"Wait Scootaloo!"

They tried to call as she ran off, but she didn't respond. This was all just too much for her. She moved way too fast to be caught, even without her scooter. Rainbow Dash probably would have caught her if she were there, but she was on her way back with help 8 minutes too late.

Hours were spent trying to find the young Pegasus, searching high and low. All ponies immediately started looking except for Rarity, who stayed behind by Sweetie Belle's remains with her head lowered, shooing the flies until her little body was finally taken away... she then took a long walk to her shop feeling barren on the inside. There'd be no creating today. She just wanted to go to sleep forever. Seeing everypony out, however, -- not just her friends, but other ponies as well -- hearing them shouting the name of Sweetie's dear friend... she knew the right thing to do. Despite her strong desire to do nothing, she joined them in their search. Doing nothing, afterall, would be selfish... she was the Element of Generosity, and Scootaloo needed help. Besides... if it were Apple Bloom who'd been struck instead... perhaps Apple Jack or Big Mac would have already been out searching to comfort the tiny filly. Not that they'd be the first two she'd run to in that case.

The search went on. It began to get dark and cold, but no pony gave up hope. Apple Jack called out to Scootaloo in the darkness, telling her to come have a sleepover with Apple Bloom... after all, it was not a good idea for either filly to be by themselves that night. The little Pegasus did not answer and Apple Bloom had no choice but to sleep alone that night. Rarity, along side Apple Jack, called out into the night with her to get no answer. She thought maybe her presence was just jinxing the search at that point.

She wasn't found in any place the Crusaders frequented in town; she wasn't in the club house, either, and they prayed to Celestia she wasn't going to be found in the Everfree forest. When Twilight Sparkle finally found a trace of her -- her saddle bag on the outskirts of town ripped wide open, her cape torn to ribbons -- she became especially disheartened for the little filly. But even as it was approaching midnight, the parties did not give up. They'd broken into groups of two and were searching literally everywhere.

Rainbow Dash hadn't eaten. She hadn't taken her afternoon nap either. In fact, Dash was even ready to miss her midnight shift at work it if meant finding Scootaloo in one piece. Fluttershy was along side her, both supporting each other for the long haul. They had been at it for 7 hours straight when they finally decided to take a break by the Ponyville bridge. Both were beyond exhausted.

"Oh, I feel just awful for poor Scootaloo," said Fluttershy, stretching her hind legs. "All alone out there... in the dark. She must be scared to death!"

"We're not giving up yet," said a determined Rainbow Dash, also stretching her legs and wings. "If I know Scoots as well as I think I do, she's hiding in town. I don't think she took off. She's knows that'd be a foalish thing to do."

"Oh, I hope you're right. Maybe she feels she's got nowhere to go because of what happened."

Rainbow Dash heard something very faint that sounded like a small pony sniffling near by. Rather than hushing her friend out loud, she paused and put her hoof to her own mouth, the other to her ear. Fluttershy listened in closely, too.

Sniff.

There it was again. It was so quiet neither pony was entirely sure they weren't imagining it.

Both ponies looked to their left and then to their right. As far as they were concerned, they were alone. And then they heard it again:

Sniff.

This time they heard an additional property to the sound they hadn't before -- reverb. They knew exactly where it was coming from.

Dash silently beat her wings, picking herself up a foot from the ground. Fluttershy followed suit. Dash gave some silent instructions with her hooves and each Pegasus took one side of the span under the bridge.

Rainbow Dash spoke into the darkness:

"Um... Scoots?" There was no immediate answer. "We know you're there."

"Go away!" Cried the scared filly.

"We just wanna talk to you... come out or I'm coming in."

There was, again, no answer.

"Suit yourself Scoots."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy let themselves drop to the ground at the same time. They both approached their respective entrance, Rainbow opening her wings just enough to expand the width of the entrance all while preparing to dash. She then heard Scoot's tiny hooves take off... only to hear the sound of a loud impact, followed by Fluttershy gasping sharply in both surprise and pain.

"Fluttershy..." Dash barreled over the underpass. "What happened?"

Rainbow saw in the moonlit darkness both Fluttershy and Scootaloo on the ground by the side of the bridge, their heads wobbling with dizziness. Judging by their position, Dash would have guessed the two bumped noggins. She would have been right.

"You both alright?" She asked, looking down at her friends.

Only Fluttershy rose to her hooves.

"Scootaloo! We are so happy we found you," the yellow Pegasus exclaimed, offering a hoof to the little filly. "You gave us all quite a scare taking off like that."

Scootaloo looked up at Fluttershy, taking her hoof:

"Is Sweetie Belle okay?"

Both adult ponies looked to each other and did not answer.

"Scootaloo, just come with us." Said Rainbow Dash. "We can talk about that later... we've got to get you some place warm where you can sleep."

"I can take her," offered Fluttershy. "I know you have work very soon, Dash. Don't worry about it." She turned to the little filly. "Do you want to come with me, Scootaloo?"

She fell silent for a moment, kicking a rock with her hoof:

"I... guess so."

Fluttershy smiled, opening her wing to the tiny Pegasus, ready to wrap her up in a warm embrace:

"Come on... let's get you inside."

The little Pegasus took the invitation.