Scootaloo had a very rollercoastery life. Things like belonging to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and learning about aerial acrobatics from Rainbow Dash made her as happy as a parasprite at a potluck. And things like not having a cutie mark and not being a proficient flyer were depressing for her. The latter had been disturbing Scootaloo for some time now, as reminders kept poking her in the face left and right. Rumble was the same age as her and not only was he good at flying, but he was allowed to join Ponyville’s pegasi to contribute to the tornado power water transfer some time ago. Scootaloo felt as though she had a lot of catching up to do. She may be able to use her wings as a propulsion system when driving her scooter, and she did get a thrill out of “swimming” in Loch Azure that one time, but she was sure none of those could compare to being up in the air above Equestrian soil.
One bitter pill for Scootaloo to swallow was the anecdote Pinkie Pie told her about Pound Cake.
“He flew around the bakery?” she spluttered.
“Like a kite,” nodded Pinkie. “And that’s not even the crazy part. The crazy part is when I tried to grab him, he pulled me off the floor and carried me all around Sugarcube Corner, bouncing me on the stairs like a ball.”
Scootaloo was sure Pinkie Pie was making this up, but before she could voice her disbelief, the party pony gave her more information about Pound.
“I’ve only ever seen him fly one other time. He got a mobile as a gift from one of Mr Cake’s relatives, and he flew around with the paper griffins and manticores above his crib.”
Scootaloo stared blankly into her milkshake.
“And Cup and Carrot said they’ve seen Pound flying once,” Pinkie wasn’t finished. “They were at a summer festival and Mrs Cake was freaking out because Pound kept hovering just out of her reach.”
A tiny pegasus like Pound can fly and I can’t? thought Scootaloo.
“Speaking of festivals,” Pinkie Pie carried on. “Any big plans for the long weekend? You’ve got like one more day of school before it starts, right?”
“Uh, yeah,” Scootaloo said tonelessly. “Uh, Babs Seed’s coming to stay with Apple Bloom for the weekend. So me and Sweetie Belle will be hanging out with them mostly, I guess.”
“Great. Well, I’ll see you at the Enamour’s Day Festival on Monday,” Pinkie Pie slapped Scootaloo on the back and went back to work.
Scootaloo spent the rest of the day brooding over a yearling accomplishing more than her. But her tension didn’t last long. Her parents noticed that she wasn’t looking too happy when she got home, and when she told them why, they had some surprising things to tell her. Scootaloo was astonished to discover that when she was a yearling, barely a day went by when one or both of her parents had to chase her around the house and snatch her from the ceiling. They even dug out an old album of Scootaloo’s baby photos, half of which depicted her fluttering feet above the floor and zooming across rooms. It took a long time for her to believe what she was hearing and seeing because she had absolutely no memory of these exploits. This was the evening when she learned something about pegasi that no one seemed to bring up before. It was a fact that eliminated all the dread she felt at never being able to fly at all. She became so absorbed by what she learned about herself and her race, that she decided to use this information for show-and-tell at school the next day.
“So, the reason yearling and adult pegasi are so good at flying but foal pegasi have trouble with it is because of the size of their wings as they grow,” Scootaloo explained as her classmates observed the baby photos she’d pinned up on the blackboard. “When pegasi are born, their bodies and their wings are in equal proportion. But the wings take longer to grow than the bodies. So after about a year, a young pegasus’ wings will barely have changed, meaning they’ll have more weight to carry. During childhood, the body grows faster than the wings, but eventually, the wings will catch up. Before a pegasus reaches adulthood, the wings will slowly return to the proportions they had at birth. So this is why foal pegasi have trouble flying even though they can do it when they are babies.”
Scootaloo took a bow as the class broke into applause.
Scootaloo had been the last to present something for show-and-tell, and after she’d taken down her photographs and gone back to her desk, Cheerilee took the floor again.
“Alright, class. Normally I would say it’s time to begin our lesson,” she said, “but the funny thing is Scootaloo just gave it.”
“Huh?!” exclaimed Scootaloo.
“I don’t know if you’ve been sneaking a peak at my lecture notes or something,” Cheerilee said with a joking smile, “but the proportions of pegasi wings as they grow was supposed to be today’s lesson.”
“So, am I being graded on that show-and-tell?” Scootaloo wondered.
Cheerilee chuckled. “No, but if you were, you’d get an A. I don’t think there’s much I could add to what you’ve said. You’ve pretty much covered everything.”
The students held their breath.
“I suppose there’s no reason to go ahead with my lesson today,” Cheerilee grinned. “So, as a special treat, class is dismissed!”
The colts and fillies cheered.
“Four day weekend!”
Amethyst Star had volunteered to ring the school bell that day, and she was surprised to see all the students leaving the schoolhouse so early.
“What’s going on?” she asked when she’d clambered down from the roof.
“We get to go home early!” beamed Snips.
“Scootaloo gave us all a lesson on pegasi wings, so Cheerilee didn’t have to,” added Snails.
With that, Amethyst Star departed along with the school ponies to decide what to do with her free time.
“I guess Apple Bloom needn’t have ditched class today,” Gilt Eyes joked as he walked away from the school along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo jumped a bit. In her excitement to present her baby pictures and showcase her newfound knowledge of young flyers, she hadn’t noticed that Apple Bloom wasn’t in class that morning.
“She didn’t ditch,” objected Sweetie Belle. “She’s just waiting for her cousin at the station.”
“Hey, since we don’t have school anymore, why don’t we go there?” suggested Scootaloo.
“You two go ahead,” Gilt Eyes said. “I’m going to the arcade with Button.”
With that, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle left the school grounds and made their way to Ponyville Station.
“That’s funny. I don’t see her anywhere.”
The two Cutie Mark Crusaders looked all around the station. Their leader was nowhere to be seen.
“Maybe she was just skipping school,” said Sweetie Belle. “I’ve heard of foals doing that on days before long weekends. Kind of a ‘double the fun’ kind of thing.”
“Did Apple Bloom actually tell you that she was gonna skip school to wait for Babs?” asked Scootaloo.
“Uh, no. I just figured that was what she was doing,” Sweetie Belle answered. “Actually, I don’t even know when Babs’ train’s coming.”
Scootaloo thought for a moment.
“Why don’t you wait here while I go to Sweet Apple Acres?” she suggested. “If I find Apple Bloom or if Babs Seed comes, we’ll meet up at some point either way.”
“Did you bring your scooter?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo jolted. “Uh, no. I left it at school.”
“Why don’t I go to Sweet Apple Acres?” Sweetie Belle offered. “I’m pretty fast. Me and my big sister did come in second at the Sisterhooves Social.”
Scootaloo nodded and Sweetie Belle turned away.
“I’ll grab your scooter while I’m at it!” she called back as she left.
About a minute after she left, the station loudspeakers started barking.
“The 8AM from Manehattan will be arriving in ten minutes!”
At first, Scootaloo thought she should stop Sweetie Belle, but then she figured that there was no reason to abandon their plan. So she stayed and waited at the platform.
After ten minutes, the Manehattan train arrived. Babs Seed was the first passenger to exit the train.
“Hey, Scoots! How’s it goin’?” she called.
“Good to see you again, Babs,” Scootaloo said.
The two fillies hoof-bumped.
“Hey, I ain’t seeing Sweetie or my cousin anywhere,” Babs Seed looked around. “What gives?”
Scootaloo explained about the school’s early dismissal and Sweetie Belle’s trip to the orchard.
“That reminds me. How did you get outta school today?” she asked Babs.
“I got a note from my big sister,” Babs Seed replied. “She knew I wanted to spend as much time with Apple Bloom as possible.”
“Well, let’s get going then,” Scootaloo said, leading Babs Seed away from the station and towards Sweet Apple Acres.
They met Sweetie Belle along the way, who had Scootaloo’s scooter with her.
“Thanks, Sweetie,” Scootaloo said as her friend passed it to her. “So, did ya find Apple Bloom.”
“Kind of,” Sweetie Belle shrugged.
“What do ya mean, kind of?” asked Babs Seed.
“Well, I know where she is, but I didn’t actually see her. Granny Smith told me to get out there lickety-split,” answered Sweetie Belle.
“Why?”
“Apple Bloom’s sick,” Sweetie explained. “She’s got something called the Broncoitis.”
“What the heck is that?” asked Babs.
“I don’t know, but Granny Smith said it was really contagious and foals are really suspectable to it.”
“I think you mean susceptible,” Scootaloo corrected. “It means easily affected.”
“What are you? A dictionary?” asked Babs Seed.
“The point is Apple Bloom’s gonna have to stay in bed all day and all night,” Sweetie Belle turned to Babs. “Granny Smith told me to tell you it’d be a bad idea if you stayed at their barn tonight.”
Babs Seed frowned, and then turned to Scootaloo.
“Any chance I could stay at your place tonight, Scoots?” she asked.
Scootaloo blinked. “Uh, sure. Why not? I’ll just go ask my folks.”
With that, she mounted her scooter and drove away. In the meantime, Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed decided to see if they could meet up with Gilt Eyes and Button Mash at the arcade.
Author's Note
Inspired by an inner struggle I once had when a friend was spending the night at my place.
Soon enough, the plans for Babs Seed’s accommodation were laid out. For the rest of the day, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed had a competition with Button Mash and Gilt Eyes to see who could beat the high score of “Livid Phoenixes”. Scootaloo couldn’t help but notice that there wasn’t much chatter during their time at the arcade, which was unusual because normally, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their friends were always talking about things like special talents and Twilight Time and various escapades.
Oh, well. I’ll have plenty to say to Babs tonight, she thought.
She was looking forward to retelling her discovery about young flyers to Babs Seed.
The five foals had dinner at a burger joint that evening, and they all agreed that it had been the best day off school they’d ever had. Soon, Sweetie Belle, Button Mash and Gilt Eyes had gone home to their parents. Scootaloo was leading Babs Seed to her house, wheeling her scooter along as they walked. Scootaloo was about to bring up her show-and-tell project, but Babs spoke first.
“You mind if I told you a secret?” she asked.
“Um, OK,” replied Scootaloo.
Babs Seed whispered into Scootaloo’s ear.
“I wanted to ask if I could stay at your place because unicorns kinda drive me nuts,” she admitted quietly.
Scootaloo didn’t respond, so Babs continued.
“I mean, Sweetie Belle’s nice and everything, but the last time I was here for that Festival of Flora, she wouldn’t stop talking about herself learning to use magic. And she’s not the only one. You remember my unicorn friend from Manehattan, right?”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo nodded.
“She’s the same way,” Babs moaned. “She’s getting better and better at levitating stuff, and she won’t shut up about it. I just… I didn’t wanna risk losing my mind and blowing up in Sweetie Belle’s face if she kept yammering about it.”
Scootaloo faltered. “I see. Um, did you think she’d be mad if you just asked her not to talk about it?”
“I don’t wanna wreck her confidence,” Babs Seed said. “I know how important magic is to unicorn foals. Look at Gilt Eyes. He’s probably the best unicorn colt I’ve ever seen. Did you see the way he used the joystick without touching it with his hooves? No wonder he beat us in Livid Phoenixes.”
Scootaloo’s heartbeat sped up a bit. If Babs Seed was tired of hearing unicorn foals go own about what they could do with their horns, she was sure to disapprove of Scootaloo ranting about the troubles pegasus foals face with their disproportionate wings. The conversation she’d been hoping to share with her Manehattanite friend would surely be disastrous now. She didn’t know what else they could talk about now. And it would be unlikely that they would be able to simply go to bed right away. They, along with Sweetie Belle, Button and Gilt Eyes, had drank a lot of soda during the day and were all pretty hyper. In fact, Scootaloo and Babs Seed each still had a half-empty soda can on them. Scootaloo’s parents didn’t mind that she and Babs Seed were taking sodas to bed with them as it was a long weekend.
“So, there’s my bed,” Scootaloo pointed out when they’d entered her bedroom.
Babs Seed shuffled a bit. “That’s exactly what Apple Bloom said the first time I went into her bedroom. I, uh, don’t know if she told you this, but I kinda made her sleep on the floor that time.”
“You’re not gonna make me do that, are ya?” chuckled Scootaloo.
“No way!” Babs Seed shook her head. “I’m not… I mean, you know I don’t…”
Scootaloo shook. “Hey, relax. I was kidding.”
“Alright,” Babs Seed calmed down. “Sorry. I’m still really ashamed about that.”
Oh, great. I’m bumming her out, Scootaloo thought.
Scootaloo and Babs Seed hopped onto the bed, and they each grabbed a pillow and claimed a side of the bed. Almost instantly, the atmosphere went rather dull. Neither could seem to strike up a conversation or suggest a game. Scootaloo could think of nothing to say apart from what she’d told her classmates that morning, and she was sure Babs wouldn’t want to hear it. For a while, the two fillies just sipped their sodas, making quite a lot of noise.
“Wanna hear a joke?” asked Scootaloo without thinking.
“It’s not gonna be another one like that first one, is it?” asked Babs Seed.
“No, no. Pinkie Pie told me this one,” Scootaloo said quickly.
“OK, let’s hear it,” nodded Babs.
Scootaloo cleared her throat. “What’s black and white and red all over.”
“Oh, come on. That’s the oldest joke in the world,” groaned Babs.
“Well then, what’s your answer?” asked Scootaloo.
“A newspaper.”
“Nope.”
“OK, an embarrassed skunk.”
“Nope.”
A sunburnt zebra, then.”
“Nope.”
Babs’ eyes widened. “Oh. Uh… I don’t know. What is black and white and red all over?”
“And embarrassed newspaper,” Scootaloo grinned.
“What? Why would a newspaper be embarrassed?”
“Because it got a sunburn,” Scootaloo chuckled.
The two friends burst into laughter. But within a minute, they were both silent and stoic again.
Rats, Scootaloo thought. That was the best joke I know. Now what?
“Uh, do you know any jokes?” she asked.
“No, sorry,” frowned Babs Seed.
It was as if Scootaloo had lost her memories. She could not think of a decent way to strike up a stimulating conversation. And from the looks of things, Babs had nothing to say as well. For a moment, Scootaloo looked up at her Wonderbolts pinups and considered talking about them. But then she remembered that she already told her that she liked aerial acrobatics, so this would be old news.
Oh, man. Maybe it would’ve been better if Babs stayed with Sweetie Belle, thought Scootaloo. At least they’d have something to talk about. I have to make her choice worth it. But how?
Then it occurred to her that she hadn’t really learned much about Babs’ fellow Crusader members due to her excitement over the new recruits from Barrow in Harness.
“So how are your fellow Manehattanite Crusaders?” she asked.
“Oh. Uh, they’re fine,” replied Babs Seed with a smile.
Scootaloo felt sure that they were on to something, but all of a sudden, Babs was lookin glum.
“Their siblings on the other hoof…”
“Uh, their siblings?” Scootaloo repeated with a bad feeling in her stomach.
“They both have little brothers,” Babs explained. “And sometimes their parents make us take those colts with us when we do our Crusader stuff.”
“What are their little brothers’ names?” asked Scootaloo.
“I’ll tell ya what I call them,” sniffed Babs Seed. “Those little putzes.”
Scootaloo grew rather concerned. Babs Seed was scowling as if her life depended on looking almost pained.
“Have ya ever used a metal detector?” she asked.
Scootaloo was surprised. “Uh, no.”
“Don’t ever do it,” Babs advised. “They’re heavy. If you wanna find any metal stuff in the ground, try and find a unicorn who can use that kinda spell. You know, like the way Sweetie Belle’s sister can find buried jewels.”
“Um…”
Scootaloo was curious as to why Babs Seed brought up metal detectors of all things, and why the subject of her friends’ little brothers made her think of it, but she was worried that it might be an unpleasant topic for Babs. The more she looked at her, the more uncomfortable she looked. And was it her imagination, or was Babs Seed squeezing her pillow?
“I’m glad I’ve got an older sibling,” Babs piped up. “If I had a little brother or sister, my life would be worse than Tartarus.”
“What do your friends’ siblings have to do with metal detectors?” asked Scootaloo.
Why did I ask?! she thought as soon as she’d spoken.
Babs groaned forcefully. “We were allowed to borrow my friend’s parents metal detector, and they asked me to hold onto it cause I’m the strongest of the three of us. Cause of that, her parents said I was responsible for it.”
Babs Seed took another sip of her drink. Scootaloo attempted to take the opportunity change the clearly unpleasant subject, but Babs continued her rant immediately.
“I wasn’t worried until I found out that my friends had to take their little brothers with them cause their parents were busy. And let me tell ya, when those little putzes saw that metal detector in my hooves, they seemed to think it was some kinda piñata. I had a heck of a time holding it outta their reach and they ended up shoving me around instead. And they wouldn’t listen to their sisters when they told them to leave me alone. They tried to distract them so we could get on with our treasure hunting, but I couldn’t relax. Those little putzes kept creeping up on me. I think they knew that I’d be blamed if the metal detector got broken, and they saw it as a way to be bad without getting in trouble. How fun is that for me, huh?”
She blew her mane out of her face.
“And it gets worse. My friends gave up on trying to control their evil little brothers and started complaining about me not being able to hold the stupid metal detector still. Like I wasn’t under enough pressure! What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t kick those little putzes away. I’d probably get in even more trouble than if I busted the metal detector. It was probably the worst thing I ever went through.”
Again, Babs Seed stopped gushing about her awful experience to take a sip of soda.
I’ve got to change the subject, Scootaloo thought desperately. Come on. Think of another topic.
Babs jolted. Scootaloo stopped racking her brain for something else to talk about and looked at her Manehattanite friend. Babs Seed was wincing and there were tears in her eyes. Scootaloo saw her houseguest had become utterly depressed. But then Babs rubbed her nose.
“Nose burp,” she muttered.
Oh. That’s a relief, Scootaloo thought. That’s a perfect topic.
“Don’t ya hate it when that happens?” she said as soon as Babs recovered.
“Uh, huh,” nodded Babs Seed. “Ya got a recyclables bin?”
Scootaloo pointed to a green bucket across the room sitting next to her steel garbage can. Babs aimed carefully and threw her empty soda can across the room.
“Great shot,” Scootaloo remarked when the can had landed in the bin.
Babs huffed. “A soda can was the only thing we were able to find in that lousy treasure hunt.”
Oh, no. We’re back to the metal detector story, thought Scootaloo.
“And it took all my strength to keep from throwing it at those little putzes when they tried to tackle me on our way back to the apartment.”
Scootaloo decided she had no choice but to let Babs Seed finish her unpleasant story.
“So now if my friends’ parents make them foalsit their little brothers,” Babs continued, “I just refuse to do anything adventurous with them. They think I’m being a bad sport. They wouldn’t be saying that if they had an expensive thing that weighed a ton to look after. I really hate disappointing them. They’re the first friends I made back home. I don’t wanna blow it with them, but I just can’t stand being around those little putzes when we’ve got something going on. They see me as some kinda punching bag and I HATE IT.”
Babs Seed yawned.
“Tired?” asked Scootaloo instantly. “Guess we should hit the sack.”
Scootaloo feigned a yawn and began to rearrange her pillow.
“Yeah, sure. Let’s get our heads down,” Babs Seed agreed, adjusting her own pillow.
Scootaloo shut the light off and the two Cutie Mark Crusaders relaxed in the dark bedroom. Scootaloo was far from tired though.
I knew there was a reason I never hosted a slumber party before, she thought gloomily. I’m no good at entertaining ponies. I’ll bet Babs would’ve had a great time if she’d stayed with Sweetie Belle tonight.
“Hey Scoots.”
Scootaloo turned her head. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, so she could see Babs Seed’s complacent face quite plainly.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for hearing me out,” Babs smiled. “It feels good to get all that stuff off my chest.”
“Oh,” Scootaloo blinked. “Uh, no problem.”
Scootaloo turned back onto her side, but Babs Seed spoke again.
“Uh, Button Mash said you had a really cool show-and-tell project in class today. Could ya tell me about it?”
Scootaloo gulped. “Uh… well… it’s about pegasi and their wings.”
“Oh. Is there a long speech with it?” asked Babs Seed.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo nodded.
Babs Seed yawned again. “Well, maybe it can wait till tomorrow.”
“Yeah. OK,” said Scootaloo. “No problem.”
“Alright,” Babs Seed turned over. “Night, Scootaloo.”
“Night, Babs,” Scootaloo replied.
The only sound in that room for the rest of the night was peaceful snoring.
Sweetie Belle showed up the following morning and told Scootaloo and Babs Seed that Apple Bloom was up and about. After they’d finished breakfast, Sweetie led them to the fountain in town. Apple Bloom was there watching Pinkie Pie getting a head start on setting up for the Enamour’s Day Festival.
“How you feelin’, cousin?” Babs Seed asked.
“Way better. I ain’t got that awful cough anymore and my nose ain’t totally blocked up,” Apple Bloom replied brightly. “Sorry ya couldn’t stay with us last night.”
“No worries,” Babs Seed smiled. “I had a good time staying with Scootaloo.”
“You did?!” Scootaloo spluttered.
“Well, yeah,” Babs Seed said, a surprised expression on her face. “It was fun.”
“How was it fun?” demanded Scootaloo. “You were miserable.”
“Miserable?!” Babs repeated. “No I wasn’t. Yeah, I was talking about something that bugged the heck outta me, but I did tell you I needed to talk to someone about it, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t do anything about it,” Scootaloo frowned.
“You didn’t have to do anything,” insisted Babs Seed. “You were there. That’s all I needed.”
“Really?” asked Scootaloo.
“Sure. We don’t always have to actually do stuff together,” said Babs Seed. “Sometimes, just hanging out is enough.”
Scootaloo cheered up right away. “Yeah. You’re right. And I was worried about making your stay at my place worth it.”
“Hey, spending time with friends is always worth it,” said Babs Seed. “Heck, even my friends back home still let me hang out with them even though I won’t do anything adventurous with their brothers around.”
Scootaloo was delighted, but Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were a little lost.
“Are ya still having bully problems, Babs?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Sorta,” Babs Seed shrugged. “But it ain’t too bad now. I’ve told my big sister about it a while ago. There ain’t an awful lot she can do about it, but at least everypony knows about my problems.”
“You’ve got a great attitude, Babs,” Scootaloo beamed. “Can’t believe I was worried about being a worse host than Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie Belle coughed.
“Oh, no! She got my Broncoitis!” cried Apple Bloom.
“Guess I did make the right choice!” said Babs as she, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom began to run away from Sweetie Belle.
“I was just kidding!” Sweetie called. “I’m not sick!”
She watched as her friends stopped running and walked back to the fountain with annoyed faces.
“You Ponyville Crusaders got a twisted sense of humour,” smirked Babs Seed as they rejoined a red-faced Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo chuckled. “She looks like a sunburnt newspaper.”
She and Babs Seed exploded with laughter.
Author's Note
I don't understand why everyone seems to wish the worst upon Scootaloo.
