Scootaloo sat in her bedroom with a dull, expressionless look on her face. She sat on her bed with her scooter, trying to replace the wheel that had been broken for the past several days. However, with all her thoughts focusing on Sweetie Belle and the events that had transpired, she hadn’t found the time or energy to actually work on it. Even throughout the storm, the unicorn filly was the only thing that she could think about. As an attempt to try and clear her mind from the recent events and feelings that she was going through, she decided to work on her broken scooter, hoping it would take her mind off of things for a while.
She let out a sigh as she slowly continued to turn the nut that held the wheel in place with a socket wrench. As she turned the tool, she tried her best to focus on what she was doing. As a result, she managed to put herself on some sort of “autopilot,” not really thinking about anything, but just doing what she was doing.
After several moments of turning, Scootaloo let out another sigh as she looked out the window. Ever since the storm began, ever since she and Sweetie Belle had their scuffle in the clubhouse, her only thoughts were on what had happened and how she felt about her. She recalled what she had said before, that she was going to apologize to the unicorn filly the next time that she saw her. However, she also recalled that she had wanted to tell her that she felt the same way about her. The only problem was that she didn’t know if she even felt the same way about her. Should she accept her friend’s love for her and give Sweetie Belle her love in return? Or, should she accept Sweetie’s love and just ignore it completely, friend-zoning her and telling her that they just weren’t meant to be?
Since her mind had wondered again, she practically jumped out of her fur when the nut finally came loose and the wheel popped off. Her heart racing and a startled look on her face, Scootaloo took the wheel and got ready to put the replacement one on. However, before she could get the new wheel, her eye caught a glimpse at the one in her hoof. The moment it did, she let out a frustrated groan and face-hoofed.
“Wrong wheel,” she muttered, as she began putting the wheel back on. “Come on, Scootaloo, get it together! Just focus on this...nothing else, just this!”
With an annoyed look on her face, she began to put the wheel back on the scooter, mentally swearing to herself that she wasn’t going to let her mind wander anymore. Try as she might, she just couldn’t shake the thoughts of Sweetie Belle out of her mind. Every time Scootaloo tried to put her focus on the task before her, her mind always seemed to shift back to the events, and the inevitable choice that she was going to have to make. Annoyed at herself for being in this situation, she groaned out loud, dropped the socket wrench, and lied flat on her bed; at this point, focusing on anything but the unicorn filly seemed impossible.
“What am I going to do?” she asked herself as she stared at the ceiling again, “I’m never going to be alright until I talk to her! Why did this have to happen now? Why did this have to happen at all?”
Knowing that she couldn’t answer any of the questions she had asked, she sighed softly and closed her eyes. It wasn’t her fault that this happened, nor was it Sweetie Belle’s. However, that didn’t justify anything; it may not have been either of their faults and playing this “blame game” wasn’t going to help. She needed to tell her friend how she felt, one way or another.
Eventually, she sat up and said, “Maybe my mind will be much more cleared after I eat something.”
She got off her bed and began making her way to the kitchen for a light snack. However, she didn’t even leave the room when something outside caught her attention. From the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar white figure walking through town, heading towards the outskirts of Ponyville. Scootaloo turned her head and looked out the window at the figure. Immediately, her eyes widened and her heart began to race as she recognized what, or rather who, it was.
“Sweetie Belle?” she asked aloud, as she watched the unicorn filly walking across her house, some distance away. She would have ducked in cover, trying to hide herself from her friend, but, by the looks of the unicorn filly, she didn’t appear to be paying attention to her or her house. In fact, it almost appeared like she was trying to avoid making eye contact with the house, trying to ignore it completely.
However, Scootaloo couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as she noticed something about her friend, something that seemed a little out of place. Her attention was immediately brought to her filled saddle bag that she was carrying.
“What’s with the saddle bag?” she asked herself, cocking her head to one side, “Where in Equestria are you going, Sweetie Belle?”
It was at that moment something inside of her began telling her what to do. It told her that this was the opportune moment to talk to her, to tell her how she felt about her and apologize for what she had done. She didn’t know where she was going, or if she would ever have the opportunity to see her again; no doubt Sweetie Belle was trying her best to avoid her, especially after what had happened between them.
“It’s now or never,” Scootaloo told herself, “I need to talk to her and apologize. Furthermore, I need to know where she’s going and why!”
With that, Scootaloo told her parents that she needed to head into town for a moment and that she would be right back. Then, she bolted out the door and began to follow Sweetie Belle. As she galloped down the dirt path behind her friend, something began to click in her mind. Although she needed to talk to her, the curiosity of where she was going was overcoming her, causing suspicion to course through her body.
“First, let’s see where she thinks she’s going,” she said, low enough for only her to hear. So, she stopped galloping and began to walk softly, making sure that Sweetie Belle didn’t hear her. She also decided to keep her distance from her. That way, she could see where she was going and not have to worry about being spotted or heard.
After several minutes of following her, she saw that she was heading towards the Everfree Forest, in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Is she going to see Fluttershy, or something?” she asked, as she continued to follow her, “If she is, then I’ll just have to wait for her to come out. Then, I’ll talk to her.”
However, her suspicions aroused even more when she saw her friend walking past Fluttershy’s cottage, towards the Everfree Forest’s entrance. The moment she saw that Sweetie Belle was heading towards the dark and dangerous forest, her suspicion had dissolved into fear and panic.
“Is she going into the Everfree Forest?” she asked, her heart beginning to race and her pace beginning to pick up. At this point she didn’t care if Sweetie Belle heard her or not; she had to stop her before it was too late. However, her heart began to ease down, as she saw the filly sit in front of the entrance, not making any move towards the forest itself.
“No, no, she can’t be,” she tried to reassure herself, “She wouldn’t do something like that. She’s not that crazy! She wouldn’t...she couldn’t...”
Unfortunately, her heart, as well as her pace, halted to a stop as she watched Sweetie Belle beginning to trot towards the forest, her pace slow and her head hung low. Immediately, Scootaloo began to gallop at full force towards her; she had to stop her. She had to know why she was doing this. She had to prevent her from making a huge mistake. As she ran, she began flapping her tiny wings, hoping it would give her a boost of speed and catch up to Sweetie Belle in time.
With her current speed, and the slow pace that Sweetie Belle was going, it was pretty clear that she would have caught up with her in no time. However, something in her gut was telling her that it wasn’t enough; she had to stop her in her tracks at that moment, before it was too late. Who knew what could be waiting for her within the forbidden forest that everypony feared!
With this thought in her head, she did the only thing she could do. Although she was out of breath, although her heart was racing faster than her legs and her tiny body was starting to hurt, she did what she had to do: she inhaled as much breath as she could possibly muster and called out her name, praying that it was enough to stop her.
Rarity came bursting out of the Boutique, her heart racing faster than it ever had before. Her eyes scanned the city back and forth, searching for any signs of where her sister could have gone. As she continued galloping into town, her thoughts began to blur as everything she could possibly think began rushing through her mind.
All she knew was that her sister had left, nothing more, nothing less. As a result, she didn’t know if she should be worried, upset, or even angry at her. The main cause of all these feelings being jumbled at once had come from how the filly had been acting the past few days; her secretive behavior was beginning to get to Rarity, in more ways than one.
As she galloped into Ponyville, Rarity spotted Applejack, who didn’t seem to move from the spot where she last left her. The moment the workhorse saw the white unicorn, she stood up from her haunches, a noticeably worried expression on her face.
“Rarity?” she asked, still a little confused from when she first ran off, “What’s wrong now?”
“It’s Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity, as she halted to a stop in front of the earth pony, “She’s gone, Applejack!”
“‘Gone?’” asked AJ, “What do ya mean, ‘gone?’”
“I mean she wasn’t at the Boutique! All that was left was this note from her! I don’t know what it means, but all I know is that I have to find her!”
Rarity levitated the note in front of Applejack. Because she was an earth pony, Rarity held the note while she read it. When she was done, she cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.
“No offense, sugar cube,” she said with a small smile on her face, “But ah think yer getting’ yerself all worked up over nothin’.”
“NOTHING?” Rarity shouted as her eyebrows furrowed. Startled that she had raised her voice in an un-ladylike fashion, she cleared her throat to regain her composure and asked, “What do you mean, ‘nothing?’ My sister runs off on me, not telling me where she’s going or when she’s coming back and you think it’s ‘nothing?’”
“What ah’m sayin’ is that yer lookin’ too deep into this, hun,” she said, putting a hoof on her shoulder, “Sure, she didn’t say where she was goin’ or when she was goin’ to come back, but she could have gone with her friends. Sweetie Belle’s not the type to just leave and not come back, ya know?”
Not even thinking about that, the look on Rarity’s face relaxed, just like her heart.
“Heck, she could be over at Sweet Apple Acres with the other Crusaders as we speak,” said Applejack, “Ya’ll need to stop worryin’ so much ‘bout yer sister and put a little trust in her.”
“You’re...you’re right, Applejack,” said Rarity, taking a few deep breaths, “Do forgive me for my sudden outburst. It’s just that she’s been so secretive lately that I just feel the need to know what she’s up to.”
“Ah understand, sugar,” said Applejack, “I have a sister, too, remember? But ya’ll need to let her be from time to time, give her space to breath. Ah’m sure she’ll be back before it gets too late. Now, why don’t we go over to Sugar Cube Corner for some lunch?”
Trying her best to calm her nerves, Rarity smiled and nodded. Applejack was right, she figured; Sweetie Belle had been cooped up in the Boutique for the past two days. Some time outside would be good for her.
However, she couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong, that her sister was up to something. Knowing that Applejack was right, and that Sweetie Belle was simply with her friends, she trotted next to the orange pony, praying that she was wrong and that Sweetie Belle was alright.