Author's Note: Yeah, I don't know why I wrote this one either. In my defense, I really did think that Twilight was going to hurt one of the Crusaders. So this... this basically sums up what I thought was going to happen.
The unicorn watched the three little fillies from the bushes, a wide grin near enough splitting her face in half. They were all having so much fun together, bouncing that beach ball to one another and leaping and bounding, and they certainly didn't look like they needed any help to play fair.
I'll fix that soon enough, Twilight thought, her mind a mess of suppressed memories and flashbacks and her imagination running wild. She saw cruelty and fillies laughing and Celestia was ever so mad… but wouldn't she be pleased with her student's creativity? Twilight Sparkle, such a good student, yes. Such a very good student, and so innovative, too, and she was going to get that letter in on time. Dear Princess Celestia…
Concentrating briefly, she forced her way into the middle of the group, materialising in the beach ball, forcing it to expand and release her. Well, that was one way to make an entrance. The girls all stopped playing – not that they had much choice – and gave the older mare a questioning glance.
"Hi girls!" Twilight spoke in the friendliest tone she could muster; a high-pitched whine of a greeting that was saturated with malice. The air suddenly became thick with unease, and the three fillies smiled awkwardly at their elder.
"Oh, hi Twilight." Apple Bloom trusted the mare, that much she knew. That would make it easier; the little dears wouldn't run if at least one of them knew and trusted her. Ears twitching, she didn't even wait for Applejack's sister to finish asking her how she was.
"Great! Just great!" she lied, looking past the three girls rather than directly at them. Today I learned a wonderful lesson about friendship! "You three look like you're doing great, too! Looks like three good friends who obviously don't need the help of another good friend!"
With a huge, toothy grin, she brought her old, beat-up Smarty-Pants doll into view. "This is Smarty-Pants! She was mine when I was your age… and now? I'm going to give her to you!"
The crusaders didn't look too convinced. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo unenthusiastically declared that the ragdoll was great, prompting the ever eloquent Sweetie Belle to insist that she "really liked her… mane?" Her original idea… wasn't going to work. And then she wouldn't get her letter to the Princess, and then she would be sent back to magic kindergarten! Well that would not do! Not when Twilight was such a good student, such a very good student yes, and she was never ever ever late with her assignments because only bad, very bad and naughty students were late! And I think three of your youngest subjects gained something from the friendship lesson, too!
The muscles under her eye started and she attempted to disguise it by smiling even wider, the corners of her mouth creasing and folding in a most unattractive fashion. "Oh, but I can see that you're much too mature for Smarty-Pants, aren't you, girls? And I just love my doll so much, so I don't know if I'm quite ready to give her up just yet!"
Surrounding them all in her teleportation magic, she brought the group to the side of the lake.
"And I accidentally popped your wonderful little beach ball, didn't I, girls? But that's okay because OH LOOK, we're at the lake! So you can swim or play with the fishes or something!"
Her skin was positively crawling; she could feel tiny little burrowing things underneath and just itched to bite at them but this was far more important! Her whole life was at stake! Only bad, terrible, mean little brats were tardy! Only vicious, snivelling and putrid pus-dwellers didn't send their reports to their teachers! When I lost my precious family heirloom, Smarty-Pants…
With an almighty kick, she threw the doll into the middle of the lake and watched it as it sank all the way to the bottom. Rubbing her hooves together briefly, she laughed into herself before allowing the show to really begin.
"Oh no girls!" she cried over-dramatically, clamping a hoof to either side of her face. "My Smarty-Pants doll! She's gone all the way to the bottom of the lake!"
The girls gave each other a sideways glance before turning back to the unicorn mare. "Aw, shucks, Twilight; that's a real shame," said Apple Bloom, who stood on the edge of the lake, looking in. The doll could no longer be seen from the surface. "Maybe you should get someone like Big Mackintosh to come help you. He's a sure powerful swimmer."
"There's no time for that!" the unicorn shrieked, looking up to see that the sun was growing ever lower in the sky. Seething, desperate, at her wit's end! Her life as she knew it would be over! She'd be punished so severely! Treated like one of those wormy evil and tricksy BAD students, yes she would! But she wasn't a bad student, oh no no, not a bad student, a very good student! Always on time, always always good and correct and always good at writing and always always on time!
Her eyes flashed white, and the next thing she knew, Scootaloo was nowhere to be seen.
…why, darling Scootaloo went to the bottom of the lake to fish her out for me!
"Scootaloo! Where'd she go?" Apple Bloom shouted and started running around the lake to look, while Sweetie Belle stepped into the water for a clearer view of the middle of the water. Bubbles rose in the centre, quickly and frantic as though a small pony was struggling under the surface.
"There! In the middle!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed before making her way towards the centre. Apple Bloom ran back to Twilight, who was still in a daze.
"Twilight! You gotta help her! Use your magic; do anything!"
"Huh? Oh no!"
This wasn't the kind of problem she'd meant to cause at all!
But I knew Scootaloo wasn't a very strong swimmer.
Now she really did have a problem, and it needed sorted now! Or else she was a very bad student and an evil, evil mare. A very bad little pony, a terrible murderer of a pony! She couldn't let this get any more out of hand.
"Hold on, Scootaloo; I'm coming!" she called out, teleporting herself over the surface of the water. Looking down, she saw a small orange-and-plum-coloured blur and with all of her magical might, she pulled and pulled. But there was resistance. Something under the water had her wrapped up tight… and the bubbles had stopped coming. Tears began to stream down the unicorn's face as she panicked.
"Apple Bloom!" she called, the guilt making her feel sick to her stomach. "Apple Bloom; go get help! We need medical help!"
As the young Earth pony ran off into Ponyville, Sweetie Belle reached the middle of the lake. Trying to stop herself from panicking and failing miserably, she turned to the younger unicorn with blurry, red eyes.
"Sweetie Belle, she's caught on something," she choked out, rubbing her face with her forelegs. "Can you g-get her loose for m-me?"
Immediately, the filly dove under the water, and seconds later she rose with the Pegasus filly and a long plastic hose, mostly likely from a discarded prank by Rainbow Dash. Now that Scootaloo was free, Twilight could teleport her back to the edge of the lake, the doll instantly forgotten about.
So Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and I teamed up and used our heads to save the poor filly!
When the medical team arrived – two pegasi and two unicorns – Twilight was crouched over the orange-and-plum coloured filly sobbing her eyes out. She was also smiling. She had successfully created and solved a friendship problem! Now the princess would see what a wonderful student she was! And so creative and special, and amazing and enchanting and oh how she would be praised for teaching the three girls a lesson, too!
"Tw… Twilight…" Scootaloo coughed, waving her forelegs weakly in the air. "G-get offa me!"
Apple Bloom was whispering something to one of the medical crew and pointing to her, but that didn't matter in the slightest. She had done it, she had finally done it and all was normal again… normal as it had been before…
"Twilight!"
Applejack climbed up next to her unicorn friend. Golly, she looked terrible. Her mane was all over the place and there were bags under her once shiny, beautiful eyes. The mare gave her a large, wide grin, though her eyes were half-closed. The expression on her face indicated a euphoric state.
"Oh, hey AJ," Twilight drawled, sitting down on one of her cushions. "You just missed Fluttershy."
"How're you feelin', sugar cube?" the farm girl asked, so very concerned for her dear friend. Twilight closed her eyes, though her huge, toothy grin remained like some awful and terrifying rictus.
"Oh, fine, I'm fine," she said calmly and evenly, waving a foreleg in the air. "Everything's fine; I'm fine, Applejack." After a pause, through the apparent haze in her mind, the sedated pony opened her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows in worry. "How's Scootaloo?"
"One broken wing and a sprained leg. She's surprisingly fine fer a filly who almost drowned today."
"And the others?"
"Fine. They'll get over it." Another pause. "They know you didn't mean it, Twi. We all know you've just been under a lot of stress and –"
"Don't." Her voice was firm and full of self-disgust. "Just… don't. Stop trying to make excuses for me. What I did was really wrong and really stupid and really evil."
"N-no, Twi; you're just not…"
Another, much longer and more uncomfortable silence. Applejack scraped a hoof nervously along the wood grain on the floor.
"Rarity'll be up to visit later," the blond-maned pony said, trying to change the subject. No response. "And Pinkie Pie said she's making you some nice cupcakes; you know, the nice vanilla ones you like so much."
"Uh-huh."
Applejack cleared her throat.
From this experience, I learned that if you work together you can overcome anything.
"Look, sugar cube," the earth pony spoke gently, standing close to her guilt-ridden and heavily sedated friend. "I'm sorry – we all are – for not realisin' how bad you were feelin' about the whole letter-to-the-princess thing. We shoulda listened to ya and, well, we feel like it's sorta our fault that things went this far in the first place. Gosh, if Spike hadn'ta sent that message to the princess then, well… all sortsa things mighta happened to ya."
Silence. Applejack didn't realise, but on her new medication, Twilight could barely think.
"All ah want to say is, well… ah really am sorry. But I'll be there – we all will – while you're sick and stuff. We want you to get well. And hey, at least you'll know someone else in the therapy group, right?"
After that birthday incident, the others had practically forced Pinkie Pie to start going to therapy sessions. Actually, she was the only one who seemed truly excited about the drowning Scootaloo ordeal, because she had a reason to bring her friend to the sessions.
"Anyway, I'd better get back to the farm."
The earth pony walked away, reaching the ladder to the library before stopping and turning back.
"And Twilight? We WILL get through it. Together. I'll see you tomorrow, sugar cube."
As the door to the library closed, and the unicorn mare was left alone once more, the tiniest of smiles appeared on her tired face.
And no matter what happens, your good friends will always be there to care for you, even if you don't think you deserve it.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Note: I am also sorry for making it poor Scootaloo who got almost drowned.