Chapter 1: 'No buts'

It was a typical sunny afternoon in Ponyville, and two fillies were sat inside a clubhouse, waiting patiently for their friend to arrive.

Scootaloo absentmindedly traced a circle on the wooden floor with her fore hoof and Sweetie Bell was making ‘pop’ sounds with her mouth. The conservation had dried up, but when Apple Bloom came, it would reignite again. Scootaloo sighed, rolling onto her back, sticking her hooves into the air, wiggling them around lazily.

“Sure taking her time.” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes.

“Wonder where she is...” Sweetie Bell’s voice trailed off at the end of her sentence, as she began to think of where the yellow filly could be.

Suddenly, a blur of yellow and red burst into the room, much to the other’s surprise. Both of the previously bored fillies suddenly jolted upright onto their hooves to see Apple Bloom skidding on the floor in an attempt to slow down. The wood squeaked under the earth filly’s hooves as she slowly halted to a stop. She then jumped and turned in the air, facing her two comrades.

“Girls, girls, girls!” she exclaimed, panting heavier than normal.

“What, what what?!” replied the other two, big grins on their faces, wondering what exciting news Apple Bloom had brought.

“Well, Applejack just came from the hospital and-“

“Is she okay?!” interrupted Sweetie Bell, a look of worry forming on her face.

Apple Bloom gave a blunt look at the unicorn, “Can I finish?”

Sweetie Bell nodded quickly, feeling a little embarrassed at her overreaction. Scootaloo snickered quietly to herself, and then brought her attention back to Apple Bloom.

“As I was sayin’, Applejack came from the hospital today. She’s fine...but...” Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo now, making sure the pegasi was ready to hear the next piece of news. Scootaloo just tilted her head in confusion and gestured with her hoof for Apple Bloom to continue.

“...but Rainbow Dash broke her wing today.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle winced a little, expecting Scootaloo to burst into an explosion of worry and dread. Her actual reaction though, was far different.

“I don’t believe it. She’s called Rainbow Dash for a reason, not Rainbow Crash.” She had a serious look upon her face; clearly she didn’t find this funny at all.

“But it’s true! Honest! You gotta believe me!” pleaded the earth filly.

Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin with her hoof, thinking: “I dunno Apple Bloom, it does sound unlikely.” Then her face lit up as an idea struck her on the noggin. “I know! We’ll go to the hospital and give her a visit!”

“That’s if she’s even there.” Scootaloo remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes once more.

Apple Bloom let out a groan of frustration, but then sighed deeply, holding onto her composure. “Look, trust me on this Scoot. Ah wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

Scootaloo looked into Apple Bloom’s eyes, assessing her sincerity. “I suppose...but I just want to make sure!” She then headed for the exit and went down the ramp, onto the fresh grass. Apple Bloom smiled, glad that her fellow Crusader finally believed her, and followed Scootaloo out of the door, leaving Sweetie Bell behind.

“Uh, Cutie Mark Crusaders patient visitors?” Sweetie Bell shrugged, following her friends out of the door.

____________________________________________

The three Crusaders stood in front of the Ponyville local hospital, gazing at the entrance doors.

“I don’t like hospitals...or doctors. They give you nasty shots.” Sweetie Belle shivered, remembering the horrible time Rarity had to take her here to get a shot. She created a huge scene, so much so, Rarity refused to go to take Sweetie Belle to the hospital for a check up ever again. Getting a needle in your flank when you didn’t even need one was a shock to Rarity, to say the least.

Apple Bloom blinked, looking at Sweetie Belle with a shocked expression, “They fill yer with holes?!”

The white filly giggled, “No silly, it’s the thing with the needle...and they...yeah...” she shivered again.

“Oh! Right! I knew that...” Apple Bloom rubbed her neck, making an embarrassed smile. She then noticed Scootaloo was absent. She looked at the doors, then at Sweetie Belle, inclining her head towards the entrance before finally walking and pushing open the doors, Sweetie Belle following her.

They found Scootaloo jumping repeatedly in front of the receptionist’s desk, trying to grab any member of staff’s attention.

“Excuse me! Excuuuuse me!”

A yellow pony with a curly blue mane and a nurse hat soon entered through the doorway next to the desk. She went behind the desk and peered down at the pegasi, “Can I help you?”

“Yes! Do you know if Rainbow Dash is being treated here?”

The nurse raised an eyebrow, looking confused. “Uh, which one is she? We had a couple of new patients today.”

Scootaloo frowned deeply, looking un-amused. “She’s the one with the rainbow mane...” she explained bluntly.

The nurse looked like she had been slapped in the face, and then chuckled to herself lightly in an attempt to mask her surprise. “Ah yes of course. Yes, she was brought here with a broken wing from a nasty accident. I assume you’re here to visit her?”

It took a while for Scootaloo to answer the question, her mouth slowly going agape. She looked like she had seen a ghost and then been turned to stone by a cockatrice for good measure.

The nurse attempted to quell the pegasi’s fears, “Oh don’t you worry, she’s fine. Just needs a few days rest is all.”

Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief, looking like she was deflating as she did so. Her fellow Crusaders, who had now joined her, performed a similar action.

“So, who are you?” the Nurse asked, tidying up some papers on the desk.

“Oh! I’m Rainbow Dash’s number one fan!” replied Scootaloo, leaping into the air.

The nurse’s face quickly turned sour, she snorted at the Crusaders, “Well, ‘number one fan’, what Rainbow Dash needs is plenty of rest. Certainly not a rabble of over excited fans disturbing her. I’ll have to ask you three to leave.

“B-but!” whined the trio, now looking very disappointed, especially Scootaloo.

“No buts.”

And with that, their fate was sealed. Hanging her head dejectedly, Scootaloo ambled towards the exit, pushing open the doors with her head, Sweetie Belle followed closely behind but Apple Bloom gave the nurse a loud raspberry, then caught up with her friends, her head held high in defiance.

“Once they say ‘no buts’, it’s pretty much game over.” admitted Sweetie Belle, the ‘no buts’ line was one of the most common things her sister said to her, along with a variation of ‘do nothing’, so she was well versed in its practices.

“At least we know she’s fine.” Apple Bloom remarked, trying to reassure Scootaloo, who looked very downhearted.

“C’mon, let’s go back to the clubhouse. We can start plannin’ for tomorrow.” She looked to the skyline. The day was slowly drawing to a close, but Apple Bloom reckoned that they could squeeze in an hour or so until they had to go their separate ways.

____________________________________________

Scootaloo kept quiet during the trek back to the clubhouse, following Apple Bloom’s lead. Sweetie Belle chatted with the Apple Bloom most of the way, but both occasionally glanced back at their orange companion, to check if she was okay.

Once they got back, they all entered the interior of the wooden structure. Scootaloo sat down in roughly the middle of the room, looking at the floor.

Sweetie Belle planted her rump down and looked at her comrade with concern. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine and be out before you know it!” she said, doing her best to reassure the glum pegasi.

Apple Bloom meanwhile had gone over to the desk and grabbed an apple juice carton. She planted it on the floor and kicked it to send it sliding across the floor, bumping softly into Scootaloo. The winged filly slowly shook her head and rejected the carton, pushing it away with her hoof.

“It’s not that.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other in confusion: “Huh?”

“This was my chance to prove that I was her number one fan, y’know? Give her my support and stuff.”

“Oooooh.” The other two both said at exactly the same time and tone.

“Well, we can’t exactly sneak in.” pointed out Sweetie Belle.

Following this, Scootaloo raised her head up in a flash, a wide grin starting to form on her face. “That’s it! We’ll sneak in and give her a surprise visit! Like...like...” she rubbed her forehead with a hoof, thinking of the right word.

“Like ninjas?” Apple Bloom asked, she was also grinning, liking the idea

.

“Yeah! Ninjas! We’ll be so awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed, Apple Bloom nodded at her eagerly and then the two looked to Sweetie Belle, who seemed a little unsure.

“Well...I guess it’ll be cool...”

“That’s the spirit Sweetie Belle! It’s settled then! We’ll spend tomorrow planning and then the day after, we’ll put our plan into action!” Scootaloo stomped her hooves on the floor repeatedly to show her excitement.

Sweetie Belle exchanged looks with the other two, now grinning in the same, ecstatic manner. The Crusaders then each took in a deep breath and shouted at the top of their lungs:

“Cutie Mark Crusaders ninja force go!”

Next Chapter: Planning and Preparation Estimated time remaining: 17 Minutes