It didn't take long for the three crusaders to pack all their things once they made it back to the Apple family home. Sweetie Belle stepped back and admired how neatly she packed her necessities in her saddlebag. After a brief three second pause, the unicorn exploded into a fit of bubbly-ness.

“Oh my gosh, I don't know why, but I am so excited!”

“Jeez Sweetie Belle, it's just a sleepover at my place. I doubt it'll be that great honestly.” Scootaloo joked, playfully rolling her eyes as her friend cantered in place.

"Well...Still!"

The last of the trio would of joined in on the conversation, and maybe even defend Sweetie Belle's excitement (she couldn't help but share a similar feeling), but she was currently too preoccupied in her own room upstairs double checking her toiletries. As soon as Apple Bloom finished, she buckled her own saddlebag, quickly ran down the steps, and haphazardly threw it towards her friends. The saddlebag narrowly missed the back of Scootaloo's head, which fortunately went unnoticed by her. At the bottom of the stair case, Apple Bloom glanced over to the kitchen where her sister was washing dishes. She momentarily rejoined her friends.

“One sec girls, lemme ask mah sis if we can actually go first.”

“Uh...Apple Bloom? Aren't you supposed to ask for permission before we start packing our things?” Scootaloo sneered.

A bead of sweat formed on Apple Bloom's brow as she made the realization. She let out a faint embarrassed laugh. It was now Sweetie Belle's turn to playfully roll her eyes. Instead of halfheartedly explaining her mistake, Apple Bloom dashed into the kitchen. The display left the remaining two crusaders exchanging glances before breaking out into a small giggle fit.

In the kitchen, Apple Bloom quietly approached her busy sister and lightly tapped the back of her hind leg.

"Hey sis, can I ask you a question?"

Applejack momentarily stopped her chore and turned to face her little sister.

"Of course sugarcube. What can I do ya for?" She answered politely.

"Well I...uh...we wanted to go over to Scootaloo's house and spend the night there. Would that be okay?" Apple Bloom asked quietly, shuffling one of her forehooves as she did so.

In response, Apple Bloom was met with a hearty chuckle. She pat her sister on the head, which made Apple Bloom shoot an annoyed glare at the older mare. Applejack merely ignored it and continued.

“I swear, you young fillies nowadays can't make up you minds about anything!” She sighed.

“I know I know. It's alright. I'll just tell them that we'll have to-”

“Ah didn't say no Apple Bloom.” Applejack said with an earnest smile. She then looked up to see her sister's friends having a casual conversation. She particularly watched Scootaloo for a few moments before adding on to her statement.

“Besides, ya never asked me to sleep over at Scootaloo's house before anyways. Which is a little strange I guess now that I think about it. But anyways, I don't see why ya'll can't do that.”

“Yeah.”

“Just...um...well it is almost dark, and I see ya'll are already packed up and stuff. So the only thing I'm asking ya to do is to go straight to her house okay? I don't want ya'll to be wandering the streets at night.” Applejack ordered, putting on the most stern face she could muster.

Apple Bloom nodded in compliance. “Don't worry Applejack, that's what we were plannin' to do anyways.” With that, she bolted out of the kitchen to rejoin her friends. “Alrighty she said yes, let's go!”

The crusaders put on their saddlebags and waved goodbye to Applejack.

“Goodnight!” They all shouted. Apple Bloom ran up to her sister and added in a thank you and a hug around her neck just for good measure.

“Have fun girls!” She shouted back before returning to the sink. Upon hearing the door shut, Applejack let out a smirk. “Silly fillies.”

Only ten minutes passed before the trio made it to their destination (albeit Scootaloo was driving a little recklessly). They went clear across Ponyville, near the outskirts of town. In front of the three fillies stood a narrow, but decent sized, two-story home. There was a ledge covered in shrubbery and an assortment of yellow and white flowers that oversaw the front door, completed with two marble white columns that connected it to the ground. The brightness of the columns definitely helped add more flare to the home's stereotypical dull tan paint that plagued nearly every residency in Ponyville. This was especially true with the neighboring buildings. Scootaloo aimed her hoof at the lone window on the second floor.

“Well here we are, home sweet home. That's my room up there. So what do you guys think?" She turned around and patiently waited for her friend's responses.

"It's pretty cool. I like the plants up there on yer window sill Scoots." Apple Bloom responded simply.

"I personally really like the columns. My house doesn't have them; they definitely add a unique touch." Sweetie Belle added as she stroked one of the said columns.

Scootaloo approached the door, with her friends close behind her. "Thanks guys. My dad actually did the work on that stuff. The ledge, columns, even added the plants just because he could. Neat huh?"

Between the mixture of awe and surprise, the two fillies in front of Scootaloo asked the obvious rhetorical question:

"Your dad did all that?"

As if on cue, the front door opened and a male pegasus stood at the doorway. He was slightly taller than most of the males in town, but maybe by an inch or two. His coat was copper colored, his eyes had a navy blue tint, and his mane was clay colored. Speaking of manes, this particular stallion's was slightly messy and short, despite his bangs starting to grow out; it definitely looked like a low maintenance, yet classy and relevant style even without any combing or gels. He even sported a light stubble. Despite having slight bags under his eyes, the pegasus looked surprisingly young, just about as young as Prince Shining Armor, if not, one or two years older.

Now although they were still fillies, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle did know an attractive stallion when they saw one. It didn't take long for either of the girls to notice his fit physique. Although not extremely toned or muscular, it was not hard to notice that he still was strong and built. That aspect just added onto his youthful complexion. Needless to say, they were both taken back a bit. While the two awkwardly stared at Scootaloo's father, the said figure tilted his head in confusion.

"Scootaloo? What are you doing here? I though you said you were spending the night at your friend's house tonight?" He had a bemused expression plastered on his face.

Sweetie Belle shuddered at the voice that escaped the stallions throat, which was fairly deep and slightly raspy. Apple Bloom leaned her head towards Sweetie's without taking her eyes off of him.

"He's a nine." She whispered. Sweetie Belle responded by slowly nodding her head.

"Well yeah that was the original plan, but we all decided that we should stay at my place." Scootaloo stated matter-of-factly.

Her father let out a soft, almost inaudible chuckle. "Alrighty then kiddo. So these are your friends huh?" The three crusaders nodded simultaneously. "Well it's nice to finally meet you two. Scoots here has told me all about you guys. Come on inside and make yourself at home." With his introduction finished, Scootaloo's father left the fillies with an inviting smile and walked towards his bedroom.

"Your dad's good looking..." Sweetie Belle blurted just before the trio filed through the doorway.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The trio took no time at all to lounge on the couch in the living room and watch T.V. Scootaloo's father walked down the hall from his room.

"Hey Lulu, did you put your scooter and the wagon away?" Scootaloo's father asked. He peered his head over the couch to where his daughter lay; she simply looked back up at him.

"Yep. It's all in- D-Dad! Not in front of my friends!" Scootaloo wailed after the sudden realization that her pet name was just used in the vicinity of her closest friends. Both of the said ponies tried their hardest to suppress their laughter.

"Lulu? That's a new one. We gotta start using that." Apple Bloom snickered. This earned a leer from Scootaloo, although it didn't stop her, and in the end all the poor pegasus could do is flush her cheeks a crimson shade from all the teasing. She then felt her dad's hoof ruffle her hair.

"Oh it's not that bad!" He blatantly lied through his cheeky smile. Although he did want to continue messing with his daughter in front of her friends, he decided it was best to change the subject and spare her the humiliation. "So I was thinking, since I wasn't expecting you guys here, and I'm not really in the mood to cook, that I'd just order some pizza for dinner. Is that alright with you guys?"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders immediately shouted a yes in response.

"Awesome. I only really know what Scootaloo likes for toppings. So we're getting at least one large pineapple. How about I go the easy route with a large three cheese pizza then? Oh and both thick crust okay?"

All three fillies nodded their heads vigorously.

The three crusaders sat at the counter that was built at the edge of an open kitchen while Scootaloo's father remained standing up just on the opposite side of said counter. Two steaming hot boxes of pizza sat in the center of the group and it sure hadn't taken long for the four of them to dig right in.

"So you must be Sweetie Belle, and you are Apple Bloom correct?" Scootaloo's dad inquired, pointing his hoof at the respective fillies. They both nodded their heads.

"Ya know, we never actually got yer name yet sir." Apple Bloom said in response.

The man in question smirked as he dipped his crust in ranch. "Oh please, no need for that sir crap." He popped the crust in his mouth. "Anyways, my name is Mason." He puffed out his chest boldly.

"Well its nice to finally meet ya Mr. Mason!" Apple Bloom piped.

Mason immediately hung his head, leaving the filly rather confused.

"I know you're just being polite Apple Bloom, but you don't need to call me mister either. Only in a professional setting does it not bother me." He tapped a hoof to his chin, "Shoot, even then, I'd rather my boss just call me by my name."

Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged looks, but shrugged it off. The unicorn got a little curious and decided to ask a question of her own.

"Speaking of bosses, what do you exactly do mis...er...Mason?"

Mason stared at the two quizzical fillies in surprise and blinked a few times. "You guys never saw my-" A wave of realization hit him and he smacked his face. He laughed sheepishly and started over. "Sorry guys, I've been kind of reclusive. I could have sworn you saw my cutie mark, but I guess not. Well here it is!"

Eager, the two girls leaned over the counter from their seats. When Mason turned around, they noticed that his flank was emblazoned with two gears, one large and one small. On the larger gear, there was a mallet and wrench that crossed in an x formation in the center. There were also a few sparks from where the two gears met.

"Cool!" The girls cooed in unison.

"Glad you think so. It's kinda funny actually, I always thought that my mark was relatively simple." He pointed his hoof towards the mallet and wrench cross. "It's pretty obvious that from these tools here that you can guess I have a skill in building things. So yeah my job is pretty much that. If it has anything to do with construction, I've done it."

Her father had a tint of pride in his voice; however, Scootaloo sighed quietly and looked down at the crumbs of her plate as soon as the last bit was mentioned. This did not go unnoticed by her two friends however, and although they were concerned, their instincts told them that dinnertime in the kitchen was not the time or place to bring up the issue. Sweetie Belle decided it would be a good idea to keep the conversation going.

"That makes sense. Scootaloo said that you built the columns and the window sill out on the front of your house, which I thought were beautiful by the way."

Mason responded to the compliment with a simple grin.

"So whats with the gears then Mason? Do they also represent yer skill in building like the tools do? Maybe fixing things?" Apple Bloom added.

"That's former is what I thought at first." The stallion walked over to the fridge and took out a beer before continuing. “Never thought it was fixing things up, but I see where you get that idea. I mean yes I can fix things, although that's more of an at-home kinda deal. It's just that I knew by then that my special talent wasn't fixing a broken object, no no no, I had a fond love of construction and I knew that was ultimately what I was good at." He took a quick sip of his drink and continued.

“You see there was one thing that I loved more than constructing something, and that was to actually design it. I don't remember what I built that day when I got cutie mark, but I recall that everything was all my own creation, from the drafts to the final product. So to put it simply, the gears represent my ingenuity."

There was a sudden shift in Mason's tone that struck Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom odd. They both noticed that Mason's voice started to trail off and it looked like the stallion was ashamed for some reason of his story. Once again, the two fillies looked at each other in confusion. Just as soon as Sweetie Belle was about to whisper the plaguing question to the daughter, there was a loud knock on the front door. Mason's ears perked up.

"Huh I wonder who that can be." He gently placed his alcoholic beverage on the counter, but not before taking one quick swig. "Don't you dare think about touching it missy." He said jokingly.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and playfully elbowed her father as he walked by her. "I wasn't planning on it." As he walked away, Scootaloo heard him mutter his doubts in a joking manner. She cracked a small smile as he left the room and continued to munch on her piece of pineapple pizza.

Although it was a bit puzzling to see a sudden one-eighty from both of them, both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shrugged it off and joined their friend by also smiling. To them, it was just nice to see that Scootaloo had a good relationship with her father.

Once Mason opened the door, he met eyes with a young, female mail courier. Upon seeing the male figure, the courier quickly rummaged through her bag. Mason cocked his head after a minute or two of watching the mare grumble into the bag in frustration.

"One second sir, the paper that had my route on it came off my clipboard somehow..." The mail mare said with her muzzle still in the bag, making her voice slightly muffled. "Ah found it!" She exclaimed immediately afterward, causing Mason to jump.

"So how may I help you?" Mason asked as the mare secured the paper on her clipboard. She kept it in one hoof and scanned it for the address she was currently at.

"Um...is this the household for Blake Mason?" She asked.

"Yes. That would be me."

"Great! I have a letter for you Mr. Mason!" She quickly put her clipboard away and dug through her bag once more, this time coming out with a sealed envelope in her mouth.

Mason grumbled at the way he was address but nonetheless took the envelope in his hoof and bid the mare a good night before going back inside.

He tore open the envelope and read through the message as he shut the door behind him with one of his hind hooves. Upon reaching the end, Mason felt his body sink. He took in a deep breath and then exhaled. Mason read through the letter once more.

"Dammit."

Mason made his way back towards the kitchen, where he caught a glimpse of the three girls placing their plates just to the right of the sink.

"So who was at the door dad?" Scootaloo walked up to her father and awaited his response.

'Ugh...man she's going to be so mad at me...'

Mason immediately frowned as he looked into his daughter's eyes. It didn't help that they were all big and cute either, even without her puppy dog face she sometimes used to guilt him into things.

“A mail mare delivered a letter from...um...work...” He muttered. Mason then faced away from Scootaloo to finish the last bit. “They want me to come in tomorrow...”

Scootaloo definitely didn't take the news well.

“WHAT!?”

Mason flinched.

“Why are you going in!? It's a Saturday! Aren't you supposed to be off on the weekends!?” She fumed, her voice quavering slightly.

“I know I know I am technically. But they need me tomorrow because we're gonna be short on guys at the site and we need this project done fairly soon.” Mason explained with a soft tone.

Scootaloo replaced her irritated and angry expression with a bereft one.

“Can't they ask somepony other than you?” Her tone was somber this time.

Mason slowly shook his head, much to his daughter's displeasure.

“B-But we were gonna hang out and go to the market and stuff after-”

Mason interjected by holding a hoof up. “I'm sorry sweetie, but I have to go in. I could technically send a telegram out now, but you know that we need the money.”

After a few moments of silence, Scootaloo sighed and started to make her way out of the kitchen.

“Um, where do you think you're going? You still have to do the dishes Scootaloo.” Mason said in a more stern tone.

Scootaloo abruptly stopped and groaned as she turned around.

“But Daaaaaaad! I have friends over!” She whined. She completed it with a pout. Unlike the puppy dog face, this never got through to her dad.

“Well that's not an excuse.” Mason rolled his eyes. He then looked at his daughter devilishly. “And to think that I was going to move the T.V. PLUS the video games up there in your room for you three too..”

Needless to say, all three pairs of ears perked up right away, regardless of what the previous mood in the room was.

“Oh and that I would let you guys stay up as long as you wanted just to be lenient. But since you are being lazy I guess I'll just-”

Scootaloo rushed passed her dad so fast that he ended up spinning in circles where he stood. After regaining his balance, he let out a cool smile.

“Oh Scootaloo! Let us help!”

“Yeah it'll get done quicker!”

'Their eagerness is infectious. It's definitely cute.' Mason chuckled to himself.

He decided that he better hurry up and fulfill his end of the bargain or else he'd have three anxious and upset fillies at his door. Mason took a quick look at the clock that hung above the kitchen sink.

'It's gonna be a long day tomorrow...'

“Jeez Sweetie Belle, how are you so good at this game?” Scootaloo grunted as she fumbled the controller in her hands, “Heck how are you good at all these games?” She looked at the large pile of games next to her, which covered almost every single genre known to ponykind.

Sweetie Belle simply shrugged as she continued to dominate Scootaloo at the current fighting game they were playing. Apple Bloom watched from Scootaloo's bed as Sweetie took out her opponent with one swift combo ending in a satisfying uppercut, which awarded the overly modest winner with a loud “Flawless Victory!”

Scootaloo put on a blank expression.

“We should just play a cooperative game instead.” She stated flatly.

“The three of us could always play a board game if yer sick of losing.”

Scootaloo shot Apple Bloom a dirty look.

“Hey I lost just as bad too!” Apple Bloom admitted as she threw up her hooves in defense.

Sweetie Belle beamed “A board game would be fun!” She was completely oblivious from the death glare Scootaloo was currently giving her.

After a few minutes of rummaging through their options, the three decided to play Monopoly. With the television playing some cheesy romantic comedy in the background, they all laid on the floor and calmly started the game.

They got bored in fifteen minutes.

“Seriously?” Scootaloo asked a little surprised.

“Super seriously.” Apple Bloom responded, trying to hide her embarrassment from her friends.

Scootaloo continued to tighten the wheels on her scooter. "Dang Apple Bloom I cant believe you did that."

“Hey Scootaloo, are you even allowed to have your scooter up here?” Sweetie Belle asked as she intently watched her friend work on her ride.

“He honestly doesn't care where it is as long as it's out of the way. He's cool like that.” She confirmed. The pegasus spun each wheel to check them. After getting the results she wanted, Scootaloo put the scooter in the corner of her room and put her tools away in a little bag, which she then put on a shelf right next to the scooter.

Apple Bloom chuckled. "Yer dad is pretty cool Scoots." The pegasus only smiled at the comment.

“You know, my dad getting me a tool set for my scooter so I don't have to keep asking to use his can come in handy sometimes.” She giggled to herself before pulling out a comic from the shelf to read.

Sweetie Belle turned her head and noticed a frame on Scootaloo's nightstand. It was laying face-down. Peaking her curiosity, the unicorn got up and flipped it over.

“Hey Scoots, who is this here in the photo?”

Both Apple Bloom (who became very interested) and the pegasus in question walked over to see who she was talking about. In the photo was Mason, Scootaloo, and a champagne colored unicorn mare with the same hair and eye color as Scootaloo. The three were outside a stadium; Mason and the mare were wearing jerseys and Scootaloo had face paint and a hat on, all of which held a coordinated green and white color scheme.

“That's my mom.” She replied. Upon seeing the photo she cracked a small smirk-like grin, but it immediately faded.

“What happened to her?” Apple Bloom asked quizzically.

They watched as the orange filly slowly drop her sorrowful gaze to the floor, completely silent. Sweetie Belle covered her mouth while Apple Bloom shared a similar sad expression with her pegasus friend. The two immediately went up and hugged Scootaloo in hopes to comfort her.

“I'm so sorry about your loss...” Sweetie Belle softly said.

“What?” Scootaloo snapped out of her state and pushed her friends away. “My mom's not dead!”

“Well what was up with you being all depressed and sad and stuff?” Apple Bloom asked, incredibly confused.

Annoyed, Scootaloo rolled her eyes and looked away from her friends. “I just...haven't seen her in a while.” She said somberly. Immediately afterward however, she veered back to eye her friends intensely. “Jeez you guys, why did you assume the worst? Sheesh, I'm sure you guys probably thought I was homeless or lived in an orphanage or something since I haven't invited you over before.” Her sarcastic tone was met with sheepish and embarrassed chuckles. Scootaloo's face turned serious as she watched the beads of sweat trickle from her friends' foreheads.

“Really?”

“Um...well...uh” Sweetie Belle stammered. She was trying to find a way to dodge around the awkward situation when her saving grace stepped in.

“Anyways, you said you hadn't seen yer mom in a while. Why's that?”

Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief and mentally thanked Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo reverted back to the previous gloomy composure. She picked up the the photo from the nightstand and stared at it.

“My mom and dad got divorced.”

Her friends mouthed an 'oh' as she put down the photo and opened the drawer to her nightstand. Inside laid a scrapbook. She picked it up and turned around.

Scootaloo hopped up onto her bed and placed the scrapbook down in front of her. She then motioned for her friends to come up as well. They obliged and sat in front of her, with the closed scrapbook being the only thing between them.

"I wanted to show you guys something. I think it's about time I do."

Author's Note

Oh man I'm so sorry for anyone who liked the story so far for the late update. It's just...you know, finals and stuff, then all the holidays. I was wicked busy. I'm gonna try to be a little better at updating from now on. Also I hope everything has turned out alright, I've been typing this chapter from 12 to 4 in the morning so I hope it's at least readable. Please let me know of any mistakes and any feedback is totally welcome.

Onto story related stuff: Yes there is still things mentioned in the first chapter that still have some explaining, but that will all be done in the next chapter, which is gonna focus on Scootaloo's past (little sneak peek for ya). Her dad will still have some exposition and back-story later on that should tie everything together.

Speaking of her dad, what did you think of Mason? I chose his talent to help explain why Scoots was so good with building the float in One Bad Apple. Then I realized it would later be a nice framing device ;D. Anyways, I threw in the attractive quip there as a reflection of something that actually happened between my ex girlfriend and her best friend when they first came over and met my dad. Needless to say, it was awkward.

Jeez this is getting long, so one more announcement! I'm currently working on a few projects! The closest one is going to be a much darker story in terms of content and topics as opposed to the generally lightheartedness I planned this story to be. I can't wait to share it for those who are into those kind of stories!