Author's Note: Merry Christmas.
Warnings: Violence, uncomfortable subjects, death (not of a major character), underage drinking (sorta). If I should add warnings, tell me.
Chapter Two: Forest Fever
They woke up to Scootaloo throwing up in the bushes to the side of the clearing. Her orange coat seemed soaked in sweat so much so that her mane stuck to her neck.
"One of the plants must have been poisonous," said Sweetie Belle, frowning in Scootaloo's direction as the orange filly groaned.
"What? I thought we all agreed not to eat anything until you had identified if it was good or not," said Apple Bloom worriedly.
"We did, but Scoot picked her roots with her mouth yesterday. She didn't carry them in her pouch like you did," said Sweetie Belle. A bad thought entered Apple Bloom's head.
"And she didn't have scissors like me," a sob caught in the earth pony's throat. "This is all my fault."
"No," Sweetie Belle practically shouted and then she blushed. "No, Scootaloo should have realized, I should have…"
"It's no use fighting, and Sweetie's right," said Scootaloo, who still looked like she could be sick at any moment. She stumbled a little and both her friends ran to make sure she didn't fall over. They led her over to her blanket and laid her down. Scootaloo still looked green and sweaty, but at least she wasn't throwing up anymore.
"We need to get her back to Ponyville," said Sweetie Belle, prancing from one hoof to the other.
"Will they help her?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Of course they will," said Sweetie Belle, but almost immediately she seemed to lose her confidence and almost deflate. "They have to."
"Like they have to take care of us because we're fillies?" asked Apple Bloom, not daring to look up at her friend. Sweetie Belle felt her chest constrict and then shook her head, her mane flopping limply from side to side, twigs caught in her curled mane.
"What else can we do?" asked Sweetie Belle softly. Apple Bloom sighed and looked around the Everfree forest. What could they do? They were just fillies, worse, they were blank flanks. How could they be expected to cure their friend? They weren't one of the doctors at the hospital, or Zecora with her fancy potions.
And then Sweetie Belle smiled. Apple Bloom had been the one who had spent the most time with Zecora. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure what it was about the potions her earth pony friend liked so much, potions weren't Apple Bloom's talent (they'd checked), but maybe Apple Bloom's interest would mean they could save Scootaloo. Apple Bloom just had to remember what she'd learned.
"Do you remember anything from your lessons with Zecora?" asked Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom looked uncertain. "A potion that cured food poison, or…"
"I know this," said Apple Bloom, cutting off Sweetie Belle. She had to think and Sweetie Belle was just distracting her. She scrunched her eyes closed and tried to think back to her lessons with Zecora. "I know this! Zecora gave me a lesson in antidotes when we first met, because of that poisonous joke incident. Before we do anything, we have to figure out what she ate. Scootaloo, what exactly do you feel, besides nauseous?"
"Sick, hot, muscles hurt, headache, sore throat," said Scootaloo and then coughed. "So tired."
"Don't go asleep," said Apple Bloom and then she turned to Sweetie Belle. "Your book has a description of possible symptoms to consuming each plant, right? Did you read any of them?"
"I don't remember, but I made a mark on the ones I was able to figure out. Let me just look, maybe it'll come back to me," said Sweetie Belle and then she rushed over to look at the book. Apple Bloom nodded. Scootaloo also coughed and in Apple Bloom made it clear that she had to do something that second. But Zecora had been very clear. When someone was poisoned, especially like this, a pony had to be careful. Scootaloo wasn't allowed to eat, and until they knew what she'd been poisoned with Apple Bloom couldn't really treat Scootaloo.
Scootaloo had said she felt hot so the pegasus probably had a fever. Apple Bloom took her own blanket and poured some cool water on it until it was soaked through. She carefully arranged it on Scootaloo's forehead. Scootaloo moaned and her legs gave a little kick.
"Don't go to sleep Scoot, not yet," whispered Apple Bloom. She felt tears in her eyes as she looked down at her sick friend. How long had the orange filly been sick? She hadn't shown any symptoms the night before. Apple Bloom knew she would have noticed at the very least when they all were a little tipsy, well, when the other girl's were tipsy. She had more tolerance to intoxicants.
"Hush now," she whispered. What if it was bad? What if this was the kind of poison that slowly ate away at a pony until they died? What if it was slow and painful and what they really should be doing was cantering as fast as they could to Zecora's so the zebra could heal Scot? What if Scootaloo died? What would they do? Apple Bloom didn't think she'd ever be able to go home. How could she tell any pony back home that Scootaloo was dead because they were stupid enough to go into the Everfree Forest? Would they would blame her for Scot's death? Would they think Scootaloo deserved to die for all she'd done? No, that was horrible. Apple Bloom couldn't believe that.
Apple Bloom started to cry. Her friend could be dead, and she was worried that everypony would hate her. How could she think that at a time like this? It was horrible. No, she had to concentrate on saving Sweetie Belle, that's all that mattered.
"It's alright. I'll be fine," said Scootaloo weakly, and Apple Bloom felt awful. Scootaloo looked like she was a step away from death's door, and the orange filly was trying to comfort her.
"I found it!" shouted Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom smiled and stroked Scootaloo's mane before she ran back to Sweetie Belle. She came to a sudden stop in front of the unicorn who immediately started reading from her book. "Here we go. These were one of the last things Scootaloo brought to me to inspect. They're called Heart's Bite. The early symptoms fit what Scootaloo said: nausea, flu like symptoms, fatigue. Check if they're little red dots on her tongue."
Apple Bloom went over in a flash to pegasus. She smiled widely at Scootaloo but felt a little weird sticking her hoof into her friend's mouth. Still, it looked like Scootaloo might have fallen asleep again. Apple Bloom opened Scootaloo's mouth and gave it a quick once over.
"Yup, is there a cure?" asked Apple Bloom, a little concerned that Sweetie Belle had stopped talking for a few moments after she finished reading the symptoms. Sweetie Belle bit her lip.
"Well, those aren't all the symptoms, those are just the first ones," said Sweetie Belle. She could feel herself sweating when Apple Bloom looked at her in horror. "She'll still be fatigued and nauseous, but her cough will become wetter, her heart will start beating faster, her legs will swell, and eventually she'll be completely unresponsive."
"What about the cure?" asked Apple Bloom before Sweetie Belle could get to the last symptom. Sweetie Belle's eyes immediately looked down at the page. She probably didn't want to keep reading.
"We need a jade flower," said Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom froze, hitting her head with her hoofs. What was a jade flower? It took thinking, but she remembered before Sweetie Belle had finished up looking up the flower. Apple Bloom was almost one hundred percent sure where to find what they were looking for. Still, she cantered over to Sweetie Belle just as the other's hoof stopped on the right page. "These flowers aren't going to be found here. Our best bet would to go to Zecora's and ask her."
Sweetie Belle looked hopeful, but she still looked worried, her eyes glued down on the book. Apple Bloom trotted to her, snapped the book shut, and shoved it into Sweetie Belle's pack.
"No, she's too far away, and it's too much of a risk that she wouldn't give it to us," said Apple Bloom. She started picking up their stuff and shoving it into their pacts. When she was gone she threw Scootaloo's pack over her own. And then Apple Bloom looked down on Scootaloo, her mind working furiously because she knew they couldn't leave Scootaloo here on her own. "I know where I've seen them before. Remember when we got catapulted to that old castle?"
"When we were attacked by brownies?" asked Sweetie Belle dryly.
"Um yeah, but those flowers were there. Fluttershy pointed them out because she thought they were beautiful," said Apple Bloom. "Plus, we know not to break anything in there anymore."
"Yeah, I guess there are worse things living in this forest," said Sweetie Belle. "Do you know the way there?"
"Well, I think it's in that direction," said Apple Bloom, pointing in the direction they'd been heading before they'd stopped to scavenge for food the day before. "But I need help making the sling so we can take Scootaloo to our next destination."
Sweetie Belle trotted next to Apple Bloom, looking sadly down on her sick friend. It took some maneuvering, but eventually they got Scootaloo wrapped up tight in their blankets and attached the ends to themselves so they could drag Scootaloo behind them. Sweetie Belle tried for a few minutes to levitate Scootaloo with her magic, but she couldn't levitate a leaf. Scootaloo coughed and Sweetie Belle thought it sounded like one of those 'wet' coughs. So she gave up, Apple Bloom's tumbling was more effective than her trying to finally learn magic.
Apple Bloom hoped they were going in the right direction, and that it wouldn't take too long to get to the castle. Hopefully it would take fifteen minutes, thirty minutes tops. But she just wasn't sure. And she really didn't think that it was good for Scootaloo's health to be dragged across the ground like dead weight for very long. `Still, Scootaloo was in no shape to follow along or even move and they needed to get the jade flower fast.
The forest seemed to do on and on, only trees for miles and it felt like they would never reach their destination. Why should they? It might have been a straight forward path if they had started from Ponyville, but now, well, they had gone across a river, and that was one of the things they had to go by, and thankfully they had yet to into any monsters, but Apple Bloom was starting to wonder if they were even going in the right direction.
And then Apple Bloom saw the castle. Sweetie Belle saw it a moment later. They quickly started to untangle themselves from the blanket. They couldn't take Scootaloo across the bridge that way, there were some planks missing, and Scootaloo's weight would drag them all down into abyss below. Really, the bridge didn't look safe enough for one filly to cross, let alone three at once. In the best case scenario they would send Scootaloo across on her scooter while flapping her wings frantically first. But Scootaloo was the one who was sick, and she was starting to get worse.
"Throw her on my back," said Apple Bloom, bending down so it would be easier to push the pegasus onto her back.
"Why don't you two stay here and I'll go across to get the flower?" asked Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.
"We're really far into the Everfree Forest," Apple Bloom pointed out. "We can't let our eyes off each other for a moment. As far as we know, the trees are planning to come to life and kill us."
Sweetie Belle eyed the rickety bridge before snorting and shaking her head in frustration. Still, she didn't contradict Apple Bloom, and even help push Scootaloo onto her friend's back. Still, this seemed like more of a risk than anything. And really, even if Sweetie Belle couldn't fly, she was a fast runner. She could zip over to the old castle, take a flower, and then zip back over to her friends and feed Scootaloo the antidote.
As they crossed the bridge, it felt like the fillies heart was going to pound out of her chest. Or maybe that was Sweetie Belle's own heart racing in fear. Sweetie Belle hoped so. She hoped her imagination was getting away from her and making extra heart beat sounds where there was none. No, that it put in heart beats where she shouldn't be able to feel any. Sweetie Belle wished she hadn't read the book. Everything would have been simpler if they had just eaten grass. She should have told her friends about her parents coming home in a couple of days. What sort of friend was she to keep that sort of thing hidden from ponies she cared about?
"Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom's voice made Sweetie Belle jump in surprise. The yellow filly was halfway across the bridge already. Sweetie Belle smiled nervously and started cantering at full speed across the bridge. Still, this all seemed too easy. No dark forbidding shapes, no wild angry animals trying to kill them, there hadn't even been an eerie fog blanketing the forest floow.
"Apple Bloom," said Sweetie Belle slowly. "Don't you think it's, maybe, a little too quiet?"
"Don't look a gift ponies in the mouth," scolded Apple Bloom, leaning over and letting Scootaloo slowly slip to the ground. Her packs almost fell off along with her friend, but Scootaloo didn't seem bothered. Then again, Scootaloo wasn't doing much of anything at the moment, and she had just been thrown everywhere while they cantered to the castle. Apple Bloom wondered if her friend's breathing seemed a little labored at the moment, as if it was hard for her to breathe. But Sweetie Belle hadn't named that as one of the symptoms. Still, it seemed like an obvious one with the other ones, right? "We need to get that flower."
"Right," said Sweetie Belle, trotting up and then gulping as she looked up at the castle. It really was a sad looking place. It looked like a stiff wind would send it all toppling over and vines grew on and into the very stones. "How do you think Luna got away with wreaking the spirits of harmony with the brownies everywhere?"
"They hadn't moved in yet," suggested Apple Bloom, and then her expression become more determined. "Or they knew better than to attack something that was actually powerful. I mean, once Fluttershy stared them down we didn't see them again. They probably only attacked us because they knew they could beat us. And we need to get that flower so we can't be scared blank flanks anymore."
"But maybe we shouldn't get it in the castle," Sweetie Belle suggested slowly, since no matter how grown up they tried to act, they still were blank flanks. Apple Bloom thought this over and then nodded.
"They'd probably gang up on us if they saw us break the stem," said Apple Bloom while rolling her eyes. She then trotted forward, not waiting for any more excuses. They were at the castle now, and Scootaloo wasn't making any signs that she was getting better. They couldn't dilly dally any more. Scootaloo needed that antidote.
Apple Bloom headed to one side of the castle stairs and Sweetie Belle on the other. Apple Bloom dug at the wet dirt, unearthing some worms, but no blue flowers. She remembered them because they looked like thin glass, but felt hard when any pony touched them. Pinkie Pie had broken one, but she had been jumping around and had stomped on the plant four hooves first. Still, Apple Bloom didn't see any on the vine that was closest to her. What if they weren't in season? What if they were like the poison joke?
Apple Bloom shook her head and looked where the vines, or time, had crumbled the wall and big stones fell across the forest floor. The filly shivered. Winter wasn't close yet, but winter in Ponyville was different from the winter in the Everfree Forest. Unlike the rest of the world, the Everfree Forest would start and end its own winter, but they had always been parallel to Ponyville's winter season. But maybe the inside of the forest was different than the outside.
"I found it!" shouted Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom ran back to see Sweetie Belle throw a bunch of flowers onto the ground and then stomp on them. She almost shouted, but then shut her mouth shut with a click. Scootaloo wouldn't be able to eat the hard flower whole on a good day, certainly not now that she was so sick.
Apple Bloom tried to arrange Scootaloo so she would be in a good position to drink down the antidote instead of letting it spill all over her friend. Sweetie Belle pulverized the hard plant, the tough petals scratching against itself and the ground as it turned slowly into a fine powder. Sweetie Belle then pushed the powder onto a leaf, and then into the top of her canteen, she then mixed in a little bit of water.
"It would be better if we had honey," said Sweetie Belle. "But the book said it wasn't absolutely necessary, only that Scootaloo's throat was probably sore and the honey would help the antidote go down."
Apple Bloom nodded, not really listening, just watching Sweetie Belle levitate the antidote and then bring it to Scootaloo's mouth. The earth pony didn't dare point out to her pink maned friend that Sweetie Belle was finally doing a levitation spell. The moment Sweetie Belle acknowledged what she was doing, the moment the antidote would be dropped, and it was hard enough to find the first one. Apple Bloom titled her friends muzzle Sweetie Belle aimed it just right so the antidote mostly went down Scootaloo's throat. Apple Bloom tried to massage her friend's throat like Applejack had done to her the few times Apple Bloom got sick and had to drink one of the horrible concoctions. But then Scootaloo started coughing and the antidote started dripping down her coat. Apple Bloom held Scootaloo's mouth shut then, and prayed that enough made it into her friend's system so Scootaloo would be okay.
Scootaloo fought a little. It felt like the inside of her throat was in tatters and someone was forcing an entire apple down her throat the wrong way. Her eyes were ringing and she couldn't hear much, and what she could hear was disjointed and made no sense. She tried to break free of whatever was holding her down, but she couldn't. It didn't help that she felt so weak; the thing that felt like a bolder could very well be a blanket.
Was this a good idea? She had wanted to get out of Ponyville. This had been the perfect way to get out of Ponyville, but this wasn't what she had imagined running away would be like. She had always seen her great escape as an adventure where she finally learned how to fly either by herself or with Rainbow Dash's help and then take to skies and toward Cloudsdale where the pegasus would see the tricks she could do and she'd get a full scholarship into the flying school there. Or maybe she'd take to the road, go out to one of the settlements in the west where they needed the extra protection a pegasus, even a grounded one could supply. There she could scooter wide open ground miles and miles where she could scooter to her heart's content. She even a fantasy where she did go into the Everfree Forest and she had adventures of her own where she Fought manticores, overcame cockatrice, and beat every single obstacle that came into her way.
She'd be like Daring Doo, Rainbow Dash's favorite hero.
But her friends had hardly ever entered those fantasies. They had sometimes, mostly when she was in the Everfree Forest. But her friends were born in Ponyville, and they were softer than Scootaloo. Apple Bloom would never leave Sweet Apple Acres, maybe she would go somewhere for vacation, or go explore the world for a week, but she'd eventually find her way back to farm that was just the way her family way. Sweetie Belle might leave Ponyville. She'd retain connections to her home town, maybe even a house, but then she'd take up some job that had her moving constantly from town to town, doing whatever. But Sweetie Belle didn't have a stomach for real adventures. She'd be more like her parents with a nice, boring, steady job.
But Scootaloo never imagined she would stick around in Ponyville all her life. She couldn't. Her place was out there among the clouds or in the wide open plains. Her parents were the ones who had been obsessed with Ponyville and the 'Ponyville method'. Her father hated his wings; maybe it was because her mother had been an earth pony and had made it clear she loved him despite his wings. All Scootaloo knew was that he had always been disappointed that she had been born with wings. So Scootaloo never learned to properly fly. She was stopped from trying to learn to fly on her own, and now she was afraid she would never be able to fly properly. She'd be a pathetic, grounded pegasus like Fluttershy.
And all because her dad was trying to 'honor' his late wife's memory.
Slowly the world stopped spinning. Scootaloo wished there was a moment before she remembered what an idiot she was, but it was all there and she still felt stuffy. Her head was pounding, and her throat made her feel like she'd swallowed a cactus. And now she felt stupid. Of course, she shouldn't have picked those plants with her mouth. She should have realized that one of her friends would have brought scissors, or something similar to get the plants without killing themselves. They probably thought she would have brought something to get the plants or would have asked them.
Still, Scootaloo had told them about the blankets, and they hadn't been smart enough to bring their own. Why had they just left her like that? Sweetie Belle hadn't been so involved in the books that she couldn't have warned her!
"She's starting to look better." Scootaloo blinked and then shook her mane and slowly started to try and get her hooves under her. She stumbled and almost collapsed. This was embarrassing, she felt like a new born foal. "Careful Scootaloo, you're still a little shaky."
"I'm fine," muttered Scootaloo, pushing away from her friends. Her knees buckled, but she just stared hard at the ground. Her friends tried to help her up, but she just pushed them away. "Where are we going now?"
"Home," said Sweetie Belle.
"But the food," said Apple Bloom, and then clamped her mouth shut, eyes glancing over to Scootaloo.
"We don't need it," said Sweetie Belle. She bit her lip, but this was too important. She couldn't act like a scared little filly afraid of her own loot in life anymore. Her fear had almost caused her friend's death. "Mom and dad are coming home and then we'll all have somewhere to stay."
"What?" asked Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle blushed.
"Not right away. They're away on another trip and will be back by next week. I thought we should get food to survive on until then," said Sweetie Belle.
"I guess that makes sense," said Apple Bloom slowly. "But it's obviously too dangerous for us here. Something's different when you don't have somepony watching out for you. It's not like we have Fluttershy ready to track us down and stare down whatever tried to attack us. We'll go home and then maybe you can convince you're parents to take us in or give you food."
Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded her head. She practically felt like trotting in happiness.
"No," said Scootaloo. Both ponies turned toward their orange friend. "I'm not going back to Ponyville."
"But you almost died," said Sweetie Belle, who then recoiled at the glare her friend sent her.
"I don't care. Ponyville has nothing for me now. I'm finding my way out the end of the Everfree Forest and then I'm going to Cloudsdale."
"What? But we can't go to Cloudsdale," said Apple Bloom and then her eyes narrowed. "How long have you been planning on ditching us?"
"It's never been a real plan," said Scootaloo and then she stood her ground. "No, it's always been a plan to leave Ponyville and find someone to teach me how to fly properly before my wings fall off from disuse. But I didn't plan to do it with you two. I hadn't even made real plans yet, but now that I'm here I think it's the perfect time to take off."
"But what about everypony in Ponyville?" said Sweetie Belle, though she quickly realized that this wasn't the right thing to say, especially considering their current situation. "What about us?"
"You two will be fine. The forest is quiet and you'll get home easy. I'm off to Cloudsdale," said Scootaloo.
"But you don't even know the way," snapped Apple Bloom. "And even if you did you, what do you think is going to happen when you get to Cloudsdale? You steal some bits from your old stallion before you left? That flying school costs money."
"I'll get a scholarship," said Scootaloo. Apple Bloom turned away from her friend angrily. Scootaloo didn't understand. Because her family was estrange she didn't know what it was like to worry about money. She'd never had to listen to a family meeting where they all sat together and talked about how they could raise more money and what they had to cut back on until then. It wasn't that Apple Acres was hurting for money, not in the traditional sense, but they needed every big rush with special products that came along. Her family couldn't sell in the winter, and the only time they had enough money to splurge was after the zap apple and cider seasons. Sometimes it still felt like it wouldn't be enough to keep the old place running. The land cost money, something always went wrong or broke and fixing that would take time and bits, their family was big and a lot of those bits went to buying food, clothes, and necessities they couldn't just grow.
"You know how you get a scholarship?" asked Apple Bloom, snorting through her nose. "Because my brother tried that once. He wanted to go to one of those fancy schools in the city so we could better manage our money and make the farm more efficient. He didn't even get enough to pay for a fourth of the cost, and we couldn't spare a bit because we weren't only poor but also losing one of our best and strongest workers."
"Well, you just didn't try hard enough," said Scootaloo and then she trotted backward as Apple Bloom took a couple of quick steps toward her, quickly pushing the pegasus against the stone of the castle. A bit of moss scraped off onto Scootaloo's orange coat.
"You don't get it Scootaloo. You don't get a scholarship because you're bad at something and you need training, you don't even get it if you need it. You only get it if you already good at it and they think they can train ya to be the best," said Apple Bloom.
"But that doesn't make any sense," said Scootaloo.
"Maybe not, but that's the way things are. My sister looked into it because she was mad. Everywhere works that way. Even Cloudsdale. Actually, they're one of the worst when it comes to scholarships and things like that," said Apple Bloom, shoving her friend a little. Scootaloo punched back.
"You're sister must have just been bluffing. You're family would say anything to your family together," said Scootaloo. Apple Bloom turned red.
"No we wouldn't. We support each other, even Braeburn when he went off to settle in the west. We don't force family together. Most of us live all throughout Equestria," Apple Bloom pointed out. "We're just not as flimsy about family as yours is."
"What did you say?" shouted Scootaloo, and the little space between the two friends disappeared as they attacked one another. It was a flurry of quick kicks that missed or glanced harmlessly off their sweaty coats, harmless mane pulling, and biting not even hard enough to draw blood. They kicked up dust, and soon there was enough to almost obscure them from view. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and stared back over the bridge. This wasn't going like it was supposed to. Why couldn't it be the old days when they went into the Everfree Forest or get into pointless arguments just for the fun of it?
A howl sounded from somewhere in the forest. Sweetie Belle's ears flicked to attention, but the sound was soft and mostly overwhelmed by the yelling and name calling behind her.
Another howl split and rang through the forest and Sweetie Belle felt herself instinctively stiffen as if she was getting ready to run away. It sounded kind of like a wolf's howl, though she couldn't be sure.
"Uh, guys," she tried, but the shouting behind her continued and Sweetie Belle hummed the tune of a lullaby under her breath. She was just hearing things.
Another howl split the air something was coming, fast and in a herd, and Sweetie Belle was sure that she now could hear feet on the ground and twigs snapping. "Guys, I think something is coming our way."
She practically shouted the last part, and as she did a loud howl finally pierced through the forest loud enough to pause the fillies in their fighting. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stropped fighting, paused and locked together mid fight. Scootaloo was on the ground, front hooves pushing against Apple Bloom's chest while Apple Bloom held Scootaloo's ear in her mouth.
"Timberwolves," shouted Apple Bloom, immediately backing up from her friend and then helping Scootaloo to stand. "We need to get out of here."
"Are they able to cross the bridge?" asked Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
"We'll just untie the ropes on this side so they can't cross it," said Scootaloo, starting to trot toward the bridge. Apple Bloom caught her tail and pulled her back.
"We need to run," said Apple Bloom and then glared at her friends when neither of them moved. "Timberwolves are mighty powerful. They'd be able to jump that gap."
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle glanced behind them at the bridge and then back at their friend.
"Are you sure?" asked Scootaloo slowly and skeptically. "That doesn't seem possible."
Another howl, this time even closer. Now they could definitely hear the sounds of paws and cracking twigs.
"You want to find out?" shouted Apple Bloom, already turning tail and starting to run. Her two friends didn't bother to answer, just turned with her and started to canter after her. The cutie mark crusaders took off. Sweetie Belle paused only for a second. She closed her eyes, and concentrated, there was a crack that was somewhere between the sound of a small chime or breaking glass that appeared to emanate from her horn and then the ropes on the bridge snapped. Sweetie Belle didn't wait to watch the bridge fall; if Apple Bloom was right then this wouldn't slow them down for long.
The fillies ran, sweat poured down their flanks and into their eyes. Apple Bloom almost ran into a tree and Sweetie Belle tripped five times and was limping. Scootaloo had tried to fly, but the trees always seemed to be too crowded when she first took the first leap, or her wings wouldn't beat strong enough to do more than give her a quick jump, once Scootaloo swore she saw a dragon overhead.
That was another problem; now that Scootaloo was fixed up, everything in the Everfree Forest seemed to be waking up. They still hadn't seen anything but trees; they hadn't even seen the timber wolves, though they could still hear the monsters chasing them. But they did hear things. The rustle of a low bush, the sound of cawing or chirping bird, the roar of something that sounded like a bear.
Apple Bloom lived in fear of running through something like the poison joke or a plant that turned out to be even more deadly. Sweetie Belle kept an eye out for any mystical monsters. Scootaloo only knew they had to get out of the forest. The forest couldn't be that big. It didn't cover the rest of Equestria, or really that much of it. It wasn't like the Everfree Forest stretched on forever. Actually, it was small in comparison to the stories Scootaloo heard her mother tell her when she was young. As soon as they got out of the forest they would be safe. Or safer. At least the outside world operated on a set of rules that Scootaloo understood.
Finally Sweetie Belle collapsed. Her breath was harsh and grating. Scootaloo stared at her, trying to gulp for breath and curl in on herself. She was sure she'd be able to get more air, or that getting the air would hurt less as long as she let her body naturally curl in tighter on itself.
"Oh no you don't," said Apple Bloom, catching her and pushing her away. Scootaloo glared at her friend. Scootaloo couldn't take another step, and it looked like Sweetie Belle was seconds away from passing out. Timber wolves or no timber wolves, they weren't going to be able to keep running. "You need to keep walking slowly; you'll get more oxygen that way. Walk around the cleaning until your breath evens out. I think I hear water, so try and find that while I help Sweetie Belle."
"Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo, still panting. Her friend turned on her. She looked angry.
"You want to cramp up? No? Then keep walking and find some water. Don't gulp it down. That'll make you throw up," Apple Bloom pushed at Scootaloo with her head, but the earth pony wasn't much better off than her friends, panting and wobbling on her feet with sweat stinging her eyes. She trotted off and started talking to Sweetie Belle, her voice soft. The packs on her back were almost falling off. Scootaloo went for water and Apple Bloom started to butt her head gently at her friend, trying to get her to stand.
Sweetie Belle whined and pulled away from Apple Bloom. The unicorn's entire body felt like one huge cramp. But she had never been one for running. When she was younger, sure, she'd run around, and even with her friends she tended to get caught up in the fun. But there was always a part of her that told her she needed to slow down, that there was hardly any point to excessive exercise in civilized groups. More importantly, running wasn't something ponies did for real travel unless that was their job. If a pony wanted to go anywhere far she got a carriage, a train, or anything like that. Civilized ponies didn't run.
Now Sweetie Belle was sweaty, her mane had all sorts of things in it, and she her body was tense and shaking.
"Sweetie Belle?" Sweetie Belle shook her mane and tried to curl into a ball. Her entire body hurt, it just wanted to curl up and never move again. "Come on. You need to get a little water into you."
Sweetie Belle just shook her mane, and Apple Bloom sighed. Sweetie Belle just curled into herself and then tried to breathe in as deeply as she could so that her lungs would stop screaming for air. Apple Bloom sighed and Sweetie Belle let out a breathless squeaked as she was rolled across the ground, trigs and dirt getting caught in her hair and mane, though she couldn't be bothered to care over how much her muscles were screaming at her for running for so long.
Apple Bloom pushed Sweetie Belle into the water, and then thought that might have been a stupid idea when her friend started screaming.
"Good going Apple Bloom," said Scootaloo sarcastically as she pushed the now silent but stunned Sweetie Belle back onto the shore. Apple Bloom ignored them both. She did what she felt she had to, and both of them were fine, just acting like babies. She took a long draught of water, but she did try to remember to pace herself. Scootaloo was helping Sweetie Belle now, despite her obvious dislike at how Apple Bloom had gotten Sweetie Belle to the water, Scootaloo was still following her advice.
"We should keep going," said Scootaloo, looking back in the direction they had come from. Apple Bloom looked up at her friend and glared, but then realized Scootaloo didn't mean they should run away from Ponyville.
"You think the Timberwolves are still chasing us?" she asked.
"I'm surprised they didn't catch up to us. You're gran knows a way to keep them away though," said Scootaloo grudgingly.
"Yeah, but we don't have any pots and pans," said Apple Bloom. "Though we should take this time to fill our canteens."
Apple Bloom took out hers and Scootaloo's. Scootaloo went through Sweetie Belle's back until she found her friend's canteen.
"I can make a loud sound, though not with pots and pans," said Sweetie Belle weakly. She forced herself to stand and then take a huge draft of the water from the river. She winced at the taste, but maybe she was just too picky, used to being told only to drink water from bottles.
"We just need loud sound, and lots of it," said Apple Bloom, pretty sure she knew what she was talking about Sweetie Belle smiled weakly.
"My parents said it was one of the only spells I did when I was a baby," said Sweetie Belle. "I can make noise and lightning."
"What?" asked Sootaloo. "But I thought you couldn't do magic."
"I can't, not really. None of the spells would ever really work with whatever talent I had. I mean, the noise was never beautiful. Mom says that sometimes it sounds like a bell, but only when I do the lightning spell with it, and usually whenever I do that spell I end up shocking someone," said Sweetie Belle weakly.
"What?" asked Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle flinched. She hadn't been able to say the right thing since this entire problem started. She couldn't convince anypony in town to pay attention to her and realized how sorry they were. Her presence had only seemed to irritate ponies. In the Everfree Forest she'd had the job of making sure no one got poisoned, and Scootaloo had gotten poisoned the first day. She had freaked out when her orange friend was sick, and Apple Bloom ended up being the one with the cool head who had to do everything including making the plans, and caring both Scootaloo's packs and Scootaloo herself. Sweetie Belle hadn't helped at all.
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" asked Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle looked up at her friends sheepishly, but her smiled widened when she noticed that her friends were smiling at her.
"How can you know that your spells don't have something to do with your cutie mark?" asked Apple Bloom.
"But they're so useless. They're not like Rarity's or Twilight's," said Sweetie Belle.
"They only seem useless," said Apple Bloom rolling her eyes. "I bet that the cutie mark crusaders could have figured out how they were useful to your special talent."
"Yeah, Sweetie Belle. I can already think of a couple of things we could try right off the top of me head," said Scootaloo and then she stuck her tongue out in thought. "You could be like Vinyl Scratch or Lyra, but with bells. Or maybe there's a special sort of musical instrument that uses both those things that you're one of the few who can play it."
"Maybe you're just really good at making noise," said Apple Bloom.
"We'll figure it out on the way out of here," said Scootaloo with a shrug, securing her packs back on her back. They had lost her blanket along the way, and they still didn't have any food, but at least they weren't timber wolves food.
"Well, we should probably keep heading away from the timber wolves," said Sweetie Belle, standing up, though her legs shook.
"Are you sure?" asked Apple Bloom, watching her friends shaking on her legs uncertainly.
"If we don't start now, then I'm afraid I won't be able to find the strength," said Sweetie Belle. "Plus, we're completely lost. Best bet is to get out of the forest and then ask for directions home from the closest village."
"Alright. We'll get out of this forest and then figure out the way home," said Scootaloo. "And along the way we'll figure out our cutie mark and by the time we get home we'll prove our worth as ponies. This is just the adventure we needed to kick our romps into gear."
"We'll start with every adventure and skill we can do in the forest," said Apple Bloom.
"And we'll have our cutie marks in no time flat," said Scootaloo confidently.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders!" shouted the three fillies, putting their hooves together and then bringing them up triumphantly. They would show Ponyville and their families and they would be sorry they had treated the Cities Mark Crusaders so horribly."