Scootaloo just stared at the bloody rag, her mind racing, in an attempt to think of some sort of explanation. But what could she tell them? Should she tell them about Kyle? Or was there some way around this? Wait; maybe she could pretend that she’d never seen it before.
“Uh, what is that?” asked Scootaloo.
“Uh, it looks like a rag,” replied Applebloom.
“But what’s that red stuff on it?” asked Sweetie Belle. ‘Good, they don’t suspect me,’ thought Scootaloo. Now was the time to play this down.
“Maybe it’s ketchup,” suggested Scootaloo as she walked towards the other two crusaders. Applebloom lifted the rag to her nose and took a sniff.
“It don’t smell like ketchup,” stated Applebloom. She took another sniff. “It smells kinda’ metally.”
“Wait a second…do you think it could be…blood?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“NO!” shouted Scootaloo. Her eyes widened when she saw the other two crusaders staring at her. “Uh, I mean, why would there be a bloody rag in the clubhouse?”
“Maybe somepony got hurt, and came into the clubhouse for shelter,” suggested Applebloom.
“We should go show this to Applejack,” said Sweetie Belle.
“No, we can’t!” exclaimed Scootaloo.
“Why not,” said Applebloom in a suspicious tone, with her eyes narrowed. Scootaloo knew that she couldn’t weasel her way out of this situation. She’d worked her way into a corner, and the only way out was to come clean. Unless….
“Alright, you got me. I didn’t want you guys to worry but, well, the rag is mine.”
“What! Did something happen? Are you alright?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“No, it’s fine. You see, uh, after you guys left last night, I stayed here to practice some tricks on my scooter, when I found an injured squirrel. I uh, brought it into the clubhouse, and used that rag to soak up some of its blood, before I brought it over to Fluttershy’s.”
“Is the squirrel Ok?” asked Sweetie Belle with a worried tone.
“Yeah, she was able help the squirrel, and then she brought it over to the vets office.”
“Oh, well that’s good ta hear,” said Applebloom.
“Yeah, I was worried for a second,” said Sweetie as she sighed in relief while whipping her hoof on her forehead.
“So, what should we do to earn our cutie marks today?” asked Scootaloo in an attempt to turn the conversation away from the rag. The three crusaders sat down in a circle and set to work on thinking of ideas.
Kyle watched from the safe concealment of an apple tree to see Scootaloo’s two friends leave for their respective homes. As soon as they were out of sight, he hopped down from the branch he was resting on, and jogged over to the clubhouse, as fast as he could, given that his back still hurt. When he reached the door and opened it, he saw Scootaloo tidying up.
“Hey Scootaloo. I’m back!” Scootaloo looked up from her task to see her friend.
“Oh, hey Kyle!” Said Scootaloo with enthusiasm.
“You seem to be in a good mood today,” pointed out Kyle, as he came inside and sat down.
“Yeah! Rainbow Dash agreed to help learn how to fly!”
“Whose Rainbow Dash?” questioned the human boy.
“She’s my honorary big sister! Maybe you’ve seen her around, she’s blue with a rainbow mane and tail. She’s the most awesome and fastest Pegasus in Equestria!”
Kyle’s mind knew the mare in question. Only it didn’t bring the fondest of memories.
It was shortly after Kyle had wandered out of the Everfree forest. When he first saw the town of Ponyville, he was surprised to see such a primitive looking location. Straw roofs were not used in quite some time. He also didn’t know of any towns on the other side of the forest. He was going to turn around and head back, when he saw them. Instead of Humans coming out of the houses, he saw small-multicolored horses. What’s more, they appeared to be going about their business like humans. They were even talking!
Kyle didn’t know what was going on. So he did the only thing he could think of; he ran strait back into the forest hoping to appear back where he had come in. He walked for hours, and just saw more forest. Giving up, he turned back. Once he returned, he’d had plenty of time to think about what he saw. He couldn’t explain it, but it appeared as if he was in a new world entirely. That was the only way to explain the talking horses.
Kyle decided his best chance was to approach the horses, and hope they were friendly. He made his way toward the town, nervously looking around, and holding his hands. He made it to the edge of town, and was about to enter the town, when he heard a feminine voice scream; “Ah! Monster!” He spun around.
“Where! Where!” he looked all around for this monster, but couldn’t see anything. Then, he felt something collide with the back of his head. He turned back around, and felt the back of his head. He saw an egg yoke all over his hand. ‘An egg’? Soon, the young boy saw a group of Ponies chucking various items at him. He tried to block them with his hands, but there were too many items, going too fast. Kyle sprinted behind a building for cover, but not before hearing one of the ponies yelling; “Get the elements!”
Kyle sprinted as far away as he could from the town, heading back towards the forest. He got about halfway to his safe haven, when he had to stop for breath. His lungs burned for oxygen, and his sides ached. As he labored for breathe, bent over, and gripping his knees, he heard a voice from behind him; “Stop creature!” He turned around to see six mares, wearing golden necklaces, except the one in the front, who wore a crown.
Kyle attempted to plead them to leave him alone, but he was still gulping in air. “Get ready girls,” was the last thing he heard, before seeing the six ponies rising into the air. Their eyes glowed astral white, and a rainbow connected the gems on their accessories. Then, just as Kyle was gazing at the majesty of the scene, a rainbow shot strait at him. Instantly, his entire body felt as if it was engulfed in flames. He screamed, as loud as he could. The exertion from his lungs nearly caused him to pass out. But after a few seconds, the pain stopped.
Kyle got to his feet, and with new energy, and sprinted for the relative safety of the forest. He heard one of the ponies yell at him to stop, but he didn’t. But just as he reached the forest, he was tackled to the ground. He wrestled with the figure, and got to his back to see a blue Pegasus, with rainbow hair, pinning him down.
“You’re not going anywhere!” she yelled. Doing the only thing he could think of, he punched her right in the face. As she was stunned, he pushed her off his body, got back to his feet, and sprinted strait to the forest.
Kyle hadn’t left the forest for two days. He was two afraid that he would run into those ponies again, and they’d shoot him with rainbows again. Kyle couldn’t really say that he liked any of those ponies, especially the Rainbow one. But it was apparent that this meant a lot to Scootaloo. He couldn’t bring himself to possibly wreck this for her.
“That’s great Scootaloo!” he said with as much enthusiasm as possible. “That’s great.”