If there was anything positive about Scootaloo’s current situation, it was easy to miss. Aside from the fact that she knew she was no longer in the middle of the Nowhere Desert and instead found herself in the Park of Next-to-Nothing, she had no idea where she was relative to Ponyville. For all she knew, she could be on a planet whose main inhabitants are a completely different species, though the odds of that seemed slim.

Still, the thought interested her. What if she was on an alien planet? What might the species look like? How might they speak? Would they have similar culture to Ponyvillians? How advanced might their technology be? All of these questions and more popped into her head, but she decided to ignore the thought for now. At the moment, she desperately needed water. The sandpaper in her mouth (she had decided it wasn’t even worthy of being called a tongue anymore) felt like it was getting rougher by the minute. Also, another thing: why did she put this sandpaper in her mouth in the first place?

With the energy she had left, she looked around in front of her to see if there were any possible sources of water. She checked for trees, puddles, even for grass more luscious than the grass around it. No luck. She hung her head low in disappointment.

Man, I wish there was some easy to get water nearby…

As she lifted her head up, she immediately saw a reservoir of crystal clear water. She looked around herself to find that she was suddenly on a small island surrounded by miles of water. She looked down at the water. It was so clear, she could see her reflection in it! She could see down for several meters in the water! At the bottom of the water, she could see a solid concrete flooring to hold the water in.

Immediately, she dunked her face as deep into the water as ponily possible and began sucking it up like mad. She felt the hydration flowing throughout her body rapidly, cooler her down to a normal temperature. The cool water flowed down her throat, which she relished. She could feel her skin expanding to fit all the water she was drinking, but she didn’t care. Her skin could stretch on for miles as long as she could continue drinking this spectacular water. It tasted divine, unlike any water she’d ever had before. A hint of sweetness danced lightly across her sandpaper, dissolving it back into the sand and the paper. It was so fresh, she might as well have eaten an entire pack of breath mints, even though that would be stupid and could be a choking hazard.

She continued drinking for almost a minute straight. Her lungs were burning from the lack of air, and she finally pulled her head up from the water. She flopped onto her back, her stomach sagging to the sides slightly, and gasped heavily for air. As her face returned to its normal coloring, she felt the water in her belly waving gently back and forth. She knew that she had to have gained several pounds of body weight from that water alone, but she didn’t care. At least she had water.

As she lay there, she began to think about the questions she had asked herself earlier. As she thought more and more, a definitive shape came up.

They might be… bipedal creatures, with no fur! Yeah, and maybe they don’t even have horns or wings! They would only have hair on the tops of their heads, and maybe some patches of hair under their arms or on their faces, but otherwise none. They might be super tall, with tan skin!

Suddenly, a shadow crept over her. “Hey, what’s the big idea?” Scootaloo asked. She looked up at the violator, only to see the exact creature she had imagined standing right in front of her.

“Wha- but… How?”

“You can talk?!” the creature asked in a voice that was certainly male. There was a look of utter shock on its face. At least, that’s how Scootaloo interpreted it.

“You can talk?!” Scootaloo replied. Her jaw practically fell off, but at least it would have landed softly on her soft, expansive tummy.

The two simply stared at each other for a long time. The situation quickly got awkward, both Scootaloo and the creature smiling sheepishly. Finally, the creature broke the silence.

“What are you?” the creature asked Scootaloo.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I’m a pony, obviously. Here’s the real question: What are you?”

“I’m a human…” the creature told her. “Do you have a name?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. That’s an odd name. Then again, you are a talking horse, so who am I to judge? Well, hey Yeah! I’m Jordan!” Jordan reached out his hoof to meet Scootaloo’s.

Wait… That’s not a hoof… That’s a claw or something! Wait! My name isn’t ‘Yeah’!

“Wait, my name’s not Yeah! My name is Scootaloo!” Jordan blushed at the statement.

“Whoops. My bad!” He put his… something… out toward Scootaloo. Hesitantly, Scootaloo reached her hoof out and put it close to the claw thingy. Jordan wrapped his… whatevers… around Scootaloo’s hoof and began to shake it gently. He smiled warmly at Scootaloo.

“You know, you’re kind of cute,” Jordan commented. Scootaloo blushed at the statement, frowning.

“I am not cute!” she exclaimed, crossing her hooves and pouting.

Jordan simply continued smiling at her. After a minute or so of silence, Jordan quickly scooped her up in two of his limbs and started hugging her. Immediately, Scootaloo started struggling to escape his grasp, but after a moment, she realized her attempts were in vain. She simply sat there, held in his arms, and relaxed.

After a while, she realized it was actually really nice. She rested her head on Jordan’s chest for a bit and heard the light pattering of his heart. She found the sound of Jordan’s heartbeat oddly comforting. Suddenly, an earthquake sounded from her belly.

“Oh, you must be hungry, huh?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo answered, opening her mouth wide for a yawn.

“Well, what do you want to eat?”

“Hmm…” Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin, looking up into the sky as she thought. Suddenly, it came to her. “I want chocolate cake from Sugarcube Corner!”

“Well, that would be your first meal in here, so why not?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Um… Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Carrying Scootaloo, Jordan walked between a pair of palm trees on the island, and the two of them were suddenly in Ponyville.

“Wait, what?” Scootaloo asked, her face scrunching up in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Jordan asked, stopping.

“Um… Nothing. You don’t worry about it.” I must be more tired than I thought. My mind is playing tricks on me.

Jordan put one arm forward and pushed the door open, causing a bell to ring. Jordan sat down and set Scootaloo on his lap. Immediately, Scootaloo leapt down from his lap and sat down on the chair next to him. The two of them chatted for a bit while they waited for Pinkie Pie to come and take their orders. Jordan clarified to Scootaloo that he had these things called ‘hands’ where his forehooves should be, and ‘feet’ instead of his back hooves.

“Hey, Scootaloo! Hi, Jordan!” Pinkie Pie suddenly dropped her pad of paper and jumped up into the air. “Oh my gosh, it’s a new pony in town, and you know that means I have to throw you a party, which means I’m going to have to rent out a place somewhere and plan out the games and make a whole bunch of invitations and maybe see if I can get Cheese Sandwich to come over and help me out, although I think he’s busy with a party in Steve this week, and that might be a problem, but I really haven’t seen him in such a long time. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I haven’t seen him in such a long time, I mean it’s been almost a year since I’ve seen him, and I always wanted to tell him that I kind of like him and want to go out with him and get married and have two kids named Xavier and Amanda-”

“We’ll just have two slices of chocolate cake,” Jordan interrupted.

“It’s too bad we can’t do any crusading today,” Sweetie Belle sighed.

“Yeah, but it just wouldn’t feel right without Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom replied. Sweetie Belle nodded. They walked in silence for a short moment, until Sweetie Belle spoke.

“Do you think she’s alright?”

“Ah sure hope so.”

“Yeah. I don’t want the Cutie Mark Crusaders to end up getting disbanded.”

“Ah swear, you really are a dictionary, Sweetie Belle. Or maybe yer a robot or something.”

“Beep boop, you can call me ‘Sweetie Bot 5000,’ mortal being,” Sweetie Belle said in a monotone voice, moving her hooves at right angles. Apple Bloom laughed at her friend, and Sweetie Belle quickly joined. The laughs felt empty to both of them. It really wasn’t the same without Scootaloo, and they both knew it. Apple Bloom sighed.

“It really isn’t the same without her.”

“Yeah. Oh! I know! Why don’t we visit her in the hospital?” Sweetie Belle suggested, her face suddenly lit up with joy.

“Yeah! That’s a great idea!”

“And maybe we can get our cutie marks in being nurses!”

“Yeah!”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Nurses, yay!”

“And now for the final touch… there!” Poetic finished, pulling her hoof away from Rainbow’s mane.

“Oh, good, you’re finally done! Tell me it’s not embarrassing…”

Poetic handed Rainbow a mirror, and Rainbow screamed in horror.

“NOOO!” She shouted at the top of her lungs in hopes that she would get somepony’s attention and find a way to escape Poetic’s stupid slumber party.

“Oh, please, Rainbow Dash, it’s not that bad. Honestly, you look simply smashing with your mane like that,” Rarity tried to comfort her friend.

“I just don’t want to be here,” Rainbow complained.

“Rainbow! Don’t be so rude to Poetic! Honestly, she just wants to become friends with you!” Twilight scolded Rainbow.

“I know that! But I don’t want to become friends with her!” Rainbow shouted. Immediately, she realized what she had just said. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean it that way!”

Tears started falling from Poetic’s eyes. “R-really?” she asked, sniffling. “Y-you don’t like me?”

“N-no, I didn’t mean it that way at all! P-please, stop crying, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings! What I meant to say was that you’re a bit annoying… Oh, that sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? Uh, no, I mean – it’s just that – I don’t really – I don’t think – we’re not really-”

Twilight put up a hoof, signaling Rainbow Dash to stop.

Poetic opened her eyes, now filled with rage. “GET OUT! ALL OF YOU, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

Immediately, six ponies came flying out of the second story window of Poetic Nurturer’s new house.

“Well, that certainly could have gone better,” Rarity said, gently rubbing her head with a hoof.

“Rainbow Dash, that was awful! How could you be so rude to that pony! You should be ashamed of yourself!” Twilight yelled. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack awkwardly walked off toward the marketplace, trying desperately to escape the situation.

“Please, Twilight, can you just…” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Leave me alone for a little while. I need some time to myself so that I can think.”

Twilight took in a deep breath and relaxed. “Alright, Rainbow," she started in a much softer demeanor. "This doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you though, and I still expect you to explain yourself to all of us later. I trust that you have your reasons.”

In her house, Poetic was still furious at all six of the ponies she had just literally kicked out the window. “If I can’t be her friend, why should anypony else? How does she even have friends in the first place? She’s so rude, why should she?”

She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a few short seconds. “No, I can’t let this get to me. I just have to forget about it and move on. Getting revenge won’t help anypony. It’ll only serve to make things worse for all of us.”

Author's Note

Exactly 2000 words. Shortest chapter so far. I'm trying to have chapters no shorter than 2000 words. 2000 words is kind of a sweet spot for readers like me. Not too short, not to long, but just the right length.

Edit: I just finished editing this chapter. It's not exactly 2K words anymore. Oh well. I'd rather have a slightly longer chapter than a slightly shorter one.