Scootaloo is Bored

It was nearly the end of the school day as Scootaloo sat hunched over in class, her eyes narrowing in boredom. She leaned onto her hoof more comfortably, carefully tilting her head over just right…

No, not good enough. Her back was straining from her hunched position. She shifted a textbook just under her elbow, properly elevating it to a desirable position. Just a little closer, and…oh, yes. That felt nice. A grin slowly formed on her face as her breathing slowed down, her eyelids growing heavier...

“Is my class that boring, Scootaloo?” Cheerilee’s voice snapped the filly out of her daze, causing her to shove the book off her desk.

A few students giggled, placing an awkward grin on Scootaloo’s face. “Of course not, Miss Cheerilee. It’s just that…umm…your voice is so…soothing?” The laughter increased in volume, turning her cheeks as bright shade of red.

Though she rolled her eyes a bit, Cheerilee chuckled, shifting her eyes to the clock above the door. “I suppose it is a Friday afternoon. Why don’t you kids leave a few minutes early today?” She giggled as a few students began to cheer excitedly.

Scootaloo brightly beamed over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were silently hoof bumping. She met up with her friends over at Apple Bloom’s desk, who was shoving a few papers into her saddlebags.

“Thank you soooo much for letting us out early today, Miss Cheerilee!” The trio heard the obnoxious voice of the stuck-up bully, her pitch raising about thirteen octaves. Diamond Tiara trotted out of the classroom with style, Silver Spoon following not too far behind.

Sweetie shook her head as Apple Bloom rolled her eyes in annoyance. The fillies waved a hoof at their teacher and headed out the door. “Sheesh, what a kiss up,” Scootaloo blurted, as soon as she was out of Cheerilee’s ears' reach. This exerted a giggle from her fellow crusaders.

Suddenly, they heard somepony clear her throat. They turned to beside them to face none other than the prissy Diamond Tiara, and her pushover sidekick, Silver Spoon. “That’s some big talk coming from a blank flank,” she teased, bursting into a fit of giggles with her lackey.

“Whatever, at least I’m not a teacher’s pet,” Scootaloo replied, smugly.

“Well of course you’re not,” Diamond Tiara stated. “Chicken’s don’t count as pets, you know!”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something, then tilted her head, eyebrow raised. Then it hit her. “Hey!” she pouted, frowning.

“You’re wrong, Diamond Tiara!” Apple Bloom roared. Though Scoot didn’t smile, she appreciated her friend sticking up for her. Apple Bloom had always been the moral and righteous one of their group— “Chickens can too be kept as pets! We’ve got plenty of ‘em back on the farm.”

The earth filly lifted her head, eyes shut in pride. Scootaloo flopped down her ears in annoyance.

“You know what?” Sweetie added. “Fluttershy has some chickens, too.”

Apple Bloom turned to her friends, suddenly interested. “Wait, she does?” she inquired.

“Of course. Don’t you remember when she babysat us that one time when Rarity was busy?” she began. “And she sang us a song, and then we sneaked out into the forest. That’s the time we saw the cockatrice and she defeated it with the stare, you remember.” Apple Bloom bobbed her head up and down in agreement. Diamond Tiara shared a confused look with Silver Spoon as Sweetie rambled, and Scootaloo face-hoofed.

Sparks lit in Apple Bloom’s head. “Oh yeah, she had a chicken coop out front of her house!”

“There you go!” Sweetie cried, finally smiling. “It was so fun, too—“

She was abruptly interrupted. “Just shut up!” Diamond Tiara had finally heard enough. Scootaloo was relieved. Wait, no. She wasn’t relieved. Diamond Tiara just told her friend to shut up! Sure, her friends were rambling, and they were getting a tad bit annoying, and…

“Whatever, so you’re a cowgirl who knows too much about ugly animals, and you’re friends with a scaredy cat Pegasus?” Tiara inclined. “This is wasting my time, see you later, blank flanks.” With that, the two rude fillies trotted off, sniggering in glee.

The glare pasted on Scootaloo’s face began to relax as she turned back to her friends. “What a bunch of jerks. Well, how about we head over to the clubhouse? I think I’ve formulated the perfect plan to get our Cutie Marks today…”

“Ah can’t tonight. I’ve gotta go pack up mah things for tomorrow morning,” Apple Bloom replied regretfully.

Again, Scootaloo cocked her head. “Pack? For what?”

“Manehattan. Remember?” Apple Bloom asked. Scootaloo’s eyebrow slightly rose, implying that she didn’t. “I’m goin’ over there this weekend with Applejack to visit Babs.”

Scoot’s eyes widened, recalling the discussion they had had earlier in the week. “Oh man, I forgot,” she muttered, smacking her forehead. “Well, that’s alright. At least I still have Sweetie Belle.”

“Actually,” the unicorn squeaked, attracting Scootaloo’s attention. “Rarity and I are spending the weekend with our parents. We finally convinced her that she needed a break after designing a bunch of dresses for the gala a few weeks ago.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to comply, but stopped. She had remembered Sweetie telling her that as well, but it must have slipped her mind.

“And besides, Ah think we needed a break from Crusadin’ anyway, ‘specially after what happened a few weeks ago with the tree house, and… that word.” Grimacing, Scoot silently agreed, but she was still distraught. What was she going to do this weekend without her two best friends?

“Don’t be upset, Scootaloo! We’ll only be gone for a few days,” Sweetie Belle reassured. But how could Scootaloo be reassured? Her friends were leaving for two whole days.

She waved her hoof solemnly. “Ah, I’ll be alright,” she said, forcing a smirk. “Maybe I’ll just ask Rainbow Dash for flying lessons or something.”

Apple Bloom smiled. “That’s the spirit! Ah gotta head home now, Ah’ll see you guys later!” She trotted towards her home, briefly raising her hoof in acknowledgment.

“I better get going, too. You sure you’ll be fine?” Sweetie asked.

Again, Scootaloo displayed a fake confidence. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you Monday!”

“Oh, alright,” Sweetie replied, pulling her friend into a hug. Scootaloo squirmed, her tiny wings twitching, but she accepted it. After breaking it up, Sweetie Belle fled home, leaving Scootaloo alone.

“Yeah... don’t worry about me at all,” she thought out loud, sighing. “Now what?” Deciding that another night of knitting with her aunt was out of the question, she considered her alternatives.

Fluttershy was in town, she remembered. She was pretty cool, right? Maybe Scootaloo could help her take care of her animals, feed them, talk to them, spend time with Angel bunny… Looked like that was a no.

Maybe Pinkie Pie needed some help down at the Sugarcube Corner? Scootaloo could help her make some sweets, possibly sampling some. But then again, Pinkie Pie was… weird. Shaking her head, Scootaloo realized that she wasn’t in the mood to deal with a... that.

She suddenly remembered that it was cleaning week at the Ponyville Library. Perhaps Twilight and Spike could use some help organizing the books? Scootaloo burst out into laughter at the thought. That wasn’t going to happen.

“Rainbow Dash it is,” Scootaloo decided. She strapped her helmet on, stepping onto her scooter. Her tiny orange wings buzzed rapidly as she sped down toward Rainbow’s cloud home.

After a few minutes of riding, she finally reached the floating house. As she stretched out her tired wings, she called, "Rainbow Dash! Are you home? It’s Scootaloo!” Usually she would have expected said mare to dash out, greeting her with a mane ruffle. But for some reason, she didn’t.

“Maybe she’s at Sugarcube Corner?” Scootaloo thought out loud. She decided to try one more time. “Rainbow! Rainbow Dash! You there?” Again, she gained no answer. Unsure of whether to try the sweet shop, or to simply give in and go home, she mounted her scooter.

She had just buzzed a few feet away when somepony called her. “Scootaloo? Is that you?” The excited filly turned around, beaming brightly at... Fluttershy. “Oh, good afternoon, Scootaloo! You’re looking for Rainbow Dash?”

“Uh, yeah. Do you know where she is?” Scoot asked, hopefully.

“Actually, you just missed her,” Fluttershy informed her. “Oh, I’m sorry for that. She left for Cloudsdale just a few hours ago.”

“W-what?!” Scootaloo exclaimed, her jaw dropping. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no, of course not! I apologize if I frightened you,” Fluttershy said. “They called her up to the weather factory to cover some shifts. She should be home after the weekend.”

“Gaaahhh!” Scootaloo whined, smacking her head with her tiny hooves.

Fluttershy was taken aback. “Is something the matter, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo sighed. “It’s just… Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are gone this weekend, too! And I was really hoping that Rainbow Dash and I could do something cool together,” she explained. “I guess I’ll just have to go home, then…”

As the orange filly turned to trot away, Fluttershy spoke up. “Well... if you wanted to, maybe you could spend some time back at my house with the animals,” she suggested. “I mean, if you wanted to of course. I know it’s not super exciting, but you may enjoy it more than you think.” The mare beamed gracefully at Scootaloo. And Sweet Celestia, nopony, not even a filly, could say no to that face.

Realizing that the only other choice in the matter was knitting for hours at home, Scootaloo made her decision. “Oh, okay. I guess it’ll be...fun.” She offered a weak smile to Fluttershy, who had her hooves wrapped around her in an instant.

“This is so exciting! It’ll be so much fun, I just know it. The critters just love company!” Fluttershy squealed like a filly on a snow day. Scootaloo wearily followed behind the giddy mare, carrying her scooter.

For the umpteenth time that night, Scootaloo sighed. “This is going to be a long weekend.”