Dance the Night Away

by JJ GingerHooves

Rating: everyone
Tags: Scootaloo, Slice of Life, Sweetie Belle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance
Length: 11508

It's almost time for Hearth's Warming, which means the annual School Dance is here. There's just one problem: all of Scootaloo's classmates are bringing along a date and there isn't a free colt to be found. Will Scootaloo fi

It's almost time for Hearth's Warming, which means that the annual School Dance is here and this time, it's shaping up to be the best one ever.

There's just one problem.

All of Scootaloo's classmates have it in their head to bring to a date, and there isn't a free colt to be found. Will Scootaloo find a date, or will she be doomed to endure shame and embarrassment from her class mates?

Published 2013-12-04 21:10:06 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-04 21:10:06 UTC

Dance the Night Away

Sitting in class is super boring.

Mind-numbingly boring.

I know that Miss Cheerilee’s all sweet and kind and the best we can hope for and stuff, but she never taught us anything cool. I’ve never had to use stupid division before school, and I don’t think I’d ever use it again after.

I guess it wasn’t all bad. Projects were fun. They were something other than sitting in my chair all day, getting all fidgety. Me and Sweetie and Apple Bloom would always create something awesome. Sure, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would always make nasty comments, but they wouldn’t know taste if they had two tongues.

Heh. Gross.

And sometimes really cool things happened at school too. Usually near the holidays, when things got way more fun. Luckily, Hearth’s Warming—the best time of the year apart from Summer—was only a few weeks away, so that meant no school and lots of presents! Throwing snowballs at Diamond was just a bonus.

Cheerilee sat at the teacher’s desk, talking about…

I shot up in my seat. What was she talking about?

The board! Yeah, that would tell me what I needed to know. Except it didn’t. Unless you count the cartoon spider Snails drew as ‘learning’. How did he get away with that, anyway?

Okay, maybe I wouldn’t get in trouble if I just listened. So I perked up my ears and did just that.

“So according to Neighton,” Miss Cheerilee said. She sounded engaged, but she would have been because she’s a teacher. “If you took a feather and an iron ball and dropped them at the tower at the same time, they would both hit the ground…”

Oh, it’s just gravity. My arch-enemy, always keeping me grounded. I can beat it for a few seconds if I try really hard, but it always pulls me back down. I get why it’s there ‘n’ all, but I was born to beat it! And I can’t even do that yet, eugh… the day when I do can’t come soon enough.

Wait… no! Damn—darn it! Lost focus again! I don’t like getting bored, but switching off is always more enjoyable than listening to Miss Cheerilee talk about how lame gravity is. Or how fractions are the key to solving your life problems or something.

I settled back in my seat and just stared at the front desk. That usually worked, unless Miss Cheerilee picked me to answer a question. Her words just became meaningless blurs to my ears, as I faded out from Dullworld.

It wasn’t time wasted though, since I spent it coming up with totally cool new ideas for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to do. So you can’t say that my brain wasn’t being put to use. I knew Miss Cheerilee wouldn’t agree though… sure, she’s nice, but she is definitely not Crusader material.

The idea of us getting a bear wrestling cutie mark popped into my head. My wings started buzzing with excitement, ‘cause they totally knew the awesomeness of the idea. I think we could totally take on Fluttershy’s bear friend as a tag team, if she let us.

… which she probably wouldn’t. Plus, I couldn’t see Sweetie Belle getting involved either. Well, she’d go along with it like she always does, but I’ve started to notice that sometimes, she doesn’t enjoy the attempts as much as me and Apple Bloom do. That’s just not cool for her and not cool in general.

Just as I was trying to come up with another idea, Miss Cheerilee spoke up. Her voice was louder, but not shouting, so that probably meant she was done talking gravity. “And with a few minutes to spare, I have an announcement for you all!”

Color me interested. I sat up and leant forward over my desk. Miss Cheerliee saw that and gave me a little smirk. For a moment I thought I was busted, but she was probably just happy to see me look excited. I looked around and saw that everypony else in the class looked interested too, but they weren’t bending over forwards about it. I leant back and played it cool, because… because I kinda looked stupid, I’ll admit it.

Miss Cheerilee continued. “I’m sure you're all aware that Hearth’s Warming is coming up—” A few heads nodded eagerly, including Sweetie’s. “And that means a time of celebration. Therefore, Apple Bloom’s family has kindly agreed to let us use their barn for a Hearth’s Warming school dance!” She stomped her hooves excitedly on the floor. I held back a laugh, but stuff like that is why I like Miss Cheerilee; she’s a pony first, and a boring teacher second.

The class looked at each other for a moment, taking in the fact that this wasn’t going to be something lame. They were definitely smiling, yeah, but it seemed like they were holding back huge applause. Miss Cheerilee smirked and waved her hoof at us. The room burst out into huge cheer. I joined in, obviously, cheering as hard as I could. Who doesn’t want an excuse to shout in a classroom? Then the bell rang, which meant the end of school. That just made me shout louder.

I stuffed my pencils and school books into my saddlebags, then went over to the coat racks near the door. I put on my purple beanie hat and charged out of the classroom with everypony else. I heard Cheerliee shout over us, “I’ll give you the date and details tomorrow! Have a good day!”

I didn’t bother to give her a thanks. Not because I didn’t want to, but I don’t think she would’ve heard it.

The playground was absolutely covered in snow. Salt had been placed on the paths in Ponyville to get rid of some, but that just ended up making slush. I stuck to the snow, it crunching under my hooves. Sweetie and Bloom joined me just as I reached the school gate.

“A school dance?!” Sweetie shouted, with one of her funny little voice cracks. “At Sweet Apple Acres? This is gonna be the best Hearth’s Warming ever!”

Her excitedness made me smirk, but instead of asking her more about it, I turned to Bloom. “You didn’t tell us this was happening. Kept it a secret, huh?”

“Yup,” she replied proudly, keeping her head up like a swan. “Miss Cheerilee asked mah family if she could hold it down at our place, an’ we couldn’t really say no ta somethin’ like that.”

“Yeah, I guess you couldn’t.” Sweet Apple Acres isn’t gonna be a stunt park anytime soon, but it’s got a nice feel to it. Nice, comfortable and safe. A home away from home. That’s what you could call it, right?

“This is gonna be even better than last year’s party.” Sweetie’s enthusiasm suddenly vanished and she sighed. “That lemonade tasted real flat…”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t remind me. Pin the tail on the donkey? That’s just lame and slightly offensive.” Last year’s thing was just a small party in the classroom. Half the class left after an hour and a bit. We stayed ‘cause Cheerilee had made the effort to put it on in the first place.

“Well we’re gonna make sure there’s plenty for us ta do,” Bloom said, then started breaking away. “So Ah’ve gotta get home and help Applejack and Mac set up. See ya tomorrow!”

I’ve been to the Apple Family Reunions before and they were always a blast, so I didn’t see why this school dance would be any different. It’d probably be better, actually. With the exception of Diamond and Silver, but they could be ignored. Or pranked.

Bloom, always the first to go off and head home, split off from us just like any other day. Me and Sweetie usually walked together for a bit before we split. She was wearing her green bobble hat, which looked pretty goofy since the bobble, er, bobbled whenever she moved.

“Hey, you think there’s gonna be any apple cider?” I asked Sweetie, as we both waved to Apple Bloom.

“Probably not,” she answered, placing her hoof down.

I frowned and kicked some snow. “Darn. How come it’s only Bloom that’s lucky enough to try it? Doesn’t seem fair to me.” Trust me, it really sucked to not have even a drop of cider on Cider Day.

“Maybe because she helps make it?” Sweetie suggested, shrugging. “I dunno. Rarity said they ran out pretty quickly, but I think she just got more for herself.”

“Gah, that sucks. They could’ve at least given us a taste,” I groaned. Adults. I swear they’re working with gravity to drag me down.

Eh, I guess cider was only a small part of the event anyway. My friends were going to be there, which was more than enough, since good friends can make almost anything seem fun. So, yeah, I was looking forward to the whole thing. Already I could tell it was gonna be a whole lot of concentrated awesome in one place.

Me and Sweetie talked about it some more before she had to go home. That was fine.

Except who else but Diamond and Silver get in our way?

“I’ve already got my date for the school dance,” Diamond said, walking past us just so we could hear her annoying, ear-bleeding voice.

“Me too, of course,” Silver agreed, like the puppy she is. She spared us a look. Oh, how lucky of us. “Do you two have dates yet?”

“Considering school just ended, no. I have better things to do with my life than ask colts to be my…” I had to stick out my tongue and retch. All this date talk was starting to get really icky. “... date.”

“Yeah, and besides, we don’t need a date,” Sweetie added. She shuffled a little, for some reason. “Right?”

She looked to me. “No, Sweetie, we don’t,” I answered. “Dates are just a disease the older fillies catch.”

Diamond snorted, flicking a strand of her fake-looking mane. “Well that’s what babies would say.” I kept down my fighting spirit. A snowball to the face at point blank range actually did hurt a lot. “Everypony knows that you’re supposed to take a date to a school dance.”

“Pfft, yeah right. I bet you just made that up,” I said, ‘cause it really did sound like it. Diamond Tiara did whatever she could to try and bug us. Yeah, actually; she’s a huge, ugly bug.

I should have told her that, really, but she started talking again. “I think Rumble and Alula would disagree, don’t you?” She pointed behind us and we saw them: Rumble and ‘Lula walking and talking together. They were smiling and accidentally bumping into each other as well…

I bit my lip and turned away from them. “That doesn’t mean anything!”

“I guess we’ll see when you’re the only ones who turn up without a date, hm?” Diamond laughed. No, it was more like a witch’s cackle. Painful to the ears. Then Silver joined in and it was even worse. I stomped a hoof towards them, and they started going away, but still laughed at us. Idiots.

Sweetie faced me, brow raised, shuffling on the spot. “What they said isn’t true, right?”

I shook my head. “Nah. Can’t be. They’re just trying to mess us around. Trust me, when the dance comes, we’re gonna have a great time, and nopony but them are gonna have some dumb colts with them.”

I was pretty sure of what I said, but… my tummy started feeling all funny. Butterflies were acting up in it again.

So, fantastic—I was a bit nervous.

A while ago I went on a camping trip with Rainbow Dash and some others, and even if it was kinda scary (only a little though), it turned out to be the best thing ever because Rainbow agreed to be my sister! And that meant a bunch of really awesome stuff! Like how I could stay in her house when I wanted to and trust me, Rainbow has a house that’s as cool as she is.

I met up with Rainbow groundside. We went on a quick but radical flying trip, then headed for her place.

Rainbow was making dinner for once, instead of ordering out. Not like it made much of a difference though; she was probably making hayfries again. I tried telling her once that even if hayfries tasted great, they were still kinda unhealthy. Dash just said she burns off what she eats, which makes sense, except for the fact that she does love napping.

Adults are weird, basically. Even Rainbow Dash. A little.

“Hey Dash?” I asked, sitting at the dinner table. Rainbow’s house needs more color, ‘cause the table was a sky blue that was way too similar to the walls.

“Yeah, kid?” Rainbow kept herself busy in the kitchen behind me, but I could hear her just fine.

“You ever been to a school dance?” I figured she must have. It’s only obvious to anypony with a brain that she'd be the most popular pony in school, and if you do what the popular kids do, you’re pretty much safe for almost anything.

“A few times, yeah.” I could hear her open the oven and check the hayfries, then shut it again. She’s explained to me before that most cloud furniture has static mats under it, and somehow that repels the clouds and… the rest got lost in translation. Something about magnets, I think. How do they even work anyway? “Why’d you ask?”

“School’s got a dance coming up soon. Down on the Apple farm,” I replied, grabbing my chair and hopping around so I could see her. She was leaning against the kitchen counters, all Rainbow-like.

“Oh, that’s cool,” she said, turning around to get out the plates and forks and stuff.

“Yeah,” I agreed, fiddling with the knife that Rainbow put on the table. “So… did you ever go with a date?”

Dash snorted, holding back a laugh. “No way. That stuff’s totally weaksauce.” Out of the oven came the hayfries and a good portion of them onto my plate. Rainbow sat next to me, ignoring her own knife and fork. Why’d she even get them out if she was gonna do that?

“So you went by yourself?” I asked, then ate a chip. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had better.

“Yeah,” she answered, stuffing a couple of chips in her mouth. I had to wait for her to swallow them. Good thing she’s a fast (messy) eater. “I crashed them all. Spiked the punch, swapped the music tracks, annoyed the teachers… stuff like that.”

I had a few questions. Like why Spike was there. After seeing the meteor showers with him, I guess he liked sleeping in punch bowls. I’m not gonna judge a dragon, though. Still, I had to admit that I kinda didn’t like Dash’s way of thinking there. I wanted to enjoy the dance, sure, but I wasn’t planning on ruining everypony’s time, except maybe Diamond and Silver’s—if I could get away with it. Since Rainbow became my big sister, I’ve learnt that we don’t always agree on stuff. I don’t mind. Being like somepony doesn’t mean copying their every detail.

But maybe she did have some advice for me. Dash advice was the best. Except when it wasn’t. “So… you didn’t go with a date. Does that mean I shouldn’t either?”

“Nah, dates are stupid,” she said, then stuffed more hayfries in her mouth. It’s funny how she’s a messier eater than me, but it’s not really my problem since she’s the one that cleans up. Eventually.

“Even if everypony else might take a date along?”

“Especially not then. ‘Cause then you’re just following the crowd.” She was close enough to wrap a wing around me. “You gotta be you, which is being awesome, and you’ll stand out. Then everypony will be gaping in awe. Trust me.”

Yeeeeah… I think Dash forgot how school works. Unless your super one hundred and twenty percent sure that everypony will be amazed, don’t try and stand out. It’s like painting a bullseye on yourself. It’s just a dumb move. Be you, but don’t draw too much attention to you.

I smiled and held back a sigh. “Thanks, Dash.” I focused on eating the hayfries. Figures Dash wouldn’t be able to help me with such a humdrum problem. At least the hayfries were decent. Small victories, I guess.

After school the next day, I called for a Cutie Mark Crusader meeting. We couldn’t really do it at the clubhouse, since the Apples were all busy with setting up for the dance, so me and Sweetie had to follow Bloom around as she helped out. We chipped in when we could, but we weren’t allowed to use most of the farm tools; the Cutie Mark Crusader fairground was something of an epic fail.

“Girls, we got a problem,” I said. Me and Sweetie were holding up a ladder Bloom was on. She was hammering in a colorful banner in the barn. With her hoof. Earth ponies are really underrated, I reckon.

“What is it?” Bloom asked, smashing her hoof against the nail in the wall. I like to think I’m pretty tough, but Bloom’s something else.

“I got a feeling everypony’s gonna turn up at the dance with a date. Dates are totally yucky ‘n’ all, but I don’t want us to be the only ponies there without one, y’know?” Having to bring a colt along was a small sacrifice if it meant we’d avoid humiliation.

“Diamond and Silver said they’ve already got some, and then we saw Rumble and Alula together being all…” Sweetie scrunched up her muzzle, which made me smirk. “...datey.”

A final thud and the banner was secure. Bloom slid down the ladder, completely relaxed. “Well, Ah ain’t gotta worry ‘bout that.”

“What?” I spurted out, my wings flaring. Sometimes they have a mind of their own, which is annoying. I groaned and rolled my eyes when I figured out why Bloom was so calm about the incoming disaster. “Don’t tell me you got a date already?”

“Nope.” She tapped the ladder and we helped her fold it up. “But ‘cause the dance is takin’ place at mah farm, I gotta help out while it goes on. So, I don’t need a date, ‘cause I won’t be dancing all the time.”

Darn. She had an out, coupled with a good excuse. I thought about me and Sweetie tagging along, but the other fillies might call us out for not being part of the Apple family. But that got me thinking: at least one of them knew about dating, right?

We all carried the ladder and left it outside the barn in case anypony else needed it. Bloom led us to where Applejack and Big Mac were both lifting heavy DJ gear into the barn. My wings buzzed at the sight. “Aw, sweet! You got wubs!”

“These aren’t our… whatcha-mi-call-its. The school hired them,” Applejack told us, pushing a big speaker on wheels.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed, all the technical DJ hockey stuff in tow. I figured he’d have no good dating advice at all. I didn’t want to be the silent, mysterious type.

“I hope there’s karaoke!” Sweetie exclaimed. I couldn’t say I shared her hope at that, but even if there was that there… fair enough. Sweetie’s a good singer and it’s kinda awesome how loud she can get.

“Ah ain’t sure, sugarcube,” Applejack replied, grunting as she pushed the speaker. “Jus’ don’t try and shou—sing the walls down.”

“Eeyup.” No points for guessing who said that.

“So, Applejack,” I started. “What do you know about dates?”

“Yer seriously worried ‘bout that?” Instead of acknowledging Bloom, I stared at AJ, waiting for an answer.

“Er… not much,” Applejack managed to say, through gritted teeth. Maybe I should’ve waited and asked later, looking back at it. “Go ask Granny Smith if ya really wanna know ‘bout that kinda stuff.”

I blinked, sharing a look with Sweetie. We both ended up shrugging and trotting off towards the farmhouse, leaving Bloom, Jack and Mac behind. Mac was staring at AJ, for some reason. I think he was frowning a little.

We went up to house and opened the creaky door. It’s a cozy place, but pretty old. Not the fading kinda old, though, but the strong type. Like really big trees. I find it pretty cool how some trees can live around a thousand years. Then again, I guess that’s not hard when you don’t do much.

Granny Smith was in the kitchen, cleaning up dishes and stuff. If I had to guess, her real name was Smith Apple, which would’ve been weird if true. Guess it’s just an old-timey name.

“Miss Granny Smith?” Sweetie Belle said first, smiling, for lack of any cooler word, sweetly.

Granny Smith stopped washing the dish she had in her hooves to look down at us. “Oh, hello young’uns. What can I do fer ya?”

“We were just wondering if you knew anything about dates!” Sweetie answered for us. She’s better at talking to adults than me or Bloom, since she’s a bit of a goody four-shoes. She’s still cool though.

Granny Smith chuckled to herself. “You fillies wanna know ‘bout that, do ya? Well, follow me and I’ll tell you rugrats a story ‘bout a time when I was your age.” She shambled into the living room, which was kinda amazing given how much she shakes when she moves, and sat down on her rocking chair. I plopped down next to Sweetie and held back a groan; adults and stories did not mix together well. Not even Rainbow Dash; she tells epics, not stories.

Bloom’s Granny started rocking the chair slowly, not really looking at us. “It all began in…” She frowned. “Well, Ah ferget when it was exactly, but it was before you two were born. Ah was in school and had my eyes set on that silly colt Wheat Hayseed.” A smile appeared on her face, then she laughed again. “Ah’m still not sure what Ah was thinking about at the time, tryin’ to make him mine. He was a shy lil’ fella too, so Ah had to take action and ask him out first, which at the time, was an odd way of doin’ things.”

For the first time since she had started telling the story, she looked down at us. “You two are pretty lucky, livin’ in the time you do. You can date any kinda pony ya want, and nopony would judge ya for it.”

Me and Sweetie glanced at each other. Her nose was all scrunched up and had we been somewhere else, I would’ve poked it just to make her squeak or something.

Granny Smith looked back up and continued. “At first, he was kinda nervous ‘bout the whole thing. But we both were, so everypony thought it was a cute lil’ thing we had. One day, though, he stepped up to the plate in a big way. He took me to the outskirts of town, to this big ol’ green field, filled with daisies. And then he…”

I looked at Sweetie and nodded towards the door. We very slowly stood up and creeped to the front door, wincing as it creaked when we opened it. We almost leapt out and ran, but I don’t think we needed to, since Granny Smith was laughing to herself. Old ponies always get caught up in their imaginations…

“Well, that was a waste of time,” I grumbled. You can’t blame me for a bit of that.

Sweetie, on the other hoof, was positive like always. “I’m sure my sister would have some good advice for us. Sometimes she can be a bit too posh, but this seems like something she’d be really good at.”

“No offense, Sweetie, but I’d rather dunk my head into a bucket of eels than listen to any advice Rarity would have.” I saw her frown, so I quickly added, “I’m nothing like her, so I can’t really copy anything she’d suggest.”

Phew, her frown disappeared. “Okay, that’s fair.” She blinked, then tilted her head a little. “Didn’t we actually put our head into a bucket of eels before?”

“Snakes,” I said. We tried almost everything to get those snake charmer cutie marks.

“Oh, right.” Sweetie offered me a smile. “I’m sure we’ll be okay, though. Finding two dates for us can’t be too hard.”

“Mhm.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes, frown, sigh, or anything grumbly. Finding some dumb colt to tag along with would be simple for Sweetie. I don’t care much for appearances, but, c’mon… she is the cutest filly in class. Plus, she’s actually pretty cool too. Not in a Rainbow Dash kinda way though. More like…

I shook my head, refusing to think too much about that stuff. My focus had to be on finding the first dumb colt who’d say yes to being my date.

“Scoots?” I froze. “You okay?”

I shrugged off the invisible grey cloud hovering over me. “Fine.”

I mean, how hard could it be to find at least one colt? Really?

Lunch time. The second best part of school—the actual best is the end, duh. Anyway, I was all set to start getting my stupid date for this dance. It wasn’t all that bad, really. All I had to do was turn up with him, impress everypony else, then ditch him and go have some fun. Easy peasy.

I ate my packed lunch quickly, then went about searching the playground for colts. Rumble was out of the question already, which sucked, ‘cause he was one of the cooler colts in class. Snips and Snails on the other hoof… they were my last resorts. There were plenty of other colts in between, so I wasn’t too worried.

The first pony I came across was Shady Vane: the colt who operated the printing press for the school paper. His voice was a little weird to me, but he was a hard worker and I respected that. He was on the way from the schoolhouse to his friends, so I had to ask him before he reached them. Seriously, asking in front of his friends would have been more than embarassing.

“Hey Shady!” I called out, speeding towards him.

He stopped just as his forehoof was about to touch the ground. His eyebrow was raised and he looked a little confused, but I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t talk to him much in the first place. “Er… hey?”

“‘sup?” I slowed down when I reached him. “Looking forward to the dance?”

“Um… I guess—”

“Great!” I put on my best smile, showing off just a little bit of my teeth that I had brushed really hard last night. Honestly, I woke up with minty fresh breath. “Look, we both know the dance is coming up, so you wanna be my date?” No point dancing around the question. Honesty is something ponies really like, too.

Shady’s eyes moved around a bit, more towards his friends. “That sounds… nice. But no thanks.” He started walking away from me, crying out, “Sorry!”

“Wait! Why not?!” I shouted after him. He didn’t stop. I snorted and kicked a pebble nearby. I didn’t need him anyway if he was going to be that rude. He could go on his own for all I care.

Don’t worry, I told myself. Still plenty of others to pick.

Like Truffle Shuffle. He was a bit pudgy for a colt, with a grey coat and black mane. Didn’t talk much either, but he seemed okay. I was more likely to find him sitting down than running around and stuff.

My guesses proved right when I found him at a bench, with a couple of his buddies. All were colts, since it’s the law of the playground that colts stick with colts, and fillies with fillies. Don’t even get me started with cooties. Yuck. Obviously I’d plan ahead for that before the dance.

Anyway, I was gonna ask him, I really was. Then seeing all that food around his mouth instantly made me regret the idea. I’m not some sorta—er, posh-type—like Rarity is, but I kinda expect some good hygiene from ponies. So no, Truffle was not a good candidate. I carefully backed away and bumped into the next candidate: Featherweight.

Featherweight is… he’s alright. Not exactly a looker, and he did take all those pictures of me and the Crusaders so Diamond could blackmail us. At the same time though, he didn’t mean any harm and he was a good flier.

“Oh! Uh, sorry Scoots,” he said, taking a few steps back from me.

“It’s cool. No harm done,” I said, turning around to face him, trying very hard not to stare at his wonky teeth. This time, I thought I needed to plan what I was gonna say and not just blurt out the question. Because of that, we ended up just standing there like a couple of dorks, not saying anything.

In the end, I decided to mare up. I let out a sigh, then went on ahead with it, “I know we don’t talk much ‘n’ stuff, but…” My foreleg felt itchy, so I scratched it while I spoke. “Y’know the school dance? I kinda need a date and just thought…” The words left my mouth, leaving me looking like an idiot. They probably went to a bright and sunny land to dance with lots and lots of happy friends.

“Oh. Huh.” Featherweight’s eyes trailed up, as his brow creased. For a few seconds, he just hummed in thought. “Actually…” My ears perked up. “I already have a date!” And down went my ears. Also my jaw. “Yeah. It’s Noi.” His wings fluttered and he hovered off the ground, grinning. “I think we’re gonna have a real nice time!”

“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” I said, unsuccessfully keeping out the grouchiness.

He didn’t seem to notice, or care, which was just as well I suppose. “Yep! Anyway, I’m gonna go talk to her now. See ya!” Then off he flew.

Grr. You couldn’t blame me for frowning and growling right then. This was getting stupid. How can every colt turn me down or be taken already? I blew a strand of my mane out of face and turned around, dragging myself around the playground.

I happened to pass by Sweetie Belle, who looked like she was in a similar situation to me. Her ears was down and she had an annoyed looking pout going on. We brushed past each other, our heads low to the ground.

“Featherweight’s taken,” I told her.

“So’s Pipsqueak.”

“Good to know.”

“Yep.”

Then we kept going our separate ways. I actually felt a bit worse knowing that Sweetie was having just as terrible luck as I was. How the hay was that fair? She’s definitely more ‘colt material’ than I am. Sure, we do have a reputation as Crusaders, but that shouldn’t stop any colt from dating us.

Eugh. I had enough of this stupidness for now. Time to find Bloom, hang out and have a good time. She was sitting on a swing, sipping from an apple juice carton and wearing a fluffy red bobble hat. Next to her was Berry Pinch, looking like she was having a great time on the swings. Bloom seemed to be more focused on the rest of the playground than the swinging filly next to her.

“What’s got you so glum?” Bloom asked when I sat down next to her.

“None of the colts around school want to be my date…” I grumbled. Just gonna stress that I was grumbling, not whining.

I’m not sure Bloom got the message though, since she tried to force down a grin, making giggling sounds. I turned my head her way and gave the most furious glare I could manage. Her laughter died down, but not much. Bloom’s my best friend, but my ‘really annoying at times’ best friend.

My wings buzzed angrily. “I guess it’s easy for you to laugh, huh? What’s so funny?”

“Oh Scoots…” She laughed a little once again, then it died down. “Yer fussin’ over a whole bunch of nothin’. Ah’ve jus’ been watching everypony run around all over the playground, all fer somethin’ silly like ‘dates’.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “It’s not a,” I had to put on a pretty bad Apple accent for this, “‘whole bunch of nothin’, it’s serious business. I don’t want to be the only loner at the dance! Can you imagine how humiliating that’d be?”

Bloom sipped from her juice some more, then gave me an annoyed look. “Stop cryin’ like a baby and jus’ enjoy it.”

“I’m not a—” I stopped and let out an angry sigh. No point getting mad over something like this. Bloom clearly wasn’t in the mood to give me advice or make me feel better either. “I’m going back and trying again…”

I wish I could say I had more luck, but…

Button Mash said he wasn’t going to the dance in the first place. Something about destroying an alien invading army, or something. That colt’s weird. Strike was going with Aura, so that ruled him out. I ended so desperate, I even asked Snips and Snails. And guess what they said?

They were going with each other. I’m serious.

Truth be told… that made me feel real bad. So bad that I actually paid attention in class until the end of school. I didn’t even talk to anypony when we all rushed out, so I wasn’t sure if Sweetie Belle had the same bad luck I did. I doubt it, though.

Rainbow was there to pick me up again. “Hey kid.”

“Hey Dash,” I said. It was a bit lame, but I tried to give her my best smile. She smiled back and I climbed onto her, wrapped my forelegs around her and held on tight when she took off to the sky. Instead of having some awesome flying trip like normal, Dash darted through some cloud, settling on one that was pretty hidden by other ones. I hopped off; saw no use in asking what was going on.

“Alright, kid. What’s going on?” she asked, sitting down in front of me. “You didn’t look that excited to be out of school, or see me, and you haven’t asked me to do some radical flying stunt either. So, what’s up?”

I sat down and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. I’ve gotten better at being honest with Rainbow, but I still get some jitters when I’m about to tell her something that’s embarrassing. I hung my head and sighed. “Couldn’t find anypony to be my date for the dumb dance thing…”

“Pfft, you’re really worried about that?” Dash outstretched her wing and pulled me close. It felt nice, but I couldn’t say it erased all my problems.

“Yeah, I am,” I replied. Maybe a bit snappier than I had wanted.

“Well you shouldn’t, because that’s dumb, and you’re not dumb.” She gave me a quick noogie, which has became a bit of annoying habit of hers lately. I am so gonna noogie her when she’s old. “Just, y’know, turn up, own the dancefloor and have a great time.”

“Thanks, Rainbow,” I said, leaning against her. It was solid advice. For a dance that wasn’t going to be filled with couples, at least. Holding back a sigh, I just let Rainbow hold me. I’d figure something out.

And if I didn’t, I could always not go, I guessed. Yep. Do that and miss out on the biggest school event of the year.

Pfft. Yeah right.

I had a whole night to come up with a pretty solid plan for getting around the awkwardness of not having a date for the dance. Nothing came to mind. Well, almost nothing, but I was pretty sure riding into the barn on a dragon wasn’t gonna go down well with Miss Cheerilee or Applejack.

Lunch rolled around again and this time I didn’t bother with galloping across the playground, desperately asking colts to be my date. Nah, instead me and Bloom secured a bench and ate our packed lunches. Sweetie joined us after a bit, slamming down her pink lunchbox, frowning.

It didn’t take me long to connect the dots. “Couldn’t find a date either?”

“No,” she quickly replied, opening her lunchbox and started angrily chewing on a sandwich. Bloom for her part was just eating an apple, looking at the both of us. I guess she finally started to take this seriously.

“Seriously?” I asked. She nodded sternly. “Darn… that sucks.” It didn’t just suck—it was surprising too. Nopony wanted to go with Sweetie to the dance? I was starting to suspect Diamond had bribed every colt to say no to us. Then I remembered that she was the filly who wouldn’t even give a pony a spare pencil if they asked.

Maybe it was because she was a Crusader? Sure, we’re the best group around, but… we’re not very popular. I honestly started to feel a bit bad about that. Were me and Bloom holding her back? She was happy being our friend, definitely, but I couldn’t help but wonder…

Ugh, I really gotta stop wondering about what might happen and focus on the here and now.

I got up and went around the bench, then sat down next to Sweetie. Y’know, just in case she wanted a hug or something. She can get pretty huggy sometimes.

“I couldn’t find a colt either, so we’re in the same boat,” I told her.

She kept eating and didn’t look at any of us. “Yeah, like that newspaper boat we built once.”

Ow. Bit of a stinging comparison there, but I shrugged it off. I tried to switch it ‘round. “I remember that. Remember when we dried off?”

That got a little giggle out of her. “And you got all…”

“Poofy, yeah,” I finished off for her. She laughed some more and not even Bloom’s sneaky smirk at me got me annoyed. I had cheered Sweetie up, if only a little, so that’s all that really mattered. “We’ll figure out something, I’m sure.”

“Mhm. What could the problem be, though? Can’t even find an answer unless we know the problem... hm…” Sweetie rested her head on her hoof, staring out into the distance and humming.

I got to thinking too, but I didn’t see what the use was when I had tried that already without much success. We could’ve gone by ourselves and just dealt with the humiliation we were bound to get, but that was a dead last resort.

Bloom just kept staring at us the whole time like the solution was obvious. It was easy for her to say anything, at this point. I guess that’s why she did, really. “Why don’t y’all jus’ go together?”

Me and Sweetie both blinked, looked at each other, then Bloom. “You serious?” I said.

Bloom shrugged, her apple eaten to the core. “Why not? Yer both friends, and there’s nothing against friends being dates, is there?”

Huh. She had a point there. Did it seem normal? Not to me, really. I thought dates had to be colts, but… hey, it was better than going alone. “Sure, why not?”

Sweetie looked at me, looking a bit unsure. A small smile appeared on her face soon enough. “I guess it can work.”

“Exactly. Now quit yer fussin’ and let’s have some fun, already,” Bloom said, pointing at us. She then blinked at our still pretty full lunchboxes. “Eat up, first.”

Well, duh. We fell into a nice sorta silence while we ate. Not the kind of quiet where you just don’t know what to say, but the type where you know everything’s just okay. Plus, it gave me time to think. I was pretty looking forward to the dance now that all the stupid date thing was out of the way. Not that Sweetie was a stupid date, but… you know what I mean. Sweetie’s cool and I was sure we’d have an awesome time together.

So with my date for the dance sorted out, things kinda went back to normal for a bit and I could start enjoying school again. As much as I normally enjoyed it anyway. Lessons were still boring, but the amount of fun stuff we did was increasing day by day.

Eventually it was only a few days until the dance. I hadn’t thought much about it, until we all started to head home. Bloom went off to her farm, like usual, and Sweetie walked with me for a bit. She had bad news.

“Um, do you mind if you go with me to Rarity’s? She wants us to try dresses for the dance,” Sweetie said.

Dresses?! You had to be kidding me. Who wore a dress to a dance?! Okay, I know there’s posh dances and stuff but—shut up!

But… as bad as they were, I couldn’t just turn Sweetie down. I pretended to be staring at something else to hide my disgust. “Fine.”

A big grin was plastered on Sweetie’s face. “Great! Follow me!” Sweetie chirped excitedly and started galloping for Rarity’s shop. This is something I usually keep to myself, but I’ve noticed that Sweetie Belle runs really funny. Like, her whole body bounces up and down like she’s some big puffy marshmallow. It’s just a thing I noticed.

The door swung open and Sweetie charged inside. “Rarity! We’re here!”

I slowed down my pace since I wasn’t all that excited to try on…. eugh. Plus, Rarity’s scolded me before for ‘scuffing up her floors’.

It was a little surprising to see Rarity come into the room followed by another pony. “Rainbow? What are you doing here?”

“Just hanging,” she answered me. She looked at Rarity, frowning a little. “Also making sure you don’t get too girlied up.”

Rarity did one of her little… haughty haughts. “Really Rainbow, there’s nothing wrong with dressing to impress. Especially at a school dance.”

No, I didn’t see her reasoning either.

“Yeah, whatever. Just make her look cool.” I kinda hoped Rarity would do a similar thing she does to Dash; Rainbow definitely doesn’t wear dresses, she wears outfits. Completely different and completely cooler.

“Hi Rarity!” Sweetie leaped right at her and her sister caught her in her forelegs before she got knocked over. They shared a little hug and a nuzzle, while me and Rainbow just brohoofed.

“Hello Sweetie. Good day at school?” Of course, Rarity couldn’t resist making an adjustment to Sweetie’s mane.

Sweetie beamed. “Yep!”

“Good. Now do be a darling and hop on the stage with Scootaloo.” We did as she asked. Sweetie actually did hop on, while I just slowly climbed up and dragged my hooves there.

Rarity went off into another room, but we could still hear her voice as she went. “I’ve made some designs in advance, but I don’t get orders for fillies as much as I do mares. But not to worry, that means a lot more to try on!” What great news. “It’s a good thing you and Scootaloo are similar measurements, otherwise this would have been a lot more complicated.”

I scowled and shuffled on the spot, flexing my wings. It felt so restricting already, just standing there like some doll to be ‘prettied’ up. I looked to my side and saw Rainbow offering me a sympathetic smile.

“Just hang in there, kid.”

Yeah, Rainbow. I’ll try.

I looked like a parrot that got caught in an explosion in a paint factory.

Rarity had done up my mane so it looked like bird mohawk-crest-thing, and I was in some red dress. It was surprisingly simple, no frills or anything, but I still thought I looked stupid. Sweetie, on the other hoof, looked nice in her pink dress, and a bow in her mane. I guess she suits this sort of stuff and makes it work for her.

Rainbow winced the moment she saw me. Can’t blame her. Rarity did one of her ‘wahahaha’s once she had finished fiddling and touching me. My wings started twitching at that point. I needed to move! Or something other than stand around like an idiot!

“Marvellous. Grand, even!” Rarity praised.

I snorted, ruffling my feathers. “Can you get me out of this clown suit?” It was a good thing I didn’t mention a big red nose, or otherwise Rarity might have smacked my head.

“Clown suit? Please, darling, this is beauty and elegance.” Thankfully, she did start to take apart the paint monster’s costume that I was wearing. “You’re too young to understand. But thank you for the help, Scootaloo. You too, Sweetie Belle. I could never find the opportunity to get you in one place and try some of my designs.”

Sweetie gave her sister the widest smile she could manage. Rarity smiled too, but it was a lot more controlled, with a touch of embarrassment. The important detail was that I was free from my dressy prison. After I had hopped down from the ‘stage’, I quickly joined Rainbow’s side in the hopes that she could protect me from any further girly stuff.

Dash slung a hoof round me and looked at Rarity. “So, do you have anything that’ll actually match Scoots’ awesomeness?”

Before Rarity went off, she said, “Yes yes, I’ll see what I have. There’s always something out there that makes each pony shine.”

“Be brave, kid.” Rainbow gave me a small squeeze. “You’re going in for round two.”

I gulped.

Closing my eyes was the only way to get through the ordeal. I followed Rarity’s orders and she got me into something. Obviously I couldn’t see it until I opened my eyes, duh.

Rarity gently turned me around and showed me the mirror. Staring at my reflection, I thought I looked… pretty cool, actually. As far as dresses went, this one rocked the radical factor the most. Every side of me looked good. I’d even go far to say that this one was better than the bridesmaid dress I had to wear for the Royal Wedding; this one felt more casual.

It was purple, but the kind of dark purple that’s bold and makes a statement. There weren’t any stupid other details like frills or flowers, just lines going down it. They kinda looked like speed lines, which was cool. To top it all off, I had a necklace around my neck. Again, not a girly one—it had a red lightning bolt for a jewel.

“You look great, Scootaloo!” Sweetie cheered, her eyes full of excitement. I don’t know why she was so happy to see me like this. Probably trying to hold back the laughter, I guess.

“I like it,” I said. It was a dress, so I didn’t really know what else to comment on. All I knew was that I looked good. Inspecting myself, I smiled. “Looking forward to showing it off.”

“Hay yeah!” Rainbow agreed. “You two are seriously gonna wow everypony at that dance. Those dresses, plus your awesome dancing—it’s an unstoppable combo!”

Me and Sweetie, The Unstoppable Combo? I smirked and hopped down next to my date. “We’re definitely gonna be the best there.” Then something popped into my head that made me stop and think. The dresses we had were cool and all, but I wasn’t even sure if every other kid was going to the dance as suited up as we were. “We won’t look…” I had to stare at the floor while I came up with a way to say it. “Out of place, right?”

“Well, duh. Of course you will,” Rainbow replied. My stomach felt like it had a little trip there.

I guess Rainbow had phrased it badly or something because Rarity gave her a quick glare, then said, “Maybe you will. But it’s important to embrace your uniqueness, and disregard any nasty comments.”

Nodding slowly, I switched to Sweetie, who was smiling softly. “Yeah. And besides, Diamond and Silver are probably gonna be all jeweled up anyway. Like some kinda walking eyesores.”

That got a laugh out of me, especially since Sweetie was wobbling about with her eyes all wide, like she’d been struck by some kind of dazy beam. “Yeah, you’re right.” I put a foreleg around her. “You and me? We’re gonna rock the barn, just watch.”

Rarity took a look at the both of us and did some sorta weird squeal giggle thing. “Oh, the both of you together will look so adorable!”

I was spared any overbearing nuzzling. Sweetie wasn’t so lucky. “Yeah, sure, whatever,” I said, backing away from Rarity before she could get me.

After a few really slow days at school, the night of the dance had finally come. It started at seven, but I had to get ready an hour before then in order to be able to pick up Sweetie. It was Rarity’s idea, but why she seemed so persistent on it, I had no clue. Couldn’t I have just met up with Sweetie at the farm?

Rainbow went with me to Rarity’s shop. Even if it was dark already, I didn’t see why she needed to take me there. I also wasn’t sure why she had her wing wrapped around me the entire time. It was nice, though, so I couldn't really complain.

“I think you and Rarity are making too much of a big deal about this…” I grumbled, trying to avoid stepping in snow. A lot of it had been shoveled to the sides of the streets; I just had to avoid the little splotches of it that remained. If I even got one bit of this dress dirty, Rarity would… I can’t even think about it. Point is, I imagined my dress was made out of glass.

Rainbow kept looking in the direction of other ponies, turning her head like some bird. “Just, y’know… making sure Rarity doesn’t make some sneaky girly adjustments on you.”

I shrugged. “Alright then.”

The night air was a bit chilly, but when you’ve got a wing around you, a dress on, plus your natural coat, cold isn’t a problem.

We turned up at Rarity’s place not long after. Rainbow knocked the door and I could hear Sweetie’s high-pitched yelling inside. I had to really focus to hear Rarity. Rainbow went ahead and knocked on the door again. It was Rarity who opened it.

“Rainbow, Scootaloo.” Her eyes stayed on me. “You look fabulous. Sweetie will be with you in just a moment, darling.”

“Coming!” I heard her call out from inside. She was out in a few seconds, looking even better than she did when she first tried on her dress. Guess she had put on makeup or something. That, or it was some kinda magic. Either way, it wasn’t too much that it made her look like some doll.

“Now you two have a simply wonderful time!” Rarity said sweetly, then immediately dropped into deadly seriousness. “Don’t ruin the dresses.” I admit that I did shiver a little. If looks could kill, then Rarity’s eyes were diamond shurikens.

Me and Sweetie nodded and said in unison, “Yes ma’am.”

“Hey, maybe I should go with them,” Rainbow spoke, rubbing the back of her neck. “Y’know. So I can give them my… coolness aura.”

I could see a small smirk take shape on Rarity’s face. “Yes Rainbow, I think that’s an excellent idea.” Rainbow got a tiny shove forward towards us. “The both of you have fun! And Rainbow, do come back after you’ve dropped them off.”

“Er, sure,” Dash replied, with a lame shrug.

Rarity and Sweetie shared a sisterly goodbye and then we were off. I never would have thought it before this, but it was kinda embarrassing being with Rainbow. Not that she is embarrassing but… some Crusader things can’t be discussed in front of adults, no matter how radical they are. It’s just the rules.

I had to admit, Sweetie looked really nice that night. She usually always does, unless we’re all sticky or muddy from some failed attempt to get our cutie marks. But the make-up she had on tonight wasn’t too much. It kinda just made what was good even greater. Her cheeks were nice and rosy, plus her eyelashes weren’t extremely long, but still made her green eyes seem even pretti—cooler.

“Er… Scoots?”

I blinked, then shook my head to snap me out of whatever funk I was in. Only then did I realize that for the past minute or so, I was just staring at Sweetie without saying anything. The fact that she just called me out on it made my cheeks go all warm. Dumb cheeks. “Nothing, nothing…” I said, staring at the ground. The path had turned to dirt, so I thought we were close to the farm. I could still feel Sweetie Belle’s stare at me. The one where she tilts her head at you.

Eugh. They say honesty’s the best policy, so why is it so tricky to actually come out and say it? “You look… nice.” And one mental slap for me. Nice? Nice?! I’m not Fluttershy for Celestia’s sake. “Real nice.” Considering I somehow couldn’t do better, that’d have to do.

Sweetie had a smile so wide I could see the little dimples on her cheeks. “Aaaaw, thanks Scoots! You look pulchritudinous!” Pulcrit—what? I had to assume that was a good thing but… what?! A part of me felt like I’d already failed in being a good date. C’mon, just compare ‘real nice’ to… whatever she said.

Rainbow snorted a little snicker. I replied to that by punching her in the foreleg. She yelped and took to hovering above the ground, grumbling while she rubbed where I hit her.

Not long after, we finally got there. It seemed like things had already started, judging from the lights and music coming from the barn.

“Well, you’re here now. Have fun, squirts.” Rainbow reached a hoof towards my mane and I instinctively ducked. My mane was already naturally messy, but I didn’t need Rainbow messing it up even more. “Heh. I’ll be back in a couple hours or so. But Applejack’s cool, so if you need anything, go tell her.”

“Yeah, gotcha. Have fun at Rarity’s,” I said, giving Dash a wave. We weren’t in a good enough cool zone for hugs.

“Bye Rainbow. Try and keep my sister from dressing you up,” Sweetie warned her.

Rainbow rolled her eyes in her typical way. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll try.” She turned around and zoomed off into the distance. In no time at all, she was probably back at the Boutique. Seeing her fly that fast… it’s awe-inspiring.

Not that it mattered right then, cool as it was. I nodded at Sweetie and we walked towards the barn, the hum of the music getting louder with every step. The barn doors were open ajar, a sliver of light spilling out that kept changing color. I opened it further for Sweetie and then we stepped in.

It was pretty much what I expected: awesome.

The center of the barn was a huge dance space, with lots of fillies and colts dancing around, generally having fun. Some of them were dressed up like we were, but not all. Right at the back, the DJ had set up, head bobbing along to the sounds. He wasn’t DJ-PON3, which kinda sucked, but at least the music was good. To the sides were chairs and tables full of food, just in case somepony got worn out. Not that I would, mind you.

The first thing we decided to do before we did any dancing was to find Apple Bloom. Sweetie might have been my date, but Crusaders don’t ditch each other as soon as something else comes up. We found her where we expected her to be: helping her sister sort out the food and keeping an eye on everypony.

Approaching her, we skirted on the edge of the dance floor. But the hum of the music literally running through my body, coupled with the bright colorful lights… it was perfect bait that was hard to pull away from.

The tasty looking food made a good effort though. “Hey Bloom,” I said as we approached the tables. “Great dance so far. I only just got here and I’m loving it.” I turned to my date. “How about you, Sweetie?”

Sweetie blinked, looking at us. Half an apple slice was poking out of her mouth. She quickly chewed it up and swallowed, smiling awkwardly. “Rarity told me to eat light before the dance.” Her eyes drifted to the rest of the food. It looked real fresh, almost good enough to date.

…

I have got to stop hanging around Pinkie Pie so much.

“Ah guess that’s a solid yes then,” Bloom said. She wasn’t really dressed up like we were, but working behind the scenes, she didn’t really need to. “But y’all go and have fun. Don’t worry ‘bout me.” She flashed us a confident grin. “Ah’ll get the chance to show off my dance moves later.”

I fought down the urge to laugh. “Er, yeah. Sure. See you then.”

Sweetie quickly scarfed down what she could and then we went towards the dance floor. I eyed the other dancers before strutting my stuff because I didn’t want to show anypony up or anything. Rumble and Alula were shuffling around. Not something I could really call dancing though. It’s the kinda move where you just move your hooves and body around in a vague attempt to match the rhythm of the music. It’s a lazy dance, basically.

Snips and Snails were trying harder. Obviously they kept bumping into each other and stepping on each other’s hooves, leading to a lot of angry shouts and cries of pain. At one point, Snails thrust around way too fast, bumping into Snips and causing him to fall down. After a couple of shouts, they both laughed about it. Snails more than Snips, obviously.

I couldn’t see Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, which was probably just as well. Maybe they had lied about having dates and didn’t want to turn up? Eh, it didn’t matter. The time was right to dominate the dance floor alongside Sweetie.

One, two. One, two. One, two… a simple rhythm which I managed to get a hold of fast. I started by bobbing my head in time with the beat, then moving my hooves about. I was basically stepping about, but my movements were controlled, not all over the place. Plus, on occasion, I kicked out a leg when it felt right to do so. I pretty much got into a focused dance state in a matter of moments.

Sweetie giggled at me, but I didn’t mind; she was obviously having fun. I grinned back at her, still going, and she followed my lead. Soon we were on fire. She squeaked and froze when I stepped closer, probably afraid that I was gonna knock into her Snails-style. Did I stop? Hay no. I totally showed her how controlled I was, weaving around her with ease.

She giggled, smiling brightly and dancing on the spot as I moved around her. From all sides, she looked amazing, and that’s something that’s really hard to pull off. Her fluffy mane swinging around as she moved her head, her little white hooves hopping over the dance floor, her green eyes somehow looking more sparkly than the disco balls. Was I over thinking this? Maybe. I blamed the dance-state I was in.

But c’mon, we were owning the barn. Occasionally I spotted a few other kids looking at us, and I managed to see Bloom cheer us on from the sidelines. It ended being a mistake though: I saw Diamond and Silver approach us, wearing that same dirty smirk they usually do. I slipped, but just managed to hop to the side so I didn’t bump into Sweetie.

I slowed down my dancing, my heart pumping like I’d just pulled off a Sonic Rainboom. It’s kinda why I like dancing. It’s exercise that looks cool and makes you feel alive. Wiping my forehead, I waited for the dodgy duo to come to us. Sweetie stopped, frowning at them when they approached.

Turns out they had dates, but they weren’t really colts I knew. They looked a bit older, maybe by a year. Or maybe they were robots. They were definitely moving like one, all tense like a squished spring. Coupled with the forced smiles and you could make a strong claim for it.

“So this is your date, hm?” Diamond said to me, looking at Sweetie like she was worthless trash. I couldn’t help it, but that made something flare up inside me. I bared my teeth, scowling at Diamond and Spoon.

“Don’t be so mean, Tiara,” Spoon said, which was a bit odd. I always thought she wasn’t as bad as Diamond was. Like, maybe she was just following her around ‘cause she didn’t want to get picked on or something. Diamond did make fun of Twist sometimes for wearing glasses. “It’s not like Scootaloo can do any better.”

Wow. Words cannot describe how mean that was.

My wings spread out, I was pretty ready to dance on both their faces, but Sweetie was first. “Hey!” she squeaked.

Diamond took a menacing step forward towards Sweetie and I felt the urge to meet her head on. A white hoof blocked me off though. Blinking, I turned to my date and shook my head fast. Sweetie didn’t even say anything, just giving me a knowing smirk.

“‘Hey!’ what? What are you gonna do, hm? Cry about it like a Cutie Mark Cry Baby?” Diamond taunted. I stepped forward, still not managing to reach her. Sweetie’s stronger than she looks, if she managed to hold me back. I’m not a baby. Or a chicken.

“I’m not going to do anything!” Sweetie cheered, waaaaay too enthusiastically. I thought she had lost at her mind, but I gazed at where she was pointing.

Big Mac towered behind the bullies, peering down at them with a warning look. He did not look happy. For such a big stallion, he has amazing ninja skills. Maybe that’s how he got his cutie mark: slicing apples mid air with a katana.

The pair of snakes (because that’s the only animal that perfectly describes them) slowly turned and crouched down from the big Apple. Spoon laughed awkwardly, tugging at Diamond and skittering off to the side of the barn, where they weren’t so many lights. I spotted their dates by the food tables, talking like actual ponies do.

Big Mac went off without any word at all, leaving just me and Sweetie. “Wow… nice work.”

“Thanks!” She watched all the other dances in the barn, who were just getting on with it, soaking up the awesome mood. “Wanna go outside for a bit? It’s getting stuffy in here.”

An inner part of me groaned with reluctance. Another part told that bit of me to mare up. “Yeah, sure.” I followed Sweetie out of the barn, seeing Apple Bloom approach a lone Twist and both of them then heading for the dance floor. I smirked and promised to tease Bloom about that relentlessly.

Sweetie took us quite a way away from the festivities, choosing an open space right where the apple trees started. I didn’t really mind on the whole, since Sweetie was my date, I wanted to be with her. She was cool.

She wiped her brow when she settled down. I figured out pretty quickly that Rarity would have a hissy fit about her dress getting in the dirt. Sitting down next to her sister, I knew that she’d faint.

Sweetie wiped her forehead, getting rid of some sweat. I guessed we had been dancing for longer than I thought. “Great party, but I need a break. The cold air feels really refreshing after you’ve been dancing for a while.”

She was right: instead of freezing our tails off, it felt like somepony had dumped fresh water on top of us on a hot summer’s day. Kinda weird considering I could see snow that had been shovelled to the side.

I didn’t really have anything to say, so I just looked at Sweetie Belle. Not in a creepy way, but she was hard not to appreciate. Almost like watching Rainbow pull off a Sonic Rainboom. Almost. I couldn’t believe it, but she looked better than a Rainboom.

It hit me that I had struck lucky with my date. Sweetie was already a great friend, but I never actually knew how awesome looking she could get. What was more amazing was that she wasn’t annoying or selfish or… anything super bad really. Okay, sometimes she was a little slow at thinking, but at other times she’d come out with things me and Apple Bloom never even knew. Plus, while Bloom and me argued a lot, we didn’t so much. Then there’s also the fact that we spent more time together outside of Crusading…

“You’re amazing.” That’s what was running through my head at the time. I hadn’t really wanted it to be in there too, but it was, and it wasn't going away. I didn’t even realize I had said it until I saw Sweetie blinking at me.

“What?”

“Uh—a-and awesome. Obviously. Duh,” I speedily added, running a hoof through my mane and trying to pull off a cool grin. It faded when I saw that it hadn’t worked; Sweetie was just staring at me. No words came from her mouth, nothing. It’s times like these where I wish I had mind-reading powers, or something.

But then she just smiled. And that smile grew until those dimples of hers appeared on her cheeks.

Finally, she said something. Or more like shouted it. “I think you’re amazing too!” Huh. It felt good to hear that from her. Y’know… knowing that I meant something to her felt nice. You get that, right?

Sweetie leaned forward, staring into my eyes. I couldn’t look away ‘cause… well it was dark. Not much else to look at. I went to meet her halfway so she wouldn’t fall over or something, so our muzzles ended up touching.

Now my heart was beating mega fast. I was probably still tired from all the dancing we did. Although I was feeling super good inside, and I knew that wasn’t the dancing, it was something else. We were so close, I could smell Sweetie’s perfume. It probably had some goofy name, but it smelled really nice. Knowing that made me feel even better, for some reason. And then the strangest thing happened.

We kissed.

Don’t laugh! It wasn’t a yucky long smooch or anything. In fact, it was barely anything, okay? It lasted, like, a second. That’s not a kiss, technically. So we didn’t get cooties from each other or anything. We were both okay. I felt more than okay, actually. Everything was pretty cool. Sweetie was cool, and I was cool.

We both backed away, taking it all in, I guess. “Huh… that was kinda awesome,” I said.

“Yeah… not sure why everypony makes such a big deal out of it,” Sweetie replied.

“Better not keep doing it though.” I looked towards the barn, the party still going on. “Everypony will think we’re weird.”

“And we’re not weird.”

“Exactly.”

“Indubitably.”

“Wanna go back inside?”

“Not yet.”

“Me too.”

All of that happened within a few seconds. It was quickfire, like we already knew how it was going to playout. Not that it mattered much; dancing was awesome, but so was Sweetie Belle. Couldn’t imagine doing that with her again, though. At least, not for a long while. It was cool, yeah, but for some reason just being with her felt kinda better. The more I thought about it, the more I preferred it.

We put a foreleg around each other and looked up at the stars. The rest of the party kinda blurred together after that point. At some point we did go back inside and danced like nothing ever happened, but what I remember more was simply talking to Sweetie. It’s not like we chatted about anything special either. Only more ideas to get our cutie marks and other casual stuff. We made jokes, we laughed, we teased. Just like any other day, really. So I’m not sure why it stuck out in my mind so much.

But… hey. I’m not complaining. And honestly? I don’t think Sweetie is either. I think I know why though; it didn’t feel like anything had really changed at all. Why should it anyway?