Scootaloo Grows Up

The next day was a school day and as such, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo found themselves enjoying a playtime break. As they merrily pranced around with the other ponies, and engaged in activities befitting such a beautiful day, one would struggle to believe that they were actually in school. That was until the school bell rang out across the playground, signalling an end to their joyous times of the youth. As Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo left the lush greenery of the playing field, they discussed the plan once more.

“So after class, Scootaloo will be headin’ t’ th’ Everfree Forest t’ go an’ see Zecora. Then Sw-“

“Ugh, come on Apple Bloom, this is like the fourth time you’ve went through this thing. I think we’re clear on what to do by now” interjected Scootaloo.

The trio pushed pashed the schoolhouse double doors and entered the hallways, which acted as a sort of conduit, delivering the students to their lessons. Strewn along the walls were doors, each leading into a separate classroom which often dealt with specialist subjects or on occasion a whole host of different subjects and topics.

“Ah just wanna be certain that we all know what we’re doin’. We don’ want anythin’ t’ go wrong” retorted Apple Bloom.

The three fillies passed the corridors, ignoring the postered educational tips that littered the walls, or pinned to noticeboards, their bright colours and large lettering failing to attract the attention of the youngsters. Soon the three friends arrived at a crossroads in the hallway, and would have to part ways, and each had a class down the separate hallways. They bid farewell to one another, and just as they were about to leave, Miss Cheerilee poked her head out of her door and called out to them.

“This way girls, all fillies are getting a special lecture, whilst the colts will get there’s tomorrow.” She explained, whilst beckoning them into her classroom.

Puzzled, the three fillies proceeded into Cheerilee’s classroom. Scattered around the room were the fillies from all the other classes, all sharing the same puzzled expressions. Apple Bloom took up her usual seat in-between Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, whilst Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo took seats at the back of the class. Cheerilee shut the door gently and made her way to her desk. Behind her on the blackboard was a couple of crude drawings of what appeared to a filly at various stages of her life, with the final drawing representing a fully grown mare. She lifted a pointer stick from her desk and rapped it against the blackboard, drawing the curious fillies’ attention to the board.

“Now,” began Cheerilee, “today is a special day, because you’ve all reached the point in your lives where you’ll start to experience changes to your bodies.”

The class uttered an enthusiastic ‘oooh’ apart from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who looked like they had already had this talk before. They instead chose to groan, audibly showing their joint displeasure.

“As part of an educational requirement, you have to be taught about each and every one of these changes. However, before we start, I imagine a lot of you are confused about the splitting up of the classes.”

Cheerilee paused, and a few of the students bobbed their heads in answer to her question. Cheerilee even overheard them chatting amongst themselves as they realised the lack of colts present in the room.

“The answer is simple, whilst a lot of these changes are shared between colts and fillies, there are some that are unique. So to avoid embarrassing each other we’ve split you up and assigned a separate day for your special talks.”

A loud ringing swept through the air and the heavy, thunderous roar of tiny hooves added to the cacophony of noise. Everyone in Cheerilee’s classroom turned their gaze towards the windows, watching as the colts swarmed onto the playground.

“As you can see, their lessons have been rescheduled for this talk to take place, but don’t fret you’ll get the same treatment when their talk begins, tomorrow. Now if you’ll pay attention to the board, we can begin.”

The class of fillies regrettably craned their heads back towards the board, trying not to focus on the playtime happening outside.

“Now can anyone tell me the main difference between these two images?” asked Cheerilee as she tapped a hoof against the image of the filly and the image of the adult mare.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Mith Cheerilee!” came a voice from the class.

“Yes, Twist? What is it?”

“They’re taller!” replied the crème pony.

“That’s right, Twist. Typically a fully grown adult mare will be bigger than a filly, except in semi-rare cases, where the filly is found to grow very little, or sometimes not at all. We refer to this act of size change, simply as growth, and it happens to be the most noticeable change that you will experience during this time. As I previously mentioned, some of you will grow a little bit, and some of you may grow to be as big as Celestia herself!”

Suddenly the faces of the little fillies lit up, everybody smiling gleefully as they imagined such a possibility. Though none looked as happy as Scootaloo, for the orange filly, being as tall as Celestia would be a dream come true, nobody would dare question or talk back to a mare that was taller than most stallions. Even Rainbow Dash, her idol, would step back in awe of that taller Scootaloo.

“However, it’s unlikely that many of you will reach such a towering height, as the average mare stands around a few inches shorter than the average stallion.”

“Miss Cheerilee, mah brother is a pretty big stallion, bigger than most ah reckon’. Is it normal fer him t’ be so big? I mean he’s more than a few inches taller than mah sister, an’ ah think she’s pretty average,” queried Apple Bloom.

As Cheerilee set about asking answering Apple Bloom’s question, Scootaloo felt her heart sink. Maybe being as tall as Celestia was just going to have to stay as a mere fantasy. She probably wouldn’t even make it taller than Rainbow Dash. She was doomed to live her life suffering through names like ‘squirt’. She sighed as she began to tune back into Cheerilee’s lesson.

“I hope that answered your question Apple Bloom. Now moving on, apart just getting taller, you’ll find that you will start to develop strange feelings and emotions. Whilst most are the regular emotions such as happiness, sadness and such, there are a few new ones. One of these tells you that your body is, what is commonly referred to as, ‘being in season’.

The expression of the class changed to one of puzzlement at the term ‘in season’. OF course Cheerilee was expecting their response; after all she’d be concerned if some of them had already heard about the term and what it encompasses. She’d probably have to have a small talk with some of the parents in question, but for now she explained further.

“Now I imagine that you’re wondering how that feels. Well it starts of almost like a feeling of love, but it’s a lot faster. You feel like you need to find a stallion, quickly. And in order to find a stallion in such a short time, a mare uses a specific scent to alert the stallion to the needs of the mare, which the stallion quickly fixes.”

“But Miss Cheerilee, where does this scent come from? Is it like perfume? Because my sister has a lot of perfume, is she in season too?” asked a confused Sweetie Belle.

“The scent is produced because of the mare’s increased drive for love and actually works like a perfume, but it actually comes from…”

The class recoiled in horror, echoing a loud ‘ewww’ for extra effect, some even going so far as to feign gagging noises, if only for comedic effect.

“…though I wouldn’t worry about that yet, my little ponies. It’ll be a couple of years before you’ll get your first season. However whilst we’re on the subject, you’ll find that as your body changes and grows, you’ll find yourself able to carry foals…”

The class once again showed their distaste as Cheerilee guided them, through the ‘How Babies are made’ routine. Eventually the class came to an end and some were grateful to see the back of it.

“Can you believe that colts put that in there? I mean did you see how big it was? And Miss Cheerilee said that was below average!” exclaimed one of the students.

“Well haven’t you heard the rumours? They say that Snails’ has already started gowing! It’s apparently way above the average for his age!” replied what was most likely her friend.

“Really? Well he’s not going to be trying anything with me; I don’t want to be split in two.”

The two fillies shared a giggle and walked off, just as the CMC entered into the hallway.

“Ah can’t believe that’s where foals come from, an’ t’ think we came from there an’ all! AJ always told me that foals were created from th’ love of a mare an’ a stallion, an’ then brought from th’ sky by a Pegasus,” muttered Apple Bloom, looking somewhat traumatised.

“I-it all makes s-sense, Rarity…all those s-stallions…so many ni-nights…” mumbled Sweetie Belle, looking probably the worst out of the three fillies.

“I think I’m going to go and get that tea, just in case Cheerilee calls us back to talk about something else,” mumbled Scootaloo as she made for the schoolhouse exit, leaving Apple Bloom to console Sweetie Belle.