As I Walk Down the Lane...
Things could not have been worse for Scootaloo if they had tried to be worse.
And why is this, you ask?
Losing a bet to Diamond Tiara had a history of producing bad results. Scoots was suffering the consequences of it right now.
But before we do any of that, let us rewind a bit, to the start of the situation...
A few hours earlier...
Scootaloo couldn't have been settling in better at school. After years stuck in a less than pleasant household, she had been found out in the cold streets by Rainbow Dash and her parents, who had clearly been filled with the Christmas spirit and had adopted her. Whilst calling a woman she previously only knew as Mrs Whistles 'mom' was taking a lot of time to get used to, it was also certainly true that her life had improved, not least the fact she got a proper shower, three straight meals a day, and a proper bedroom rather than a dingy attic with a broken lightbulb.
The, of course, also had her close friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to help her along with any issues she had or problems in the day. Whatever happened, no matter how odd or silly, she could confide in them and they would understand. She'd also made a friend in the new exchange student, a kid named Rumble, so things were most certainly looking up.
Unfortunately, there were two thorns in their sides, and they were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Mercifully, they were no longer as bad as they used to be after Diamond Tiara lost her student council seat to the challenging Pipsqueak (the whole incident had caused her to realise she had her priorities all wrong), the pair would still occassionally take to teasing others over different things, although thankfully it was always light hearted rather than being nasty in tone. That said, many students were still apprehensive around them, and preferred to stay away.
This very morning, Scootaloo was heading toward the school. Rainbow Dash had set off on a bus earlier that morning, as the older students (or some of them) were off on the annual trip to Camp Everfree which would take up a week. Windy Whistles had packed Scootaloo's bag for her.
"Anything else you need, dear?" she asked, as she closed the bag. "I put some muffins in as well, the way you like them."
"Thanks Mis-om," Scootaloo said quicky. "Although I've been part of this family for ages now, that still feels weird."
"You'll get used to it," Windy smiled. "You'd best be heading off now if you don't want to be late."
"See you this evening!" Scootaloo replied, and headed out of the door, adjusting the hood on her jacket to protect her from the rain.
Windy beamed as she watched Scootaloo walk to the bus stop. "Life always brings new challenges. It's a funny thing, being a mother again." She picked up the phone and dialled a number. "Pear? Is that you? We still up for the mother's meeting with Petunia? Excellent, I'll get the last of my cleaning done and then head up to Sweet Apple Acres!"
On her way in through the doors of the school, Scootaloo naturally bumped into Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, who were waiting for her. "Howdy, Scoots!" Apple Bloom called.
"Hi!" Scootaloo replied. "Well, I'm here, so I suppose we can head to our lockers now."
"Indeed!" said Sweetie Belle. "I'm personally interested in finding out what happened up in the hills whilst our sisters were away!"
"Did anything happen?" Scootaloo asked.
"Weren't ya watchin' the news none?"Apple Bloom asked. "There were some mighty loud explosions heard in the viscinity o' the camp, and then not lon' after they held a big fundraiser an' all for savin' the camp. Boy did Filthy Rich look cross yesterday mornin'! He was plannin' on buyin' it fer land ta convert inta a health spa or somethin' fancy like that."
"He wasn't the only one annoyed," said a familiar voice. The three girls stopped to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon casually leaning against some lockers.
"What do you want?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"I couldn't help but overhear you two talking about my father's failed business efforts with regards to that camp," Diamond Tiara went on.
"Though I think anybody could at the volume at which you speak," Silver Spoon snickered.
"Anyway," Diamond Tiara went on, "mother was fairly annoyed too, as it would have given her a spa at which she could've gotten free treatment. She was complaining to me yesterday about the fact the steam room at the Spa wasn't working. Me? I couldn't care less. Spa or not, it really doesn't matter."
"Thanks for the input. Now can we please go to our lockers?" Scootaloo asked.
"First, I'd like to propose a challenge," said Diamond Tiara. She took out a coin. "If it lands on heads, you decide what I have to do after school. If it's tails, I decide what you have to do. Deal?"
"A little bit o' friendly competition. Sure, Ah can do that."
"Me too!"
"Me three!"
Diamond flipped the coin, watched as it landed on her palm, and removed her hand. Her smug look told the Crusaders everything that they needed to know.
"Seriously?" Scootaloo asked. "Prancing about in these silly things was what she came up with?"
"Ah dunno, the weather outside seems frightful," Apple Bloom said. Indeed it was; it was raining heavily, and thunder boomed.
For some context, the trio had been required, under the conditions of losing the coin toss, to dress in ridiculous outfits and go outside in the rain. Scootaloo was clad in a long blue dress with a floor length skirt, long sleeves with turquoise trim on the arms and bottom of the bodice, fabric connecting over the neck and to the top of her head with a silly had atop that.
Apple Bloom was wearing a dress that appeared to be a mash of Tudor and Mediaeval motifs. It was coloured purple, and had long sleeves terminating in gold coloured cuffs. The bodice had an elaborate gold pattern on it, which was matched on the skirt, which was two tone purple. The two different shades of purple were separated by a gold band, of which there was another on the base of the skirt, and another running around the bottom of the bodice. Apple Bloom was also wearing a pair of purple heels, with no socks, and a tall hat (Apple Bloom had no idea what it was actually called) upon her head, held in place only by gravity, which sat haphazardly above her bow.
Sweetie Belle was wearing a pink dress with puffy sleeves and purple detailing, a lace fronting, grey trim along the halfway point of the skirt, grey and white trim, and a gigantic pink bow on the back, rendering the whole thing rather Edwardian in appearance. "I dunno. I kinda like this dress." She was the only one of them visibly enjoying herself.
"Right, get the skipping ropes and be out into the rain," Diamond Tiara said. "Once you've repeated the rhyme once, you can come back in and warm up. OK?"
The three girls nodded and went outdoors, grumbling as they did so. "Remind me why Ah agreed to this?" Apple Bloom asked.
"We didn't agree, we lost a coin toss!" Sweetie Belle replied.
Once they were outdoors (the rain was lighter than anticipated), they got to work. Sadly, the exact rhyme has been lost to time, but the three did it. Scootaloo, to her surprise, found this whole endeavour oddly fun, and had a grin on her face whilst she did it. She even did it an extra time for luck before heading back inside.
Diamond nodded. "Well, you three did as asked. You can go now."
Apple Bloom was the first to head to change, with Sweetie Belle commenting on whether she could keep it or not. Scootaloo stayed behind. "Hey, Diamond?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you mind if I keep this?"
Diamond looked like she had swallowed three lemons. "Sorry, what?"
"Do you mind if I keep this?" Scootaloo asked again.
"Oh, sure," Diamond said, not quite sure what was going on.
Scootaloo had gotten changed back, and headed outside to be picked up from school. She recognised some of the adults standing outside, including Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's moms, but a few of the others were people she did not know. Eventually, she found Windy, who, like the other parents, were waiting for their kids to return from Camp Everfree.
"Hey mom!" Scootaloo called.
"Hello dear!" Windy replied, and rubbed her daughter's hair. "How was today? Wow, you must have walked through some rain to get your head that wet."
"Great, thanks. I can't wait to see Rainbow Dash again!"
"I highly doubt anything interesting happened whilst they were up there. Lake Everfree sure is a quiet place," Windy said cryptically, as the CHS bus pulled into view.
Author's Note
Gaius, I'm sorry this took so long...
