Cutie Mark Crusaders Headquarters, Sweet Apple Acres

Scootaloo felt she should've been excited to join her friends in helping other ponies either earn their cutie marks or, if they already had them, learn to understand them. But, how could she be? Her heroine, Rainbow Dash, had gone to Cloudsdale about a month ago, and hadn't been heard from since. What had happened to her?

Then there was Fluttershy, who had also gone to Cloudsdale a week ago. She'd gone there with Mayor Mare to assist her. For some reason, a problem had arisen in the cloud city, the home of the pegasi; and Mayor Mare thought she could help solve it. And, knowing that Rainbow Dash had disappeared and that Fluttershy was a friend of hers and a fellow pegasa, she'd thought that bringing the representative of kindness along would help her solve whatever problem she might encounter. But, the two of them had also disappeared.

The orange pegasetta had been unable to focus, unable to think about anything else, since she'd heard the news about the disappearance of Ponyville's mayor and the representative of kindness. And, her friends weren't much help.

That day, there was one thing that finally snapped her out of her state of thought, and that was a glow that seemed to be coming from her hips. Looking down at one of them, she saw that her cutie mark was glowing, radiating.

It wasn't long before her two friends noticed. They looked at their own hips, but it was clear that Scootaloo's was the only cutie mark that was glowing.

Seeing this, Applebloom said, focusing on her two friends, “Well, looks like Scootaloo's bein' called by th' cutie map in Twilight's castle. So, Ah hereby call this meetin' to an end.” And, she took a nearby wooden mallet in her mouth and struck the podium in front of her with it twice.

Focusing on her orange pegasetta friend, Sweetie Belle asked, “So, Scoots, would you like us to go with you?”

Scootaloo slowly turned to each of her friends, then back to her glowing, radiating cutie mark, before answering, without emotion, “Sure. Let's go.” And, she rose and ambled toward the door.

As soon as she got out from behind the podium and was next to her unicorn friend, Applebloom exchanged a worried look with her, after which the two followed their friend, calling after her.

Ponyville, On The Way to the Castle

Since they'd left their headquarters, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had said nothing to each other. With Scootaloo so withdrawn, so worried about Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom didn't know what they could say, or even if they should say anything, to try to cheer her up.

But, as the castle came into view, Sweetie Belle's curiosity got the better of her; and she said, “I wonder where you'll be going, Scootaloo.”

The silence now broken among them, Applebloom added, “And, what you'll be a-doin'.”

As though it was an everyday, inconsequential occurrence, Scootaloo said, “Likely, I'll be going somewhere to find and solve a friendship problem.”

The yellow earth filly tilted her head as though what Scootaloo had said was common knowledge (which it was) and said, “Of course.” She then added, “But, how are you a-gonna find the friendship problem? And, once you find it, how are y'all a-gonna solve it? Is sompony else a-goin' with yeh?”

Irritated with the earth filly's questions, Scootaloo glared at her and snapped, “I don't know.” Then, seeing her friend's reaction, she calmed down and said, “I'm sorry, Applebloom. I'm not really angry at you. I'm just worried about Rainbow Dash.”

The saddened earth filly sighed before nuzzling her pegasetta friend and saying, “Ah know. But, yer not th' only one who's worried 'bout Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, 'n' Mayor Mare. All of us are. We all wanna know what happened to 'em all.”

It was about this time that the three of them reached the castle.

On the porch, the three took a few seconds to nuzzle each other, or for Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to nuzzle Scootaloo and for her to nuzzle each of them in return, before the orange pegasetta entered the castle, with her friends calling encouragement to her.

Once the door to the castle closed, separating them from their fellow crusader, the earth and unicorn fillies looked at each other; and Sweetie Belle asked, “Do you think it's something serious?”

Applebloom sighed before answering, “Ah hope it ain't gonna be nothin' too hard for her. Yeh remember when th' three of us was a-called t' th' home o' th' hippogryphs?”

Distraught by the memory, Sweetie Belle answered, “Yeah. We almost made things worse when I got caught up in the gardens; and Scootaloo got caught up in swimming, which is like flying underwater.”

Applebloom nodded before adding, “Ah tried t' stop y'all fr'm fightin', but Ah weren't much help.”

Sweetie Belle concluded, “Thank Celestia Twilight was there to get us back on track. Otherwise, Scootaloo and I would still be fighting, you'd still be talking between us, and we wouldn't be getting anywhere.”

The yellow earth filly nodded, then sighed before settling into a sphinx-style position. There, she said, "Let's jes sit here 'n' wait fer Scootaloo t' come out 'n' tell us 'bout where she's a-goin, 'n' who's a-goin' with 'er."

The white unicorn filly said nothing, just nodded before settling into her own sphinx-style position.

In the Map Room

Once Scootaloo made her way through the hallway to the map room, she saw that just over half of the available chairs were occupied. If there was one thing she didn't need, it was yet another reminder that the pegasa she idolized was missing. And, seeing Fluttershy's empty chair didn't make it any easier for her. But, where was Pinkie Pie? Had she disappeared too?

The answer to her questions came when the familiar voice of the party pony behind her asked, excitedly, “Scootaloo, the map called you too?”

The orange pegasetta started as she turned to face the pink earth mare. Then, after gaining her composure again, she said, “Uh, yeah.”

Again from behind her, but this time to her right, Scootaloo heard Twilight's voice say, “Pinkie got here ahead of you.” She turned to focus on the purple alicorn, who continued, “Well, now that you're here, let's see where the map wants you to go.”

Scootaloo, still devoid of enthusiasm, ambled a few steps to the crystal table and propped herself up against it, with the help of Pinkie Pie.

A copy of each of the glowing, radiating marks from the two ponies flew off of them, shrunk, and flew over the map. Then, as the five ponies watched, the marks drifted over a giant cloud, where it settled at approximately the center.

The orange pegasetta perked up with excitement that felt long overdue as she turned to Twilight for confirmation.

The purple alicorn, turning to her, said, “Well, it looks like the cutie map's calling you and Pinkie to solve a friendship problem in Cloudsdale.”

Seemingly just as excited was Pinkie Pie, who shouted, “Yes! Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” and bounced around in a circle at the rate of one bounce per yes.

The three other remaining element bearers and Spike chuckled at the pink party pony's response before Twilight focused on Scootaloo again and said, “Now, this is extremely important. There's no telling what you'll find up there. For all we know, it could be Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, or Mayor Mare that's the source of the friendship problem. Or, it could be all three of them.”

For a moment the pegasetta's excitement dwindled as what the purple alicorn had said started to sink in. What if Rainbow Dash, her heroine, was the source of the friendship problem? What could she do to help solve it? On the other hoof, what if Fluttershy and/or Mayor Mare were the source of the problem, and Rainbow Dash was just being controlled by one or the other, or both? Or, even worse, what if the three of them had joined forces in some kind of friendship-destroying conspiracy?

The orange pegasetta was snapped from this train of thought by Twilight asking her, “So, Scootaloo, what do you say? Are you ready to accept?”

The crusader took a moment to think about the coming mission. The map had called her to go to Cloudsdale to find and solve a friendship problem. And, for all she knew it might not even involve Rainbow Dash. And, if she did come across the azure pegasa, maybe she could help her and Pinkie Pie. After all, the map had called the pink party pony as well. Whatever the problem was, it must have a solution; and the cutie map had called her and Pinkie Pie because they were the best equipped to solve it, right?

Scootaloo looked up at the representative of magic, saluted her, and nodded as she said, “You can count on me. Princess Twilight, whatever the friendship problem is, I'm sure Pinkie and I can find it and solve it.”

The purple alicorn chuckled again before saying, “You can just call me Twilight. And, I hope you can solve the problem.”

Presently, Pinkie approached the two and asked, “So, shall we make preparations and come back in, say, an hour to get to the mission?”

Scootaloo turned her smile toward the pink party pony and said, “Sure, Pinkie, I'll go get ready. We can meet back here in an hour.”

Pinkie smiled sincerely as she nodded in confirmation, then turned and bounced out the door, on her way to Sugar Cube Corner, no doubt to gather supplies.

As Scootaloo followed the pink earth mare out of the room, she heard Twilight Sparkle call out, “Be sure to be ready to leave in an hour!” But, the door closed on her before she could respond.

Outside the Castle

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, still seated sphinx-style, waiting for their orange friend, rose to all fours when the doors opened, hoping to see their pegasetta friend again. But, they were immediately disappointed to see Pinkie Pie bouncing out, evidently heading for Sugar Cube Corner. They settled into their canine-style positions, when they realized that the doors hadn't closed yet. Still, not wanting to be disappointed again, they just sat there and waited to see who would exit the castle next.

They only rose to all fours again when they saw Scootaloo exit the doors. And, while they couldn't tell how much, both the earth filly and the unicorn felt relieved to see the orange pegasetta smiling again.

As the two approached her, Applebloom asked, “Good news, Ah'm a-guessin'?”

Scootaloo closed her eyes and nodded vigorously a couple times before opening her eyes again and answering, “I'm going to Cloudsdale!”

The earth filly and the unicorn exchanged looks of puzzlement, then turned back to their friend, before Sweetie Belle asked, “Cloudsdale? Haven't three ponies from here already gone there and disappeared?”

Her excitement undeterred by her friends' lack of enthusiasm, Scootaloo answered, “Isn't it exciting? Maybe I'll see Rainbow Dash again!”

Applebloom, worried, asked, “Ain't nopony else a-goin' with y'all?”

Still excited, Scootaloo answered, “Yeah, Pinkie Pie!” It was about this time that she noticed the worry in the voice of her earth filly friend. Now starting to feel concern, she asked, “What's wrong?”

Again Applebloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged looks, then turned back to the pegasetta; and Applebloom answered, “It's just that, well, a-startin' with Rainbow Dash, ever'pony fr'm here that's gone there's disappeared. 'N', well, now you 'n' Pinkie are a-goin' there. Sweetie Bell 'n' Ah, well, we can't help a-worryin' that you two'll be next to not come back.”

At first the orange pegasetta started to say, “Well, they were just …” Then, she realized that her argument about the missing ponies being adults wasn't going to help anything, as she'd be going with an adult. After a momentary pause, she started to say, “Well, none of them were …” But, again she trailed off as her second argument about the missing ponies not being unicorns wasn't going to help either. After all, neither she nor Pinkie Pie were unicorns. After a few more seconds of thought, she finally said, “Look, the map called me and Pinkie Pie to Cloudsdale to find and solve a friendship problem. And, I don't think we'd be going there if there wasn't a way to come back, if it was a problem we couldn't solve.” Smiling reassuringly at her friends, Scootaloo continued, “I hope I can find Rainbow Dash again, and maybe we can also find Fluttershy and Mayor Mare and bring everypony back to Ponyville.” Her excitement finally started to fade as she continued, “I guess it's possible that my search for the friendship problem won't involve them at all. Or, maybe it's all about them.” More resolute, she concluded, “But, we just need to work and find out what it is. As long as Pinkie and I don't give up, we'll succeed.”

The orange pegasetta, not to mention the earth filly and the unicorn, were surprised when they heard Pinkie's voice from outside their circle say, “Yeah, that's the spirit!”

The Crusaders started and screamed for a second or two, after which Scootaloo turned to the representative of laughter and said, “Pinkie, where'd you come from?”

Evidently thinking it was just part of how they talked to other ponies, Pinkie screamed for another second or two. She then answered, “I just got back from Sugar Cube Corner.” She then leaned in conspiratorially and asked, “Have you been talking with your friends instead of getting ready?”

As her other two friends covered their mouths with a front hoof and started snickering, Scootaloo answered, “I just had to talk with them about where I was goin' with you, and they had some questions about the trip we were taking.”

Pinkie winked before saying, “Oh, now I understand.” She then said, “Well, like Scootaloo said, as long as the two of us don't give up, we'll succeed.” And, she turned and bounced off in a different direction.

For a moment the three of them watched as the pink party pony bounced off. Then, Applebloom turned to Scootaloo and asked, “So, how much time do yeh have t' git ready?”

Scootaloo answered, “Twilight said I had an hour to prepare and get back to the castle.”

Sweetie Belle began her stroll toward the outside of town, in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, as she said, “Well, let's get you ready, then. The sooner you get there, the sooner you can come back.”

In agreement, the pegasetta and the earth filly followed their unicorn friend.

Outside the Castle, About an Hour Later

The three fillies, each carrying bags of apples and other food items, made it back to the castle. Out of breath, they collapsed at the steps.

Not long after that, the doors opened; and Pinkie bounced out. Stopping just in front of Scootaloo, she looked down and asked, “Why're you just lying there? You're ready, right? We gotta get going to Cloudsdale!”

Looking up at the pink earth mare, Sweetie Belle asked, “And, how are you going to get there?”

Pinkie giggled to herself before answering, “Twilight's letting us borrow her balloon, silly. Not as fast as sling-shotting, but it's easier and more likely to get us there.” She then proceeded to pick up, in her teeth, the package that Scootaloo had been carrying.

At first the orange pegasetta followed the representative of laughter to the balloon. Then, when she was herded into the basket with only the supplies she'd been carrying, she said, “Oh, wait, what about the rest of the stuff? The stuff Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were carrying?”

Pinkie just giggled for a second or two before answering, “We don't have time to get that stuff, silly. We gotta get to Cloudsdale so we can find and solve that friendship problem.”

As the pink earth mare released the ropes from the basket, Scootaloo only had time to wave to her friends before the balloon lifted off.

In the mean time, as the two remaining Crusaders peered out from under the bags of supplies they'd gathered, Applebloom turned to her unicorn friend and asked, “Well, Sweetie Belle, what're we a-gonna do with all this stuff we packed fer Scootaloo?”

The unicorn, helpless to do anything else, did her best to shrug.

In fact, that's all either of them could do until they could get their strength back, or until somepony could help them out, or both.