Sweetie Belle and Rarity were in the best sleep they've had in awhile. Rarity was lopsided like a dog in its bed and Sweetie Belle was snuggled up in between her hooves. This peaceful sleep came to a rather abrupt and brutal end however as an orange mass plowed into them at full speed.

The two unicorns fell back and were startled awake, both rather unhappy with whoever did this. Rarity looked over to notice a ball of orange and purple was nearly strangling her, holding on for dear life,

“Scootaloo!--W-what happened darling?” Rarity was still half asleep though she sat up against the cave wall and cradled the terrified filly in her hooves.

Scootaloo didn't move at all, save the powerful shaking and crying that caused her to move involuntarily.

Sweetie Belle was behind them and could see some blood truckling down Scootaloo's back, quite a few splinters that were either bloody or simply protruding, as well as a huge sweeling of some sort on her right side.

“R-rarity!” Sweetie Belle whispered, pointing in Scootaloo's general direction, Rarity raised her head to see over Scootaloo's mane to see the damage. She then attempted to lift Scootaloo which would normally be done by pushing her wings up which would prompt the filly to move.

Instead, as soon as her hoof made contact with her left wing, Scootaloo jettisoned back into the center of the cave with a blood curdling scream.

“DON'T TOUCH THAT!” She cried between sobs, now collapsed into a heaving pile of misery at the center of the cave though now Rarity could see the full extent of Scootaloo's injuries, as well a s tear between the left wig and the body.

Sweetie Belle and Rarity both were frozen in horror. They had no real idea what to do. Seeing Apple Bloom was one thing. Compared to this however, it was child's play. There was blood everywhere, splinters, missing patches of fur, bruises, swelling, her black eye was now much more prominent than before and was visibly throbbing, as was the rest of her face. She had a bloody nose.

Scootaloo was a complete mess.

“Scootaloo—what happened to you?” Sweetie Belle could barely speak. She rushed to her friend's side but dared not touch her. Scootaloo instantly leap into her hooves and continued her violent sobbing. She was making herself ill from the sheer force of it all.

“Scootaloo, calm down!” Twilight proclaimed. “Rarity....Rarity!”  

Rarity had fainted. The unicorn couldn't handle the sight before her.

Rarity came to in a completely unknown place. At least to her anyway.

All she knew as of now was that she was in a bed, inside what appeared to be a lodge of some sort. A calm, crackling fire illuminated the fireplace and lit up the surrounding logs that formed the structure. It was warm, quiet, and not another pony was inside.

She grogilly rose up and noticed her hooves were sore as was the right side of her neck. She massaged her forehead with her hoof to try to comfort her pounding headache. Looking around now she could see some things on the floor near the wooden door: A saddle bag, another saddlebag that had Twilight’s cutie mark on it, and two crusader capes hanging from the hat rack.

Then it hit her.

“Scootaloo!”  She yelled. Panic set in immediately. The last thing she could remember was the poor filly bznged up and scared for her life. The recollection made her nauseous.   She darted from the bed and into the hallway of the lounge. A large window sat to her right with a row of rooms in front of her. Behind her was a staircase she nearly tumbled down given the speed the descended.

Unknown to Rarity she wasn't much of a sight. The ponies who were relaxing in the lobby looked on in fascination at this mare with a tattered mane and wide eyes. The unicorn made her way frantically to the reception desk.

“Where's the hospital? I need to get to the hospital?!” She was spastic, panting heavily.

“Are you hurt?” The receptionist asked reaching for an aid kit.

“No!” Rarity boomed, “My filly is! I don't know where she is—I don't even know where I am!”

“That figures. You were brought in by another unicorn—If I have you right. The hospital is just down the road near the hot springs. Can't miss it.”

“Oh thank you, thank you thank you!” Rarity panted as she scampered for the exit and bounded for the hospital.

“...and so with that, Daring Do once again had defeated the three-headed Ursa Major and recovered the saphire of unity.”  Sweetie Belle finished characterfuly as she closed a decent-sized book.

She sat beside Scootaloo on her medical bed. Scootaloo was in much better shape now. It had been quite the journey getting here but they weren’t too far, which according to the doctor who treated the filly, was a contributing factor to her rapid recovery.  The only reminder of her assault was a large sling that held her right wing in placed and some elastic stitches that sat under it.

Sweetie Belle had been reading to Scootaloo since morning and was growing tired herself.  Both of tending to her friend and from the insane series of unfortunate events that had happened. Scootaloo was half-asleep as well.

“Thanks Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo smiled.  “I know you must be tired of dealing with all my....stupid stuff. I owe you big time.”

Sweetie Belle was relieved she didn't have to say it herself. “It's okay Scoots, that's what friends are for right?”

Scootaloo then shot up some her ears fully erect.

“What's wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked.

She was answered by her sister blasting through the door.  Scaring them both.

“Scootaloo! Thank goodness you're okay!” Rarity was bawling as she rushed to smother the filly who was still startled from her mother's dramatic entry.

“Uh....yeah....you too.” Scootaloo was too tired to really relay anywhere near the same reception as Rarity was.

“I was kinda worried sis.” Sweetie added, “You usually aren't out for so long.”

Rarity backed off and blushed vibrantly. “You do have a point—how long was I unconscious?”

Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin in thought, “Well it took us about twenty minutes to get here. Five hours for Scootaloo's treatment, two hours since then so.....awhile.”

“How in Equestria did they manage to clean you up so well Scootaloo?” Rarity was rather puzzled as from what she could remember the filly was a wreck.

“Meh it wasn't as bad as it looked.” Scootaloo bragged, her facade was obviously back in action. “Most of the blood was head trauma and the splinters were an easy fix. Only lame thing is this stupid cast here.” Scootaloo pointed to her injured wing.

“She has to wear that for a whole week!” Sweetie Belle complained.

“Better safe than sorry I guess.” Rarity began. Then she became emotional again. The fillies were silent so as not to stoke anything.

“I'm sorry Scootaloo.” Rarity hung her head, “I promised you I would protect you and look at what's happened. You and my sister nearly get ravaged by some forest-dwelling monster and then you get demoralized and defaced by somepony I thought was my friend....I'm an awful mother. And an even worse sister.”

“Rarity...” Sweetie Belle started.

“No Sweetie Belle it isn't alright!” Rarity was furious. “You two deserve better than this.”

“You tried your best mom.” Scootaloo said reassuringly, perhaps calling her by her title might help? “Besides the manticore and....the Rainbow Dash thing were all my fault anyway. If anyone's sorry it's me.”

“Yeah.” Sweetie Belle added as she hopped down from the bed and went to hug her distraught sister. “Look at how you came in here.” She laughed, “I don't think a terrible mother would do that. I think Mother and Father would be proud.”

Rarity sniffled some. “You really think they would?”

“Of course!” Sweetie Belle smiled, this smile soon faded though as she was reminded of her life with their parents. “I kind of miss them lately though...”

“I do too Sweetie. I'm afraid there isn't much we can do at this point. I need to be more involved with your girls, we need to stick together if we expect to make it through this ordeal....speaking of which where’s Twilight and Applebloom?”

Both fillies had puzzled looks on their faces.

“You didn't see them at the lodge?” Sweetie asked.

“They said they were bringing you here when you came to.” Scootaloo added.

“Huh...No not a sign of them.” Rarity said.

“They must still be walking around town.” Sweetie said, “Twilight said something about gathering some supplies for some reason.”

“Oh...well, that's nice.” On one hoof, Rarity could care less about anything other than the fact her sister and adopted daughter were safe an intact.

One less burden on her conscience. Next Chapter: Miss Fluttershy Goes To Cloudsdale Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 38 Minutes