1. Black: All They See is Alone
Sweetie Belle had literally been talking for hours. She had met a new boy and he was the best thing to ever happen… at least this week. Scootaloo had zoned out after Sweetie Belle had mentioned how her new coltfriend’s – what was his name again? – coat sparkled in the sunlight… for the third time. Scootaloo had let her mind wander as she watched some squirrels play in a tree nearby. She sighed and rested her head on her hooves and felt her eyes begin to droop.
“Scootaloo?! SCOOTALOO?!!” the sudden noise jolted Scootaloo awake, “Were you even LISTENING to me?!” The blank look on Scootaloo’s face was enough for Sweetie Belle to know that she wasn’t.
“For Celestia’s sake, Scootaloo,” she said, obviously exasperated, “Don’t you even care about finding a coltfriend?”
“What do you mean?” Scootaloo said defensively.
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and sighed, “Come on? Don’t you have a crush on anypony?” Scootaloo was just about to answer when Applebloom walked over.
“Hey ya’ll! I was wonderin’ what ya’ll were up ta today,” she looked over to Sweetie Belle with a sly grin, “I thought you woulda been busy with that new coltfriend o’ yours.”
“Shut up!” Sweetie Belle nudged Applebloom playfully. “Besides,” she said with a wink, “don’t you have your own special somepony?”
Applebloom’s face turned bright red, “What?! I dunno what you’re talkin’ about!”
Sweetie Belle laughed, “Look, Scootaloo, she totally does! Look at how much she’s blushing!”
Scootaloo mumbled some kind of affirmation that she noticed Applebloom’s face change colors. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and continued her conversation, “So?! Who is it?! Is it that cherry farmer’s kid?”
Applebloom shook her head, “You’ll never guess!”
Sweetie Belle thought for a moment, “Okay, who is it?”
“Shining Star,” Applebloom mumbled.
“What was that?” Sweetie Belle prompted, “I couldn’t hear you.”
“Shining Star,” Applebloom said a little louder.
“Who?”
“Shining Star!” Applebloom finally yelled.
Sweetie Belle stood there, eyes wide and mouth open, for a few moments before she managed to say, “You mean to tell me that the most popular colt in ALL OF PONYVILLE asked you out?!”
“Yup!” Applebloom beamed.
“THAT’S SO GREAT!” Sweetie Belle squealed – her voice was so shrill and high that Scootaloo was convinced that she made sounds that only Winona could hear.
As Applebloom and Sweetie Belle went on with their gossiping, Scootaloo tried to drown them out. The sounds of, “Did you see how CUTE his eyes are when he smiles?” and the billionth explanation about how what’s-his-face’s coat sparkled in the sunlight were getting super old. Scootaloo sighed and went back to watching the squirrels play. It wasn’t so much that Scootaloo didn’t want a coltfriend, but she just didn’t seem to be interested like her friends were. Sure, there were some cute colts around Ponyville and Scootaloo wouldn’t mind getting to know them, but none of them had that instant “OH MY CELESTIA! I HAVE TO HAVE HIM RIGHT NOW!” spark that Sweetie Belle and Applebloom described.
“Um… Hello? Anypony in there?!” Applebloom said, waving her hoof in front of Scootaloo’s face.
“Earth to Scootaloo?!” Sweetie Belle sounded annoyed. She sighed, “She’s been doing this to me ALL DAY. It’s like she’s not even interested!”
Scootaloo sighed, “You’ve just been going on and on for hours. I’m done listening.”
Unfazed, Sweetie Belle gasped in a way that would make Pinkie Pie jealous, “OH MY GOSH! APPLEBLOOM!!”
“Uh… Yeah, Sweetie Belle?”
“WHAT IF WE SET SCOOTALOO UP WITH SOMEPONY?!”
“What if we –“
“WHAT?!” Scootaloo snapped, interrupting Applebloom. The other two stared at her in shock.
“What? We just wanna help you find your own coltfriend!” Sweetie Belle protested.
“Yeah! And we promise – no love poisons… or potions.” Applebloom added.
“We saw how well that worked for Ms. Cheerilee,” Sweetie Belle giggled.
Scootaloo shook her head, “I’m okay! Really! I do NOT need a coltfriend.”
“Come ON, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle sounded exasperated, “you’re eighteen – the oldest of all of us! Life isn’t going to last forever.”
“Yeah!” Applebloom joined in, “You’ve NEVER had any kind of special somepony – you’ve gotta try it at least once!”
“I REALLY don’t need a special somepony, guys! I’m fine!” Scootaloo interjected.
The other two ignored her, too caught up in excited planning and giggling about all the prospects. Each new colt’s name made Scootaloo’s stomach turn and she swore she was going to be sick. Her head was spinning in protest – she didn’t WANT a coltfriend, didn’t NEED a coltfriend – but her friends refused to listen to her protests. Everything in Scootaloo’s body was suddenly screaming in protest. Her breath grew shallow and her heart raced as she grew pale. Unsure if she would be able to stay through this conversation, she screamed, “NO.”
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom abruptly stopped their conversation and stared at Scootaloo. They had the same shocked looks on their faces in response to her sudden interjection. She took a few deep breaths before she tried to speak again.
“No. I don’t want you to find me a coltfriend.”
“Buy why?” Applebloom started, still surprised about Scootaloo’s outburst.
“Do you want us to find you a marefriend instead?” Sweetie Belle ventured, “We won’t judge you, just let us know.”
“NO!” Scootaloo snapped, “I don’t want a coltfriend! I don’t want a marefriend! I don’t need anypony else!”
“But, Scoot, aren’t you lonely?” Sweetie Belle said, a pitying tone in her voice.
“No. I’m not!”
“Well, why then?” Applebloom asked.
“Just… because.”
“Because WHY?” Sweetie Belle eyed Scootaloo suspiciously, “Everypony wants SOMEPONY.”
“Well, I don’t!” Scootaloo snapped.
“Do ya think they’re not good enough for you, or something?” Applebloom said.
“No! That’s not it.”
Frustrated, Sweetie Belle finally snapped, “Then WHAT IS IT?!”
“I just… don’t like other ponies the same way everyone else does, okay?!” With that, she ran away – leaving Swetie Belle and Applebloom looking on with a mixture of confused and shocked expressions.
Scootaloo continued to run until she made it to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, where the pounding of her heart and the lump in her throat met. She fell to the ground and buried her face in her hooves and began to let the tears flow. Her thoughts raced – maybe there WAS something wrong with her, after all, she had never looked at colts OR mares with any kind of desire… she would much rather hang out with her friends or race on her scooter. Maybe she was messed up. All the other colts and mares in her class – and all of Ponyville – had seemed to find that special somepony. Why couldn’t she? The sobs continued as if years of pain were fighting to escape in this single moment.
“Um, are you okay, kid?” Scootaloo looked up to see that her idol, Rainbow Dash, had landed beside her and was looking down at her with concern.
Scootaloo wiped her eyes and sat up, her eyes darting to the ground, as she mumbled, “Yeah, everything’s fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Scootaloo sighed, “Rainbow, is there something wrong with me?”
“Of course not, kid! Why would you think that?”
“Sweetie Belle and Applebloom seem to think so… just ‘cause I don’t want a coltfriend.”
“Well, what about a –“
“No. I don’t want a marefriend either!”
Rainbow looked at her in confusion, “Well… what DO you want?”
“I don’t know – nothing.”
“You can’t want nothing. Everypony wants somepony.”
“That’s what Sweetie Belle and Applebloom said too,” Scootaloo mumbled, looking disheartened.
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash said, sitting next to Scootaloo, “Explain it then.”
“Well,” she began, looking out into the distance instead of at Rainbow, “I just don’t have the same feelings everypony else has.” She looked to Rainbow and saw a look of confusion on her face. With a sigh, she continued, “I don’t mind colts, I really don’t, I just… don’t seem to like them the same way all the mares in my class do. All of them talk about their latest special somepony and all the stuff that they do together, and – I dunno – it all just sounds gross.”
Rainbow was still confused by the explanation, “So,” she tried to tread carefully, not wanting to embarrass either herself or Scootaloo, “you’re saying you don’t want… love?”
Scootaloo sighed, “I want love – I have love! I love my friends and, one day, I’ll find a colt that I love… I just don’t want the, you know, physical stuff.”
“Maybe you just haven’t met the right pony yet? You know, you’re still a little young to decide that.”
“No, Rainbow. It’s not that I ‘haven’t met the right one.’ I don’t want anyone!” Scootaloo said, clearly annoyed, “And I am eighteen – I think I’m old enough to know what I want. Just like I know that I hate hay and dandelion quiche – no matter how many new recipes Chef makes.”
“But this isn’t like quiche! This is natural – you have to be after something.”
“Well, I’m not!”
“What don’t you want, exactly? You just don’t wanna hold hooves or something?”
Scootaloo’s face turned bright red, embarrassed that Rainbow was being so forward, “You know… the…” her voice cut off before she mumbled, “the sexual stuff.” Her eyes darted to the ground.
At this Rainbow laughed, “Come on, Scoot. How would you know?” Scootaloo, still embarrassed, didn’t answer. Rainbow continued on, “I mean, you’re eighteen. It’s not like you’ve tried anything yet. Besides, you’ll probably change your mind in a few years – everyone gets there eventually. Ha! I was worried you were going to say something sappy like you had your heart broken so you were giving up on colts. Good to know it’s just this. You’ll grow out of it, believe me!”
“I will not! This is how I am!” anger pulsed off of Scootaloo in waves – she never expected to hear this from Rainbow. After all, Rainbow always seemed to be the most accepting pony in town. Now, here she was, telling Scootaloo she was wrong – broken.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Maybe you should see Nurse Redheart and get your hormones checked.”
“So you think I’m broken now, too?!” Scootaloo snapped.
“That’s not what I said. I’m just trying to help! Maybe it’s worth looking into!”
“Yeah, and maybe she can check me into the loony bin while I’m there.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“You’re implying it!” Scootaloo snapped, “For Celestia’s sake. Every time I bring this up to someone, they always have some brilliant idea for why I’m like this.”
As if she didn’t even hear Scootaloo’s comment, Rainbow made one last suggestion, “Maybe you’re just a late bloomer? You know, Fluttershy didn’t have her first coltfriend until she was much older than you!”
“Great! Now you think I’m gonna be stuck in a cottage forever with stupid little animals as my only friends!” she stood up and began to storm off.
“No that’s not what I – “Rainbow Dash called after her, but she was clearly not listening.
Anger and frustration were coming from Scootaloo in waves – no one understood what she was feeling… or not feeling. Why would nopony just think that maybe she had an idea of what she was talking about – maybe she knew who she was. Her friends just tried to get her a special somepony and now her idol thought she was either crazy or going through some kind of phase. She had had enough and was still fuming when she was greeted by Fluttershy.
“Good afternoon, Scootaloo!” Fluttershy’s voice was soft and friendly as always, “Do you want to come over and help me take care of the animals? Princess Celestia just dropped of Philomena and I know how much you like her!” She giggled slightly, “When she’s not being overdramatic, that is.”
Still fuming, Scootaloo glared at Fluttershy, “What? You think I might as well live in a cottage with a bunch of stupid animals for friends, too?!” her voice seemed to echo as she lashed out, “Well I have news for you! Just because I don’t want a special somepony does not mean I’m going to live alone forever! I’m fine just the way I am and I don’t need anyone to change me!”
With that, Scootaloo ran to the old Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse leaving Fluttershy looking to Angel bunny in confusion, “D-did I say something wrong?”
