Horns, Wings and Hooves Oh My!
Scootaloo sat outside Sugarcube Corner, waiting for the other crusaders to arrive. She had rushed ahead of them first because she had heard Rainbowdash was there planning a prank with Pinkie Pie. She had buzzed there as fast as her little scooter and wings could take her, missing them by seconds. And a few seconds was all Rainbowdash and pinkie needed to find a hapless victim. Scootaloo kicked up a small dust cloud as she looked up in to the beautiful sunlit sky. She saw a lot of familiar pegasi in the air. Drizzle pranced about the air while Mary May zipped to and fro, even Derpy was doing a few lazy barrel-rolls. Then she saw it; the perfect cloud. Not too fluffy and just puffy enough to snuggle in and she hated it. She hated how it always seemed to follow her, seemed to taunt her with its perfection.
The other two Crusaders came panting up to Sugercube corner in time to see the young orange pegasus glare at the sky.
"What're you lookin at Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked breaking her out of her trance.
Scootaloo shook her head and grinned "nothing, Are you ready?"
This time Sweetie bell piped up "Yes! Operation cake eating cutie mark is a go!" she raised a large bag of bits in the air, their combined allowances. The three friends nearly tore the door from its hinges.
"One of everything, please!" the three shouted in unison.
After eating the sugary confections, the three fillies sat with an upset stomach and still no cutie marks.
"Ugh, too much cake. Urrp." Applebloom belched and patted her belly.
"Applebloom! Manners!" Sweetiebell said in her best rarity impression. Followed by her belch that nearly shook the bakery's windows. Applebloom and Scootaloo fell to the floor in a fit of giggles and Sweetiebell turned red in embarrassment.
"Excuse me" she added quietly and giggled herself.
After the giggling died down they started to wonder what to do next
"I know! Let’s go be cutie mark crusader lumberjacks!" Scootaloo suggested.
"I can't, Rarity won’t let me near an axe ever since we tried to be fireponies." Sweetiebell said as she played with left over frosting.
"Ah got it! Twilight bought me a new ball to replace the one she broke. Remember when she tried to give use that ugly doll?" Applebloom beamed.
"Don't remind us" Scootaloo said as she and Sweetiebell shuddered. “are you sure it's safe?"
Applebloom looked thoughtful for a minute "Ah think so, at least Applejack said it was ok. And if she says it ok then it's ok!"
"Whatever, let's head over to Sweet Apple Acres” Scootaloo shrugged and headed out the door with her friends in tow.
Mr. Cake in the meanwhile finally realized who he sold all those cakes too...he had doomed the town.
The sugar-high fillies tore a swath of destruction through the town. Anything that caught their attention was inspected ripped and "fixed" by the hyper crusaders. Including but not limited to;
A shipment for sofas and quills, they stuffed the sofas with the quills to make the sofas softer.
A small toy stand, where they 'tested' each toy for quality.
And they literally turned the joke shop upside down. Jester was seen laughing on his new 'roof'.
By the time they had made it to Sweet Apple Acres, they only had enough energy for a few games with the filly sized ball. With a mighty kick Applebloom sent the ball flying into a tall apple tree.
"Aw shoot, not Bloomington!" she moaned
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “Bloomington? The trees name is Bloomington?"
"Yes and he's the tallest and thickest apple tree on the farm" Applebloom sputtered staring at the massive tree.
"So?" It was Sweetiebells turn to raise an eyebrow. "Can’t you just buck it down?"
"No ah can't, its big mac's favorite tree! He doesn’t let anyponyelse buck it" Applebloom turned to Scootaloo "Scootaloo can you fly up there and get it? Please be careful."
"I can't" Scootaloo muttered. She looked at the ground and scuffed the grass with a hoof. Tears welling up in her eyes, causing confused glances between the other two friends.
"Waddaya mean you can't" Applebloom cried. Then tapped a hoof to her chin "come to think of it Ah've never seen you do more than hover. Why’s that?"
"Can you girls keep a secret?" Scootaloo muttered without making eye contact. The other two fillies nodded enthusiastically. "Not here, I'll tell you in the clubhouse"
While Scootaloo and Applebloom headed off to the clubhouse, Sweetiebell stared at the ball in the tree. A lite glow enveloped her horn and the ball and the ball floated down gently.
"Hey, it didn't catch fire!" she cried. She waited a few seconds and both the ball and the tree refused to ignite. She proudly trotted after her friends.
Scootaloo and the other crusaders sat in front of a small table with a lamp. Applebloom moved the shade to put the light in Scootaloo's face causing her to blink.
"Alright sister, spill it" Applebloom said with a stern voice and face." what's your big secret?"
Sweetiebell placed a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder "it's ok, you can tell us. We're your friends remember?"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes and blinked again from the lights “Alright, but this doesn't leave this clubhouse." sweetie bell and Applebloom both mimed the pinkie pie promise
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Now tell us" the two said together.
"Okay I'll tell you, I'm not a really a pegasus" she shielded her eyes from the light with a foreleg to see their reaction. Applebloom looked skeptical and Sweetiebell's jaw had hit the floor. Scootaloo pushed up her hair with the foreleg shielding the light. Under her hair was a short horn. "I'm really an Alicorn."
"Pfft, That's impossible, it has gotta be a fake." Applebloom scoffed.
"I can check!" Sweetiebell offered, she moved closer to Scootaloos horn, “when a unicorn touches horns with another unicorn, it causes magic feedback. That can't be faked." she leaned in all the way...
bazaaaaaaaaappppppppp!!!!!!
Charred and dazed, Sweetiebell just nodded that it was real. Applebloom just sat there bug eyed. Sweetiebell waved a hoof in front of her and a smile started to grow on Appleblooms face.
"You're just like Princess Celestia,"Applebloom said grinning ear to ear." but how?"
Scootaloo turned from orange to red" Celestia is my mom."
"WHAT?!?" Both little ponies screamed. She shifted uncomfortably under her friends stares.
Applebloom was the first to take a deep breath to calm down before asking "So, what does all this have with not being able to fly?"
"Well, Alicorns mature as slowly as dragons, so my wings won't be able to lift me for at least another year." Scootaloo tapped two hooves together. Her eyes darting between the two others.
“Why are you here in Ponyville?" Applebloom asked
"Mom sent me out here to get down to earth as she put it" Scootaloo said "and I think I know why too. Without you two as my friends I might have ended up like Prince Blueblood. Please tell me this doesn't change how you feel about me. “She smiled hopefully at her two friends.
"Of course not" Sweetiebell squealed .The two fillies jump on top of their friend in a giant hug.
Scootaloo sat in front of the large gravestone, her long ethereal purple hair flowing despite the lack of wind . Even after seven hundred years she still cries on this day. The day Sweetie belle passed on, time had done nothing to heal the wounds. Scootaloo looked around the grave yard. Next to Sweetie belle's grave stone was Rarity's and the other bearers of harmony and their statues. Sweetie belle always wanted to be buried next to her beloved sister and Scootaloo fought hard with her mother to have Sweetie bell and Applebloom buried in the same plot as their sisters graves. Applebloom, Scootaloo remembered, wanted a statue bigger than Applejacks. That made selling the whole idea a lot harder but now her statue is guarding the grave sites gates with one outstretched hoof and a large hammer in the other. and yes it is much bigger than Applejacks.
Scootaloo began humming a song written by Sweetie for Scootaloo's 91st birthday. Called 'The Crusaders March', it was the last thing she had preformed before passing on. As she hummed and the tears streamed down her face she placed a bouquet of violets, Sweetie Belles favorite.
"Greetings young niece." came a soft voice from behind Scootaloo. She nearly jumped out of her feathers and turned around. standing there was princess Luna. She smiled warmly at Scootaloo.
"Auntie Lulu!" Scootaloo shouted as she embraced the older alicorn"what are you doing here?"
"I come here to talk to Twilight. I tell her of old friendslost or of new friends I've made. I like to think she still listens."
there was a long silence as the two princesses paid their respects. After a few minutes Scootaloo finally broke the silence. "it never gets easier does it? Sometimes I look at other ponies and think 'you're not them'. I can't get close to anypony anymore." she asked.
Princess Luna looked around at the graves around her "No little one, it doesn't. " she sighed. "every pony assumes that we Alicorns are the paragons of Ponydom. To tell the truth without our friends to shape us. We are nothing. Everthing about us is more powerful then a normal pony's including our emotions. joy, rage, love, jealousy and sadness. Do you think Sweetie belle or Applebloom would want you to mope about for the rest of eternity?"
Scootaloo smiled slightly "No and Applebloom would buck me in the head for it." she said with a sad chuckle." but how do I go on?"
"As I said your friends helped shaped you in to the pony you are today, as long as we exist we carry their memories. So unless you want to wind up like I once was, or skies preserve us. like your mother after Twilights death,"Luna shuddered as she remembered the resurrection experiments. "go make some new friends."
Scootaloo smiled genuinely "Alright aunt Lulu, but where do I start? I haven't hung around normal ponies for centuries."
"Well, I believe your mother is opening another library today. A young filly by the name of Applecore Apple will be there. I think she would love to have a princess help in finding her cutie mark. Spike is going to be there too!" Luna said happily.
"Applecore, huh. maybe I should start up the Cutie Mark Crusaders again. and spikes awake? I wonder if he found out about the beard spell I put on him." Scootaloo thought to herself. "Alright let's go" she told Luna excitedly.
"Good, just promise me that you wont go overboard." Luna said. Scootaloo was about to open her mouth to promise but Luna interjected. "pinkie pie promise."
Scootaloo rolled her eyes but she felt somepony stare at her. Did Pinkies statue always glare like that? Scootaloo made the motions to seal the deal. The statue seemed to return to it's normal grin but still remindedher that she should never break a pinkie promise.
"Excellent! let us leave." Luna spread her wings, Scootaloo followed suit. As they flew, Scootaloo noticed it. The perfect cloud. Not too fluffy and just puffy enough to snuggle in. She broke off from luna and gave it a swift buck decimating it. She had the last laugh.
The End
Authors note
This is mostly an April Fools joke. but I had a good time writing it so I guess that makes me the fool. ;)
