Scootaloo lay on her bed, head buried under her blankets as her alarm clock shrieked at her to get up and start the day. Scootaloo reluctantly shifted over so she could strike at the clock with a hoof, sending it crashing to the ground and letting out an odd noise before the alarm silenced.
Shifting herself back into a comfortable position, Scootaloo shut her eyes and tried to imagine that she could go back to sleep. The illusion was shattered when her stomach grumbled hungrily beneath her, making her wince as a lance of hunger shot through her barrel.
No point delaying the inevitable. Scootaloo decided, discarding her blanket and leaving it a heap on the floor. Trudging to the bathroom, Scootaloo avoided the mirror while she tried her best to detangle her mane, and preen her feathers, all the while hearing her stomach growl.
Rubbing at it’s soft expanse with a hoof, Scootaloo winced as her hoof sunk several inches into the fatty layer that had collected there. Moving to the kitchen, Scootaloo mindlessly poured herself a large bowl of cereal, and began to eat. Hopefully, her brain would wake up shortly after her body did.
As she ate, Scootaloo tried very hard not to notice how her stomach rested against her hind legs, or how her plot seemed to overhang the edge of her chair. She also tried not to notice that one bowl of cereal did nothing to quell her hunger. She poured herself another absentmindedly, hoping that she would have enough time to pack herself a larger lunch than she’d had last friday. She hadn’t packed enough, and by the time Cheerilee had dismissed the class all Scootaloo had been able to hear over her growling stomach was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s teasing.
So, Scootaloo resolved herself to bring better lunches for herself. It was better to bring leftovers home than be so hungry that she couldn’t do her schoolwork. Slurping the last of the milk out of the bowl, Scootaloo rubbed at her stomach again, though this time it was harder: bloated from the volume and speed of her eating.
Setting the bowl in the sink to wash later, Scootaloo pulled her lunch bag out of her backpack and set it on the counter. Moving slowly because of her overfull stomach, Scootaloo packed herself a rather large lunch: a daffodil sandwich, an apple, two small prepackaged cakes, a small bag of chips, a pudding, and an applesauce.
Setting her lunch in her bag, Scootaloo checked the time. Sighing, Scootaloo popped two pieces of toast into the toaster. If she left too early, she’d be hungry before she even reached the schoolhouse. Full or not it would be smarter to plan ahead so she didn’t eat half of her lunch before lunchtime.
Eating the heavily buttered toast, Scootaloo left the house and headed toward school. Months ago, she would have buzzed over on her scooter. However, since breaking her leg almost five months ago, she hadn’t really tried to use her scooter since. At first it was because she hadn’t been able to with the broken leg, but after weeks of being house-bound she had become so grossly out of shape she wasn’t sure she could make it down the street without needing to stop. If she were being honest, she couldn’t really make it anywhere without needing to rest nowadays, reaching the end of the road and needing to pause for breath.
Reaching the schoolhouse was a relief, which allowed Scootaloo to squeeze her large plot through the now too-narrow doorway and ease herself into her seat, panting. Weakly flapping her little flab-coated wings, Scootaloo tried to get her breathing under control before Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon showed up. The last thing she needed was those two to start teasing her before class even started.
Yawning, Cheerilee smiled warmly from the front of the class, cleaning the chalkboard, “Good morning, Scootaloo. How was your weekend?”
“It was good, Miss. Cheerilee,” Scootaloo smiled back, ignoring how her chins moved at the simplest of movements.
Cheerilee nodded, continuing her work, “Mine was fun. I finished the book I was telling the class on Friday. It was as good as I’d hoped.”
“I...learned how to cook pizza?” Scootaloo offered, unsure how to proceed, “It was fun.”
“That’s good!” Cheerilee forced a smile on her face, and Scootaloo desperately tried to imagine it was real. All of the adults had been trying to get Scootaloo to lose weight since she’d left the hospital.
So far, Scootaloo had resisted, mostly because her parents were never home enough to enforce anything, and Rainbow Dash had been away on a long-term Wonderbolts assignment. Not having her idol nearby made things a little more complicated: Scootaloo didn’t want to disappoint Rainbow, but she also didn’t want to change. Losing the weight she’d gained would be an arduous process that would seem impossible most of the time.
Sitting, catching her breath, and waiting Scootaloo stared into the empty chalkboard while Cheerilee read through her lesson plan. As time passed, other students started to file in, yawning and saying good morning to Cheerilee and the others.
Shifting her weight, Scootaloo ignored the creaking of her desk. Soon, class would start.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom came in together, laughing about something. Seeing Scootaloo, they rushed over, smiling and giggling. That brought a smile to Scootaloo’s face: the Cutie Mark Crusaders didn’t change, and that was comforting.
So Scootaloo’s morning commenced.
Seating themselves, Scootaloo found herself awash in the middle of a random conversation. Forgetting her situation, Scootaloo could almost imagine she hadn’t broken her leg and hadn’t gained so much weight that she couldn’t do what she liked. She could pretend everypony in town still liked her.
Scootaloo could pretend she didn’t like being too full to move, or that sometimes catching sight of herself in the mirror would only allow her to admire herself before the disgust of everypony else kicked in.
Then, Apple Bloom put a large muffin on Scootaloo’s desk with a huge smile, “Ah made them myself! I wanted you two to try!” Blinking down at the monstrosity of a muffin, Scootaloo realized Sweetie Belle had one as well.
Smiling genuinely, Scootaloo couldn’t help but take a big bite of the slightly-warm pastry, and fell in love. It was an apple muffin with some sugar on top and caramel piped into the center. It was warm, crunchy on top and soft and sweet in the middle. It was the best muffin Scootaloo had ever had.
“It’s so good!” Scootaloo exclaimed, taking another large bite, “good job!”
Sweetie Belle nodded emphatically, her mouth bulging with the amount of muffin she’d crammed into it at once.
At the front of the room, Cheerilee cleared her throat, “Ahem! All right class, get seated please. Today, we’re learning about earth ponies, and how most of us channel our magic into the land around us…”
Sitting at her desk, still picking at the muffin and starting to take some notes, Scootaloo could only hope the rest of her day would be so sweet.
Author's Note
This is for Phealgud, for all of his help and friendship over the last couple of years with Captured and others.
Hope everyone can get some enjoyment out of this as well!