Chapters “There you go Firefly, good as new!” I grinned as I finished shining the handle bar of my prized scooter.
She had suffered some minor damage the previous day, having tackled yet another one of Apple Bloom’s famous ‘Apple-Farm-Race-Track-and-Obstacle-Course-Combo’s’ but it was nothing that I couldn’t fix, and in no time at all she was glistening and ready to roll!
Firefly was my pride and joy. She had a snazzy metallic violet deck, with a cool white lightning bolt streaked down the centre. The handle bars were solid steel, and the grip work was impeccable. I had owned a lot of scooters in my life, but Firefly was special. She was a birthday gift from my parents in Cloudsdale, and a symbol of the love and pride they have for their one and only daughter - Ponyville’s number one scooting sensation.
I applied my helmet, which matched perfectly with Fireflys’ design, and then mounted my ride and set off out the second story window - doors are so last season after all. I rode boldly down the jagged old wooden ramp leading from said window, and scooted a little along the dirt track which surrounded my home.
Scooting was my life. So much so, that I had designed my entire house to be scooter-friendly. There were two ramps leading outside, one which descended from my room on the second floor, and another much shorter ramp coming from the window of my work space downstairs. My friends had even helped me to create a dirt track around the exterior of the building.
I paused for a moment upon reaching the ground, and gave my wings a good stretch. My wings had developed magnificently over time, without a feather out place. Some pegasi are not so fortunate; sometimes they grow crooked and you get bits and pieces sticking out everywhere, looking ruffled and tattered. My wings weren’t at all like that, my wings looked fantastic ...it’s just too bad they didn’t work.
My name is Scootaloo. I am the only pegasus in Ponyville who cannot fly.
It’s a disability that has been with me since birth, and the whole reason I came down to Ponyville to begin with. It’s pretty hard for a young flightless Pegasus to live safely in Cloudsdale.
As I sped down the streets on Firefly, I couldn’t help but look up and see all the pegasi with fully functioning wings out on weather duty. I admit; it does kinda suck that I can never be part of that, but I have my own job fixing and repairing scooters, along with other vehicles such as skateboards, bikes, and carts - I even worked on a carriage once.
Despite everything, I've made quite a good life for myself in Ponyville, but I owe a lot of my success to one very special pegasi who is close to my heart. I studied the sky near the town, and finally saw her; Rainbow Dash, the most incredible pony in existence, and my sister. She was darting through the air, kicking those clouds away faster than any other pegasi in the area. No wonder she’s the leader of the entire Ponyville weather team.
Rainbow’s shift was almost over, and after work, she hangs out with me.
“Hey Squirt!” The blue pegasi noticed me almost immediately; Rainbow Dash is always observant. “What took ya?” She joked.
“Rainbow Dash! Have you finished work?” I asked, hopefully.
“Almost done!” Rainbow gave a confident grin, and then flew over toward the final cloud at the speed of light.
It was huge, and a few other pegasi had been working on that cloud for a while now, knocking bits and pieces off here and there, trying to break it down. When Rainbow Dash intervened, they all knew to step aside and let the master do her thing. Rainbow kicked her hooves furiously at the cloud, and in a matter of seconds, it had been destroyed. The other pegasi looked at her in amazement and admiration; as did I.
Rainbow Dash then swooped down to greet me for a second time.
“You got Firefly all fixed up!” She said proudly, admiring my scooter - What did I tell you? Always observant.
“Yeah, it was a snap.” I replied.
“Nice job Squirt!” She patted my helmet; Rainbow Dash had always called me Squirt, ever since I was a filly. I had grown to quite like the nickname, as it made her feel more like my big sister. After all, me and Dash weren’t actually related by blood.
“Looks good!” She praised me, “Ready for a race?”
“Always!” I nodded,
Rainbow Dash spread her sky blue wings, which were even more impressive looking than my own. I gripped Firefly’s handle bars, and readied my hind leg for a vigorous primary kick. Rainbow quickly counted down from three, then shouted “Go!” and we dashed off at lightning speed.
Me and my sister raced through the streets, along the riverside, and across the open fields. Rainbow Dash was much faster than me, but I was getting a little better at catching up to her with ever passing day. When we first started hanging out, it would be a matter of seconds before Rainbow disappeared over the horizon, leaving nothing but her colourful tracks for me to follow. Since then, my speed had improved immensely, and now I could keep Rainbow in sight until we reached the outskirts of Ponyville, but I’d always lose her over the fields. Rainbow Dash never went easy on me; she had big hopes for me after all.
It wasn’t long before the uneven countryside landscape got the better of myself and Firefly, and I struggled to reach the brow of a steep hill before realising that I’d lost my sister. I came to a halt, and took a moment to catch my breath. As expected, after a mere few seconds, a rainbow appeared and was heading right toward me from the distance.
I gave a disappointed smile, realising that I’d once again lost the game, but Rainbow Dash landed beside me, looking surprisingly proud.
“That was pretty good! It must have been pretty difficult scooting up that hill. I’m impressed Squirt.” She then gave me a hug, with both her hooves and her wings.
I love Rainbow Dash’s hugs. She always tries not to get too mushy, but her affection shines through whenever she’s holding onto me. It's almost as though she can't help but squeeze me tightly, like I'm the most precious thing in the world to her. It makes me realise just how lucky I am to have Rainbow Dash as a sister - I couldn't imagine life without her.
I hope with all my heart, that nothing, and nopony, will ever take Rainbow Dash away from me.
My name is Scootaloo. I am the only Pegasus in Ponyville who cannot fly …and I couldn’t be happier.
Me and Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the afternoon together. We raced over the fields until we were both completely worn out, and then we grabbed a couple of milkshakes from Sugar Cube Corner. Rainbow pulled down a far off cloud, and placed it just above the ground, for us to lounge upon until dark. Then, she walked me home and gave me another hug, followed by a pegasi high-five (we use our wings.) I then removed my helmet, and we said our goodbyes.
“Well Squirt, it’s been a long day, you should probably get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow after Wonderbolt training okay?”
Oh yeah, did I mention? My sister is training to be a Wonderbolt – how cool is that?
“Aw Rainbow, but you’ve got Weather Duty all morning as well… won’t you be tired?” I asked,
“Never too tired to hang out with you, Squirt.” Rainbow Dash ruffled my spiked purple mane.
I smiled as I watched her fly off across the dark sky; the rainbow trail she left behind looked so beautiful at night.
I had a few scooters to fix up the following day; Scooting had become rather a fad in Ponyville, all thanks to yours truly. My job doesn’t have fixed hours; as long as I get the work done, and the vehicles are returned to their owners on time, I can work whenever I like. Nevertheless, I decided to get up relatively early the next day to start on them. That way, even if I fell behind for some reason, I'd still have the entire evening free for Rainbow Dash - a good worker always leaves time for unexpected delays.
You can imagine my surprise, when I was woken by Rainbow knocking loudly upon my door the following morning; it was even earlier than I’d planned to get up myself. When I opened that door, my sister was hovering outside with a letter grasped tightly in her hooves. It looked like an unravelled scroll.
“Hey squirt? You heard the news?” She seemed incredibly excited about something.
“What news?” I yawned, rubbing my eyes.
“All pegasi are being summed to the Town Square, right now!” She pointed and flapped her wings,
“But what about the weather…” I started to say, but Rainbow interrupted,
“It’s regarding a request from Princess Celestia herself! Something about a 'Special Secret Task'! Come on, it sounds awesome! And I’ll bet there will be a chance for you and Firefly to show off your stuff!”
I leapt eagerly at that thought, and grabbed my prized scooter. The two of us headed down to the Town Square; we were the first to arrive, which my sister was pretty proud about. Soon after us came Raindrops and the twins; Cloudchaser and Flitter, and soon pegasi were arriving from all directions.
The Ponyville Mayor was standing on her wooden platform as expected; this is where she gave all of her speeches. There were two of Canterlot's pegasi soldiers either side of her, looking noble in their impressive golden armour. The Mayor pulled out a scroll, and recited it's message;
“By order of Princess Celestia, the pegasi of Ponyville have been summoned to Canterlot on special business. The Princess requires you all to attend a meeting this very evening regarding the task at hand. You will fly tonight, escorted by Celestia's pegasi guards, and stay in Canterlot until morning. I will now call out the names of all participants, to ensure that you are all present for this announcement. Please raise your hoof and fly toward the sky once your name is called.
That’s when it hit me; if it wasn’t for Rainbow Dash, I wouldn’t even be aware of this meeting. These other pegasi had all received letters this morning, telling them to assemble in the Town Square - but I hadn’t. It would be pretty embarrassing if all the other pegasi flew upwards, and I was the only one left on the ground.
I rapidly lost all hope for me and Firefly. I guess her name is a little ironic, as were my incredible looking -yet incredibly useless- wings. Rainbow Dash didn’t so much as glance at me during the roll call; she was grinning wide eyed at the cool pegasi soldiers. I wasn’t offended; she probably hadn’t figured it out yet.
The mayor began to read out the names of the Ponyville pegasi, and they ascended one by one toward the sky.
“Acrobat”
“Aerial Acer”
“Asteroid”
“Angel Wings”
“Blossomfourth”
“Breeze Caster”
“Bulk Bicepts”
"Chaos wind"
“Cloudchaser”
“Cloudkicker”
“Dark Skies”
"Daydreamer"
"Drizzle"
Having my name begin with a letter so late in the alphabet made the anticipation all that more excruciating. I started to wonder if maybe Celestia had arranged something special for me. She was the Princess of Equestria after all, and she knew about my inability; could it be that she had actually found a way for me to travel with them? Perhaps she had arranged a chariot, or maybe was going to use her alicorn magic to cast a spell on me, allowing me to fly for a while, or forever… that would be incredible!
The mayor read past the D’s, E’s, and F’s, and finally reached 'Rainbow Dash'. At the sound of her own name, my sister looked more excited than ever. She turned and winked at me, as though expecting my name to be called shortly afterwards. The mayor soon reached the S’s and Rainbow’s face beamed with anticipation, which turned to instant disappointment when the mayor finished the S's without including my name.
Rainbow’s face dropped. We looked at one another, but nothing needed to be said – Rainbow understood perfectly. This didn’t mean that she was going to take the news well, however. When the mayor moved on to the T's, my sister spoke out.
“Wait a sec! Haven’t you missed somepony?” Rainbow flew up higher than the other pegasi, drawing every ponies attention to herself.
I anxiously waved my hooves trying to signal for her to come down, I knew she had good intentions but… oh Rainbow.
“Miss Rainbow Dash?” The mayor looked up in confusion.
“My sister, Scootaloo! She’s a Pegasus too ya know?” Rainbow shouted,
“Oh… well…” The mayor rechecked the list, “She doesn’t seem to be included. I’m sorry dear.” She looked sadly toward me, I gave a fake, awkward chuckle as every pony stared.
“What!? Why not?” Rainbow Dash was getting angry.
One of the Canterlot guards then spoke up, addressing myself rather than my flustered sister.
“I apologise Miss Scootaloo, but the task Princess Celestia is entrusting to these pegasi involves constant flying.”
“Oh…” I blushed, trying desperately to hide my disappointment, “Sure, that’s okay.”
“It’s not okay!” Rainbow butted in, “She's awesome! Surely there’s something she can do?”
“I’m sorry Miss Rainbow Dash, but your sister must stay in Ponyville, for her own safety.”
The guard was firm, and Rainbow didn’t know what else to say, she couldn't argue with that statement - my safety was more important to her than anything else.
“If it makes you feel any better Scootaloo,” The mayor continued, “You aren’t the only pegasi staying behind.”
“I’m not?” I asked, a little happier to hear that.
“No,” The mayor replied, “Miss Derpy Hooves has also been excluded.”
That didn’t make me feel better at all; Derpy was the Ponyville 'klutz'. She had recently lost her position on the Weather Team, after continuously messing up and obtaining several warnings. She was even fired from her part-time job as a mail pony, due to her tendency to deliver mail to the wrong houses, and damaging packages. Derpy was a clumsy flyer, and had a reputation for causing accidents and screwing up. I could see why Celestia had decided to exclude Derpy from the mission, and in all honesty, I could see why she had decided to exclude me from the mission, too.
I sighed, as Rainbow slowly levitated back to the ground,
“Don’t worry Scoot." She put a hoof around me, "It’s probably just a boring errand anyway, nothing special.” She obviously didn’t believe that for a second, but I appreciated her trying to cheer me up, “Besides, Ponyville needs you here! Who else is going to fix up those scooters? Ain't no other pony who's got your skills!”
I smiled; I didn’t want Rainbow to feel sorry for me,
“Yeah, thanks, Rainbow Dash.”
"Awh, come on Scootaloo, it ain’t that bad!” My best friend Apple Bloom put a gentle hoof around my shoulders, while my other best friend, Sweetie Belle, struggled to find something comforting to say.
“Besides,” The unicorn exclaimed at last, “You hate going out after dark!”
Applebloom gave her a sharp nudge in the ribs. I was going to retaliate; it’s not that I’m afraid of the dark or anything, it’s just so… dark , ya know?
However, I knew Sweetie Belle pretty well; sometimes she spoke without thinking, but her heart was always in the right place. So I choose to ignore that statement.
“It’s just… I’d totally accepted myself for not being able to fly.” I explained pitifully, “but today has just reminded me that I’m only like, half pegasus at best.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re a total pegasus! You got wings don’t ya?” Apple Bloom gently lifted one of my wings with her hoof, spreading out the magnificent orange feathers.
“And you can walk on clouds! That’s so cool!” Sweetie Belle added, a little more helpfully this time.
“Sure wish I could do that!” Agreed the country mare.
That actually cheered me up a bit. Galloping across the fluffy clouds sure was a lot of fun, but I always needed Rainbow Dash to drag a few of them down to the ground for me first. She would break them up and arrange them to form little cloud steps, so I could climb up and prance around in the sky with her above Ponyville, almost like a regular pegasus. If I wasn’t Rainbow Dash’s sister, I would probably get teased for that kind of thing.
“I guess so.” I replied doubtfully, not wanting to bring up that point and sound like a total downer.
“That practically is flying if you ask me!” I could tell that Sweetie Belle was exaggerating, in a desperate attempt to make me feel better - walking on clouds wasn't at all like flying.
“This 'special business', it’s only for one night ain’t it?” Applebloom asked,
I nodded, “Yeah, besides, I’m not the only pegasus left behind.”
“You’re not?” The two of them sounded surprised by this news, I tried not to be offended.
“Nah, turns out Derpy’s been excluded too.”
“Derpy Hooves? Gosh, I forgot all about her,” Applebloom replied, “What’s she doing nowadays?”
“Who knows?” I answered, “She was fired from her job, kicked off the weather team, and she doesn’t seem to leave her home all that much any more.”
“I saw her last week flying over ponyville, but it was just for a second.” Sweetie Belle added. "She was just sorta drifting overhead with a vacant expression."
“Ah feel kinda bad for her.” Applebloom admitted sadly, “Everypony treated her like she was just an accident ready to happen.”
“Yeah…” I suddenly felt a little selfish. Here I was feeling sorry for myself about being excluded, but at least I had two wonderful friends to comfort me. Derpy Hooves probably didn’t have any pony to talk to. “Derpy must be feeling kinda down about this whole thing too.”
I spent the afternoon with Applebloom and Sweetie belle, trying to forget about the situation and just have fun for a while. Applebloom built another obstacle course for me to tackle on my scooter, and for Sweetie belle to tackle using her magic. The three of us were always challenging ourselves in fun ways like that, ever since we were kids trying to gain our cutie marks.
We had a great time, and when the sky began to grow dark, I headed off home to finally start work on those scooters. I'd been putting it off all day, knowing that I now had the entire evening free since Rainbow Dash was heading to Canterlot. I kinda wanted to see her off, but concluded that it would be pretty awkward and depressing for the both of us. Shutting myself inside my home seemed like the best option. Besides, those scooters weren't going to fix themselves.
It took me longer than usual to repair the vehicles. My mind was elsewhere; this was the first time since I was a filly that I actually felt unhappy about not being able to fly. Sometimes I'd look up, and see the other pegasi soaring through the skies, and feel a bit down for like, a second or two, but then I'd just hop on Firefly and forget all about it. This was my talent, this is what I was meant to to, and no other pegasi could compete with me when it came to scooting and scooter maintenance. I may not be able to fly, but I had more than enough talent to make up for that. Rainbow once said that if I was an Element, I'd be the Element of Awesome!
So, why in Equestria was this potential 'Element of Awesome' feeling so crummy right now?
Before midnight, I managed to get the scooters in full working order, and waxed them both to give them an impressive shine - customer satisfaction is my number one priority after all. Then, I headed to bed, knowing that the following morning I would be reunited with Rainbow Dash, who would most likely wake me up and excitedly tell me all about her special Canterlot pegasi mission.
**************************
The following morning, I was a little disappointed to discover that I had awoken naturally, all by myself. I washed, styled my spiked mane into place, and was starting on my oat meal breakfast (we athletes gotta stay healthy) when finally, there came a stern knock upon my door.
“Rainbow Dash!” I leapt out of bed and hurried over, My heart was pounding; I couldn’t wait to hear all about her adventure in Canterlot.
Sure enough when I opened the door, there stood my awesome sister. But she wasn’t smiling, or holding out her hooves to hug me, and she didn’t look all that eager to talk, either.
“Hey Scootaloo.” She gave a meek smile, “Can I come in?”
“S….sure… is something wrong?” Rainbow Dash never asked to enter my home before, she normally just let herself in after I opened the door, and she rarely called me by my full name like that - something was clearly amiss.
“Yeah.” She trotted slowly past me, and took a seat on the couch.
I followed and sat next to her, she looked troubled. I thought if I showed a bit of enthusiasm, it might perk her up a bit.
“About the mission? Oh my gosh, what happened?” I fluttered my wings in anticipation.
“Yeah, about that.” Rainbow Dash was rubbing her front hooves together nervously. “I… I can’t tell you about it… at all… sorry - Celestia’s orders.”
“Wh…” It felt so strange to hear Rainbow Dash talking like that. She sounded so serious, almost... miserable. I could tell she was having a hard time giving me the news, so I shook off my disappointment and shuffled closer to her.
“That’s... that’s okay, rules are rules.” I smiled, “I’m just happy to have my sister back.”
I thought that statement would make Rainbow happy, but I was wrong. She stared at the ground with wide, sad eyes. It seemed as though she was struggling to look at me.
“Actually Scootaloo…. I won’t… I’m not going to be in Ponyville for a while.”
My mouth fell open, “What?”
“Celestia wants all the pegasi to do some special training in Cloudsdale, outside of weather duty. I can’t give you the details, but she’s put me in charge of something really important, and she wants me and a few others to stay in Canterlot permanently for a while.”
I was speechless, so Rainbow continued,
“It’s really important Scoot, I’ve had to abandon Wonderbolt practice for this, as well as my position as leader of the weather team, and we can’t tell any pony about it. It’s my duty as an element barer to serve the Princess. You understand… right?”
I gulped, I didn’t know how to react to that. Rainbow Dash had taught me to be tough, and to not let my negative emotions get the better of me, but this was just too much to take. I felt like crying, I wanted to put both my hooves and wings around her, and beg her not to leave. What task could possibly be so important that Princess Celestia would take my sister away from me? I rapidly blinked my eyes a few times in an attempt to rid them of tears, then shook my head furiously and gathered my thoughts.
Rainbow Dash was the Element of Loyalty, and this task did sound extremely important; it was probably something only a pegasi as amazing as her could take on. As much as it pained me, I didn't want my sister to feel any worse than she already did about leaving. I should be proud of her, I should be supporting her! I just had to be strong... at least until she left my home.
“Sure Rainbow Dash. I…understand.” I gave the fakest smile of my life and we sat in silence for a few minutes.
That’s the great thing about me and Rainbow, we can just lie there without speaking for hours and somehow still understand one another's thoughts and feelings. We may not be sisters by blood, but our heads and our hearts are intertwined, and right now, we both felt the same, deep level of sadness.
“So… when do you leave?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“This afternoon, after my final weather shift.” She answered. "I have to choose some pony to take my place during that time."
“Oh," That meant we had little to no time left together. "And, when will you be back?”
“I’m not… entirely sure. It won’t be for too long though, don’t... worry.” She nuzzled me, but it didn't help; she looked doubtful, so my eyes welled up again.
“So you’re going to be in Canterlot, doing some special secret important thing, and all the other pegasi will be training in Cloudsdale?”
Rainbow’s response surprised me, “…No.” She shuffled a little, “Um Scootaloo, there's something else."
Else? What else could there possibly be? It felt as though Rainbow Dash was dropping bombshell after bombshell upon me that morning. First she tells me that the mission was top secret and - despite being a pegasus - I can't know about it, then I get the dreadful news that she's leaving Ponyville - I couldn't bare to think what was next to come.
"When we took off last night, as we were all flying over Ponyville, I looked down, hoping to see you... but, I didn't"
"Rainbow... I couldn't..." I started to say, but she interrupted,
"I saw somepony else instead. Some pony watching us from a roof top. She didn't look sad, but she looked kinda... solemn"
This was freaking me out. Rainbow Dash never used words like 'solemn', her vocabulary was always so casual. I guessed which pony she meant almost instantly - earth ponies and unicorn's didn't really spend much time on roof tops.
“Scootaloo, did you know that it was me who got Derpy Hooves fired from the weather team?”
I shook my head. Rainbow continued,
"When I came to Ponyville, Derpy was one of the first friend's I made. She was pretty fun to hang out with, and a really sweet pony. We were very close as kids. I used to look after her and stuff, and stand up for her when the other ponies were being jerks. In return, she was a pretty great friend to me. She kept telling me how cool I was, and never let me think otherwise. I think... Derpy really helped me to gain the confidence that I needed, in order to become the awesome pony I am today."
I briefly noticed a faint smile appear on Rainbow's face, as though she was recalling a happy memory, but it soon faded.
"When we became weather ponies, Derpy's clumsiness was more than any of us could take. She was constantly messing up, causing quite a lot of trouble, and a heck of a lot more work for us. In the end, it was me who shouted at her, and it was me who bought the topic of Derpy's behaviour up in one of the meetings. The weather team supervisors watched her closely from then on, and I could see the poor mare trying her best to do well, but she just cracked under the pressure and messed up even more. I felt pretty awful when I saw how much she panicked when the bosses were watching her."
"So... she was fired?"
Rainbow Dash nodded,
“I'd sorta tried to forget about it. I told myself Derpy just wasn't made for the weather team, and that it was the best decision for everypony, but when I saw her there last night, she reminded me a lot of you, Squirt."
For whatever reason, Rainbow Dash calling me 'Squirt' made me feel a lot more comfortable, she had been addressing me by my name all night, and it was starting to make me nervous.
"She looked at the sky, longingly, as though she really wanted to know what was going on, and was wondering why she had been left out."
"Poor mare." I added, "She probably didn't even know about the pegasi travelling to Canterlot."
Rainbow Dash sighed, "I'm not gonna lie Squirt, I felt pretty awful when I saw her there. The whole time I was in Canterlot, I was thinking about it, and about you, and then... well I thought that maybe you and Derpy could...."
Suddenly there was another knock at the door. It was a loud, odd, clumsy, knock that I didn't recognise at all.
“She’s early!” Rainbow suddenly leapt up, it was the fastest I'd seen her move since she arrived. She bolted over to the door and opened it just a peep “What are you doing here? I haven’t even asked her yet!” She sounded annoyed, and I could pretty much guess who she was talking to.
After some whispering and mumbling, I climbed down from the couch and trotted over to see what was going on.
Rainbow heard me coming, and after a quick sigh, she to gave in and opened the door fully, to revealed a grey mare with a blonde spiked mane and golden eyes; one looking upwards, the other looking downwards.
"Derpy's... here?" I was confused,
“Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash looked guilty, "I thought that... maybe...since you were the only two pegasi in Ponyville, it would be cool for you to hang out together… don’t you think so?”
I understood perfectly. Rainbow Dash was tough, but she sure had a big heart. Seeing Derpy on that rooftop the other day must have really gotten to her, and the thought of leaving me behind must really be getting to her as well. However, it was pretty awkward to put us both in a situation like this. What if I hadn't been so cool, calm and collected about Rainbow leaving? What if I'd reacted differently, gotten upset and... No, Rainbow knew I wouldn't do that - she knew her little sister was tough.
I looked up at the grey mare who stood in front of me. Derpy was Rainbow Dash's age - five years my senior. She didn’t look unhappy at all, she was smiling hopefully at me, and scrunching her muzzle.
“Sure, that would be… fun.” I said politely, and gave another fake smile.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash looked extremely relieved. Clearly she had no idea how I was going to react to Derpy showing up unexpectedly like this. She turned to me, with a face full of pride, and love.
"Squirt, you really are awesome." She ruffled my mane and hugged me tighter than ever before.
Tears fell from my eyes when Rainbow Dash hugged me, I couldn't hold them in any longer. She didn't seem to mind, in fact I could have sworn she was welling up as well.
"Take care of my sister." Rainbow said to Derpy Hooves, "Make sure she doesn't slack off!"
Derpy nodded. I smiled, happy that Rainbow Dash was back to talking like her usual self. She leaned closer to me,
"And you Squirt, take care of my friend alright?" She said quietly, as though worried in case the request offended Derpy.
I nodded, Rainbow sure did care about her friends.
My amazing sister ascended into the air and saluted us both, we saluted her back, and wished her the best of luck. Then, she flew off at the speed of light. Once she was out of sight, my tears fell heavily. I felt a beautiful mixture of sadness and pride, and as I watched her beautiful rainbow trail slowly fading away, I suddenly felt like a part of me was disappearing right along with it.
Suddenly, a soft, grey hoof reached out and caught one of my tears. It was a sweet gesture, and I smiled at Derpy, gratefully.
Then, the mare stretched out her hooves and pounced at me, knocking me to the ground and hugging me till I could barely breathe.
"Derpy, get off…” I pushed the mare away with my hooves, releasing her grip on my aching body.
“I…I’m sorry Scootaloo. You looked sad so… I just thought….” She replied, sadly.
“You’d cheer me up by crushing me?” I raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.” The mare stepped back and sat down, looking extremely disappointed with herself.
I suddenly felt a little guilty for upsetting her like that,
“It’s cool.” I reassured Derpy, “Just next time, not so rough okay?”
“Okay!” Derpy leapt to her feet, “I’m really glad you wanna hang out Scootaloo, I was worried you might say no. Rainbow said you might say no… and I was worried… but I’m happy you didn’t.”
She bobbed up and down energetically. I was a little afraid, thinking that Derpy might leap in for another hug, but she managed to contain herself this time.
“It’s no problem. Any friend of my sisters is a friend of mine.” I replied, which only made the mare smile more. “So… what are you up to these days? I haven’t seen you around Ponyville very much ever since, urm… for quite some time.”
“Oh you know,” Derpy replied, shuffling her hoof at the ground as though she wasn't sure how to answer, “Just, usual stuff."
“Oh… that’s cool.” I answered, still wondering what in Equestria this mare actually did for a living.
The two of us stood in silence for a moment, just smiling at one another. It was pretty awkward.
The sky was beginning to grow dark already, and the sun was completely blocked by clouds. It appeared the weather ponies were preparing for quite a downpour this afternoon.
Suddenly, Derpy gasped, as though she just had a mental breakthrough.
“Rainbow Dash tells me you like to race!” She said loudly,
“Yeah, I’m pretty fast on my scooter.” I replied with confidence.
“Would you like to race me?” Derpy flapped her wings, excited at the thought,
I struggled not to chuckle. “Race you ? Urm… well… I guess so? Where to?”
“How about to the riverside?” Derpy fluttered her wings a little and hovered,
I nearly chuckled again, the riverside was just on the edge of town. Me and Rainbow Dash used to race each other way further than that.
“Okay Derpy, you’re on.” I replied. This was going to be interesting, to say the least. “Lemme just get my scoote…”
And just like that, the mare spread her wings and took off,
“Wait Derpy! I never said go!”
Derpy was flying crooked, but I had to admit, she was much faster than I had expected. I wanted to fetch Firefly, but I was afraid to turn my back on the clumsy mare for a second in case she hurt herself - or somepony else. So instead, I charged after Derpy as fast as I could on my own four hooves, shouting for her to slow down. It was strange; Derpy was older than me, and yet I suddenly felt like a concerned parent trying to retain control over a rebellious child.
The mare was soaring pretty low to the ground, bumping into almost every building, tree, and pony in her path. She didn't even seem to notice when they looked on at her in annoyance. In fact, she even smiled and waved at a few of them.
“Derpy, look where you’re going! You’re gonna crash!” I shouted, as I struggled to keep up with her.
“You’re too slow Scootaloo!” Derpy teased, glancing back at me for a moment.
"Derpy stop! Look out!"
*Crash*
“I told you to look where you’re going!” I scolded the grey mare as she rubbed her head, having flown smack into Carrot Top's vegetable stall.
“Did I... win?” She asked, swaying as she struggled to stand up.
“Derpy, what are you doing?” Carrot Top was less than impressed, a few of her prized carrots had fallen off the counter onto the muddy pathway. The curly maned mare really loved her carrots, she owned a farm which purely focused on growing and selling them.
"Carrot Top.. I urm... uh..." Derpy suddenly realised what she had done, and looked as though she was about to cry.
“If you’re going to fly like that, you should at the very least do it in the open fields, not in the middle of town." Carrot stomped her yellow hoof angrily.
Derpy lowered her head, "I...I'm sorry. I'm playing with Scootaloo, we were racing to the river... and... sorry. I'll buy the carrots off you. I'll bring you some muffins in exchange, lots of muffins, just for you. I'll go and fetch them right now!" She gave a hopeful smile, but I could see that Carrot Top still wasn't happy.
"Derpy, do you remember the last time I tried one of your muffins?" She said coldly,
Derpy's odd eyes widened, as though she suddenly remembered something, and by the looks of it, it was a painful memory.
"Uhuh." She replied, "I used the wrong... I got..."
"They had salt in them." Replied Carrot Top. "You made the entire batch using salt, instead of sugar. I gave them to my family! They thought it was some kind of bizarre joke."
"Yeah, I'm sorry... it's just, salt and sugar look so much alike." I saw Derpy's ears droop, but Carrot Top didn't look at all sympathetic.
"I'll... I'll fetch some money." Derpy added timidly.
Even though the whole incident was entirely her fault, I felt kinda sorry for the clumsy mare. She was only trying to have fun after all, she just wanted to show me how fast she could fly.
I trotted to her side,
"It was just an accident. We will get some money to pay for the carrots." I assured Carrot Top.
The farm pony looked at me, then at Derpy. She then gave a sigh, and finally took pity on the pegasus. "No, don't worry about it. They're not that damaged, I'll wash them and give them to some rabbits or something."
She then smiled, and although it did look rather forced to me, Derpy was overjoyed.
"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed loudly.
I thought she was about to tackle Carrot Top to the ground with another brutal hug, but she managed to resist.
Derpy then turned to me, "Come on Scootaloo, let's go to the river!" She reached for my hoof and levitated off the ground, forcing me along with the street with her.
I was both confused and intrigued by Derpy's attitude. If I ever crashed into Carrot Top's stall on Firefly, I'd probably be feeling pretty down about it right now. Then again, scooting was kinda my thing, and flying didn't really seem to be Derpy's thing. It feels much worse when you mess up doing something you're actually supposed to be good at.
Come to think of it... what was Derpy's thing ?
Her cutie mark was a group of bubbles. So did that mean she like blowing bubbles? Popping bubbles would be more understandable. Then again, she was a mail pony so... bubble wrap? Perhaps she just really liked popping bubble wrap, and getting her cutie mark was what inspired her to become a mail pony in the first place?
I wanted to ask for the story, but now didn't seem like the right time. Derpy was dragging me along, flying so quickly that my hooves were scarcely touching the ground. Luckily, we made it out of the streets without crashing into anything else.
The riverside was relatively peaceful, but darker than usual. The clouds really were building up, covering the sun, along with most of the sky. The wildlife that usually populated the area were no where to be seen, clearly they were aware that we were going to have some pretty bad weather soon.
"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked Derpy as we finally came to a halt.
Derpy scrunched her muzzle, and scanned the sky.
Do you wanna play Weather Ponies?” She asked.
“Weather… Ponies?” I had never heard of that game before.
“Me and Rainbow Dash used to play Weather Ponies all the time when we were foals.” Derpy explained, "It's really fun!"
That eased my concern a little, if Rainbow liked this game, then it must be pretty cool. "How do you play?" I asked,
“It's easy!” Derpy suddenly started flapping her wings, she then flew upwards and grabbed hold of a tiny grey cloud. There were a couple of actual weather ponies nearby, who looked rather annoyed at this, but Derpy didn't seem to notice as she carried the cloud down to the ground.
“You jump on the cloud, and make it rain! Try it!” She hopped up and down excitedly, as though demonstrating.
I felt rather excited about this game, Rainbow Dash had never let me jump on rain clouds before.
Derpy helped me up, and I had to admit; standing on a rain cloud felt pretty awesome. I understood why the other pegasi were annoyed with Derpy for bringing the cloud down for me; rain clouds had to be positioned with great precision, to ensure every inch of Ponyville received as much water as needed. This rain cloud was so small though, it was barely big enough for me to fit onto; surely they wouldn't miss it?
I bent my knees, and jumped excitedly. Sure enough, little droplets of rain fell from beneath the cloud and splashed gently onto the ground. It was so cool, I wondered why Rainbow Dash had never taken me up into the sky and let me jump on real rain clouds before, being a weather pony must be so much fun!
My jumping got faster, and the rain cloud gradually dried up. I grinned, proud of my accomplishment.
"That was amazing!" I told Derpy,
She looked extremely happy to hear me say that, "Really? You like it? Then wait right there Scootaloo!"
The pegasus flew back up into the sky, and grabbed a slightly bigger rain cloud, much to the disapproval of the weather ponies.
"Derpy, cut it out!" One of them shouted.
No pony tried to stop Derpy though, so I guess it wasn't that big a deal after all. They had so many clouds, so even if we took a couple to play with, there would still be plenty of rain for Ponyville.
This time, the cloud was big enough for both me and Derpy to stand on, and soon we were jumping manically upon it. The raindrops fell faster and heavier, creating a small puddle which soon soaked into the grass below.
We were laughing and bouncing up and down, having the time of our lives. It was like we were creating our own miniature storm. Rainbow Dash was right; hanging out with Derpy was pretty cool after all!
Once the cloud was out of water, Derpy ascended back into the air, this time flying much higher than before.
She seemed to take a few precautions this time to avoid the weather ponies. The sky was now completely covered with clouds, so it wasn't too hard for her to stay out of sight. She soon reappeared on the ground beside me, with her hooves grasping a bigger, and much darker rain cloud.
"This one looks awesome!" I grinned,
"Yeah, I got it from really high up, so there will be lots of rain this time!" Derpy said, smiling happily.
We climbed onto the cloud,
"Okay ready?" I started the count down, the first jump was always the most fun, and if we managed to jump simultaneously, the rain would fall super heavy.
"One...two...three...JUMP!"
We bent our knees and leapt into the air, and then....
*ZAP*
“Urgh.. ouch…” I opened my eyes weakly, and found myself lying on a bed in a well lit white room, surrounded by two blurry figures. My wings were suspended either side of my body, and my back legs were wrapped in bandages.
“W…where am I?”
“I’m sorry I’m Sorry I'm sorry!!” Sobbed a familiar voice,
“Derpy… what happened…?” My head felt extremely heavy, and just lifting it made me nauseous. My entire body was weak and warm, some of my feathers were missing, and patches of my orange coat had been scorched and were now a dirty dark brown colour.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Was all the mare could say in response to the question.
Then, I heard another voice; a stern, masculine voice coming from the other pony. He stood to my left, and wore a white lab coat.
“You jumped on a storm cloud, and suffered an electric shock.” The doctor informed me, “It’s singed your skin a bit, but with the right treatment, you should be okay in a few days.”
“I’m sorry.” Derpy was really crying, and suddenly the whole situation came flooding back me.
“Wait… how come Derpy wasn’t shocked?” I asked, recalling the event, “She jumped on the storm cloud as well!”
"I was." Derpy sniffed, “I guess I’m… just used to it… I always used to get shocked, when I was.. *sniff* a weather pony… I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
I could tell that Derpy felt awful, and it was difficult to be angry with her when she was crying so much - even in my wrenched state.
"It's... okay." I assured her.
Then I realised something,
“Oh no! The scooters! I’ve got two ponies coming to collect their scooters today! I need to go!”
I started to panic; it must already be past noon, what if they had already tried to fetch their vehicles, and left furiously when they discovered I wasn't home? What if they told other ponies that I was unreliable? What if they told them I didn't care about my customers? My entire career would be over!
The doctor gave me a painfully slow look over, "I'm not sure about...." He started to say,
"Please!" I begged, "I need to go home."
The colt paused for a moment, adjusted his glasses, then sighed, “Well, I suppose since there isn't any serious damage, I will treat your burns, and then we will look into checking you out.
“T…thank you!” I said, overcome with relief.
“However,” He continued, “Your wings will have to rest for a while, and they need to stay bandaged; no flying for a week, understand?”
I glared at the colt, as he suddenly realised who he was talking to.
“Oh urm… I mean, don’t flap them around too much…” The doctor corrected himself, "And try to get lots of rest." On that note, he left the room to fetch my medication.
“I’m… so… sorry.” Derpy cried.
“Yeah, I know.” I said pitifully, “I guess, as long as I get back in time to give those ponies their scooters, then there’s no real harm done."
I thought that might calm her down, but I was wrong, the tears kept coming.
"Rainbow Dash is gonna be so angry." The mare wept sadly.
I felt kinda bad for her right then. Derpy never meant for me to get hurt; she was just trying to make me happy after seeing how much I loved jumping on those rain clouds. It was only meant to be a bit of fun. Things just got a little out of hand, that's all.
“Don’t worry Derpy. A little lightning ain’t gonna get this pegasus down.” I replied, "I don't see any reason to tell Rainbow Dash about this."
The mare sniffed, then she lifted a grey hoof and furiously tried to wipe her eyes, “You’re nice Scootaloo.” She replied..
The doctor returned shortly, and applied some lotion to my wings and hind legs. He also gave me some tablets, warning me that I may feel a bit dizzy for a few days. I promised I'd try and rest up as much as possible, and - after thanking him - we left the hospital, with my wings and hind legs still bandaged.
Derpy offered to pull down a soft rain cloud, and give me a ride home, but I politely declined: just the thought of rain clouds made me want to heave.
We soon arrived at my home, and were greeted by two rather confused male unicorns. The shorter of the two - Snips - was a cheerful young fellow and one of my many idols in Ponyville. His much taller friend - Snails - was a dopey colt who was relatively new to scooting. At first they looked rather annoyed that I was late, but once they noticed the state I was in, they trotted over, with wide eyes full of concern.
“Scootaloo, what happened?” Snails asked, glaring at my scorched coat.
“See I told you there must have been an emergency!” Snips exclaimed, “Scootaloo would never keep us waiting!”
“I’m okay, really, it was just a little accident." I smiled at Derpy, who looked gratefully back at me for not going into more detail.
“It’s cool, long as you’re okay." Snips looked relieved, "So how are our scooters?”
“Better than ever!” I said proudly, trying to ignore my aching body, “I’ll go fetch them for you.”
I trotted around the back, leaving Derpy alone with the two of them whilst I retrieved the vehicles. I’m not sure what happened during that time, but when I returned, they were watching her chase a butterfly around, and trying to mimic it's fluttering with her own wings.
“Here ya go fella’s!” I exclaimed, proudly.
I handed Snips his scooter, which was a short - yet speedy - model. The colt had affectionately named it 'Nipper' due to it's size. Then, I presented Snails scooter, a much taller model with a wider deck - perfect for beginners. Snails named his scooter 'Shelly'.
“Wow Scootaloo! They look even better than before!” Snails complimented my work.
“What can I say? Customer satisfaction is my number one priority!” I winked,
Snips gave Nipper a mini a test ride, “It’s so smooth!!” He said happily.
“And SO shiny!” Snails grinned as he boarded Shelly.
The two rode around in circles, laughing and racing each other.
I meant that with all my heart; nothing makes me feel better than a happy customer, riding around on a scooter I've just fixed up. I enjoyed watching the two having fun, and it completely took my mind off the injuries.
Derpy seemed to have cheered up a lot too. After watching the colts ride around for a while, she hovered above the ground and began following them. Derpy held her front hooves out, as though she was grasping a handle bar, then she lowered her back leg and gave a kick off the ground, pretending to be riding an invisible scooter.
“Brrrrrrrrlllll” She made strange engine noises, which made me laugh - none of the scooters in Ponyville had engines.
I had to admit it; despite her faults, Derpy was a pretty fun pony. She seemed to find enjoyment in everything, and I could definitely see why Rainbow Dash considered her a friend. From now on, I would just have to be more sensible; I'd have to look out for Derpy and try not to let her cause any more trouble. If I did that, the two of us could have all sorts of safe fun together.
"Derpy you're scooters almost as fast as mine!" Snails laughed.
“Mine's even faster!” Snips joined in. "Although it's probably just my incredible skills."
"Pfft! Alright, how about a race?" Snails suggested.
"Bring it on!" Snips accepted the challenge, "Derpy, you in?"
I saw the pegasus's face light up, "Yes!" She said excitedly, "I love racing!"
"Okay, where to?" Snips asked,
"How about..." Derpy looked over toward the town, then noticed me shaking my head, and replied, "just to that bridge over there?"
She pointed in the direction of a small stream that ran through Ponyville. The bridge wasn't far away, and there were no buildings near that route. It looked pretty clear overall, and the skies were still grey, and so most of the ponies were now indoors calmly waiting for the rain. I was actually quite impressed by her choice; I guess Derpy does learn from her mistakes after all.
"Sure!" The unicorn colts boarded their rides.
Derpy put one back hoof on the ground, then flapped her wings and lifted her upper body. She revved her imaginary scooter, and started making a quiet "Bllllll" noise, as though she had started it's none-existent engine.
"Ready?" Said snips,
"Steady," Said Snails.
And then, the butterfly came back.
"Go!" They shouted together, and sped over towards the bridge.
It took me a few seconds to notice that Derpy wasn't with them ...she was watching the butterfly again.
"Derpy! Go!" I called. For some reason, I actually really wanted her to win this.
The mare gasped, then fluttered her wings as fast as she could and flew off at the speed of light making a much louder "BLLLLL" noise.
She was leaning from side to side, swaying and dodging rocks and stumps. I began to wonder what Derpy would be like on an actual scooter; she was doing a pretty good job of miming it.
Derpy got pretty excited when caught up to the two unicorns. She flapped her wings faster, and accelerated so quickly, I was almost certain that she was going to pass them both.
Then, Derpy swerved, and crashed right into Snails.
The two fell forwards at such a force that they rolled through the air, Derpy didn't stop flapping, and when Snips turned to see what was going on, he too was caught in the collision.
"AhhhhhhhhHHHHHHH!" They screamed at the top of their lungs, unable to prevent themselves from being thrown off course.
I rushed over to meet them as fast as my wounded legs would carry me, but there was so much dust, I could barely make out the three ponies; I just saw a colourful bundle of fur and metal rolling down the hill before the bridge. Then, I heard a bang, a smash, and a loud splash as they hit the stream.
It took me a while to catch up, but when I did, my heart sank at the sight of two mangled scooters lying in the mud on the bank.
Snips crawled out of the shallow water first, he was gasping, and struggling to walk. Snails followed behind, and the two of them just stood there, looking at their vehicles in utter devastation.
The handle bars were bent, the boards were crooked, and wheels were missing from both of them.
Derpy didn't even bother getting out of the water, she just sat there looking utterly horrified, and very, very guilty.
“Wh… what have you done?” Snips gasped at the sight of his scooter; he had never seen it in such a state.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry’!” Derpy started again - I think that might be her catchphrase.
“Our scooters!” Snails was equally distraught.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry! I'm so sorry!!!” Derpy was on the brink of tears again.
I felt awful for the unicorns, and to be honest, a little angry with Derpy, but...
“Guy’s, this is nothing. I’ll fix them up.” I tried to calm my customers down. "I will... I'll fix them up today, you can have them back tomorrow, okay?"
"But... how?" Snails asked doubtfully, "Look at the state of Shelly... I never seen her so bad..."
"And Nipper." Snips was trying not to cry himself.
"Guys. I'm Scootaloo remember? Ponyville's number one mechanic and scooting sensation! I will fix them, by tomorrow. I promise." I assured them.
"O...okay." Snips replied, "We'll be back tomorrow then..."
Snails stroked Shelly's handle bar, "Yeah, tomorrow."
I smiled at them as they left; I'm getting pretty good at giving fake smiles lately.
"Bye guys, and don't worry. Your scooters will be fine."
Once the two colts had disappeared over the horizon, I turned to Derpy.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"I know." I replied, and reached out my hoof, to help her out of the stream.
Without another word, me and Derpy carried the dismantled scooters back to my home.
"I think these are probably going to take me a while." I said, trying to remain calm.
Derpy looked around a little, "M... maybe I could help you wit...." She started to say,
I raised an eyebrow.
"O...okay... I'll just let you get on with... urm... I'll see you... tomorrow?" She asked, hopefully.
"Yeah... sure." I replied.
“I just don’t know what to do.” I told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “She’s just such a… clutz.”
My two friends had come over to hang out whilst I worked on Snips and Snails scooters for the second time. It's always nice when they do that; some ponies prefer to be isolated when they’re working, but I'm pretty good at my job, and I quite enjoy the company.
"Ah’m sure she doesn’t mean to cause trouble.” Apple Bloom replied, in her thick country accent, “All the same, it does sound a lil’ frustratin’”.
My earth pony friend was right; Derpy only ever had good intentions, and she was clearly trying extremely hard to bond with me. The pegasus pony hadn’t even turned up at my house that morning; she must have came to realise that I needed a little space away from her after yesterday’s antics. All things considered, Derpy was a pretty considerate pony.
I adjusted the handle bar on Nipper - Snips scooter - and then proceeded to tighten the wheels, when suddenly Sweetie Belle chimed up;
“Maybe there’s something we can do!” She exclaimed.
Sweetie Belle is another kind hearted filly; she’s always eager to help anypony, especially if that pony is her friend. However, I wasn't at all willing to drag either of my friends into the whole 'Derpy' situation.
“Nah, you guys don’t need to get wrapped up in this.” I said sternly, and then continued with my work.
Of course, that wasn't enough to put her off.
“Aw come on Scootaloo! Maybe we could hang out with Derpy with you!” Sweetie Belle was grinning eagerly at the thought; I had no idea why.
“No guys, I really don't want to make this your problem.” I replied.
To my surprise, Apple Bloom was the one to retaliate this time; “Aw come on!! How bad could it be?”
The two approached me either side and gave hopeful grins; I knew from experience that there was no point trying to argue with them when they were being like this. The three of us had grown up together, and been best friends for almost ten years now. We looked out for one another, supported one another. If one of us had a problem, it was all of our problems. Even If I told my friends "No", they would probably just hide somewhere outside until Derpy arrived, and then follow us around all day regardless.
I sighed, "Fine, just for today.”
“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle gave a little hop.
I began to wonder what in Equestria she was so excited about. That morning, I had told the two of them all about Derpy crashing into Carrot Top's vegetable stall, getting me hospitalised, and breaking the two scooters not long after I had fixed them. So why did Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom still seem to think that hanging out with Derpy would be in the least bit tolerable? Let alone fun?
“Alright!” Apple Bloom joined in, “Don’t ya'll worry Scootaloo; if the three of us all keep our eyes on Derpy, there ain't no way anything could go wrong!”
“Y..yeah.” I mumbled, unconvinced.
It was noon before Derpy finally showed up at my house, which was conveniently after I had finished fixing up the scooters, and returning them to Snips and Snails with a sincere apology.
Derpy’s knock was a little quieter than usual, and when I opened the door, the mare was standing behind a large basket. It was filled with muffins, and tied with a beautiful red bow. Derpy shuffled her front hooves, and looked sorrowfully up at me.
“Hey Derpy, what’s…” I started to ask,
“I’m really sorry for what happened yesterday Scootaloo.” The mare interrupted, “I wanted to make it up to you, so I got up early and…”
“You made me all of these muffins?” I couldn’t believe it! What a kind gesture, she didn’t have to do tha… suddenly I recalled Carrot Top’s feedback on Derpy's baked goods.
“Wow Derpy, you really shouldn’t have.” I smiled, but felt a little cautious about tasting the treats.
“Are those muffins?!” My high pitched unicorn friend squealed in delight, and darted over to where me and Derpy were standing. She levitated one of them using her magic, and took a huge bite.
Sweetie Belle chewed and swallowed, and I saw her face instantly light up, “These are delicious!” She beamed, “Hey Apple Bloom! You gotta try these muffins!”
As my earth pony friend trotted over to join us, Derpy whispered to me, “I remembered to put in all the right ingredients this time!” and gave a quick wink.
“Mmmmmm!!” Apple Bloom’s eyes sparkled as she enjoyed one of the muffins, “Derpy, these are amazing!”
“I…I’m glad you like them.” The grey pegasus replied bashfully,
“Like em?” Apple Bloom swallowed, “They’re the tastiest darn muffins I have ever eaten!”
This compliment caused Derpy to blush, “Wow Scootaloo.” She said, “Your friends are nice.”
I waited for the two to finish eating, and then decided to give them all a proper introduction. “Derpy, this is Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, my two best friends. Guys, this is Derpy Hooves… well, you know about her.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet ya Miss Hooves!” Apple Bloom greeted the mare; she’s always super friendly.
Sweetie Belle did the same, “Scootaloo has told us great things abo….” She paused, “You’re a really good baker!”
“I hope you don’t mind Derpy, but my friends wanna hang out with us today.” I informed the mare, hoping that she wouldn’t think too much into it.
To my relief, Derpy gave an excited gasp, “Really? Wow that would be fantastic! I don’t mind at all Scootaloo! In fact, I’d love to get to know your friends!”
The three of them grinned at one another, while I finally tried one of the muffins; they were pretty delicious.
I actually felt a little more relaxed having my friends close by; perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“So, what do you guys wanna do today?” Derpy asked,
“Oooo maybe we could show Derpy the Apple far….” Apple Bloom began to suggest,
I quickly moved behind Derpy, so that she couldn’t see me frantically shaking my head to make the earth pony stop talking. The last thing we needed was for Derpy to destroy part of the farm, and cause more work for the Apple family.
“Or perhaps we could go help my sister out with her dress making?” Sweetie Belle butted in.
I face panned. Sweetie Belle’s sister Rarity was an incredible dress maker, an elegant designer, and an absolute perfectionist. She worked none stop these days, and she certainly wouldn’t appreciate an assistant of Derpy’s… nature.
“N…no… I’m sure Rarity’s very busy!” I gave a subtle scowl toward my unicorn friend, who seemed to take the hint and stuffed another muffin into her mouth, in an attempt to keep herself quiet.
It didn’t work for very long; Sweetie Belle’s face once again lit up in delight as she devoured the wonderful treat, and she couldn't help but give feedback.
“Mmmmmmmm! You know Derpy, these are good enough to sell!”
Derpy blushed again, and then Apple Bloom spoke up,
“Hey Derpy, you ain't exactly got a job at the moment, have ya?” She asked,
The grey pegasus shuffled her hoof along the ground, “Well… I’m sorta between… urm…I’m trying to find my… no, not really.” She answered sadly.
“Applebloom, What are you…” I asked,
“Well then,” The earth mare continued. “Have you ever considered making a business out of these muffins?”
Derpy tilted her head; she had clearly never thought about selling her baking for money.
Sweetie Belle was already on board with the idea, “We could help you out!” She bounced up and down, “Together, we could make an amazing muffin stand, and you could sell your muffins and become famous for them throughout Ponyville, maybe even throughout Equestria!”
“Famous… for my muffins?” Derpy sure liked the sound of that.
“What do you say Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom gave me a nudge.
I contemplated the idea, but couldn’t really think of a reason to reject it. Derpy was obviously very good at making muffins, provided she used the right ingredients, and we would be there to help her out, and make sure everything went as planned.
“It sounds like a good idea…” I answered.
Sweetie Belle started talking to Derpy about her baking, while Apple Bloom took me to the side
.
“It’s a perfect idea!” She whispered, “All Derpy has to do is make the muffins, with our help. Then, we put up a little stall in the town square, and sell them for a few bits each. What could possibly go wrong?”
Apple Bloom was definitely the most level headed one of the group; I’d learnt to rely on her a lot over the years, she was a very responsible and trust worthy pony.
“Okay, I’m in!” I said at last, “It sounds pretty safe, so long as we make the muffins correctly, and it would be pretty cool if we helped Derpy to get a job again! Rainbow Dash would be really proud!”
We all gave a cheer, and bumped hooves, then Derpy hovered above the ground,
“We can make the muffins at my place!" She exclaimed, "I’ve got tons of ingredients! Let’s go!”
The pegasus excitedly took off, with the three of us following close behind. Derpy still flew crooked, but she was being a little more careful today, and only crashed into a couple of trees.
~*~*~
Unlike most pegasi, Derpy lived on the ground with the earth ponies and unicorns. I had never actually visited her house before, but it was far neater than I had expected. There wasn’t a whole lot of stuff, just basic necessities: a sofa, a lamp, a shelf filled with nothing but picture books, overall it was a cosy little space.
We made our way into the kitchen, and Derpy prepared the ingredients. The clumsy mare managed to spill half of the first carton milk within the first few minutes, but luckily she had plenty in the fridge for back up. She also had bags and bags of flour, hundreds of eggs, and all of her cupboards were rammed with additional ingredients. From the looks of it, this pony must eat muffins for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every feathering day!
Within the next hour the kitchen was a total mess, but we were making pretty good progress. Derpy really did have a talent for baking, she was working on multiple bowls of mixture at the same time, and producing batch after batch of goods. After an afternoon of hard work, we soon had some beautiful looking – and incredible tasting – muffins.
There were chocolate muffins, cherry muffins, raisin muffins, blueberry muffins, banana muffins, and vanilla breakfast muffins. Derpy wanted to make a ton of other flavours, but I felt it was best to start out simple; if all went as planned, we could expand our stock at a later date.
While Sweetie Belle continued to assist Derpy in the kitchen, me and Apple Bloom worked on the stall. It was crafted out of wood, and decorated using paint and a cute banner that my artistic earth pony friend had painted herself. It had colourful images of muffins, and pretty, swirly writing blue which read: "Muffin’s for Everypony!” Apple Bloom has always been the creative type; her cutie mark was a paint pallet in the shape of an Apple, to reflect her incredible gift.
In no time at all we had a nice little table, completely covered in baked goods. The muffins on table itself were arranged according to flavour, but many others were bundled into baskets and stored both under and behind the stall itself. We were having so much fun making the treats, that we had somehow ended up with way more muffins than we actually needed, but at least we had something to snack on while we worked the stall - ya know, to help promote the product!
We had a perfect day for this; the sun was shining brightly, there was a calm, delightful breeze in the air, and many ponies would be finishing work soon and walking past the square.
As we made our final adjustments to the display, I looked across at my friends. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were tying ribbons onto the handles of the baskets, discussing whether or not to try and sell those muffins in bulk. Derpy looked as though she could barely contain herself, she was grinning and bobbing up and down with anticipation.
I smiled toward the sky; Rainbow Dash would be really, really happy, if she could see us right now.
Shortly after we finished arranging the stall, our first customer arrived.
“Howdy Big Bro! You hungry?” Applebloom greeted the colt.
Applebloom’s brother, Big Mackintosh, was a bulky stallion, with a short scruffy mane. He was a quiet character, who rarely spoke aside from the occasional “Yup,” or “Nope”, but he was a very hard working colt who had earned the respect of the Ponyville residents through his dedication, not only to their families beloved Applefarm, but also to his Grandmother, Granny Smith, who was pretty old now, and needed constant care and companionship from her three grandchildren.
Big Mac smiled at his younger sister, “Eyup!” He replied, eyeing the muffins.
“Well then you’re in luck!” Applebloom replied, “These here are some of the finest muffins in Ponyville!”
Big Mac’s mouth started to water at the sight of the delicious baked goods, and at that moment, I knew we were guaranteed to make our first sale.
“Only three bits each! Which would ya like? We got chocolate muffins, cherry muffins, raisin muffins…”
Applebloom continued to list our stock Big Mackintosh, and didn’t seem to feel the least bit uncomfortable about selling to her older brother. I guess that’s business, besides, the Apple Farm was doing pretty well these days, Big mac was probably loaded.
Suddenly, Derpy let out an excited squeal, and me and Sweetie Belle turned our heads while Applebloom continued talking, and Big Mac continued staring dreamily at the muffins.
Derpy was pointing over the horizon, toward a group of ponies who were approaching the town square.
“More customers!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed,
I immediately decided that this was a great time for a sales pitch, and so I cleared my throat and took my place in front of the stall.
“Good Afternoon Everypony! How you all doing today? Tired? Hungry? Stressed out from work?”
Immediately, the groups attention was drawn to our stall.
“Well fear not! For we, have created some freshly baked goods that are out of this world, to refresh and restore your tired bodies, and make you feel awesome! “Gather round everypony, for a taste of the finest muffins Equestria has ever seen!”
Thanks to my pitch, the ponies started licking their lips and heading straight for our store. Sweetie Belle gave me a pat on the back, I have always been pretty good at public speaking, confidence is key - Rainbow taught me that.
A pink earth pony arrived and greeted Big Mackintosh, she gave him an affectionate nuzzle.
“Hello there Honey bunch!” She said in a cute tone,
I noticed Applebloom Cringe a little.
This pony was our old school teacher, Miss Cheerilee, and she was currently dating Big Mac. Apple Bloom hadn’t fully adjusted to their relationship, the two dating often made her feel a little uncomfortable, but this time, she managed to use it to her advantage.
“Or how about a muffin basket, for you and your sweet heart to enjoy together?” She winked at her brother,
“Oh a muffin basket! How wonderful!” Cheerilee exclaimed,
I felt a little sorry for Big Mac; he couldn’t really refuse the basket now, even if he didn’t feel like eating that many muffins. The stallion didn’t seem too bothered about it though, he just looked happy to see Cheerilee.
“Eyup.” He nodded, and handed 10 bits to Applebloom, who reached under the counter and passed him a basket.
And just like that, we had made our first sale!
Once the two love-birds had walked away, more and more ponies approached our stall. I saw a few of them glance at Derpy cautiously, as though they weren’t sure whether or not it was a good idea to eat anything that had been made by her. This actually bothered me a little.
I took the limelight once more, and started to verbally advertise our muffins to the small crowd which had now gathered around our stall.
“Don’t be shy everypony! We have plenty of muffins for everyone! Get them while they’re fresh!”
“I’ll take a chocolate muffin!” An energetic unicorn pushed to the front of the crowd.
The unicorn was Lyra Heartstrings, she’s pretty weird, but friendly by nature.
“Actually, give me two!” She practically threw the 6 bits at me, as though she was in a desperate rush.
I handed her the muffins, and she waved and headed off back through the crowd, taking a bite and smiling in approval.
When the other ponies saw Lyra enjoying the muffin, any doubts they had about eating them quickly faded, and me, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Derpy found ourselves in business!
I was particularly excited to see a bubbly pink earth pony prancing over to our store. It was Pinkie Pie, a close friend of my sisters. She was the manager of Sugar Cube Corner, which was a popular dessert shop in Ponyville. Pinkie was even more lively and friendly than Lyra, and about ten times more weird.
The pink curly maned pony hopped to the front of the crowd with a huge grin on her face,
“You’re selling muffins? That’s amazing! I love love LOVE muffins!” She exclaimed. “Give me a basket! No,no, TWO baskets, no three! Three baskets!”
“Wow Pinkie,” Sweetie replied, “I thought after having worked at Sugarcube corner all day, you’d probably be tired of desserts!” – I face panned; oh Sweetie Belle, that's not what you say to customers.
Luckily, Pinkie wasn't phased, “Are you kidding? I could never be tired of desserts! Give me four baskets and that’s my final offer!”
I wasn't sure what she meant by the 'final offer' thing, but I shrugged it off, Pinkie Pie rarely made any sense. The others helped me to lift three of the baskets, and hand them over to our delighted customer. Pinkie smiled and thanked us, then hopped away into the distance.
“Can you believe we just made 40 bits off one customer?” Apple Bloom exclaimed,
“I knew Pinkie Pie would be interested!" I replied confidently, "Could this day get any better?”
As we continued serving, I got pretty lost in the moment. Seeing all those ponies enjoying our baked goods felt incredible! I was loving every minute of it, and I could tell that Apple Bloom felt really in her element.
The farm pony had been selling apple pies, apple cider, and other apple related goods since she became a teenager. She often accompanied her older sister Applejack, when she travelled around Equestria selling the produce they made on the Apple Farm.
Apple Bloom was great with the customers too, she would talk to them about how mouth-wateringly delicious a certain type of muffin was, and they often walked away with more muffins then they had planned to buy in the first place.
Don't get me wrong, we were all doing pretty well on the stall, but I think overall Apple Bloom was definitely making the most sales.
I was about to hand a cherry muffin to a rather smart looking stallion, when I heard the pony Sweetie Belle was serving suddenly ask a very strange question.
“Wait a second.” The scruffy earth pony said angrily, “Why should I have to pay?”
I looked over toward them, as did Apple Bloom, and a few of the other customers,
“What do you mean?” Sweetie asked, completely confused.
“That pony over there just got two muffins for free!” The pony pointed over to the other side of the counter,
I looked over, and sure enough, Derpy was handing out muffins left right and centre, without charging a single bit for any of them.
“Derpy! What in tarnation are ya doin?” Apple Bloom asked the Pegasus, who looked extremely stressed out.
“Well, one of my customers didn’t have any money…” She whimpered, “I didn’t want him to miss out on the muffins, they’re so good, so I just let him have one. He was really hungry!”
Apple Bloom scolded the mare, “You can’t go givin’ out muffins for free! Cos’ then everypony’ll want muffins for free!”
Derpy looked sadly at the ground, "That's... what happened..." She mumbled,
Apple Bloom then turned to Sweetie Belles angry customer.
“I’m sorry mam, but we can’t give out any more muffins for free, this is a business after all.” She stated calmly.
The customer didn't react well,
“What terrible service! I don’t think I’ll be coming to this stall again any time soon!” The mare stomped, and walked off in a huff,
I thought that was pretty harsh, who did she think she was?
“We’re only here for today anyway!” I shouted after her, rolling my eyes at the drama queen.
“What do you mean I have to give them back?” Great, now a colt was arguing with Derpy.
“I wasn’t supposed to…give them out... I’m sorry but, we worked really hard and…” The wall-eyed pegasus was almost in tears.
“You already gave me these muffins! You already gave all of us muffins!” The colt argued,
Mumbles of “Yeah!” and “Free muffins!” could be heard amongst the crowd.
"There are no free muffins!" I shouted,
"Yeah! If ya'll want a muffin, you gotta pay for it!" Apple Bloom piped up, I could tell she was getting a little frustrated, and who could really blame her?
"Not fair!" One customer shouted,
"You can't give out free muffins to a bunch of ponies, then make the rest of us pay!" Called a stallion.
The crowd continued to shout, "Free muffins! Free muffins!"
"I knew our muffins were good," Sweetie Belle exclaimed, "but I didn't know they were good enough to have ponies fighting over them."
"Free muffins!" The crowd were getting rowdy,
Apple Bloom seemed to be losing it a little,
“Fine! Ya’ll want free muffins? Just take em!” She tossed a few muffins onto the counter, and they were instantly snatched up by the angry mob.
“Apple Bloom!” I could understand that she was angry, but surely that was just adding to the problem.
“I wanted a banana muffin!” Shouted a pony at the back,
"Seriously?" I said aloud - now they were demanding flavours too?
I watched Derpy flap her wings, “Oh…okay… here you go,” She threw a muffin aimlessly into the crowd, and of cause, it hit a mare smack in the face.
Suddenly, a muffin came flying straight back at Derpy,
“That was my wife!” Shouted a colt,
Derpy actually managed to dodge, but the muffin hit Apple Bloom, who was already pretty annoyed. She picked up another muffin in retaliation, and threw it straight back into the crowd.
And then… chaos.
The baked goods were being thrown left, right, and centre. Apple Bloom was throwing them out of rage, and Derpy was throwing them out of confusion. I was trying desperately to calm down both the crowd, and my friends, while poor Sweetie Belle was ducking behind the counter, terrified.
Suddenly, I noticed that our stock was running pretty low. And so I leapt onto the counter, and shouted at the top of my lungs.
“BAILLLL!”
I grabbed Sweetie Belle, and Derpy followed closely behind. Apple Bloom tossed a final muffin into the crowd, and caught up with us.
We darted through the town, not once looking back to see if any of the mob was on our tail. When we reached the outskirts of Ponyville, we realised we were safe, and sat down to catch our breath.
I saw Apple Bloom frown at Derpy, but she quickly realised how unhappy the pegasus looked, and her angry expression changed to a quiet sigh.
A few seconds went by, and then Derpy spoke up.
“I’m sorry guys. I just... wanted to make the customers happy.”
