The halls in the castle weren’t as lively as they used to be, now that Princess Twilight had made her new home in Canterlot. There was still the occasional field trip from the School of Friendship next door and other such tourist groups. However, on this day the halls echoed with the trotting of an impatient unicorn and the begging pleads of a determined pegasus.
“Please, Starlight?” Rainbow Dash persisted. “You owe me for all the boring and embarrassing things I’ve done for you over the past month!”
“I only asked you to do some of those things because you kept insisting on doing things for me!” Starlight remarked, “and some of those favors you claimed you were doing just to be a ‘good friend’”
“I am being a good friend,” Rainbow cries out, zipping around to hover nose to nose of the clearly aggravated Starlight. “I did all that stuff so that you would help me give Scootaloo the most awesomest of awesome gifts of all time!”
“Well, when you put it like that, my answer is still NO!” with a yell, Starlight’s horn lights up and her aura makes a small wall of magic that pushes Rainbow out of the way. Starlight continues down the hall and finally reaches the throne room where the Cutie Map sits idle. Her aura lights up around the room as she collects the last of her important headmare documents until she hears the familiar beats of flapping wings enter behind her.
“Starlight,” Rainbow begins, “I…”
“ENOUGH!” Starlight cries out as her aura explodes in a shockwave sending all the loose books and papers flying out to the walls. A moment of silence between the ponies fills the room as the books skid across the floor and papers start to settle.
“Rainbow Dash,” Starlight finally spoke somberly, “you are a good friend and sister for doing all this work just for Scootaloo, even if it was at my expense.” Starlight turns and slowly walks to the obviously disappointed mare. “But last time I did something like this it made things worst. True, that was only a Cutie Mark swap between Celestia and Luna and things worked out in the end, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk.” Rainbow’s head now hung low as Starlight gingerly placed a hoof on her neck.
“Can’t you take her flying on your back like I’ve seen you done before?” Starlight asks.
“(Sigh) It’s not the same.” Rainbow replies with a tear in her eye. “She’s has had many pegasi-back rides with me, my parents, and even Fluttershy. But riding on somepony’s back doesn’t give you the same weightless feeling of flying. Of being up there ready to fly off in whatever direction you want just to see what’s out there. Feeling the wind caress every fiber of your feathers and mane.” As Rainbow continues, she unknowingly starts to rise up and hover around the table as she talks more and more about the love of flight.
“Flying isn’t just an experience, it’s a place of Zen.” Rainbow continues, “It’s where I found out the Wonderbolts were my destiny. It’s where I realized that the pony I’ve always competed with was actually the pony of my…”
Realizing where she was and who she’s with, Rainbow quickly shuts herself up and looks down at Starlight. The pale pink unicorn stares enamored at the angel-like pegasus and slowly trout’s over to her as Rainbow lowers herself back to the floor. Felling certain that Starlight’s mind is made up, Rainbow curls up in her chair at the table and begins to softly sob. Starlight continues to stare at Rainbow until she finally gives to her sobbing.
“Ugh ok I’ll do it!” Starlight decrees. Rainbow’s head snaps up in attention, her slight redden eyes staring towards Starlight.
“You will?”
“Yes,” with a smile, Starlight walks over and hugs her friend. “But we are still not even! There are still plenty of tricks Trixie and I need a third pony’s help with.”
With an eye roll, Rainbow reluctantly agrees, “Fine, as long as I don’t have to share a magic box with Trixie again.”
Even before the sun reached its zenith the large pile of presents Scootaloo was presented to was down to just a few. She was, of course, grateful for what all she was receiving, but there was still some wanting feeling in the back of her mind. There was a new scooter hand made by the Apples, a stylish but functional scooter jumper from Sweetie Belle and Rarity, the usual postcard from her parents, various thank you gifts from those the CMC helped, and Aunt Holiday cooking her favorite meal while Auntie Lofty sewed a new birthday quilt with little pictures of all the gifts. Despite it all, Scootaloo didn’t see the one thing she’s come to expect every birthday: a cyan box with rainbow ribbons.
“Scootaloo?” Sweetie asks, “are you feeling ok?”
“Y’all don’t seem all that happy?” Apple Bloom added.
“I’m fine!” Scootaloo quickly replied, forcing a smile and a cheerful level to her voice. “It’s just that I don’t see a gift from Rainbow Dash. She’s been hinting on some sort of awesome gift, but I don’t see it.” Her fellow Crusaders wrap her in a group hug that brings a happier mood in the room.
“Don’t worry about it,” says Apple Bloom, “ya know better than most ponies that Rainbow Dash isn’t always on time. She probably took too long of a nap over Sweet Apple Acres again, or there might be some stubborn storm clouds giving her a hard time.”
“Or whatever the gift is,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, “it’s probably so big it’s taking a few ponies to get it here!” With a more convincing smile, Scootaloo again embraces her best friends in a moral boosting hug.
From across the room, Auntie Lofty takes her almost finished birthday quilt and tosses it over the trio. With some rustling about, three little philly heads pop out on three different sides and start examining the quilt.
“What do you think, Slugger?” Lofty asks, “it’s all done except for the middle square. I’m saving that one for when you get Rainbow’s gift.”
With a smile and a small ‘squee’ from Scoots, she walks up to her aunt and gives a hug and nuzzle. “It’s great, Auntie Lofty.” Lofty responds by petting the little philly. Sweetie’s aura lights up as sheet folds the quilt neatly and drops it on Apple Bloom’s back, who courteously takes it back to Lofty’s work station.
“Auntie Lofty?” Scootaloo asks as she looks up at her loving aunt’s face, “do you have any idea what Rainbow is getting me?”
Before she could answer, out of the corner of her eye she sees a rainbow streak outside the window.
“I think you’re about to find out” Lofty points at the door just as Rainbow Dash swings it open.
“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo runs up and almost tackles her surrogate sister in a hug.
“Sorry I’m late, Scoots. My birthday gift took a lot more prep than I realized, but its ready now if you are! All we need is all three of you at Twilight’s Castle!” Rainbow spreads her wings out at the Crusaders. Excitement had all but consumed Scootaloo and the other two were happily curious. Rainbow looks up at Lofty and Holiday, who just stepped in from the kitchen.
“That is, if it’s alright with your aunts” Rainbow adds, trying not to be rude. The two married mares looked at each other and simply smiled.
“So long as you are back for dinner,” answers Holiday, “I didn’t spend all morning baking fresh sourdough just for me and Lofty.”
“And I need to know what the gift is so I can finish the quilt.” Added Lofty.
After quick thank you hugs, Scootaloo gets dressed in her new jumper and hooks up the old Crusader wagon to her new scooter. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hop in the wagon and the three take off after Rainbow Dash.
The CMC zig and zag through the streets of Ponyville with everypony they pass waving as they always do. They quickly get to the castle and Rainbow leads them around the back where they see Starlight Glimmer waiting for them. Rainbow lands next to Starlight and, for once, puts a serious face on for the phillies. The trio dismount the scooter and stand ready for whatever is about to come.
Starlight steps forward and begins, “Now, girls. What we are about to do is going to stay between us until the end of the day. No pony else has to know, got it?” The trio nod their heads in acceptance. “Pinkie promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” recite the three.
Satisfied, Starlight steps back and lets Rainbow take over the presentation.
“Scootaloo, you are the greatest little fan pony I know and I’m proud to call you my little sister. There was no gift I could get you that shows how much you mean to me. But, with Starlight’s help, we can give what will probably be the most awesome of awesome gifts I could think of.” With a pause for dramatic effect, Rainbow leaps up and cheers, “you get to be me for a day!”
The trio looked at each other in confusion, not understanding exactly what ‘being Rainbow Dash’ meant. Starlight then stepped back in.
“What Dash means to say is I will perform a spell that will make Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash switch bodies for the day. That way Scootaloo can experience flying without any tether.”
Tears of joy start filling the little philly’s eyes as she once again tackles Rainbow in a hug. Starlight continues to talk to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, “the reason we need you two is so that you can keep an eye on Rainbow Dash in Scootaloo’s body. We thought Dash pretending to be Scootaloo would be easier with both of you helping her.”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie looked at each other and nodded. “For Scootaloo!”
Starlight turns to the pegasi duo and gets ready to cast her spell.
“One last thing you two should know,” Starlight exclaims, “once cast, this spell will last until sundown. Not even Twilight or Starswirl can undo it. When the time comes, no matter how far away you two are from each other, your consciences will go back to your bodies. Understand?” The two pegasi nod in agreement and brace themselves. Starlight’s aura ignites and her body begins to hover up before a blinding light discharges from her horn. The light dims and the two other phillies stare in awe at the result.
In one of the few clear spots of Sweet Apple Acres, an old obstacle course stands isolated from the nearby trees. Although still good and solid for use, a layer of rust has accumulated on the few metal bits and the timber is in severe need of a repaint. The only sign of youth in the scene is the bright orange mare that visits the unused course from time to time. Applejack likes to come here when things get a little tough at home. It was the first place she ever caught feelings for the most annoying rainbow she knew, and thinking of those feelings takes her back to simpler times. Back when she had less responsibilities on the farm and wasn’t being pulled away to save Equestria on a near weekly basis.
A loud bang from above snapped her back to reality. When she looked up, a familiar streak of rainbow started to dart across the sky. AJ just smiled at the idea that her friend and crush was happy about something, even if she didn’t know what that was. Doing loops and rolls like the sky was literally the limit, it all brought back the same simpler times AJ was reminiscing about. Curiosity and a sudden need to be with her friend finally gave AJ the strength she needed to yell out for Rainbow.
“Rainbow Dash!”
Above, the little philly in a mare’s body was having the time of her life. With every loop and roll and dive her heart soar higher than she ever could. The rush of moving at your own speed, the since of freedom from being the only one in the sky. It was everything she dreamt it would be. Scootaloo was about to go for another dive when she heard a voice call out.
“Rainbow Dash!”
Scootaloo looks down and sees a little orange dot waving what looked like tan flag. Knowing full well how important Rainbow’s rescue duties are, she couldn’t ignore what might be a plea for help. Scootaloo dives down toward the orange dot and sees its Applejack. Scoots slows down and starts to get nervous over what’s now looking like a social call between friends. She lands a bit off-kilter, but quickly recovers.
“Is there a problem… Applejack?” Scoots says. It sounded like Rainbow forgot AJ’s name for a moment, but in reality Scootaloo is just used to calling her Miss Applejack or Ma’am.
‘Yeah, a lonely heart.’ AJ thinks to herself before speaking. “Oh uh…Nothing is wrong, but it is nice knowing y’all be here in a moment’s notice if ever I call.”
“Of course!” Scootaloo triumphantly praises, ‘Where else would I be?”
Applejack tries to hide her rising blush, she thought that Rainbow was talking about always being there for her. She starts to look around for an extra distraction and remembers where they are.
“Say, Rainbow, do you remember this place?” AJ motions her hoof out towards the old obstacle course and sees Rainbow’s face light up.
“Of course, I do!” Scootaloo says with excitement, “this is where I…” she’s stops herself before her fan-girling blows her cover. In actuality, this was where Scootaloo first saw Rainbow Dash perform in her dual against Applejack during the Running of the Leaves.
“I mean, this is where WE had our iron pony duel before the Running of the Leaves!”
“Wow,” Applejack replied, “Most ponies forgot that even happen!”
“Not me!” said Scootaloo. Still filled with excitement, she lets her fan-girl show a little bit, “that was one of the best days I ever had!”
“Really?” with surprise in her voice, Applejack feels her blush rising again. “it was one of my best days, too!” With that, an idea popped into Applejack’s head, “Say, why don’t we have a rematch, for old times’ sake! But this time, let’s not keep no score. Let’s just have an iron pony match for fun?”
‘Is this a dream come true?’ Scootaloo asks herself, ‘not only do I get to be Rainbow for a day, but now I get to relive one of her most awesome moments as her!?!’
“Of course, of course, of course!” Scootaloo yells out, reaching over and grabbing Applejack’s hoof almost dragging her to the start of the course. Total surprise envelops Applejack as they do challenge after challenge. True to their word, no one kept score but Rainbow Dash was nearly wearing out the earth pony. The only thing that kept AJ going was seeing how happy Rainbow was doing all these things with her. To AJ, it was nostalgic. To Scoots in RD’s body, it was the best birthday ever.
Hours later, both Scootaloo and RD’s body were tired. “I think it’s about time for a break. What do you say Applejack?”
With a sigh of relief, Applejack collapsed from exhaustion and laid limp on the ground. If it weren’t for her heavy breathing, you’d think she was out cold. ‘Huh, is that what it looks like when Rainbow Dash wears me out?’ Scootaloo thinks.
Both out of sympathy for pushing too far and wanting to be just like Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo slowly walks up beside Applejack, bends her hind legs down to the ground, slips her forelegs under AJ’s weary head, and nuzzles her chin on a layer of AJ’s mane covering the side of her face. To Scootaloo, this was just a big sister thing Rainbow does when she needs a big sister, except it was Scootaloo’s whole body resting on Rainbow’s forelegs not just her head. But to Applejack, it was all the confirmation she needed that what she was feeling for Rainbow was real. The two sat there, staring at the glistening apples in the nearby trees, for what seemed like forever in silence until Scootaloo finally broke it.
“You know…Applejack,” she starts, once again barely avoiding addressing her as Miss first, “my live has been all about going fast, and I thought that was going to be my destiny. Even after I got my Cutie Mark, I still wanted to go fast and do crazy things just to feel a rush. But today, in this moment, you’ve shown me how holding still can be just as memorable.” ‘Yet another awesome birthday gift,’ she said to herself to finish the thought in her head.
Hearing about how good she was making Rainbow feel made Applejack’s heart soar. AJ sudden felt that now was the time to do what she always wanted to do with the beautiful rainbow mare in her life. It was time to make a leap.
“Rainbow,” Applejack says in a weak whisper.
“Yeah?” says Scootaloo, wondering to herself how hard did she really pushed AJ to make her that tired.
“Kiss me.”
“BWAHAHAHA!” cried out Sweetie Belle before triggering a small aura burst from her horn. Just like some other unicorns, and even the occasional alicorn, she couldn’t control herself when her dragon fell in the pit.
“Told you it was an exciting game” Starlight sassed at the semi-embarrassed Sweetie Belle with Apple Bloom holding in a giggle.
“I guess you were right about this board game!” Sweetie replied, trying to get some dignity back. With a bit of smug, Starlight lights up her aura and starts to put the board back together when the throne room doors burst open from a rainbow explosion. When the dust clears, a panicking Rainbow Dash is franticly looking around.
“WHERE IS RAINBOW DASH!?!” Scootaloo screams out, her shriek echoing throughout the whole castle. Still bewildered by her sudden appearance, Starlight starts to answer, “She’s in her favorite chillaxing spot up on the…” before she could finish, Scootaloo raced up and brought back her own sleeping body on the cloud tuff lounge chair. “…roof.”
“Rainbow Dash, wake up! Wakeup wakeup wakeup wakeup!” Scootaloo starts shaking her own body like crazy until the lazy mare inside finally woke up.
“Ok, ok, whoa, Whoa! I’m awake now, what gives!?!” Rainbow Dash breaks free of Scootaloo’s grip and settles down at her place on the throne.
“We’ve got a problem! A big problem! A HUGE problem!” Scootaloo could barely hold herself together until Starlight intervened, wrapping her up with aura and slowly bringing her to the ground.
“Scootaloo, calm down and simply explain what is going on, ok?” Starlight decrees in the calmest voice possible. Scootaloo takes a few deep breathes and finally explains what happened.
“…and then she told me to kiss her!” Scootaloo yells out before finally taking a breath. During her pause there was a collective gasp of surprise and astonishment between the other four ponies.
“You got Applejack interested in me!?!” Rainbow’s squeaky voice lets out.
“Well, it wasn’t on purpose!” Scootaloo answers, “How would I know how to get a mare interested in me? I was just trying to act like you and I guess it was good enough for her!”
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake,” Rainbow stomps off and starts pleading as if she was the only one in the room, “how is it that the mare of my dreams is finally interested in me, but it really isn’t me!?!”
“Wait a minute, you are in love with my sister?” Apple Bloom interjects, not knowing which pegasus to stare down anymore.
“We will worry about every ponies love life later,” cried out Starlight, “Scootaloo, what did you do after Applejack asked you to kiss her?”
“You didn’t just fly away, did you!?!” Rainbow angrily said, trying to make a threatening pose but forgetting she was still in a philly body.
“I wanted to at first, but then I heard her crying, and then she started apologizing for ruining the moment, then went on about how she should’ve just kept her mouth shut, and how she just wanted all this lovey sappy stuff with me…uh Rainbow, and it all made me feel horrible! So, I told her that there was nothing wrong with her, that everything that happened just happened too quick and I suggested a do-over with an actual date.”
“And she bought that?” Rainbow asks, glaring into her own eyes.
“Well, yes. But…” Before Scootaloo could finish, Rainbow let out a huge gasp of relief.
“Thank Celestia, I still got a chance!” Rainbow cries out to the ceiling, flopping back onto her cloud tuff.
“No,” said Scootaloo annoyingly, “I still got a chance because she insisted on having the date tonight!”
“Tonight!” cried out the other three ponies.
“Tonight!?!” repeated Rainbow Dash.
“She said her chores were done for the day, but because Big Mac and Sugar Belle have to go see an obsten… Obesten…”
“Obstetrician?” corrected Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, that,” continued Scootaloo, “because they have to go see one of those the family is going to be behind on their chores all week. Maybe even a few weeks!”
With a double face-hoof, Rainbow lets out a huge moan at the cluster that her life was becoming before rolling on her side and staring down Starlight.
“And there’s nothing you can do?”
“Like I said before this whole thing started,” an agitated Starlight replied, “you two are stuck like this until sundown.”
“Wait, sundown?” Scootaloo repeats, then rushes over to the window to look at the Ponyville clock tower. “Sundown this time of year is about 8:00, right?”
“More or less?” answers Starlight
“And Applejack told me to meet her at her house at 7:30! That means I only have to draw out the date for 30 minutes and then the spell will run out!”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Starlight complements.
“I can show you ways you can, as Rarity says, ‘play hard to get’ to make things last as long as possible!” suggested Sweetie Belle
“And I’ll make a list of things she talks nonstop about that may buy you some more time!” suggested Apple Bloom before running off to find a stationary set.
“Oh, come on!” Rainbow Dash whales out, “me play hard to get for the pony I’ve always wanted? Good luck with that!”
“Umm Rainbow Dash,” says Scootaloo, “I’ve only been you for half a day and I already scored the ‘mare of your dreams’ without even trying.”
With a look of petrified shock on her face, Rainbow Dash sits there staring into space until Starlight picks her little orange philly body up with aura, “Come on, let’s get you ready for your birthday party at Holiday and Lofty’s. And maybe pick up some burn cream on the way.”
Despite all the prep work with the other Crusaders, Scootaloo is becoming uncontrollably nervous over the whole situation all over again. She’s about to go on a date. With one of her best friend’s older sisters. Pretending to be her own hero. How could this go wrong?
After staring at the front door to the Apple Family Home for a good few minutes, Scootaloo finally knocks. She hears galloping coming from the kitchen that suddenly stops at the front door. A pony silhouette blocks the inside light from shining on the screen door, and Scootaloo can see the mare doing one last check before opening the door. Even though she wasn’t wearing any special outfit, she obviously took the time to do herself up right. Her usual hat was missing showing off her braided mane shining in the fire light. Although Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle did their best to make Rainbow Dash’s body look good, Scootaloo still felt underdress.
“Well,” Applejack starts to ask something, “what do ya think?”
Unable to think, Scootaloo just throws her fore leg straight and presents Applejack some flowers. Utterly surprised, it takes Applejack a minute to figure out what just happened.
“Oh, shucks. For me?” she takes the flowers and buries her nose in one, “why, they are lovely.”
“I know!” Scootaloo yells out, unable to control the volume of her voice, “I. Saw. Them. At. The. Flower. Stand. And. They. Made. Me. Think. Of. You.”
Bewildered as to why Rainbow was acting this way, Applejack still smiled at the thought and leads her to the kitchen. The room was dominated by the smell of cooking apples and bread. The only main difference from the usual décor was pale green table cloth on the table with a small vase. AJ takes the old flowers she picked earlier from the vase and puts RD’s new flowers in.
Scootaloo quickly takes her seat, but then gets back up when she remembers one of Sweetie’s lessons. She stands behind Applejack’s chair and pulls it out for her.
“Uh, Rainbow Dash?” AJ looks at her date confused, “that’s mighty kind of ya, but we need to get the food to the table before we park ourselves there.”
Scootaloo walks over to the stove and carefully picks up a plate with her two wings. The plate shakes with the nervous tremors flowing though pegasus’ cyan body. Fearing she’ll drop it, Applejack takes the plate from her, “Tell ya what, I’ll bring everything over, you can sit and talk to me.”
“Sounds goods,” her reply was barely a trembling whisper this time, but AJ understood it since the two were close together. Despite the invitation, an awkward silence rose between the two as they started eating. Scootaloo kept looking at the clock, just counting down the minutes to sundown. AJ, noticing Rainbow’s obsession with the clock, had had enough.
“Rainbow Dash!”
“Your hat is lovely, who made it?” Scootaloo blurted out while thinking of some of the conversation starters Sweetie taught her.
“I ain’t wearing no hat, Rainbow Dash. What has gotten into you? Ya tell me you want a do-over date because I surprised ya with my feelings, and now ya act like ya wanna be anywhere but here? Why?”
“I’m just waiting for sundown; I hear it’s the most romantic time of the day!” Scootaloo quickly exclaims.
“There ain’t going to be no romance if you keep going the way ya are.”
“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asks, starting to get a sense of defeat.
“I simply ask what has gotten into you and your given me crazy answers”
Panicking, Scootaloo starts to improvise, “I don’t think they are crazy answers”
“Are you saying I’m the crazy one here!?!”
“What, no! I didn’t say that?”
The two ponies continue to go back and forth until Applejack finally had enough, “that is it! I don’t know what has gotten in to ya, but you ain’t the Rainbow Dash I was with this afternoon, and you ain’t any Rainbow Dash I would ever want to be with. I thank you to see yourself out!” with a thud, Applejack storms off from the dining table and starts to the door.
“Well, maybe it’s because I’m not Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo yells out, louder than she, or maybe even Rainbow, has ever yelled before.
Something about how Scootaloo said that made Applejack stop in her hoof tracks. Perhaps it was because it was the first honest thing Scootaloo had said all night, or because AJ felt the genuine sorrow in her voice from letting down Rainbow Dash.
“What do you mean?” Applejack asks in a much calmer but still angered voice. And like floodgates opening to reveal everything to her, Scootaloo realizes what went wrong.
“What I mean is, I’m not the Rainbow Dash I should be.” At this point, Scootaloo drops the act without realizing it and begins speaking from Rainbow’s heart. “I tried to change myself into a pony that I looked up to, thinking they were the greatest ever at everything and if I acted just like them, I would be too. But being a copy of some other pony, no matter how great they are, doesn’t make you great. It makes you a pretender. I don’t know why I thought I needed to be some other pony’s pretender with you tonight when me being me was obviously enough earlier. I guess, even though I’m pretty awesome, awesomeness doesn’t mean deserving.”
All puckered out, Scootaloo buries her face in the bend of her foreleg and starts to quietly sob. Convinced that she has ruined not only any chance of Applejack loving Rainbow Dash, but might have just killed their friendship. But then, when all hope seemed lost, Applejack walks back over to the table and starts to rub the pegasus’ back, “Y’all don’t think ya deserve me, Rainbow?”
Feeling totally defeated, Scootaloo looks up at Applejack to tell her the whole truth. That it was her all along, not Rainbow Dash, who put her through all these crazy feelings. But when their eyes met, Scootaloo sees a twinkle in AJ’s eyes. The same lovely twinkle she saw just before Applejack asked her to kiss her. Hope rises in Scootaloo’s barrow heart as quickly as the blush in her borrowed cheeks, and so she responds with a simply nod of yes.
“Oh, sugarcube!” AJ wraps the once again trembling cyan body up in a hug, “you don’t ever need to change for me. And you don’t need to be the greatest or ‘most awesome’ pony ever to be with me. I just want you to be Rainbow Dash, my friend. And maybe more.”
With tears of success in her eyes, Scootaloo hugs AJ tighter still to thank her, in a way. The two stay together for what seems like an eternity until Applejack pulls way.
“Now, if ya done pretending to be a philly on her first date,” Applejack’s voice lowers to a sultry whisper as her hooves slowly stroke her partner’s rainbow mane, “How about we pick back up from where we left off in the meadow?”
Scootaloo immediately snaps back to reality from her mental victory lap. As Applejack starts to lean in, she looks up at the clock. 8:02 and she was still in Rainbow’s body. She looks back and sees Applejacks lips scrunched up and ready for impact. In one last ditch effort, she pulls an idea out from nowhere.
“Wait,” Scootaloo says softly, “can we do this in the barn, where none of your family can catch us?”
“My family?” Applejack repeats with a slight giggle, “Granny is such a deep sleeper, she’d sleep through a stampede. Apple Bloom is over at Scootaloo’s birthday dinner. And Big Mac hasn’t left Sugar Belle’s side all day. There ain’t no chance of any interruptions.”
“Well,” beginning to panic a bit as AJ leans in again, Scootaloo starts grasping at strews, “I guess you don’t know how loud I am in my bed!” Scootaloo, of course, referring to how loudly Rainbow Dash snores. Something Scoots has seen first hoof on their sister camping trips. This manages to work, for Applejack pulls back suddenly and starts to blush. With a snicker, she gets down on all fours and offers her hoof to the cyan pony. The two lock hoofs and Scootaloo leads them to the privacy of the barn as slowly as possible.
‘Come on, come on. I’m running out of ideas here’ Scootaloo thinks to herself, believing that someway, somehow, Twilight would hear her pleads and lower the sun sooner. No such luck, however, as they walk between the old double barn doors and Applejack walks towards a bed of hay in the back corner.
“Ya comin’?” Applejack asks the paralyzed pegasus still at the doors.
“Umm…” stammering a bit, Scootaloo forces one hoof in front of the other, slowly making her way to the hay bed Applejack was now nesting on. When she gets there, the earth pony lays on her side and stretches out as if she was on display. The last bits of the day’s sunlight shine through the cracks in the barn’s walls and onto the orange pony’s body. Not knowing what else to do, Scootaloo reenacts what happened in the meadow since that’s what worked before. She slowly walks up beside Applejack, bends her hind legs down in the hay, slips her forelegs under AJ’s head, and nuzzles her chin on a layer of AJ’s mane covering the side of her face. Only this time AJ is quick to nuzzle back.
Then, from out of nowhere, Applejack preforms a quick takedown move any wrestler would be proud of that puts Scootaloo on her back and AJ over her. Pinned down with the strong earth pony’s hooves on her wings, and still seeing a bit of light outside, Scootaloo has all but accepted what’s about to happen. AJ closes her eyes, puckers her lips, and leans in for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, but this is the one that will finally connect. Unable to watch it coming, Scootaloo shuts her eyes tight and sucks in her lips as if that’ll keep it all from happening.
Finally, the dreaded moment came. Something warm and moist touched Scootaloo’s lips. Uncontrollable, she yanks her head to the side. She feels it again and yanks to the other side. This goes on a few more times until Scootaloo hears a voice, but it wasn’t Applejack’s.
“Scootaloo, what has gotten into you, dearie?” a soft voice asks.
Slowly opening her eyes, Scootaloo is shocked to see Aunt Holiday holding a fork with a bite of pasta and potato on it. She looks around and it dawns on her that she is in her Aunt’s dining room, sitting the head of the table with her Aunts on one side and her fellow Crusaders on the other. The room filled with decorations and all the gifts from that morning. Confident she’s not dreaming, Scootaloo lets out a huge sigh of relief and melts away in her chair.
“Scootaloo?” Aunty Holiday asks again.
Scootaloo looks up at the concerned look on her aunt’s face and snaps back to reality. “oh, um. Sorry, Aunt Holiday. Guess I’m more tired than I thought after today.” She looks over at her friends who had a curious look on their faces.
“But I’m all here, now.” Scootaloo concludes with a wink to the Crusaders.
“I’m not surprised,” Auntie Lofty comments, “you’ve barely been yourself all night, I was starting to think you were some pony else!”
“Now, now, Lofty.” Aunt Holiday joins, “she only gets one birthday a year, she can spend it however she likes.” The two Aunts give loving gases at each other as Scootaloo chows down.
After dinner, the CMC headed off to the living room where the other two kept asking Scootaloo about all that happened with Applejack. When she finished her story, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but get teary eyed and gave her pegasus friend a hug.
“Thank ya so much for givin’ my sister a good date, Scootaloo. She needed that something fierce.”
“Anything for you, Apple Bloom.” Scootaloo remarks.
“You think Rainbow Dash managed to keep things going in the right direction after you two swapped back?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Wondering that same thing, Scootaloo walks over to the large bay window looking out over Ponyville. Sweet Apple Acres may have been on the far side of town from her Aunt’s house, but the night was clear enough she could still see the double doors of the barn were still wide open and there was a lit lantern in the back.
“Oh, I think things worked out perfectly, for the both of us.”
The three best friends then all gathered on the couch and snuggled under the completed birthday quilt. Nestled on top of Scootaloo’s head was the largest patch of the quilt. The patch shows Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash in an Iron Pony Challenge with Starlight Glimmer as judge. At least, that’s what Lofty tells the ponies who see it.
