Her Number One Fan
written by Ralastas and ThatHandsomeDevil
Air rushed by Scootaloo’s ears as she fell. To think that one single step she took by mistake would be her end. Without the use of her underdeveloped wings, there was no way to slow her descent. She could see Ponyville below, slowly coming into focus, along with the hard ground coming to meet her. The ground approached faster and faster, until, with a sudden flash of pink, Scootaloo woke with a start in Sweet Apple Acres.
“Over here Big Mac, I coulda swore I heard some youngin’ screaming.” Applejack said as she galloped full speed in the direction of the scream. Big Mac followed closely behind, focusing on finding the source of the scream. Through the trees, Applejack spotted a blur of orange and purple riding a second blur, colored blue. She dashed to the side to avoid an apple tree, and spotted the blur; Scootaloo riding her scooter. “Now, hold on just a dagun minute!” Applejack shouted, giving chase to the blue and orange blur. “BIG MAC!” she shouted to her older brother, “Catch that filly!”
Big Mac barreled ahead, and, thanks to the strength he had in his hind hooves, was extremely fast. As he caught up behind Scootaloo, he gripped onto her tail with his teeth and pulled her straight off the scooter, which went zipping into a tree. Distracted by the loss of her scooter, Scootaloo didn’t even notice Applejack approaching with a concerned look on her face. Scootaloo started to struggle and kick, until she tired herself out just as Applejack arrived.
Scootaloo looked over at Applejack, panting from her frantic exertion in her attempts to escape, a look of dejection on her face.
“Let’s get you inside, young’n. And stop lookin’ at me like that, we’re not gonna hurt’cha, right Big Mac?”
“Eeyuph.” Big Mac said, his speech muffled by still having Scoot’s tail in his mouth.
“Now, wouldya kindly mind explainin’ to us why you were out there in the orchard alone, Scootaloo?” Applejack asked, handing her a blanket, now that everyone was back at the ranch.
“And why were you screamin’?” chimed in Applebloom, who was woken up by her older siblings running down to the shed to investigate. She had taken the seat directly next to Scootaloo.
“I had a nightmare, is all” said Scootaloo. “Just one of those falling dreams, you know?”
Big Mac, who was standing in the corner of the room, spoke up.
“That doesn’t answer why you were out there in the trees.”
“Well, I was sleeping.”
“Clearly,” Applebloom remarked.
“And why were ya’ sleepin in our orchard?” asked Applejack.
“‘Cause I don’t have anywhere else to go...” Scootaloo said with a sad expression.
Applejack was suddenly stricken with sadness.
“You ain’t got a home?”
Scootaloo shook her head.
“What about yer parents?”
The orange filly just stared back at Applejack with tears rapidly forming in her eyes. Immediately, everypony in the room was huddled around Scootaloo, hugging her as tightly as they could. Granny Smith came into the room slowly.
“Eh, what’s everypony huddled ‘round the chair fer?”
Applejack broke free from the collective hug and explained what happened to Granny. Staring over at Scootaloo, Granny Smith picked her up and sat her down on her lap.
“Go ahead and tell us what happened Ska-..Ski-..friend of Applebloom’s.”
Scootaloo nodded and started to explain.
Summer Sun, a mare with a bright orange coat and a ray of sunshine on her flank was laying down in her hospital bed. She had just given birth to a lovely orange foal, with purple hair. Her mate, Lightning Strike; a large stallion with a dark purple coat and lightning bolts across his own flank, was standing next to Summer, holding her hoof in his. The doctor pegasi were scrambling around, checking every piece of machinery in the room, trying to figure out what was happening.
Summer looked at Lightning with fear in her eyes. The foal was fine, for now, but Summer was losing stability, and quickly. The birth had been premature, and difficult on both mother and child. Lightning tried his best to soothe her, assuring her that all would be well.
Alas, such words meant nothing. By the time the little filly had just been made comfortable in the incubator, Summer was already gone. Lightning simply stood at the departed mare’s bedside, not speaking nor moving for what felt like ages, at least in his mind. Condolences were offered, but meant little. Eventually, a young assistant worked up the nerve to ask him what needed to be asked.
"Why do you think it happened?" the pegasus asked the newly widowed father.
"She... she was always so gentle, just like a ray of summer sunshine.” The pegasus said, not looking at the doctor, his voice as broken as his heart. “All it takes is a single dark, stormy cloud to snuff it out..." Lightning Strike stood quietly, still holding the departed mare's hoof, a single tear slipping down his cheek as he looked over to his newborn filly.
In the waiting room of the hospital, Lightning was standing with his face between his legs, staring at the checkered cloud floor, alternating between standard and storm clouds. The doctor pegasus informed him that since his newborn was premature, it would need artificial nourishment, as her birth-mother was no longer able to provide any. The filly’s wings weren’t developed correctly, and could possibly never work. Even her legs weren’t fully functional yet, but that would improve with growth. Lightning perked his head up to look through the glass at the small orange and purple haired filly in the incubator. He may have lost the love of his life, but he still had what was most important; a new life they had created together.
About a month or so later, Lightning and his filly were at home. Her hind legs developed enough that she could walk, but only barely, so for the most part she scooted around on the floor to get around. Seeing this, Lightning named her Scootaloo. Upon mentioning it to the scooting little filly, her face lit up with the most heart-melting smile anypony could bear witness to.
“You smile just like your mother did, little filly.” Lightning said, half to himself and half to Scootaloo.
Years passed and Lightning drifted into a heavier depression at the loss of Summer. Though still proud of Scootaloo for growing up as much as she had, each day she only reminded him of Summer that much more. The pain he felt ate away at him until there was no longer any happiness in him. He began to resent Scootaloo for being so much like her mother. All she was to him was a source of pain now. He hated himself for thinking it, but he didn’t want to be near the filly any longer.
Another month passed, and Scootaloo was old enough to talk. This only made matters worse for Lightning, as she shared a voice with her mother. The day she spoke was the day it truly sunk in. He couldn’t live with her anymore; he had to leave. He had tried his hardest to be a good father, but he was not good enough.
He started to pack everything that was his, and got a foal-sitter to watch his daughter, saying he was on a trip because of an accident related to lightning in Manehattan. After two days of no word from the filly’s father, the foal-sitter had to leave, so she took Scootaloo with her, knowing if the father did come back, he’d know to come to the sitter’s home.
During the stay at the sitter’s home, Scootaloo was always getting into all sorts of trouble. Most of it was harmless, apart from when she left the house, and soon, she started to wander Cloudsdale alone. Unfortunately, nopony had taught her where not to step on the clouds. She was staring into the sky, looking at the factories above that created the weather, and with a single misplaced step, she fell through the clouds.
Random as ever, Pinkie Pie wandered into the ranch at Sweet Apple Acres, wondering where her friend Applejack was, only to overhear Scootaloo telling her story. Never being one to avoid interrupting a good story, Pinkie rushed over to the hushed gathering of ponies.
“Are you telling a story?!” Pinkie exclaimed in her normal fashion. “I looove stories! What story is this?” She asked, almost too fast for Scootaloo to process. “It’s the story of how I got to Ponyville” Scootaloo said, not mentioning the other details. “Now if you’ll let me finish please?” Pinkie stopped talking for once and listened to the story intently.
Scootaloo was falling from the sky, thinking over how short her life had been up till now. Staring down at the ground as it came to meet her, she could see a small pink dot standing right below the place she assumed she’d hit. Hopefully that pink dot wasn’t anything living, or this could mean the end of two ponies.
Pinkie chimed in, “I think I know this story!”
“You should,” said Scootaloo. “You’re in it”
Pinkie stood up and started begging Scootaloo “Can I tell my part of this story, pleeeease!? I remember it like it was yesterday!” She was hopping up and down as she said it.
“Fine, but don’t make it sound too silly; I really thought I was going to die!”
Taking a moment to clear her throat dramatically, Pinkie Pie began the story, except with a touch of... well, Pinkie Pie.
“So there I was, standing in front of Sugar Cube Corner, when my tail started to twitcha-twitch! I knew what that meant, so I ducked underneath a table, but when I looked up, I noticed something: that wasn’t any ordinary object falling from the sky, oh no; this time, it was a filly! As soon as I realized this, I grabbed a bunch of balloons and crafted them into a makeshift trampoline, since I had left mine at home that day and I thought it would take too long to go grab it and make it back outside in time to catch her!”
Pinkie then took a breath, as she said that whole section of story with a single one. Amazed by this, the other ponies in the room just stared at her, mouths agape. “Pinkie...” started Applejack, but was quickly interrupted by her restarting her story with a fresh lungful of air.
“That’s when I picked the balloon thingy that I put together and started running around in circles with it, trying to figure out where the filly was gonna land! Then BAM!! She landed right on top of it, and bounced up into the air again! I dropped the trampoline and jumped on it, catching her in midair! It was so much FUN!!” She sat down, now out of breath.
“Okay, Scoot, you can keep going. I’m pooped.”
Scootaloo chuckled slightly and continued.
Meeting Pinkie Pie was a little weird for Scootaloo. She hadn’t seen an Earth pony before, only ever heard of them during bedtime stories from her dad.
“Where are your wings?” Scootaloo asked the strange pony, once they were both safely on the ground. “Are you an Earth pony? I’ve never seen an Earth pony before!”
Pinkie laughed and said “You sure do ask a lot of funny questions! I’m Pinkie Pie, and since you’re new to Ponyville, do you know what that means?!” Scootaloo stared blankly at the exuberant pony, not sure how to react. “It meeaaannss... That you get a welcome song!” She then pulled out a strange machine from seemingly out of nowhere that looked like it had an oven attached to the front and a cannon on top. She then performed her complimentary welcome song and dance that she always did for new ponies to Ponyville. The ones she doesn’t throw an entire party for, anyway.
When the song was over, the oven-cannon opened up, shooting out a cake from the front and various party decorations from the top. “Yay, I loaded it right this time!” squealed Pinkie with delight. Scootaloo didn’t want to know how it would have gone had it been loaded wrong.
“Uh... Thanks for the welcome song, Pinkie, but I’m gonna go explore the town for a while...” Pinkie nodded, then with a sudden rush of excitement started talking. “You should come to this party that I’m catering later for Filthy Rich! It’ll be sooo much fun! You can even invite a friend if you want!” Scootaloo considered the offer, but knew she didn’t have any friends yet. She’d probably find one while exploring the town, though.
“Sure, I’ll go,” she said, showing a half smile.
Scootaloo waved a final goodbye to Pinkie, walking away in the opposite direction.
There’s no way I can go to that party... She thought to herself. She was glad that Pinkie had made her feel so welcome, but everything around her was too new... Too different. The blue and white colors of Cloudsdale were replaced with an array of beautiful greens and browns and yellows, and even more vibrant colors from the flowers and animals. The latter scared the young filly at first, who had never seen such creatures. Seeing as her special talent wasn’t being good with animals, she wasn’t as open to meeting them as Fluttershy. She even ran away from butterflies at first, unsure of their intentions.
In her attempts to avoid the strange animals she had been dreading since she arrived, Scootaloo managed to find herself in front of Carousel Boutique, where a young filly with a white coat, curly lavender and pink hair, and a small protruding horn sat, looking lonely. The filly looked up curiously at her.
The little filly looked like she was rather occupied with a long length of fabric, attempting to design something. It made sense, since the building she was outside of was a boutique, after all. However, it appeared that Scootaloo had distracted her from her work, and now she was looking right at her, perhaps trying to see if she could recognize her.
Finally, after a painful silence, the little filly squeaked out “Hi! I’ve never seen you before. Are you not in Miss Cheerilee’s class? I thought I knew every filly in town because of that.”
Scootaloo stared blankly at the filly as she spoke, focusing not on the words, but each individual horrendous squeak emanating from her mouth.
“I’m sorry, what? I wasn’t paying attention.”
“I was just asking if you were from around here!” The filly said, hopping down from her seat and making her way towards Scootaloo.
“Uhh.. no, I’m from Cloudsdale. I fell and--”
“Wow! Cloudsdale!? How in Equestria did you survive a fall like that?”
“Well Pinkie Pi--”
“Oh Pinkie caught you, huh? It makes sense, with her Pinkie sense and all.”
Scootaloo just stared blankly again, this time worried she might get cut off.
“If I say something, are you just gonn-”
“Cut you off? Nah, I try to not do... that...” Sweetie, suddenly realizing that she was doing just that, quieted down, waiting for Scootaloo to speak again.
“You’re doing a great job.” Scootaloo remarked sarcastically, somewhat surprised that she wasn’t cut off once again. “What’s your name, by the way?”
“Oh, I’m Sweetie Belle! What’s yours?”
“Scootaloo!” Scoot said, glad that, even if Sweetie Belle was a little grating on the ears, she was finally somepony to talk to.
Surveying the carnage that lay on the table before her, Scootaloo looked over to Sweetie Belle.
"By the way, did you know about the part--" Scootaloo started.
"Oh the Cuteceñera? Yeah, I wasn't going to go, I don't have a cutie mark, so Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are sure to make fun of me..." Sweetie Belle interrupted with a somber look.
"Well, neither do I, we could go together! Y’know for support!" Scootaloo declared.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up and her squeaks became even more high pitched. “Yeah! If there are two of us, then nopony will be able to make fun of us!”
What have I done. Scootaloo thought to herself, mentally chastising herself as she uncertainly replied with a “Yeah...”.
“Yeah! Strength in numbers and everything.” Somehow, the squeaks were getting even worse.
“That was the plan. Lets get going then, Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo said, praying that she hadn’t gotten permanent ear damage.
I really hope I can get used to this... She thought to herself as the excited little unicorn continued to squeak.
The two fillies headed off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. As they arrived, Pinkie was waiting for them at the door.
“Oh, I knew you’d come! This is going to be so much fun! You two should go find some of your other friends!” Pinkie shouted, trotting off to join in on a game of pin the tail on the pony.
“Friends, right.” Scootaloo muttered almost at the same time as Sweetie Belle.
The two looked at each other, realizing neither of them had any friends.
“I... think we’re just going to mingle.” Scootaloo said evenly, gesturing for Sweetie Belle to follow her inside. Sweetie reluctantly followed.
At the party, Scoot and Sweetie stayed against the walls, as to avoid being seen by anypony. Some day, they might make some friends, but as for now, they were the only two ponies they knew of that didn’t have a cutie mark there. It was better to keep out of sight.
Suddenly a commotion started, as a yellow filly with a dark red mane crashed into the music player, causing the music to stop. Everypony looked directly at her and started crowding around. In that moment, Scootaloo realized they were now obvious, pressed against a far wall. They’d be seen instantly! She dove underneath the snack table, and Sweetie Belle followed.
Getting a better look at the yellow filly, they noticed something about her. Her flank was also blank! Apparently, they weren’t the only ones to notice, as Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara began to antagonize her.
“Who are those ponies?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle, keeping her voice lowered.
“The ones I was telling you about back at Carousel Boutique that I said were going to make fun of me. That pink one is Diamond Tiara and the silver one is Silver Spoon.” Sweetie Belle said dejectedly. “They got their cutie marks a while back, and ever since, they’ve just been using it as an excuse to act like jerks to everypony who doesn’t have one.”
“Well, what’s wrong with not having your cutie mark!?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle, as they heard Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon call the yellow filly a “blank flank” in unison, laughing afterwards. Scootaloo had seen enough of this, and spoke up.
“You got a problem with blank flanks?” She said. Everyone went quiet. Not sure if they heard, she repeated herself.
“I said, you got a problem with blank flanks?” Her and Sweetie Belle got up from under the table, and walked over to defend the other cutie mark deprived filly.
Applebloom cut into Scoot’s story.
“I remember that! That was the day we started the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
“Mhm!” Replied Scootaloo, looking at her friend. “Soon after we met there, I found the schoolhouse and talked to Miss Cheerilee about having a place at the school, and we became classmates after that; she knows all about it, but she promised to keep it a secret.”
“That still doesn’t explain why y’all was sleepin’ in our orchard.” Big Macintosh said sternly, eyeing the orange filly.
“Oh... Right. Well, I knew that Sweetie Belle would be no good, since she just lived in a little house, but I had heard Applebloom lived on a big apple orchard. Plenty of space for me to lay in hiding... And plenty of apples, so I didn’t have to worry about food...” Scootaloo said, trailing off as her gaze fell, resting on the floor.
In her typical fashion, Rainbow Dash had come in at the most inconvenient time; most likely to ask Applejack for help with some new convoluted stunt. However, she had stuck around to hear the end of Scootaloo’s story, and now, despite everything the young filly had put her through as her self-proclaimed “Number One Fan”, Rainbow felt something shift in her heart.
Suddenly piping up, Rainbow Dash did what she did best and drew everyone’s attention.
“Whoa, hold on. You mean that you just lived there on the orchard, in the cold and the blazing heat, and rain and snow?” Rainbow said, shocked at the little filly’s resilience.
“I didn’t have much of a choice. I had nowhere else to go.” Scootaloo said.
“I... I don’t know what to say, kid. I didn’t even know my parents, Scootaloo. I lived on my own in Cloudsdale all my life, or at least for as long as I can remember.” Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, lost deep in thought. She was clearly about to make a big decision.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this. Really, I can’t. But, kid, I feel for ya. I had no idea you had to go through what I did. But you sound like one tough pony! Maybe one day you’ll be as tough as me!”
“You mean it, Rainbow Dash!?” Scootaloo said, finally really smiling for the first time since she began her story.
“Ah tell ya, any dang ol’ word Rainbow says might as well be a piece’a gold to that Scooterloo.” Granny Smith whispered to Applejack.
Applejack chuckled under her breath. “You said it, Granny.”
Rainbow Dash sat, still lost in thought. Finally, she looked at the orange filly, a smile on her face.
“I’ll tell you what, Scootaloo. No reason for you to have to sit out in the orchard in the harsh weather. If you really don’t have any place to stay...” Rainbow Dash trailed off, looking away from Scootaloo “I dunno, I guess... Maybe you could live with me...”
Scootaloo lit up with a sudden brightness the likes of which no one had ever seen in the excitable young filly.
“Really?!” shouted Scootaloo, happier than ever knowing her favorite pony in all of Ponyville was going to take her in. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she couldn’t help herself as she bounded over to the pegasus and wrapped her arms around her, racking both of their bodies with sobs of joy.
The sounds of sobbing came from elsewhere, as well: Pinkie Pie, as she often did, was spouting ridiculous streams of tears, a plain white hankie in her left hoof, which she eventually used to wipe away the remaining tears, and finally smiling.
“Oh my GOSH, what a great ending! This calls for a party! Oh, I’ll need balloons and streamers and a cake and music...”
While Pinkie went on her usual party supply tangent, Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash, tears still welled up in her eyes.
“D-do you r-r-really m-mean it?” Scootaloo said through her tears.
Rainbow Dash gave a sort of half-smile to the little pegasus. Sure, Rainbow wasn’t the most responsible of all ponies, but.... Maybe it was time for a start. And she knew that no one would appreciate her company more than Scootaloo.
“Of course, kid. Anything for my number one fan.”
