“I can't believe we only have one week left!”

Sweetie Belle, who squeaked her comment fairly loudly, quickly put away her supplies inside her desk and proceeded to trot up to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. The school day had just ended and a bunch of eager young ponies had already bolted out the door. The Cutie Mark Crusaders waited a minute so they wouldn't get trampled at the doorway. It was what they always did everyday, and it has been arguably the wisest decision they collectively made. Especially since the winding calender made everypony antsier with each ending day. Since the classroom was now basically empty, an extremely excited Sweetie Belle had room to hop in circles around her two friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo couldn't help but warmly smile as they watched the giddy unicorn bounce out the door of the schoolhouse. The other two crusaders exited the building and the trio grouped together at the bottom of the steps.

“I know right? It'll be great to do all of our crusadin' n' such without any distractions like dumb math homework!” Apple Bloom chimed as she turned to Sweetie Belle, who responded with a toothy grin.

Scootaloo snickered loudly. “AB, I thought you did well in math.”

“Well yeah of course! But come on Scoots, ya gotta admit that we get so much of it though!” Apple Bloom countered. She gave her pegasus friend a soft jab. “Now hurry up and get yer scooter so we can leave.”

Scootaloo reluctantly nodded and started to trot around the side of the schoolhouse. The other two fillies made their way to the sidewalk and waited. At her destination, Scootaloo saw her trademark scooter leaning against the wall of the schoolhouse and quickly admired it for a second before walking it onto the sidewalk where her friend were patiently stationed. On her way there, she noticed that one of the wheels was slightly wobbly.

“Luckily it's not too bad." She said to herself, "Don't worry, momma's gonna tune you up soon.”

Suddenly, something came over her.

Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle started up a small conversation. Being too busy chatting among themselves, the two didn't notice Scootaloo standing behind them with the newly acquired scooter. After a few seconds, both fillies turned around simultaneously to meet their companion.

“Oops, sorry Scootaloo, we didn't see you there.” Sweetie Belle said with an embarrassed chuckle.

Dead silence ran between the three ponies. Scootaloo just stood in front of her friends, lost in thought. Her gaze was fixed on the ground right next to the wheels of her scooter. Sweetie Belle arched an eyebrow at Scootaloo's sudden lack of livelihood. Apple Bloom only smirked at the sight and decided to use this opportunity to banter back at Scootaloo for her earlier comment.

“So...um...are ya read to go Scoots? Cause ya look like you're lost or forgettin' something.” She teased, “That or ya just want to look puuuurty for us.” Apple Bloom purposely added emphasis on her last sentence. She added a playful wink towards the absent-minded pony in front of her to completely seal the gesture.

Scootaloo had completely zoned out. Her mind suddenly became flooded with thoughts...personal thoughts. However, Scootaloo managed to retain her statuesque composure. It had become a recently recurring event for her mind to suddenly be bombarded with these thoughts and images. No matter how much it hurt to dwell and think about, Scootaloo had learned to stay calm and composed and not let her emotions take over. Although deep inside her heart, she wanted to. When it first happened, she used to cope by slowly morphing these thoughts into a dream. Eventually, it started to become instinctual in many cases. This trend happened so often that it started to become a nuisance for the young filly. She finally learned and realized that it was just a dream. She knew her situation. She knew that it couldn't be changed. She knew crying and getting emotional over it was worthless. She knew that dreaming of change was useless.

'Why...why then do I keep having the same stupid fantasy...'

She snapped back to reality with a quick shake of her head. Immediately, Scootaloo noticed the sly look plastered on Apple Bloom's face. Next to her, Sweetie Belle was suppressing a giggle. Finally realizing her mind went adrift, Scootaloo blushed and averted her gaze back to the ground.

“Sorry my bad.” She rubbed the back of her neck slowly with a forehoof, “I was just deciding whether a helmet is worth it today. I wanted to do some tricks, but one of my wheels is loose so I'm gonna stay at an even pace with you guys. No tricks this time.” Scootaloo let out a small squee in hopes that she was convincing enough.

Fortunately it worked. Apple Bloom just shrugged it off while the pegasus clipped her helmet buckle together and slid it onto one of the handlebars. She then stepped onto her scooter.

“Ready.”

“Alright then! To Rarity's!” Sweetie Belle shouted, pointing a hoof towards her sister's boutique.

As they made their way to the destination, Scootaloo turned to look at Apple Bloom.

“By the way, I was not trying to look like Halle Quartz...”

Scootaloo immediately regretted speaking. The comment was intended as an answer to the earth filly. What she got instead was a Freudian slip, making her want to hit herself for not thinking before opening her mouth.

“Ya know I never said anythin' about Halle Quartz right? I just said you were trying to model for us.” Apple Bloom scoffed.

“Halle Quartz? From that show Suburban Saddles? Oh she's really pretty though! I really love her mane!” Sweetie Belle chimed in cheerfully. “It's absolutely fabulous; as Rarity would say.” She did a short impression of her sister, which caused Apple Bloom to chuckle.

Sweetie's expression quickly became quizzical. “I think that's the only big acting role she has had so far actually. It's kinda strange that you know about her, that show is really sappy.”

“Nice to see ya have a mare-crush Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom was having a hay-day with her pegasus friend.

“I...uh...um...I'm just going to stop talking now...” Scootaloo said. She sighed in defeat and embarrassment. Her friends broke into a fit of laughter. Instinctively, the pegasus filly slowed her pace to hide her face, which was now beet-red from blushing.

“...it has good humor...” She muttered under her breath as she slowly caught back up.

Sweetie Belle analyzed the yellow fabric that she held in her hoof. She ran her other hoof across the fabric to feel it. Cotton. Sweetie Belle grunted, rolled the fabric up, and put it back neatly. The unicorn filly was running all across her sister's workroom in hopes of finding the golden silk fabric she previously used for the creation of the CMC capes.

While Sweetie looked at another roll, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat off to the side in one of the corners of the room; Apple Bloom was conversing with Scootaloo. The orange filly blankly stared at her hooves, only giving fake smiles while her friend talked. Not once did Scootaloo make eye contact with Apple Bloom. This did not go unnoticed. Concerned, Apple Bloom leaned towards Scootaloo, tilting her head in hope that her friend would look at her.

“Scootaloo,” she said softly, “are you okay? Ya look up-”

“Ugh! Where is that dumb fabric!?” Sweetie Belle screamed, throwing her hooves up in frustration. Apple Bloom jumped at the sudden outburst and furrowed her brow at Sweetie, who failed to even look her way. Almost if on cue, Rarity walked into the room, levitating a steaming cup of tea next to her.

“I hope you girls aren't destroying everything in this room.” Rarity sneered as she glanced around the room. She was definitely thankful that the workroom was still in one piece. Sweetie zipped straight to her sister.

"Rarity, do you have any more of those golden fabric things!? We wanted to make more capes for Babs' friends in Manehattan." Sweetie Belle asked politely. She watched Rarity set down her cup on a nearby table and fix her posture.

“Apple Bloom's cousin? That's so cute! Well you're in luck Sweetie Belle, I do happen to have a bit of that golden silk left over. I believe there's enough for you to complete your craft project. It's just in storage to prevent any confusion during my moments of inspiration. You know how hoarding gets in the way of things. My, listen to me ramble! Let me just get it for you darling.” Rarity responded with a warm smile.

"Oh and you can help yourself to whatever fabrics you want in here, but please don't cut a large amount from the rolls Sweetie. You don't want to find out what happens when you put a damper on my orders again, do you?" The older unicorn pressed her forehead against her sister's, her glare boring a hole straight through the now-shrunken filly. Tiny beads of sweat began to form on Sweetie's temples and her body trembled lightly.

"N-n-no sis. Not at all...th-thank you." Whimpered Sweetie Belle.

"Good!" Rarity beamed blissfully as she trotted out the door to retrieve the requested item. Sweetie Belle let out a large sigh of relief then rubbed the spot where her sister's horn was basically stabbing into her skull.

Sweetie Belle gently placed the last small roll of fabric into her red wagon, which she then proceeded to hook up to the back of the scooter.

"Thanks for the stuff Rarity!"

"Oh and thanks for letting me spend the night at Apple Bloom's too!"

"Of course! You three have a wonderful time. At least you won't be in my mane." The girls' faces flattened at Rarity's remark. "Only kidding of course!" Rarity sheepishly laughed. "You girls have fun now!"

The older mare turned around and walked back into the boutique, but not without giving one last smile to the three girls first. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom waved goodbye as they watched the door close. A somber Scootaloo, on the other hand, hung her head, and slowly pushed herself on her scooter away from the building. Her attitude, once more, did not go unnoticed. The other two fillies cocked their heads back and frowned. After exchanging concerned glances, Sweetie Belle quickly caught up to the sulking crusader and placed a hoof on her shoulder, which caused Scootaloo to stop abrubtly.

“Hey Scootaloo? What's Wrong?” She asked, her tone soft. Scootaloo moved her gaze to the corner of her eyes and continued to face forward.

"Nothing's wrong.." She murmured inaudibly.

“Yeah what's up? You've been acting really strange.” Apple Bloom walked up slowly to face Scootaloo.

“I said nothing's wrong...”

Apple Bloom immediately grabbed Scootaloo's face with both hooves. She managed to lock eyes with the pegasus, who was caught off guard by her actions.

“I know that's a bunch of horsefeathers.” She let go, only to watch her friends expression deflate again. “Please.”

Scootaloo stared at her friends for a minute then let out a heavy sigh. She contemplated completely dismissing the subject by telling them she'd rather not talk about it. Her mouth opened, ready to form the sentence she had put together in her head.

“...It's dumb...”

That was all she could muster. Defeated, Scootaloo sat down on her scooter and looked straight down, her eyes only meeting with the purple painted board underneath her. A few seconds of silenced passed, and Scootaloo moved her eyes back up and saw that her friends were smiling. They weren't large smiles by any means, but they still felt warm nonetheless; they were comforting. These smiles told the gloomy filly that everything would be alright, told her that they could be trusted. The expression spoke to her more than any amount of words could. Scootaloo let out a deep breath.

“Alright,” She gulped, “that show with Halle Quartz, I do like it. A lot actually.”

Scootaloo felt her heart sink a little. Yes, it was true she did like the show and its star actress, and yes she accidentally slipped that out earlier but that wasn't what was really bothering her. However, she just couldn't bring herself to tell the truth to them. Still, the fact that she lied to her friends now made her feel even worse. Her face was stained with distraught.

The other two crusaders turned to face each other, both confused. Sweetie, who was slightly disappointed at the 'problem,' raised an eyebrow as she turned back to her glum friend.

“That's it?”

Apple Bloom shot a piercing glare at Sweetie Belle for her blunt response.

“Of course not, that'd be silly.” Scootaloo let out a tiny laugh and even managed to crack a grin. With the damage already dealt, Scootaloo assumed it was best to just try and make her explanation as convincing as possible. She quickly ran through what things to say before opening her mouth again.

“See, I've always tried to make myself looks all awesome and cool. Just like Rainbow Dash you know? So obviously a sappy and 'uncool' show such as Suburban Saddles shouldn't be my thing. I didn't want you guys to find out because..."

She didn't expect her sentence to form this way. In an instant, her grin faded into a small frown. Scootaloo mentally cursed at her subconscious, realizing her bottled up emotions ended up bleeding through to her speech. It was finally getting the better of her again. The pegasus felt tears forming and her throat became slightly choked, hindering her speech for a moment.

Apple Bloom mouthed the word "oh" before slowly making her way to the near-sobbing Scootaloo. She had never seen this side of her friend before. It was almost shocking to see her in such a vulnerable state. Yet that didn't bother Apple Bloom from plopping herself even closer to Scootaloo, who currently was sniffling and wiping away her tears.

"Because...I...I...thought that you'd think less of me..." Scootaloo managed to reveal through a few gulps and sniffles. She was at least glad she got half the truth out to her friends.

“Scoots, you're being ridiculous.” Apple Bloom said bluntly. “Look it's just a show. Yes we may tease ya, but it's all in good fun. There are definitely things you tease me with, but we're still friends ain't we?”

“Yeah exactly! We're your best friends Scootaloo. We love you, and nothing's gonna change that!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, nuzzling her friend a little for comfort.

“Sweetie Belle's right. You are you, and no matter what, you'll always be cool and awesome to us. There's nothing in the entire universe that will make us think less of you. If there was, we wouldn't be friends.”

Scootaloo's ears perked up upon hearing Apple Bloom's comment. She quickly threw both forehooves around her two friends and gave them a tight hug. The other two fillies eagerly returned the gesture. When the hug broke off, Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck.

“I'm sorry for being so gloomy guys.” She said, feeling a bit ashamed.

“It's alright Scoots.” Sweetie Belle giggled. “I like the show too. So if it makes you feel better, we could always talk about it sometime.” She grinned from ear to ear.

“That would be awesome Sweetie.”

“Ya know, I need to watch this show now.”

“Oh Apple Bloom you're missing out! It's so good, definitely worth it!” Scootaloo noted excitedly, her happiness now fully restored.

As the trio made their way to the clubhouse, Scootaloo couldn't help but ponder a few more things. She looked at both her friends and let out a smile.

The three fillies inspected the two new capes they had just produced. They were perfect. The Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered and gave each other a high-hoof in success.

"I hope Babs' friends will like them." Sweetie said modestly.

"Oh I know they will for sure!" Apple Bloom answered as she folded one of the capes neatly.

"Yeah, I mean, how could they not? They're so awesome!" Scootaloo hovered in the air for a brief moment. When she landed, she stroked the underside of her chin. She was so eager to move onto the arguably bigger event of the night. "So with all that done we should totally plan out our next few crusades!"

It took an entire three seconds before a dozen crayons and blank sheets of paper were thrown to the ground in front of her and Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom winked at her fellow crusaders before plopping down onto her stomach and jotting down the beginnings of a list.

"So I was thinkin', maybe we could try a hoof at pole vaulting, then if that doesn't work we could try white-river rafting."

"Oh! I overheard Button say something about castle crashing with some friends. We should definitely try that out too!"

A few hours of contemplation, bickering, and giggling passed. Celestia was starting to end the day by slowly lowering the sun, which made for a beautiful scene over Ponyville. The three girls had finished up their list of crusades and were laying around and chatting about whatever struck each other's fancy.

"Jeez I wouldn't think that's physically possible..." Apple Bloom grimaced as she stared aimlessly at the clubhouse's ceiling.

"Oh I know Right!? I nearly barfed. It was pretty gross." Sweetie Belle said fair nonchalantly. She took a second to admire a drawing she made before nudging it away from her and softly resting her head on her hooves. The angle let her see the orange pegasus that was by one of the windows of the clubhouse.

Scootaloo, although not one that was normally fond of quiet activities, rather enjoyed gazing out into the setting sky. It was a clear and refreshing way to think. She played some of the days events again in her head. She was still slightly disappointed in herself for not telling the complete and honest truth to her two closest friends in all of Equestria why she was upset. Scootaloo took a quick glance over to her friends and mentally sighed. Partly because of what was on her mind, but mostly because they were just lazy sacks laying on the clubhouse floor.

Earlier Applejack came in to supply the CMC with some apple fritters as well as check up on the group. She had asked if they were planning to sleep in Apple Bloom's room or in the clubhouse. When it wasn't yet decided, Applejack just informed them to decide before the sun completely set so that they wouldn't be walking around in the dark of night.

Apple Bloom then quickly rolled over, stood up, and peered over Scootaloo's shoulder from where she stood. "Hey girls, it's almost sundown, and mah sis is expecting an answer soon, so what do you wanna do? Should we sleep here tonight or head up to mah room?"

Sweetie Belle also stood up and brushed off any dirt that may have gotten in her coat. "I'm not exactly sure still. Do you enough sleeping bags?"

"Yeah we do. Applejack said we have four. They're in the house. If ya want, we could decide on the way back."

"Oh that's a relief, my sleeping bag is in my closest at home still. I totally forgot all about it."

Sweetie Belle, who picked up the plate of apple fritter crumbs, then made a quick observation. She balanced the plate on her back before turning to Scootaloo, who remained to stare outside silently.

"You know, speaking of homes, I don't think we've ever spent the night at Scootaloo's house before."

Scootaloo's eyes widened instantly. The orange pegasus was caught of guard yet still managed to slowly turn to reluctantly face her friends. She awkwardly smiled and felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of her face.

"Yeah, you're totally right! That's kinda weird...Scoots why haven't we ever been to yer house?"

The pegasus' mind was racing. Her teeth were clenched together extremely tight, reflecting how hard she was trying to put on her smile.

'Shoot, what do I say!? I don't want them to know!'

She coursed through excuses. Nothing was coming to her. She couldn't think. Before Scootaloo could start mentally freaking out, she took one hard, long look at her friends. Although they both displayed looks of confusion, Scootaloo could still feel the same warmness she felt just hours before.

'There's nothing in the entire universe that will make us think less of you. If there was, we wouldn't be friends.'

'We're your best friends Scootaloo. We love you, and nothing's gonna change that!'

Scootaloo averted her eyes from her friends to the floor. Her fake smile slowly faded, but she immediately replaced it with a firm expression. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom couldn't help but get even more confused.

'These are my friends...my best friends. I love them and I trust them. It's about time they know. No more hiding...'

"You know what? Let's change that. We are gonna go to my house tonight." A new found determined voice escaped from the young pegasus as she moved her eyes back towards her friends.

Scootaloo marched out of the clubhouse and back towards the Apple family's house. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle slowly turned towards each other and shared a moment of silence and even more confusion. The young unicorn finally shrugged and turned towards the door.

"Well I guess that's decided then. Come on let's go ask Applejack."

Apple Bloom, who now was the last crusader standing inside the clubhouse, scratched the back of her head. She stopped at the doorway and stared at Sweetie Belle as she was running to catch up to Scootaloo. With a sigh and a shake of her head, the young earth pony made her way down the steps of the clubhouse.

"This has been one weird day."

Author's Note

Well you made it! Sorry if the writing is really simple and whatnot. It's been a while since I've written creatively. And I wasn't exactly a godsend when it came to it in the first place. But alas, I wanted to write this story. So here we are! I definitely want to be able to improve, so let me know how it was and maybe some tips to improve.

Oh and if the Halle Quartz thing is confusing, I apologize. It'll be explained a little bit more maybe next chapter.

By the way, being a college student definitely limits my time when it comes to artsy stuff, so if someone would like to draw a cover to this story, just PM me, cause that would be freaking awesome.