//------------------------------//
// Snapped and Lost 
// Story: Something is Missing 
// by Charles Spratt 
//------------------------------//

It had been a week since Pinkie had talked with Rainbow and Scootaloo, and in that time, things had appeared to return to normal between the two of them.  Or so it appeared.  In reality, neither of them fully recovered from their inner feelings.  Although Rainbow Dash no longer lost sleep over her ‘missing feeling’, it never truly left her mind.  It still pestered her, but she was able to shake it off, for the most part.  Scootaloo, on the other hand, was not so lucky.  Even though she acted perfectly fine when anypony else (especially Rainbow Dash) was nearby, on her own she often found herself in an existential crisis, unable to decide one way or the other what to do, and often spent long sleepless nights lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling as she thought about it.  On the one hand, deep down, she knew what the right choice was, but on the other hand, the thought of going back through the turmoil of her old life caused her to become petrified.  As a result, she kept everything as it was, simply because she couldn’t work up the courage to go back.
However, this decision caused her to start drowning in guilt.  This guilt of knowing what she did and was doing to Rainbow Dash kept building up inside her, until one day, during the Junior Speedsters Award Ceremony, where she finally bursted.  She had just won the gold in the Speedster 350, which was the most prestigious race that the Speedsters had to offer.  However, as she stood on the pedestal, and looked out at the crowd of faces, she didn’t see what everypony else saw.  While everypony else no doubt saw hundreds of ponies screaming her name to the heavens, she saw… something very different.  She had trouble explaining it, but it felt like she was out of place.  It felt like she had stolen someone’s spotlight.  And she knew full well why she felt that.
After the awards ceremony, Scootaloo hopped off of her pedestal and slowly walked home.  She hoped that she could have some quiet time alone on the walk, but sadly received no such luck, as the second she was out of the crowd, Rainbow Dash was right next to her congratulating her on the race.  However, everytime Rainbow said a word to her, Scootaloo felt some tears build up in her eyes.  She fought these back for as long as she could (roughly 13 words), but was simply unable to, and started crying softly.  Rainbow quickly noticed, and said, “Scoots, are you okay?”
“NO!  NO, I’M NOT OKAY, RAINBOW!!!” She yelled out as loud as she could manage.  
Rainbow jumped back in shock and said, “Whoa, no need to snap at me.  Whatever I did, I’m s…”
“No, Rainbow, you don’t get it!  This is… you… You should’ve been the one to win that, not me!!!  You need to…!!  It… I’ve been lying the whole…  AGH!!!!” Scootaloo yelled, before suddenly flying away from Rainbow Dash as quickly as she could.
“Wait!!” Rainbow yelled as she started to chase after her.  Unfortunatly for her, Scootaloo quickly flew above the clouds, making tracking her impossible.  Once Scootaloo was out of sight, Rainbow stopped and considered what to do next.  Although she wasn’t sure what Scootaloo was babbling about, she had made one thing clear: Scootaloo needed some time alone.  Rainbow decided to go home, and ask more about this once Scootaloo came back.  
…
Rainbow got home and waited for Scootaloo to return.  However, she never did.  As the seconds became minutes and the minutes became hours, Rainbow became increasingly worried.  Sure, Scootaloo wasn’t exactly an indoor kid, but she was almost never out for this long, especially after something as big as winning a race.  After 5 hours of waiting, Rainbow was practically beside herself in worry.  She wasn’t sure why Scootaloo was gone for so long, but she knew that she had to go find Scootaloo, on the double.
After a minute of searching, she discovered AppleBloom and Sweetie Belle in front of the Town Hall, waving swords at each other.  When she saw that, her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks, as her mind put together what could’ve happened.  She immediately rushed right at the duo and slammed into them, forcing them both to the ground.  She then jumped on top of them and yelled, “What are you two doing?!  Where’s…”
“Oh, hi Rainbow.  How have you been doing?” Sweetie Belle casually asked, interrupting Rainbow’s yelling.   
“How have I…?  What are you two doing?!  Why are you waving swords at one another?!  Have you…”
“These ain’t swords, Rainbow.  They’re called foils.” Interrupted Applebloom.
“I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY’RE CALLED!!  DO YOU KNOW WHERE SCOOTALOO IS OR NOT?!” Rainbow yelled at the top of her lungs.  This caused both Cutie Mark Crusaders to start to tear up.  Rainbow took the hint, and got off of them, allowing them to get back up.
“Sorry for scaring you two like that.” Rainbow said apologetically.
“It’s okay, Rainbow Dash.  We probably shouldn’t have cut you off like that.” Sweetie Belle replied.
“Anyway, is Scootaloo with you two?” Rainbow asked.  
“She was.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Tell me everything you know” Said Rainbow Dash.  AppleBloom nodded, and began to explain:
“Well, a few hours ago she flew over to us with a gold medal around her neck.  Once we saw that, we realized she must’ve won that big race she’s been training for all month.  We congratulated her for her win, but she never returned the thanks.  Instead, she just looked down and to the side, as if she felt really bad about somethin’.  Ah asked her what was up, but she didn’t say a word.  We tried to do some crusadin’ like we usually do, but at no point did she seem like she was into it.  She was constantly lookin’ down, muttering ‘this is wrong’ to herself over and over again.  Ah swear, ah’ve never heard anypony sound that down while stuffin’ piñatas in all my life!  After that flopped, she just up and ditched us!  Ah can’t believe she gave up after just one failure!” 
“Do you know where she went?”
“Well, she said that she needed to go look something up, so I’m guessing she’s at the library.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Ok then.  I just need to know one more thing.” Rainbow said.
“Shoot” said AppleBloom.
“What are you two doing with those swords?”
“We’re trying to get our cutie marks in fencing.” Sweetie answered, “And they’re called foils.”  
“Isn’t that dangerous?  Couldn’t you two get hurt doing that?”  Rainbow asked.
“If we were using sabers, then yeah.  However, these are foils.  They couldn’t hurt a foal.”  Applebloom answered.
“Well, be careful anyway.  Don’t want you two to poke each other’s eyes out.”
“Will do, Rainbow Dash.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Well, thanks for the information!” Rainbow said as she started to run for the library.
“Yer welcome, Rainbow!  Hope ya find Scootaloo!” Applebloom called out after her.
“I hope so, too” Rainbow thought to herself.

A couple minutes later, Rainbow made it to the library.  She burst through the doors and took a quick look around.  However, she didn’t see Scootaloo at the library.  She did see Twilight though, and immediately ran to her.
“Hello, Rainbow.” Twilight said casually.
“Hey Twilight.  Have you seen Scootaloo?”  Rainbow asked.
“I have.  However, she left just a minute ago.” Twilight answered.
“Where’d she head off to?”
“I don’t know.  She didn’t say.”
“Well, what was she doing while she was here?”
“Well, she ended up asking to look at a book called ‘101 Magical Places You’ve Probably Never Heard of.’  I was a bit confused, as Scootaloo never seemed like the book learning type, but I complied and gave her the book anyway.  She then spent the next hour or so reading it.” Twilight explained
“Do you know what she was looking for in that book?” 
“No.  I wasn’t paying much attention to her, as I was reading in my room, so…”
“I know.” Said a third voice from the right.  Twilight and Rainbow both turned their heads and saw Spike, holding a scroll in his right hand.
“I was down here cleaning up this level, and saw Scootaloo making a drawing of one of the maps from that book.  I asked her what she was doing, but she kept pretty vague about it, only saying that she was gonna ‘fix everything’.  She then handed me the map she drew, and asked if I could make a copy of it.  I’m no artist, but I drew a pretty decent copy of it, if I do say so myself.  She then took one copy and flew off, leaving me with this copy.”  Spike explained.
“Do you know where she’s going?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, the place she x’d, according to the book, is a place called the ‘Pool of Desire’.  Apparently, if you go about 40 miles north by northeast from here, you should end up running right into it.” Spike replied.
"40 miles?!  Why is she willing to fly 40 miles just to reach this place?!"  Rainbow yelled.
Twilight and Spike both took a step back, before Twilight said, "Rainbow, don't yell.  I get that you're confused, but there's no need to yell at us."
"Oh... um, sorry guys.  She's just been acting weird all day, and I really..." 
"Eh, it's fine Rainbow.  You don't need to explain.  We understand." Spike said, cutting Rainbow off.
“Thanks.  Anyway, can I have that map, Spike?  I really need to find her, before something bad happens.”
“Sure, Rainbow Dash.  Here you go!” Spike said as he handed the map to Rainbow Dash.
“Thanks Spike.  You’re really helping me out here.” Said Rainbow Dash.
“Eh, don’t mention it, Rainbow.  I’m happy to help.  Good luck!” Spike said.
“Thanks” Rainbow said as she rushed out of the library.  She didn’t know what Scootaloo was up to, but she did know one thing:  She had to find her.  And she was going to do that, no matter what.  At least, she hoped so.