"Hey, Apple Bloom! Hey, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo called out, as she and her scooter landed in front of the two fillies' faces. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Nothing much," Apple Bloom groaned. Her eyes lightened up at once. "Howdy, Scootaloo! Ah've been waitin' for ya!"
"For what?" Sweetie Belle asked, as she dropped the piece of sticky paper dipped in glue from her mouth.
The fillies around the classroom suddenly bent their head forward, interested in what Scootaloo was to say next.
Scootaloo just chuckled and said, delibrately out loud, "You know, stuff." She winked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and they winked back.
As to change the subject, Apple Bloom asked, "How's things going, Scoots?"
"Uh...try boring," Scootaloo groaned. "All I ever do is school, school, school. I need time for flying - or at least, TRYING to fly."
"Don't worry, Scootaloo! I'm sure you'll be able to fly sometime!" Sweetie Belle encouraged.
"I sure hope so," Scootaloo said, as she took her seat by her friends.
"Alright, my little fillies and colts!" The voice came from a magenta pony, with a curly mane. Her cutie mark was three smiling daisies.
"Cheerilee!" Some of the school fillies cried out. They began pulling out their art projects. "Look what I did!"
"Oh my, that's wonderful, Diamond Tiara!" Cheerilee said, as she examined the snooty filly's picture. She gasped, as soon as she lay eyes on Apple Bloom's picture. "Apple Bloom! That's incredible! I'm very very sure your cutie mark has something to do with your creativity!"
Apple Bloom beamed at her teacher, as she handed in her art project.
"Now, you may all go --" Cheerilee announced. She was interrupted by a whole series of shouts, cries and screams.
"Yeah! Awesome! Woohoo! Yay!"
Her students left the classroom at once, leaving their pencils and books spread out all over the table.
At recess, every filly and colt was gathered around a large oak tree, that marked the start of a new pavement. Scootaloo was there, chatting and laughing as if she did not know that she was about to cheat death, what she was doing next. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, concerned for their friend, felt mighty uneasy about this.
"This is sure to get me my cutie mark!" Scootaloo cried out, as she steadied her scooter.
"Are you sure? Seems dangerous to me!" Sweetie Belle protested.
"Yeah, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom joined in. "Ah think yer goin' crazy! It might kill ya!"
Scootaloo pulled a face and said, "Come on, guys! It's gonna be awesome!"
She put on her helmet, and place a leg on the tree. "On the count of three!"
"One," Sweetie Belle slowly counted. "Two. Three."
"GO!!!" Scootaloo shouted. She pushed off the tree, and flapped her wings, for extra boost. "I can do this! I just need to focus!"
At top speed, she drove over the pavement, so fast the wind caused the leaves to fall.
"Look, Apple Bloom! She's doing it!" Sweetie Belle cried out. Apple Bloom, who had shut her eyes, not daring to look, opened them at once, and cried out, "Yer right!"
Scootaloo grinned, and pushed harder, flapping harder than ever before. As she reached the ramp, however, one of her scooter wheels slipped on a leaf! Scootaloo was propelled forward, and she was sent flying a mile in the air.
Her scooter bashed into a poor pony's window, and a piercing scream was heard.
"Ugh.." Scootaloo groaned and rubbed her head. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom gasped, covering their mouths with their hooves.
"Are you okay?" Sweetie Belle asked, her voice cracks banging on each syllable like a drum. In her eyes, were a tremble of fear.
"Yeah..I'm fine..." Scootaloo replied. "My scooter!" She looked around, and gasped.
Cheerilee rushed to the pony who was injured. It was not a severe injure, only a cut. But still - as it might be infected, the pony was taken to the hospital.
"Scootaloo!" Cheerilee cried out, in horror.
Scootaloo chickened behind Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom glared at Scootaloo, and stepped away.
The orange pegasus filly chuckled nervously, and said, "Oops?"
"Meet me in the principal office," her teacher said, her stern glare fixed upon the little filly.
Scootaloo shot a look at her friends, who were still angry with her. Of course, they didn't feel like talking to her, after what she had done. Sweetie Belle shrugged, and walked away.
Scootaloo had no choice, but to obey, silently.
"Coming, Cheerilee," she groaned, as she trotted slowly, head low, after her teacher.
"Hello, Scootaloo," the principal greeted. His face was always stern, and he never smiled in twenty years. His coat was a dirty grey, and his mane was blackish grey with old age. He wore a pair of neat spectacles on his nose, and he had a moustache upon his upper lip, which gave him a rather Gentlemanly sort of look. His cutie mark was a bunch of hay, with a moustache and glasses on it.
Cheerilee waved a hoof and said, "Hi, Scootaloo! Mr. Hayden is here."
"Uh...hi?" Scootaloo said. She laughed nervously.
The principal stared at Scootaloo, as she backed away, nervously. She didn't like his stare one bit.
"I'm sorry, Scootaloo," the principal said. "But it seems your daredevil attitude is due to your orphanship - your lack of parents. Therefore, Cheerilee and I must do what's right for you - and we brought you an adopted mother."
A grey pegasus pony bust into the office at once. "Sorry I'm late!"
"D-Derpy?!" Scootaloo asked, hardly believing her eyes.
"You may go now," the principal spoke again. "Just remember you are under the care of our dear Ditzy Doo --"
"Ditzy Doo? That's not how you spell Derpy!" Derpy cried out, bouncing up and down.
Scootaloo stared on, jaw dropped low.
"Be warned, ma'am," the principal said. "And you're lucky we did not confiscate your scooter."
Derpy Hooves grabbed Scootaloo by the hoof and shouted, "Go, Scootaloo! Woohooooo!"
Scootaloo bit her lip, as she went outside with her new adoptive mother, hoping and praying that nopony was there to make fun of her.
"Yeah, this is gonna be great!" Derpy exclaimed. "I've always wanted a little muffin filly!"
"Uh...I thought you already had one?" Scootaloo asked, rolling her eyes.
"You mean Dinky?" Derpy asked. She laughed out loud. "Despite popular belief - she's NOT my own little filly. We're just friends! Even though she's younger than I am."
"Why are people always complaining about your voice?" Scootaloo asked, her naturally curious personality getting the better of her. "I mean - I prefer it cooler, than uh...cute."
"Oh, I'm sick of that, too!" Derpy cried out, kicking away an empty bottle - that was once filled to the brim with cider from Sweet Apple Acres, almost to express her frustration. "People don't seem to know much about me. Well, stupid fandom."
She led Scootaloo to her home. It was a small cottage well-hidden between two trees in the midst of the woods, and there was almost a dreamy feeling towards it, the fragrant roses, delicate lilies, and forget-me-nots adding to its beauty and peace. The birds were chirping and singing their cheerful songs, and the deer and rabbits were bouncing around.
"Here we are!" Derpy shouted. She twisted her door-knob, and it swung open wide. She beckoned the filly to enter.
Scootaloo looked up, and scratched her head with a hoof. "Uh..Derpy? Why is your home down here, and not in the clouds?"
Derpy Hooves shrugged, "No idea!"
"You're as random as Pinkie Pie..." Scootaloo groaned. To think she had to put up with her for the rest of her life!
"This place is a mess!" Scootaloo cried out, as she looked around at all the cushions, empty bottles and boxes, plushies, toys, and other random objects lying on the carpeted floor.
"Oh, this? Auntie Lyra always leaves wrappers, hay, and other sorts of stuff around," Derpy explained. "I don't see why ponies take the bother of doing it too, do you?"
"Lyra's your sister?!" Scootaloo asked, her head blocked up by all the confusion, and craziness of that day.
"No, she's my friend!" Derpy laughed. "You're crazy."
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. To herself, she whispered, "She said I was crazy? The irony."
"You'll be sleeping here," Derpy said, pointing a hoof at a small bedroom to the right of the kitchen.
Scootaloo hardly dared to look inside it. And when she did, she gasped. It was the ugliest room she had seen so far! No wallpaper, no bed, no table - but muffins, muffins, MUFFINS!!! All there was in there, were piles of muffins, colours varying.
"This is my room?!" she asked, staring around, her veins popping out in her goggled eyes. Not literally, but the adrenaline was pulsing through her veins. Just what will Rainbow Dash do in a situation like this?!
"Of course! You like it?" Derpy asked, as she dusted the room a little with her tail. She accidentally knocked over a small frame on the wall, being the clumsy pegasus she was. "Oops! Uh...hehe, lemme fix that."
"Uh..yeah..it's...great," Scootaloo replied. Like her friends, she hated lying, and avoided it as much as possible. But when it came to hurting another's feelings, she didn't have the heart to lie. Even if she was the *second* toughest and coolest, most awesome pony in Equestria - after Rainbow Dash.
"See? I knew you would like it!" Derpy exclaimed, as she dumped all the muffins in a corner
"Hey, Derpy!" Scootaloo asked, her eyes brightening up with excitement. "Rainbow Dash hasn't got enough time to teach me how to fly! Can you teach me? It's gonna be awesome!"
Derpy looked confused for a minute, before her eyes went back wall-eyed, and she shook her head. "Sorry, kid," she muttered. "I..don't have the time."
Of course not, Scootaloo thought, You're Derpy. You never have the time for anything except muffins, muffins muffins. Scootaloo groaned, "Where do I put my scooter?"
"In the store-room," Derpy answered. "It's like - filled with muffins!" She read the pegasus filly's mind and said, "No, not ALL the rooms are filled with 'em. Two's enough."
"Great..." Scootaloo groaned. She dragged her scooter to the store-room, careful not to damage it against all the unneccessary objects on the ground.
It wasn't long before Derpy gave out a shout, from the kitchen.
"Dinner time!" Derpy cried out. She simply took two muffins out of the pantry, and dumped them on the table.
Scootaloo stared in shock at the muffin placed in front of her. "Muffins for dinner?"
"For breakfast, lunch, tea, supper and snacks!" Derpy replied, as she hungrily bit into a blueberry muffin.
Scootaloo said her grace, and did the same. She almost felt sick when Derpy said that the crumbly cake of goodness was to be her every day meal. In her opinion, hay, apples and whatnot was much better.
Scootaloo didn't say anything but "Thank You" after dinner.
Derpy Hooves was concerned at once, and around late, she approached Scootaloo, a little differently this time - not like the fun-loving clumsy pegasus she usually was. "You okay, Scootaloo?" she asked. She found the filly sitting by the porch. She stared out at the night sky, glancing with wonder and awe at the beautiful constellations - and glittering stars that decorated the beautiful blanket of midnight blue. "Boy, is it just awesome having a little sister?"
"I..uh..kinda miss home," Scootaloo mumbled, not wanting to say anything. She leaned her head against a hoof, and whispered - a little loud for a whisper, "I sorta miss Rainbow Dash, and Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle."
"Don't worry," Derpy told her, as if to console her. "I miss my home too!"
"You do?" Scootaloo asked, turning to Derpy. "But isn't this your home?"
"Oh yeah," Derpy laughed. "I forgot."
Scootaloo's feelings were somewhat hurt, as she turned her head rather obstinately, staring at the sky, and imagining herself doing Rainbooms across it, with Rainbow Dash by her side. She knew it was no good wishing, because her dream will never come true, now Derpy's here.
"It's sorta late, don't ya think?" Derpy asked her.
No answer. Scootaloo didn't feel like answering anyway.
"I'll tell you everything tommorrow," the pegasus mare said. "Night, Scoots!"
Scootaloo mumbled a quick "Goodnight," and settled down in her room, clearing the muffins, and throwing in a mattress, on which she lay for the night. Derpy? Derpy Hooves?! Seriously? How could the principal - and Miss Cheerilee - humilitate her like this?
