CMC: Training is Magic

by Cold Spike

Rating: everyone
Tags: Cutie Mark Crusaders, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 26099

The Cutie Mark Crusaders decide it's high time they finally learn some magic.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders decide it's high time they finally learn some magic.

But Earth Ponies don't fly, Pegasus Ponies can't use magic, and Unicorns usually don't grow crops. And learning real magic requires real skill. The time has come to learn from their guardians, and not from each other.

They need to learn about more than just magic, though. Their relationship had always been based on crusading, but they'll soon learn that relationships can change. The Cutie Mark Crusaders set out on a journey, one which teaches them that you can't crusade forever.

Editor: Bahatumay
Art By: Reynaruina

Published 2015-10-07 20:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-06-02 17:49:34 UTC

Chapter Two: Fake History

Scootaloo woke up feeling extremely groggy, like she hadn’t slept for more than an hour. While it looked to be a bit earlier than she was used to, it certainly wasn’t the middle of the night. She flopped onto her back and tried her best to ignore the discomfort of the wood. Stupid dreams…

After several minutes of attempting to sleep in, she finally sighed and gave up. “Whelp, I’m up. Not like I should be sleeping in, anyway; Apple Bloom might be here any minute.” Figuring it was a bad idea to tempt fate, she quickly stretched. then got ready for her day. As she brushed her mane out, her brain caught up with her and she sighed in relief. “The weekend, sweet.” She instantly forgot about any notions of learning, homework, school or class time. It was time to have some fun. And hopefully find or earn some… bits.

She took a few moments to grab her scooter, and quickly left the clubhouse as dirty was it was before. Lining up her scooter to a particular dirt road just outside the clubhouse, she sighed. I’m so tired of doing this… she thought bitterly. But she shrugged and pedaled her scooter ahead, away from the orchard and towards a lake. It was this lake where she would have to literally scoot all around to get back to the beginning of the orchard, in order to scoot back through the orchard to greet her friend. Maybe next week I can tell them I’m gonna meet Sweetie Belle first, she thought to herself, though, through sheer determination, she would never do it. Rainbow Dash, after all, was always training hard to be the best! I can’t be lazy, not now!

Instinctively, her wings began to flap, which reminded her that she even had wings. Why do I always forget when I’m on this thing? She shrugged and stretched them then flapped as hard as they would allow, making a constant buzzing noise. It felt very familiar, as it always had for longer than she could remember. While she didn’t exactly have enough raw power to cause gusts of wind like Rainbow Dash, she imagined she did, and that was enough. Scootaloo whizzed by the lake, imagining herself flying over it. Someday…

“Huh?” she murmured, and instantly slowed down upon seeing another pony on the road. It was a grey colored unicorn filly, and she recognized her as a younger student of her teacher. Don’t know her name though.

The filly studied her then looked away, seemingly at nothing.

“Uh, what’s up?” Scootaloo said after an awkward pause.

The filly looked up slowly with an unreadable expression on her face. Even slower, she shrugged. “Uh, not much. Just… thinking.”

Scootaloo nodded and had literally no response for that. Awkwardly, they stared at one another for a little while, neither wanting to move or blink. Eventually, Scootaloo grabbed her handlebars which caused the filly to jump in place. Scootaloo muttered an apology then sped off without warning. Okay… uh, yeah.

Trying to shake the thoughts of the depressed looking filly, she focused on the road ahead and aimed back for the orchard. This looks so familiar… she thought sarcastically.

As she got nearer, she recognized Apple Bloom, waiting impatiently at the entrance. She skidded to a halt in front of her causing a gust of wind to fly up. Scootaloo smirked. “Your bow fell--”

“Yeah, yeah, got it. Never gets old…” Apple Bloom muttered as she quickly re-tied her bow. “So, what’d you want to do today?”

Awkwardly, the two stood there, trying their best to come up with any idea. “I’m having trouble thinking of anything. Want to try the library again? Twilight usually has cookies for us anyway!” Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly.

Reluctantly, Apple Bloom nodded, and joined her friend on her scooter. She held onto Scootaloo’s mid section with both hooves and donned a helmet that she had. “Alright… but she better not have homework for us, like that one time…”

“If that happens then I have a plan… probably,” Scootaloo yelled over the blowing wind.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and began clutching even harder as her friend sped up wildly. Quickly trees turned to ponies and ponies turned to blurs. “You should probably slow down!” Apple Bloom warned.

What’d she say? Scootaloo thought. “What did you say?” she tried to yell over the constant breeze. Scootaloo then swerved around several ponies, causing Apple Bloom to nearly topple over and hit the ground.

“Ah said, slow down!”

Scootaloo nodded then screeched to a halt, jamming one of her hooves into the dirt. Apple Bloom’s head then promptly smacked right into her friend’s chest.

“Ow…” they both said in unison.

Apple Bloom grumbled and looked up. “Scootaloo…”

“Heh, we’re here…” she replied and looked at her friend bashfully.

“What have Ah told you about doing that?!”

Doing her best to ignore her friend’s glare, Scootaloo looked away back at the tree. “Only sometimes--”

“Never. Ah told you to never stop like that! And to slow down when we’re on that thing!”

Scootaloo nodded and did her best to put aside her friend’s anger. She was focusing on their future, on cookies! She licked her lips and smiled at the tree in the distance. Then she nearly screamed when she felt two hooves on her head, which swiftly turned it backwards. She was now staring directly at her friend, who did not look pleased.

“Scootaloo, were you even listenin’?”

The filly blinked a few times and shook her head. “No.”

Apple Bloom smiled and nodded. “Let me make this clear and simple. Do that thing with your brakes again while Ah’m on it and Ah will break your scooter in two! Got it?” Apple Bloom finished in a manner befitting a certain pink colored filly.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in fear and she began shaking slightly. “Uh.. g- got it.”

The apple filly smiled and nodded, this time being sincere. “Good.”

Scootaloo hugged her scooter and watched Apple Bloom canter away from her. The farm filly turned around and chuckled. “Ah would never break your scooter, Ah just wanted you to pay attention for once. Now c’mon! We’re burnin’ daylight!”

Note to self, don’t tick off Apple Bloom.

Being a public library the two fillies entered without knocking. Instead of finding the familiar librarian inside, though, all they found was their good friend Sweetie Belle. Who just happened to be munching on all of the cookies, to Scootaloo’s annoyance.

“Hi girls!” Sweetie Belle waved to them and seemed to shove another cookie into her mouth. “What’s up?”

The two fillies joined her on a couch that was set up for guests. Scootaloo tilted the bowl she had set near her and sighed. “I guess not cookies, they aren’t up…”

Sweetie blushed and started chewing slower. “Sorry… Rarity never lets me have any. A mare of refined tastes must never spoil her appetite,” she recited for them in a mocking tone. Then she thought about it and shrugged. “Or something like that.”

The other fillies giggled and ate what was left of the treats. Scootaloo then hopped onto the couch to relax. “So, where’s Twilight?”

Sweetie pointed up and they followed her hoof. Seated near the upper balcony was the mare in question. She appeared to be busy pouring over notes. Her horn was lit with a bright velvet color surrounding it, and several books that were floating around her.

“Ah. Busy, okay. So we wanted to-”

“Scootaloo? Are you down there?”

Both of her friends glanced at her with quirked brows. Scootaloo looked at them, then slowly looked up and nodded. “Uh, yeah, Hi… Twilight.” Why does she want to see me?

“Oh, splendid!” Twilight cheered and quickly set her books aside. “I’ll be down in a minute!” she called out and walked away from the balcony. Then she quickly leaned over again. “Don’t move a muscle!”

This can’t be good. Scootaloo thought in fear. She whispered to her friends while Twilight started walking down. “What if she wants me to do homework or something!”

Apple Bloom snorted. “You said you had a plan for that.”

“I said probably. You two need to back me up, though!”

“On what?” Sweetie said, while munching on the final cookie.

“If I run, you two run. Got it?”

Sweetie’s eyes widened in shock at the very idea of running away from Twilight. “But… but… she might make more cookies!”

Scootaloo grabbed Sweetie just before Twilight reached the bottom step. She started shaking her like mad. “This is bigger than cookies!”

Twilight stopped at the bottom step and glanced at the three fillies curiously. “Um, what’s going on?”

Scootaloo quickly placed Sweetie Belle back and whipped around, smiling at the mare. “Nothing! So, what’s up?”

Twilight smiled at her, but only her. “Family history! Unfortunately I can’t seem to find anything on yours, Scootaloo. I was hoping you could help me archive stories about the Firehens!”

For a single moment Scootaloo’s world shattered and her brain simply wouldn’t respond. ...What?! “Uh…”

“Of course, I could also seek out your guardians or parents if you’re not up to it. Or, maybe, don’t know?” Twilight said, while walking up to them and frowning at the lack of cookies.

I’m gonna kill Diamond Tiara. Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Uh, I guess I can help. Why the… sudden interest?”

“Well, I’ve actually been working on a huge research project that archives ponies throughout Equestrian history that have helped shape it. Diamond Tiara stopped by the other day and noticed what I was doing and told me about her project. It got me thinking and I realized I didn’t have very many pegasus ponies listed at all!” she exclaimed as if it were the most exciting thing in the world.

Scootaloo nodded and gulped. Both failed to notice the other two fillies had gotten up and were doing their best to sneak away from the potential homework they could sense.

Twilight continued. “I mean, it makes sense as usually it was the earth ponies and the unicorns who helped build things. Not that pegasus ponies aren’t important, of course; it’s just so few of them actually constructed buildings or bridges or other things. It’s just so rare for them! So, will you help me?” Twilight pleaded.

Breathe, just breathe. “W-well, how much did she tell you? Or show you? Or whatever?”

Twilight levitated out a single parchment that she had on her back and unfolded it for her. “Just a list of names and what they did. See for yourself, I want to make sure this is as accurate as I can get.”

Thank Luna she has names… I didn’t remember even half of the bull that Diamond said. She looked it over and recognized most of the list that was there. I’ll just have to make up some bull of my own and I can be done with this. Well, after having a chat with little miss wannabe princess. “I know about most of these guys… uh, my dad felt it was important I memorized my family history,” she said, lying directly to her face. She’ll buy that, right?

Twilight nodded. “That makes sense, my parents did the same thing! So, should we start now?!”

Scootaloo hesitated and looked around. “Well, we were… going to… where’d they go?”

Twilight looked around and then spotted that the door had been left open. “Oh, they must have gone out for some fresh air. This shouldn’t take too long. All I need is a few paragraphs for each pony on the list. Just to get a general idea of who they were and what they did for Equestria.”

The filly nodded, already starting to form made up ideas for the first few. Shouldn’t be too bad… but I’m still gonna kill her.

By the time Scootaloo had finished ‘recounting’ her family history, she was exhausted; but Twilight still wasn’t. She wasn’t just tired from making up lies, it was trying to remember them all that she was having trouble with. The very thought of not knowing every lie she had just told Twilight scared her to death. If this gets out, or if Twilight asks me again… and I don’t know… she’ll get suspicious! As Twilight copied down the notes, Scootaloo wondered how hard it would be to steal them when she wasn’t looking, copy them down, then put them back. I can’t ask for a copy; that would seem suspicious, too! I’m the one that’s supposed to know!

“Thank you so much for this, Scootaloo. If you’d like, I can drop off my final documents on this, a copy, to your parents’ house.”

Crud! Scootaloo chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, that won't be necessary. My dad has enough things to remind him of the past. Like I said earlier, he’s always telling our family stories. This will just encourage him…” she grumbled out the last part, hoping Twilight caught on.

Twilight chuckled and nodded. “Well, alright. But if your family ever wants a copy, just let me know!”

I’ll have to take her up on that in a few weeks… gonna kill Diamond! “Uh, cool. I will. I have to go work on some homework right now… so…”

Twilight nodded. She knew the value of homework. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Will you have enough time to finish it? I didn’t mean to--”

Scootaloo waved her down and stood up. “Yeah, yeah. It’ll be fine, but I should leave, now. Heh.”

“Right, well, I’ll see you around, Scootaloo Firehen!”

Scootaloo cringed on the inside, but smiled and waved. She grabbed her scooter and couldn’t get out of the library quick enough. She began to scoot away into town, but quickly stopped and looked around. “Where’d they go?” All she spotted were various earth ponies heading toward the town’s marketplace. “Better check the clubhouse.”

She turned around and froze. There, seated on a bench, was Diamond Tiara. She was smiling and eating away on some ice cream, along with her partner in crime, Silver Spoon. The two talked and laughed, blissfully unaware of Scootaloo’s presence. There was something about the two, having the time of their lives, completely unworried. It unnerved Scootaloo. For a moment, only a single moment, the brat filly glanced at her. She winked then quickly looked away, not wanting to spoil her time by Scootaloo’s sight. The pegasus wanted to march up to her and give her a piece of her mind. She wanted to scream, to point out what she did, to make her feel bad. She didn’t move, however. She simply stood there, going over everything that had happened in the last day. I can’t… No matter how badly she wanted to, she knew it would only hurt her in the end. She knows I can’t… she has me…

Slowly, but surely, she left the area. Not bothering to even glance at the two ponies, but she could swear she heard a snicker come from the pink colored filly.

What am I going to do?

As she slowly trotted toward the clubhouse, she began to reflect on her friends. Everytime she thought of them, it filled her heart and mind with nervous excitement. She wasn’t even sure why she had ended up with them of all ponies; they literally weren’t like her. Sweetie Belle was silly, bubbly and tried to be everything her sister was; she was quite possibly the opposite of Scootaloo. Apple Bloom was closer in personality, but usually was different enough to raise an eyebrow or two. All in all, the three mixed together to form a chaotic group of destruction and mayhem. If she was being honest with herself, she was was shocked that she hadn’t been found out sooner.

We’re always getting in trouble, but nopony thinks to ask to see my parents?!

She shook her head to banish the stray thought and decided to focus on the problem at hand. Diamond Tiara, she decided, had forced her hoof. She needed either help or some very good advice. As much as she liked her friends, she knew whatever they came up with would only get them in trouble.

Again.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… I need an adult…” she muttered, while rubbing the sides of her temples.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something peculiar. Ordinarily she wouldn’t give most ponies her undivided attention, unless they had a rainbow hued tail. What she noticed, however, was uncanny. It was a stallion, a pegasus pony, who was walking through the streets. What made the sight so curious was that she had never seen him before; after all, Ponyville was a close-knit town. Everypony basically knew everypony and they especially knew who the town was built for: earth ponies. Not that other ponies weren’t welcome, you just didn’t see them as often. Still, it wasn’t any of that, it was how they looked.

Just like me… holy hay! Scootaloo thought, as her eyes did their best to follow her- him, she wasn’t sure. Her eyes never left, even as the pony gently spread its wings and flew off. Crud, she thought bitterly, watching the one pony that could probably help, fly off in a hurry. Instinctively her wings fluttered, but she remained on the ground. “Stupid wings.”

The pony that had flown off had given her a small idea. Well, it was actually quite a large order, and she doubted it would ever work. Just thinking of Diamond Tiara and the information she probably knew about her, it seemed better than nothing. She considered it more and more, not bothering to think of anything else and then she sighed. Scootaloo propped her body up against a stone wall, just outside town and sighed. “I really do need an adult.”

Her ears began to swivel upon hearing somepony mumble something, followed by a rather loud sniffle. She placed one of her ears onto the wall in an attempt to see where it was coming from. After a few short moments, she was confident, whoever it was, they were crying and appeared to be right behind her. “Hello?” she called out, making the voice stop for but a moment. It was followed by a loud sniffle, as the pony breathed in to calm themselves.

“H- hey,” the voice replied, a familiar sounding one.

Scootaloo climbed over the fence and spotted the filly from before. She looked like a mess, her mane was frazzled and her eyes appeared bloodshot. “Are you okay?”

The filly slowly nodded, not looking happy to be disturbed. All though, Scootaloo noted, she seemed more embarrassed than angry. “Well, it’s just, you were crying and all…”

The unicorn huffed and nodded. “Yeah…”

Scootaloo looked around, making sure nopony was in sight. Considering they were on the edge of town, she figured nopony would be. She took a seat next to the filly and looked away. Now what? she thought dumbly.

“It’s just… it’s not fair,” the unicorn said, huffing again.

Scootaloo nodded. “What’s not--?”

Suddenly, as if being hidden wasn’t important anymore, the filly loudly responded. “It was my ball, but she had to take it and I’ll never get it back and Mommy gave it to me and she’ll just keep taking my stuff and taking more and--”

Quickly Scootaloo brought out both of her front hooves and clamped the filly’s mouth shut, gently. “Whoa there. Okay, who took your ball?”

The filly dashed her hooves aside and huffed. “Rose Petal, she took it.”

Immediately Scootaloo started laughing, but then quickly covered it up upon noticing the filly’s glare. “Heh, okay. Where is she? I bet I can get it back for ya. Or at least help out some.” When Scootaloo finished speaking, she nearly grimaced. This isn’t my problem.I shouldn’t be ticking off bully fillies… she thought, wondering what she was risking.

The filly’s eyes widened in shock, but she quickly got over it, while nodding. “Yeah, okay, that could work.”

Scootaloo’s mouth dropped in amazement. She got over that fast… she noted, noticing no traces of the tears from before. “I’m Scootaloo, who are you?”

“Everypony just calls me Dinky, except my mom… she calls me Muffin or something. Uh, Dinky’s good,” she quickly exclaimed with a blush.

“Alright, Dinky. Take me to this bully of yours.”

Dinky shrugged, then pointed off in the distance. “She’s over by that tree.”

Sure enough, there were several small ponies all perched under a tree. Scootaloo blinked then slowly nodded. “How’d I miss them? Whatever.” Without waiting for a response, she quickly marched over to the group. It was fairly evident that the four ponies there were rather young, like Dinky. They seemed to enjoy playing with a bright purple ball, not paying any mind to Scootaloo. “Um, excuse me?”

Play quickly ceased, with four pairs of eyes homing on her. One in the group, a red coated earth pony looked up and scowled. “What?”

“I want you to give that ball back to Dinky.”

“No.”

It was such a simple reply that Scootaloo could have sworn she felt her IQ dropping. “Uh huh, just give it back please.”

“No.”

Scootaloo rubbed the temples on her head for the second time that day. “It’s not your ball, just give it back.”

“No, no!”

“Oh, you’re gonna throw a tantrum now? I’ve seen Pumpkin Cake act more mature.”

The filly before her pounded her hooves in the grass, clutching the ball close to her body. “No!”

“Okay, how about I just pop the ball then! Then none of you get to play with it!”

The other fillies looked at each other in shock, would she do that? However, the tantrum throwing filly looked up at her and laughed. “Okay!” She exclaimed, seeming ecstatic to see Dinky’s ball broken.

Scootaloo smiled and picked the ball out of her hooves. “Alright then!” She went to pop it, causing Dinky to look on in horror. Then Scootaloo chuckled and began to walk away with the ball in tow.

The brat bully filly looked on in confusion. “Wha...?”

Scootaloo smirked back at her, stopping for a moment. “Oh, don’t look so down; we all get bested sooner or later.” She patted the filly quickly on the head, and then promptly walked off.

Dinky looked on in shock, but smiled when the ball was placed back in her possession.

“There ya go!” Scootaloo said brightly.

“Th-thanks,” was all the filly managed out. They both shared a smile and soon they had departed.

Scootaloo, for the most part, felt extremely happy with herself. She may not have fixed her issues, but there was something noble of fixing somepony else’s. I still need to fix mine, though! After walking away, the weight of her issues starting to push down on her. If she ignored it, she knew things would only get worse from there on out. Diamond Tiara was not the type of pony to just let things from her grasp. In fact the bully filly often pushed things to their limits, causing things to spiral out of control. The spoiled bully would not only do these things, she didn’t care who she took down with her. Getting in trouble with her daddy was nothing for her, but Scootaloo getting in trouble with enough grownups could spell doom for herself.

She had been walking toward Sweet Apple Acres, but slowed down when she reached the entrance. I still don’t know what to do. For a long while, she considered walking in and playing with her friends. She remained still on the edge of the orchard, unmoving. The sun had started to set and she was no close to fixing her worries than she was when she had started. “They’re probably in their homes by now,” she said solemnly. She considered Apple Bloom’s farm home and Sweetie Belle’s… whatever she had. She was never really sure where Sweetie lived, but she always thought she had at least two homes; one with her sister and one with her parents.

However, when Scootaloo thought of home, a literal home, she thought way back. It wasn’t out in some field or even in the clubhouse, where she currently resided. No. It was a far off place, something so alien from Ponyville that it nearly sickened her. I don’t have to go back, she told herself, hoping the memories would stay just that, memories. She looked back at her wings, then flexed them and sighed. Though, sometimes I wish I could…

After sulking for a good ten minutes, she began to shiver. She looked down the path that led into the orchard and nodded. “I better get back…” Her stomach began to rumble a moment later and she sighed. “Great, no food and probably out of bits. Good going, Scoots.” She considered her options and when it came down to it, she had apples. They weren’t the easiest fruit to pluck; their height off the ground being the biggest hurdle to jump through. Ponies often didn’t climb trees, even pegasus ponies tended to stay away from their branches. Scootaloo, however, often climbed trees. “Better than starvin’,” she said, while eyeing the first tree of the night.

She set her scooter aside, and ran at the tree as fast as she could. She jumped at the last moment and sunk her front hooves into the tree’s bark. They stuck, but only barely. Hesitantly she removed her right hoof and then quickly slapped it back onto the tree, just a few inches above. She repeated the gesture for her other hoof and soon she had clambered toward a branch. This branch held a few apples, but she was only after one. Foolishly, she tried to reach for it with her mouth, but that quickly failed when she found her muzzle nearly stuck into some leaves. She sneered at it, then swatted her right hoof right on the apple. It swiveled about, but didn’t drop. She began to sweat while looking down, hoping not to fall. She prayed to Luna, Celestia and a bit of Cadence before removing both her front hooves and swiping at it. She was quick enough to get her hooves back on the trunk just as the apple dropped down below. As quickly as the apple dropped, so did she. Pony hooves were not designed to stick to trees, or indeed for many things. She groaned, feeling the dirt that her side had swiftly smacked into. “Ouch…”

Her apple had a bruise on it, but only on one side. She scarfed most of it down and quickly set off for another one. By the time she was finished, her belly was covered in tree sap with her muzzle frosted with sticky apple residue. “Raw apples bite,” she said. Looking up she shivered, the moon was fully out. She grabbed her scooter and walked off toward the clubhouse.

“C’mon… almost got it…” Scootaloo quickly dashed into some nearby bushes. She heard Sweetie Belle’s voice off in the distance and was not going to take any chances at being caught.

“Which one was it again? Upside down squiggle, then the moon looking thingy?”

What is she doing here? Scootaloo watched the filly canter by, constantly looking up at her horn and muttering things to herself. Occasionally it would spark to life, only to die down as quickly as the sparks flew off.

“I know what it is! Full moon, then the squiggle, then the half moon!” Sweetie announced to the world, as if it were the most natural thing to say. She closed her eyes, stopped walking, then concentrated. Instead of sparks flying from her horn, a dull green glow slowly circled her horn. It looked to be a crude light spell and did a decent job of illuminating everything around her. “I did it! I did it! I did it!” Sweetie hopped around gleefully, unaware of her friend just inches from her, watching.

Woah… Scootaloo sat there dumbstruck. She had only ever seen Sweetie Belle blow sparks, never a full spell.

“I did it! I-- Hey, is that Scootaloo’s scooter?”

Crud…

With the spell still active, Sweetie walked over to it, illuminating the very bush Scootaloo resided in. Scootaloo didn’t dare move a muscle or breathe. Just walk away, it’s just my scooter. It will be fine here! she thought, her mind frantic with anxiety.

“Oh, hi, Scootaloo!” Sweetie quickly looked down and waved, an innocent smile on her face. “What you doing in the bushes?”

Thinking quickly, she stood up and stumbled through the leaves, then touched her scooter. She sighed in relief, mainly from being out of the thorny bushes, but actually for show. “Oh, phew! You found my scooter! I had, uh, lost it, yeah! Heh, don’t you sometimes get lost in the orchard?” She said, nervousness obvious in her voice.

Sweetie tilted her head in confusion and slowly shook it. “Nope! But I’m glad you found it!”

Sweetie blushed, having the attention switched back to her. “Heh, yeah. It’s a long story. Um, but I need to get back to Rarity’s. It’s pretty late. Do you want me to walk ya home?” she said sweetly.

Stifling a yawn, Scootaloo moaned inwardly. No, I want you to walk away so I can go to sleep! she thought in a huff, but then she watched Sweetie’s innocent smile and sighed. “Uh, sure. My house is past Rarity’s, though,” she replied, thinking up a quick lie. She could never get angry with Sweetie Belle, she doubted if anypony could. Plus she knew her friend was just trying to be friendly.

“Okay, let’s go!”

Great… As they walked with each other, something nagged at the back of the pegasus’s mind. “Hey, Sweetie?” The unicorn hummed in response. “Where’d you two go, anyway?”

“Oh, well, we didn’t want to get caught in one of Twilight’s lectures on… not exciting things. So, we headed back to the clubhouse. But Applejack stopped us on the way and said Apple Bloom had chores to do. I went back to Rarity’s and, well, yeah.” She motioned to her still glowing horn, hinting that Rarity had something to do with it.

Scootaloo nodded. “Cool.”

“What did you and Twilight end up talking about?”

Scootaloo blushed and looked away. “Family stuff. She wanted to do a report on my family line. Something to do with her studies under the princess and something that’s important to her too. I don’t know. I told her what I knew and then I was out of there… like a million hours later.”

Sweetie smiled smugly. “And that’s why we left. Sorry, Scoots.”

She sighed, feeling as if her issues were a million miles away, for now. “Whatever, it’s… fine.”

They giggled together and talked for a while. If there was one thing that Ponyville reminded her of home, it was her close friends. Sweetie Belle was kind, honest, funny and sometimes brave. She would say awesome, but that word was reserved for Rainbow Dash. When they got nearer to the center of town, Sweetie spoke up nervously.

“Uh, are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home? My spell could help and it is pretty dark,” she noted, looking around.

She shook her head frantically. “Pfft, I’m fine! Really!” She waved her hoof lazily, indicating things were fine. I could use a warming spell, though.

Sweetie quirked a brow at her, but nodded in agreement. “Okay.”

The two quickly split apart, with Scootaloo walking past the boutique, toward Twilight’s library in the general direction of where she claimed her house was. Sweetie waved, but couldn’t help thinking something was off as she knocked on Rarity’s front door. I don’t remember any houses being that way…

When Scootaloo was out of earshot, she kicked her scooter into high gear. She was aiming to scoot all around the half side of town, to get back to the one place where she could safely rest. She felt exhausted, as her wings buzzed slower than usual. “I just had to be nice and walk Sweetie home… ugh.”

She had been leaning on the handlebars for support. Out of nowhere, both front wheels broke off, sending her tumbling face first into the dirt. She didn’t even have a chance to scream before her head hit the ground and-

Chapter Four: A Fun Awakening

Feeling extremely groggy for perhaps what was the second time that week, Scootaloo cracked her eyes open. Headaches are getting worse… Her thoughts felt slow and muddled. For the longest time, she simply laid in her comfy bed, not wishing to crack her eyes open again. Why do they keep happening?! she thought. She might have panicked, but the pure comfort of a fluffy mattress shoved her panicked thoughts aside. “This is nice..” she muttered under her breath. “Nice bed…”

Her eyes promptly shot open, her mind now fully alert. Bed?! Her head and body sprang up, causing her wings to snap to attention. She felt even more confused upon the sight that greeted her. She was in what appeared to be a mare’s bedroom. The reason she came to this conclusion was the grey colored pegasus who slept on the other side of the room happened to be a mare. She slept in her own bed, which appeared to be quite a bit larger than the one Scootaloo was currently occupying. Who is she? She shook her head, figuring she wouldn’t get any answers just laying around.

Getting up, she took in her surroundings. It appeared to be a rather standard bedroom. A few dressers off in the distance, a window whose light shone all around and finally, a few beds. I could just leave. Nodding to herself, she hopped out of the bed and walked over to the only door in the room.

“Oh, you’re awake,” the mare said, her voice barely audible.

Or I could get caught and be screwed. Her heart raced and for a single moment she considered bolting and running out. However, she didn’t move.

The mare stood up and stretched her body. “My daughter found you passed out. I guess your scooter caused you a nasty fall.”

“I--”

The mare continued speaking, apparently not hearing Scootaloo. “I do appreciate what you did for her. Sure, it was just a ball; but it still meant something to Dinky. Having somepony standing up for her, I mean.”

“Oh, uh, you’re welcome. So… I need to get going, my parents are probably pretty worried by now,” she said, laughing nervously and avoiding the mare’s gaze.

“Hmm,” the mare hummed, but didn’t seem to agree or disagree.

“So, bye!” Scootaloo said hastily and went to open the door, but found it locked. Awkwardly, she fumbled with the lock; all the while the mare didn’t move or blink. When the door was finally open, the mare spoke.

“Your scooter’s downstairs. I’ll go and get it,” she announced, then went to her nightstand and fumbled around for something.

The filly waved her hoof, shaking her head. “No, that’s okay I-- woah,” she paused and tilted her head to examine the mare’s glasses, ”heh, big glasses.”

The mare nodded. “They have to be, they help focus my eyes. I don’t know if you noticed, but I have some pretty terrible eyes. Can make it quite difficult to focus on things without ‘em.” Scootaloo had noticed as the eye had appeared to be trying to escape from its socket. However, with the glasses on her pupils quickly corrected themselves.

“Oh,” she replied awkwardly.

Seeing as the filly didn’t wish to talk, the mare stood up and swiftly walked past her. “My name’s Ditzy, by the way; although some ponies call me Bubbles. I believe Dinky said yours was Scootaloo?”

“Yeah…” Buckin’ great! She knows my name! So… screwed!

She followed the mare through a hallway and down some stairs. Quickly spotting her scooter, she sighed. “Well, I’m not taking that to school,” she quipped, examining the damage. “I bet Bloom can fix it, at least.” She looked outside, then, in a panicked state, looked back to Bubbles. “What time is it?!”

“Almost eight. Do you need a ride to the schoolhouse? I’d be happy to offer.” The mare knelt down, motioning for the filly to ride on her back.

Scootaloo hesitated, but knew that she couldn’t afford to be late again. She nodded. After grabbing her bag, which thankfully looked intact, she deposited the loose scooter parts inside. Then she grabbed everything, including the rest of her scooter and hopped onto the mare’s back. “Thanks, I need to get there now.”

Bubbles hesitated herself. She didn’t like that the filly appeared alone or that no parents seemed to show up in the middle of the night, looking for their daughter. She wished to question her on it, but she figured she did owe the filly. “Alright, Scootaloo, hop on.” She bucked the door wide open and shot out into the sky. While the mare wasn’t as quick or elegant as Rainbow Dash in her maneuvers, she felt Bubbles was well attuned for flight. “I’m so glad I found these glasses, it used to be a hassle just to walk around! Heh, ponies had started to think I just couldn’t fly straight!” She yelled out.

“You don’t say?” Scootaloo said back nervously.

The trip was short, with Bubbles landing near a group of other school children. “There ya go, sweetie. Right on time.”

Some of the other children, including Sweetie Belle glanced over. “Uh, thanks. And, um, thanks for last night…” Scootaloo uttered nervously.

“Sure. Are you sure that you’re okay?” The mare’s voice stopped Scootaloo just as she was trying to walk off to join her friends.

“Y-yeah, I’m great. No bruises or anything. Was just a rough tumble is all.” She glanced back to the mare and nearly buckled from the gaze. “I should get to class, heh. Like, now.”

Bubbles nodded. “Right. Have a nice day then.” WIthout waiting for a response, the mare flew off, worry etched all over her face.

Scootaloo sighed and walked up to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, both giving her quirked brows. “Long story. Just a friend, she saw I was running late and her mom offered me a ride,” she whispered, just out of Diamond Tiara’s hearing range.

“Oh alright, Ah was wondering. Anyway, we should head inside before we get in trouble… again.”

Agreeing with the farm filly, Scootaloo nodded and walked past Diamond Tiara. The filly didn’t blink, but kept her gaze on her. Scootaloo could only imagine what the filly was thinking. However, the bell rang, making her ran back in with her friends to avoid being tardy.

Inside, everypony found their seats, and the tension the filly had been feeling a moment before vanished. She was with her friends and Diamond Tiara could not touch her… for now, at least. She’d be stupid to try something, again, in class.

With their projects out of the way, class wasn’t as interesting or exciting. Forced to study in silence, the students soon began growing anxious for a reprieve. Not that it was a punishment, but being away from recess sure felt like it to most. Diamond Tiara kept glancing back at Scootaloo, a nervous expression on her face. Scootaloo noted the nervousness, thinking it had something to do with Bubbles. She smiled inwardly. Maybe she thinks the mailmare is my mom. That would shut her up… wait, no. I played along; so why would I do that if I had a mom? Drat! She’s just even more suspicious now! Wanting to bang her head on her desk, she simply sighed and looked away. She was probably in even more trouble, figuring the bully filly would only use this against her in the future. I bet she would out herself and get in trouble just to get me in worse trouble. Bitter thoughts started to take over, making the pegasus filly feel sick all over.

The bell eventually rang, causing the teacher to jump in her seat. “Oh, recess, students!”

Scootaloo was the last one out. As she walked through the doorway, she caught a glimpse of Silver Spoon speaking quietly with the pink bully. Scootaloo sulked and walked over to her friends, trying to keep the misery out of her features. Diamond Tiara, however, was smiling wickedly.

“This is even better than I imagined! No wonder she played along with my ploy! She isn’t homeless, she lives with that stupid mailmare! She’s embarrassed of her mom, of course!” Diamond exclaimed with glee.

Silver slowly nodded in understanding. “So… how’s the therapy going?”

Diamond scowled, looking away from her friend. She looked around then quietly muttered a response. “...Fine! Can we please focus on that pegasus brat now?!”

Silver backed away from her friend’s snappy reply and slowly nodded again. “I guess, but I don’t really see how this helps us.”

Diamond tilted her head, feeling genuinely confused by her friend’s confusion. How could she not see what she did? It was perfect!

Silver then snickered a bit. “Although I would like to see her fall flat on her face for once. Those three are always being so… well, obnoxious!” she said as she tossed her mane, practically fuming as much as Diamond.

Diamond, seeing her opportunity to strike, seized it. “I know! What do you think I’ve been trying to do? If we succeed in humiliating her in front of everypony, she won't want to show her face in public ever again. With her out of the way, those three will split up like that!”

Not feeling one hundred percent sure on the plan, Silver Spoon replied back hesitantly, “I guess; but what did you have in mind? It’s not like you have any proof that the mailmare is her mother or whatever’s going on. You were lucky that other scheme of yours worked.”

“Yeah, you still owe me a shake for that,” Diamond pointed out, causing the other filly to growl. “I’ll think of something. We just have to follow her, find out everything about her... What’s her name?”

“I think it’s Ditzy,” Silver said while nodding to agree.

Diamond snorted. “Ditzy, stupid name. She looks stupid too. Shouldn’t be too difficult to tail her.”

Silver Spoon glanced over to Scootaloo who was with her friends. “What about her?”

Diamond shook her head. “We can figure something out. I already got under her skin, but if we push too much then we’ll get detention again,” she said, scowling. “Stupid teacher.”

On the other side of the playground, Scootaloo was seated with her two friends. Sweetie Belle was busy practicing her light spell, though, in the daylight it looked more like sparks than anything.

“It’s still mighty impressive, Sweetie. Is Rarity gonna teach you anything else?” Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie extinguished the light from her horn, then shrugged. “Maybe. She told me to just keep practicing this. I think she wants me to master it until it’s like instinct or something.”

Apple Bloom nodded while suddenly taking on a sour mood. “Yeah… that’s what my big sis said about buckin’. That I’ll get it in time and to just practice on small trees,” she said. She dropped to her hindquarters on the grass and pouted.

“Why do you want to buck apples so badly anyway?” Scootaloo asked without thinking. “Wouldn’t it be cooler to learn how to make crazy magical potions from Zecora? Or be an adventurer like Daring Do?”

Apple Bloom hesitated before speaking as something Scootaloo said bothered her. “Well, apple buckin’ is cool. I don’t know what my special talent is gonna be, but I do live on a farm, ya know. It couldn’t hurt to learn some buckin’.”

Scootaloo’s wing involuntarily twitched. “If it’s anything like flying, then good luck, sister.”

Apple Bloom scowled.

Sensing a fight, Sweetie Belle smiled and hugged them both. “C’mon, girls. Don’t be like that. I figured out some of my magic, so I know you both can figure out bucking and flying.”

“You had your sister teach you. Applejack kept getting distracted with her work. She treats me like a little foal. I hate it!”

Sweetie kept on hugging and smiling while nodding in understanding. “Try Big Mac then or maybe Granny Smith!” she suggested.

Apple Bloom hummed, clearly interested. “I could try.”

Sweetie beamed, then turned to face Scootaloo. Her face instantly scrunched up in concentration, and she froze.She knew Scootaloo’s situation was a tad different. Sweetie Belle didn’t know Scootaloo’s parents, only that they were always extremely busy. They were out. Always out. Rainbow Dash had not been easy to talk to, and when she did converse, it wasn’t normally about flying tips. She was out, too. Still, she had to say something. “Uh, maybe you could try finding a pegasus to speak to?” she suggested tentatively. “I know you say your parents are always busy and maybe they’re not the best fliers,” she said even more tentatively. Scootaloo winced at this. “I, uh, I just mean, Diamond Tiara said--”

“Yeah, yeah. They’re busy anyway. And who would I get to speak to?”

Sweetie thought back to the morning. “Why not Ditzy Doo? She flew you to class. You know her, right?”

Scootaloo shrugged. “Sort of. I don’t think flying is her special talent, I wanted somepony skilled in flight to teach me. Like Rainbow Dash.”

Sweetie shrugged. “Rarity’s special talent isn’t in magic and she taught me. Just give her a chance and see what happens,” she suggested. When she saw Scootaloo’s mood hadn’t improved, she nudged her slightly with her body. “Or you could keep moping, ask nopony and learn nothing.”

The pegasus smiled slightly and bumped her back. “Fine. I guess I can ask Ditzy.”

“Yay!” She cheered and hugged her friends again. “Alright, girls, let’s Pinkie Promise not to go hunting for our marks until we all know how to use our own magic. Agreed?”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other skeptically, then slowly nodded. They were going to question Sweetie on it, but it slowly started to sink in. Cutie Marks could wait if they didn’t know how to use their own race’s magic. It just seemed so sensible.

“Alright, I Pinkie Promise,” Scootaloo said while doing the weird motions they had all grown accustomed to.

“I Pinkie Promise too,” Bloom said slowly.

Off in the distance they heard a mare’s voice that sounded just barely above a whisper. When they strained their ears together, they heard one word that sounded vaguely like ‘Forever!’.

Apple Bloom looked down to her flank longingly. “That doesn’t mean we have to stop hangin’ out, though, right?”

“Of course not! I just figured since you two are both so keen to learn how to use your magic, it would help out,” Sweetie exclaimed happily.

They all agreed, and together they watched Sweetie practice her magic until recess was over.

The school bell rang and everypony was quickly ushered outside. The three crusaders shared a smile then nodded, each going in their own direction. Apple Bloom ran off toward her home, thinking about what Sweetie had said. “Gotta find Big Mac…”

Her sheer determination pushed her hooves further and faster than she ever thought possible. Soon she had run all over the apple fields, through her house, and past their secret headquarters. Eventually she slumped down against a tree and sighed. “Where the hay is he?!”

Just then Applejack started walking by. “Where’s who?”

“Big Mac. Have you seen him?”

“What for?” she said.

Apple Bloom resisted the urge to groan, but she growled inwardly. Why do I always need a reason? she thought bitterly. “I just wanted to ask him something.”

“Hmm, well, he’s out gettin’ supplies, sorry. What ya need?”

She considered saying nothing, but knew Applejack wouldn’t like that. “I just wanted to ask him some stuff about buckin’.”

Applejack cocked her head and nodded. “I told you to just practice on small trees. You don’t need to know anythin’ fancy yet. Just buck.”

Apple Bloom’s ears folded down in disappointment and she nodded. “Okay.”

Her big sis smiled proudly. “Just keep at it, it’ll come,” she explained coolly then walked off, leaving her sister be.

Apple Bloom bucked the tree behind her, then winced in pain. “Ow.” She eventually stood up and cantered back to her house. Seated on the front porch, as she often was, was her grandmother: Granny Smith.

“Woo, why the long look, little filly?” she asked.

Apple Bloom looked back toward all the trees longingly. “I keep tryin’ to get AJ to tell me how to buck. All she keeps tellin’ me is take it easy or some junk,” she replied with a huff.

“Take it easy?! Ha!” The old mare cackled a bit then calmed down when she saw the filly’s gawking expression. “Why, if I had a bit everytime young AJ went out to practice, only to come back disappointed, I’d be one rich ol’ coot. When she was your age, she didn’t know the first thing ‘bout buckin’. However, one day instinct just kicked in and she got it. She’ll tell you that it’s just her special talent, but I know better,” Granny Smith exclaimed with Apple Bloom listening intently now. “Her talent may be with apples, but us Earth Ponies always have instinct. Trouble is not all of us listen to it, we just let nature take its course.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Granny smiled as it wasn’t often others came to listen to her stories. “Applejack is quite skilled at buckin’, farmin’, cookin’ and probably a dozen other things. She’s a special mare, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her flaws. If you ask me, plenty a’ Earth Ponies fail to listen to themselves, to their inner magic,” she clarified.

“Isn’t she using magic when she works in the trees? Isn’t that how it works?”

The mare nodded. “Well, sure, but that will only get you so far.” She then sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I tried teachin’ them both, Big Mac and AJ, about the finer details of Earth Pony magic. Not that they wouldn’t listen, but with a few folks, er, leavin’ us, they had to pick up the slack. When I saw just how talented they were… suddenly teachin’ them didn’t matter much. They’re happy, I’m happy. Why bother?”

Apple Bloom slowly nodded her head, mostly understanding what she said. “Uh huh, I guess that makes sense, but--”

The mare then suddenly grinned and raised her hoof to get the filly to shush. “‘Course, it’s not too late for you, little missy. Do you wanna learn the finer points in Earth Pony magic?”

“Uh,” Apple Bloom paused to think it over. When she couldn’t think of a reason to say no, she nodded excitedly. I’ll be buckin’ in no time! Why didn’t I think of this before?!

“Excellent! Been waiting to do this for ages.”

Apple Bloom then suddenly frowned. Why wait? “But how come you didn’t tell me this stuff before?”

The mare smiled even wider, then slowly stood up. “Cause you weren’t ready,” she said coolly.

“And I’m ready now?”

“Yep.”

“Oh… okay then. When do we start?”

The mare stretched her bones with a satisfying crack. She then took a seat on her chair and sighed. “As soon as I’ve had my nap.”

The filly groaned over the sound of a snoozing mare.

Scootaloo walked back toward Bubbles’ house. She tried knocking, but there was no answer. She didn’t know her mail route, so she figured she would just wait for her to come back. Sighing, she took a seat on the front porch and waited. She watched various ponies canter by in silence. Her mind began to daydream. What would it be like to finally get her wings working? She had always imagined Rainbow Dash teaching her to fly, but would it matter if it wasn’t her? As long as somepony could teach flight, she could finally fly alongside her big sister!

If these buzzers of mine would finally start lifting me, then I bet Rainbow Dash would notice!

Eventually, she became bored enough to attempt to do a little homework. She spent the time doing on her history reading assignment. For once, it actually made the time fly by; and soon, the sun had slowly started to set.

“Scootaloo?” Bubbles said.

Upon hearing the voice, she shut her book and looked up with a smile. “Hi, uh, I was wondering if you could help me with something?” she said cheerfully, hoping it would help.

The mare nodded then landed. “Sure, what did you need? Uh, you weren’t waiting for me all day, were you?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “Just a little bit, I was doing my homework anyway. I was wondering if you knew anything about flying? My parents are always too busy to help teach me and I’m kind of tired of being stuck on the ground all the time.”

“Oh… I see.” The mare took a deep breath before speaking calmly. “Scootaloo… I’m not the best flyer. I don’t do stunts or speed or even weather. I enjoy being a mailmare because I get to meet lots of interesting ponies and because it’s a breeze to do when you can fly. I…” she trailed off upon seeing the filly’s downtrodden expression. “I suppose I can try to teach you something, though I won't promise instant flying.”

Scootaloo instantly beamed then hopped onto her hooves. “C’mon then, time’s a wastin’!”

She smiled back with a nervous expression, then invited her into the house. “Right. Dinky should be home soon, so she’ll probably end up watching us. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Uh, I guess not. So, how do I fly?” Scootaloo said bluntly.

The mare chuckled then dropped her saddlebag on a nearby couch. “First, we get rid of our bags because they’ll just weigh us down.”

Scootaloo promptly dropped her bag, then looked up expectantly.

“Right. So, do you ever do any stretches?” the mare said then began to stretch her wings out to demonstrate.

“Stretches?” Scootaloo shook her head, but watched her, fascinated. Bubbles would bend down and extend her wings out, then she would shake them a bit. When she was finished with the right wing, she did the other. “Not really…”

“Well, they’re a great way to get the blood flowing. They’re a lifesaver when you’re dead tired in the morning and need to fly somewhere quickly,” she explained.

Upon hearing the word fly, Scootaloo’s eyes lit up. As expected by the mare, Scootaloo began to quickly copy her. It felt weird shaking her wings all about and bending in a weird position, but if it helped her fly then she could not care less. I’d kiss a toad if it helped me fly.

“Good. If nothing else, it will prevent your wings from cramping so much. That’s important.”

Scootaloo bend down again and repeated the motions. “Why?”

“You ever get tired after a few seconds of trying to fly?”

Scootaloo blushed and nodded. She knew that feeling all too well.

“Don’t worry about it, all fillies go through that phase. If you cramp less, then hopefully you can stay aloft for longer. It’s worth a shot anyway.”

It made sense to her, so she kept stretching for a good ten minutes. When it was over with, Bubbles took her out to the backyard so they could practice. The two stood in front of each other.

“So,” the mare began, “let me see what you’ve got.”

Scootaloo didn’t hesitate in jumping into the air while she flapped her wings in a vain attempt to stay afloat. She did manage to stay above ground for a full four seconds, one more than the last time she had tried, but eventually fell flat on her belly. “Ow.”

The mare smiled and helped her to her hooves. “Okay, not too bad, but perhaps you could go about it another way. Instead of just jumping and flapping, try just the last part,” the mare said sagely.

Scootaloo quirked her brow then shook her head. “But that never works!” she protested. “If it did, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Just try,” Bubbles urged quietly.

She sighed and then began to gently flap her wings. Up and down they went, but just as she had suspected, her body did not take off. Feeling stupid, she slowed down to a stop.

“Keep going, do it faster,” the mare commanded.

Scootaloo sighed once more, but did what she said. Her wings began to flap harder and harder to the point of a tiny gust of wind beginning to fan Bubbles from the distance.

“Good! Now, just a bit harder. Really push those wings!”

Scootaloo grunted and pushed until a slight buzzing noise could be heard by both. The mare shook her head as she mentally compared the filly to a hummingbird. “That’s too fast and you’re not flapping them hard enough. Try and slow down some, but with each flap you need to really mean it.”

Instead of listening, the filly stopped in her tracks. She looked up to the mare in disbelief. She was meaning each flap! She almost got angry with Bubbles, but remembered that she had asked for her help. Begged was more like it… but what do I do?! she thought desperately.

Bubbles coughed which shook the filly from her thoughts. “What’s wrong, Scootaloo?”

The young pegasus looked down while absentmindedly playing with her hooves. “My wings always do that…” she mumbled, but Bubbles heard quite well.

“I see, that is quite odd,” Bubbles noted out loud. “Do… you perhaps get nervous when you try and fly?”

Scootaloo scoffed and began giggling. “Scared? I’ve done crazier things than just flying,” she said without thinking, “Like, this one time, me and the other Crusaders were at Ghastly Gorge and…” she trailed off, however, when she noticed that the mare was paying close attention to her.

Bubbles nodded. “Go on, uh, what were you doing there?”

The filly gave her a flat look. “...Never mind. The point is, no, I’m not afraid to fly. Why?”

She smiled and shrugged. “Just a hunch of mine is all. I’ve seen ponies mess up their flight patterns when they get afraid, so I figured the same might apply for fillies trying to learn. But getting back on topic, you have to try and cut out the twitchy flapping. Your wings are moving too fast to distribute your magic well enough for flight.”

Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion. Did flying work that way? Wings would move magic around and then you would be flying? Was it as simple as that?

Not noticing the confusion, the mare continued. “Of course, that’s just the basics. Like I said before, I’m no expert in flight. Once you get off the ground, you still need to maneuver your body properly. Sure, I learned how to do all of that; but after a while it just becomes instinct. It’s kind of hard to just teach,” she admitted.

Of course it wasn’t that simple, nothing ever was. It’s my wings, they’re the issue! If I can just learn how to use them and get off the ground then I can figure the other stuff out as I go, Scootaloo concluded inwardly. She had never been more sure of anything in her life. Getting off the ground was the issue, not the other stuff. Besides, it worked before. Why should it matter now? she thought further. She had no answer for that and knew that if she had had an answer, then there would be no point in asking for help. It worked before. “Can you teach me how to stop buzzing them?” she tried.

The mare pondered the question for a good while. Eventually she shook her head. “No. I have ideas, but most of them probably aren’t safe to try. I think, for now, you should try and practice flapping without buzzing. Take things slow until you’re sure that those wings can move fast and strong.”

She looked at her wings and flapped them a few times while making a conscious effort to not buzz. “Are you sure that will work?”

“I’m certain it will help. Just try practicing on and off for a few days. If after then you can’t stay afloat for more than five seconds… then I’m afraid you’re going to need a tutor. Your parents can probably hire one from Cloudsdale,” she finished with a smile.

Scootaloo’s smile wavered a bit, but she nodded. “Okay, so three days?” she said.

“Yes, I believe that should be enough. Practice until then. Come back in three days and show me what you’ve got.”

Scootaloo looked skeptical, but something about the mare’s instructions seemed to make sense. If buzzing her wings wasn’t helping, then why not try it another way? She nodded and grabbed her bag. After thanking the mare, she was soon on her way back to the clubhouse. She had some practicing to do.

Chapter Five: Magic is not all Equal

Sweetie Belle felt bored. Once her friends had departed, she realized the mistake in her planning. Her friends would thank her when they, too, could fine-tune their magic, sure; but that meant no crusading for a while. She had mastered her light spell (for the most part, anyway), but without her friends by her side, she felt lonely.

“Maybe if I go help them…” she muttered, and debated with herself if this was the right choice. The issue was she didn’t know too much about Pegasus or Earth Pony magic. She considered showing up anyway to cheer them on, but that meant she would have to choose between both of them. As she was lost in thought, Sweetie noticed the library off in the distance. Her thoughts melted away as she scrunched up her muzzle in concentration. “Or, maybe I can learn more magic!”

Discord himself couldn’t stop Sweetie Belle from nearly tearing down Twilight’s door and searching for her. She had never thought that learning magic could be so easy and be this fun, and she wanted more. Sweetie felt like Twilight on a high, eager to learn anything and everything about a subject. Even if she only learned one new spell today, that would make her happy. Not only would she become more powerful and be able to do more, but it would hopefully encourage her friends to keep going with their training. Crusaders stick together, even when apart! Rule thirty four… wait, what are the other thirty three rules?

She shook her head of those thoughts and looked around the public reading area. “Where is everypony?” she wondered aloud. She didn’t have to wait long for an answer when the door to her right nearly exploded off its hinges; but either by luck or magic, it remained in place. Even so, a trail of black smoke wafted from the edges of the door which was shortly followed by the distinct sound of coughing. Panicking, Sweetie dashed over to the door and slammed it open. “Hello?! Are you okay, Twilight?” she called down.

For a few moments, all she could hear was more coughing, and all she could see was more smoke billowing out. Sweetie Belle considered running out to get help, when Twilight finally called back. “...Sweetie Belle? Is that you?”

“Yeah, I--” Her voice trailed off as a violent glow encased all the smoke, which then quickly vanished. Slowly, the image of Twilight Sparkle came into view who looked at her awkwardly. “Uh, I was just checking if you were okay.”

Twilight looked around her lab. Tables were knocked over, beakers were destroyed, and pieces of paper were scattered (with various degrees of fire damage) everywhere; the place was a huge mess. She chuckled nervously, then slowly nodded. “Oh, yes, just a few… miscalculations in some experiments,” she said, subtly moving a rear hoof to extinguish a still-smoldering piece of paper. “Sorry if I scared you,” she hastily replied as she summoned up a bit of magic to clean things up.

“Oh, that’s alright. Do you need any help?” Sweetie Belle replied while watching the mare clean up unknown liquids off the ground.

Twilight looked at all of the mess, then quickly shook her head. “Uh, I think I’ll be alright, but thank you. Was there something you needed? A book, maybe?”

Sweetie Belle looked back at the massive assortment of books. She considered asking for a book on magic, but then realized how dumb that sounded. I can have, like, the queen of magic teach me some! she thought excitedly. That’s way better than a book! She then cleared her throat and gave a shy smile toward Twilight. “Uh, no, thank you; but I was wondering if you could help me learn more magic?”

The mare smiled and nodded without thinking. “I’d be happy to-- wait, since when do you know magic?” she asked, looking at the filly and raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

What’s wrong with knowing magic? she wondered. “Rarity taught me how to make my horn glow, see!” she exclaimed, then quickly followed the motions of the pretend runes in her head. Eventually, her horn sparked then ignited green, which bathed the library floor with a dull glow.

Twilight sighed in relief and admired the glow. “Oh, that’s wonderful, Sweetie Belle. I was worried you might have tried to make up your own magic or do something… with the Crusaders involving magic,” she said hastily as Sweetie glared at her indignantly. “But since you’re learning from a unicorn, then, yes, I would be happy to teach you some. If anything, it will give me a break from all of my experiments. It’s not as if they’re going that well,” she said, muttering the last part.

Sweetie jumped into the air and cheered. “Great! When do we start?”

Twilight set aside the final beaker, then shut the door behind her with a quick burst of magic as she cantered back into the public reading room. “As soon as I find out what you know. So, what did Rarity teach you?”

Sweetie recalled all she knew and explained it to Twilight. The mare nodded, thinking it over. “Okay, you know the basics at least. That’s good, because most spells require them.” She then chuckled a bit. “You know when I was a filly, most unicorns only focused on one talent. Mine was magic, so Princess Celestia taught me all she could; but it wasn’t really until recently that I was able to focus it all so I could readapt old spells to make new ones.”

“Like teleporting?!” Sweetie blurted out.

Twilight blushed. “Well… that was sort of a happy accident. I misunderstood an assignment that Princess Celestia gave me, and I spent the next three weeks researching all of these spells and tomes and runes until I had memorized teleportation perfectly. She was so impressed that she forgot all about our old assignment, as I had reached far beyond what she could even hope for. At least, I think that’s what she thought…”

“Can you teach me that? And can we go on crazy adventures and stuff, just like you did?!” Sweetie started excitedly bouncing around the room, just thinking of the possibilities.

Twilight frowned, not fully understanding what the filly meant. Perhaps she thinks I will teach her all of my magic? Like I’d end up as her teacher? While that would be wonderful, I don’t think I would have time… She shook her head clear of those thoughts and focused back on the bouncing filly. “Well, I can’t teach you magic like that,” she said as Sweetie’s mane deflated. “Not exactly like it, anyway,” she amended. “I can promise you to teach you all I know about the fundamentals. And, hopefully, you can figure out spells of your own! That’s the fun of magic. I just wish more unicorns would experiment.”

Sweetie nodded. “So, if I know stuff like the basics, I could teleport?”

Twilight sighed and nodded her head ever slightly. “Maybe. When I’m finished teaching you what I can, I’m sure you could research and experiment on your own. I’m afraid I can’t be your permanent teacher, but I can guide you in the right direction. How does that sound?” she said gently.

Sweetie weighed her options and figured it was much better than pestering her sister all the time. “Well, alright. Let’s do it!”

“If you’re this enthusiastic about learning, then you’ll be teleporting in no time! But, why did you want to so badly?” Twilight said with her head tilted in confusion.

Sweetie snorted in response. “So then I can be like Sir Squishy the teleporting cupcake knight! Duh!” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

For a few moments nothing was said and then Twilight slowly nodded. “You’ve been hanging around with Pinkie Pie too much.”

“Why does everypony keep saying that?!”

A few moments later Sweetie and Twilight had cleared out the library and were seated across from one another at a table. On the table were some of Sweetie’s runes along with a set from Twilight, though Twilight’s had symbols on them that were unfamiliar to Sweetie Belle.

“Okay, you know about summoning up mana, focusing on your spell, and casting the spell.”

“Yeah, Rarity said it was like willing what you want to make it happen,” Sweetie said while doing her best to memorize it all.

“Yes, but that will only get you so far. For example, you can’t just channel mana then want to teleport and it will happen. If that was true then, well, I wouldn’t need years of magical training. No, when it comes down to it there are many different schools of magic--”

“Oh, you mean imprints?!” Sweetie interrupted excitedly.

“Yes,” Twilight said slowly. “How much do you know about them?”

Sweetie shrugged. “Just that. Rarity got too busy to teach me any more than that.”

“I see. Well, imprints are certainly important. They don’t technically mean anything until you’ve gotten your special talent.” Sweetie’s ears perked up instantly, and Twilight could tell that she now had the filly’s full attention. She continued, “This is because until you get one, you will still be finding your way. Figuring out which magic you are proficient in is very important. In fact it can be dangerous if you experiment too much in one magic but aren’t well versed with it,” Twilight explained and shuddered a bit for Sweetie to see.

“Why? Have bad things happened to you?”

Twilight coughed uncomfortably and then gestured with her head, pointing back towards the lab door.

It took Sweetie a few moments to understand, but when she did, she gasped. “What were you doing?”

Twilight sighed. “While I am well versed in magic, as it’s my imprint, after all, that doesn’t mean all magic. You see, I was trying to make some very delicate potions, using my horn to enchant them. I’ve seen Zecora do it without a horn, but she seems to have had a lifetime of practicing. Something went wrong and, well, you saw the rest,” she said bitterly.

“And what If I told you that even Twilight can reach her limits?” a voice echoed in Sweetie’s head. “Wow. Well, what was the potion supposed to do?”

“It was meant to refill one’s mana font, when it’s low or you’re straining for more. It could be very useful when a unicorn has grown too tired from over exerting their own magic,” she said and then noticed Sweetie giving her an odd look. “I guess Rarity didn’t explain that you can run out of magic?”

Sweetie shrugged. “She just said everypony has their limits.”

“Quite right. When you reach yours, you’ll know. It will feel like a headache, or worse, and that means you should stop until you’ve rested. That potion would fix it, but no matter. I’ll figure it out, even if potions aren’t my, well, special talent.”

“But you said that could be dangerous…” Sweetie pointed out as she thought it over.

Twilight hesitated before speaking. “Yes, it can be. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, though, if you truly wish to overcome your limitation,” Twilight said, as if reciting something from memory. Then she shook her head. “But for now, let’s get back to these runes. You know of the glowing spell, but let’s try something a bit trickier.”

Sweetie examined the new runes and squinted at them.

“You can channel magic and use it, but have you tried holding that magic in first?”

Sweetie shook her head. What was she talking about? It had never occurred to the filly that she even do that. What would it do? Would it give her more magic?

“I see you're confused. Well, now’s about as good as time of any to reveal one of my runes to you,” she said, and she passed Sweetie Belle another stone.

On the stone, Sweetie could see a tiny circle which was followed by a slightly larger one and many others. “I don’t get it.”

“Right. It’s the echo rune, and it basically means to channel even more magic, to strengthen it. If you can hold in your channeled magic for a while before casting, then you can make it more powerful. This is important as most useful spells require quite a bit more magic than a simple light spell would.”

“Okay… do you think Rarity does this when she’s making dresses?” she wondered.

Twilight hummed a bit, then shook her head. “I’m not sure how she does it exactly. I believe Rarity simply paces herself, since her magic can be active for quite a while. Just making a simple dress can take her hours sometimes,” she explained. Of course, that has more to do with her being a perfectionist than anything else… Twilight added silently. Aloud, she said, “I’m sure the more she keeps it active, the stronger her horn has gotten. She’s built up more endurance, but that’s not what we’re trying to do here. Not yet, anyway. Let’s see if you can hold in your magic for a bit longer before casting the light spell. Try it, and see what happens.”

Sweetie Belle figured it would just make the light brighter, but she gamely tried anyway. Channeling up as much magic as she could, she waited a bit. A slight tingling sensation could be felt through her horn. That must be it! She beamed and concentrated harder on wanting light, on lighting up the whole library! However, instead of light even happening, she felt a whoosh of wind roll over her and her magic died out.

To Twilight all she saw was a slight purple glowing bit of magic explode in Sweetie’s face. When the sparkles had cleared, Sweetie’s fur, at least around her horn and muzzle, wasn't exactly alabaster-colored anymore. Purple was all she saw; and from the confused look on the filly’s face, Twilight could tell she hadn’t noticed just yet. “Uh, heh heh. Perhaps that was too much magic,” she said cautiously.

Sweetie shook her head in confusion. “What happened?”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, but I think you just experienced a bit of magical backlash. Magic isn’t perfect, you see, and too much channeled for such a simple spell can have drastic changes. I didn’t think this would happen, or I would have cautioned you to only channel a little bit more. Hmm, perhaps your horn channels it much faster than mine can. That can make things tricky…” she muttered, trailing off as her mind wandered.

Sweetie frowned. “Magic can be slow or fast?”

Twilight snapped out of her thoughts, then quickly nodded. “Oh, yes, not all magic works the same for each pony. It’s not an exact science and, like I said before, a lot of it is experimentation. That’s important. I think, from now on, you should practice in a mirror. That way, you can tell if your horn is glowing too brightly. The brighter the horn, the more magic you’ve channeled in. For what I’m going to be teaching you, we only need a little more magic. Alright?”

Sweetie groaned and grabbed her head, as if nursing a headache. “That hurt too! How long is it gonna take me to get better?” she whined and pouted while looking away.

Twilight smiled then patted Sweetie on the back. “Just takes a little time. The pain from backlash should diminish soon too,” she said cheerfully, but her smile didn’t last. “I… can’t be your teacher, but if it helps, maybe I can tutor you once a week. So, a sort of semi-teacher. How does that sound?”

Sweetie nodded, feeling gratitude toward Twilight. “Thanks, Twilight.”

“Sure thing! And, uh, don’t worry about your face; it should clear up as soon as the magic wears off.”

Sweetie blinked while tilting her head in confusion. What was she talking about? She cantered over to a nearby mirror, then promptly screamed.

Apple Bloom followed Granny Smith to the outskirts of the farm. Here the trees had yet to be bucked at all, as most of them still had fresh apples. Granny motioned for Apple Bloom to follow her to a nearby tree.

“Alright, youngin’, what can you tell me ‘bout buckin’?” Granny said slowly.

Apple Bloom frowned and went to say something without thinking, then promptly stopped. What did she know? She had certainly tried to buck and spent plenty of days with her sister while she worked, but what did she actually know of the finer art of bucking? “Uh, I know you use the magic in your hooves to do… something to the tree,” she replied weakly.

Granny nodded. “Well, I guess you got that part right. But magic doesn’t just spring up all... well, magic-like, I guess. At least, not for everypony. You’ve got to summon forth the strength of your own magic. Will it, control it, dominate it!”

Apple Bloom raised her hoof to interrupt, then spoke. “Do you have any instructions on how to do that?” she asked hesitantly.

Granny snorted. “Focus. If there’s anything that will help you tap into yer inner magic, it’s gonna be focus, youngin’. PIcture what you want that tree to do when you buck it. Feel what you want, and when your hoof strikes the tree, magic should take care of the rest,” she said slowly.

Apple Bloomed looked to the tree then back to the Granny. “That’s it? That’s all there is to Earth Pony magic?”

The mare chuckled with her eyes wide in surprise. “Hay no! You just wanted help with buckin’, missy. You’ve still got growin’, plantin’, plowin’, using yer inner strength to haul your product back to the farm, and not to mention farm maintenance,” the mare counted off while Apple Bloom’s eyes widened as well. “You said you wanted help in buckin’, though, so that’s what we’re gonna focus on today. So, go stand next to this here tree and show me what you got.”

Apple Bloom quickly complied and took a deep breath. She considered just bucking the tree with her back hooves, as she had always tried, but something stopped her. Focus. Picture what you want the tree to do for you. a voice echoed in her head. She pictured the tree dropping apples as she bucked it. She focused on the picture playing out in her head over and over like a movie projector. She wasn’t sure if she felt something change in her hooves, but even imagining it did was a whole lot better than nothing, as far as she was concerned. Focus.

Apple Bloom faced Granny, then promptly raised both of her back hooves high into the air while tilting her body down. In one swift motion, she kicked her hooves back against the tree. She heard a loud thump and quickly cracked her eyes open. Sitting before her was a shiny red apple, albeit one that had been smashed to a pulp.

Granny chuckled. “See? It’s all about focus. I’m afraid this here tree is a might too tall for the apples to survive, but it sure is good for practicing on.”

Apple Bloom stuck her hoof in the apple and studied it. That was awesome! she thought excitedly as she fought to keep her giddiness in check. She had done it, she had bucked a tree! A small victory for sure, but one nonetheless. “Can’t you just tie up some nets below the branches to make use of these apples?” she said while licking the juices from her hoof.

Granny hummed. “I suppose; but it wouldn’t really be worth our time. You see, when harvest comes around, time is our greatest enemy. We have to get as many apples off the trees as we can so we can get them into stores. Markets are counting on us having them in stock and if we miss a harvest or end up too slow, then that spells bad news later down the road. Ponies will start thinkin’ we got lazy or something. Best we just leave this tree for practcin’; nice thinkin’ though,” she finished with a wink.

Apple Bloom nodded. That certainly made sense, even if she thought it was a shame that a full tree went unused. “But how come only one dropped?” she suddenly said making the mare pause in thought.

“Hmm, let’s just say you ain’t strong ‘nough yet. That’s all,” she said, but noticed Apple Bloom’s ears had fallen low in disappointment, and she quickly continued. “‘Course, to make even one apple drop from this ol’ tree means you’re gettin’ there. I mean, it’s massive and much more grown than the rest,” she said, gesturing at the tree’s thick branches and trunk.

Apple Bloom looked around and found that she was right. Plenty of the trees around the orchard looked newer and much punier than the one she had bucked. She smirked as she flexed her hooves. “So, can I start buckin’ for the upcoming harvest?” she said excitedly.

Granny smirked back at her. “You can try. Won't hurt nothin’ if you don’t succeed. Just keep practicin’’ at it.”

“Okay! Uh, what about the other stuff? Like plowin’ and growin’ and… things?”

“Well, shoot, we can work on that there stuff while we're at it. When I’m through with you, you’ll be farmin’ this whole place in no time! Of course, you’ll have to practice a lot on your own. These ol’ bones can still keep up, but not everyday,” she said firmly.

Apple Bloom frowned, but nodded in understanding. “Well, okay. What’s next?”

A bit of snoring answered her question. Apple Bloom frowned, but it quickly morphed into a wide grin. That just meant that it was time for bucking.

For the next few weeks, each Crusaders practiced with their teachers as much as possible. Sweetie Belle studied quite a bit, but no book could ever replace practical experience. She always felt as if she learned a lot more by simply doing, rather than reading. This frustrated Twilight as she often warned about over-experimenting without knowledge. Still, all the purple stained coats in the world couldn’t keep Sweetie away from trying.

So close. Twilight says if I can make my light brighter, I can move on! she thought with determination.

Apple Bloom bucked the same tree everyday. Granny talked with her through each attempt, but it never got any easier. Everyday she told herself this would be the day, the day that all of the apples fell and she could consider herself one of the great apple buckers of the farm. With every buck and kick, she repeated the same message in her head.

So close. I just gotta do what Granny said. I’ll be buckin’ soon! Apple Bloom thought.

Scootaloo, however, wasn’t having as much luck with her teacher. She practiced everyday by attempting to stay in the air for as long as possible, but she didn’t seem to be improving any. When Scootaloo did return to Bubbles, the mare didn’t have much advice other than to keep on practicing. Keeping them from buzzing too quickly was a real challenge and almost seemed impossible, like it was her instinct to buzz. By the second week, she had ran out of patience.

Ignoring homework, ignoring her friends, ignoring her ever-decreasing supply of bits and even her exhaustion, Scootaloo marched up to Bubbles’ home and angrily knocked on the front door. I’ve been doing this stupid exercise for three weeks! And I still can’t fly! she thought indignantly as if learning to fly in under a week were a normal thing.

“Coming!” Bubbles called out and soon the door slammed open, narrowly missing Scootaloo. “Oh, hello, Scootaloo. Is there something the matter?”

Scootaloo gave her a flat look in response. How did she not know? They had been practicing the same technique for close to three weeks. Scootaloo had even stuck around some days to help with a few chores. “Why am I not flying yet?” she demanded in a huff.

The mare looked very taken aback. It was as if Scootaloo thought she alone held the power for getting her to take flight. Even if I did, what makes her think I wouldn’t unleash it on her? she thought as she entertained the silly notion. Sighing, she spoke calmly and clearly, “Scootaloo, I’m doing my best, but I never said I was great at flying. I merely wanted you to get on the right path and then hopefully you would be able to teach yourself the rest.”

The filly scowled in response. “But shouldn’t I be flying even a little bit? I’ve tried every single day and nothing! I haven’t even talked to my friends in forever!” she complained with another huff, her cheeks turning crimson. I haven’t talked to them in three weeks… she thought miserably. True, they had still been going to school, but it was like they had some unspoken agreement to not speak, which would undoubtedly lead to more crusading, until they had learned more about their own magic.

Bubbles looked down sympathetically and sighed. “Scootaloo, perhaps you should go see them. You told me they had been practicing their own magic on their own, so perhaps they could use a boost from their friend. If anything, it should cheer you all up, as I’m sure they are having just as much trouble as you have been,” she said with an air of patience.

Scootaloo didn’t hate the idea, but a thought about it occured to her. When she spoke it up it was quick and just as impatient as before, “But Sweetie Belle can do magic with her horn! I don’t get how she can and I can’t get these stupid feathers to so much as lift me once!”

“We all learn at different rates. I’m sure Sweetie Belle wasn’t using her horn for much of anything until recently. However, pegasus ponies can usually flap their wings from day one. Think about how she must feel now that she has a bit of independence. She would want to share it with you, to help you along as your friend. Go see her, please,” she urged again.

Instead of scowling again, Scootaloo paused to think. She had never thought of it like that. Scootaloo had been buzzing her wings since she could remember and it had always been useful. Not even a week ago had Sweetie’s horn been merely sparking when she willed it to do something; even when she squeaked in excitement. Even before then Sweetie had used her mouth to write with quills, instead of her magic. Of course she must now feel much more stronger and independent than ever before and feeling jealous of this would do nopony any good.

“Okay, I’m sorry for yelling,” she said quietly.

Bubbles grinned. “It’s quite alright, now go have some fun. And keep practicing!” she called after Scootaloo, who was already dashing off.

Forgetting about her wings for the first time in nearly a month, Scootaloo dashed around all over Ponyville, looking for her friends. She figured by now they must have made some progress in their training, and maybe it would help her as well. They had agreed no crusading, but there was nothing in said agreement about not talking to one another. What was the point in that?

She sped up as she neared Rarity’s boutique. She didn’t actually know where Sweetie Belle lived, so she figured here was the best place to start looking.Upon reaching the building, the door slammed open, revealing the last pony she wanted to see.

“Hello, Scootaloo,” Diamond Tiara said cooly, an eerie grin slowly stretching across her face.

Scootaloo backed up in fear. “Uh, hey?” she said with her head tilted in confusion. “W-why are you here?”

“Just browsing some dresses, waiting around for one of my best friends to show up,” she said casually as she walked out and toward the street.

Scootaloo called back, ”Yeah? Tell her she’s a sad excuse for a lackey!”

She laughed., “Oh, I meant you. Aren’t you my best friend?” she called back in a mocking tone.

This made Scootaloo pause. What was she getting at? Every fiber of her being told her to turn back and leave the filly be, that this was a trap for something nefarious; but she kept staring, unable to look away. Sighing, Scootaloo stood up and started following Diamond.

“What do you want?” Scootaloo said irritably.

She stopped and turned to face Scootaloo, a knowing smirk on her face. “So glad you asked. You see it’s about the Firehens. Or, should I say, the lack of them,” she said coolly.

Scootaloo growled and looked away. “What about that?” she spat in disgust.

Diamond kept her smile and spoke as if she had just been crowned princess of the universe, “Oh, nothing, except if that little bit of information were to leak out… well, it could be devastating for a certain stupid pegasus.”

Scootaloo smirked. “Yeah? Or it could get a certain stupid little prissy brat in major trouble for lying on her school assignment,” Scootaloo replied smugly. “Face it, Diamond, you haven’t got a hoof to stand on.” While Scootaloo didn’t show off the fear she felt, it was all too real. There was a reason why she hadn’t protested Diamond’s report publically. She knew Diamond knew her secret. A simple detention for Diamond was nothing compared to what trouble Scootaloo would be in if news got out. Still, she stood tall, not willing to let Diamond intimidate her.

The smirk, however, did not disappear off Diamond’s face. Quite the contrary, it seemed to grow even wider. “Maybe, but maybe the other grownups won’t give a flying flank about me when they find out all about you. I don’t have a hoof to stand on? I hold all the cards and all the hooves! I know your little secret. Oh, it took me a while to figure it out. I thought for a moment that stupid oaf was your mother. Ha! No, I know all about you, Scootaloo,” she said triumphantly.

Scootaloo’s body began trembling, she couldn’t help it! Everything she had kept hidden, from where she lived and why, had been found out by the biggest loudmouth brat in Ponyville. A single slip up here could ruin it all. She took a calm yet shuddering breath then spoke, “What do you want?” she said quietly.

“So glad you asked. From now on you can be doing my homework for me and anything else I want you to do and I’ll agree to keep quiet. I--” Diamond stopped when Scootaloo started bolting away from her. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going!” she called out to her in a panic.

“Like I would tell you!” she called back then quickly dashed to the center of town. I gotta throw her off my trail, then get rid of the evidence from the clubhouse! If there is none then maybe, with a bit of luck, nopony will believe her! Then I just need to get to Bubbles and convince her to pretend to be my mother, Bubbles Firehen… ponies would buy that, right? she thought to herself, barely noticing that the whole thing sounded crazy. A part of her knew that she was probably not going to get away with such a thing, but the part that was her, that made her Scootaloo, didn’t want to give up. What would be the point in that?

Darting around town, she quickly turned back and started running toward Apple Bloom’s home. Her heart pumped furiously and she could already feel that she was out of breath. Just a little more. Gotta make it there… please, Apple Bloom, don’t be there! Please! she pleaded to Celestia, Luna and even Discord. As she neared the clubhouse, she started to slow down from exhaustion, but she kept on pushing. With each step her throat ached for air. “So…” she paused to pant for more air, “close…”

Finally she reached the steps of the place then bolted inside. As expected and hoped for, it was dark inside. “Oh, thank Discord and stars above.”

Without wasting a moment, she pried open a wooden floorboard, then quickly grabbed the items inside. A sleeping bag, a jar full of bits, her school supplies, some cleaning supplies, spare medicine and food and finally one spare saddle bag. She quickly shoved everything inside, then gently placed the floorboard back. Once she was outside with everything, her heart rate calmed. As long as they were not found within the confines of the clubhouse, Diamond Tiara had no evidence. “For now,” she clarified darkly. Without any real parents to speak of, she knew it was only a matter of time before hooves would start to be pointed. She needed Bubbles on her side, and fast. She needed to explain everything to her. She only hoped it would not lead to her doom.

Chapter Six: Secrets and Lies

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Chapter Seven: A Broken Promise

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Chapter Eight: The Truth

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Chapter Nine: A Desperate Move

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Chapter Ten: Spitfire's Mission

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Chapter Eleven: To Fly At Last

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Chapter Twelve: Open and Honest

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Chapter Thirteen: Out with It!

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Epilogue

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Chapter One: That Filly

She laid there on her back for close to ten minutes, just smiling away. A pegasus, that’s what she was. What could be more awesome than that?

Rainbow Dash, she thought without a moment's hesitation.

Then she broke her ten minute silence with a giggle and a snort. I think I’m just as awesome as she is. It was another silly thought, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was true. Even if she lacked a cutie mark (which she confirmed again by glancing down at her flank). Even if she was just a filly. Her stomach then rumbled quite profoundly. Even if I’m starving, she thought bitterly.

She still felt awesome.

She wiggled a bit and tried to remain comfortable in her position, but it was no use. Hunger was never comfortable. She scrambled onto her side and then quickly hopped onto all four hooves with a tired sigh. Her hooves had landed on some wood floorboards, and she tapped on one at a time. “One, two, three and four,” she announced. With her odd morning ritual finished, she decided it was time to hunt for breakfast. “Or would it be graze?” she pondered out loud, then shrugged. Surveying the contents of her clubhouse, she whistled. “We… really should clean up in here some day,” she confirmed this while standing on a pile of old junk she and her friends had all grown bored with. “How did we even find a tuba?” she said to nopony, then shook her head and sighed again.

“Let’s see… three bits. Lovely.”

The filly had been examining a wooden box where she collected trinkets and, in some cases, bits. Three were all she had left, and that was not awesome. Nervously she glanced outside and found the sun had been rising pretty quickly. The filly looked to her empty lunch bag and then grabbed it with haste. Thinking quickly, she donned her bag then promptly left the safety of the clubhouse. “Gotta make this quick.” She jumped down and let her wings buzz to soften her landing. However, a rather abrupt end to her journey followed by a loud thumping noise was what followed.

“Ow.”

Tiny wings are still awesome; now quit your complaining and move! Pushing herself into ‘high gear’ and ignoring her temporary pain, she hopped onto her scooter. Her body quickly shifted from her equine stance to one of standing up right. It felt right, as did the cold feeling of the handlebars on her scooter. Quickly her wings began to buzz, only to quickly die down and stop a second later. Angrily she grunted and tried again, then again. Just like a steam engine, on the third try, she felt them flip on full force and she could feel the wind pushing behind her. Her scooter moved slowly at first, but then it picked up speed shortly after. Trees, a few buildings and countless rocks flew behind her. Her world was a daze of motion and blurry colors.

Each pony she passed was instantly assaulted by large gusts of wind. “Sorry!” she announced for probably the hundredth time that week. No matter how much it was said, she never got tired of it. Her town soon came into focus: Ponyville. The dirt pathways that surrounded the farm she had just been on quickly ended and became cobblestone. No more endless apple trees, but instead endless ponies of all shapes, colors and more races. None of that mattered to her, though.

She skidded to a halt with her wings phasing out, not wanting to risk running into the gathering crowd in the market district. “C’mon, c’mon… where are you….” she muttered to herself as her head frantically swiveled around, searching. The area was crowded with various stalls and vendors and dozens upon dozens of ponies all browsing and buying, but she was only looking for one stall in particular.

“Ah, Scootaloo!” A voice announced, causing her to look around. “Back here!” She then squinted her eyes and immediately spotted a gray coated stallion wearing dark, tinted glasses. Scootaloo smiled and slowly strolled her scooter over to his stand. “The usual?” the stallion said.

She hastily dropped three bits onto his counter. “You know,” she began while panting, “if you just kept your stand in one spot…” Scootaloo trailed off, knowing it wasn’t worth her breath.

“I’ll see ya tomorrow, Scoots.” He then hoofed her a freshly bagged sandwich which she grabbed then quickly left with her scooter in tow.

Scootaloo spotted a clock off in the distance which, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it read 7:58. “Wings, don’t fail me now!”

With every passing second her eyes were glued to the school bell in the distance. If she was a unicorn she would have used any and all magic to force the bell not to ring. Her heart raced and she could feel as if the entire world would soon be crashing down upon her. For nothing was as scary as a disappointed Miss Cheerilee. She could see the last of the students running in to catch the bell. Her scooter vibrated with intensity. “Just a little longer…”

Just as she got too near, she slowed her wings to almost no movement and forced her scooter to drift at the school wall. The resulting gust of wind gushed over a certain pink coated student who was standing right at the door. The student’s mane and tail suddenly became frazzled and unkempt after the dusty onslaught. Scootaloo ignored her and stepped into the door, a moment later the bell rang out with a loud echo.

“Safe,” she said while panting for even more air.

The filly, who had been standing at the door, glared at her. “I loathe you so much. So very much.”

Scootaloo glanced back to her with a shrug. “And I’ll never understand why.”

The other filly snorted. “You haven’t even been here for two minutes and you messed up my mane!” she complained in disgust.

While the filly quickly tried to fix it, Scootaloo retorted, “Honestly, Diamond, I couldn’t tell the difference.”

Diamond scowled, but something stopped her from saying anything else. Maybe it was the cheery atmosphere of the class along with the smiles on the other students. Or perhaps it was the amazing breakfast she had devoured that morning, but she felt good about herself. She took a quick glance up at the chalkboard and couldn’t help but feel even better. It read ‘Class Presentations’.

Their teacher walked besides them, doing a quick headcount. “Alright, everypony please quiet down. We have quite a bit to learn today: from each other!” Instead of quieting down, the announcement only caused the colts and fillies to talk with each other nervously. The teacher chuckled. “I’m sure whatever presentation you all brought, they will be wonderful.”

Diamond took her opportunity just as the teacher took her seat. She had a rather large white-backed piece of cardboard folded next to her. She raised her hoof and, to her excitement, was the first to do so. “Miss Cheerilee, Miss Cheerilee, can I go first?!”

Every eye in the room bulged out of their sockets, except for the teacher’s. The teacher almost did a double take, but her training as a professional prevented that. “Well, why not? Diamond Tiara, would you kindly stand up and show us what you brought?”

Pleasantly, she grabbed her presentation in her mouth and walked up to greet the class. “Well, I wanted to do something special for my presentation. I had considered Star Swirl the Bearded. I mean, he has a ton of history, and lots of great stuff has come from him,” she said rather quickly. With every word, three particular fillies in the room felt that Diamond was trying to sell a sweetness that almost never existed… if it had ever existed at all. “But then I thought it would be much more interesting if I were to research some family trees, like my own.”

Cheerilee sighed in relief, wondering just where she was going with it. “Ah, so you researched your own, perhaps the Apples tie to them as well?” she said in a hopeful tone.

Diamond smiled even brighter. “Better! I decided to research one of my classmate’s family trees!” She smiled at each one of them, and with that single statement there was a tense feeling for all of them. Diamond’s smile momentarily flashed towards that of her best friend, Silver Spoon. The other silver coated filly smirked back. Instead of announcing who she had researched first, her head swiveled around the room. Each pony her head past looked more nervous than the last.

Good luck finding out anything about me, Scootaloo thought bitterly.

Diamond’s head eventually stopped moving as she smiled down on Scootaloo. “For my project I researched Scootaloo’s family tree, The Firehens!” she announced for all to hear.

Scootaloo felt the pressure of all eyes switching to her direction. ...What?! She had almost let the word slip out loud, but for the sake of keeping calm and cool, she remained quiet.

“Yes, it took a while to track down any of them. I could have easily asked Scootaloo, but I wanted to do the actual work!” While she spoke she quickly grabbed Miss Cheerilee’s ‘teaching stick’ and began to point to various pictures. Each one had been laid carefully on her board and were clearly visible.

“So the first guy I found was her grandfather, Hardwing Firehen.”

What followed was mostly silence, though, a colt in the back coughed just before letting out a single chuckle. Scootaloo’s left eye twitched, but the odd look her teacher was giving her made it stop.

You…

“So, Hardwing was born in Las Pegasus almost eighty years ago! He was a respectable blacksmith and contributed to the now continued development and prosperity of the gamble crazy town. One interesting thing to note was that he never used any of his skills for flight.” Diamond spoke with full sincerity with every word, even their teacher had begun to nod along quietly.

Evil…

The pink coated filly then pointed to the other side of her board to a mare. “Over here is Petitewing Firehen. She was a great cook in Manehattan! Oh, ponies would come around for miles just to taste her carefully crafted meals. She didn’t have the strength of flight, but what she lacked there she made up with her fantastic culinary skills.”

Cheerilee, at this point, raised an eyebrow at Diamond. However, she allowed the filly to continue as she hadn’t technically done anything wrong. That being said, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was about to.

“I also found an interesting fellow named Cloudfall Firehen. He was born and raised in Canterlot, probably on Scootaloo’s mother’s side. So, Scootaloo has relatives and family history all over Equestria! He used his mighty wings to craft clouds for factories. I don’t think he ever flew, though. Anyway, that’s my presentation.” She did a quick bow and several of the children stomped their hooves. Diamond then promptly stopped walking and slapped her own forehead. “I almost forgot about Scootaloo’s father!”

Witch…

Diamond quickly looked to her teacher for direction and the mare hesitantly nodded. “Right, I asked around and it turns out that her father is employed at an earth pony run company who makes various jams and jellies. I found it a bit odd that he works for and with earth ponies, being a pegasus and all, but I also found it pretty neat.” For a very brief second Diamond’s eyes flashed to Scootaloo, and in that second the pegasus knew madness.

Diamond looked up at Cheerilee who had begun to look more and more uncomfortable as her presentation went on.

“Heh, and that’s my presentation!”

Instead of the stomping of hooves, Diamond was greeted by silence. Meanwhile Scootaloo was greeted by about a dozen or so eyes staring at her. Her cheeks flushed crimson which confirmed everypony’s assumptions about her family.

“Er, thank you, Diamond Tiara. That was very thorough and enlightening,” Miss Cheerilee said.

No it wasn’t! was what Scootaloo thought, coming very close to screaming it out for everypony to hear.

“Apple Bloom, you’re up next.”

The filly, donning her bow, walked up to the front of the class. She spoke in a rehearsed, monotone way, “My presentation is on apples.”

Miss Cheerilee resisted the urge to slam her head into her desk.

Despite Diamond’s presentation, Scootaloo had to admit she enjoyed class that day. Until it was time to deliver her own presentation, that is. It wasn’t a surprise to her when everypony was paying even more attention when she was up. Nor was it a surprise when it simply felt as if they were all silently judging her and not actually listening.

“Uh, my pres- presentation is on Rainbow Dash and her accomplishments.” While some nodded, others just stared. She half expected most of them to groan or roll their eyes as she often talked of Rainbow; instead, all she got in return was wide eyed, curious stares. Delivering her speech was one of the hardest things she had to do all semester long. The stares didn’t stop, the smiles never came and nor did any groans of protest. Just the constant staring of curious fillies and colts all judging her on something she knew to be false.

Her teacher knew exactly why the filly’s heart appeared not to be into it. However, she knew stopping her would only make things worse. I’m going to have a talk to Diamond when this is over with, she thought bitterly while doing her best to pay attention.

By the time she had finished, over half of the class nearly forgot to applaud, though Scootaloo’s friends certainly tried to make up the difference. She spotted them in the back row and smiled slightly.

Miss Cheerilee cleared her throat. “Thank you, Scootaloo. That was quite interesting.” She then smiled down to the filly who nodded and smiled herself. Glancing over at a nearby clock, she nodded. “Alrighty, I think it’s time for a quick break. Er-” She watched most of them run out on her, so she hastily spoke up before they could all leave. “Make sure to be ready for our weekly quiz when you all return!”

Scootaloo was the last to leave the building; she would often do this. It made it easier to spot where her friends would be hanging out during their recess. She looked around and frowned at the others. It had also made it easier to see where to avoid that day. Of course, every day was ‘Avoid Diamond TIara’ day, but it still helped. She quickly joined her two friends near a swing set and sighed in relief when nopony decided to bother them.

“Hey, girls.”

Sweetie Belle was busy brushing her mane around her horn, trying to make it steady. “Hey… hang on.”

“Hey, Scoots. Was any of that true? What Diamond said?” Apple Bloom asked almost sarcastically, adding a little snort at the end.

Scootaloo took a bit longer to reply than they would have liked. She took a seat on one of the swings and sighed. “Well… kinda, uh, yeah.”

Apple Bloom’s smirk vanished and she nodded. “Oh. Well, whatever. That was still rude of her to say it all that way…”

“Or at all,” Scootaloo said quietly. She then shook her head. “Whatever, it’s done and over with. How about we--”

“So, it’s really Firehen?” Sweetie Belle asked suddenly.

Scootaloo did her best to remain calm and stiffly nodded. “Yeah, it’s Firehen.”

Sweetie Belle nodded while smiling brightly. “Cool!”

The pegasus rolled her eyes, though, had the name not been attributed to a chicken she might have agreed. “I guess. Can we talk about cutie marks now? And the gaining thereof… uh, them?”

They both giggled then nodded.

“Sure, Scoots. Ah was thinking maybe--” Apple Bloom watched a ball from the other side of the playground smack into the back of Scootaloo's head. “Oh, you alright?”

Scootaloo nodded and went to pick it up.

“Hey, Firehen! Pass it back here!” a colt requested rather loudly.

I loathe her so, so much. Grudgingly she tossed the ball back, not even bothering to see if it landed near the colt, then turned back to her friends.

“How about you try for a gliding cutie mark?” Apple Bloom suggested to Scootaloo. The pegasus quirked a brow while looking between her friends.

“Uh, what about you two?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged and left the reply open for Apple Bloom to respond.

“We were thinking of trying what Twilight suggested. You know, us still helping each other getting our marks, but only one at a time.” The farm filly saw Scootaloo’s frown and quickly made another response. “You know, just for a little while. See if it works?” she half asked and half suggested.

“Well, okay, but what are you two gonna do when I’m… gliding.” she had said the word sarcastically, but she wasn’t sure if they understood or not.

“We’ll be cheering you on and thinking of what we can do for ours!” Sweetie Belle said excitedly. She then stood up and struck a pose looking up. “Cutie Mark Crusader Cheer Thinkers!”

Apple Bloom was silent for a moment and kept her eyebrow raised while gazing at her. “How long ya’ll been waiting to say that?”

Sweetie’s smile vanished and she quickly looked away. “...Only a couple minutes.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Right, I guess I can- woah!” She had began to turn around, only to come face to face with Diamond Tiara who was smiling at them.

“So, how’d you like that little stroll through your family history?” she asked sweetly.

The three of them weren’t sure how to respond, least of all Scootaloo. Diamond sensed their hesitation and decided to push the issue.

“Well, I thought it was rather nice of me. I mean since you were so shy about it for so long… now it’s up in the air!” she exclaimed while slowly walking around them, like a predator waiting to pounce.

“Diamond Tiara, would you please leave? We’re kind of…” Sweetie Belle trailed off when she noticed DIamond’s smile had widened, almost to that of a sneer. “Uh, doing something private.”

“Oh, how thoughtless of me. Privacy is very important after all. I would never want to divulge into one’s personal matters.”

The sickly sweet voice got to Scootaloo and she snapped. “But you just did that! In front of the class!” She pointed out angrily as she butted her face into Diamond’s.

Diamond still played innocent and shrugged. “That was all public knowledge, I found it at a library after all…” Diamond trailed off herself and waited for Scootaloo to connect the dots. The pegasus’s eyes widened in shock and Diamond smiled wickedly at her. “Well, I should be going now, ciao!” she called out and strolled away proudly, her head held high.

Why is she doing this?

“You alright, Scoots?” Sweetie asked her, shaking her shoulder slightly. “Don’t let her get to you, she’s just being a brat.”

Scootaloo took a tad longer to stop staring at Diamond than she should have. She eventually shook her head and nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

After class the three Crusaders had decided to walk back to their clubhouse. Scootaloo was simply pushing her scooter while they talked. She felt nervous. Not just because of what Diamond Tiara was trying to pull, but it was the notion of gliding.

It used to be so easy.

“So, I was sitting there with Rarity when somepony knocked at the door,” Sweetie said while the three continued to walk.

And so much fun.

“We asked who it was, but all we heard was somepony sputtering or something…”

I had wanted this so much, I screamed for it.

“So, Rarity opened the door and it was Spike!”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Okay, what’d he want?”

She shrugged. “I dunno, but then he blushed a bunch and ran off. I think he had some daisies with him.”

Will it be worth it, child? Will it fulfill you? Scootaloo shook her head and did her best to pay attention to Sweetie’s story. She didn’t need to live in despair when friendship was surrounding her. “Uh, cool story. So, how are we gonna do this exactly?”

“Ah figured off Winona's dog house. If you fall, at least it won't hurt ya any.”

“Does she get angry if you get near the thing?” Scootaloo asked fearfully; remembering a time when they had tried. Cutie Mark Crusading dog groomers seemed like so much fun…

“Not if she’s sleeping. We’ll just hafta make sure is all. Hey, how come we never tried this before?” Apple Bloom asked off-hoofly. “Ah mean, ah could have sworn you tried for a flying cutie mark before…”

“I did, dozens of times. Like Rainbow Dash says, ‘you gotta fly before you can crawl, kid. Where’s my coffee?’”

“Uh, how come you repeated that last part?” Sweetie Belle asked, almost giggling.

“She always asks that, do you think I should bring it one time? I wonder what she would do…” She started to daydream of all the wondrous things she assumed would happen. So much ice cream….

“Okay then. Maybe it’s best if you crawl first? Gliding doesn’t seem so hard. Your wings seem strong, why not try it?”

Sweetie’s suggestion made her heart flutter, but she smiled back at her. “R- right, let’s go try it.” Fat chance it will work. she thought bitterly. However, just being near her friends made her want to try, no matter how nervous she felt.

“What’s the book say to do again?” Scootaloo asked while doing her best to balance on top of a dog house with a slanted roof.

“Tilt your wings up a bit and let the wind carry you. Uh, it says your magic should do the rest.” Apple Bloom said then tilted the book around and flipped a few pages. “Ah think.”

Scootaloo mentally panicked at the ‘Ah think’ part, but she was calmed down by the height of it all. It probably wouldn’t hurt. Too much.

“Go, Scoots! Go, Scoots!” Sweetie started to chant, Apple Bloom set aside her book and joined in as well.

Can’t say no to that. In spite of everything, she took a running start and jumped high into the air. For what felt like a full second she floated along… and then promptly fell flat onto her stomach.

“Ow…” Scootaloo moaned.

“Get up, Scoots. Get up, Scoots!” Sweetie shifted her cheer, and Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

Apple Bloom checked the book a few times, frantically flipping through some pages. Still looking down, she called out. “Maybe you need to flap your wings a bit.”

“But that’s just flying then!” Scootaloo exclaimed, feeling annoyed already.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Just try it, maybe it will lift some air onto your wings and then your magic will ‘do the rest’.”

Scootaloo didn’t feel so sure and dubiously looked to the book on pegasi. The image of a pegasus on the book and the earth pony reading it didn’t inspire her with confidence.

Apple Bloom tried to be supportive. “Just try it once, okay. Ah know I’m not a pegasus, but what will it hurt?”

“My stomach and pride,” she swiftly replied.

“What else?” Apple Bloom pressed with a smirk.

“Ugh… fine.”

She attempted what her friend had suggested at least three times. Each jump would be accompanied by her staying in the air a bit longer, but it would always end with a short drop and a sudden stop. By the tenth time she was growing tired, as were her friends.

“Go… Scoots… uh… Go-” Sweetie Belle stopped talking and yawned a bit. “Uh, go?”

Scootaloo ignored her for a moment and examined her chest. “Girls, I think I have a bruise. I’m gonna stop.”

Apple Bloom kicked the book in frustration. “Stupid book! It said all pegasuses? Pegasi? Yeah, it said they should all easily fly at our age!”

Scootaloo walked past her friends toward their clubhouse. “Books aren’t always right, Apple Bloom.” She felt depressed; as she walked her head was hanging low. Her friends quickly joined her, which perked her up a bit. “How about we try something else. What did you girls come up with?”

Apple Bloom looked away blushing. “Uh, not much.”

“I’ve got one!” Sweetie exclaimed excitedly. Both fillies looked at her tiredly. The unicorn sighed. “Nevermind…”

“No, go ahead. Say what you wanted to say,” Apple Bloom replied while her features softened.

Sweetie smiled slightly and widened her eyes as if begging. “Can I really say it?”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes; she had known her friends long enough to know when she really wanted to say something in her own special way. “Sure!”

“Cutie Mark Crusader Cupcake Knights!”

The other two fillies blinked, followed by a giggle from Scootaloo. “Have you been hanging out with Pinkie Pie too much?”

They both rolled their eyes and dragged Sweetie Belle along with them. They both had a hunch where Sweetie wanted to go.

“If you haven’t turned pink yet, it should be fine. Just make sure to see Nurse Redheart at least once a week,” Scootaloo quipped.

While they laughed Scootaloo took a look at her surroundings. They felt warmer somehow. Why does it only feel like home sometimes? she asked herself. Twilight’s tree library was always in the middle of town. It was positively enormous and Twilight often got asked if the thing was still alive. Her answer was always ‘it still has leaves, doesn’t it?’. She had to admit, of all the places in town, Twilight’s at least felt homely when inside. The rest of the place with their thatched roofs, ponies running around everywhere and businesses that littered every street corner, it didn’t exactly feel like home.

However, when she looked at both of her friends laughing and having fun, things felt right. It was only when they left for the day that the place turned colder. It wasn’t as if it bothered her too much, but the nagging feeling was always there.

Where’s home?

She would always scream the answer was Ponyville with her friends, but there was always doubt. She glanced backward, imagining the clubhouse through the endless tree patches back on the Apple’s farm. The picture was always hazy. Her memories never were.

Stop falling behind! Stop dawdling!

She shook her head for what felt like the millionth time that day. Scootaloo then forced a smile and did her best to keep up with her friends’ conversation. She had cupcakes to bake; hopefully without a knight’s suit of armor.

“And that’s how Equestria was doomed! Doomed forever!”

All three fillies looked up in fear at the hyperactive pink pony who now stood on two hooves. She had screamed out the final portion of a story she was telling so violently the ground shook, and her chest heaved as she gasped for air.

“Uh, Pinkie?” Sweetie Belle quickly said.

Pinkie Pie blinked, but then smiled when she snapped out of her daze. “Yeah?!”

“That story didn’t make any sense…”

Pinkie shrugged, then nonchalantly turned around and started gathering some cooking ingredients. “Well, I thought it was funny. Anyway, what can I do for you three?”

“Uh, we were wondering if we could bake some cupcakes?” Scootaloo asked hopefully. “Like, maybe you could teach us… or…” she trailed off and simply waited for a reply. It didn’t take long.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Pinkie had begun to bounce around them quite literally, screaming in joy. She quickly squashed all three of them closer, by huddling them together, next to her face. “Do you know what this means?!”

“That I can barely breathe!” Scootaloo announced to the world, hoping somepony else would show up and save them. Her eyes darted back and forth, but nopony came.

“Cupcake knights?!” Sweetie asked, masking Pinkie’s excitement, but adding a squeaky voice of her own.

“That’s right, Squeaky Belle!”

Pinkie then bounced them high into the air, one after the other. When it was all over (and their heads had stopped spinning) they found themselves donning odd costumes. They looked to be suits of armor adorned with cupcakes on each side. Scootaloo noticed they were perfectly positioned where their cutie marks would be. They also fit each of them perfectly which perplexed her to no end.

“Sweetie Belle…”

Sweetie turned to Scootaloo, with a huge smile plastered on her face. “Yeah?!”

“Why?”

“Ah was just about to say.”

Pinkie noticed at least two out of the three fillies didn’t seem to be having any fun. “Quit your frownin’, girls. It’s time to make some cupcakes!”

At least that part will be normal. Scootaloo thought with a sigh of relief.

Promptly two minutes later the four of them were seated at a round table. Pinkie had a play mat of some kind blocking her face, and was hunched over the table. The three fillies were seated on the other side.

“You three cupcake knights enter a mysterious dark… uh, mega dungeon!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, then appeared to move a few things from behind her mat.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at each other, then quickly glanced down to find Sweetie Belle thoroughly engaged in play. She had dice in her hoof and was already rolling for Celestia knew what.

“Sweetie, how long you been wanting to play this?” Apple Bloom asked slowly.

Sweetie Belle tossed the dice then looked up, tears brimming in her eyes. “So long… it’s beautiful.”

Scootaloo went to object, but Apple Bloom shot her down with a look. She silently whispered to the pegasus from over Sweetie’s head. ‘Let her have this’. At least, that’s what Scootaloo thought she said. The pegasus huffed, but nodded firmly.

“You are attacked by a giant, hideous, pink-coated monster from beyond the unknown!”

Scootaloo sighed. Second time today…

“See ya later, girls!” Scootaloo called out. She watched Sweetie Belle wave and prance away in glee. Apple Bloom soon followed toward the farm she lived on. The farm Scootaloo needed to be at before it got too dark.

Scootaloo slowly walked in the opposite direction of Apple Bloom, like she always did. When she got far enough away she listened for her friend’s hoof clops. Eventually she heard nothing. Awkwardly she waited in the middle of the road and counted to an arbitrary number. She had always feared Apple Bloom would take her time some night and she would be caught. Maybe one of the other Apple’s would be out in the farm doing something. So far it hadn’t happened, but that didn’t mean it never would.

Her heart had begun to flutter rapidly. After all she was in the middle of the road that connected Ponyville to the Everfree Forest. It also meant that if Fluttershy happened to be out that night, she would easily been spotted. She never actually thought Fluttershy would do anything, but the fear was still very real. She could spot, from a window, a faint shadow of a pony.

Get it together, she’s probably just reading in bed or something. Scootaloo slapped herself slightly, then turned to the foreboding forest entrance. It’s probably just… not as spooky or deadly as everypony says. Her stare lingered for a moment or two. And it’s probably not beckoning me inside so I’ll go in and never return. After hearing the first loud feral sounding howl of the night, she bolted. Risking the noise of her scooter, the filly whizzed forward as fast as her wings would allow. When she reached the sign for ‘Sweet Apple Acres’ she screeched to a halt and sighed in relief.

The sign had always been naturally lit up at night by fireflies and of course the moonlight. It was a much more welcome sight than the creepy dark forest not even a mile away. Her walk back to the clubhouse didn’t last long. She climbed up, and then grabbed a jar that sat on the edge of a balcony. “C’mon, you… got it!” The filly exclaimed, opening a jar that had always been hard to fiddle with. Using practiced dexterity and skill, she quickly gathered a few fireflies that were floating around her and quickly shut the jar. “Better.” It wasn’t much light, but it was enough to help her feel more secure at night. She then folded her scooter up and set it aside. She quickly opened the door and shut it. Setting aside her light source, the filly rummaged around their stash of things until she found a blanket and a pillow.

“Ew, I really should wash this tomorrow…” She yawned and quickly got comfortable on the cold, wooden floor. She wrapped the blanket around herself and sighed. “Too tired tonight…” Looking over she stared at the fireflies, there was no smile plastered on her face. Just curiosity. She watched them buzz around the jar and instinctively her wings buzzed as well.

I miss it…

A few moments later she was out for the night.

“You will not live happily, young one. They won’t accept you. Your place is here!”

She didn’t speak. The rage she had for her life, for everything had been at its boiling point. She screamed in rage and pounced onto the creature before her, pleading with her. The creature sighed and nodded.

“Very well, but this will only end badly for you. My magic is powerful, but like all things in this world, it is not perfect. You’ve made your choice.” A bright green flash of light blinded her. Then everything went white.

Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes. It was still dark out. “Stupid dream…” Mentally berating herself for not securing a clock after all of this time, she quickly turned over to her other side and attempted to sleep again.

Where is my place?

Chapter Three: Sweetie's Magical Day

Sweetie Belle was having a wonderful day. She was seated in Twilight’s library, munching on cookies, and soon enough her friends would be joining her to have some fun. Greedily, she scarfed down as many cookies as her small tummy would allow. I don’t care if I get fat, I’m getting my cookies whether Rarity likes it or not!

Spike soon rejoined her, his stubby, reptilian legs marching as quickly as possible. “You got enough cookies?” he asked cheerfully. Sister of my lover…

“Mhm!” Sweetie said, her mouth too full of the treats to say a proper response.

“Great!” He then tossed a few books into the air, causing them to land on a stack in his other claw. “I’ll just be over there reshelving the magic section if you need me.”

She nodded and watched him leave. In truth, the library was quite big for a tree. While the guest area was small and quaint, the actual library section was nice and tall. It was divided into several sections, but what gave it its charm was the height of the shelves. They reached around three storeys tall, certainly enough to contain enough knowledge to satisfy even Twilight Sparkle. Usually.

As she was still chewing she watched the front door open, revealing her friends. They cantered in and immediately spotted her. Yay! she thought, feeling giddy. Then she looked down to the plate of cookies and back to her friends. My cookies! She stuffed a few more in her mouth and waved.

That was how her morning started, but it ended in boredom. Twilight wanted to only talk with Scootaloo, it seemed; and Apple Bloom now had chores to do. This left her sitting alone outside, sulking. She didn’t want to go back and risk getting some kind of work from Twilight, as much as she wanted to save her friend. “Every mare for herself, sorry, Scoots. Hmm, maybe Rarity will play with me!” A part of her doubted it, but every since the Sisterhooves Social, her sister had been trying to be nicer to her. She jumped off her seat. “Worth a shot!”

She walked through town, occasionally waving to other ponies. Everything always felt so nice in town. The dirt paths, grass and even the signs always seemed to be just as clean as her coat and tail. Ponies often smiled at her as did birds and other animals. There was always something going on in town, from sales at the marketplace to explosions from Twilight’s lab. Unique buildings of every shape, size and color were all over, often matching the pony that lived inside.

She spotted her second home, Carousel Boutique and grinned. While it was her ‘second’ house, it always felt like home to her. She walked in and immediately announced her arrival. “Rarity, I’m home!”

Rarity, who had been sitting at her kitchen table, scrambled backwards in surprise. “S-Sweetie Belle, goodness you scared me. What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be out with your little friends?”

Sweetie quirked a brow, staring at what her sister appeared to be eating. “Is that chocolate ice cream?” Sweetie asked in a sour tone.

Thinking quickly, Rarity shoved the bowl aside and stood up. “Of course not!” She laughed nervously and looked around for a distracted. “Uh, why don’t we go and teach you some magic. I know you were asking me the other day…”

Sweetie instantly forgot about any hidden sweets and grinned. “Really?!” she asked, her voice squeaking.

Rarity nodded. Thank Celestia for short attention spans. Besides, what’s the worst thing teaching her magic could bring?

The two unicorns eventually ended up in Rarity’s study room. Sweetie had watched her canter back and forth, setting up odd gizmos and a few books that seemed odd. She had never seen the stones that she placed before her. They look so dusty…

“Uh, right. It’s been awhile since I’ve had to use these, but these should do,” Rarity commented, glancing over a list she had been carrying. “Right. So, what do you know of magic, dear?”

Sweetie pondered the question for far too long, then shrugged. “It’s really, really hard to do?”

Rarity chuckled and nodded. “Without the proper tools or education, yes. What, uh, can you do with your horn? Surely you must know something by now?” Rarity said it a bit coldly, but she didn’t feel like spending all afternoon just teaching her magic. Still, she should be taught something. I  shall not neglect my sister! I shall also not let her see my ice cream! Rarity thought with both determination and shame.

“I can levitate stuff, sort of.” To demonstrate she closed her eyes and focused on one of the stones. After around thirty seconds, a spark lit up, enveloping the smooth stone in a light green magic. It floated for a few seconds, but then Sweetie let it down. “See!”

“That’s wonderful, but levitation is pretty simple to do. What we need to teach you, for now, are runes. Well, symbols that form the basic principle for forming spells.”

Sweetie poked the stones a few times, examining them. “Are these runes?” She asked.

“Yes. As far as magical symbols go, they’re pretty basic. I used these to learn when I was around your age. I don’t mind you keeping this set, it should help you memorize them.”

Sweetie smiled. She liked the look of the stones, they were smooth and had funny symbols etched on the top. “Wow, thanks Rarity!” She hopped up and without warning hugged her sister around the neck. “These look pretty.”

Rarity chuckled and felt her cheeks warm at the touch. “Perhaps so. I’m glad you think so, because you will be spending all, well, week shall we say?” She pondered it and nodded. “Yes, all week memorizing these runes and symbols.”

“And then I can do magic?”

“Not quite. You still must do much of the work for any spell, but the runes are somewhat like a key. Think of a spell as a doorway and each rune as a key for opening them. If you use up enough mana-- uh, yes Sweetie?”

Rarity had been speaking when Sweetie had raised her hoof, like in school. “What’s mana?”

“It’s another word for magical energy. Each unicorn has their own mana font, or pool for use. When you used levitation just now, you were tapping into your inner font. Your inner magic.”

Sweetie’s eyes widened, for the first time comprehending just what magic was. At least, she thought she comprehended it. Her head slowly bobbed up and down.

“But, of course, one must know one’s own limitations when dealing with magic. Everypony has them.”

Sweetie giggled. “Not Twilight.”

Rarity smiled smugly, not seeming to agree. “And what If I told you that even Twilight can reach her limits? Even the princesses?”

Sweetie scrunched her muzzle up in concentration. What is she talking about?

Rarity, catching onto her confusion, nodded. “Like I said, it’s important to know your limitations,” she emphasized by poking at Sweetie’s belly, making her giggle again. “A few wrong mistakes and you’ll end up like Twilight on a bad day,” she paused while watching her little sister shudder, “or worse. You could pass out if you overexert your own pool.”

“Huh?” Sweetie squeaked.

“I mean if you work too hard, darling. For now, I wouldn’t worry too much. You just worry about these runes.”

Looking down Sweetie noted each and every symbol on the runes. There were a few moons, stars and suns. There was also odd squiggles and random symbols that she had never seen before. “I don’t get it.”

Rarity tittered. “Neither did I when Mother showed me these. However, it’s not too complicated. And I have the utmost confidence that you can get this,” Rarity stated honestly. Then, out of the blue, she remembered just how many tasks her sister had not gotten. She shuddered to think just what could go wrong with that horn of hers. She’s going to learn with or without me. May as well do it right. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust Sweetie Belle, but the filly had knack for causing problems.

“Okay, uh…” Sweetie quickly swiped the full moon rune and held it up. “What’s this one?”

“That one means channeling of magic,” she slowly explained. When Sweetie looked down at it skeptically, she elaborated. “Essentially, these runes don’t actually do anything.” Upon hearing the declaration, Sweetie promptly dropped it and her face seemed to deflate. Rarity sighed. “Sweetie, let me finish explaining. Lift it up again,” she commanded.

“Okay, okay.”

“Each of these symbols are a tool to help you memorize different steps for casting a spell. The moon is usually used, in fact I’m almost certain it’s always used first. No channeling, no spell.”

“So… runes don’t do anything? I always thought ancient wizards used them in whatever Twilight is always touting about.”

Rarity suppressed a laugh and looked over the runes. “You mean Star Swirl? Well, he certainly used much more than just runes. This is what they can look like; they just don’t function as any. They’re a training tool that’s been used for generations. Oh, when I think of how much I had to memorize these just to stitch my first dress… well, a lady never tells.” I wish I didn’t remember.

“So, there are runes that do things then?” Sweetie asked, wanting to clarify.

Rarity nodded. “Yes, there are. I’m afraid I don’t have any, but I’m sure if you ask Twilight then she’ll happy to share a few. For now, though, let’s go through these runes so I can get my work done.”

Sweetie blushed, mumbling something while looking down. Having picked up on her now sour mood, Rarity used her front hoof to tilt Sweetie’s head up. “It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you, I do. You come first… except when work piles on. Then, I guess you technically come second. I just--”

Sweetie quickly cracked a smile. “It’s okay, big sis. I know. I’m really glad you’re my sister.”

The mare smiled sadly, wishing she had more free time in the day. “I am too. Now then, you understand channeling, I assume? Let’s move onto the half moon.”

Sweetie quickly shuffled runes to the next one, examining it. “And it is?”

“The half moon signifies casting your spell. It usually comes last, I think it’s supposed to actually be a setting moon. Yes.” Rarity nodded, thinking that explanation made more sense. “So full moon comes first, channeling, then other runes, then the setting moon.”

“Okay, channel, then something, and then cast. Easy!”

Rarity placed her hoof on Sweetie’s chest before she got any ideas. “It sounds easy, but spells can be tricky. To be perfectly honest, a lot of the basic spells are instinct more than anything. That means getting them under control is a learning process. It takes time and practice.”

Sweetie’s smile faltered for a moment. “Oh…”

“Right, we’ve got the two most important runes out of the way. Now come the rest. To start off with, the squiggles.”

“Squiggles?”

“Yes.” Rarity levitated a single rune that had two squiggle lines each on top of one another. “This rune means raw magic. You know those sparks of yours?”

The filly ran up to Rarity, pressing a hoof to her lips. “Shh!” she squeaked. “You promised you wouldn’t say anything!”

Rarity gave her a flat look and gently moved the hoof away. “Relax, this is a safe place. Sparks are a common phase. They just mean your font is growing.”

Sweetie stopped blushing and looked up at her horn. She rubbed it a few times and shrugged. “Is there like a pool in there? Like water?”

“No. I’m not fully sure on the specifics, but I know that the more our bodies grow, the more magic we can take in; at least, for our horns. The sparks are undirected magic; for example, if you tried to cast a spell without any direction, without any ‘runes’. After all, these runes merely help you direct your magic in the proper way. And magic is quite difficult to explain, dear.”

Sweetie Belle rubbed her head. “I’m already confused…” she admitted.

Rarity coughed. “Right. Well, you know how to channel magic. Clearly evident from your levitation. Which is different, by the way. That magic, above all else, is far more instinct. It doesn’t require any stray thoughts or complexity, just will. You wish to control something in midair, and you do it.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“However, runes require some thoughts. Hmm, we’ll start with one of the simpler spells. Light. It can some in quite useful in almost any situation. And it will help teach you another basic principle: will.”

Sweetie shook her head, giving her a bewildered look. “I don’t get it, I thought I knew ‘will’? I can levitate stuff, you said that was like.. uh, using my will?”

“You can; but that’s just a start. Most of what makes magic magic is our ability to bend it to our will. You channel magic, then imagine what you want, will it into existence, and then cast. Really, the last two steps are the same, though.”

“Isn’t that like a wish? That sounds too easy…”

“It would be if magic wasn’t so resistant or even chaotic. Raw magic is what we need to give us some light, or to help me find more gems. You must force the magic from your horn to take a new shape. Whether it’s turning the magic into light or making some buried gems glow, all depends on what you want. And more importantly, how skilled you are with your horn. If you and your horn can’t control the raw magic, then you end up with, well, something like your sparks.”

Sweetie nodded, following every word. “Uh, but how do you control it? How do I get light?”

“Well, your horn is like a muscle. Use it enough and it gets stronger, just like your font. Ahem, there are limits, but we shouldn’t worry about that now. For now, I want you to make some light. Go on, then.”

“Just will it?”

Rarity nodded.

Sweetie Belle scrunched up her face in concentration. Okay, Sweetie, just think of light. Or something. She wasn’t exactly sure what Rarity meant for her to do, but she felt determined to try. It sounded far more experimental than anything. Her mind wandered while wondering just how Twilight learned so much magic. The basics steps seemed more complicated than any school work she had ever had. Sweetie closed her eyes, then pictured the moon. She felt a familiar feeling of magic channeling into her horn. She was tapping into her inner font. Then she pictured the squiggles, visualizing what it would be like to grasp hold of all the magic in the air. Then, a few sparks flew out and she felt the magic leave her like a breath from her lungs. “Oh, horseapples.”

“Well, don’t give up. I’m afraid I have orders to take care of. But now you know the basics. Channel the raw magic, then will it to be light. If done correctly, your horn should be sparkling just like my next order.” She giggled at her joke, but found Sweetie frowning. “Don’t give up.”

“But I don’t get how to will magic!”

“You will. You’ll get it, I promise. Just like you’ll get a cutie mark some day. Just imagine light, picture your horn lighting up like your beautiful emerald green eyes. You’ll get it, I believe in you.”

Sweetie looked up hesitantly and gave a small smile. “Okay, thanks Rarity. I’ll t-try.”

“Splendid. Just… well, only try light please. You can do much more with raw magic, but I’d prefer that you take this one step a time.”

Sweetie nodded, eager to get outside and show her friends. But before she left, she turned back to ask one final question. “So, this is magic? Just use raw magic? What about the other runes?”

Rarity had already summoned some materials down. She glanced down to the rune set and sighed. “They rely on other schools of magic. They’re called imprints. I wouldn’t worry about them for now. I’ll have these things sent to your room, for now why don’t you go play with your friends?” she suggested, eager to finally get some work done.

“Alright. I just hope Apple Bloom’s done with her chores. Her sister always gives her so many.”

“Bye, Rarity!” Sweetie ran out, slamming the front door to the boutique and running for her life.

Sweetie Belle skipped through town, busy trying to remember each and every word that her sister had said. Every once in a while she would stop and began a spell chain. It would make other ponies stop too and stare, but she didn’t pay them any mind. She was trying to use magic, and she was going to get this right. I’m always screwing things up. she felt bitterly. She stopped to ponder this, then shrugged the thoughts aside. It wasn’t as if she always, always did; but it sure felt that way sometimes to her. Not this time! She tried again, this time a few more sparks flew out. Anger swelled up inside of her, only to be squashed down a second later.

“Relax, I’ll get this.”

She calmed down and skipped off again, heading toward Sweet Apple Acres. “I wonder if Scoots is still busy?” She considered what she knew about Twilight, which caused her to quickly come to one conclusion. “Yep.”

She stopped after entering the orchard and looked around. “I never realized just how big this place is…” Her voice trailed off as she looked around, almost feeling lost. There were countless paths to take, each littered with countless apple trees and countless more paths. Usually she only took one, either toward Apple Bloom’s home or her clubhouse. She had never actually had to search for her friend or her siblings. “If I were them, where would I go?” Shrugging, she decided it was best to canter towards their house. It wasn’t a stretch that they’d be there. “Or at least Granny Smith might be,” she thought aloud.

As luck would have it, she did find Granny Smith, who pointed her in the right direction. “Let’s, erm, see, you take a few rights, then a left up the first hill. At the crossroads take the first right, then it’s just straight on through and they’ll be on your left,” the old mare said without skipping a beat.

Sweetie nodded. “I’m not gonna find them, am I?”

The mare cackled, banging her walking stick on the ground. “There’s a first time for everything. If you do find ‘em, I’d be impressed.”

Sweetie banged her front hoof into her forehead and sighed. Then she perked up a second later. “I’ll just wait here…” It suddenly dawned on her how long that could take.

Granny watched Sweetie’s ears fold over her head as she slumped down, and she laughed. “Ah, don’t fret none. They should be on break soon.”

Again, luck appeared to be on her side; three ponies eventually came walking in from the orchard. Apple Bloom appeared to be laying on her brother’s back, looking more tired than ever.

“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie called out. “You okay?” She tilted her head, trying to get a better look.

Applejack looked back at her sister and couldn’t help but chuckle some. “Oh, she’s fine; just tired herself out from bucking. Er, trying to buck, anyway.”

“So many trees…” the farm filly wheezed out, then promptly fell over onto her side.

Sweetie’s face came rushing into Apple Bloom’s wearing a worried expression. “You okay?”

Apple Bloom tried to shake her head, but Big Mac spoke up for her. “Eeyup. You two can go play now, we’re on a break.”

Sweetie smiled, dragging Apple Bloom off with her quite literally. “Okay, thanks, Big Mac! C’mon Apple Bloom, I got something to show ya!”

Apple Bloom looked back to her siblings, reaching out with her hoof. She felt the grass drag under her hooves. She managed to get one last sentence out. “H-help me…”

Applejack gave her a flat look, telling her that she already was. Playtime was better than worktime.

“Apple Bloom, I think you can walk by now,” Sweetie said, trying to drag her even further. “The clubhouse is right there.”

Apple Bloom looked up looking frantic. “You weren’t there!” she exclaimed as she dropped and curled into a ball. She rocked back and forth. “You weren’t there…”

Sweetie examined her, then eventually found the source of her friend’s pain. “Your back hoof looks a little red, that from bucking trees?”

Apple Bloom nodded, looking away shamefully. “Ah didn’t really get to…” she mumbled.

“It didn’t work? That’s okay, my sister tried to teach me some magic today.” Apple Bloom perked up upon hearing this. “Didn’t work either, but I’m still trying!”

Apple Bloom smiled. “Ah, Sweetie, how do you get me to smile so much? It’s not fair.”

Sweetie frowned, not understanding. “Do you want me to get you to frown? That’s gonna be kinda tough…”

The farm filly smiled some more, and got onto her hooves. She walked past Sweetie Belle, who was busy pondering how to get her friend to frown, for whatever reason. Apple Bloomed grabbed her by her front hoof and walked on. “C’mon, Silly Belle. Show me what you got.”

Back in the clubhouse, Sweetie tried to conjure up more magic, trying to focus on making light. All she succeeded in making were sparks, sparks, and more sparks. She almost felt like she had it once, but the green glow died quicker than the blink of her eyes. “Drat, why’s this so hard?!”

Bloom shook her head. “Ah wish ah knew. Buckin’ was pretty difficult to get. Ah always thought it was just using your inner strength, but Applejack had all of these rules she wanted me to follow. It was crazy!”

Sweetie nodded in understanding. “Runes seem pretty nuts now that I think about it. But what do we do? What if we never get this?”

Apple Bloom considered that scenario, then shook her head. “Nah, Applejack said Ah’d get it. Just need to practice. Ah’m sure it’s the same for unicorn magic. Or even flying with Scoots…” Apple Bloom’s ears drooped. “Uh-oh. We forgot about Scoots!”

Sweetie, feeling sympathy for her friend, nodded solemnly. “She will be missed, let us always remember her sacrifice… so that I could eat some cookies for once without Rarity finding out.”

“Don’t ya think we should go ‘n’ get ‘er? Ah’m sure Twilight’s torturing her enough by now.”

Looking at each other, they decided it wasn’t the best idea. Sure, they could risk it; but they didn’t feel it was worth it. They would see Scootaloo tomorrow. They spent the rest of the evening practicing their crafts. Apple Bloom found some smaller trees to try and buck, and though it took a few tries, her rear hooves hit right on and knocked an apple to the ground. “Ah did it!” Apple Bloom cheered. “Ah got an apple!”

Sweetie watched her friend jump up and down, announcing to the world what she had done. “Ah did it! Ah did it! Ah bucked a tree! Finally!”

“Nice! Now if I can just get this… ugh!” A few more sparks flew off her horn and she sighed. “Magic’s hard.”

The other filly nodded. She then noticed the sun had begun to set and she sighed herself. “Ah think it’s time Ah get home. Sorry, Sweetie.”

“Eh, it’s fine. Oh, I better go grab my saddlebag from the clubhouse.” She waved to Apple Bloom and walked back up the steps. Once inside, she found it laying near the door, but when she went to reach for it, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked back and noticed a sleeping bag rolled up, sitting in the middle of their clubhouse. It ordinarily wouldn’t bother her, but she didn’t know who it belonged to. “When was the last time we had a sleepover here?” she wondered aloud, trying to remember. “Or has it just been there and we just didn’t notice?” She hummed, walking around it, poking and prodding it, trying to see if she could unravel its mysteries. She then nearly jumped out of her skin upon hearing the hooting of a nearby owl. She looked over and saw the moon had fully been set in the sky. “Oh drat, I need to get back to Rarity. Now!”

Forgetting about the mysterious sleeping bag, she cantered out and back into the orchard. On the way, she slowed down and decided to practice more magic. Each time she gathered in magic, it would quickly fade away. Feeling frustrated, she began recounting the runes out loud. “What was it? Full moon, squiggles… then half moon? Yeah, I guess. Something like that, anyway.”

When she reached the halfway point past Apple Bloom’s house, she stopped again. Okay, channel in some magic. She stopped and did just that, feeling the warm tingling sensation of her horn lighting up a tad. Imagine what you want, I want light. Give me light! In a swift motion, she concentrated as hard as she possible could. But this time, she let loose. Not her magic sparking all over the place, but a fully formed spell. It slowly illuminated the forest around her. Hesitantly she smiled, looking around, watching the green glow envelop everything. “I did it! I did it, I did it, I-- Hey, is that Scootaloo’s scooter?” She walked over, watching her spell illuminate the toy and a nearby bush. Yep, that’s it. Looking over, she spotted her friend hiding in some bushes. “Oh, hi, Scootaloo!” Then, her mind caught up with her. That’s weird… “What you doing in the bushes?” she asked worriedly.

Scootaloo jumped out of the bush, sending leaves fluttering to the ground. Sweetie thought back to the sleeping bag. She had a funny thought go through her mind. Was that hers? She didn’t have much time to ponder this, as Scootaloo spoke up, breaking her thoughts.

“Oh, phew! You found my scooter! I had, uh, lost it, yeah! Heh, don’t you sometimes get lost in the orchard?” she asked, nervousness obvious in her voice.

Sweetie blushed, and looked away. Too often! “Nope! But I’m glad you found it!”

“Yeah, heh… by the way, that spell is awesome! I didn’t know you could do magic now!”

“Heh, yeah. It’s a long story. Um, but I need to get back to Rarity’s. It’s pretty late. Do you want me to walk ya home?” she asked sweetly.

“Uh, sure. My house is past Rarity’s, though,” she replied rather quickly.

Is it? Funny, I’ve never asked before… Sweetie thought.

Eventually, the two decided to walk back to their respective homes alone. Sweetie didn’t bother explaining the magic, as she was too tired and she felt a bit distracted. I know that seems silly, but what if it really was her bag? Maybe she was trying to get us to have a sleepover? Figuring she would have asked, she cast that idea aside. I’m just being silly.

Right before they split off, she noticed just how dark Ponyville seemed. She watched Scootaloo walk off, but quickly stopped her with her right hoof. “Uh, are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home? My spell could help and it is pretty dark,” she noted, looking around. Please say yes. I wouldn’t feel right just leaving you to walk by yourself. However, she also knew just how stubborn Scootaloo could get.

And stubborn she was. Scootaloo shook her head frantically. “Pfft, I’m fine! Really!” she said, waving her hoof lazily in her best impression of being fine.

One of these days, Scootaloo… oh boy. Sweetie quirked a brow at her, but nodded, agreeing. “Okay.”

After splitting up, Sweetie watched her friend leave. Walking past the boutique and even Twilight’s library. Sweetie waved, but couldn’t help thinking something as she knocked on Rarity’s front door. I don’t remember many houses being out that way…