"...And for that, you two are hereby disqualified," the registration pony told a disappointed Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom.
"Ha! Looks like we win, squirt!" Rainbow Dash cried with a wide grin.
"Woo-hoo! Yeah!" Scootaloo cheered in elation.
The other ponies carried the two off in celebration, leaving Apple Bloom and Big Mac behind.
[/hr]
That was several hours ago, and now, the two champions were celebrating at Sugarcube Corner with the other competitors and their friends. It was amazing how Pinkie Pie had managed to plan all this with an hour of their victory.
"Hey, Scootaloo! Congratulations!"
Scootaloo was caught off guard after hearing Sweetie Belle's voice.
“Thanks!” Scootaloo said. "But…hey, where's Apple Bloom?"
"I dunno. I think she's still at home." Sweetie Belle shrugged. "She's probably still upset about being disqualified."
"Aw, man. She must be really miffed about it," Scootaloo said. "Maybe we should go see her."
Sweetie Belle stepped in front of her before she could go over to Sweet Apple Acres. "And miss your own party? No way!"
"It's Rainbow Dash's party too, you know," Scootaloo reminded her. "And besides, I'm not really the life of the party right now." She pointed to Rainbow, who was bragging about her victory (as usual). Meanwhile, Pinkie had started a conga line with several of the partygoers.
"Yeah, but this is probably the most you'd ever been able to hang out with Rainbow. After the party, you might not get another shot at getting her to notice you."
Scootaloo paused and considered that maybe Sweetie Belle was actually right. Now was a good time as any to spend some quality time with her idol. The only problem was that she was too busy talking to other ponies. Exactly how was she going to get her attention?
She looked for something that might help, and ultimately decided to start simple. She approached the refreshment table and asked Spike for some punch. Carefully walking it over to the crowd of ponies surrounding Rainbow Dash, she successfully managed to make it without spilling a single drop. But just as she stood there behind Rainbow Dash and waited for her to finish her conversation, one of the stallions accidentally knocked the cup out from in between her teeth, spilling the drink all over Scootaloo's coat. Nearby guests looked her way as her cheeks reddened. Not only had she spilled her drink all over her coat, but Rainbow Dash was nearby to see. Things couldn't have possibly gotten worse, she thought.
But to her dismay, they did. Pretty soon, some of the colts and fillies started snickering. Scootaloo's eyes started tearing up, a bit more embarrassed now that she was showing weakness in front of her idol. It was extremely embarrassing.
"That's so not cool, guys!" Rainbow called from within the crowd. "She's soaking wet and none of you even offer her a napkin or something?"
Rainbow grabbed a napkin from the refreshments table and handed it to Scootaloo, who shyly received it. She wiped the tears from her face and did her best to get her coat dry. It didn’t do much. She was still soaked.
"Hold on," Rainbow said. She started flying around Scootaloo, progressively accelerating as she circled around the filly. Scootaloo's coat was drying up, and her mane was getting messier as the wind circled her. Once she was completely dry, Rainbow Dash slowed down.
"Um...thanks," Scootaloo said in a shy voice.
"No problem, squirt. I wasn't gonna let those kids make fun of you. I always stick up for my friends."
Scootaloo's heart seemed to skip a beat. It always did when Rainbow expressed their relationship, whether she considered it to be a friendship or kinship. Her cheeks were crimson again, but this time it wasn't from embarrassment. This time, it was from actually being acknowledged by Rainbow.
"So, whaddya say? Wanna hang out tomorrow?"
Now, Scootaloo's heart was jumping for joy. It was awesome enough that she was willing to compete with her at the Social, but now she wanted to hang out with her. Scootaloo couldn't have been happier. She didn't know what to say, so what happened next was a complete surprise to her.
"Sure, I'll go. What time should we meet?"
Did that really just happen? Did Scootaloo seriously just agree to hanging out with Rainbow Dash? Not that she wasn't happy to do so. But what if she somehow embarrassed herself in front of Rainbow? What if she did something that changed Rainbow's opinion of her? Scootaloo just couldn't bear to think of how bad things might go.
"How about around noon?" Rainbow Dash told her. Scootaloo nervously nodded her head in confirmation. "Great! Let's meet back here tomorrow."
Rainbow walked off and continued talking to some of the other guests. Scootaloo, meanwhile, rushed back towards Sweetie Belle and told her about the incident. The two squealed for joy at the thought of Scootaloo spending an entire day with Rainbow Dash.
"I can't believe it!" Sweetie exclaimed. "You get to spend an entire afternoon with Rainbow Dash!"
And that's when the butterflies returned. "Oh, man," she thought to herself. "I'm gonna be spending an entire day with Rainbow Dash." What had she gotten herself into?
[/hr]
Noon had rolled right around the corner the next day. Scootaloo couldn't have been more nervous in her life. What would she even be doing today? She had no idea.
She nervously paced back and forth across the front of Sugarcube Corner as she waited for Rainbow Dash to appear. Surely enough, she flew in from her cloudominium up above. She landed in front of Scootaloo with a big finish.
"What's up, squirt? Ready to go out?"
Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash in awe. Somehow, Rainbow always seemed to amaze her. Perhaps that's why she looked up to her.
"S-sure," she sheepishly answered.
"All right. So, I was thinking we could go to a hoofball game," Rainbow suggested. "And then afterwards, we can go grab some hayburgers. Whaddya think?"
"S-sure," Scootaloo repeated. She didn't know what else to say.
And so they went to the hoofball game, where Ponyville played Fillydelphia. The two had a blast together. Things went as smoothly as Scootaloo hoped.
After the game, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo went to the Hay Burger. The place was packed with ponies just coming from the game. The two ordered their food and took a seat at one of the center tables.
"So, what did you think? Pretty awesome, right?"
Scootaloo had no words for what she felt right now. Not only did she attend her first hoofball game, but she also got to spend time with Rainbow Dash.
"Awesome!" she blurted out. Once again, she wound up saying something she didn't mean to say, and this time it was embarrassing.
Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle. "I think that's the loudest you've spoken to me since we won," she told her.
"Really?" Scootaloo's cheeks were red once more.
"Yeah. What's up with that, by the way?"
"Sorry 'bout that. I just get really nervous whenever we hang out. You're my idol, and I'm always afraid I might embarrass myself in front of you. When we were at the Social, I guess I was a bit more confident in impressing you, but I guess I'm just not comfortable speaking to you on a personal level."
There was a brief moment of silence before Rainbow spoke.
"You'd never embarrass yourself in front of me!" Rainbow told Scootaloo. "No matter what, you'll always be cool in my book."
"Really?" Scootaloo let out a smile.
"Of course! You're one of the coolest fillies I know. You even remind me of myself when I was a filly."
"I do?" Scootaloo was suddenly curious.
"Yeah. When I was a kid, I was always shy when the Wonderbolts came to visit my Junior Flight Camp back in Cloudsdale. I'd always try to get up close and get their autograph, but every time I did, I'd always crack under the pressure. But then, after saving a few of them at the Best Young Flyer Competition, I wasn't so afraid to even talk to them."
"Wow." Scootaloo was amazed. Sure, Rainbow has admitted to being scared before, but this really opened her eyes to her idol's past. "Man, I guess I overreacted for nothing."
"Well, I wouldn't say nothing," Rainbow jokingly bragged. "I am pretty awesome after all."
She and Scootaloo both laughed, continuing their hayburgers.
The two then continued sharing personal stuff about themselves, and the time after that seemed to go by quickly. Scootaloo wished she could spend more time with Rainbow, but it was getting too dark. So, Rainbow dropped Scootaloo off at her house and called it a night, flying back to her cloudominium once Scootaloo was inside. Today was definitely the best day ever.
Author's Note
Proofread by Winston
