A few hours had passed since Scootaloo and Applebloom had spoken, but this was due to each filly checking on Sweetie Belle while the other slept. That is, until Applebloom came rushing into the bedroom. "Hey, Scootaloo! The storm's lettin' up!" She shouted which nearly caused the Pegasus to springboard five feet off the bed and land back on it with a groggy expression before the farm pony's words fully sunk in.

"It is?! How's that possible?! A storm that strong wouldn't die down less than a day after it started." Scootaloo replied as she hopped out of the bed and followed the earth pony to the window.

"I can't believe it!" Scootaloo exclaimed in shock as she stared out the window. The storm hadn't completely dissipated but it was much less fierce than it was roughly twelve hours ago.

"Ya think we can take Sweetie Belle to the hospital now?" Applebloom asked with a worried glance towards the stairs.

"No, the storm may have let up but its still way too cold to be carrying her around in this. We could end up making her worse before we even got close to the hospital." Scootaloo remarked wisely before she turned to look at Applebloom who didn't like this answer. "Hey, don't worry. She'll pull through. She's a cutie mark crusader and a crusader won't let something as silly as being sick in bed stop them from earning their cutiemark!" Scootaloo said reassuringly to the farm pony yet she was reassuring herself as much as she was Applebloom at this point.

"But she's gettin' worse, Scootaloo!" Ah put my hoof on her cheek this mornin' and it felt like Ah had just touched a fryin' pan after sittin' on the stove for ten minutes!" Applebloom exclaimed with a mild glare though the worry in her voice was far more prominent than anger with the Pegasus.

"We can't take her out there by hoof though! If she's this bad now, she'll only get worse if we expose her to the cold!" Scootaloo protested.

"She'll get worse if she stays here!" Applebloom literally roared back.

"What do you want me to do?! I'm only one filly, Applebloom!" Scootaloo yelled back.

"Yer just chicken!" Applebloom exclaimed with a glare.

"Am not! Unlike you, I'm using my head!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she turned around and walked away.

"That's it, Scootaloo. Run away from the problem! You've been doin' a lot of that lately, haven't ya?!" Applebloom shouted with a glare at which point Scootaloo whirled around and glared at her.

"Don't you even dare attempt to lecture me about running away from my problems when you've spent the last year and a half running away from the fact that you're attracted to fillies!" Scootaloo nearly screamed, her temper rising very quickly at this point.

"I'm not attracted to fillies!" Applebloom yelled back at the top of her lungs.

"Then what do you call what we did less than six hours ago in my parent's bedroom?! Exercise?!" Scootaloo nearly screamed as she walked up to the farm pony and pointed a hoof upstairs.

"That's different!" Applebloom exclaimed defensively though she looked far less confident in her words now.

"Oh really?! How's it any different?!" Scootaloo roared into the farm pony's face.

"Because it was with you!" Applebloom shrieked back only for her pissed off expression to fade into a saddened one. "It's always been just you…" She added in a soft tone as tears began to form in her eyes.

Upon hearing these words by the from pony, Scootaloo's anger subsided if only to the point she was able to speak calmly. "We've been over this, Applebloom. I can't leave Rarity." She said as she turned away from the filly and sighed aloud.

"She's nearly three times your age! Ya really think that's gonna work out?! All it takes is somepony gettin' wise and not only will ya lose Rarity but Ah'll lose the one filly Ah love!" Applebloom exclaimed, the tears now flowing from her eyes freely as she spoke.

"We'll be careful until I'm old enough! If Cheerilee and Sweetie Belle can make it work, then why can't we?!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she whirled around to face the farm pony, glaring at her once more.

"And that worked out so well, didn't it?! If it wasn't for Twilight, Cheerilee would be in jail right now! Twilight isn't always gonna be thar to protect y'all!" Applebloom exclaimed, her voice cracking as she choked back even more tears.

"If it wasn't for Twilight, I would have never known what true love is!" Scootaloo shot back. "I owe her a lot more than you know…" she added on a soft yet thoughtful note as she recalled how the lavender unicorn saved her from losing everything not so long ago.

A painful silence ensued between the two for sometime before Applebloom spoke. "If ya was with me… ya wouldn't have to hide it." She said softly and gave a soft sniffle as she wiped her nose.

"Applebloom… don't make me choose. Because if you do, Rarity is going to win." Scootaloo replied and sighed. It was now at this moment in time, the young Pegasus had realized her decision. She loved Rarity more than she did Rainbow Dash. As if something in the filly's soul had ignited, the fragments of memories she held in her mind suddenly came together to form a clear picture. Scootaloo had remembered… Everything.

Applebloom noticed the sudden change in the Pegasus's behavior as she stared at her. Something was suddenly different about her. What it was exactly, she didn't know. "Scootaloo?" She asked softly as if she was scared to find out what it was.

Scootaloo took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Now everything makes sense." She said softly though she wasn't speaking to Applebloom but rather, herself.

"What makes sense?" Applebloom asked curiously as she walked over to the filly.

"Applebloom… I remember everything now. The time I spent in the alternate dimension with Rarity, how I fell in love with her, all of it." Scootaloo said simply and sighed once again.

After all this time, after all the inner turmoil she had put herself through, she had finally realized who she knew her heart belonged to.

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The unicorn looked up at the sky with a worried glance. "Don't be a hero Rainbow Dash…" She said softly aloud only to hear a soft plopping sound, turned to her left and noticed Cheerilee once again shivering uncontrollably. The unicorn wasn't immune to the effects of the cold either as her whole body shivered fiercely. In fact, she could swear that should couldn't feel her hooves anymore. She however had more pressing concerns.

"I'll make another tent." She said simply only for the filly to stand up wearily.

"N-No...this makes the fifth time we've stopped in the last five hours. We can't afford to waste anymore time!" Cheerilee exclaimed defiantly, took a few weak steps, and fell to her knees.

"But you can't even walk anymore! What will be the point in finding them if you've frozen to death before we even reach the house!?" Rarity countered. She had a valid point and both ponies knew it.

"Then carry me. I barely weigh more than Sweetie Belle does anyways." Cheerilee replied, still determined to go on despite her condition.

Rarity looked at the filly and sighed. She could tell by the look on her face, no matter what she said at this point, Cheerilee was going to refuse to stop anymore and keep on trying to get to the filly she loved whether Rarity was willing to carry her or not.

With a minor huff of annoyance, the unicorn channeled magic into her horn and levitated the fully to her back. "You're sure you don't want to stop at least once more to warm yourself up, darling?" Rarity asked with a look of concern on her face due to the fact that once she had placed the filly on her back, she could feel just how much colder she was than her.

"N-No, lets get moving." Cheerilee stuttered out between teeth chatters.

"Very well, lets be on our way then, hmm?" Rarity replied and continued walking through the snow only to suddenly feel light-headed for a moment and stumble forward though she regained her balance before she fell. A stumble, that Cheerilee took note of.

"Rarity, are you alright?" She asked as the unicorn continued to walk through the snow.

"Just fine, darling. I merely tripped over a small hole that was concealed under the snow. All good here." She lied and sighed softly to herself. "I'm such a hypocrite…" She thought to herself dismally, knowing full well that she wasn't feeling nearly as well as she had when her journey began.

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Rainbow Dash's teeth chattered, her wings ached, and she could no longer feel her own nose but she refused to stop, she had merely slowed the storm down, if left alone, it would bring itself back to full strength within the hour. With a grunt of pain, the cyan blue Pegasus forced herself to take off from a cloud she had taken a short rest on and resumed kicking out clouds.

Suddenly a jolt of lightning jetted past the cyan blue Pegasus barely an inch from her. "Gah!" She exclaimed as the bolt sailed past her face. Well, she could feel her nose now but it now stung and a painful burning sensation began to swell on her nose, clearly having suffered a second degree burn or worse. Despite this, she continued her job, refusing to back down from what she was determined to finish that she had started.

A mere twenty minutes later however and the Pegasus was clearly at her limit as she landed on the closest cloud she could find to rest only to realize that no matter how much she tried, she couldn't will her wings to flap, she could barely move her legs, and even though her nose has felt like it was on fire less than twenty minutes ago, she could no longer feel that as well once again.

"Oh geez! Is this really how I'm going to die?! To a lame snowstorm?!" She shouted as loud as she could in fury though her voice could barely make much more than a feeble hoarse whisper at most. "Move you lame wings!" Rainbow Dash choked out as she used every ounce of her willpower and strength to flap her wings but barely managed to move a single wing-tip a few centimetres down.

Rainbow Dash could feel her sight dimming as she felt her consciousness begin to slip away. "M-Move... M-Move… Move…" She said weakly over and over until her vision faded completely and passed out on the cloud as snow began to coat over her body within the snowstorm.

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Rarity gave a worried look skyward now, taking note that the storm was regaining its former strength. Though this was the least of her current concerns. The unicorn was at the very moment, using every fiber of her willpower to remain awake as the house they were trying to find suddenly appeared to the unicorns eyesight, as blurred as it was.

Due to Rarity carrying her, Cheerilee was recovering rather well thanks to the unicorn's body heat warming her somewhat despite the chilling winds that continued to pummel her without remorse.

"Ch-Cheerilee, I see it! The house!" Rarity stuttered out between teeth chatters which caused the filly to look up and stare almost in disbelief of what she was seeing.

"Oh thank Luna!" Cheerilee exclaimed joyfully only to suddenly be flung from the unicorn's back as Rarity's face impacted with the snow. "Rarity?! Rarity, say something!" Cheerilee exclaimed as she shook the unconscious unicorn.

Cheerilee gave a panicked look at the house then back to Rarity and once more towards the house before breaking into an all out gallop.

The filly ran to the door, and began pounding on it in hopes that Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom were inside.

"Who in the hay?" Applebloom asked curiously as she walked to the door and gawked in shock at the sight of Cheerilee, teeth chattering but looking panicked as she darted inside.

"Cheerilee?!" Scootaloo exclaimed in disbelief as she stared at the shivering earth pony. "Applebloom, go grab the blanket from my parents room!" Scootaloo instructed to which Applebloom darted up the stairs without another word, came back down stairs, and flung the blanket over the shivering filly who immediately held the blanket close to warm herself.
"What the hay are you doing out here?!" Applebloom asked in shock only to hear a low chattering which sounded something like words from the earth pony. Curiously, Applebloom leaned in closer to listen as did Scootaloo.

"R-R-Rarity… un-un-unconscious… O-O-Outside…" Was all the earth pony managed to stutter out but it was all Scootaloo needed to hear as before Applebloom could utter a single word, the Pegasus flung the door open, spread her wings, and took off.

It didn't take long for Scootaloo to spot her lover, laying in the snow unconscious. The young Pegasus nearly hit the snow nose-first as she landed haphazardly and rushed to her lover's side. "Come on, Rarity! Say something!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she shook the unicorn.

Much to her relief, she heard an audible groan from the unicorn as her eyes fluttered open weakly. "S-Scootaloo?" She managed to utter out though it was barely more than a whisper which the Pegasus would not have heard if her ears were not directly next to Rarity's mouth at the moment.

"C-Come on! You gotta get up so I can get you inside!" Scootaloo instructed as she did her best to help the unicorn to her hooves only for her to fall back to the snow.

"C-Can't… F-Feel… M-My… L-Legs…" Rarity managed to stutter out as the young filly helped her up once again only to put her body under the unicorn and began to tug her way back to the house with Rarity's body dragging along the snow behind them.

About half way back to the house, Applebloom came into view and stopped with a horrified face a few feet from them as she stared at the half-frozen unicorn. "I-Is she…?" Applebloom asked, her voice cracking.

"N-No, she's alive. H-Help me carry her into the house." Scootaloo stuttered out, the bitter cold was starting to get to her as well.

Without another word, the farm pony quickly took a leg over her body and helped Scootaloo carry Rarity back to house. It took nearly twenty minutes but eventually, the two fillies could be seen carrying Rarity's body through the front door which was promptly closed behind them.

Upon seeing the unicorn, Cheerilee immediately yanked the blanket off herself and through it over the now shivering Unicorn who was barely conscious at this point.

"Her legs…" Applebloom remarked in a whisper as she looked over them before the blanket was tossed over Rarity. The farm pony had gotten a clear view of them and they looked far from their normally white color as they brandished a dark blue, almost black color on them now.

Cheerilee lifted the blanket for a moment to get a look herself and gasped. "Oh dear…" Cheerilee uttered out. Even though she was still far from warmed up, she was in far better condition than the unicorn at the moment.

"C-Can't… F-Feel... My... legs… W-Why?" Rarity managed to utter out between teeth chattering.

"What's wrong with her legs?" Scootaloo asked in a worried tone as she ran a hoof through her lover's mane.

"I'm not sure how to say this but it looks like a really bad case of frostbite…" Cheerilee replied only to give a heavy wheezing cough.

"Frostbite?! Isn't that really bad?!" Scootaloo exclaimed with a panicked expression now.

"Yes, it is." Cheerilee replied only to give yet another wheezing cough.

"That's a really bad cough, Miss. Cheerilee." Applebloom remarked with a worried look.

"N-Nevermind me, where's Sweetie Belle?" Cheerilee asked as she looked at the two.

"She's upstairs, Applebloom can show ya to her room." Scootaloo replied as she leaned against Rarity and nuzzled her affectionately.

Once Applebloom showed the earth pony to her lover's bedroom, the earth pony's expression was filled with worry all over again as she rushed over to Sweetie Belle whom moaned softly at her touch. "Dear Celestia, she's hot to the touch!" Cheerilee remarked in a mildly panicked tone as she looked over at Applebloom. "How long has she been like this?"

"Couple days now, she passed out just before we got here and hasn't woken up since." Applebloom replied as she walked over to the bed and gave her friend a worried look before she looked back at Cheerilee. "She's gonna make it… isn't she?" Applebloom asked, her voice cracking as she spoke the last two words of her sentence.

The earth pony hesitated in her reply. She could tell from just looking at the filly that her condition wasn't good. "We can only hope." She said softly as she ran a hoof through the filly's mane.

The earth pony's face lit up in alarm however as she recalled one terrifying fact, Rainbow Dash was still out there.

"What is it?" Applebloom asked taking note of the earth pony's panicked expression.

"Rainbow Dash is out there, in the clouds still. She's been working all this time to weaken the storm for us to get here." Cheerilee replied followed by another wheezing cough.
"And she hasn't come back?!" Applebloom exclaimed, turned about face, and rushed down the stairs only to find the door wide-open and Scootaloo note in sight.

"Sh-She overheard… Cheerilee…and you." Rarity managed to utter out much to the horror of the farm pony.

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"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo shouted as the storm winds blew fiercely against her, chilling the Pegasus to the bone the moment she entered the cloud cover. The storm was back to its former full strength now and didn't hesitate to begin pummeling the young Pegasus no sooner she had entered.

"Rainbow Dash! Answer me!" Scootaloo shouted aloud though the strong winds and snow that pelted her now seemed to drown out her voice. Despite this, she continued calling out the cyan blue Pegasus's name in hopes she would respond.

Scootaloo had no idea how much time had passed now but there was one thing she knew, if she stayed in this storm much longer, she was going to freeze to death. She could barely feel her wings now, her legs felt numb, and she could have swore that her mane was frozen solid. Despite knowing this, she continued calling out Rainbow Dash's name, not giving up in her search to find the mare.

It might have taken the filly hours more to find the cyan blue Pegasus but it so happened that she found her less than five minutes later, unconscious on a lone cloud. With the last of her strength that the filly could muster, she wrapped her arms around the mare and lifted her, barely securing her. Due to Rainbow Dash's size, flying properly was going to be next to impossible, this much she knew, but she was going to try anyways.

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"I've got to be out of my mind!" Twilight exclaimed as she conjured a shield to protect her from cold winds and snow that pelted her now The lavender unicorn was barely on the outskirts of Ponyville now, having decided to join in the search, despite as late as she was.

However, she had taken barely a few more steps before an orange and blue blur came into view and crashed-landed about fifty feet from where she stood. Without hesitation, the unicorn teleported to the crash site.

"Holy apples covered in caramel!" Twilight exclaimed with a horrified glance at the two, channeled magic into her horn and teleported the two to the Ponyville hospital.

It took no time at all for the two pegasi to be admitted, rushed to the ER via stretchers being pushed by nurse unicorns and doctors.

At this exact moment, Skydancer happened to be coming out from her hospital room in a wheelchair to see what the commotion was about only to see her daughter being rushed by. "Scootaloo?!" She exclaimed with a horrified expression as her daughter's stretcher whized by and was out of sight moments later.

It was a mere few moments later that Twilight ran up to the Pegasus, having hear her calling out the filly's name. "You know her?" Twilight asked curiously. If the unicorn had bothered to pay close attention, she would have realized this was Scootaloo's birth mother right away but her worry for her friends was causing her to draw a blank at the moment.

"Of course I know her! That's my daughter!" Skydancer exclaimed though she looked nearly frantic at the moment due to what she had witnessed.

It was then it dawned on the lavender unicorn. "Of course! Skydancer! Look, I need to ask you a few questions!" Twilight asked quickly but in a calm manner...

Author's Notes:

And here you go! The long awaited continuation of "The Belle tolls for love 2"!!!