Cutie Mark Crusader Criminals
"Man, I'm starved!" Scootaloo said, looking to her other two crusader pals. "You guys hungry?"
"I'm so hungry I could eat a whole pie!" Sweetie Belle complained.
"Ah'm so hungry Ah could eat a whole cake!" Apple Bloom agreed, holding her stomach with her forelegs.
"Figures!" Scootaloo groaned. She then looked ahead of them, and grinned. "Hey! We're almost at Sugarcube Corner! Let's go get something there!"
"But we ain't got no more money, Scoots!" Apple Bloom reminded her. "We spent it all at tha arcade, an' still no cutie marks!"
"Oh come on, I know we have some!" Scootaloo checked her saddlebags. "...Or not."
"Nothing here, either." Sweetie Belle sighed.
"Nope. Nothin' left." Apple Bloom frowned. "So tha mos' we could do is window-shop, Ah guess."
"But that's stupid! It's a big bag of empty promises!" Scootaloo pouted.
"Why don't we just ask our sisters for some bits?" Sweetie Belle suggested, but was ignored.
"We should see what we'd want, an' then we could ask our sisters fer tha bits." Apple Bloom offered, but was also ignored.
"I've got a better plan!" Scootaloo announced. "We'll just use the one-hoof discount!"
"...What's that?" Sweetie Belle questioned, confused.
But Apple Bloom looked horrified. "But...but that's stealin'! We cain't steal, Scootaloo! It's bad!" She exclaimed.
"Oh please, no one's going to know about it!" Scootaloo said dismissively. "It's not bad if we don't get caught!"
"No!" Apple Bloom shook her head. "It's bad if ya don't pay fer it honestly! Ah won't do it! Ah'm goin' home!"
Without waiting for a reply, the bright-yellow Earth filly turned and galloped away, leaving her fellow Crusaders behind.
"...Well fine! Then you won't get any!" Scootaloo called after her.
Sweetie Belle whimpered. "...I...don't think we should, either..."
"C'mon, Sweetie Belle! It's just you and me!" Scootaloo ignored the Unicorn filly's protests and nudged her towards Sugarcube Corner.
"But...." Sweetie Belle was interrupted by her growling stomach. She WAS very hungry. "...Okay."
"Good! Glad you're with me!" Scootaloo smirked a bit, pushing open the door to the sweets shop.
"Now, follow my lead." She cleared her throat, and spoke a bit loudly. "Hello, don't mind us! Just looking around, nothing out of the ordinary! No need to get up, we'll just help ourselves!"
"Um...yes! We're just...walking around...not up to anything..." Sweetie Belle said nervously, glancing toward Pinkie Pie as she worked behind the front counter.
"Yep, so we'll just look around! Don't bother getting up!" Scootaloo said, trotting cautiously around the shop.
"Uh-huh! Nothing to see here! Doo-dee-doo..." Sweetie Belle hummed a bit, trotting around.
"Hello, Scootaloo! Hi, Sweetie Belle!" Pinkie Pie chirped, peering over the front counter at the two fillies.
"YAAAAAGH!!!!!" Scootaloo yelped, leaping into the air and landing flat on her belly. "O-oh...heh heh...hey, Pinkie Pie..."
"Hi...Pinkie...just um...looking around a bit!" Sweetie Belle grinned nervously, helping Scootaloo back up.
"Okey dokey lokie, girls!" Pinkie smiled, trotting off towards the kitchen. "Well, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me! So feel free to look around, all you like!" She then bounced away through the doors, and was soon out of sight.
"Okay, sure! Don't worry about us!" Scootaloo called after her. Then, once she was gone, she turned to Sweetie Belle. "All right, split up!"
"Okay..." Sweetie Belle whispered. "Oh wow! Look at all these lovely treats! Lalalala...pretty candies...doo-dee-doo...nothing going on here!"
"Hmm hmm hmm, la la la...oooh, look over there! Candy, and cookies, and cupcakes, and...oh, is that taffy?!" Scootaloo announced, eyes shifting to the kitchen doors whee Pinkie had disappeared.
"Yep, that's taffy! So cool! Lalalala..." Sweetie Belle pranced around.
Until her eyes fell on the big cupcake she had seen in the window. The cupcake was pretty big as it sat on display, almost as big as their own little heads. Pure chocolate, sprinkles, chocolate icing, chocolate chunks cut in thin squares, and a cherry on top.
"Oooh..."
Scootaloo met up with her, shortly thereafter, her eyes wide and her mouth watering at the giant cupcake. "Ohhh...there it is...the greatest cupcake in all of Ponyville...no, in all of Equestria...!!!"
"The Crunchy Chocolate Coated Cupcake!" Sweetie Belle beamed, her mouth watering.
“With coconut and sprinkles!" Scootaloo added, her eyes gleaming.
"It looks delicious..." Sweetie Belle then looked at the price. Five bits.
"And it's ours for the taking..." Scootaloo opened Sweetie Belle's saddle bag, grabbed the cellophane-wrapped cupcake, and shoved it inside.
"Okay..." Sweetie Belle whimpered, still unsure about this.
"There we go!" Scootaloo nodded in satisfaction, closing Sweetie Belle's saddle bag again. "Now, let's get out of here, before Pinkie comes back!"
"Okay." Sweetie Belle then spoke loudly again. "Well, nothing more to see! Let's go, Scootaloo! We have to go! Duty calls!"
"Yep! Got lots more Crusading to do, mm-hmm!" Scootaloo spoke loudly, also. "So we'll just be on our way! Nothing we want to buy, not today, nuh-uh!"
"Not yet, nope!" Sweetie Belle began inching to the door. "So uh...we're going! Maybe we'll come again later! Yeah! Uh...bye!"
"Yep, we'll just be leaving, now!" Scootaloo inched towards the door, too. "No need to come out, we'll show ourselves to the door!"
"Yeah, we know the way out!" Sweetie Belle tip-hoofed faster.
"Sure do, so we'll see you later!" Scootaloo tip-hoofed faster. But then she stopped, cringing at a crinkling noise that seemed to be coming from Sweetie Belle's saddle bag. "...Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, too loud! We have to go slower!" Sweetie Belle whispered.
"Okay! Let's go!" Scootaloo hissed. She tip-hoofed slowly towards the door again, leading the way.
Sweetie Belle did the same, going slowly, but trying to go faster...faster...until finally- "Oof!!" the unicorn filly knocked into creamy yellow form, stopping her in her tracks.
"Oh! Sorry, Sweetie Belle...I didn't see you!" Fluttershy said sheepishly.
"Oh! Hey, Fluttershy!" Scootaloo forced a smile at the creamy yellow Pegasus. "We were...uh...just leaving! Heh heh...weren't we, Sweetie Belle?"
"Yeah...leaving..." Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly. "Just...going!"
"Oh, I see." Fluttershy smiled, and then eyed the unicorn's bag. "Ooh, that looks heavy...do you need any help?"
"Uh..." Scootaloo looked around nervously. "N-no...no, that's okay, Fluttershy...we've got it...and it's not heavy at all, it's just full of...uh..."
"Socks!" Sweetie Belle said, grinning nervously. "I have a lot of socks!"
"Yeah...socks!" Scootaloo nodded, also grinning nervously. "For uh..."
"For laundry!" Sweetie Belle said, trying to get past Fluttershy. "So, we're leaving now! Bye bye!"
"Oh, sorry," Fluttershy stepped aside. "Have fun then, you two!"
"Yeah, we will!" Scootaloo waved her hoof at Fluttershy. "Bye, now! We'll come by your cottage later!"
"Oh, wonderful! We can have a tea party!" Fluttershy cajoled, grinning.
"Yeah, sure! Tea party! We'll...take you up on that! See you!" Sweetie Belle dashed to the door again.
"Yup! We'll gladly take you up on that! Later!" Scootaloo raced to the door after Sweetie Belle.
Fluttershy stared after them, wide-eyed. "Hmm...that's odd. ...And where's Apple Bloom?"
"Phew!" Sweetie Belle raced around the corner of the bakery, sitting down on the ground. "Close one!"
"I'll say!" Scootaloo agreed. "Now, to take our prize..."
"We'll take it to the clubhouse! Nopony will see us eating it there!"
"Good idea! We'll be less likely to get caught, too!"
The two fillies hurried off, going to their clubhouse in Sweet Apple Acres. Lucky for them, they weren't seen nor questioned by anypony about the bulge in Sweetie's saddlebag.
"We made it!" Sweetie Belle sat down, taking the cupcake out.
"Time to eat!" Scootaloo declared. Hesitating a moment, she pushed the cupcake toward Sweetie Belle. "...You take the first bite!"
"Um....no...you take it." Sweetie Belle pushed it back.
"It was in your bag! You take it!" Scootaloo pushed it back.
"This was your idea! You take it!"
"You like chocolate more than me, you take it!"
"Just take it!"
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"You take it!"
"You take it!"
"You!"
"You!" The cupcake giggled, visibly shaking.
Sweetie Belle stared at it, wide-eyed. "...Scoots...did the...cupcake just...?"
Scootaloo blinked, wide-eyed as she, too, stared at the cupcake. "I...I don't know, Sweetie..."
"Hee hee! You silly fillies!" Laughed the cupcake, a mouth forming along the top of its icing coat. "Face it, you can't eat me!"
"W-What do you mean we can't?" Sweetie Belle gulped.
Grinning madly, the cupcake laughed in response. "Duh! You stole me! You're not letting yourselves do it!"
"N-no! We could do it! We just...we uh...we..." Scootaloo fumbled for words.
"Just what?" The cupcake taunted. "Face it, you two are feeling GUILTY! That's why you can't eat me! If you didn't feel guilty, you'd have had me devoured before we even got here!"
"Th-That's....we..." Sweetie Belle began, unsure.
"W-well...w-we uh..." Scootaloo bit her lip, nervous.
"You girls stole me...for selfish reasons...and you can't even live with it." Snickered the cupcake. "Well, face it, you two are now...Cutie Mark Crusader...CRIMINALS!"
It then cackled evilly, with a thunder clap and everything. Sweetie Belle felt a strange feeling, and looked down at her flank...only to find a cutie mark in the shape of handcuffs.
"AH!! My cutie mark!!! It's....oh no!!!"
Scootaloo felt a similar sensation, and glanced at her flank...discovering, to her horror, a cutie mark shaped like a ball and chain. "Hey, my cutie mark!!! It's...no, not THAT!!!"
"It is now, suckers!! Have fun in prison! HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA-"
"STOOOOOOOOP!!!!" Sweetie Belle screeched. "WE'RE SORRY! JUST STOP IT!!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Scootaloo wailed. "WE DIDN'T MEAN TO!!! WE'RE SORRY!!! PLEASE STOP!!! PLEASE!!!!!"
"WE'LL TAKE YOU BACK! WE'LL TAKE YOU BACK!! WE'RE SORRY!!!!" Sweetie Belle fell over, panting, and looking around.
"...Hey...it's gone...it's not talking anymore..." She quickly checked her flank. "Our cutie marks are gone, too!"
"Maybe...were we...was it...our imagination...?" Scootaloo dared to ask, also panting.
"I think so..." Sweetie Belle whimpered. "We should never have stolen this...it was wrong! We have to take it back! Or we're gonna be...Cutie Mark Crusader Criminals!"
"I don't want that!" Scootaloo cried. "I want a cool cutie mark! An awesome cutie mark! Not a CRIMINAL cutie mark!"
"Neither do I!" Sweetie Belle whimpered, tears in her eyes. "Come on...let's take it back."
"Good idea." Scootaloo agreed, sniffling. "Let's return it..."
Sweetie Belle brought it into her bag again, hoisting them onto her back. "C'mon..."
The two fillies slowly and sadly returned to Sugarcube Corner. Nopony else was around, but Pinkie Pie was staring at the spot where the cupcake had originally been, looking confused and a bit discouraged.
Sweetie Belle spoke up first, clearing her throat. "Um....Pinkie Pie?"
"Oh, hi girls!" Pinkie Pie turned to look at the two fillies with a smile. "Say, you haven't seen the Super-Duper Crunchy Chocolate Coated Cupcake that was on display here, have you? It disappeared, and I can't seem to find it, anywhere!"
"Um...yeah...about that cupcake..." Scootaloo stared at the ground shamefully.
"We uh....we do know where it is...." Sweetie Belle said sadly, looking down at the floor too.
"You do? Really?" Pinkie brightened, but upon seeing the fillies' sad and ashamed faces, she frowned. "Hey, what's wrong, you two? If you know where the cupcake is, then that's great news! It's nothing to be sad about!"
"It is...w-when y-you're the o-one...who m-made the c-cupc-cake...disappear..." Scootaloo said, tears pooling in her light lavender eyes.
"Yeah, it was our fault..." Sweetie Belle took the cupcake out of her bag, and placed it on the floor in front of the pink Earth pony.
Pinkie stared at the cupcake, and then at the two fillies. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth gaped open. "What...? You...? Scoots? Sweetie?"
"We're so sorry, Pinkie..." Scootaloo sniffled, tears running down her cheeks and snout. "We were so hungry, and this cupcake looked so good, but we had no money, so we decided to take it, and then we tried to eat it, and we couldn't because we felt so guilty, so we brought it back, and we're really sorry, and we'll never do it again, ever!"
"It's true...we did it! We're sorry...we should never have stolen it in the first place..." Sweetie Belle whimpered, tears running down her cheeks and snout as well. "What we did was wrong, and we should've just come back when we actually had money. We're sorry, Pinkie...we're really sorry!! If you want to...ban us from the shop...we'll understand...."
"Oh, girls..." Pinkie frowned, looking sternly at the two Cutie Mark Crusaders. "What you did was very, VERY wrong. But being honest with me about what you did was very, VERY right. You should be proud of yourselves for having enough courage to not only return the cupcake, but to tell me truthfully what you did."
Sweetie Belle sniffled, her ears still drooping. "We're sorry, Pinkie... We won't do it again, we promise."
Scootaloo nodded, sniffling. "We're really sorry, Pinkie...we didn't mean to, honest we didn't...we understand if you hate us, now..."
"Hate you?" Pinkie blinked, and shook her head, smiling now. "Of course not! I'd never hate you, you silly fillies! You're too cute for me to hate you!"
"So you'd hate us if we were ugly?" Sweetie Belle whined, her eyes pooling with tears again.
"You'd hate us if we weren't fillies...?" Scootaloo whimpered, sniffling as tears continued pouring down her cheeks.
"No, and nooo!!!" Pinkie giggled. "I'd never hate you, at all! Not even if you were ugly old mares!"
"Okay...." Sweetie Belle wiped her eyes a bit. "We're sorry again, Pinkie...is there anything we can do?"
"Well...you returned the cupcake, and you apologized for what you did, so...nopey dopey lopie!" Pinkie shook her head, smiling and patting their manes.
"So...does that mean...we're off the hook...?" Scootaloo asked hopefully, a few tears trailing down her cheeks.
"I don't think so..." Sweetie Belle seemed to think it wouldn't be that easy.
"Not quite." Pinkie looked at them sternly again. "Even though you returned the cupcake and told me honestly what you did, you still stole it. And no crime ever goes unpunished. I'm going to tell Rarity and Dashie what you did. And you should just be lucky the Cakes are out of town, or you probably WOULD be banned from Sugarcube Corner...FOREEEVVVEEERRR!!!"
"Nooooooooooooooo!!!!" Sweetie Belle screamed, clutching one of Pinkie's forelegs. "Please don't tell Rarity!! I'll do anything! Just don't tell Rarity!!"
"No, PLEASE no!!!" Scootaloo latched herself onto Pinkie's other foreleg. "I'm begging you, DON'T tell Rainbow Dash! I'll do anything you ask, anything at all! Just PLEASE don't tell Rainbow Dash!!!"
"Sorry, girls." Pinkie managed to pry both of her forelegs away. "But you did the crime, and now you gotta face the consequences."
"But Rarity's going to hate me! She'll never let me stay with her again and she won't spend time with me!!" Sweetie Belle wailed, sobbing.
"And Rainbow Dash will hate me, and say I'm the OPPOSITE of awesome, and never let me hang with her again!!!" Scootaloo sobbed, pressing her hooves over her eyes.
"Cry and beg all you like. It doesn't change the fact that you stole a cupcake." Pinkie told them firmly. "And for that, you have to own up to your crime."
"....Okay..." Sweetie Belle whimpered, wiping her eyes. "We understand..."
"...We deserve it..." Scootaloo sniffled. "Especially since we stole...we're really, REALLY sorry, though..."
"We'll never steal again...it wasn't the right thing to do..." Sweetie Belle sniffled. "....C'mon Scoots, we'd better wait for them."
"Guess you're right..." Scootaloo whimpered. "Let's go, Sweetie..."
Later on, at the Carousel Boutique, Sweetie Belle slowly entered it after her sister. It was later in the afternoon, after Pinkie had told Rarity and Rainbow Dash what had happened. Nothing was said, only for Rarity to sternly say they were going home.
"...I'm sorry, sis..." The saddened filly managed, sniffling.
"You should be, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity scolded her younger sister. "I can't believe you would stoop so low as to resort to petty THEFT!!! And for a CUPCAKE, of all things!!!"
Sweetie Belle's ears drooped as she looked down at the floor shamefully. "I know...it was wrong of us. I didn't even want to! Scootaloo talked me into it...but that doesn't excuse it, since I did still go with it... It was wrong! We were hungry and had no money, but it was a stupid reason to steal it at all..."
"Indeed, it was." Rarity nodded, her anger beginning to rise. "Why, if you were THAT desperate to have a cupcake, then all you needed to do was ask me for the money, or even ask me to BUY it for you! I would've gladly done so!"
"That's exactly what I tried to tell them..." Sweetie Belle mumbled, sniffling. "Same with Apple Bloom...you're right, sis...I'm despicable!! I almost had a cutie mark in the shape of handcuffs!!! I'm a Cutie Mark Crusader Criminal!! I'll never do it again, I'm sorry!!" She began to cry.
"Now, now, Sweetie..." Rarity softened when Sweetie Belle began to cry. "It's all right. What you did was terrible, but you realized your mistake. You are by no means a 'Cutie Mark Crusader Criminal', I assure you."
"But you hate me!!! You'll never let me come back here again or want to spend time with me!!" Sweetie Belle wailed, grabbing onto her forelegs and sobbing. "I'm sorry Rarity!! I'm sorry! You deserve better than an idiot little sister like me!"
"Sweetie Belle, I do NOT hate you!" Rarity frowned, prying her foreleg free and picking up her little sister, holding her as she cried. "And I certainly never said you can't come back here, anymore! I love you, little sister! Very much so! And you are most certainly not an idiot!"
Sniffling, Sweetie Belle looked up at her sister, crying and her lips quivering. "O-Okay...I'm sorry though...I learned my lesson, I promise...I won't steal again..."
Smiling, Rarity withdrew a handkerchief with her magic and wiped her little sister's eyes. "I'm glad you've learned your lesson, Sweetie Belle."
"We're gonna write a letter to the Princess...." Sweetie Belle sniffled. "We learned that when you really want or need something, but don't have enough money to buy it, you should never steal it. It's the wrong thing to do and it does nopony any good when you do. Plus, it gives a guilty conscience and it's something you have to live with unless you set things right. It's always good to own up to your mistakes..."
"A very good idea, indeed." Rarity nodded in approval. "And an excellent lesson to be learned. You shall get on that right away, Sweetie Belle."
"I'm on it, sis!" Sweetie Belle smiled enthusiastically, and was ready to go off and do it, when she was pulled back.
"Just one moment, little sister." Rarity said sternly. "I'm not quite finished with you. As punishment, you are NOT allowed to leave this house, unless it is for school. Furthermore, you are banned for ONE week from hanging out with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Is that clear?"
"What?! But-!" Sweetie Belle tried to protest, but one stern look from her sister's eyes stopped her. "....Okay, sis. That's fair. I'll take my punishment and up...up....I'll go through with it."
"Good." Rarity nodded. "Now, run along and write your letter, Sweetie Belle. I have much work to be done."
"Sure, sis..." Sweetie Belle's ears flattened as she sadly trudged upstairs to do just that.
On a hill in the outskirts of Ponyville, Scootaloo stared sadly at the ground, her ears flattened, tears in her eyes, and her wings folded at her sides. She could FEEL the intense, stern stare of the older Pegasus standing in front of her, despite not having made eye contact with her.
"Just tell me ONE thing, Scootaloo. What in the HAY were you thinking?!" Rainbow Dash yelled angrily at the Pegasus filly. "When Pinkie Pie told me you'd done something wrong, the LAST thing I expected to hear was that you stole from Sugarcube Corner!"
"I...I...I'm sorry..." Scootaloo said sadly. "I was hungry...and we didn't have any bits to buy anything..."
"And so you decided the answer to your problem was to STEAL a cupcake?!" Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and glared hard at her. "That's NO excuse to steal anything! I'm VERY disappointed in you, Scootaloo. If you wanted something that badly, then you should've asked me! I'd have been glad to give you the money, or even to buy it for you! Or better yet, your aunt and uncle would've covered the money for you!"
Whimpering, Scootaloo slumped onto the ground, sniffling. "I know...I know! Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said the same thing, I should've listened to them! But I didn't! I was thinking with my stomach and not my head! I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash!! I'm so sorry!!"
Rainbow Dash continued to glare at her. "And that's another thing! You even managed to rope Sweetie Belle into your scheme! How do you think SHE felt about being forced to steal?!"
"....Pretty bad... She was nervous and scared the entire time..." Scootaloo confessed, sniffling. "Apple Bloom ran off...and I bet Sweetie Belle would've done the same if I wasn't such an idiot..."
"Exactly," Rainbow Dash scolded. "You don't just go around stealing whatever you want, Scootaloo. There is no excuse, ever."
"You're right...there isn't..." Scootaloo sniffled, looking up at her, and shrinking back from the intense, stern glare she held. "I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash!! I didn't mean to cause trouble, but I did, and it's ALL my fault!! Now you hate me and you'll never want to see me again!! I'm the opposite of cool!" She began to sob.
"What?!" Rainbow Dash softened, then. "Squirt, no. No, come on, now..." She gently picked her up and hugged her tight. "Of course I don't hate you! I'm disappointed in you, for what you've done. But that doesn't mean I'll stop liking you as a little sister..."
"...Really?" Scootaloo sniffled and snuggled into her as she cried a bit. "You mean it?"
"Sure, I mean it!" Rainbow Dash stroked her mane as she hugged her. "Besides...I kinda did something similar, when I was a filly."
"...You did? Really?" Scootaloo looked up at her with surprise, sniffling.
"Yup," Rainbow nodded, blushing a little. "I even managed to rope Fluttershy into helping me. Back at Junior Flight Camp...we stole a candy bar from the camp's supply shop. But we were caught by the receptionist, and had to take it back."
"Wow! You did that? ...Did the candy bar start talking to you and giving you criminal cutie marks?" Scootaloo wiped her eyes, looking at her with astonishment.
"No, nothing like that!" Rainbow shook her head, chuckling a bit. "But when we were dragged back to the shop by our tails, we were crying and begging for forgiveness...heh, especially Fluttershy. The camp counselor who ran the shop was going to be a jerk and have us banned, and even kicked out of Flight Camp, though!"
"...All for taking a candy bar?" Scootaloo raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, the jerk." Rainbow scowled a bit. "But the camp director and Sky Blue the receptionist said that would be too much, so we were only banned from the shop for about a week, and we got to stay in Flight Camp."
"Ooohh!" Scootaloo beamed, and nodded. Now she could see why she was so angry just moments ago. It was like reliving a mistake she had made a long time ago. "That's great! I learned my lesson, too, Rainbow Dash!!"
"Did you really, now?" Rainbow Dash smirked a bit.
"Yeah...I learned that stealing is the wrong thing to do when you can't afford something you want or need!" Scootaloo declared as she was put back down on the ground. "We learned that doing such a thing will bring on a guilty conscience and make you go crazy until you do the right thing!" She rolled her eyes around for emphasis.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Rainbow's expression became stern, again. "Now, I'm not your aunt and uncle, or your parents, so it's not up to me to punish you for what you've done. BUT...there will be NO flying lessons with me for one week. Is that clear?"
"W-What?" Scootaloo began to tear up again. "No flying....at all?" She began whimper, sniffling as tears ran down her cheeks.
"No, Scootaloo. Not for one week." Rainbow Dash said firmly. "And I'm taking you home now, and I'm going to tell your aunt and uncle EXACTLY what it is that you did."
Scootaloo whimpered and cried a bit again, sniffling. "...Okay..."
Rainbow Dash smiled softly, wiping Scootaloo's eyes with a tissue. "Hey, come on, squirt. It's okay. You're a Pegasus, and you're tougher than this. You'll be fine."
"...You think so?" Scootaloo pouted.
"Sure I do." Rainbow nodded and held another tissue to her nose. "You just have to learn to take tough times like this in stride, and learn from your mistakes. I know you can do it, Scoots."
"...Okay...you're right...I can!" Scootaloo blew her nose into the tissue. "I've been through worse, and I'm still making it!"
"Atta girl, I know you've got it in ya!" Rainbow threw the tissue away. "Come on, then. Let's get going, before it gets too dark."
"Okay, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo eagerly hopped onto her back. "Let's go!"
"All right, squirt. Hang on!" Rainbow Dash grinned over her shoulder at her "passenger", before taking off into the sky.
"Whoooooo!!" Scootaloo cheered happily, holding on tightly.
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but chuckle as she flew through the air, the Pegasus filly hanging on and enjoying the ride. She knew her joy wouldn't last long, once her aunt and uncle learned of what she did. But she wanted to let her have fun and enjoy the flight for as long as possible, since she did have to be home before dark.
Dear Princess Celestia,
We learned that you should never steal something when you can't afford it, no matter how much you want it or need it. All that does is lead you to feel guilty, and also hurts anypony else in the process. It's always good to own up to your mistakes and try to set things right. It takes a lot of courage, it's not easy, but you'll feel a lot better for it!
Two of the three Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo
