Chapter 4
Taking Leave
When Scootaloo woke up the next morning she made sure all of her stuff was gathered and the explosives were in place before leaving to go spend one last day with her friends. As she got on her scooter she decided that the sonic rainboom would be the last thing she did. She zoomed through town on her way to Sweet Apple Acres to see what Apple Bloom was up too today. When she arrived Applejack told her that Apple Bloom was at their clubhouse with Sweetie Belle making a card for Fluttershy. So Scootaloo went to the clubhouse to see her friends sitting on the floor with a big piece of paper and various decorations. “Hey guys what are you up to today?” She said as she entered and sat down with them.
“Hey Scootaloo, we are making a card for Fluttershy to try and cheer her up after what happened. Apparently she is so devastated that she doesn’t leave the library, and we want to make her happy again.” Sweetie Belle said looking up from the card.
“Oh okay was this all you were going to do? I wanted to do something fun today like go swimming or something.”
“Yeah we just planned to be at the library all day; we didn’t have anything else happening. Honestly though I don’t really feel like doing anything else, this week has been too crazy.” Apple Bloom said not looking up from the card.
“Oh alright then I guess I’ll just go find something else to do for a while. I had something I wanted to ask Rainbow Dash anyways, so I’ll see you later then.” Scootaloo said kind of disappointed her friends wanted to stay with Fluttershy all day. She almost wanted to yell at them that she was the one that blew up her house and chicken coop, but held back and left the clubhouse.
With no other plans now because her friends wanted to do their own thing, Scootaloo started wandering around town. With no specific destination in mind she came across Rarity walking by with supplies and Spike trailing behind her with the rest of her stuff. “Hey Rarity what are you doing right now?” not really wanting to know.
“Oh Scootaloo I didn’t see you there darling. I am taking these supplies to my shop, so I can work on making a dress to auction off to aid in the rebuilding of Fluttershy’s cottage. I’m terribly busy at the moment darling, but you can come by later to see the finished product.” Rarity said continuing down the street towards her shop. Scootaloo stopped following Rarity and continued her aimless walking wondering if she should go ask about the sonic rainboom now and then leave, since she had better else to do.
As soon as the thought ran through her head Rainbow Dash came down from the sky and landed next to her. “Hey kiddo what’s got you down? Is it what happened to Fluttershy?” the cyan pony said looking at the younger filly with sad eyes.
“No, I just wanted to hang out with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle today, but they are busy making a card for Fluttershy. I’ve been wandering around town since I talked to them because I have nothing else to do.”
“Well do you want to do anything with me? I don’t really have much going on right now, I just finished visiting Fluttershy so I’m in the same boat as you Scoots.”
“Actually I was wondering if I could watch you do a sonic rainboom, I’ve never seen you do it before and I’ve heard it was awesome.” She hoped that Dash wasn’t going to try and bail on her because this really was the last thing she had planned for the day before leaving them all behind.
Dash looked around and saw that everyone was pretty busy doing their own thing so she looked back down at Scootaloo and said, “Sure kiddo, it doesn’t really seem like anypony is paying attention, I will get a kick out of scaring them with the boom. There is a great hill you can watch it from near where Fluttershy’s house was; you will have a great view of the entire thing.” With that Dash turned and started walking towards where the hill was.
“Wait up Dash!” Scootaloo yelled as she hurried after her hero. The excitement coursed through her body because this was the one thing she absolutely wanted to see. The walk was a quiet one, Dash seemed to have something else on her mind instead of the sonic rainboom. As they walked near what used to be Fluttershy’s cottage they went around so they wouldn’t have to see the remains. Reaching the hill Scootaloo sat down at the top while Dash stretched her wings to prepare.
“You ready for this Scoots?” Dash said just before she took off into the air at an unbelievable speed. Scootaloo watched as she climbed higher and higher into the sky gaining the necessary elevation for the rainboom. Dash finally hit the peak of her flight, and hovered there for a little bit to catch her breath, and suddenly dove. Scootaloo couldn’t believe how fast Dash was moving, it was unlike anything she had seen before. Reaching a certain point just above the tree tops there was an enormous explosion of both sound and color. Dash flew back up leaving the most beautiful rainbow Scootaloo had ever seen trailing behind her.
“Thanks Dash…” Scootaloo said as she walked back down the hill not waiting for Dash to recover from the sonic rainboom. She reached the bottom and started walking home to reminisce over the good times she had in Ponyville.
***
“Scoots?” Rainbow Dash asked when she landed back on the hill. Scootaloo was nowhere to be seen, why she would leave without saying goodbye? Dash was even more troubled now than she was when they left the town square. She had noticed that Scootaloo was wearing a necklace, but she had never seen Scoots wear anything like it. It looked strangely familiar but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it.
Rainbow decided she was going to go back and see Fluttershy, maybe the girl’s card cheered her up. She flew over to the library as fast as she could go after using up so much energy on the sonic rainboom. She landed at the door and walked in to see Fluttershy and the remaining Crusaders in the main room looking at the table. Walking into the main room she saw the card the girls had made and it looked awful, but she wasn’t going to say that outright. “Hey Fluttershy are you feeling any better?” She said as she sat down next to her.
“I do, thanks to the girls and their beautiful card.” Fluttershy said with a small smile, her eyes still wet with tears. Dash smiled, her friend might just be alright, but just as she thought that a horrendous boom ripped through the air. Dash jumped quickly into the air looking around to see if everyone was alright. As she turned back towards the couch she saw the girls lying on the ground underneath Fluttershy. She thought that maybe when she heard the explosion Fluttershy decided to protect the girls so she wouldn’t lose any more friends.
Looking out the window Dash saw a plume of smoke coming up over the town from the direction of Scootaloo’s house. “Oh no…” She said as horror started to cloud her mind at the thought of what might have happened to Scoots.
“What happened? Where did that explosion come from?” Fluttershy said as she trying to stop crying and look strong in front of the girls.
“I think it came from Scootaloo’s house, I-I need to go right now, I have to see if she made it out in time.” Dash said as she bolted out the window and sped over to what was left of Scootaloo’s house. “Oh no.” she said quietly to herself again as she looked at the smoldering mess of wood and brick. This time the fire ponies were able to put out most of the fire, but could not find any sign of Scootaloo and let the rest of it burn down. Rainbow Dash started to cry at that moment because she knew Scootaloo was dead and there was nothing she could do about it.