“All I’m saying is, Applejack was overreacting,” Scootaloo whined, as she and Apple Bloom trotted away from Sweet Apple Acres. “There was no way we could’ve gotten hurt on that wheel barrel!” She moped about, too disappointed to see Apple Bloom shake her head.
“I don’t blame her for worryin’ for our safety, but I also don’t blame her for bein’ angry,” Apple Bloom replied. “‘Specially after what the Fire Wheeler 5000 did to the old shed…”
Scootaloo pouted. “But Rainbow Dash thought it was cool! Didja see her face when we hopped that hill?” Her eyes lit up in excitement. “Besides, I wired that thing pretty well. The main problem was the filly behind the wheel."
Apple Bloom ignored the heaviness of her friend’s gaze and rolled her eyes. “Don’t start on this again. We’ve done enough hot wirin’ and manuverin’ at the farm. How come we never get to destroy your property?” She pointed an accusing hoof at Scootaloo.
“Alright, alright,” Scootaloo groaned. “Hey, maybe next time we’ll do it at Sweetie Belle’s place.” She stopped walking, lifting her head in thought. “Come to think of it, where was she today?”
“She had an appointment,” Apple Bloom explained, walking passed her friend. “That’s what she told me when Ah asked her to come over. Hey, wanna head over to her place? She should be back by now.”
Scootaloo caught up to the farm filly, nodding. “Yeah, why not. Maybe then we can persuade her to convert her backyard into an arctic fire pit!”
“But if it’s arctic, how is there gonna be fire?” Apple Bloom inquired.
“Ugh, I’ll explain later,” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes as if the answer was obvious. “Come on, we’re here already.”
The two stopped before Sweetie Belle’s house. It had been a while since they’d visited there, on account of Sweetie Belle spending so much time with Rarity at the Boutique recently. Apple Bloom stepped up to the door, tapping it a twice. She was only partially surprised when Sweetie’s mom, Pearl, answered the door.
“Well, good afternoon, girls!” Pearl hummed, high pitched and joyously. “Are you little adventurers here for little Sweetie Belle?”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” Apple Bloom said, slightly blushing. “Is she home?”
Sweetie’s mom displayed an overly dismayed look on her face; she was talking to children, after all. “I’m sorry girls, but she’s still at the office with her father. She should be back within the next half hour or so.”
Apple Bloom slumped her head a bit. “Oh, that’s fine. We can come back another time,” she said, beginning to turn around.
Noticing the fillies’ saddened expressions, Pearl quickly said, “You know what, why don’t you girls come on in? You can wait in her room until she comes back.”
“Totally, that’d be awesome!” Scootaloo exclaimed, before Apple Bloom could politely decline.
“Right this way,” Pearl said, allowing the fillies to enter the house. Apple Bloom shot a confused look at Scootaloo, who innocently mouthed, “What?”
Having been to Sweetie Belle’s house before, the two Crusaders easily found their way to their friend’s room. It was just how they remembered - a petite nightstand standing next to a swirly pink and purple bed that matched Sweetie Belle’s mane. A few dolls and stuffed ponies covered the fuzzy carpet in the center of the room.
“Sweetie Belle’s room sure is nice ‘n’ neat. Pretty, too,” Apple Bloom complimented.
Scootaloo gagged. “Give me a break, it’s way too girly!” Her eyes scanned the cutesy little posters that adorned the walls. “Bleh, Colt Wisley is so lame.”
“At least her room ain’t covered in Rainbow Dash fan products,” Apple Bloom countered with a smirk. “Don’tcha think ya might have an obsession?”
“‘Course not, Rainbow Dash is totally awesome,” Scootaloo said, feeling quite proud to be her fan. “Anyway, how long do you think we’ll have to wait?”
Apple Bloom glanced at the small clock on the nightstand. “Not too long, I’m guessin’. Her ma said she’d be home pretty soon.”
“Not soon enough,” Scootaloo complained, sprawling her tiny legs all over the floor. “I’m so booooored!”
“We’ve been here for two minutes…” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. As her eyes began to wander, they suddenly set on a strange object protruding from under Sweetie’s pillow. “Hey, what’s that?”
“What?” Scoot asked, sitting up. She followed her friend’s gaze to the pillow, and lifted it up. “It’s a book,” she said.
“Looks like a diary,” Apple Bloom commented, noticing the doodled hearts and fluffy stickers. “We’d better put it back.” But when she faced Scootaloo, there was a devious grin on the Pegasus' face. “No… No, no, no. We’re not readin’ Sweetie Belle’s diary!”
The expression on Scootaloo’s face faded as an offended look took over. “I didn’t say that!” she defended.
Apple Bloom was unamused. “Oh really? Then put it back.”
“Pffft, no prob.” Scootaloo glanced at the book in her hooves, then back at Apple Bloom. She repeated these actions for a good half minute before begging, “Come ooooon, how often does this chance come along? Sweetie’s always around us, think of all the cool things that could happen!”
“What could possibly happen from readin’ her diary?” Apple Bloom questioned.
“Well, maybe she writes about what she likes and stuff! Yeah, and we could, uh, get that stuff for her!” Scootaloo pleaded, but Apple Bloom was not pleased. “Okay, okay. But what if she’s, like, sad about something? You know how quiet she is. We could help her out with it. I mean, what kind of friends would we be if we weren’t there for her?”
“Put. It. Back.” Apple Bloom commanded, her mind having been made up. “Now.”
Scootaloo sighed. “Oh, alright.” She tucked the lavender book into the pillow sheet. When she looked back at Apple Bloom, she noticed a distraught expression on the farm filly’s face. “You okay?”
“Eh, yeah… I’m fine, it’s just…” She twitched her legs awkwardly. “Ya remember those juice boxes we had earlier… It may have been a bad idea to drink that third one…”
“Whatever, you know where the bathroom is,” Scootaloo said, pointing her hoof to the door.
Apple Bloom shook her head. “T’ain’t nothin’, Ah can hold it.” She stood up straight, her legs threatening to buckle. Her lips quavered as beads of sweat began to roll down her face. Scootaloo noted how red her friend’s face had gotten, and Apple Bloom looked as if she were about to burst. “Alright, I’ll be right back!”
The tense little filly fled the room, leaving a puzzled Scootaloo to herself. “Great. Now I’m really bored.” Suddenly, a certain poofy book caught the corner of her eye. A mischievous smile crossed her face. “Well… Maybe just a little peek…”
Scootaloo's head shot left and right, making sure she was definitely alone. She pounced on the book, immediately gluing her eyes to the page as she began to read...
~~
Dear Journal,
Or are you a diary? That’s what Rarity kept calling you, but I’ll call you whatever you want me to. I mean, if you could talk, that is. Books can’t talk… Can they? Maybe Twilight Sparkle would know. Oh, sorry, I should introduce you two. Or maybe I should introduce myself first.
I’m Sweetie Belle, and it’s nice to meet you! My sister Rarity gave me this as a housewarming gift. Well, it’s not really “housewarming” since I’m only staying with her for the weekend, but I guess it’s also a gift for the start of the school year. I’m a bit nervous for my first day and all since I don’t know many other fillies in town. Rarity told me that her friend Applejack’s sister is supposed to be in my class, so maybe we could be friends.
I’m not so sure about what else to write, so I guess I’ll go. I’m sorry, I’m just not good at this stuff, I guess. Umm… bye?
...
Dear Diary,
I’m just going to address you by that now. It seems more girly than “journal.” Not that I’m super girly or anything. Well, I guess I am. Not like my friend, though. Oh, that’s right, I haven’t written you anything in a week! I’m sorry about that, but school started, and things just got busy.
I made a friend, she’s this really cool pegasus named Scootaloo… except she can’t fly so well. Not at all, really...
~~
Scootaloo frowned. “Note to self, flick Sweetie Belle’s horn when she gets back.”
~~
Like I was saying, she’s not really girly. She’s what Rarity calls a “tomboy,” or whatever she said. She said that it wasn’t a bad thing and that Scootaloo’s going through “a phase” or something. Maybe I’ll go ask Scootaloo about it.
...
So I went to ask Scootaloo. She flicked my horn. Now it’s all sore…
~~
Scootaloo smiled.
~~
It’s getting late, and Rarity wants me to get my rest for tomorrow. I’m supposed to go to this girl’s cute-ceañera. Her name is Diamond Tiara... She’s not the nicest filly around, but at least me and Scoot can get some ice cream. I love ice cream!
...
Dear Diary,
Today was great! Today, Scootaloo and I met this filly… Oh, wait. I probably should let you know…
Scootaloo and I don’t have our cutie marks yet… And a lot of our classmates like to tease us, calling us mean names like “blank flanks.” Oh, but I hope that doesn’t change your opinion of me! I’m still nice on the inside. At least, that’s what Rarity says...
Anyway, at Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañeara we met this really cool filly named Apple Bloom. She’s Rarity’s friend’s sister like I mentioned earlier. She seems real nice. We’ve decided to form our own cutie mark acquisition program, just the three of us.
Right now, you’re currently being written by an official Cutie Mark Crusader! Well, I’m off to go sky fishing with my friends. The next time I write in here, I’ll have my cutie mark!
~~
The last sentence made Scootaloo sigh. “Man, I remember that…” Her tone was sentimental, but filled with some form of regret.
"What do you think yer doin'?" A strict voice boomed from the doorway. Scootaloo turned to see an unamused Apple Bloom glowering at her.
"Uh..." She fumbled the book, shoving it under her wing. "This isn't what it looks like?" She hid behind a false grin.
Apple Bloom face hoofed. "Dang it, Scoot! Ah can't leave ya fer two minutes without 'cha stickin' yer muzzle where it don't belong?" She shook her head. "No wonder yer parents're never around!"
"Sheesh, calm down, Applejack," Scootaloo remarked. "I mean, sometimes you act like we've never met or something."
"Put it away." Apple Bloom was dead serious. That to Scootaloo was an instigation.
Scootaloo glanced at apple bloom, then the diary. Then to her friend, and back to the diary. "Nah." This made apple bloom groan. "Come on, as if you don't want to read it also?"
"Ah ain't gonna look at somethin that ain't meant for mah eyes!" Apple bloom stated, looking away.
"Oh really?" Scootaloo challenged. "Remember when we spent the night in your room a few months ago when Applejack was out, and we started snooping through her things?"
Apple bloom scrunched up her face. She knew where this was going. "Ah don't know what yer talkin' about." Her lie was believable; she'd always been a better faker than her sister.
"Yeah, whatever," Scootaloo said. "But I know that you remember what you saw in that chest--"
"Okay!" Apple Bloom cut off her friend before things got... strange. "Ah hate to do it, but..." She looked around, slowly coming to terms with her curiosity. "... Maybe a small peek wouldn't hurt..."
"That's the spirit!" Scootaloo said, sitting her friend down next to her. "I'd recommend reading from the beginning, it'll be easier to understand."
Apple Bloom sighed, but began to read. She hadn't planned to indulge herself so thoroughly, but as she continued to read, she began to realize how similar it was to a history lesson. And unlike her friends, Apple Bloom loved history of all kinds.
"Hey, this is about us!" She exclaimed, pointing out one of the earlier entries.
“Easy there, miss ‘ain’t meant for mah eyes,’” Scootaloo teased. “Keep going, it gets better.”
The two continued to skim over the previous entries, occasionally pointing out anything cutsey that had to do with them.
"Hey, this is the time that we went out for Nightmare Night,” Scootaloo pointed out. She leaned back sentimentally, remembering all the sweet treats they had gotten that night. “That was a fun time.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom agreed, reading on. “Hey, look at this,” she said, showing Scootaloo a particular passage.
Scootaloo leaned in, reading the girly penmanship.
~~
Dear Diary,
I have the most amazing sister in the world!
We got into a huge fight the other day when she was busy with work. She didn’t have time to spend with me, and we got so angry that we decided not to be sisters.
Apple Bloom and her sister invited me to the Sisterhooves Social to cheer me up. Applejack offered to be my sister for the day, but it wasn’t the same as Rarity… until I realized that it was her in disguise the whole time!
~~
“Yeah, way to rub in the whole sister thing,” Scootaloo muttered as visions of Rainbow Dash flew through her head.
“Keep readin’,” Apple Bloom insisted.
~~
It was so exciting to be able to spend time with her, even if it involved her getting her coat messy. She decided to take me on vacation to Trottingham with her so we can bond.
I miss when we were younger and she had more time to spend with me. I always hate to interrupt her work.
… I’m doing that now, aren’t I?
… Um, I should get to bed. We’re leaving tomorrow, after all. I’ll write about how it goes later on. Goodnight!
~~
Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom. “What are you trying to get at?”
Rolling her eyes, Apple Bloom grabbed the diary, instructing Scootaloo to continue. “Read about her trip to Trottingham!”
~~
Dear Diary,
Trottingham has been so much fun! I was afraid that Rarity would make us do things that only she wanted to do, but she was willing to compromise. After going to a boring old theater this morning, I realized how cool it would be for my friends and I to become Cutie Mark Crusaders stage managers!
~~
“Stage managers…?” Scootaloo mulled this over. “How could we not have thought of that? We were in the talent show, for crying out loud…” Apple Bloom shrugged.
~~
But after causing a significant amount of damage to the set and props, Rarity convinced the studio not to sue… At least nopony got hurt.
After that, I had another amazing idea. Acting! It was so obvious and so easy, and Rarity even agreed to help as long as I stayed out of trouble! So later on that day, Rarity took me to audition for the new Joyboy commercial. I think I did pretty well, excluding the desk that I broke after slipping on the papers that I dropped… and the chairs.
The stallion holding the auditions said that for a filly, I was destructive enough to be a stunt double, whatever that is. I was ecstatic to give that a try, but Rarity wouldn’t let me because it was "too dangerous," or something. I guess I can understand that. I’m just glad that she cared enough to support me, even if it didn’t end too well…
~~
Scootaloo gagged, dramatically shoving her hoof in her mouth. “Bleh, not another sappy sister monologue.”
“Aw, I think it’s sweet,” Apple Bloom said, smiling.
“Yeah, yeah,” Scootaloo muttered, skipping a few paragraphs.
~~
We went to the bakery later that day. As we were heading to our seats, I saw Pipsqueak, the same Pipsqueak from Nightmare Night! I couldn’t believe it!
~~
“Woah!” Scootaloo was taken aback. “Pip is from Trottingham?”
Apple Bloom couldn’t help but facehoof again. “Do ya ever use yer head? ‘Course he is! He has an accent!”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, giving Apple Bloom a “well, excuuuuse me” expression, then returned to the book.
~~
Rarity let us catch up, and he got to tell me about his school and family. Then I told him all about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Sisterhooves Social and Ponyville! Then I told him how everypony back at home missed him and couldn’t wait for him to visit again.
~~
“Soooo sappy,” Scootaloo commented, skimming the rest of the page.
“Hey, I miss Pip. He was real nice’n friendly,” Apple Bloom defended.
Scootaloo shrugged. “I never said that I didn’t miss him! This is just so boring…”
“We shouldn’t even be readin’ it in the first place,” Apple Bloom scolded, frowning at her friend.
Diverting her eyes, Scootaloo avoided her friend’s gaze as she flipped a few pages. “Yeah, yeah, I know! I guess it’s time to put it ba-- WOAH!” She dove her muzzle into the book, closely examining a particular paragraph.
Apple Bloom cocked her head. “What is it?” Rather than give an answer, Scootaloo shoved the book in Apple Bloom’s face, allowing her to read a rather interesting excerpt.
~~
I’m glad to be coming home soon, but I’m really gonna miss it here. Especially spending time at the bakery with Pipsqueak. Rarity practically had to drag me home on our last day there…
~~
“So what?!” Apple Bloom shouted in aggravation.
“Keep going!” Scootaloo urged, excitement taking over.
~~
I never really understood much about boys, but… I think that I might have a crush on Pip! I mean, that’s what Rarity called it.
~~
“What?!” Apple Bloom shouted, looking at her friend in shock. “Why didn’t she tell us?” Scootaloo responded by poking her hoof back to the page.
~~
Yeah, I guess I do have a crush. I should Tell Apple Bloom and Scootaloo… Wait, I can’t tell them!
~~
“Ohhh…” the farm filly replied. “Wait, why not?”
~~
They might tease me!
… No, I’m being silly. Why would they tease me? Apple Bloom would never do that. Then again, Scootaloo might…
~~
Apple Bloom shot a glance at Scootaloo, who shrugged with a sheepish grin.
~~
Maybe I’ll just keep it a secret for now, and see what they think. Yeah, that sounds like a safe idea…
~~
The room remained silent for a few seconds…
Finally, Scootaloo spoke up with a grin spread on her face. “So what are we gonna do?”
“‘Scuse me?” Apple Bloom asked, frowning.
“We gotta invite this colt over to Ponyville,” Scootaloo said, eagerly eyeing the page.
Apple Bloom stared at Scootaloo in disbelief. “Yer really somethin’ else, Scoot…” she said, rolling her eyes.
Scootaloo frowned at her, clearly offended. “What? I’m serious!”
“No, yer just crazy,” Apple Bloom muttered, grabbing the diary from her friend. “We can't let her find out we read this, she'll be embarrassed! Let’s just put this back where we found it before-”
With their backs to the door, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn’t notice that the door had opened, letting somepony in. “Hey guys!” a voice squeaked. Their eyes went wide, and they froze.
