It was a bright and sunny day, and it brought the feelings of glee and undeniable happiness. The overall mood of the day felt as if nothing could go wrong. Twilight was studying, as usual, Applejack was bucking apples off of her glorious trees, and the fillies were at Cherilee's schoolhouse, learning about pony anatomy.
“A pony’s tail color, size, weight, and style will usually vary from pony to pony, so if you’re tailstyle looks different form everypony else’s, it’s not a big deal.” the teacher, Cherilee explained.
She continued teaching the patient children about the tail, when they got interrupted by an orange pony opening the door into the classroom. She was named Babs Seed, and she used to be bullied back in her hometown of Manehattan.
“Whoa! Is that Babs?” Applebloom asked, with confusion in her voice. “Yeah! I’m Babs Seed, and I’m from Manehattan. My school back home’s flooded, and will be closed for a month, so I have to transfer schools for a month. I decided to come to Ponyville, because of my favorite cousin!” Babs Seed explained. Applebloom and two other fillies, named Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, ran out of their seats towards Babs, and started to hug her.
“Now, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, give our new student some personal space, please.” Cherilee demanded.
The three ponies backed away from Babs Seed, and went back to their desks.
“So, maybe you should sit right there for today.” She pointed to a seat next to the selfish Diamond Tiara. Babs Seed suddenly became frightened, and somberly walked toward the empty seat.
“Looks like I’ve got a pony without their cutie mark next to me.” Diamond Tiara complained. “Better hope your blank flank isn’t contagious.” She then began to chuckle to herself.
After school, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stood outside of the classroom, when many other students passed by them, including Diamond Tiara. Babs Seed walked up to them, and engaged in a conversation.
“Why is Diamond Tiara such a bully?” Babs Seed grumpily asked. “She’s so bossy, and she’s a nightmare. I can’t possibly feel any more regret than I already do for bullying yous guys, after what Diamond Tiara made me feel like today.”
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle nodded their heads in agreement. The three of them walked away toward the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse.
When they arrived at their clubhouse, Scootaloo came to the classroom and brought four ice cream cones to find out that nopony was there. “Huh? Where are they? They said they would meet me right here.” Something had began to jog in her memory. “Oh! Silly me, they must be at the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse. Honestly, Scootaloo, you can be so dumb sometimes.”
But, alas, when she went to the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse, she could not find any of them. “Huh? Are they trying to avoid me?”
All of a sudden, Babs Seed walks up to Scootaloo. “Hey, Babs Seed! Where is everypony?” Scootaloo asked.
Babs Seed began to look a little nervous. “Um, I can’t say. Look, I have to go.” Babs Seed ran away. Scootaloo immediately followed her, and caught up to her. She wrestled her to the ground.
“Where is everypony? Are they avoiding me? Are YOU avoiding me?” Scootaloo demanded.
Babs Seed began to whimper. “You’re worse than everypony in Manehattan. Let me go, please!” Scootaloo wouldn’t let go. Her glare was piercing into her flesh, and Babs was terrified of Scootaloo.
“Tell me what is going on! Right now!” Scootaloo pushed harder. Babs could feel nothing but pain. Endless pain. She had lost consciousness, and fell asleep.
Rainbow was walking home from Sugar Cube Corner, when she spotted Scootaloo pinning Babs Seed to the cement. Rainbow was shocked, and immediately pushed Scootaloo off of Babs.
“What has gotten into you, Scootaloo? Why were you pinning Babs to the ground?” Rainbow was anxious for an answer.
A single tear flowed down Scootaloo’s depressed face. “I don’t know what came over me. “ Scootaloo apologized. “I’m sorry. I was just frustrated.”
Rainbow was still upset with Scootaloo. “Your sorries won’t fix the damage you have done to Babs Seed. Now, I have to go see if she’s okay. Don’t ever do something like that ever again.” Rainbow told. “Only in really dire circumstances. Speaking of which, why did you attack Babs Seed?”
Scootaloo knew if she said the reason she did attack Babs Seed, it would be a bit embarrassing for her, especially since she idolizes Rainbow Dash, so she made up an on-the-spot lie. It wasn’t a very good one. “I got a cupcake from Pinkie Pie, and Babs Seed stole it.” Scootaloo lied through her teeth.
Rainbow Dash stared and then shrugged. “Pinkie’s cupcakes are pretty good. They’re even better than those creamy, mushy, tender, sticky, gooey-“ She was cut off by Scootaloo. “Gotta dash!”
Scootaloo ran away from Rainbow Dash, and into the Everfree Forest.
“I was going to say marshmallows. They are amazing.” Rainbow Dash flew up to the sky.
While Scootaloo was running towards Zecora’s house, she was interrupted by Twist.
“Oh, hi, Scootaloo! I was just hanging out with Dinky Hooves. Wanna play with us?” Twist requested.
Scootaloo hesitated, but nodded her head, and followed Twist to where Dinky Hooves was sitting. They began to play “Tag”.
“So, um, why were you in the middle of the Everfree Forest, Twist?” Scootaloo asked. Twist excitedly responded, “Oh, we were just talking to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle at Zecora’s house.”
Scootaloo stopped for a minute. “Wait a minute, time out! Did you just say that Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were at Zecora’s?” Scootaloo asked. “I need to go. I have some, um, business to take care of.” Twist was confused, but then went back to normal, and responded, “Oh. You’re going to meet up with them for soda on the top of a zip line while crossing it holding a baby kangaroo that tries to punch you in the face, and you have to repeatedly dodge it?” Scootaloo stared blankly. “It seems like the sort of thing you guys would do.”
Twist had continued playing Tag with Dinky Hooves, while Scootaloo proceeded with the mission to talk to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle about what was going on.
When she arrived, Zecora said, “Oh, more company. Would you like a cup of tea, Scootaloo?” Scootaloo rejected her offer by holding her hoof up towards her, signaling to wait a second.
“Where were you?” Scootaloo asked, angry as ever.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle didn’t know what was going on. “What do you mean?” Sweetie Belle asked. A massive amount of fury entered Scootaloo when she asked that question.
“What do you mean? WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? You told me you would meet me at the schoolhouse, and here you are, at Zecora’s house, for tea!”
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were scared. “Um, we’re sorry. Our big sisters had to take us home.” Scootaloo’s anger was still present.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I had to waste 8 bits on 4 ice cream cones that I ate all myself.”
Applebloom was confused. In fact, her face represented utter bafflement. “So you spent money on ice cream that you were going to eat yourself anyway. I don’t see how we did anything wrong.”
Scootaloo was traumatized, she stared at them blankly, with a blank expression, blank eyes, and a blank position. When Applebloom and Sweetie Belle moved, she was looking at the wall behind them.
“Are you okay, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.
All of a sudden, Scootaloo snapped back into reality, and bellowed, “NO, I AM NOT ALRIGHT! YOU DITCHED ME! I was going to give the ice creams to you, but since you were gone, I ate them myself. And they were good. Bet you wish you had some now, huh?” Now, it was Sweetie Belle who was staring blankly. She fell back onto the floor.
“I’m not helping you up.” Applebloom sternly looked at Scootaloo, and said, “You know, if this is how you want to treat your friends, maybe you should learn a little something about friendship. Come on, Sweetie Belle!” Sweetie Belle just grumbled, and Applebloom pulled her away.
Scootaloo bursted through the door, with newfound sadness. “Maybe I should’ve acted nicer towards them. I feel so sorry for hollering at them.” She looked towards the sky, and saw that the sun was setting. “Wow, it’s been a long time since school ended. I better get home and do my homework, but I should probably apologize first.”
She turned around, but bumped into Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon, who were awkwardly standing behind her the entire time.
Scootaloo, of course, looked threatened, and said, “What do you want?” in an angry tone.
Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon just smirked. After 5 seconds, Diamond Tiara broke the silence, and answered back, “Well, we just want you to know that your friends will probably never accept your apology. After the damage you’ve inflicted upon them, they’ll never want you back. Even if your flank will forever be blank!” Silverspoon laughed, and said, “Good one!”
Scootaloo, being as brave as she was, put her hoof down, and told Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon, “I can at least try. Even if they don’t accept my apology, I’ll try to make it up to them as much as possible.”
Immediately after, Scootaloo stopped. She had just realized the time bomb she had just set off. Diamond Tiara is not a pony to get physical, but when threatened, like Scootaloo just did to her, she can be as agile as a cheetah, and can pounce at any time. Scootaloo immediately ran away from the duo, but Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon followed. The two selfish ponies mounted every obstacle Scootaloo threw at them, such as barrels from the tar supply, cupcakes from Pinkie Pie, and paint from a sculpture a stallion was making.
Eventually, Scootaloo backed her way into a corner. Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon were right there, in front of her. It was game over for the pegasus who could never get off the ground, the one who stood up to Diamond Tiara, and the one who had looked up to Rainbow Dash.
But, all of a sudden, something crept into the orange pony’s mind. Looking up to Rainbow Dash. She looked down at her watch, and saw that it was just about time that Rainbow Dash would be flying directly overhead. When Scootaloo looked up, there she was, practicing her routines, and looking as awesome as ever.
Scootaloo shrieked, as loudly as possible, “Rainbow Dash!!! RAINBOW DASH!!!!” This, of course, brought Rainbow’s attention to directly below her, where she saw three ponies in an alleyway, with one cornered up, and the other two closing in on her.
She flew down, and saved Scootaloo from possible death. Scootaloo knew she was probably taking their petty insults in too much, but the look on Diamond Tiara’s face was so sadistic, and harmful. Her mind drifted back to reality again, and she said to her savior, Rainbow Dash, “Wow! You were so awesome saving me out there! I wish I could be as stunning and amazing at flying as you.”
Dash just nodded her head, and responded, “Any time, kid! But we should talk when we get to the ground. It’s pretty rough up here! The two of them remained quiet until they landed safely on the ground.
“Now, Scootaloo. What were you doing at the dead end of an alleyway?”
Scootaloo knew she had to get out of this one, too. “I was, um, picking up some, um…” She looked around to see an object she could use for her to buy the excuse. She spotted Pinkie Pie giving a cupcake to Twilight. She continued, “cupcakes, from Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to buy this excuse. “Boy, I’ve never seen you eat so many cupcakes. And I thought you and Diamond Tiara were enemies. Rivals. Anti-friends. Opposites. Po-“ Scootaloo immediately stopped her, because she thought it would drag on forever.
“I get it. So, do you believe me?”
Rainbow Dash looked guilty, because she didn’t want to disappoint Scootaloo, nor did she want to let her off so easy. She went with the more reasonable choice. “Sorry, Scootaloo. I don’t. Now, tell me what actually happened.”
Scootaloo knew she wouldn’t have bought the lie, so she thought of another excuse while Rainbow Dash was speaking to her. “I asked passerby Diamond Tiara for soda, while I was on a tightrope, practicing to get my cutie mark, when, all of a sudden, she unleashes a baby kangaroo that tried to punch me in the face, and I, understandably, run away from it. Diamond Tiara met up with Silverspoon, and followed the kangaroo, trying to make sure it wouldn’t get lost. When I was stuck in the alleyway, and the kangaroo was right in front of me, and Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon were directly behind it, the infant pounced on top of me, and hopped to the top of the building. Since Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon are earth ponies, they can’t fly, so they asked me to carry them up. I can’t even fly alone, so I politely responded, ‘I can’t’. That ticked them off, and, well, you know how it went from there.” Scootaloo was gasping for as much air as she could inhale, while Rainbow Dash stared blankly. Scootaloo was so out of breath that it took her a half-hour to rejuvenate.
“Oh, that explains the loose kangaroo that’s been jumping all around Ponyville. I believe you.”
Scootaloo looked up to her, with an abundant amount of glee, and interrogated, “Really?”
“No” Dash responded. “Tell me the real story, and you better tell me the truth for real this time.”
A frown came upon Scootaloo’s face, as she explained the entire story of what had happened to her to Rainbow Dash.
“Wow,” Rainbow Dash spoke. “That is intense. But hey, you gotta shrug it off, march down to your friends, and apologize to them, with your head held high.”
“Thanks for the advice, Rainbow Dash. You always know what to do.” Scootaloo jumped up, and hugged Rainbow Dash.
“Um, I wouldn’t say I always know what to do. I’m not perfect.” Rainbow Dash responded, in a gentle tone.
“You are to me.” They continued hugging for about 5 seconds, when Rainbow Dash let go.
“Listen, maybe you should go apologize to them right now. Do you know where they are?”
Scootaloo thought for a moment, and ran off in the direction of their clubhouse. “Hey, where you going?” Rainbow immediately dashed off in the direction of Scootaloo, and they arrived at the clubhouse, and were greeted to Diamond Tiara.
“Hey, what are you doing here? This is OUR clubhouse.” Scootaloo grumpily asked.
Diamond Tiara chuckled, and responded, “Why shouldn’t I be here? I understand your problem with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, and I just wanna offer some advice for you.”
Scootaloo shook her head, and said, “All your advice will just be stuff that gets me into more trouble than I’m already in.”
“Just hear me out, ‘kay? You should make it up to them by doing everything in your abilities to befriend them again. There’s a very strong possibility that they won’t accept your apology, and there are many reasons as to why they shouldn’t.”
Scootaloo looked back at Rainbow Dash for advice. Dash said, “Hey, that actually sounds like something that would get them back on your side. I think you should do that.”
Scootaloo nodded, and ran up the stairs to the clubhouse. Rainbow Dash flew away, and Diamond Tiara followed her.
Scootaloo knocked on the door, with high hopes that Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were inside. Sweetie Belle opened the door, while she was sobbing, to see a gleeful Scootaloo. She slammed the door, almost immediately after she opened it. Scootaloo knocked again, and this time, Applebloom answered. She didn’t slam the door right away, like Sweetie Belle did, but she said, “Oh, so you just come crawling back to us? I think we’ll do better without you dragging us down. We’ll probably get our cutie marks 10 times quicker than you. In fact, you don’t even deserve a mark on your flank.”
The passionate expression on Scootaloo’s face immediately faded. “Look, I just came to apologize to you for all of that weird stuff that went on earlier. And maybe I could give you a hoof rub to make up for it.”
Applebloom shook her head, and followed, “It’ll take more than an apology and a simple hoof rub to make up for the emotional stress Sweetie Belle and I are going through. I think we should just go our separate ways, for a while.” She slammed the door in her face, and comforted Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo muttered, under her breath, “Such low-life, backstabbing ponies.” Louder, she exclaimed, “I don’t need them. Maybe I should just hang out with Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon instea-.”
She turned around, to see there was no Diamond Tiara or Rainbow Dash. “Okay, maybe Babs will forgive me.”
She marched down to the hospital and along the way, she noticed that there were no ponies outside of their houses.
Scootaloo thought to herself, “Maybe everypony in town is trying to avoid me.” She shook her head, and said out loud, “No, Scootaloo. You’re driving yourself crazy.”
When she arrived at the hospital, she came up to the front desk, and saw nopony at the counter. “Okay, now this is getting strange. Better tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle that everypony in town has gone missing.”
When she walked to the clubhouse, she knocked on the door. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle expected it to be Scootaloo, so they didn’t answer.
“Don’t tell me you guys are missing too!” Scootaloo yelled. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were frustrated with Scootaloo, so they decided to play a prank on her, by not answering, and having Scootaloo believe everypony had abandoned her.
“What if she opens the door?” Sweetie Belle whispered. “I know she’s not the brightest pony, but I’m pretty sure she has the common sense to open a door.”
Right after she said that, Scootaloo opened the door to the clubhouse, to see that Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were sitting on the floor.
“Guys! Everypony in town is missing, and it’s all my fault!” Scootaloo exclaimed. She sat down on the floor, and started weeping.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle shrugged, but then realized Pinkie Pie was throwing an out-of-town party for Babs’ magically quick recovery. The doctor said it was the quickest recovery he had ever done, as the damage was very minor, for hospital standards. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle whispered in private.
“Should we tell her about the party?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Applebloom responded, with an evil look on her face, “No. Let’s prank her, and have her hysteria continue.”
Sweetie Belle was reluctant to follow, and said, “But don’t you think Scootaloo will get mad?”
Applebloom responded, “I don’t care if she gets mad or not, she deserves it for treating us like dirt.”
They spoke louder. “Okay, Scootaloo, let’s see if you’re telling the truth about there being nopony in town.”
The three ponies walked around town to see that there was nopony around anywhere.
“Oh no! You were right! What if there was an apocalypse?” Applebloom worried, in a robotic voice, as if she was lying, or pretending to believe what Scootaloo was telling them.
Scootaloo was unable to recognize her sarcasm, and said, “I don’t think it would’ve been THAT severe.”
She shifted her eyes to the left, and saw a purple unicorn walking out of the Cake shop, and a multicolored pegasus following after her. It was Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, and boy, was Scootaloo excited to see that there were other survivors of the tremendous disaster that had occurred in Ponyville. Scootaloo’s enthusiasm was overwhelming, and she fell over on the steep sidewalk she was standing on. Twilight, of course, noticed this, and ran to see if Scootaloo was okay, with Rainbow Dash on the edge of her seat, directly following her. She looked up at Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, who were whistling and quietly walking away.
Twilight picked one hoof up, and stomped it down to the ground. “Sweetie Belle! Applebloom! Come. Here. Now!” she said with a stern expression, and a serious tone of voice.
The two ponies exhaled, and turned around, to see that princess, staring at them, as if they had just committed the worst crime imaginable.
“What did you do to Scootaloo?” Twilight asked.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom told Twilight and Rainbow about what they were planning to do with Scootaloo, and that their lies had caused her to be overly excited when they saw the two ponies.
Immediately after, Scootaloo picked herself up from the ground, and, defeated, said, “So, even after I apologized, and tried everything I could so you can forgive me, you still disliked me, and wanted nothing to do with me? I’m really sorry! Can’t you just forgive me?” She planted her face into the cement below her, and started weeping quietly.
Applebloom looked up to Rainbow Dash and Twilight, and then stared at Scootaloo. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had just learned very important morals.
“Ahem. May I say something about what I just learned?” Applebloom asked, solemnly.
Rainbow Dash nodded, and Scootaloo lifted her head from the ground, with tears continuing to pour down her eyes, rapidly, yet silently.
Applebloom stood on top of a box, and said, “I learned that if someone has damaged you, physically or emotionally, that revenge is never the answer.”
Sweetie Belle entered the conversation. “If they constantly try to do everything in their abilities to make it up to them, they have learned their lesson, and you should forgive them.”
Applebloom interrupted, “Even if you choose not to forgive them, you shouldn’t swear revenge on them.”
Scootaloo stopped crying, and asked quietly, “So, are we still friends?”
A smile entered Applebloom’s face, and she said, “You betcha. And we’re sorry.”
A large crowd of ponies started crowding into Ponyville. Babs Seed walked up to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Hey, not only have I recovered, but apparently, my school did, too. So, unfortunately, I have to leave. I’m going to miss you. Goodbye!”
Scootaloo walked up to her, and said, “Look, I’m sorry about that incident earlier, and I also apologize for being unable to make your recovery party. Do you forgive me?”
Babs Seed thought to herself for a second, and responded, “Yeah. I forgive you. It is a pretty rough feeling being excluded. It can make you go insane, am I right?”
Rainbow Dash and Twilight nodded their heads. Babs Seed waved her hoof left to right, and out came the word, “Bye!”
