Chapter 1
“We're finally here!” Sweetie Belle looked around the place excitedly, her eyes darting from one attraction to another and getting happier with everything she laid her eyes on. “Isn't it great here?” A happy squeak escaped her mouth.
“Totally!”, Scootaloo answered her, not any less excited and a huge grin adorning her eager face. “It's a gold mine for cutie marks!” The orange pegasus began to look around too, unsure what they should do first. “There is barrel racing, a roping contest and even rodeo clowning! There's so much to do here!”
Sweetie Belle nodded in anticipation. “If we can get into some of these events, we could walk off the train in Ponyville with brand-new cutie marks!”
Scootaloo turned around and looked at her flank, one leg lifted off of the ground. “I bet a barrel would look good at my flank!”
“I want a clown on mine!”, Sweetie Belle exclaimed, another squeak leaving her mouth. A moment later, she dropped down her ears. “But it's sad that Apple Bloom couldn't come with us. It's so bad that she had to become sick today of all days when we wanted to watch her big sister in the rodeo together.....”
“Yeah.....”, Scootaloo answered, her ears dropping a little too. “But maybe we can surprise her with cutie marks when we get home! I'm sure this is going to cheer her up!”
Sweetie Belle wanted to begin with a reply, as a deep voice from behind suddenly interrupted her. “Ok, everypony, listen up!” Curiously, the two fillies followed the voice to it's source. The sheriff stood in front of his office, giving orders to his assistants. “We need a big presence at this here rodeo, so make yourself plenty seen! Troubleshoes shot two honest stallions from behind down in Pinto Creek and I want that lowdown coward to know we mean business!”
Sweetie Belle gasped in excitement. “Did you hear that?! There's an outlaw on the loose! This is going to be the best rodeo ever!”
Scootaloo looked at her, her eyes full of concern. “That's not a good thing, Sweetie. I hope nothing bad happens.....”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes a little, then nudged her friend playfully. “Come on, don't be a scaredy filly! The sheriff and his stallions are here, I'm sure they have everything under control! And I would just like to see him!” Then the energetic, white filly ran past her friend, into the direction of the rodeo clowns. Halfway she turned around. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Apple Bloom counts on us!”
“I have a bad feeling.....”, Scootaloo said quietly to herself and turned around to the sheriff a last time, before she hesitantly followed Sweetie Belle.
She couldn't see the gigantic shadow of the pony that listened to their conversation on the wall of the house behind her anymore, as she hurried to catch up with her friend. Slowly and without a noise, the pony left it's hideout as the sheriff and his stallions were gone, only leaving a massive hoofprint in the ground as proof that it was here.....
~*~
The mare at the souvenir booth looked down at Scootaloo, her face showing a skeptical expression. “Are ya sure?”, she asked her. “A little filly like ya wants to buy this big hat?”
Scootaloo nodded her head repeatedly, her face full of delight at the sight of the sombrero with the big cactus on it.
“We have hats in your size too, you know”, the mare continued. She pointed to an assortment of smaller hats, all with similar western-style accessoires, but none of them with a cactus on top.
“No, it must be this one!”, Scootaloo demanded, starting to get a little impatient.
The sales pony sighed. “Fine. Business is business.” But she still shook her head, not being able to understand why Scootaloo chose a hat that didn't even really fit on her head. The mare lifted off the hat and placed it on Scootaloo's head. “Here”, she said a little annoyed, but with a softer tone in her voice now. “That makes twenty bits.”
Scootaloo hoofed her over the necessary amount, then she turned around to Sweetie Belle. “How do I look with it?”, she asked her friend excitedly.
“Uhm..... cool?”, Sweetie Belle answered hesitantly, trying to give Scootaloo the best compliment possible, but inside of her, inherited fashion senses screamed about the look of the gigantic sombrero. Her face showed that this attire wasn't to her taste, but she tried to set up a confident smile. “No, really, you look cool with it on your head!”, she hastily added as she noticed a frown appearing in Scootaloo's face. But Scootaloo already felt warily towards this compliment and so her frown remained. Sweetie Belle broke out in sweat. If there was anything that she didn't wanted, then it was that the orange pegasus was mad at her for something.
“How cool?”, Scootaloo asked her, eyes slightly narrowed at her friend.
Sweetie gulped, then she gathered all her courage, bent forward and gave Scootaloo a quick kiss on her cheek. “Like this”, she answered, then she trotted away before Scootaloo could react.
Immediately as she felt Sweetie's lips touching her cheek, Scootaloo's face turned into a deep red. The little pegasus filly stood frozen for a moment, unable to comprehend what just happened. Then she pulled the hat down on her face a little, a shy, but happy smile appearing on it. “Hey, Sweetie, wait for me!”, she turned around on her hooves and followed the unicorn filly.
The mare that sold her the hat looked after her and shook her head once more. “Kids these days.....”, she said. But she couldn't prevent herself from giggling a little over what she just saw.
As Scootaloo had catched up with Sweetie Belle, she was already almost back where they had left Braeburn, who had promised Applejack to take an eye on them as long as the outlaw was around. Of course they took the first opportunity to sneak away, as Braeburn was distracted by Applejack's hay bale stacking skills. They could see that Applejack had finished the training with the hay bale stacks by now and that she had returned to Braeburn. She was looking with an angry expression at her cousin. As Braeburn saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle coming at them, he pointed a hoof at them.
“There they are!” He laughed nervously. “Right where I left them.”
Scootaloo smiled at Applejack, still like hypnotized from Sweetie's kiss the other moment, as her hat suddenly slid over her eyes. Sporting a sheepish expression, she pushed it back into the right position.
That the two fillies were back now was not enough to calm Applejack's anger and she shot Braeburn a disapproving glance. “Oh, don't be mad!”, Braeburn tried to soothe her, just to quickly reaching for a trick as he saw that it was useless. “OUUUCH! Mah foreleg! Hurts so much!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other and began to giggle over this exaggeration, causing Scootaloo's hat to slide over her eyes once more.
Applejack turned her back to Braeburn and approached them. “Y'all can't go runnin' off like that, ya hear? Backstage at a rodeo ain't no kind of playground”, she scolded them with an admonishing voice.
“I'm sorry, Applejack!”, Scootaloo replied. “We won't wander off again, I promise!” Suddenly, she felt a slight nudge in her ribs by Sweetie Belle. “But, since we're speaking about the rodeo already, what do you think of me and Sweetie Belle competing in a little rodeo event or three?”
Applejack thought about what to answer for a moment, as Braeburn suddenly pointed in front of them. “Look out!”, he yelled.
Turning around, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle saw the giant haystack behind them falling. Frozen in shock, they just gasped and couldn't react, but they felt knocked ouf of the way by Applejack suddenly.
“What the hay just happened?”, Applejack asked upset.
Braeburn trotted over to them, worry gracing his face. “Are you fillies alright?”
“Uh-huh”, they answered slowly, still in shock.
“Sugar and salt lakes!”, the voice of the sheriff sounded behind them suddenly. “Well, I'll be.”
“What is it, sheriff?”, Applejack trotted at his side, her glance falling down at a giant hoofprint.
“Is it him?”, Braeburn, who had joined her side, asked the sheriff.
“Ain't no doubt. It's Troubleshoes”, he answered grim.
As Sweetie Belle heard this, a huge grin appeared on her face and she looked around her excitedly. As she couldn't spot the pony she was hopping to see, her ears drooped. “Shoot!”, she expressed disappointed. “He's already gone.....”
Scootaloo put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “It's better, Sweetie Belle. You heard how dangerous he is. And you just saw that he was even attacking us, two fillies!” But the disappointed look on Sweetie Belle's face stayed and she looked sadly to the ground.
~*~
“What?! You want to send us home? But we haven't competed in any rodeo yet!”, Scootaloo shouted out unbelievingly as Applejack told them her decision.
“Now, stop complainin'”, the mare answered. “Ah can't have ya'll around here with some outlaw on the loose.”
“But the sheriff is here!”, Sweetie Belle chimed in annoyedly. “He takes care that nothing happens to us, it isn't so dangerous!”
Applejack gave her a stern look. “But ya've seen what just happened! If ah wouldn't have been there, those hay bales would have made ya two flat!”
“But.....”, Sweetie Belle began again, but Applejack interrupted her.
“No but anymore. It's two dangerous here for ya fillies right now and ah made mah decision. Ya'll will return to Ponyville and ah don't want to hear any complainin' anymore!” Then she sighed. “And maybe ah should call it quits and return home too.”
“Now, you can't!”, Braeburn objected her. “This rodeo is important to Appleloosa and with you in there, we got a real shot at winnin'!” Braeburn stepped behind Applejack and began to push her out of the door. “Come on now, you head on back to practice and don't worry none about these two.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other as they saw how Braeburn stepped in for them.
“I won't let 'em out of my sight.” Braeburn closed the door behind Applejack before she could reply anything. After having closed all the locks on the door, he moved a chair in front of it. “Ya hear?” He sat down and crossed his arms. “Y'all ain't leavin' my sight.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged sad glances. Being here with Braeburn was not what they wanted. Locked up inside of a house was even worse than having to return to Ponyville. Not knowing what else to do with their time, the fillies searched through the house until they found an old board game. It was a boring one for fillies a lot younger than them, but since they had nothing else to do, they decided to play it anyway.
After some hours of playing and a lot of creative rule changes to make the game more exciting for them, Scootaloo was just about to make her move, her concentration was interrupted by a loud snoring that came from the door.
Scootaloo groaned. “That's great. Now we even have to listen to his snoring all the time.....” Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, was happy. She was showcasing a smile Scootaloo knew all too well. “Sweetie Belle?”, she asked. “Please tell me you don't have any bad ideas right now.....”
“Nope.”
Scootaloo let out a relieved sigh.
“We're going to climb out the window and search for Troubleshoes!”
Now Scootaloo hung her head. “I knew it.....” She looked up again and into Sweetie Belle's eyes. “Sweetie Belle, it's dangerous to look for him! You heard what he did. He could shoot both of us two!” But before Scootaloo had ended her speech, Sweetie Belle had already gotten up and was busy with opening the window. Scootaloo hurried to the window to stop her, but before she could grab her, she had already climbed out. Hesitantly, Scootaloo followed her. “Wait, Sweetie!”, she said, after she had made her way out. “I promised Applejack we won't wander off again!”
Sweetie Belle turned around. “We're not wandering. We know where we're heading. We're going to find Troubleshoes!”
“But he is a dangerous criminal!”, Scootaloo tried again to convince Sweetie of returning.
“Don't be so scared again!”, Sweetie Belle replied. “We only need to find him. We're not going to capture him. The sheriff will handle this! And once he is in jail, we can finally compete in the rodeo and get our cutie marks! Now come!” She jumped on the fence around Braeburn's house and down on the other side of it, then she disappeared in the darkness in front of her.
Scootaloo followed her suit. “That's the worst idea ever.....”, she muttered worriedly, and a little scared, as she slowly trotted into her direction. As she had catched up with her, finally having resigned to the fate that she won't be able to convince her daring friend, she decided to be satisfied with it to remind Sweetie Belle on the danger of the situation again. “I-If we should see him, we hide, okay Sweetie? We can't risk that he sees us, he's too dangerous.....”
“Sure!” Sweetie Belle's answer came swiftly and Scootaloo sighed relieved. At least that was something where they could both agree on. “But now keep your eyes open! I don't wanna miss him!”
“Okay”, Scootaloo replied quietly, which was of course a lie. She had intended to do anything but looking out for the dangerous outlaw and rather scanned the forest around them for possible escape routes, if the worst case should happen and they should suddenly find themselves in front of Troubleshoes. And secretly, she hoped that not helping Sweetie Belle with looking out for him would lead to it that they miss him and that Sweetie Belle would agree to return because of getting bored.
Unfortunately, Scootaloo's hope became shattered just a moment later, the exact moment it happened indicated by one of Sweetie's trademark squeaks. “Look what I found here!” She pointed with her hoof to the ground in front of her to alert her friend of her finding.
As Scootaloo looked at it, she could even feel how her hopes became smashed. It was one of Troubleshoes' giant hoofprints. Scootaloo looked at it with dropped ears, her body shivering.
“Can you see how big it is?”, Sweetie Belle exclaimed completely psyched. “Can you imagine how big HE must be then? It's even bigger than the hoofprints of Apple Bloom's brother! Now I can wait even less than before, I wanna see him so much!” Sweetie Belle shook her pegasus friend a little out of excitement, then she did a jump into the air and gallopped further into the forest, leaving Scootaloo nervously behind.
As Scootaloo had managed it to rein in the shivering, she quickly proceeded to follow her, not eager to stay alone in the dark, creepy forest around them.
About half an hour, and two more giant hoofprints later, Sweetie Belle was squeakingly pointing to the ground again. “And there's another one! That's already the fourth one we've found! We're clearly on his track!”
Scootaloo looked at her. At this point, she wouldn't have been surprised if she would see the word “enthusiasm” written all over Sweetie Belle's face. If it wouldn't be so dark anyway. The pegasus could still not share the enthusiasm of her unicorn friend, though. As they continued their way, a sudden rain set in. Scootaloo looked up and a smile appeared on her face, the first time since they had left Braeburn's house. Maybe this sudden rain would do her a favor. “Sweetie Belle”, she began, “it's raining. Maybe we should return and try again tomorrow.”
Instead of Sweetie's answer, a thunder growled over Scootaloo's head, followed by lightning. The filly jumped to the side and cowered herself into a pan a little aside from the path.
Sweetie Belle stopped and looked back to her scared friend. She sighed. “You're just afraid of the thunderstorm.”
This made the pegasus angry a little. “I'm not!”, she exclaimed, with a glare towards Sweetie Belle, just to change her claim a second later. “I mean..... I am, but that's not what I'm worried about.” She slowly rose and dusted off her coat from the dirt that was staining it now.
Sweetie Belle let out another sigh as her friend joined her side again. She noticed how much Scootaloo was shaking now and she could guess that it was not just because of the thunderstorm. “You are really too scared to continue, aren't you?”, worry about her friend adorning her face now.
“Mhm.” Scootaloo nodded slowly. Her eyes looked almost like some tears had appeared in them, but Sweetie Belle couldn't tell if it were really tears or just the rain in the gloomy forest.
Sweetie Belle's brain ran intensely, her face showcasing that she was busy with thinking about what to do now. She would have liked to return for Scootaloo's sake now, but her desire to see Troubleshoes, even if only for a second, was an equally strong force in her mind. Scootaloo watched her without saying a word, increased concern appearing on her face. Finally, Sweetie had found a solution. She gave her friend a reassuring hug. “Let's just continue to search for a little while! Just..... half an hour! If we haven't found him until then, we get back to Appleloosa. Okay?”
Scootaloo was unsure, but she nodded. In fact, she still wanted to say no, but now that Sweetie Belle was hugging her like this, she could feel the fear slowly drifting away. “Okay, but really not a minute longer!”, she added to her nod.
“I promise!”, Sweetie Belle answered. She gave her a last squeeze, then she let go of her.
The fillies continued and for most of the time of Sweetie's ultimatum, nothing exciting happened, except Scootaloo occasionally starting to shiver in fear again, which was answered by Sweetie Belle by putting one hoof around her shoulders while they walked until Scootaloo's fear subsided once more.
As the time was almost over, Scootaloo spoke up to Sweetie Belle again. They had found a lot more giant hoofprints since their last stop and they became more frequent. Now she began to worry about it that they could find him for real. “Sweetie? What are we going to do if we really find Troubleshoes? We need some kind of plan.....”
“I have one”, Sweetie answered. “Once we find him, I'll stay here and observe him, while you run back to Appleloosa to get the sheriff to come here and capture him. And if Troubleshoes should leave, I'll follow him quietly and leave signs for you and the sheriff so that you know where he went.”
Scootaloo's heart sank more and more with every word of Sweetie's explanation. She stopped. “No”, she said.
Sweetie Belle stopped in her tracks too and turned around. “What? Why not?” She gave Scootaloo a surprised look.
“I-I can't go through the dark forest back to Appleloosa.”
“But you just walked through it. What's the problem now?” The other filly did not understand.
“Y-Yeah, but we were together. I can't do that alone.....” Scootaloo moved a hoof over one of her legs insecurely and faced the ground.
“So, how should we do it then? I thought it would be okay for you if I stay here and you go back, because you don't have to stay near him then. Do you have a better suggestion what we should do to bring him into jail?” Impatience could be heard in Sweetie Belle's voice now.
“I-I don't know.” Having noticed the shift in Sweetie's voice, Scootaloo began to feel uncomfortable.
“Then just do it. That's the only chance we have”, Sweetie Belle replied.
“I can't!”, Scootaloo shouted at her friend, feeling pressured by her now. “You know that I'm scared of dark forests!”
Now Sweetie Belle's impatience turned into anger. “So, what's with getting our cutie marks together then? If we don't take care of it that Troubleshoes gets imprisoned, then we have to spend another day being bored in Braeburn's house and we don't get to compete in any rodeo!”
“Then we don't! Who cares?” Scootaloo began to become furiously too now. “What you want to do is stupid, Sweetie Belle! If something goes wrong and he catches us, then we are dead! Do you understand this? Dead!”
But Sweetie Belle remained unimpressed by Scootaloo's stern warning and a touch of scorn appeared in her face. “I think you are just a cowardly filly! You are so scared that getting our cutie marks doesn't mean anything to you! And you don't care about it to surprise Apple Bloom with them to cheer her up!” A few tears emerged in Sweetie Belle's eyes, more from disappointment, than anger. As she had ended her sentence, she turned around furiously and continued her way, without so much as looking at Scootaloo again. “I'm going to find Troubleshoes myself then and I will think of something else to capture him!”
“Fine, then do what you want, Sweetie! I'm rather a coward and alive than stupid and dead! And don't think that I will help you if Troubleshoes gets you!”
“I have not expected that from you anyway..... You chicken!”, Sweetie Belle replied without turning around.
That was the last thing Scootaloo heard from the unicorn filly. A second later, Sweetie Belle was swallowed by the darkness and Scootaloo stayed behind alone. She could have sworn that a slight sob was clinging in Sweetie Belle's voice during her last words, but she was not sure and at moment, she did not particularly care about it. Too hurtful was Sweetie Belle's comment when she called her a chicken for being afraid of the forest. Sweetie Belle knew how being called a chicken and being compared with those flightless birds reminded her on her own disability in this regards, but she said it anyway. Their friendship had seen a lot of ups and downs, but this was something she wouldn't be able to forgive her so easily. If at all.
Scootaloo still felt the cold shock, that came up when Sweetie Belle insulted her with the dreadful world, and a few tears ran down her face. No. She shook her head. This wasn't something she could forgive her. Ever. Scootaloo reached up to her eyes and having swept them free from the tears that blurred her sight, she turned into the direction they came from. It was a long way back to Appleloosa, and there was still her fear of the forest, but she was so angry now that she couldn't feel this fear right now.
Scootaloo did a last sniff, then she began to make her way, slowly first, then gradually quicker. “At least it's good for something now that I'm so angry. I want to get out of here before I'm getting afraid again!” She hurried herself and quickened her pace even more, until she moved forward in a fast gallop. While she was running, the conversation Sweetie Belle and she had last raced through her head.
“So, what's with getting our cutie marks together then?”
“Who cares?”
“You are so scared that getting our cutie marks doesn't mean anything to you! And you don't care about it to surprise Apple
Bloom with them to cheer her up!”
“Fine, then do what you want, Sweetie! And don't think that I will help you if Troubleshoes gets you!”
“I have not expected that from you anyway..... You chicken!”
Especially the last word she heard from Sweetie Belle repeated itself in her mind over and over again. She couldn't believe it. “How could my best friend say this to me?”, she pressed out while running. New tears appeared in her eyes and streamed down her face, blurring her sight again. Scootaloo shook her head and quickened her pace even more. Her heart was racing too now and it hurt, but she ignored the stinging pain. “I don't want to hear this word anymore!”, she screamed out into the forest. But it was useless. The word was ringing in her mind and she couldn't stop it.
Still running, Scootaloo reached up to her eyes with one hoof to wipe away the tears as her sight became too blurred to continue. As she could see clear again, she felt something hard at her hoof and fell face forward into the muddy ground. Due to her speed, she slid along the ground for a few seconds before she came to a halt.
Then she gave in to her feelings. She couldn't contain them anymore. Scootaloo buried her heard further into the ground and began to cry. She estimated that she was halfway back to Appleloosa already, but now it was too much for her to continue. Her heart still hurting, for a different reason now, she cried all her anger and disappointment into the mud. She was crying very loud and her crying would have sounded through the whole forest, if it weren't for the mud she was pressing her face into that muffled the sound of it.
After an especially heavy sob, Scootaloo turned to the side, rolling herself in in the dirt. Her coat became more stained and it looked now like her coat was always of a brown color, but she didn't care. “I won't forgive you”, she said between her sobs. Then her head jerked up. “I WON'T FORGIVE YOU, SWEETIE BELLE!”, she screamed out into the forest, her fear of Troubleshoes completely replaced by other feelings now. She did not reckon with it that Sweetie could hear it, being so far away from the place they got separated now, but part of her angry mind wanted that Sweetie heard what she had to say. Having done a few more sobs, quieter this time, she screamed it a second time, with all the power of her lungs. “I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!”
Immediately after she had spoken out the last word, she heard a sound and twitched in fear. For a moment, Scootaloo shrugged it off as her imagination, but she soon realized that it was real. Somepony else had screamed there. And unlike hers, this scream was not filled with words. It was just a long, fearful scream. And very high-pitched. Scootaloo knew immediately that it was Sweetie Belle who screamed there.
She slowly rose back to her hooves. “Sweetie Belle?”, she asked in surprise, while rubbing the remaining tears out of her eyes, making her look worse by smearing brown streaks of mud on her eyelids. She looked around, estimating the distance again she had come since Sweetie Belle left her, then she shook her head in disbelief. It was impossible. She had come so far, but the scream was so loud like Sweetie was nearby her. Then she heard the scream a second time. There was no room for misinterpretation. It was clearly Sweetie Belle's voice.
Scootaloo trotted into the direction she heard the scream coming from, but then she hesitated and trotted the few steps she had done backwards again. “No, I'm not going to look for her”, she said to herself. “She probably saw some spooky shadows around her or some scary looking trees and got afraid. Who is the chicken now?”
Scootaloo turned around at the spot, turned her back to the direction Sweetie's scream came from and made her way towards Appleloosa again. At least into the direction she suspected Appleloosa to be. Since she landed in the mud, she was not entirely sure anymore from which direction she came. Her eyes fixated on the path in front of her, she trotted along the muddy path, ears only concentrated on the squishy sound her hooves made on the ground. She had intended to not pay attention to any screams by Sweetie Belle, if she should make some more. But to her surprise, she couldn't hear anything anymore. There were only the sounds of the forest around her. The raindrops hitting the ground. The wind in the trees. The howling of an owl. It was almost quiet now.
“Too quiet”, a voice rang in her head suddenly. Her heart began to race. The sudden silence felt like somepony tried to bury her under a big, heavy blanket. She shook the upcoming thought away. “I'm not going back!”, she exclaimed. “Sweetie Belle has to look after herself now. Why do I even care?” She did not stop and continued on the path, her eyes and ears even more fixated on the ground under her hooves now. But the feeling did not go away. As she had brought another few meters behind her, she gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, then she turned around hastily and began to trot back to where she heard the scream. “I can't believe I'm doing this!”, she called herself out.
As she was back at the spot where she was lying in the mud and heard the scream, she stopped and listened, her ears twitching occasionally at every sound she heard. She remained like this for about a minute, but she couldn't hear another scream from Sweetie Belle. Her heart began to race again. She thought for a moment about it where she heard the screams coming from, then she moved towards this direction, occasionally shaking her head in disbelief, but sporting a worried expression now. She had to make her way through a lot of brambles, not without getting away with some scratches in the process, but she didn't notice the pain on her skin.
As she had made her way through the brambles, she stood in front of a slope.It looked like the heavy rain had washed away something of the solid ground she stood on. As she looked down the slope, she could see that a broad river of mud and rainwater was flowing down on it. From the bottom of the slope, faint crying found it's way into her ears. Scootaloo looked at the stream that was flowing down the slope. It was the fastest way down. She would also get very dirty when jumping into it, but she was already dirty anyway, so it didn't matter.
Scootaloo took a deep breath, then she jumped into the brown stream. As she had almost arrived at the bottom, she quickly jumped to the side. A sharp branch, long enough to impale her, was protruding from the ground and the stream lead directly towards it. She exhaled deeply. “That was close.....”, she muttered to herself. The crying was louder now. She could hear it coming from behind a tree on the other side of the stream and made her way there. As she was behind the tree, she found Sweetie Belle.
The little, white filly was lying on the ground, her face leaned against the bark of the tree. Heavy tears streamed down her face and had soaked the coat of her face. As Scootaloo looked down on her body, she could see the reason for her distressed state:
A branch shorter than the one that almost impaled herself, but not any less sharp, was sticking in Sweetie's right hindleg. The wound it caused was bleeding strongly and had turned the surrounding hairs of Sweetie's coat into a dark crimson.
A smile flashed over Scootaloo's face as she saw her worries unconfirmed, but it was soon replaced with a cold expression again. Sweetie Belle hadn't noticed Scootaloo's presence yet, she was too caught up in crying and too distracted by the throbbing pain in her leg to be aware of her. Scootaloo didn't say anything. Instead, she snorted, then she bent down on Sweetie's leg, took the branch between her teeth and pulled it out quickly.
Sweetie's eyes shot open widely and a loud shriek escaped her mouth and resounded through the forest. A few whimpers of pain followed, then, as the pain from Scootaloo's abrupt move began to subside a little, Sweetie slowly rose her head to see who pulled the branch out of her leg. “Scootaloo?”, she asked with a tear-filled voice. “Why did you come back?” The pegasus didn't answer.
Scootaloo walked past Sweetie, without looking at her, and took position in front of her. She bent her knees and lowered her body a little.
Sweetie Belle looked confused at her. “Scoots?”
“Get up and climb on my back”, she said taut.
The harsh tone in her friend's voice made Sweetie Belle flinch. She hesitated a moment and eyed the ground, fear and a touch of guilt in her eyes, then she slowly proceeded to do what Scootaloo told her and climbed clumsily on top of her. Sweetie Belle rested her chin on Scootaloo's head. Her leg was hanging down limp at Scootaloo's flank. It was still bleeding, now that the branch was gone even stronger than before, and the pain was so strong that Sweetie felt like her leg would fall off any moment. As Scootaloo sat herself into motion, slower than before with having to carry the little unicorn now, Sweetie's eyes looked down at her. “Scoots? Why did you come back?”, she repeated her question from earlier. As her friend gave once again no answer and just continued her way stoically, Sweetie Belle buried her eyes into her mane and began to cry into it.
Scootaloo looked up for a moment as she heard the crying of her friend, but she quickly concentrated on the way that lied before her again. She didn't know where they should go now. Coming back to look for Sweetie Belle and sliding down the slope had finally robbed her of any sense for orientation. She was completely lost. And she couldn't get back up the slope with Sweetie Belle on her back. If she would try, both of them would just fall down again. Scootaloo thought on the long branch she barely avoided at the bottom of the slope and shuddered. No, the slope was definitely not an option. Instead, she decided to wander around the hill in hope to find an easier way back up.
On her way around the hill, her mind raced. There was still the risk to meet Troubleshoes somewhere in these woods and if they did, she had no idea what to do. She couldn't fight with Sweetie Belle on her back and trying this would probably be useless anyway. She remembered the giant hoofprints and tried to imagine how big Troubleshoes must be. With such a size, she knew, he would also be a lot stronger than most stallions. A filly like her would stand no chance against a giant like him. Running away would also prove difficult. She was a lot slower than usual with the additional weight on her back and running was barely possible. Not to mention that Troubleshoes would probably just shoot after them. The pegasus filly shivered in fear at the thought. The only thing she could do was hoping that they would be lucky enough to not meet him.
As Scootaloo had just come around a bend, she could see something in the distance. It seemed like a house, but it looked more like an old circus wagon. The door was open and no light was shining out of it. The place was abandoned. Scootaloo's thoughts circled. She had the urge to take shelter in the house, but she also realized that it was possible that this house was Troubleshoes' hideout. And if he would find them there..... But she also couldn't deny the fact that she was exhausted. Sweetie Belle had roughly the same weight as her and carrying her began to wear her out. And Sweetie Belle's injury was a problem too. It was still bleeding strongly and Scootaloo had no idea how much blood a filly her age could lose before it began to become dangerous. And the wound was dirty. If it should become infected, things would get much worse. She had to clean it somehow. And this place was her only chance to find something to do that. Hesitantly, she set herself into motion again, towards the house. It was a huge risk, but there was no other choice.
As she was in front of the house, she stood still for a moment to listen. Her ears moved around and she concentrated on the area around her to catch any suspicious sound from inside or around the house. But all she could hear were the sounds of the forest and the steady crying of Sweetie Belle, who still pressed her face against her mane. More confident, but still carefully, she approached the entrance door. After having done a observant look into the house from the doorstep, she trotted into it and turned around to close the door.
It was easier said than done. The door was very big and the wood it was made out of heavy and she could barely move it with her head. As she realized that it was no use and had decided to just let the door open then, she noticed a green glow around the door. She pressed her head against the door again and together with Sweetie's magic, she finally managed it to close it. She was relieved that the door was closed now, but when she looked up the door and saw that there were no locks on it, worry appeared on her face. She was silently praying that this house was not Troubleshoes' hideout and just an old, abandoned shack by a pony that has maybe moved to Appleloosa years ago.
As she had teared away her eyes from the door and turned around once more, she trotted to the right, towards the bed that had caught her attention moments earlier when she was looking through the shack. She took position at the side of it and pulled down the blanket. Sweetie Belle climbed carefully from her back into the bed, cautious to not put any weight on her injured leg and lied down on the pillow. Scootaloo sighed relieved over the loss of the weight on her back. Then she stretched out the blanket over Sweetie Belle and made sure that every part of her body was covered with it.
Sweetie Belle presented her friend with a thankful, but shy, smile. As Scootaloo just turned around without saying a word or answering the smile with a smile on her own, Sweetie's eyes began to tear up again.
Scootaloo didn't notice and she knew if she would, she wouldn't care for it. Usually, she couldn't stand it to see Sweetie Belle cry, but currently, her heart felt only cold. And it did not change as she heard Sweetie Belle whimpering and sobbing again a moment later. Instead of paying attention to the crying filly, she began to search around in the drawers and shelves of the house. It was necessary to take care of Sweetie Belle's injury and she needed to find something to clean it. Or, even better, bandages to stop the wound from bleeding. But unfortunately, luck was not on her side. All she could find was a half-empty bottle of hard cider and a few tissues. Her face frowned, but she knew it was better than nothing. “At least enough to disinfect the wound”, she said. Scootaloo took the bottle and the tissues and returned to the bed with them. She placed the bottle on the floor and removed the blanket from Sweetie's legs.
The next problem was to make the tissues wet. There was no water in the house anywhere. But at least this problem was an easy one to solve, as it was still raining. Avoiding to having to close the heavy door again, Scootaloo opened one of the windows and was holding out the tissues under the steady raindrops until they were completely soaked with water.
She placed them on the bed besides Sweetie's legs, took one and wrang it out. Then she proceeded to Sweetie's injured leg and began to clean the wound. The cover and the underlying mattress were already soaked with blood, a little bit of it dripping down on the floor. The wound was encrusted, both with it's own dried blood as well as with dirt and mud from the forest outside. Ignoring Sweetie Belle's whimpering, that had started to become more intense as she began to clean her injury, she concentrated her mind on the important task. She was thoroughly with the cleaning, but the more time passed, the more her mind switched back to the conversation Sweetie and she had last and the word was clinging in her mind again.
“Chicken. Chicken. Chicken.”
She shook her head and tried to get rid of it, but like the last time it was useless. She concentrated herself more on the cleaning, as she felt the anger, of which she thought she had screamed out everything of it when lying in the mud earlier, rising in her again and her movements became quicker. She was now completely deaf to Sweetie Belle's whimpering and crying and, unnoticed by herself, she gritted her teeth and began to put more pressure on the spots she was cleaning.
But Sweetie Belle was noticing it. Suddenly, a loud shriek by Sweetie Belle threw the pegasus filly out of her trance. “Scootaloo!”, Sweetie Belle cried out painfully, as she couldn't endure it anymore. “You're hurting me! Can you stop pressing on it so much?” Her voice was tear-filled and all her pain was manifested in it.
After having heard that, Scootaloo stopped for a moment and shot her an angry glare. “You can be happy for it that I'm even trying to help you after what you called me today!”, she snapped back at the distraught, little unicorn. This was all she said and she turned her attention back to the wound in front of her and continued to clean it, though, she did it more gentle again now.
Sweetie Belle's head flinched back a little as Scootaloo's sentence washed coldly over her. For the next minutes, she was making no sound. Even her crying had stopped. Avoiding looking at her friend, she fixated the blanket on her.
Scootaloo felt like her angry reaction had opened some sort of floodgates inside of her. Suddenly, she felt not angry anymore. Only disappointed and sad. And hurt..... And the sudden silence from Sweetie Belle felt to her like a string that was tightening around her heart.
As she was finished with cleaning Sweetie's wound, she reached out for the bottle of cider. She removed the cap from the bottle and was holding it at Sweetie's wound, ready to pour the alcoholic beverage over it. She looked up at Sweetie Belle for a moment and their eyes met each other as Sweetie Belle was looking at the same time down to her, her face showing a fearful expression after having noticed what Scootaloo was about to do. Scootaloo looked back at her wound again. “I-It's going to hurt now”, she pressed out, then she poured the cider over the bleeding wound.
Sweetie Belle screamed again as she felt the liquid burning on her injury. Then she returned to whimpers as the pain subsided once again.
Scootaloo nodded and put the bottle back to the ground. This should be enough. The wound was still bleeding as much as before, but at least it couldn't get infected anymore and she was hoping that they would find their way back to Appleloosa quick enough now. She reached out and pulled up the cover a little to dry Sweetie Belle's leg from the alcohol on it, then she put the blanket back over it. She knew that Sweetie did not have much time in her condition, but she wanted to give her at least a few additional minutes rest before they would continue.
Scootaloo put the cap on the bottle again and put it back where it was, just in case anyone who maybe lived here would hopefully not recognize a difference. As she turned around, she froze and her eyes widened. Sweetie Belle stood in front of her suddenly, eyes full of guilt and tears and her injured leg lifted into the air.Before she could say anything, Sweetie Belle wrapped her up in a tight hug and Scootaloo could feel her wet eyes pressed against her neck.
“I'm sorry, Scootaloo!”, she said under tears that streamed down her cheeks now. “I never wanted to call you a chicken. I didn't wanted to hurt you.”
Scootaloo did not answer the hug. “Then why did you say it? You know what this means for me.....”
Sweetie Belle sniffed. “I-I know..... I was just so angry a-and I hoped we would get our cutie marks together here in Appleloosa, but when you said you don't want to go back to get the sheriff, I..... I.....” She shivered as a heavy sob interrupted her speech. “I was just so disappointed and thought it doesn't mean anything to you. And then you said you wouldn't help me if Troubleshoes gets me.....”
Now Scootaloo put a hoof on her back. “Of course I would help you! And it does mean something to me. But if that means that we must find Troubleshoes to do that.....” She stopped for a moment. “That's too dangerous. Do you understand now, Sweetie?”
The unicorn filly nodded weakly. “Mhm.” She released the hug and faced Scootaloo, but she avoided to look into her eyes. “And now I got us into big trouble. I feel guilty.” She let her head hang while the tears continued to stream over her cheeks.
“It's okay, don't worry about it”, Scootaloo tried to calm her. She moved a hoof over her eyes and cheeks, wiping off her tears. “We'll find a way back!” She gave her a reassuring smile before she became serious again. “But now I want that you go back in the bed for a few minutes. I want that you rest a little longer before we go outside again.”
But Sweetie Belle shook her head violently. “No, we can't!”, she exclaimed. “After I fell down the slope and before you came, I saw a huge shadow walking between the trees in the distance! I think it was Troubleshoes, he's here somewhere! We need to go now!”
“WHAT?!”, Scootaloo exploded at her. “Why haven't you told me this? Maybe he's already here now!”
Sweetie Belle opened her mouth in shock and tears returned into her eyes over this sudden angry reaction of her friend again. “I-I wanted to tell you, but you were so angry and so I didn't dare to say anything.....”
Now it was Scootaloo who looked guilty. She wrapped her in a hug on her own. “It's okay, just forget it! Let's better get out of here quickly! If this is his hideout, then he will come here sooner or later!” She let go of Sweetie and made a few steps forward. “Come on, we must hurry!”
Sweetie Belle nodded and climbed on her back again.
Together, they opened the door again, with their combined efforts of body strength and magic, and Scootaloo rushed out of the shack as quick as the weight of Sweetie Belle on her back allowed it.
It was still raining, but Scootaloo did barely notice it. On a much quicker pace than before they entered the shack, she trotted through the night, back to the hill and then further around it, in hope that her direction was right and that they would finally find a way back up. And this time they were lucky. After a few minutes of searching, Scootaloo finally found a path that led upwards and quickly made her way up the hill. A thunder sounded above her, followed by a blue bolt that almost across the whole sky, but this time she was too nervous to get afraid and the fear of meeting Troubleshoes did not left any room in her mind for another fear. “We made it, we're back up the hill now, do you see, Sweetie?”, she asked her friend excitedly.
“Mhm”, did it came as answer from her back, but Sweetie's voice was very weak.
“Sweetie? Is something wrong? Why are you so quiet?”, Scootaloo asked her worriedly, as she continued her way.
“I..... just feel so dizzy suddenly”, she answered quietly.
“Just hold on, ok? I'm sure we're back in Appleloosa soon!” Scootaloo's voice trembled.
“I'm trying”, Sweetie replied from her back.
Another few minutes later, Scootaloo suddenly laughed and pointed ahead of them. “There! I can see the lights of a house in the distance! We're almost back! Did you hear, Sweetie? We're almost back in Appleloosa! I can bring you to the hospital now!”
“My heart is beating so fast. It hurts.....”, came as the only answer from Sweetie Belle, then she fell off of Scootaloo's back and into the mud suddenly.
“Sweetie Belle?!”, Scootaloo gasped out in shock and stopped. She turned around and eyed her friend, who was lying motionless on the ground now, with a concerned expression. Sweetie Belle's eyes were closed and her breath was going fast.
Scootaloo sat down in front of her and tried to lift her up. She felt her cold body shivering under her hooves. “Come on, Sweetie Belle, it's not far away anymore! Please get up now!” But it was useless. Her friend had fell unconscious. Tears shot in Scootaloo's eyes. “Oh no..... What should I do now? We're so close. Sweetie Belle.....”
She got up again and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. “It's okay, Scootaloo”, she began to talk to herself. “You must be strong now! You must run back to Appleloosa and get a doctor before it's too late!”
Everything in her strived against leaving Sweetie Belle alone here like that, but she knew it was the only choice she had. Scootaloo put a hoof on Sweetie Belle's mane gently. “Please, hold on, Sweetie Belle! I'll come back with a doctor soon!” Then she began to run in the direction of the house she could see in the distance. But she did not come far. Just after a few steps, she was looking into the barrel of a gun and she stopped abruptly in her tracks.
In front of her stood a very big stallion, looking down at her with the most grim and evil expression she had ever seen, and holding the gun in front of her face. His hoof was as big as Scootaloo's head. A big ten-gallon hat was sitting on top of his own. Instinctively knowing who it was, the filly made a few steps back.
“It was you”, the stallion began. “You were in my house.” His voice was piercing the air and to Scootaloo, it felt like it was piercing her too. Piercing like he would probably pierce her with the knife he undoubtedly had somewhere. If he wouldn't shoot her first.
Scootaloo gulped. “T-Troubleshoes?”, she asked with a shaking voice, grasping her fearful mind on the tiny hope that it was maybe somepony else. Somepony less dangerous and violent that can be talked to.
“That's my name”, he blecked his teeth and grinned at her maliciously.
Scootaloo continued to trot backwards, but the stallion did not let her out of his sight and followed her slowly, the gun constantly pointed towards her face.
“I don't appreciate it when someone breaks into my house. Steals my supplies. Drinks my cider.” A dry laugh sounded from his throat. “Why do two fillies like you even drink cider? Did your mommies not tell you that cider is only for the big ponies?” His voice became mocking now.
He pointed behind Scootaloo. “It looks like I won't have to take care of your friend anymore. She's done soon. Saves me some time”, he said coldly.
New tears shot in Scootaloo's eyes and quickly poured down her face. “N-No”, she pressed out fearfully. “I-I'm still going to save her.”
“Is that so?”, Troubleshoes continued his mocking. “And I thought you know who I am. But it looks like you're just a crybaby that hopes and begs for her life until the end like everyone else.” With these last words, he put his gun right between her eyes.
“N-No..... P-Please let me go. Let Sweetie go.....” Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut in fear, then everything became dark for her. Suddenly, she felt the gun retreated from her face.
“Lucky for you my gun is empty today. Wasted the last bullets on the two bastards I took out this night. So I won't shoot you.” Having said these words, he put back the gun into his holster and pulled out a knife from his belt instead and approached Sweetie Belle with it.
“W-What are you doing? Let my friend go!” Scootaloo gathered up all her courage and jumped on the criminal's back, where she started to beat his massive body with her tiny hooves.
Unimpressed of the filly's actions, he continued his deed and as he was finished, he threw the body of the filly behind Scootaloo on his back.
Scootaloo turned around hastily and stopped breathing for a second.
Sweetie Belle's breath was still going as fast as before, but now, the upper part of her injured leg was ligated with a strong leathery strap.
Scootaloo clasped her hooves around Sweetie Belle and hold her against her as the stallion on who's back they were sitting suddenly gallopped away in full speed. The stallion was gallopping so fast that Scootaloo got dizzy and became afraid she and Sweetie Belle would get thrown off of his back. Looking to the side, she could see the landscapes rushing past around them until she could see the first blurry objects that seemed like houses around them. And as fast as their involuntary ride began, as fast it was over suddenly. Scootaloo did not even have time to sort her thoughts on what just happened.
All of a sudden, Troubleshoes stopped some distance away from a big building and Scootaloo, who was still holding Sweetie Belle in a tight grasp, felt lifted off and put on the ground.
She put Sweetie Belle back on top of her and then turned around to her unexpected rescuer, her mind still busy with processing what just happened over the last few minutes. But all she could see was Troubleshoes' dark silhouette gallopping away into the night and back into the forest again. “Did Troubleshoes just.....?”, she muttered puzzled, but then she shook her head. She had something more important to think off now and as she looked at the big building in the distance, she could read the words “Appleloosa Hospital” in the light that shone out of the windows. Without wasting anymore time, she brought herself to a fast trot and made her way to the entrance door of the hospital.....
~*~
“I ran out of the forest with Sweetie on my back and suddenly I saw the hospital in the distance and I entered it as fast as I could!” Scootaloo took a deep breath as she had finally finished telling Applejack and Braeburn what happened a few days ago in the nightly forest.
Sweetie Belle, who sat in a bed beside her, clapped her hooves together and laughed in joy, an occasional, happy squeak leaving her mouth. It was something she couldn't hear often enough; the story how Scootaloo saved her life.
Applejack and Braeburn on the other hoof were not so enthusiastic about the tale. Especially Applejack was angry about it and gave both of them stern looks. “What ya two did was a plumb crazy thing!”, she called them out.
Sweetie Belle stopped laughing and both fillies looked down ashamed.
“Can ya guess what would have happened if ya would have really met Troubleshoes? Ya wouldn't sit here and get this talk from me, that's what!”
The two fillies looked sad into her face. “We're sorry”, they said in unison.
“The only reason why ah don't punish ya'll right now for sneaking out at night with an outlaw looking for easy victims like ya around is because Sweetie Belle needs to recover first. But just wait until she's out of the hospital again!”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shared an unhappy glance with each other.
“Now, Applejack, cut the fillies some slack!”, Braeburn intervened. “They had to go through so much in this night, do you not think they are punished enough?”, he asked her.
“Fine”, Applejack replied in a softer tone. “Ya two recover from the events first. But we're going to have another talk about this once we're back in Ponyville.” She gave them a last stern look, then trotted out of the room.
Braeburn looked at the two fillies and winked them like he was saying “Don't worry, everything will be fine.” Then he joined Applejack and left Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle alone together.
They waved after him and as the door was closed and they couldn't hear the hoofsteps of Braeburn and Applejack anymore, Scootaloo turned around and faced Sweetie Belle.
“You haven't told them what really happened. Nothing about Troubleshoes. Do you think it was right to lie about that?”, Sweetie Belle asked her friend.
Scootaloo nodded. “Mhm. We don't know where Troubleshoes is now, but if we had told them that he was really here in Appleloosa, they would search for him and maybe find and arrest him. You know the punishment for outlaws who killed other ponies.”
“But was it really right from us to decide to not tell anypony about him? He is dangerous, after all.”
“I know. But he also saved you. And I'm thankful for it that he saved your life. Are you not anymore?”
“No, I am thankful for that! It's just..... He has done other bad things. I'm just not sure if it's right to keep it a secret.....” Sweetie Belle looked down at her blanket, her face full of insecurity.
“But he could have killed us too! He had every chance to do it, but he didn't. I think he isn't so bad. Maybe it's even wrong what everypony is saying about him.”
“Maybe you're right. I wouldn't like that somepony who has done nothing gets into jail because of us.” Sweetie Belle looked out of the window for a moment, then back to Scootaloo. “And the most important thing is that he has done nothing to us. He let us alive, so we have no reason to cause him any trouble.” Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo a smile and Scootaloo was answering it with a smile on her own.
Their determined expressions showed that they would keep it a secret for all times what the notorious outlaw had done for them.....