Rainbow Dash hovered over my head, her many-colored wake still a phantom in my vision. Confidence filled her features, as usual, but I’d been around her long enough to see the concern. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” she said, her voice not at all burdened by the pace of her earlier flight. “You seen Scoots around?”
It had been perfect timing, for I saw Rarity come on the farm not two minutes ago. Another thirty seconds and she’d have been in range to call for me, but Rainbow – being Rainbow – beat her there seemingly from out of nowhere. Even so, I waited for Rarity to get in range to hear me before answering, taking the time to buck some more apples off the tree. I still couldn’t get them all in one buck like AJ or Mack back then, though I was getting close.
The apples rained down, and Rainbow deftly dodged a few. “To be wholly Applejack with ya, yeah, I have seen her.” I could feel Scootaloo’s metaphorical glare on the back of my head, but I wasn’t about to lie about it.
Rarity caught up at last, having never moved above a comfortable trot. Her face had been a mask of worry, but that mask broke with a smile when she heard me. “Oh, fabulous. I’ve been looking all over for her.”
“So where is she?” Rainbow asked. I didn’t miss the sidelong look she sent Rarity, though. Whatever they wanted Scootaloo for, they hadn’t been looking together.
I could have given Scoots away, but figured that was the wrong move right now. She’d been a nervous wreck this past week, and while she hadn’t told me why I was smart enough to put some things together. Whatever it was, these two were at the center of it. I started pushing the baskets to the next tree as I considered my answer. “Well, I know where she is, but I don’t know that I should tell.”
“What? Why?” Rainbow flew in front of me, perhaps thinking she could block me off and force some answers. I didn’t stop though, and she didn’t stay in my way. “She’s late for training. How’s she gonna be the best of the best if she’s skipping out?”
I didn’t need to answer. Rarity did that for me, as I knew she would. “Really, Rainbow Dash, more training? Do you ever give that filly a break?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “She’s not a filly anymore, Rares, and you know it. Or do you think I don’t know about how you hooked her up with Spike?”
The ever-proper mare scoffed and flicked her mane. “I did not ‘hook her up’. I merely gave them a friendly nudge.”
“Same difference.”
“They are most certainly not!” Huffing, Rarity turned her eyes on me. Their little spitting match gave me enough time to buck the next tree. I’d have to change my baskets soon. “I need dear Scootaloo, and soon. We need to make arrangements for our trip to Baltimare this weekend.”
At last touching down, Rainbow scrunched her face in a combination of confusion and surprise. “Wait, what? Baltimare? Why would Scootaloo go with you there? She can’t go to Baltimare this weekend, I’m taking her to Rainbow Falls.”
That sounded bad. Bad enough to make me stop working entirely and pay better attention. Rarity and Rainbow shared only two things in common: ego and Scootaloo. If they clashed on the latter, the former might make things spicy. I idly wondered if I wouldn’t have to get Applejack from the eastern field to help me break something up. I’d grown into a big girl, but even I’m wary of getting between those two by myself.
Rarity’s response wasn’t at all heated or annoyed, to my mild surprise. Rather, she adopted a curious tone. I might even call it courteous. “She didn’t say anything to me about this. I wouldn’t want to get in between a bit of sibling bonding between you two.” She bit her lip and rubbed one leg over the other, ears folding back. “Oh, but this is such an important trip. It’s not something I can arrange again, at least not soon.”
Rainbow, too, appeared flummoxed. “And she didn’t say anything to me about some Baltimare trip. We’ve been planning to head up to Rainbow Falls for, like two months. How long has your thing been planned?”
“Three weeks.”
Just like that, I knew what had probably happened. By the way the two mares looked at me, they’d figured it out too. Poor Scoots, it makes perfect sense now why she was so troubled. But Scoots is a lot like Rainbow in some ways; why face a problem when you can hide from it? I don’t mean to insult either of them with that, mind, but Rainbow’s got a reputation for being wherever her problems ain’t. It makes sense that Scoots would model her own reactions after those of her role model.
“Okay, this makes no sense,” Rainbow said, turning her attention back to Rarity. “Why would Scoots even go to Baltimare with you? What the hay is she gonna do there?”
The fashionista’s eyes lit up at the query. A few years before, that kind of look would inspire pure terror in Scootaloo and me, and maybe lead to fabric-related nightmares. “Oh, but it’s going to be a wonderful soiree! There’s a friend of mine who needs a model for some new athletic wear, and Scootaloo would be the perfect mare for the look.”
Rainbow chuckled and pressed a hoof to her forehead in amused exasperation. “Of course, it involves modeling clothes. You do know she’s not your personal ponnequin, right? Scootaloo wants to be a professional stuntpony, and she’s not gonna get there strutting on a runway.”
Rarity frowned, but not in anger. It was more… careful consideration. She gets this calculated face sometimes. It’s similar to that look Twilight gets when she’s run into a puzzle and is determined to figure it out. Looking to me, she said, “Apple Bloom? Why don’t you go talk to Scootaloo for us? Let her know it’s okay, and that neither of us are mad at her for the mix-up. Meanwhile, Rainbow and I can resolve some things.”
I didn’t see any reason to argue her point. I was ahead on the farm work anyhow, and Scootaloo probably needed a friend just then. That’s why she came to the farm anyway, though I hadn’t realized that at the time. Leaving them to argue, I trotted deeper into the south field, making sure not to head directly towards my friend.
Things had gotten quiet in the last few months. Ever since Sweetie moved off to Manehattan. Last time we’d seen her was when Scoots and me went to see her first show. She was just a choir filly back then, long before they started slapping her name on all the big billboards. We were proud of her, but… yeah, kinda sad for us. We were missing her something fierce around that time, and we hung out a lot together. I think we were both kinda scared that one of us would go next, y’know?
Shoot, I’m getting off topic, ain’t I? Back to that day.
We might have been down a member, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders still had our meeting spots. Scoots wasn’t far away, sitting at that creek we use to irrigate the south field. Our great grandpa on Pa’s side made this rickety wooden bridge that we’d let go by the wayside in the last generation or two. I’d been refurbishing it in my off time then, just for the practice — Granny Smith always said I was a lot like him. Scoots was up top, which I hadn’t gotten to fixing yet. The wood there was all stained and warped and ugly. I guess she thought it suited her mood.
Scootaloo was well into her growth spurt at that point, the last one of the three of us to “grow up” physically. In some ways, it didn’t help; where once we were all the same size, Scootaloo aged into a much smaller pony than either Sweetie or myself. Her wings had grown out, but where still small by pegasus standards. According to Rainbow and Fluttershy, that means she’s got speed at the expense of stamina. Still, she’s got the whole ‘petite pegasus’ thing going for her. Spike sure as hay wasn’t complaining.
She heard my hoofsteps on the wood and shot me a grumpy look. Scoots isn’t good at those; they always come off more ‘cute’ than ‘angry’. Hates it when it gets pointed out. “You told them I was here, didn’t you?”
I cocked my head as I reached the top of the bridge. “How’d you know anypony was here?”
Rolling her hoof in that way Rarity sometimes did when explaining things, she answered, “You got at least another forty-five minutes before you finish apple bucking, and you weren’t gonna stop unless you were done or got interrupted.”
As accurate as could be expected. Scootaloo had been around the farm long enough that she knew a lot about it and the ponies running it, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Sometimes she even helped, on the days when she had nothing better to do. I reared up and rested my forelegs on the railing, frowning at the way it flexed under my weight. “Rarity and Rainbow Dash are looking for you.”
Groaning, Scoots let her chin settle atop the old, warped wood. “I figured it would have been one of them, but both? I’m screwed.” After a brief pause, she asked a tentative, “Think they’ll hate me?” Clearly, she was picking up on Rarity’s flare for the melodramatic. I didn’t know whether to roll my eyes at the nonsense or grin at how much closer the two of them were.
I turned my attention to the creek flowing lazily away from us. It suited me. Scootaloo was like river rapids, all rough and tumble, and Sweetie likes to live as a waterfall, doing everything she can at once. I like being a gentle creek; smooth and steady and persistent. I figured Scoots could use a bit of being a creek right now. “They’re talking things out. You scheduled things with each of them at the same time, right?”
Scoots’ ears folded flat against her head. “Figured it out, huh? They’re probably fighting over me.”
Had I not seen it myself, I might have agreed with her. “When I left, they were talking like two rational grown-ups with conflicting schedules. I don’t think they’re ‘fighting’ over you.”
“If they aren’t, they will be soon.” Grumbling to herself, she stepped from the ledge and turned away. Not in the direction I’d come from, I noted. “I need to lay low until this blows over. Maybe if I skip out entirely then they’ll—”
“Nope, that ain’t gonna fly, and neither are you.” I caught her tail between my teeth, idly noting the faint taste of grape juice. I’d tease her about letting Rarity give her fruity shampoo, but her tail always tasted like grape juice. What? That wasn’t even close to the first time I had to stop her from doing something stupid.
Sweetie’s tastes like raspberry ice cream, in case y’all’re wondering.
Not bothering to look back, Scootaloo only gently pulled against my grip. She and I both knew she could never get out of it, not without cutting her tail off. Or bucking my teeth out, I suppose. “Let me go, AB.” Her retort was as energetic as her attempt to escape, which is to say: not at all.
“Nopf,” I replied through my teeth in my best Big Mac impression. “Yur gunna tulk tu zhem.”
“No way.” A little more enthusiasm seeped into her voice, perhaps energized by the fear she was trying to keep from coming out in the open. “I’m gonna go find a nice hole in the Everfree and hide in it until they’ve both forgotten I exist. You can visit me once a month, if you can stomach me and can make sure they don’t follow you.” She made a more strident effort to escape my jaws, but a puny pegasus like her couldn’t hope to move a big ol’ earth pony like myself.
I could already see where this was going and what measures were going to be required. “Alrighth, ya ashed fer it.” With a single sharp tug, I dragged her backwards, let go, and hopped onto her back. With a surprised squawk and a flailing of legs and wings, Scootaloo found herself pinned under my barrel. I adjusted myself, getting as comfortable as I could with a petite pony under me, and let my weight settle evenly over her.
She hissed, squirming and fidgeting in a futile attempt at escape. “Oh, come on! The Cider Barrel? Really?”
“That’s right,” I declared proudly, head held high and legs tucked under me in just the right way to effectively pin her wings to her sides. “I’m a full cider barrel. I don’t move, I just sit here and—”
“—be heavy,” she moaned, banging her forehoof on the wooden bridge. “And dang it, you are heavy! I’m having trouble breathing here.”
I turned my ears forward and closed my eyes with a grin. “Can’t hear ya, I’m just a barrel full of warm cider. Look at me, I’m fermentin’.”
“That sounds gross, don’t ‘ferment’ on top of me! This is serious. I can’t let Rarity or Rainbow find me! If they do, I’ll… I’ll have to…” I kept still and my mouth closed, patiently assuming my proper role as a wooden barrel full of aging liquid that wasn’t to be opened until Twilight’s hundredth anniversary as a Princess of Equestria. “This is ridiculous. You realize that?”
Breaking character, I replied, “Yeah, but it works every time, don’t it?”
A few quiet minutes passed with Scoots doing everything within her limited power to escape from under me. Her feathers tickle a lot, but an Apple’s made of stern enough stuff to resist that. I just lay there, humming a tune about cider squeezy machines that even my sister once begrudgingly admitted was catchy (not sorry, AJ!). Eventually, the little pony gave up with a groan and splayed herself out like a fly that had just been squished underhoof. “Okay, okay, fine! What do I have to do to get you off of me?”
I glanced down at her, gauging her sincerity. “I want to know what’s really going on.”
“You know what’s going on!” She shot me a glare that couldn’t have startled a goldfish from down there. “I made overlapping plans, and now Rainbow and Rarity are gonna be mad at me.”
“There’s more to it than that,” I replied, leveling her with as firm a look as I could under the circumstances. She avoided my eye with a petulant pout. “If it were something that simple, you’d have just apologized to one of them and picked the other. This isn’t a big deal.”
“Yes, it is!” She banged a hoof on the wood one more. “They’re gonna think I’m playing favorites. I’m like a thorn in their friendship, and I’ll get more itchy with every little thing that happens.”
“You might wanna get that looked at.”
“Apple Bloom!”
“Cider barrel. Can’t hear ya.”
She let out a long groan that could have come from either Rarity or Rainbow. It was so thick with melodrama you’d have to drill into the melo with an apple corer to get to the drama. She got quiet after that, and I was content to let her stew. Either she’d start talking or one of the mares would show up. I really hoped for the former, though.
A lot had been going on for Scoots lately. In the past year she’d gone from being Rainbow’s wing-pony to also being Rarity’s right hoof. The change was dramatic, but I thought they were all good ones. Scoots may not have become the refined “lady” Rarity was, but she’d grown a lot of confidence. It’s funny to think it, but becoming attached to Rarity helped her be more independent. I liked this new Scootaloo a lot. So did Spike, I happened to notice. Never saw that one coming.
We must have been lying there for a good ten minutes. Plenty of time to wander the old apple orchards in the noggin. I ended up thinking about what Rarity had said. Was Scootaloo going to get a job in Baltimare? I didn’t know how to handle that idea. All I knew for sure was that Sweetie had already moved off, and it felt kinda like I was being left behind. Like… Like a barrel of cider left to age, I guess.
My little act of prop mimicry wasn’t so entertaining anymore, and Scootaloo still hadn’t said nothing. So I figured I’d speak up. “So… Modeling gig in Baltimare?”
Scoots’ ears perked for a second, then lowered again. “It’s nothing permanent. Spend a weekend wearing some clothes, get a little money, come home.”
“A little money?” I asked, incredulous. “You do know that Fluttershy pays for literally everything using only the royalties she makes spending a month as a model, right?”
“A weekend ain’t a month.”
I supposed the topic was beside the point, anyway. At least now I knew I wasn’t in the middle of my last ever conversation with her as a Ponyvillian, which put my mind at ease. “Why are you even doing it? I know you and Rarity are getting close, but this doesn’t seem very ‘Scootaloo’ to me.”
Scootaloo shrugged. At least, I think that’s what she was trying to do, still pinned under me and all that. “Rarity calls it ‘networking’. She seems to think meeting ponies in Baltimare will help me with my future career as a stuntpony. I don’t really understand how, but I figured it can’t hurt.” A beat. “She hasn’t steered me wrong before…”
I eyed her. She didn’t look up to meet my gaze. “And Rainbow Falls?”
Moaning, she buried her head under her forelegs. “I got the dates mixed up.” Her muffled voice suggested this was the Worst Possible Thing she could have done.
“Yeah, I gathered that.” This earned me an annoyed glare, but again, Scoots ain’t very good at the whole ‘look angry’ thing. Still, I felt a little guilty, so: “Sorry. It just seems to me you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.”
For the first time, she responded with real heat in her voice. “That’s easy for you to say. You’ve got a big sister who’s just gonna hand you over her Element, nice and easy. You have any idea what it’s like having to choose what you are?”
Now we were getting somewhere! There’d been no question in the past that she’d want Loyalty someday, but to also want Generosity? Maybe that wasn’t so far-fetched given recent developments, but at the time it still caught me off guard. I glanced out into the orchard, seeing no sign of either of the mares. Feeling comfortable that we wouldn’t be overheard, and keeping my tone serious so she’d know I wasn’t poking fun no more, I asked, “Do you really think they’ll make you choose like that?”
“Probably.” Settling her chin on the old wood once again, she squirmed. Her squirming made me squirm. As amusing as it is, having a whole pony under you gets to feeling weird after a while. “It’s not like I can have both.”
To this, I offered the only obvious question: “Why not? Twilight says Celestia and Luna both had to do it on different occasions.”
“Yeah, we’ll they’re alicorns. I think that makes a difference.”
“But how do you know regular ponies can’t have more than one?”
“I…” A long pause. “I don’t. I guess.” The dour tone came back as quickly as she’d lost it. “But come on, two Elements? It’s unrealistic.”
“Maybe,” I agreed. After all, she was right, the odds seemed low. But that never bothered us before, so I didn’t see why it should be bothering her then. “Maybe you should tell them you’re worried about this.”
“Tell them what, that’s I’m indecisive? That I don’t know what I’m doing?” The sarcasm dripped off her tongue like warm cider. “‘Oh, hey, I’m a totally lost and confused pony! You won’t take that to mean I don’t deserve to be your heirs, right?’ Get real, AB.”
I hummed at her concerns. It sounded to me like she was Twilighting, and the best way to deal with Twilighting – as we all learned after years of one-on-one interaction with the perpetually paranoid princess herself – is to get the truth out all proper-like. With that in mind, I shifted myself into a slightly more comfy position and readied for the long haul. “Whelp, as a barrel of cider, I think I’ll sit here and marinate on the problem for a bit. I’m sure one of our sisters will come along to try and push me off eventually. Or maybe all of them!”
“Apple Bloom…” There was a hint of warning in Scoots’ tone, not that it did much.
“But y’know, cider barrels are hard to move, especially them big ol’ barrels that have been left to age for a few years.”
“I’m not talking!”
“Talking about what?”
I grinned and waved to Rainbow and Rarity as they trotted up. Not sure how they knew where to find us. Maybe Rainbow passed overhead and we just didn’t notice. She can be pretty quiet when she wants. Maybe Scoots thought lifting my leg like that would let her get away, ‘cause she promptly started struggling. Didn’t matter none. “Howdy again, ladies! Don’t mind me, I’m just a cider barrel. Not gonna move until the time is right, as only an Apple can tell.”
“Darn it, Apple Bloom! Get off me!”
Rainbow broke into a fit of giggles at the sight of her sister sprawled under my mass. “The ol’ cider barrel gimmick, eh? Classic.”
Even Rarity had an amused smile, looking down her muzzle at Scootaloo and rubbing a hoof to her chin. “A bit uncouth, but I can’t argue with the results.”
Blowing a lock of purple fringe from her face, Scootaloo glowered at the two of them. “Yeah, sure, hah-hah. Okay, you’ve all had your fun. Can I get up now?”
With my head held high, I answered, “Nope. Not until you talk.”
“You can’t sit on me forever!”
I looked to the mares, smug as a dragon on a hoard. “Hey, Rainbow, you remember what my old record was?”
The mare considered for a moment, making a big show out of it as she looked up at the clouds, scratched her chin and gave a long hum. And another, for good measure. “I think it was fourteen hours, when you sat on Pipsqueak until he Pinkie Promised to ask Dinky out on a date.”
“Fourteen hours.” I nodded primly. “Recon I can do better.” Scootaloo let out the sweetest-sounding moan I’ve ever heard.
Rarity tittered. “That seems a suitable punishment for mixing up her social calendar. Don’t you think, Rainbow?”
Grinning like a timerwolf, Rainbow replied, “Works for me. Hay, we might even be able to get Twilight to do the timekeeping.”
“I hate you all.”
“And since we’re not going anywhere anytime soon…” Rainbow crouched so she was near eye-level with Scootaloo. “You’ve got an important decision to make, girl.” There was no threat or disappointment in the way she said it, but I could feel Scoots’s trembles running up and down her back. I admit I felt a little sympathetic, but not enough to budge. She needed this.
“Indeed, you do.” Settling down next to Rainbow, Rarity gestured between the two of them while looking down at my improvised pillow. “Baltimare or Rainbow Falls. You need to pick one, Scootaloo. Right away.” Like Rainbow, there was no threat or urgency in her manner. She may as well have asked Scootaloo about the weather.
Scootaloo looked from one mare to the other. Then again. Then a third time. Finally, she let her chin sink to the wood. I couldn’t see her face from my position, but I can imagine the misery well enough. When she finally answered, it was with a voice I hadn’t heard from her since that one time she fell in a depression because she couldn’t fly for the Equestria Games. “Don’t make me pick between you. Please. I don’t want to have to choose.”
Rainbow smiled. I’d describe it, but I don’t think she’d appreciate it. Let’s just say it wasn’t a very “Rainbow Dash” smile. “Come on, squirt. You’ll always be my little sister, no matter what.”
With a flourish of her hoof through her bouncing mane, Rarity said, “And you shall always be my favorite little model, no matter how much you claim not to like it!”
“I don’t.” Yeah, she wasn’t fooling any of us. Her aggressive tone shifted, though. “You… You really mean it? You won’t get mad?” When they shook their heads in near-unison, Scootaloo turned her face away from them. I still wish I could have seen her expression just then. “I’m sorry I messed up the dates. I want to do both. Honest. I just…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Yes, just be honest, darling.”
Things were quiet for a while. I wondered if Scoots intended to answer at all. In the end, she faced them properly once more. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, b-but I think I should probably do this Baltimare thing. Rarity’s schedule is kinda chaotic and I don’t know if she’ll have another chance to do this, whereas we all know your schedule months in advance. Rarity says it’ll be good for me later. Like, for a career or something. And I trust her. So, umm…” I could feel her entire body tense up beneath mine. Readying for the hammer to fall, no doubt.
Rarity and Rainbow shared a glance. Both broke into confident smiles. “You know what, squirt? That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
Scootaloo raised her head, body going slack. Which made it easier for me to reposition to a better spot to hold her down, not that she noticed. “Really?”
Rainbow nodded, even as she pulled Rarity into a brief one-legged hug that was warmly received. “Rarity’s right, networking is important. You’re showing you’re mature enough to watch out for your own future. Sure, I wanted to go camping with you and all, but like you said, we know my schedule months in advance. There’ll be other chances. So, instead of going camping…”
Grinning, Rarity finished, “Rainbow will join us in Baltimare.”
Scoots’s wings twitched under me. They’d probably have been fully outstretched were I not pinning them down. “Really?”
“You said that one already,” I teased, smirking at her brief glare.
“Yes, really.” Rainbow knelt down to look Scootaloo in the face. “I know a few of the ponies she wants you to meet, and then some. We’re both gonna help you on this one. Even if it does mean you have to be a model for a weekend.” She punctuated the statement by roughly rubbing Scootaloo’s mane, causing the fringe to fall over her face.
Scoots didn’t seem to mind, if her grin was anything to go by. “I get to spend time with my two favorite ponies? Had I known a dumb mistake would lead to that, I’d have done it sooner. This is awesome!” Then, with a bit more trepidation, “So, um, you’re really not upset?”
Sitting up straight again, Rainbow chuckled and rubbed at her chin. “Well, you really should pay better attention to your calendar.”
Rarity nodded. “And not try to run away from your problems when a simple talk could have cleared everything up.”
“Or try to get an Apple to run interference for ya,” I smugly threw in, head still held high.
“But we’ll forgive you this time,” Rarity concluded warmly. “We all care about you, Scootaloo, and only want the best for you. You don’t have to choose between me and Rainbow. You’ll make us both proud, of that I am positive.”
“As long as you learn from your mistakes and keep being awesome,” Rainbow concluded, her smile mirroring Rarity’s.
Scootaloo stared at them for a few seconds before letting her chin hit the wood yet again, a content smile on her lips. “Thanks. I… I think I needed to hear that.”
“We gathered,” I tossed in, just trying to stay relevant to the conversation.
That prompted Scoots to peer up at me. “Okay. I talked to them. I learned my lesson. Can I get up now?”
I scoffed. “You kidding? It’s been, what, twenty minutes?”
Scootaloo’s face paled.
Rarity’s grin could have out-toothed a Timberwolf. “Records don’t beat themselves, after all.”
That orange face paled even more.
Rainbow launched into a hover. Her smirk could have put Discord to shame. “I’m gonna get Twilight, see if she’ll keep time.”
Scoots was white as a sheet. “B-but, but Apple Bloom still has chores to do!”
“I’m sure AJ and Mac will pick up the slack, especially when they find out why I’m here.” I made a show of wriggling into a more comfortable position. “Thirteen hours and thirty-five minutes to go. At least.”
“No! You can’t do this to me! Rainbow, come back. Rainbow! Rarity, have mercy. Where are you going? Rarity? Rarity!
“I hate you all!”
“Hey. AB?”
“…What?”
“You know I don’t plan on leaving Ponyville, right?”
“That’s good to hear, Scoots.”
“Yeah. I won’t leave you alone. And you know Sweetie will come back.”
“…Yeah.”
“…”
“…”
“So. You’re gonna get off me, right?”
“…Twi’s clock says we still got eight hours to go.”
“…”
“…”
“…Jerk.”
“You know you love me.”
“…Yeah, I guess I do.”
