’m the one hearing the voices! If I have to go into rehab then I may as well do what they say and just end my life there and then!”
Sweetie Belle felt a tear run down her cheek as she was finally beginning to understand the magnitude of the problem at hoof. She looked away from the glaring eyes of Scootaloo and rubbed her arm with nerves. She didn’t know if Scootaloo had meant what she had said but even if she was exaggerating, she didn’t want to take a risk.
Scootaloo turned and slammed her hoof against the wall, fury rushing through her veins and corrupting her heart. She head-butted the door and stumbled back a few steps before tripping over the saddlebags that were precariously placed in the centre of the room. She toppled over, crashing to the ground which was followed by a scream from the white unicorn in the room. Sweetie Belle heard hoofsteps coming from downstairs and then more as they climbed the staircase. Scootaloo was completely out of it. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was faster than normal. Sweetie panicked and fell of the bed, hurting her hoof in the process. She yelled louder as an agonising ache shot up her leg.
Tears streamed down as the door to Sweetie’s room was thrown open. Rainbow Dash and Rarity stood in the doorway, shocked to see what was going on. Rainbow ran to the unconscious being and starting going through the first aid drill that she had learnt at the Wonderbolt academy while Rarity tried her best to calm her sister down. Scootaloo was completely unresponsive.
Little did the group know that Scootaloo was in pain, a terrible pain that was inescapable, trapping her in a nest of knives that constantly jabbed into her from every angle. The pain pulled her further into the darkness, away from the known world. Away from her friends. Away from her life.