Nearly effortlessly, the orange filly made her way down the worn dirt path. Trees whipped past her as she twisted around familiar roots and rocks embedded in the ground. Her wings, small but strong, gave her scooter a speed faster than many ponies could meet in flight. It’s old bolts and timber ached audibly as she rounded a sharp corner, causing her to cringe inwardly. She hated to admit it, but she was losing faith in her old ride. The more she grew, the more it seemed to strain. She tried to push the thought back and focused on her destination.

The timeless clubhouse soon appeared over a ridge. It managed to keep a fresh look, as the apple family had recently lent a few cans of paint so she and her friends could fix the faded color. She came to a halt, dirt flinging into the air and causing a small cloud around her wheels. Stepping off the scooter, she looked around with a smile. A familiar purple saddlebag sat on the deck of the treehouse, and a red mane could be seen bobbing up and down through the window. Finally, an evening with her friends.

Things had been crazy in the last few years since they had gotten their cutie marks. It seemed magical, and, knowing Equestria, probably was, how they had all gotten their marks in the same year. Sure, the days were months apart, but they couldn’t have asked for much more.

Sweetie Belle had been the first. That winter, a terrible snowstorm hit Canterlot where she and Rarity were visiting family for the holidays. The entire Belle family ended up getting stuck at her grandfather’s for almost the entirety of Hearth’s Warming week. As would be expected, the family began to get nippy towards one another. Come Hearth’s Warming Eve, everypony was nearly at each other’s throats, but Sweetie wasn’t about to let the holiday be ruined. So, she sang. Carol after carol, until all of her family calmed down enough to listen. And then a few more, until others joined in. And then just a couple more before the whole house was filled with singing and a new spark of joy. As Hearth’s Warming Day came that late night, her mark appeared. A musical note with a pink heart surrounding it.

Once she was able to come back to Ponyville, she was ecstatic to tell the others. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo couldn’t have been happier for their friend, even if they were just the tiniest bit jealous.

Life continued like that for a while until the summer hit. Apple Bloom’s appeared during a big family reunion at Sweet Apple Acres. After revealing a large family portrait that she had been creating meticulously for months, the paintbrush and bright red apple behind it appeared the moment her family gawked at her hoofwork. She had been quite surprised at its appearance, claiming that she had always loved painting but ain’t ever really considered herself an artist. It wasn’t until her family’s praises reached her that she truly realized her talent.

Finally, Scootaloo’s time came in early autumn. She had been anxiously awaiting her mark’s arrival and was afraid that she would be years behind her friends. But luckily, time was on her side. A tiny racing contest, fellow ponies with a passion for scooters, skates, and speed, and of course the support of her idol, was all it took. A wheel with purple sparks flying behind it. The three couldn’t have been happier.

Since then, the Cutie Mark Crusaders spent some time growing up. Sweetie Belle started getting involved in choir, Apple Bloom began getting more involved in her artwork and on the family farm, and Scootaloo spent more time improving her racing talent. By this point, they were teenagers. They were growing into beautiful young mares, as Rarity would say. Scoots always cringed at her comments, but they seemed to make the others happy, so she did her best to smile through them.

The two inside the clubhouse soon noticed her outside and threw the door open.

“Heya Scoots!” Bloom yelled, peeking her head through the door. “Get yer flank up here!” She seemed more excited than usual, which prompted Scootaloo to in fact get her flank up there. Once she entered the clubhouse, Sweetie Belle gave her a strong hug. She had been growing out her mane for some time, so her purple and pink curls soon overcame Scootaloo’s vision.

“It’s been too long!” she exclaimed.

“It’s only been a week Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo laughed, but returned her friend's grasp anyway.

“I know, but it’s still weird not seeing you girls every day! Now that summer’s here, we need to start hanging out more often again!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Well, now that y’er both here, I got something to show ya,” the yellow farm pony stated before trotting towards the corner of the clubhouse. “I think we should try to make this summer special, so I made this!” She plopped a brown book onto the wooden floor. Its cover was decorated with a beautiful painting of the sun shining onto their clubhouse.

“Apple Bloom, it’s amazing!” Sweetie exclaimed as she stared at the art.

“Aw, thanks Sweetie Belle,” she responded with a wide smile. Scootaloo was happy to see her friend so proud of her work, and she couldn’t help but feel a little warm inside when she saw her grin. “My idea’s this. We do all we can this summer before we gotta go back to school. All the things we’ve been planning that’ve gotten pushed aside. And we put it all here in this book. So we’ll always be able to look back on what’s gonna be the best summer ever!” Sweetie Belle did a small hop.

“That’s an amazing idea!” she squealed before pulling the book towards here and flipping through the blank pages.

“Yeah! Celestia, this is gonna be great!” Scoots added excitedly. This is just what she needed. A good summer with her friends, just like before. Applebloom beamed again, bringing that warm feeling right back to Scootaloo.

She hadn’t mentioned anything to the others, but she had not been feeling exactly like herself over the past year. Maybe it was because they were growing up, maybe it was because she wasn't spending enough time with them, or maybe it was that growing cloud in her head. But she didn’t want to think about that cloud. Right now she was with her friends, and things had just started to feel a little normal again.

So, she sat next to some of the most important ponies in her life, smiled, and then started to plan.

Author's Note

My first shot at fanfiction, so I'm not sure where this will go. This is just a little introduction into the story and the alternate timeline this is set in.