I don’t know how long I had been crying when I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I heard a voice asking me if I was alright. NO! I wasn’t alright! Nothing would ever be alright again!

She pulled me up on my hooves, but when she let go I fell back down. I didn’t feel any strength at all in me. I had given my word I wouldn’t hurt my sister’s heart again by keeping the gift she had given me safe. Now it had been stolen.

I felt myself being picked up, and then I was placed on a park bench. I saw a kind looking face looking at me. She was a light green with a grayish and white mane. I think her name was Lyra. “What happened?”

I tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. Rock Climber’s face appeared in my mind, and a burst of rage wiped out my feeling of weariness. I began shaking I felt so mad. “My friend betrayed me!” I yelled. “That jerk! I tried to help him out, and he threw it back in my face! I tried to be a good friend for him because that’s what you’re supposed to do, and he backstabbed me!”

Lyra sat down on the bench next to me, placing a hoof around me. “I’m sorry, kid. I’ve known that feeling before. It’s never easy to be betrayed by someone you care about.”

“Rose?” I heard someone call my name. I turned to look, and I saw Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop approaching. Of course they would show up NOW, when everything was over.

They came up to me. “We heard you yelling. Are you okay?”

I hopped off the bench, my eyes burning as tears starting coming down them again. I got in their faces, screaming, “No! It’s not! It’s all your fault! Why couldn’t you have gotten here sooner? Some friends you are!”

I could see the hurt looks on their faces, and I was glad. They should feel bad.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Lyra, pulling me back. “Just because you’re mad it doesn’t mean you should take it out on others. If one of your friends hurt your feelings does it make you the better pony to do the same to your other friends?”

My anger was quickly replaced with guilt. She was right. My legs began shaking as I lost the strength to stand.

“What happened, Rose?” asked Sun Glimmer. “I thought you were supposed to be riding scooters with Rock Climber.”

“Oh, we were!” Now the anger was back. I stood back up. “His brother and his friends showed up, and started making fun of him. So he took it out on me by kicking me off my scooter. Then they stole it and ran off!”

The two of them gasped. “But… but… why would he go along with that? I thought he was our friend.”

“Well, we were wrong! He’s just a giant jerk, just like his brother! I saw him when they were leaving. He looked back at me, looking happy as anything.”

“Well, that’s terrible!” said Lyra angrily. “Rose, did you happen to get their names?”

I thought for a minute. “Thunderstorm was his brother’s name, and the other two were Heavy Downpour and Midnight Dream.” I described how each of them looked.

“Them, huh?”

I looked at her, confused. “You know them?”

“They’re a group of scamps. They’re always causing trouble around town. They have this hideout on the edge of town overlooking a cliff by the water where they hang out. I’m sorry you were a victim of them. I’m waiting for my friend Bon-Bon. I’ll see if I can find her, and then I’ll go tell the mayor about this.

“You’ll be okay now that your real friends are here.” She patted my head and walked off.

Honey Drop sighed. “Rock Climber seemed like such a nice pony.”

“I thought so too,” I said roughly. “But I guess he was just hiding his true colors.” I thought of something. “Right before his brother showed up he was about to tell me something really secret. He said he had been doing something really bad, and it had something to do with his brother. I don’t know exactly what he was going to tell me, but he looked really upset. I guess it doesn’t matter now what the secret is.” I really didn’t know how I felt at the moment. Anger and despair were both fighting inside me, leaving me feeling almost numb because they were so evenly matched.

“So, are you going to tell your sister?” asked Sun Glimmer.

“Are you kidding me? I can’t tell her. She’d bite my head off!”

“She looked really cute in that newspaper article. She saved you and she saved the town from a dragon. She’s obviously got the hero thing down. That pony told you where they hang out. If you tell Scootaloo she’ll go get it back for you. It’s not like you were being careless with it. You were attacked and robbed. Scootaloo can’t get mad at you for that.”

“I agree with Sun Glimmer," said Honey Drop. "She’d probably just be happier you weren’t seriously hurt.”

“I guess you’re right," I said. "I’m gonna go home now, then. I’ll see you girls later. Could you stay around here for a little while just in case Lyra comes back?”

“Sure.”

I ran off until I had left the park, then headed west. I had a pretty good grasp of Ponyville. I was pretty sure I had seen that place Lyra had talked about. It was an abandoned warehouse that used to be set up for storing products. I felt a little bad about lying to my friends. I knew they just wanted to help but I had been the one who allowed my scooter to be taken, so it was my responsibility to get it back. Scootieloo had been hiding things from me too, so I didn’t know how she would react. I do know she would get upset. Even if she didn’t blame me I was sure she wouldn’t trust me anymore.

I would handle this all on my own. If Scootieloo could save my life as a filly then I could surely do the same.

It took a while to get there. I was panting and my legs were throbbing by the time I got close. I took a rest and headed toward the building. Just as Lyra had said it was on a cliff overlooking the water. The building was looking pretty run down. I got down on the ground and began crawling up to the top.

When I was almost there I began hearing voices and laughing. They were in there. And that meant my scooter had to be in there! I was taking it back whether they liked it or not! There were plenty of broken windows around the place. I just had to be careful and not do anything stupid. I was going to get my property back, but I knew I couldn’t fight three older boys, although I was sure I could take down stupid Rock Climber. I headed around to the back of the warehouse. I took a chance and lifted my head, peeking into one of the windows. I let out a sigh of relief. There was a pile of rotting pallets blocking my vision, which meant they couldn’t see me either. I looked over the window to the ground. I saw some big pieces of glass on the floor. I lifted my hoof, carefully entering the warehouse. My heart began racing.

I moved very slowly, careful with each step to keep as quiet as I could. I looked around the pile, and down near the front I could see the four of them. And sitting on the ground was my scooter! It was closer to me than them! They probably didn’t really care about the scooter. They just wanted to hurt me.

My heart stopped for a second as Rock Climber looked over in my direction. I quickly hid again. I heard a small mumble that I couldn’t make out, then one of the boys said, “What?”

This time I could make out his response. “I thought I saw something. Probably just a bird or something.”

“I hope it’s just a bird. Nobody messes with us!”

I waited a few minutes. Soon enough they were talking normally again, so I felt safe to continue on my mission.

I stayed out of sight of the middle, taking the long way around until I spotted the scooter again. All I had to do was grab it, head back the way I came, and I would be home free!

As I neared it I looked around to see where they all were. The three older ones were talking and laughing, but Rock Climber was just looking down at the ground and kicking his hooves like he had been doing before. He had that same look of wishing he could be anywhere else. I didn’t understand why. I thought he was happy he was such a brat.

None of them were looking towards me. This was my chance.

I tiptoed out into the open. I wanted to rush, but I knew that would only make noise and ruin everything. I lifted my scooter up, backing up gently.

Rock Climber suddenly spoke up. “Big Bro?”

“What is it, pipsqueak?”

“I’m glad that you took me along with you, but… um…”

“Spit it out, will ya? Stop talking like a baby.”

“Sorry… well… when… when are we going to give Rose her scooter back?”

The talking stopped instantly. I stopped mid- step and looked over at him, wondering what had gotten into him.

“What do you mean, give it back? We’re not. She was being a cocky brat, so we’re teaching her a lesson.”

“But… but… it’s something real important to her. It was a gift from her sister, and she got it from her dead grandmare. It’s a precious memento. We can’t hold onto it.”

My mind was telling me to move, to just get it over with. All any of them had to do was look over and I would be caught. My body stayed put even knowing that. I was trying to figure out his game. He had went with them and smirked at me to add insult to injury. Now he was feeling bad? Or maybe he just didn’t want to get in trouble. That would make sense. We were classmates, after all. He couldn’t avoid me.

I had to cover my mouth to stifle a gasp as Thunder Storm pushed Rock Climber off the box he was sitting on. “Man, this is why I always call you a loser. You’re too soft. What, are you upset because your girlfriend is all sad?”

Rock Climber stood back up. “But we can’t just-” He stopped talking, his eyes going wide.

It took me a few moments to realize why. He was looking right at me. I had forgotten I was completely exposed and in the open. I gulped, rushing back behind the thing I had been hiding behind before. My heart was racing. I had to get out of here now! Before he sold me out.

“Can’t just WHAT?” asked Midnight Dream. “And why do you look so afraid?”

“Um… um… no reason. I... I… just realized that I was wrong. Being such a goody-goody is no fun at all. L-let’s go out and do some bad things." I heard the sound of running hooves, and the sound of a door opening. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

It was quiet again. Good. They were going to leave.

“Hold on now. Something ain’t right.” I heard Thunder Storm say. “She’s here, isn’t she? That’s the only reason you’d be so worried.”

Uh-oh. No more time to be concerned about caution. I raced toward the window I had come in on. In the limited light I crashed into something on the floor, tripping and knocking things over.

It only took a few seconds before the three of them were in front of me, blocking my path as they formed a circle around me.

I swallowed hard. I was trapped.

Rose is still the POV character here.