An Adventure Sure to Leave a Mark

by Muffinmallow

Odd Happenings

Dinky awoke on top of Scootaloo. Eyes half opened, she heard rushing water. She saw a river, she did feel kind of wet. She slowly got up, "we're alive! Ha ha! I can't believe it!"

"How?" Scootaloo asked as she got up, "we plummeted who knows how many feet, and into a rushing rapid!"

"Why ae you questioning it? We're alive!"

"What point is there for me? Nopony would care if I die."

She looked at Scootaloo in annoyance. She heard a voice, "your friends are on the other side..."

Dinky looked around. She thought about the river, maybe this is what the voice is talking about. She shouted, "APPLE BLOOM!!! SWEETIE BELLE!!!" She waited a moment before she heard Apple Bloom.

"We're fine, but it sounds like yer on the other side of the river!!" She shouted.

"That's because we are!! We'll find a way to you!!"

"We?!!"

"Scootaloo!! Okay, enough shouting, we might attract an animal!!"

Scootaloo stared at Dinky, "we're going to them? How did they even get there? It's dark out. Are you gonna teleport us there?" She asked sarcastically.

"No. Are you gonna fly us to them?!" Scootaloo sat in defeat, "that's what I thought. Now get up, or I'm leaving your self-sorry flank behind."

Scootaloo got up, "fine, let's just go already." She looked at the wagon, which still had most of its baggage, "we should at least take this."

---

Apple Bloom cradled Sweetie Belle. "Ya don't have ta worry, Ah'll keep ya safe. Ah can only imagine how Applejack feels about our disappearance. Probably worse then you right now."

"I'm not afraid of the creatures of the night," she paused to get out of Apple Bloom's grip, "what if something happens to them on their way here? I don't know what I'd do if Scootaloo..." She started to tear up.

Apple Bloom cradled her again, "hey, hey, it's okay. Dinky is smart and Scootaloo is tough. Why do ya get so glassy-eyed 'bout Scootaloo?"

Sweetie stuttered, "do... do I have... to answer that?"

"Seeing as this is a common occurrence, yes!"

"Well, I have a crush on her."

"On Scootaloo?" she asked, surprised.

"Well I just met Dinky so..."

"An' how long did ya have this crush?"

"Why don't we start a fire? It's starting to get cold," Sweetie said, quick to change the subject.

"We can't do that, Ah would expect ya ta know that, seeing as ya went over the list a supplies a million times. We could try huddlin' ta keep warm."

Sweetie blushed, "you mean cuddling?!

"Not necessarily-"

"But basically!"

"Ah'm tryin' ta keep us alive, but yer bein' too much of a spas ta agree with me! Don't think of it as cuddlin', but as tryin' ta stay alive."

Sweetie Belle nodded her head, and held Apple Bloom, she held her back, "I guess this isn't bad, it's better than freezing."

---

Scootaloo and Dinky came to a way to cross the river, a fallen tree that looked sturdy enough to hold their weight. Scootaloo started to cross, "well, let's go."

"Are you nuts?! We are right over a river, what happens if one of us falls?"

"What happened to your hot shot personality?"

"Our luck ran out when we survived that fall-"

"Then we better hurry, or else something'll happen to Sweetie and Bloom!" Dinky fell silent, "Apple Bloom has always made you sound awesome, but to me, you shouldn't even be here." She turned around to cross the river.

"Wait," she stopped, "you go, I'll stay with the wagon."

"Just levitate the wagon," Scootaloo commanded.

"And you think it's that easy?!" Dinky scowled, "I'd like to see you do something useful, dodo."

Scootaloo shot her a death glare, "I'm not gonna say it again, levitate the damn wagon over the river!"

"I can't!" Dinky blurted.

Scootaloo asked aggressively, "what do you mean?!"

"I don't know how to levitate objects, I can barely turn invisible without passing out!"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and muttered, "and you thought you had the right to tell me off, skank?" She started speaking louder, "what are we gonna do with the wagon?"

Dinky sat down, "I'll stay here and make sure nothing happens, you go get them." Scootaloo crossed the log, but looked back, "turn left!" She nodded and went in the given direction.

Dinky sat in silence. That changed after a voice said, "your cape is messed up." She looked in the direction of the voice to see her mother. She got up and gave a silent hug to the apparition, "how are you dead? You feel so real." Ditzy got out of her grip and carried the wagon to the other side of the river. She put the wagon down gently and blew a kiss in Dinky's direction, "I love you too," she mumbled, about to shed a tear.

"COME ON!!!" She looked up and saw Apple Bloom about to pull the wagon, "we gotta get back to the two!!" Dinky quickly crossed the river and got to Apple Bloom. They walked back to the makeshift campsite.

A minute passed by, Dinky asked, "how'd you get there so quickly, when it's taking us longer to get back?"

"'Cause Ah ran after hearing you bein' left alone. It was a far run, but the farm life has made me a little more endurent," she looked at Dinky, "aw man, yer cloak is ruined."

A few more minutes went by, "Alright, Dinky, we should be there... by... now."

Dinky caught up to Apple Bloom, "what's... wrong..."

What they saw shocked them; Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were kissing.

---

A few minutes earlier...

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle continued huddling. Sweetie Belle looked up and pushed Apple Bloom away. "Hi Scootaloo!"

"Hey Sweetie Belle, Dinky fell back." Apple Bloom got up and ran full sprint in the direction Scootaloo came from. Scootaloo sat down next to Sweetie Belle, "why the hell were you two hugging?"

"We were huddling for survival purposes."

"Yeah, okay."

"I swear! Apple Bloom isn't my very special somepony anyway."

"Then who is?"

Sweetie Belle clopped her hooves together repeatedly, "well, she's-"

"She? Oh man, this sounds interesting."

"She is! Yes, she is lives in Ponyville, she's in Cheerilee's class, and she really is a total hottie."

Scootaloo rubbed her face, "enough with the mystery! Who is she Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie looked up at Scootaloo. She leaned over and kissed the clueless pegasus. Scootaloo froze, she had no idea what to do. Sweetie pulled back, "it's you."

Scootaloo took a step back, then ran back to the river cross, shoving Apple Bloom and Dinky out of the way. They watched her run. Dinky shook her head. Apple Bloom called for her to come back. Dinky turned over to Sweetie Belle. She tapped Apple Bloom on the shoulder and gave a point in her direction. Apple Bloom walked over to Sweetie Belle, "ya alright?"

"I'm so stupid," she said, holding back any tears she felt coming up, "what was I thinking?" She turned to Apple Bloom, "what if she doesn't want us to be friends anymore?"

"Don't be like that, Scootaloo is the type a pony who forgets that mushy love stuff. Remember that date Rainbow Da-"

"But a date Rainbow Dash went on doesn't affect Scootaloo in any real way."

"By the time she comes back, it'll be forgive and forget, it's best to leave her alone, Ah doubt anything could seriously hurt her, Ah'm a fast runner."

Dinky rummaged through the wagon, "look, I found a lantern, and a few sleeping bags!" She got the lantern out, turned it on, and laid the sleeping bags out, "I don't know about you two, but I'm getting some sleep." She got in her sleeping bag and closed her eyes.

Apple Bloom looked back at Sweetie Belle, "it'll be okay. Tomorrow, it'll be like nothin' happened," she said, while cozying up in her sleeping bag and shutting her eyes, "be sure to turn the lantern off when ya go ta bed."

Sweetie Belle got in her sleeping bag, but didn't sleep. She stared in the direction Scootaloo went in.

---

Scootaloo walked along the edge of the river, kicking in any rocks in front of her. While walking, she stepped on false ground, which gave away, causing her to fall. She let out a shriek just as she was gonna fall into the river. She stopped falling, she looked at the river she was just about to land in. She thought it was getting farther and farther. She ended up back on land, something was pulling on her tail, "alright, who's..." she looked at who her savior was to see no one, "hello?!! Somepony?!" She looked around, no one appeared, "weird." She got up and walked to their mini camp.

When she got back, she saw Sweetie Belle was wide awake. She moved with light steps and moved her sleeping bag to Sweetie, "can't sleep?"

She quickly turned over, "Scootaloo!!"

"Quiet," she looked at the sleeping fillies, "an animal might hear you." She walked over to the lantern and turned it off, then walked back to her bag. She got in it and scooted closer to Sweetie Belle.

"Wait, what are you-" She was cut off by Scootaloo wrapping a foreleg around her chest.

"I... like you too. I'm sorry for running off like that, it was just... sudden, that's all."

Sweetie Belle wrapped her forelegs around Scootaloo's shoulders, "I'm really glad we share these feelings," she felt drool land on her foreleg, "good night, Scootaloo."

---

Scootaloo's eyes shot open. She had no idea why, it's still dark. What she saw would have made her scream, but, she couldn't. She couldn't move either. She looked around, but could not escape what she saw; Dinky was well awake, and talking to her mother, her dead mother. She couldn't do anything but eavesdrop on them.

Ditzy said to Dinky, "you know, I caught your friend right before she fell into the river. She could have been killed."

"Mom, I had nothing to do with-"

"You've gotta stop your cousin from doing that kind of thing."

"Cousin?"

"Her father was my brother, he was a soldier. He disappeared when a war neared its end." Ditzy started to vanish, "you must make sure you keep Scootaloo alive, she's your only other family left." She went away completely.

Scootaloo closed her eyes just before Dinky looked in her direction. A few, long minutes went by before she heard Dinky shift in her sleeping bag. Scootaloo regained movement during those minutes. She nearly woke up Sweetie Belle, but decided she could at least get some sleep. She had a lot of difficulty falling back into slumber after forcing her eyes closed.

She got startled when something brushed her. She opened her eyes and saw Sweetie was nuzzling her again. She still felt weird getting touched like that, but she knew it was a feeling she would have to get used to. She whispered to herself, "tomorrow, when we set off on our grand adventure, I'll make sure nothing happens to you Sweetie Belle. No matter what."

Comments

[Kenshinryuu]

Dinky and Scoots being cousins is a surprise, but hopefully they'll stop arguing so much now. but why didn't Ditzy adopt Scootaloo if they were related???? Letting her live alone doesn't seem in character for Ditzy. Though if she had filled out the paperwork and was waiting for approval before she died it would be a good way to show Scootaloo that somepony cared about her and was trying to help her.

[Muffinmallow]

4756769 Ditzy's abrupt vanishings tend to cut her off during a steady conversation. That'll be answered sometime. Probably the next chapter.