> A Broken Bloom > by Cinnamon Clover > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Accident > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Broken Bloom ch 1 Summary: "Open your parachute Apple Bloom!" That was the last thing she heard before her small filly body slammed into the ground. Chapter 1: The Accident "I think we should try BASE jumping.” Scootaloo told her two friends as they bolted into the refurbished tree house. It was Friday and Cheerilee had just let her students out of school for the weekend. The CMC were excited to have two full days to try to find their cutie marks, better yet they were going to Scootaloo’s house for a sleepover tomorow night. Least to say, they were very pumped up! …But doesn’t mean Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were quite so excited about Scootaloo’s idea. They looked nervously at each other. They didn’t want to get hurt, but they didn’t want to hurt Scootaloo’s feelings even more so hesitantly they agreed. After grabbing their parachutes and helmets the trio was out the door. 30 MINUTES LATER Now standing on a pad about 100 ft. above the ground in a meadow on the outskirts of Ponyville, Apple Bloom looked down and gulped. She didn't think this was a good idea. "Ok on three. 1...2...3!" Scootaloo told her friends, jumping off the pad.  Both Scootaloo's and Sweetie Belle's parachutes opened. Apple Bloom wasn't so lucky. "Open your parachute Apple Bloom!" shouted Scootaloo as she watched fearfully her friend's decent to the earth. Apple Bloom had tried to but alas her efforts were fruitless, her parachute did not come out. Scootaloo's words were the last things she heard before her small filly body slammed into the ground.  "APPLE BLOOM!" the other two fillies cried as their friend hit the ground. Quickly the two other fillies ran the side of their fallen comrade. She had broken both of her rear legs. That much was obvious. "Sweetie Belle, stay with her! I'm going to get some help!" Scootaloo called out as she got on to her scooter and took off at record breaking speeds. Within a few minutes  she found Rainbow Dash on a cloud over head. "RAINBOW!" the orange filly called out to her idle, immediately getting the rainbow maned mare's attention. Rainbow could tell from her admirer's voice something was wrong. Life threateningly wrong. "What's wrong?" the cyan Pegasus asked fearing the worst, and showing it. "It's Apple Bloom. In the meadow where the daisies grow." was all the filly said. It was all the filly needed to say. Her facial expression and tone of pure fear and worry said it all. Taking off like a rocket, her rainbow colors staining the sky where she had previously been. She was there in ten seconds flat. Upon seeing the injured filly and Sweetie Belle crying over her, Rainbow quickly picked up the prior and flew off just as fast as before, if not faster. Meanwhile, Scootaloo had found and told AJ & Big Mac, the latter of the two went back to Sweet Apple Acres to get Granny Smith. AJ and Scoot sped off in the direction of a rainbow and red stipe heading towards the Ponyville Hospital. 10 seconds later Rainbow Dash with the injured Apple Bloom still in her arms burst into the ER. Without hesitation a nurse got a unused stretcher and took the young filly. Seconds later AJ & Scootaloo rushed through the doors, shortly followed Sweetie Belle, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity & Twilight. They all had a look of deep worry glued to their faces, even Pinkie's usually fluffy mane and tale had gone flat. About three hours the nurse came out. Immediately the ponies asked about Apple Bloom. How is she? Was she going to be ok? Could they go and see her? "She was not looking good when your rainbow maned friend brought her in. She'll have to stay overnight but she'll be alright, I'm afraid her hind legs are broken beyond repair though. As for seeing her, only her family right now. The rest of you can see her when she wakes up." the nurse told the ponies. 'It's my fault she's hurt. It's my fault she'll never walk again. Why did I suggest BASE jumping? WHY!' Scootaloo yelled at herself on the inside. The three members of the Apple family followed the nurse to Apple Bloom's room. What they saw brought tears to all their eyes. She was crying in her sleep like she already knew she would never walk again. It was just too much for the farm family. About an hour later two small yellow eyelids fluttered open to see a white hospital room and her family sitting down in a few chairs. Suddenly her sister got off her seat and went over to her side. It was at that moment she realized she was in a bed, bandages scattered all over her body & her entire body was hurting especially her back legs. "It's ok Apple Bloom. Every things going to be alright." Apple Jack said comforting her younger sister, who was now crying in pain. She then started to stop crying. She felt better knowing her family was near. > Bearer of Bad News > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: The Bearer of Bad News At this point all of her friends had joined them in the hospital room. Though she still felt very sore, she refused to show it in front of her friends. They could see the pain in her eyes though. It was hard for any of them to see her in such pain. It appeared as though she did not remember what happened. It was confirmed when she mustered up the strength to talk. "What...what happened?" she asked quietly and nervously. Her friends gave each other nervous looks upon how to answer this question. Her two closest friends then spoke up, eyes red from tears. "We tried BASE jumping and-and...-" Sweetie Belle started in between sobs. "-your parachute didn't open." Scootaloo finished, crying too. Everypony in the room was crying at this point because they knew the worst of the news was coming up. "Apple Bloom... there's something else you need to know. The doctor said you ain't never gonna walk again." her sister told her through her tears. At that news Apple Bloom broke down into tears, not that anyone could blame her. Her friends and family comforted her to the best of their abilities. They all stayed with her till visiting hours were over at which point only AJ was allowed to stay with her sister. Later That Night "It's my fault!" hollered an angry Scootaloo. Not angry at Apple Bloom, no angry at herself for suggesting something so dangerous that it could get her friends hurt. > Recovery Road > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Note: Don't use my story Clover as a reference. Twist is a good friend of the CMC in this story. Recovery Road   The next day was a hectic one for Apple Bloom. She has been examined thoroughly several times and had continuous check ups throughout the morning. By the time AJ was ready to sign her out she was examined more than fifteen times! She was given a wheelchair to use and told to just rest up for about a week. Then her older sister wheeled her home and promptly put her to bed. AJ then went to the mailbox to get the mail. She found several "Get Well Soon" letters for her sister from various residents of Ponyville. She knew her sister would appreciate them greatly. Not long after that Sweetie and Twist had come over to see how their friend was doing. "She cancelled the sleepover, Apple Bloom. She said if you can't be there, she much rather not have it at all." Sweetie told her bedridden friend. "I wonder why she didn't come with us to see you." Twist spoke up. "Well, I'm glad you girls came." Apple Bloom told her two friends. They stayed until Bon Bon came to pick them up. Author's Note: I'm sorry for another short chapter. The next one will be longer, I promise. > Back 2 School 4 Apple Bloom > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Broken Bloom ch 4 "Bye sugarcube! Have a nice day!" AJ called out to her younger sister. She had gotten Apple Bloom up the steps to the schoolhouse and now had to get back to the farm to do her chores. And yes, today was Apple Bloom's first day back at school since the accident. Ms. Cheerilee was made aware of the current situation and was glad to have the young filly be able to return to class. Apple Bloom had to come to school early though to discuss what she missed and needed to make up. At school Apple Bloom received great amounts of sympathy. Too much sympathy. She didn't wish to become a pity party! "No really guys, I'm OK. You don't have to worry about me." she told her fellow classmates who were surrounding her; she didn't like all the pitiful attention she was getting. Slowly but surely each of her classmates went back to their desks. The rest of the day was actually rather normal for the little yellow filly... Including the day to day insults from Diamond Tiara. "Hey blank-flank, guess you're a cripple now too?" Diamond teased before laughing menacfully. Silver Spoon did not join her in the teasing now though. No, quite the opposite, she stood up for Apple Bloom. "Stop it, Diamond Tiara! Teasing somepony for being a blank-flank is one thing, teasing somepony for a disability is another!" Silver scolded her friend. Now that surprised a lot of ponies. Scootaloo usually would be the one to stick up for her friends but she couldn't bring herself to. Not after the accident. The accident she blamed herself for. Durring recess Apple Bloom tried to talk to Scootaloo but she kept on trying to run away from her. "Scoot, why do you keep running away from me?" Apple Bloom asked on the verge of crying when she finally caught up to the speedy pegasus. She was convinced Scoot didn't want to be her friend anymore. That wasn't the case at all. "I'm...I'm sorry! If I didn't suggest B.A.S.E. jumping none of this would have ever happened!" Scootaloo cried. "Scoot, is that you were avoiding me?" Apple Bloom asked her orange friend whom only responded with a nod. "Scoot, its not your fault what happened! It wasn't your fault my parachute didn't open! Get that thought out of your silly filly head right now and give me a hug!" Apple Bloom told her friend with a giggle. And Scootaloo did exactly that. Sorry I haven't gotten to update in months. I've been having finals, then entrance exams, then WM so I've had my hooves full! > I Wish I Could Run Again > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow, my first time suggesting a song to listen to while reading! Please listen to Stand Glee cast version. Chapter 5 "What do you think we should try this time?" Sweetie Belle asked her two fellow crusaders. It had been about a month and a half since the accident and the crusades had started up again. "I don't know. You got any ideas, Scoot?" replied Apple Bloom. "I don't know, how bout we just talk." Scoot responded. "Girls, can I tell you something?" Apple Bloom asked the other crusaders. "Sure, Apple Bloom" Sweetie replied. "What's on your mind?" Scoot added. "Well..." Apple Bloom started, "I wish I could run again. I miss running around with you two." Later that day after Apple Bloom went back home, Sweetie and Scoot talked about what Apple Bloom told them. "I really wish there was a way to make it so she could walk again." Sweetie sighed. "Me too." added her orange pegasus friend. After a moment an idea popped into Scoot's head. "I know! Maybe we could find a way!" exclaimed the excited pegasus. "Yeah!" agreed Sweetie Belle. They decided to go to the library that weekend while the Apple family was out of town to visit Appleoosa to do research. "Hey Scoot, did you find anything yet?" asked Sweetie. "No, what about you?" replied Scoot. "No, nothing yet... wait! Here's something!" exclaimed Sweetie. She found an article in a magazine about a very new surgery done by a team of specialists in Canterlot. "Hey Twilight, have you heard about this?" Sweetie called the purple unicorn. It didn't take long for all of Twilight's friends to hear about the recent discovery. They had decided it should be the CMC to tell Apple Bloom about the great news at the next CMC sleepover. "Apple Bloom, we have some great news to tell you!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "What?" Apple Bloom asked. "Remember how you said you wished you could run again?" Sweetie explained. "Yeah..." Apple Bloom replied. "What would you say if we said we found a way?" Scoot asked. "I'd say you're the best friends ever." replied Apple Bloom, "Why you ask?" "Apple Bloom, we found a way." Sweetie said happily. "You're the best friends EVER!" Apple Bloom cheered as she hugged her two friends > A Wish Come True > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "App... can...hear me" said a voice. Apple Bloom felt groggy and could not place where the voice was coming from, let alone who was saying it. Everything was a blur. After a moment or two the events that lead up to this came back to her. "Huh, what did ya say?" she asked. "I asked- nevermind" the stallion doctor replied, "You should be able to leave in the morning for the rehabilitation center in Ponyville. You're sister and friends are here to see you. Should I let them in?" "Can Ah just talk with Apple Jack for a few minutes?" the yellow filly asked. The doctor just nodded in response before leaving the room. "Hey sis, nice ta see that ya woke up!" AJ exclaimed as she entered the room. "AJ, ah just wanted ta thank ya... for everything ya have done ta help me after the accident." the filly thanked the element of honesty sincerely as she embraced her in a hug. "No prob, Sugarcube!" the orange farm pony replied happily before breaking the hug. "Would it be ok if ah could talk to Sweetie and Scoot for a few minutes?" the small filly requested. "Sure, Sugarcube." the orange mare agreed before exiting the room. Moments later, Apple Bloom found herself being bear hugged by her friends. "It's...nice...ta...see...ya...too...can't...breathe!" she choked out. "Oh, sorry" Sweetie Belle apologized as she and Scootaloo let go their grip around their friend. "Ah can't thank y'all enough for all ya did for me." Apple Bloom spoke calmly. "Don't mention it! What are friends for!" Scootaloo grinned. "Yeah, we're gonna be Cutie Mark Crusaders Best Friends Forever!" Sweetie cheered Epilogue It had now been six months since Apple Bloom's return from Canterlot. Her recovery went smoothly as expected. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had just finished for the day. Everything was back to normal.