Discoveries

That night during dinner, Aldous walked into the dining room carrying plates for Tagalong, Scootaloo and Orion.

       "Here you go, kids," he said as he placed plates in front of them and sat next to Pam. They all started eating, Tagalong eating rather slowly, pushing his food around with his fork.

       "Something wrong, Tag?" Pam asked looking up from her plate.

       "Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine. Could I ask a question?" Aldous looks up from his plate.

       "Of course you can, Tag. Shoot," he said to his son. Tagalong looked at his parents then to his sister. He took a breath and asked the question.

       "What are your opinions about filly-foolers and colt-cuddlers?" Pam and Aldous looked at him; their expressions were both concerned and dumbstruck. How could their son know about this kind of thing already? He was far too young to be concerned about this sort of thing. Aldous looked at Tagalong's guilty expression, then to Orion who was trying to eat his food like he didn't hear a word.

       "Um, did something happen between... you and Orion?" Aldous asked, trying not to make eye contact with Tagalong. Tagalong looked confused, thinking he misheard his father. When he realized that he heard correctly, he started to worry again.

       "N-no, Dad!" he exclaimed, "This isn't about me, it's about Scootaloo!"

       "Tag!" Scootaloo spoke up. She looked at her parents who now turned their attention to her.

       "What happened, Scootaloo?" Pam asked her. Scootaloo still never got her answer, so she didn't want to tell them about the kiss.

       "N-nothing," she said. She didn't hope that her parents would buy the excuse, just that they would drop the subject momentarily.

       "If you don't tell them, I will," Tagalong said. Scootaloo looked at him in disbelief, then to her parents once more.

       "Fine," she said under her breath. Everyone put their undivided attention to Scootaloo as she thought of how to phrase the events. "Today, I got kissed," she muttered.

       "That's great, Scoot," Aldous said.

       "That's not all," Scootaloo continued, "I was kissed by... another filly," She grew silent after that and expected the worst.

       "Oh," Pam said, "but do you like her?" she asked. Scootaloo looked back to Pam.

       "N-no, I like colts not fillies, Mom," she replied. "I just wanted to know how you guys felt about filly-foolers, so I had Tag ask instead of me."

       "Ah, I see. We just want you kids to be as happy as you can be," Aldous said in a comforting tone. He reached over and gave Scootaloo a kiss on the cheek.

       "Dad, I don't know what to do. I don't like her, but if I tell her, it'll hurt her feelings, and I--"

       "Give it time, Scoot. You're a smart kid; I'm positive you'll figure something out," Aldous reassured her. Scootaloo smiled and hugged Aldous.

       "Thanks, Dad,"

       "You're welcome. Now let's finish eating before our dinner gets cold," he said with a smile. They finished up their meals, cleared the table and all headed off to bed.