The all hated newspaper column writer Gabby Gums is back and of course The Cutie Mark Crusaders are blamed. Will they be able to clear their names again?
Many ponies are furious that their names are appearing in the Manehattan newspaper in new embarrassing ways. The hurting of pony's feelings is re-commenced; however this time around it was not the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they intend to prove it.
"Wow, great job Applejack!" an ecstatic Applebloom said.
"I do what I can." Applejack said as she bucked another apple tree with one kick. "Go on now, you don't want to be late for school."
Today was just like any other day as Applebloom ran to school. As Applebloom just past the fence around the orchard she found Scootaloo there waiting for her.
"Hey Applebloom. Excited for today's crusading schedule?" Scootaloo said as her friend neared her.
"I sure as hey am. Too bad we gotta go ta school first." Applebloom said less enthusiastic.
"Eh, don't worry about it. Today's the day we get our cutie marks in high diving.
"Yeah." Applebloom said as her enthusiasm renewed itself. "At least we've got Miss. Cheerilee and not some city pony to teach us. Wait, we still need to go meet Sweetie Belle." Without another word the two ran off in the direction of the Boutique.
"Come on. What could possibly be taking her so long." Scootaloo asked impatiently.
"I don,know. We could be at the schoolhouse by now. Applebloom said as she looked up at the town clock tower. "Holy fruit bats were almost late."
No more than a second later a slightly terrified Sweetie Belle came bursting out of the Boutique. "Run" she yelled as she continued on her way not even stopping to say hello. Applebloom and Scootaloo followed close behind completely confused as to what Sweetie Belle was freaking about. It wasn't long before the three reached the schoolhouse. The class had just started as they made their way in acting as if nothing happened. In the eyes of Applebloom and Scootaloo nothing had happened. Sweetie Belle couldn't hide her look from Mrs. Cheerilee however.
"No nothing I'm fine." Sweetie Belle replied with a fake smile.
"Ok. Try to be more prompt tomorrow. Well, shall we get on with today's lesson then? Mrs. Cheerilee asked.
"What are you freaking out about. You're acting like Rarity is trying to kill you." Scootaloo said with a look that said "Tell me." on her face.
"I'll tell you after class." Sweetie Belle replied from the corner of her mouth.
---------------
*Dong*, *Dong*, *Dong. At the sound of the school bell the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked out of the schoolhouse and began in the direction of their clubhouse. Sweetie Belle could feel Scootaloo and Applebloom's eyes on her as she led the way. The whole way they were all quiet not even asking about their planned crusading. Sweetie Belle swung the door the the clubhouse open with a creak. She walked over and light the lamp hanging from the roof. It was Scootaloo who finally broke the silence. "So what's going on with you." she said still upset at Sweetie Belle for her silence.
"Ok, so, Rarity got her mail order newspaper from Manehattan today ok. "Sweetie Belle said as her friends just shook their heads. "Well you're never going to believe what was in it." Her friends leaned forward to hear what Sweetie Belle was going to say. "Somepony had taken..." Sweetie Belle was interrupted by Applejack's angry voice outside of the clubhouse.
"Applebloom! Out here Now!" Applejack said furiously.
"Oh no, what could I have done?" Applebloom asked her friends.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you." Sweetie Belle said quickly.
"NOW!" Applejack yelled again.
Applebloom quickly galloped out the door to meet her big sister. As she neared Applejack she could see the fury in her eyes. "Y-yeah Applejack." Applebloom said afraid of her angry sister's intentions.
"How could you. After all you learned before, you off and do it again as if you dint learn anythin." Applejack said as if Applebloom knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Uuuhhhh..." was all Applebloom could utter.
"Do you really think this is funny?" Applejack asked as she set a newspaper on the ground.
"Why do we have a newspaper from Manehattan?" Applebloom asked remembering Sweetie Belle saying something about Rarity's copy.
"Oh, gee, I dunno, maybe you should look at the headlines. There are plenty more too." Applejack replied pointing a hoof at the paper.
Applebloom looked down at the newspaper to see "Manehattan Governor Needs Sleeping Pills." Applebloom looked through the paper to find it filled with embarrassing articles before turning her head up to face her sister with a look of confusion. "What does this have to do with me?" Applebloom asked.
"You tell me. Who wrote the column?" Applejack said demandingly.
Applebloom returned her eyes to the paper in front of her to look for the name of the column writer. "Gabby Gums!?!" Applebloom said bewildered.
"I'm very disappointed in you Applebloom. How could you talk your cousin into doing that column up there in Manehattan? Applejack said with less anger.
"I..." Applebloom tried just to be interrupted.
"Now, you're going to send a letter to Babs and tell her to quit the nonsense er ill do it m-self." Applejack said firmly as she spun around to return to her chores at the orchard.
Applebloom just shrunk down without a word and waited for Applejack to disappear into the apple trees. Applebloom darted back into the treehouse. "What is going on with that Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom asked desperate for an answer to why she was just angrily lectured.
"That's what I was trying to tell you. Someone stole Gabby Gums and is using it to hide their identity and make us look bad." Sweetie Belle replied.
"It couldn't be Babs, she wouldn't do somethin like that to us after what we've gone through t-gether." Applebloom said with confidence.
"Well I say there's only one thing to do. Were going to have to go up to Manehattan ourselves." Scootaloo said sure of herself.
"How're we supposed to do that?" Applebloom asked.
"Don't worry, we'll just take the train." Scootaloo said intently.
"What about Applejack and Rarity? They would never agree to that." Applebloom asked.
"Don't worry, we'll just say were on a school field trip." Scootaloo replied.
"Ok fine but no more than a couple of days or Applejack'll know somethin's up." Applebloom said hesitantly.
"Remember, this is just a short trip to figure out who's doin these stories, then were back home before anypony worries. I just hope nopony asks Mrs. Cheerilee about our little field trip." Applebloom said as the train began to leave the Ponyville station.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about it. I told them that she was coming with us but she actually has to go away. Something about a family emergency. The best part. There's no school for the other ponies either. I told Applejack and Rarity we were the only ones allowed on this trip. Scootaloo informed her friends.
"I sure hope so. Rarity would never stop hounding on me if she found out I went out of town. Especially without anypony to watch me." Sweetie Bell replied.
Applebloom suddenly heard loud angry voices coming from the train car next to her. All she could hear was mumbling and low yelling. "Hey guys I think I hear somepony in the next car." she said to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Applebloom quietly walked over to the door and opened it. The voices were louder now but still unidentifiable through the sound of the wind blowing between the cars.
Carefully Applebloom stepped over joint between the train cars and very slowly peeked inside the window to see... "Applejack?" She looked around the car to find all of Applejack's friends were there too. "Oh no." She whispered to herself as she overheard Rarity complain about the crowd in that car. Applejack offered to check the other car to see if it had less ponies in it.
"Hide, Applejack's comin." Applebloom called quickly.
"What!" Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said at once.
"Can't explain just hide." Applebloom said again. Needing no further incentive the three quickly hid under the beds to avoid being seen. Sure enough Applejack poked her head in the train car to see it empty. Applejack turned around without closing the door to call to the rest of her friends. In a second Rarity was in the car causing her usual drama while the other five followed.
"I just caint believe they would do somthin like that. And now we gotta go up to Manehattan ourselves cuz they went on that little field trip of theirs without sending that letter I told her to send to Babs. Applejack said upset and angry at he same time.
"What do we do?" Scootaloo whispered.
They were all laying underneath the same bed hoping not to be seen. "Ah don't know, just wait I guess. And be quiet." Applebloom said. Scootaloo smiled, a little embarrassed at talking during such a time. While the Mane six continued their angry remarks about the Crusuaders.
*Hiccup* Both Scootaloo and Applebloom quickly looked at Sweetie Belle with what the hay looks on their faces. *Hic...* Applebloom quickly covered Sweetie Belle's mouth and listened to make sure nopony heard her. Luck held out so the Mane six were too involve in their conversation to hear.
"Stop hiccupin Sweetie Belle." Applebloom quietly whispered into her ear.
"Sorr-*hic*-y I get nervous when I'm hiding from my sis-*hic*-ter." Sweetie Belle replied trying to avoid further hiccups as best as she could.
"You never hiccuped the day Spike had us help him with the animals." Scootaloo said barely audible even to her friends.
"That's because *hic* I was comforted by the pets." Sweetie Belle replied.
"Well at least keep yur muzzle closed when ya do. Applebloom whispered.
Sweetie Belle kept her muzzle closed as requested the rest of the ride to Manehattan. The Mane six never stopped talking about the Crusaders the whole way there. Scootaloo was especially upset at how even Rainbow Dash didn't trust them. Twilight remained the most silent through the trip as if something were keeping her form talking. Pinkie Pie however didn't really even focus on the topic, but when she did she was just as upset as the others. Even Fluttershy was a bit brash with her remarks.
The train slowed to a stop. "Manehattan!" the conductor yelled through the train. Applejack and the rest of the big ponies unloaded from the train allowing the Crusaders to get out from under the bed.
"Ow, ow, ow." Scootaloo exclaimed as she stretched her wings outward. "That gave me a real kink in my wings."
"No time to stretch Scootaloo, the train's bout to leave again." Applebloom said as she began to head out the door. She looked around to make sure her sister wasn't around before unloading off the train with her friends close behind. "C'mon, Babs told me bout a short-cut to her house this way. We've gotta beat my sister and the others there." Applebloom said running through an alleyway.
--------------------
*Thunk, thunk, thunk* Applebloom knocked on the door as quickly and loudly as she could while Scootaloo kept a lookout for the Mane six. "Hang on." Babs' called form inside. A few second's later Babs opened the door. "What are y..."
"Can't talk here, we'll explain in yur room." Applebloom said quickly. Babs could see how desperate the three of them were so she let them in without a word. Babs galloped quickly up the stairs and opened the door to her room. The Crusaders quickly rushed inside.
"Ok, now. What's this about?" Babs asked as Scootaloo rushed to the window to watch out again.
"Trouble. Someone here in Manehattan has taken our pen name Gabby Gums and is using it to post story's about ponies like we did a while back." Applebloom explained.
"How could they have known?" Babs asked.
"I dunno, but Applejack and the rest of them'r on the way here right now cuz they think it's you copying us." Applebloom stated.
"What makes them think I would do that?" Babs said looking a bit fearful of the lecture her mother would give her if she heard about this false information.
"They think we told you to." Sweetie Belle chimed in.
"My mom is at the store right now so we just gotta..." Babs tried before being interrupted by Scootaloo.
"Their at the street corner we have to hurry." Scootaloo almost yelled.
Without a word Babs quickly ran downstairs to lock the front door before running back upstairs. She quickly closed the curtains to her window and told everypony to hush.
Rainbow Dash's impatience led to the Mane Six giving up quickly. The Crusaders could hear Rarity say that she wanted to pick up some material while she was here any way so they all walked off to return later.
"Whew. That was close." Scootaloo whispered.
"What'r we gonna do?" Applebloom asked her friends.
"We have to figure out who's doing the columns of course." Sweetie Belle remarked.
The Crusaders agreed and they all rushed downstairs to the door. They peeked out windows to see that the Mane Six were out of sight.
Babs unlocked the door and headed out to the street. "What paper was it?" Babs asked.
"Wait. There are more than one?" Sweetie Belle asked in reply.
"Of course, this is a big city." Babs said. "None'a you know?" Babs asked. They just shrugged. "Fine, well just have to start with the biggest newspaper company in here." She said as she ran off down the street opposite of the Mane Six's route.
"This is it." Babs said as they approached a large, red, brick building. "Just gotta go in and see if they printed those stories."
"Wow!" the Crusaders said all at once as they stared in awe at the towering building.
"It's huge." Scootaloo remarked
"Yeah, they've been Manehattan's biggest newspaper place for over a hundred and some odd years." Babs informed her friends. "C'mon they know me, I used to do paper routes for them."
"Why don't you anymore?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Eh, too boring for me. Besides I'm makin more bits workin for a ranch bout a quarter mile outside of the city." Babs said as she pushed open the metal and glass doors to the inside of the newspaper company.
"Really? What do you do there?" Sweetie Belle asked with a crack in her voice.
"I help take care of the animals. Feed em, exercise em, coral em. You know just basic stuff a ranch might need help with. And I only have to work one day out of a week when they go out." Babs replied gasping for breath because of the long sentence.
"Are the animals cute?" Sweetie Belle asked intent on hearing about the possibly adorable animals.
"Yeah I guess. I wouldn't really know." Babs said as she reached the main counter. Sweetie Belle looked a little deflated at the vague response. "Hey Frank, what's up?" Babs asked the grey fur, black maned, old stallion behind the desk.
"Hey Babs, nothing new here. How's the farm life treatin ya?" He asked happily in reply.
"Ranch. And it's great by the way. Anyway, my friends, cousin, and I were just stoppin by to see if you know anything about a column writer who's using the penname Gabby Gums? Maybe he or she is at this place?" Babs asked quickly.
"Oh no, Gabby Gums is a column writer for the Manehattan Times." Frank replied.
"Really? How'd ya know?" Babs asked in confusion.
"Well, don't tell the company, but It's my favorite paper." Frank said holding up the Manehattan Times newspaper.
Babs grabbed the newspaper from him and quickly scanned through it. Over half of the material was from this "Gabby Gums" impostor. She tossed the paper back to Frank and called to her friends before taking off out the door with the crusaders close behind. They kept following Babs until they reached an intersection with so much traffic there was no hope of getting across the street. Babs thought for a moment before taking off down the sidewalk. She rounded a corner down another alleyway that would allow them to get around the intersection.
"Wait *gasp* girls, ah need a breath." Applebloom called to her friends. It wasn't until then that the rest of the crusaders realized they were exhausted as well.
"Yeah, we should probably rest a minute." Scootaloo said as they returned to sit by Applebloom.
*Clank* All of their heads quickly snapped to see where the sound had come from. It was a tray with five cups of applejuice sitting on it. There was a note sitting on it as well.
Drink up. Signed A Friend.
"Drink up? Do you have any friends around here Babs?" Scootaloo asked after reading the note.
"I don't know. But I do know I'm thirsty as hay." Babs said as she quickly grabbed one of the cups and downed it quickly. The rest of them carefully drank up.
"Hey, where did that boulder comsh from?" Babs asked as she kicked a small rock. "Woah, was that super strength potion?" She said before falling to the ground asleep.
"Something's wrong." Scootaloo said as she started to feel woozy also.
"Whass going on?" Sweetie Belle asked as she spun in place.
"Someone poisoned us." Applebloom said as she too fell to the ground and passed out.
Sweetie Belle followed Applebloom to the ground. Seeing her friends all out cold Scootaloo tried to run but only found her head smacking the ground. She tried with all her might to stand but found it impossible. Slowly her eyelids grew heavier and heavier until she couldn't keep them open any more. She passed out on the Alleyway.
--------------------
"Scootaloo wake up!" Applebloom's voice called to her.
"Come on!" Sweetie Belle said as she shook Scootaloo as hard as she could.
Slowly Scootaloo's eyes opened to find herself in a dark room illuminated only by a crack under the door up some stairs. "Wha- where are we?" Scootaloo groaned.
"We don't know." Sweetie Belle replied.
Scootaloo jumped up quickly after remembering what happened. She looked around the room to see it was just an old basement closet. The room was too small to be the basement itself.
"What do we do?" Applebloom asked with fear in her voice.
"We find a way to escape of course." Sweetie Belle said trying to comfort her terrified friend.
Scootaloo ran up to the door with Babs following. They both peered under the door to see a bunch of old pastry machines. Not the kind controlled by magic. It was much like the kind of machines used to work a conveyor belt. They saw a shadow coming down some stairs to the right of the door. They quickly backed away from the door before it swung open and a giant unicorn stallion stood there looking at the crusaders. A smirk crossed his face as he saw the afraid faces on Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. "Whadda you want with us?" Babs yelled to him.
He just walked over and picked up Sweetie Belle in his magic. "Hey let me go." she yelled.
"Leave her alone." Babs yelled as she charged for the door Scootaloo and Applebloom following. They were quickly stopped by a barrier of magic he set in front of them.
The stallion closed the door. Babs and the others quickly ran to the door and looked under it to see Scootaloo kicking and fighting his magic as much as she could. He threw Scootaloo into the wheel of the machine and said "Run."
"I'm not doing anything." Sweetie Belle yelled at him.
He reached over and grabbed something off the wall. *Whack* The stallion swung a broom handle at her hitting her right on her right foreleg. Sweetie Belle felt tears welling up inside of her eyes as she started trotting with a limp on the machine. Several angry screams came from the closet when Sweetie Belle's friends saw him hit her. She had never been hit before and it hurt much more than she expected. The stallion put a cover over the wheel and headed back upstairs.
"Hang on Sweetie Belle." Applebloom yelled to her.
"Yeah, we'll figure this out." Babs said.
"Back up." Applebloom said. "My sister taught me how to buck apples, maybe it will work on this old wooden door. *Thwack, thwack, thwack* on the third kick Applebloom managed to kick a small hole in the corner of the door. She tried to fit through it but found she was just a little too big. She pulled her head back out of the hole. She thought for a moment before she got an idea. "Scootaloo, you're smaller than all of us see if you can fit." She said.
"Right. I got this." Scootaloo said confidently. She walked over to the hole and managed to squeeze through just barely. "Yes!" she whisper yelled. She tried to open the door but found it locked on both ends. Looking around the room she tried to find something that could help her save her friend. All she could see was a bunch of wooden crates and a metal cart hanging from a rail on the roof. Scootaloo ran up to the wheel and called to Sweetie Belle inside, "Are you ok Sweetie Belle?" She could hear sniffling inside but no response. "Hang tight." Scootaloo said to her. She tried with all her might but the cover would not come off.
Scootaloo saw a switch that said "Cart Release." then came up with a great idea. She strained herself trying to fly. She worked all the strength she could gather and managed to lift off the floor. Knowing she couldn't stay airborne long she quickly aligned the cart just in-front of the wheel before her wings gave out and she fell to the floor. "Sweetie Belle. Stop running." Scootaloo said.
"He'll hit me again." Sweetie Belle called from behind the cover. Scootaloo could hear her crying and that just made her angrier.
"Trust me, I have an idea." Scootaloo said as she ran over to the switch. Sweetie Belle followed Scootaloo's instructions stopped the wheel. It didn't take long before their abductor came through the door grabbing the broom handle again. He stopped in front of the wheel. Using his magic he popped the cover off. As soon as he did this Scootaloo pulled the switch making the cart fall directly on his head. The cart broke his horn off and knocked him clean out. "Yeah-ha!" Scootaloo yelled.
Sweetie Belle grabbed a key off the saddlebag the stallion was wearing. She was still crying a little, but she quickly wiped them away as she ran over and unlocked the door her friends were held in. Applebloom and Babs hugged Sweetie Belle together. "Let's get outta here." Babs said motioning a hoof toward the stairs. The three headed up the stairs and out of the pastry shop doors to the city. "Follow me we gotta report this." Babs said running off down the street.
"Don't worry fillies, he'll be taken care of." The officer pony said as he got on his radio to send nearby police to the business of the unicorn who abducted the crusaders.
"Thanks." was all Babs said as they all headed back out to the city.
"How's your hoof Sweetie Bell?" Applebloom asked when she saw Sweetie Belle still slightly limping.
"It's fine." Sweetie Belle replied with a small fake smile. The whole ordeal was more traumatizing to her than the rest of her friends. This was for more than one reason. Not only had she never been hit before but she had never known anypony so horrible. The thoughts of what could have happened. Her sister told her about some of the types of ponies there are out in the world. Sweetie Belle had always ignored her sister when she lectured her but now she had been abducted by one of them. "There are ponies completely unlike who you know here, they will do horrible things out of desperacy, especially if they need slave labor like the Diamond Dogs." Rarity had said to her.
Applebloom sighed at Sweetie Belle's oblivious lie but decided to ignore it all the same. The four friends were off on there way to the "Manehattan Times" newspaper company again. It became very clear now that something was bothering Sweetie Belle but every time any of them would ask her about it she would just shrug them off. "Hearts strong as horses. Remember? You can't forget that." Scootaloo said to comfort her despite her acting fine. Upon the thought of the day they had sung that song together Sweetie Belles eyes light up and her thoughts of before had dispelled quickly.
"C'mon girls." Babs called. The intersection was much less busy this time as they crossed without trouble. Babs knew Sweetie Belle was hurt so she made sure she trotted slowly. As they approached the company the first thing they saw was an old earth pony headbutting a pole repeatedly. "You ok there?" Babs asked.
"I don't want your cookieshh!" he yelled.
"I think he's drunk." Applebloom whispered.
"You want some coffee buddy?" Scootaloo asked as she remembered she still had a couple of bits on her. The drunk just grabbed his ears yelling and screaming gibberish before sprinting down the street as fast as he could. "Well then." Scootaloo said watching him run into various objects as he fled.
"Let's just go before something else weird happens." Babs said. The crusaders headed through the front doors into the Manehattan Times newspaper company. Looking around this place was very different from the last place Babs took them. It was much newer as well as packed. There were so many angry ponies there they couldn't count them. One of the numerous ponies there was the governor of Manehattan himself. It became clear real quick that they weren't going to get to the front counter any time soon. Scootaloo tried to yell something to Babs but the roar of the crow was too much. The crusaders were all right next to each-other yet they still couldn't even hear their ow thoughts.
Scootaloo got her friends attention by waving her hoof in front of their faces. She then proceeded to point her hoof to a door that was propped open. They immediately followed Scootaloo and looked inside to see nothing but a bunch of ponies working on printing papers. They were all facing the wall so they didn't see as the crusaders snuck inside. Tiphoofing across the room, they opened another door that led to a stairwell. Applebloom was the first to look up and see the seemingly endless height the stairs reached. "Wow." they all said together.
"Where do you think their column writers are?" Scootaloo asked.
"I dunno but were gonna find out." Applebloom replied. She then turned to face Sweetie Belle. "You should wait here. Don't worry we'll find whoever's doin the Gabby Gums stories."
"What!?! Why?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well, your hoof." Babs said looking down to see a dark purple spot on her foreleg just above her hoof. It was visible even through her fur.
"No way. I'm not some old pony." Sweetie Belle said as she began up the stairs. It wasn't until now she realized how much her leg did hurt. She tried to hide her limp but her friends could plainly see it.
"Stop Sweetie Belle! You're only hurtin yourself." Applebloom said firmly concerned for her friend.
"I'm fine!" Sweetie Belle yelled with a voice crack and a bit of anger.
"Hey, it's cool, we got this. It's not going to make us think any less of you. Were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We would never judge each-other.
Sweetie Bell sat at the top of the first corner of the staircase. The rest of her friends followed and they gave her another hug. "You better be back quickly or I'm coming up." Sweetie Belle said successfully stopping herself from crying.
Without another word Babs, Scootaloo, and Applebloom began up the stairs reaching the second floor still within Sweetie Belles sight. They opened the door to see the whole floor was used as storage for boxes and thousands of newspapers. Closing the door they headed up the next flight of stairs to the third level. They opened the door to see multiple cubicles with ponies in only a couple of them. They were so spread out the Crusaders could easily navigate their way through floor. They searched for any sign of the Gabby Gums impostor but to no avail. "Uuugh, what are we gonna do? There must be a hundred floors in this place." Scootaloo whispered.
"Actually there are only thirty-two." a girls voice said from behind them. The crusaders almost jumped out of their pelts at the sudden remark. They spun around to see a young light pink pegasus with a blonde mane about their age standing behind them. She watched them intently as the crusaders exchanged looks of confusion. "Well, are you going to tell me what you're doing up here?" the girl asked.
"Uhh, he he, you see. Well, were looking for Gabby Gums." Scootaloo hesitated.
"Ha, you and everypony else in this city." she replied "My name's Swift. How about you guys?" she asked.
"I'm Babs, this is Scootaloo, and that's Applebloom." Babs said casually.
"If you don't want to have to go floor by floor I could show you where he is." swift offered.
"Wait, he?" Scootaloo asked more confused now.
"Of course." was all she said as she trotted past the crusaders motioning for them to follow. As she passed them they could see her cutie mark now. It was a newspaper with wind marks trailing behind it.
"Are you the paper girl?" Babs asked.
"I am. What about you guys?" swift asked without even slowing as she made her way up the stairs.
"My friends are from Ponyville, I live here and work on a ranch just outside of the city." Babs informed her.
Swift just said "Hmm." As she stopped on floor thirteen. "In here." she said. Swift opened the door to a hallway with multiple other doors. She closed the door behind them and headed down the many halls till she stopped at one labeled "Jake" just opposite a wall of windows to the outside. His office was at the end of the hallway where the windows curved.
Just barely seeing her friends following somepony she didn't know Sweetie Belle let her curiosity get the best of her as she began up the stairs to see what her friends were up to.
She opened the door to see a big brown earth pony about the size of Big Mac. "These fillies are here to see you." Swift said to him. Swift left the office leaving the door open.
"So you're the one doing the Gabby Gums columns? Scootaloo asked.
"I sure am." he said.
"Look, were going to need you to quit with those articles ok? Babs said.
He looked insulted at the question. "Why the hay would I do that. I'm makin more money now than I ever have before." he said.
"We know you stole the name from our school newspaper when we did embarrassing stories also. We learned our lesson though and quit with those stories. But now you're makin it look like we had someone do it here for us." Applebloom said with a stomp of her hoof.
"Why should I care?" he asked with growing anger.
"You're making us look bad!" Scootaloo said with a raised voice.
"Get out of my office!" he yelled back.
"Not until you stop with the column!" Babs said with equal anger at his uncooperative actions.
Sweetie Belle Reached the door her friends had entered. She opened the door and could immediately hear the angry voices of her friends and somepony else coming from the hallways. She knew something had gone wrong so she rushed to see what she could do to help. As she reached the hall that had the door the voices were coming from Sweetie Belle immediately noticed the view outside the windows. She then saw what she dreaded most, her sister and the rest of the mane six were entering the building. Knowing that if they were to get caught they would be in serious trouble she sprinted toward the office her friends were in.
Seeing how angry Jake was getting the crusaders began to back away starting with Applebloom.
Sweetie Belle's eyes were still glued to the window as she was trying to see her sister. She didn't see her friend backing into her path for whatever reason. She rammed directly into Applebloom making her head spin. Dread enveloped Sweetie Belle as she saw Applebloom flying into the window at the end of the hall. "Nooo!!!!!" Sweetie Belle Screamed as she jumped for Applebloom's hoof only to feel it tap hers.
Applebloom screaming as she fell, closed her eyes as she prepared for her collision with the hard concrete.
Sweetie Belle and the others could only watch in horror as Applebloom bounced off an awning and land on the hard ground with a quiet, yet sickening *slap*.
There was already a large crowd gathered around Applebloom as she lay in the street motionless. Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were crying pools of tears at the sight of their friend in such a condition. Applejack and the rest of the Mane six came running out after having to fight there way trough the crowd inside the Manehattan Times. They had seen Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo running under the crowd and came out to see why they were even here.
They saw more than they wanted. All of them except for Twilight were crying now as well. Applejack huddled around her little sister as if it were freezing out. Twilight moved over to look at Applebloom carefully. Her horn glowed brightly. Scanning through Applebloom's body she checked for any signs of life threatening injuries. "She's gonna be ok. She only has a few broken ribs as well as her back left leg." Twilight told Applejack in an attempt to comfort her. Applejack remained silent, her eyes closed as she guarded her sister.
In a few minutes the ambulance carriage had arrived. Despite Applejack hounding on them to be careful, the ambulance ponies quickly loaded Applebloom in. Applejack hopped in beside her sister and the carriage took of as fast as it could safely. Sweetie Belle tried to follow but was stopped by Rarity,s magic.
"You have much to explain Sweetie Belle. Come, we are going to a hotel where you two will wait while we go see Applebloom. Babs, we will return you to your mother and explain to her what happened." Rarity said with a firm, intent tone.
--------------------
"She can't seriously think were going to stay cramped up in here while our best friend, is in the hospital." Sweetie Belle said with rage behind tears.
"There's nothing we can do. They had somepony posted at the door to keep us in. At least the police ponies stopped Jake from ever doing those mean stories anymore." Scootaloo replied.
It was already the next day and the mane six had not returned from the hospital so they knew something was wrong. Sweetie Belle paced the room multiple times before her vision began to clear. She ran to the window to see if anypony was watching them. Sure enough there was a grey pegasus flying in place beside the window. "Rrrgghh!" Sweetie Belle said. "We have to see her."
"Hey, look." Scootaloo said pointing a roof to the upper corner of the wall. There was a rather large vent there.
"How the hay are we supposed to get up there." Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo thought for a moment. She then proceeded to approached the wall. Putting her hooves up against the wall she said, "I got it!" As happy as she was at her brilliance Scootaloo still couldn't bring herself to smile. "Hop on my shoulders." She said standing as tall as she could. Sweetie Belle walked over to her friend looking confused. Reluctantly she squatted down before jumping up on to Scootaloo's shoulders. "Hey, take it easy." Scootaloo said.
"Sorry." Sweetie Belle said. After minutes of prying Sweetie Belle gave up. The thing was screwed in tight. She jumped off Scootaloo and looked around the room for anything that could undo the screws. She opened drawers and dressers but found nothing she looked at the table in the center of the room. There was an empty bowl there with a fork, spoon, and butter knife laid next to it. "Aha."
"What?" Scootaloo asked upon hearing Sweetie Belle's remark.
Sweetie Belle grabbed the butter knife and proceeded to the wall again. "C'mon Scootaloo." She said. Scootaloo hesitantly made her way to the wall and stood against it again. More carefully this time Sweetie Belle jumped on Scootaloo's shoulders and began attempting to unscrew the vent. The first one came out rather easily followed by the second. The third one was much more stubborn so she skipped it to the last one. Just like the rest it came out fairly easily. Without even undoing the third she swung the vent open with the cover hanging sideways by the screw. Sweetie Belle looked into the vent to see it was dusty but surprisingly clean. When she tried to pull herself up into the vent her hoof gave out from pain. "Ow." she exclaimed.
"What's wrong Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked as she looked up to see Sweetie Belle holding her hoof.
"My hoof. That's what's wrong. That big, dumb, unicorn hurt it so I can't lift myself up." She replied. Suddenly Sweetie Belle found herself being lifted. As soon she was level with the vent Sweetie Belle slipped in. It was just barely big enough for her to turn around and poke her head back into the room. "Wow, how did you do that?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I don't know. But I would do anything for a friend." Scootaloo replied as she began to hover just enough to grab the edge of the vent and pull herself up. "Let's go." she said lightly pushing Sweetie Belle. There were numerous tunnel that led to the vent covers of other rooms. Looking through each one the came across an empty room on the opposite end of the hotel.
"Ok, let's see if I can do this." Sweetie Belle said as she turned around and swiftly bucked the vent cover as hard as she could. Sweetie Belle collapsed over her hoof. The vent was somewhat knocked out of place but it still was firmly in place.
"Together." Scootaloo said as she motioned for Sweetie Belle to ram it with their shoulders. "One, two, three!" The two ran into the vent cover as hard as they could and weakened it further but it was still secure. "One more. Go!" They ran into the vent cover once again. This time it came out of place. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo followed the vent cover to the floor. Without even a moment's celebration they continued for the window. looking outside they saw it had an old metal staircase leading to the alleyway. Sweetie Belle struggled to lift the wood window. Scootaloo immediately noticed this and moved to help. Together they managed to lift the window just enough so they could squeeze out.
As they began down the stairs the whole thing began to creak and moan under their weight. Scootaloo was the first to notice it. She looked up trying to find the source of the sounds. "C'mon Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle beckoned to her friend. Scootaloo shook the thoughts out of her head as she quickly began down again after her friend. They reached the bottom of the staircase to fin it had a ladder that reached the ground. Scootaloo gently kicked the ladder and it reached to the ground with a loud *Clang*. Reaching the ground they began in the direction of the hospital.
--------------------
The hospital was huge. It had about twenty stories which made Sweetie Belle have a few nervous thoughts. What had happened with her friend elicited these thoughts. She chose to ignore those thoughts however, her friend was much more important to her. "Let's go." Scootaloo called from the top of the stone stairs to the entrance.
"Oh, coming." Sweetie Belle called back. They ran inside only to find the waiting room and a cafe/restaurant in the entrance. There were two elevators to their left. Scootaloo pushed the button to call the elevator. The door opened immediately because the last users must have gotten off here. They ran inside and scanned the button labels. There was one label patient care so they chose that one. As the door opened they left the elevator and approached the receptionist behind the desk. "Do you know what room our friend Applebloom is in?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Just a moment." The receptionist replied as she began searching through her patient logs. "Oh." she said with a grim look spreading across her face. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo knew something was wrong and Sweetie Belle's eyes began to water. She's on floor sixteen in the ICU. They didn't even stop to thank the receptionist before running back to the elevator. They opened the doors again and pushed the button for floor sixteen. The elevator slowed to a stop and they saw Applejack and the rest of the mane six. They ducked down as quickly as they could so they couldn't be seen from behind the ICU waiting room chairs.
"How could this have happened." Applejack said behind tears.
"I don't know. But it's going to be alright. The doctors said she was stable. We can go in to see her now before they move her to ponyville long term care facility. She's in room thirteen." Twilight said hugging her friend.
"I juss don-know if ahm ready to see her that way." Applejack said turning to look out the window.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle took that chance to bolt past the chairs to the door leading to the patients rooms. There were nowhere near as many rooms in this hall than the patient care. They looked over all the rooms. They then came across the room labeled thirteen. There was a clipboard next to the door with Applebloom's name on it. There was another word next to it. A word that they dreaded. They didn't know what to think. It read "Diagnosis: Coma Injury Condition: Injuries stabilized.
They hesitated before opening the door. As they expected there was Applebloom laying on the hospital bed, she wasn't moving except for her chest. Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo began to tear up again upon seeing there friend wrapped here and there with bandages. They hopped carefully one at a time up on the huge bed and laid next to their friend on both sides.
"Why did it have to be a com-m-ma." Sweetie Belle stuttered behind her tears.
"I don't know." Scootaloo replied almost stuttering as well.
"This is all my fault. I should have paid attention to where I was running and this never would have happened. How could I be so stupid." Sweetie Belle said as she gently whacked her head against the hard plastic headboard on the back of the bed. Scootaloo just remained silent as she focused on breathing properly. Sweetie Belle laid her head down. And thought about the events that had happened the day before.
"Don't blame yourself. It's not you fault. We know that, your sister is just upset at what happened. There's no way you could have known." Fluttershy's familiar soft voice said from behind.
Sweetie Belle spun her head around to see Fluttershy sitting in a chair in the room. "What are you dong in here?" She asked as a salty tear fell into her mouth.
"The doctors needed an assistant to help stabilize her injuries. I help all the little critters all the time so everypony said I was the best choice." Fluttershy said as she approached the bedside. Sweetie Belle just laid her head back on the big pillow and looked at her sleeping friend. She felt Fluttershy give her a gentle hug. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo closed their eyes as they waited.
"Wake up Applebloom." Sweetie Belle whispered. In moments they were asleep. Only in their dreams they felt comfort as they dreamed of Applebloom waking and them being able to Crusade as they always did.
