Ch.2: Feeling Ignored

After running for a bit, Spike and the girls stopped to catch their breath, seeing that the Cockatrice isn't chasing after them. Spike then turned to the CMCs with concern.

"You girls okay?" he asked. "Did it hurt any of you?"

"No, but I bet it tried to," Scootaloo answered, looking back behind her.

"Good thing Derpy saved us," Apple Bloom pointed out.

"C'mon," Sweetie Belle said. "We'll go tell the others." They then set off again as fast as they could go until they've reached Fluttershy's place. When they did, they found Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Big Macintosh by an incubator. They were unloading some baby chicks out of it and into a couple of boxes with sawdust and pillows. Quickly, the four young ones ran up to the grown up Ponies.

"Sis!" Apple Bloom cried, galloping over to Applejack's side breathlessly. "You won't believe what just happened on our way back from scho—"

"Sorry, sugar cube," Applejack interrupted her, giving her a quick glance before returning it back to the incubator, "but I'm busy countin' here."

"Well, yeah," Scootaloo said, "but you see, we were almost attacked by a Cockatrice and—"

"Don't bother us now, girls," Rainbow said. "The incubator's busted."

"Yes," Rarity added with concern, "and it might affect these poor baby chicks badly."

"E-yup," Big Mac added with a solemn nod. With a dismal gasp, Sweetie Belle gently took one of the little remaining chicks out of the incubator and cradled it in her arms.

"Oh, you poor little things," she cooed.

"But Derpy just saved us from a Cockatrice that was slithering out of the Everfree Forest and was about to attack us!" Spike said. Applejack turned to him in reply.

"What in tarnation were you doing by the forest?" she demanded.

"We were just racing to get back from school and didn't realize it," he answered with a shrug.

"Well, you should be more careful," the Earth Pony stated as Sweetie Belle handed the chick back to Big Mac. "We'll talk later, but right now, we need to check on these chicks."

"But—" Spike stopped when Scootaloo placed her hoof on his shoulder and shook her head to him. With a sigh of defeat, he left with the girls, leaving the older Ponies with their task.

They soon spotted Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie working on a wagon's wheels. Fluttershy and Pinkie held the wagon up while Twilight used her magic and a screwdriver to fix the wheel part.

"Twilight, I…I don't think I can hold it much longer," Fluttershy said weakly.

"Hold on, Fluttershy," Twilight said to her. "I'm almost done he—OW!" The Unicorn pulled away when the wagon came down on her horn and pinched it.

"You okay?" asked Pinkie.

"Yeah, fine," she answered, rubbing her horn. "You just pinched my horn a little."

"You should've moved it out of the way."

"I know, Pinkie," she replied as her two friends settled the wagon onto the wheels. "I just wanted to make sure the screw was tight enough."

"Twilight! Girls!" Spike said as he and the CMCs ran up to them. "You'll never believe what happened. Derpy just saved us from a Cockatrice, and—"

"I'm sorry, little ones," Fluttershy said, "but I have to check up on a few of my sick patients. I don't want to be heartless if I'm not there to make them better." She then left to carry out her task.

"But it did happen," Scootaloo protested. "We were racing over here by the Everfree Forest without realizing it, and—"

"Oh, we have plenty of time to hear the story," Pinkie Pie said gleefully, "but right now, it's the piglets' num-num time." She then bounced away to carry out the task. The four young ones just slumped with sighs. They have never felt so ignored in all of their lives.

"What's wrong, kids?" Twilight asked, noticing their sad looks. "Didn't you say that you were racing by the Everfree Forest?"

"Well, yeah," Apple Bloom answered, "but Derpy—" Twilight just sighed exasperatedly.

"Honestly, you four act like you don't have any brains or something," she mumbled, although she never really meant it (her horn still hurts).

"We do so have brains!" cried the offended Sweetie Belle. Twilight then tried to explain, afraid her friends might get mad at her if they find out she offended their little sisters.

"I'm sorry, girls, I didn't mean it. I'm simply saying that if you think twice before going anywhere near the forest, you four won't get into any trouble."

"Oh, you just won't listen, Twilight," Spike growled before he and the CMCs walked away. Twilight then turned to them in annoyance as she held up a hammer with her magic to hammer in the wagon's nails.

"I do so," she snapped. "My head's not a hollowed out jack-o-lantern, you know." She then brought the hammer down, only to have it hit her hoof instead of a nail. "OW!" She then started sucking on her hurt hoof before going off to find an ice bag for it.

Spike and the girls then spotted Pinkie Pie bringing the little piglets into their pen.

"Come on, little piggies," she sang to them. "Num-num time!" Spike, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom just sat on a hay bale as Sweetie Belle hopped onto one of the pen's fence and started walking across it with careful balance.

"What's with the upside-down smiles?" the pink Pony asked the four of them as she poured the bucket of feed into the trough.

"No one wants to hear about our scary experience with the Cockatrice that slithered out of the Everfree Forest to catch us," Scootaloo answered.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom concurred. "They act as though they don't care if we get hurt or not."

"Oh, you don't have be scared," Pinkie said with a smile. "You just have to have courage like Fluttershy had when she stood up to this one dragon a while back." Sweetie Belle turned to her in reply.

"We never said we were afraid of it," she stated.

"When I was around your age," Pinkie went on, "my granny told me that if anything scares me, I just need to laugh it off because they can't hurt me."

"Does it really—" Sweetie started before she lost her balance and fell into the pen with the piglets. Luckily, she landed onto one's back; unluckily, it startled the poor thing, making it run around squealing while Sweetie Belle hung on.

"Whoa, help!" she cried. Seeing this as she was passing by, Fluttershy flew in and grabbed her off of the piglet.

"Sweetie!" Spike, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo cried as the yellow Pegasus carried her out of the pen.

"Are you alright?" she asked the little filly after setting her back down.

"Yes," Sweetie Belle answered with a nod, "thanks to you, Fluttershy." Just then, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash rushed up to them.

"We just heard Sweetie Belle cry out!" Rarity said, obviously worrying about her little sister. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine," Fluttershy assured her friend. "She was just frightened by the piglets." The white Unicorn then looked down at her sister with relief.

"Well, maybe she should keep away from them for a while," she said, nuzzling into her cheek.

"Yeah," Rainbow concurred, rubbing Scootaloo's head gently. "And that goes for the rest of you too."

"Just go along and find someplace where y'all won't get into any trouble," Applejack then said to them with a smile. "Okay?"

"Okay, sis," Apple Bloom answered. Then Spike and the CMCs left the pen.