Discoveries

For the rest of the day, Tagalong and Orion paid close attention to the clock, waiting for the bell to ring. Orion paid attention to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle who were whispering, giggling and passing notes. When the bell rang, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom darted out of the room. Tagalong and Orion raced out of their seats trying to catch them, but Cheerilee held both of the colts after school to scold them about talking during class. They followed the fillies to the clubhouse but by the time they got there, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had told Scootaloo everything. She had skipped school that day and was in the clubhouse the whole time.

       "What are you doing here, Scoot? Why weren't you at school today?" Tagalong asked. He was the one to break the ice around the situation.

       Scootaloo shrugged, "I don't know. I just didn't feel like going today." she responded. She then noticed that Orion was blushing. She smiled, and giggled a bit. "I'm flattered Orion, but I don't like you like that. You're a friend; Just a friend." Orion's ears went down in disappointment. Tagalong patted him on the back.

       "C'mon, buddy. Let's go back to my house. Things are getting kinda awkward here, anyways." Tagalong said, heading towards the door of the clubhouse. "Do you want to come with, Sweetie Belle?"

       Sweetie Belle stood up, "Why don't we all walk with you guys?" she suggested. Tagalong and Orion looked at each other

       "I don't see why not," Tagalong said with a smile. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood up and walked to the door. As they all headed out, they heard something; a rustling. Tagalong looked to his left were the trail was, and saw somepony in a tree, but couldn't tell who it was. He turned to Scootaloo, and then whispered something to her. Everypony was trying to figure out what was happening. Suddenly, Tagalong and Scootaloo ran towards the tree and started to climb it. The other three ponies ran towards the tree as well.

       "What are y'all doin'?" asked Apple Bloom, looking at both Sweetie Belle and Orion to confirm that they wanted to know the answer as well.

       "Hold on, I've almost..." said Tagalong from up the tree. Then, a loud snap was heard, and three distinct screams as the tree branch fell. Scootaloo landed on her back, then got up and dusted herself off.

       "Well?" she asked, "Did you find them?" Everypony looked at the yellow, blue and green maned filly that Tagalong was helping to her feet.

       "Who's that?" asked Sweetie Belle. A jolt went through Orion, causing him to speak up.

       "I know her! You're Aurora Dawn, right? Yeah, you're the super quiet filly that sits in the back of the class." Orion had recognized her mane, as it was the most vividly colored mane in class.

       "Well, that doesn't explain why you were following us!" Tagalong said. He was raising his voice without knowing it.

       "Tagalong, calm down. Why were you following us, Aurora?" asked Scootaloo. Aurora Dawn was kicking the dirt around, something some ponies do when they're nervous.

       "Well... you see... I don't have any friends here, and I saw that you all are really close friends, so I thought..." the nervous filly mumbled out. Sweetie Belle gasped then walked over to Aurora.

       "You can be our friend, Aurora!" she gleefully said. She looked at everypony else for confirmation. They all nodded in agreement, and all smiled. Aurora felt happy, happier than she'd ever felt.

       "Well, I think we all have to go home, huh?" asked Tagalong. Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

       "I take it you'll walk Sweetie Belle home as usual?" she asked. Tagalong nodded, and he and Sweetie Belle walked off.

       "I guess we'll all walk you home, Apple Bloom." Orion said. The four ponies walked down the trail, up to the front of Sweet Apple Acres, waved goodbye to Apple Bloom, and headed towards Aurora's home.

       "So how long have you lived in Ponyville, Aurora?" Orion asked.

       "Only about a year. I moved here from Cloudsdale. What about you?"

       "Two years," he responded with a smile.

       "So, Orion, let's talk about your crush," said Scootaloo, quickly changing the subject and smirking at the colt. Orion tensed up, looking at Scootaloo nervously.

       "I, uh, well, um..." he managed to stutter out. He quickly bolted away from the fillies. The two looked at each other and giggled.