Doctor, I shrunk the Fillies...

Chapter 2: What Goes on each Wednesday

"I dunno Applebloom...Maybe we should try kites again? Or bowling, or something..."

The three fillies stood at the base of the small, tree-shrouded hillock that hosted a very strange sight. It didn't look like the rest of the houses in Ponyville - perhaps the reason it was set apart, its only company being the healthy willows surrounding it. The house was two stories, with a small observatory latched onto the second story, which was slightly larger than the first. Its faded paneling was a dull grey-blue, where it still kept its color, and many of the shutters were in disrepair. Weeds grew along and in between the grey bricks composing the walkway leading to the house's only slightly less grey door. Bathed in the pale moonlight and shrouded by a reasonably thick misty-fog, it seemed the ideal place for a mad scientist to set up shop. And, according to Applebloom's according to Derpy, this wasn't the tip of the iceburg.

Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement, the spare costume clutched between her teeth. When Scootaloo had suggested carrying it on her back, she seemed shocked. Something about wrinkles, and how she couldn't do that to another pony, even if she didn't take particularly good care of her own clothes. A strange irony, that the sister of an up-and-coming designer diva would openly admit to being sloppy with her own clothes. But that wasn't any of Scootaloo's concern.

They were all clad in their new cloaks, courtesy of Rarity. Now blue, they were trimmed in a very convincing fake golden thread. The crest on either side popped out, brought to life by very precisely placed gemstones. She was no expert, but Scootaloo guessed it was amethyst, sapphire, and onyx. She had insisted it was nothing, but there was a pained look in Rarity's eyes; she guessed that onyx was a very rare gem, and probably expensive to cut. Why Rarity would consider giving the cloaks away - sure, they were too small for her average customer, but they could have been shoddily made - she had no idea. Much less to three fillies she probably knew weren't going to care for them properly; Sweetie Belle made her position clear, Scootaloo knew her own mannerisms concerning keeping clothes, Applebloom seemed very much like her sister when it came to fancy things. The only mystery was Dinky, which got her thinking about the task ahead again.

"It'll be fahn. Trust me; Derpy says that the Doctor maht seem cold at first, but he's really a nice guy."

"If you know so much about this guy, then why don't you go first?"

"Ah...Pass. Sweetie Belle, wah don't you go? Ya got Dinky's uniform; she'll prob'ly want ta change 'fore we actually go in."

Sweetie Belle shook her head, and motioned back to Scootaloo. Applebloom gave a triumphant grin.

"Majority rule; y'gotta go first, Scootaloo."

"Yeah? Well you're the leader; aren't you supposed to lead by example?"

"And as leader, ah order you ta go first!"

"It was your idea to begin with!"

Applebloom fell silent, and gave Sweetie Belle a knowing look and a wry grin. The other filly nodded, cloak catching on a low, prickly bush nearby. Applebloom turned those eyes and grin to face Scootaloo.

"What'sa matter, Scootaloo? Ya aren't...chicken...are ya?"

"Don't you eve-"

"Bwak."

"Applebloom..."

"Bwak bwak."

"You know I don-"

"Bwak bwaaak! Bwak bwak bwak!"

"Applebloom!"

"Bwaaaak! Bwakbwakbwakbwakbwakbwak!"

"You know what," Scootaloo snatched her cloak against the sudden wind. "I'll do it. Just don't ever call me chicken again, alright?"

Applebloom only waved a hoof, and motioned for her to go. A wolf howled nearby, and the brave leader suddenly found herself clutching an equally startled Sweetie Belle in fright. What's wrong with them? Scootaloo thought. It's just wolves. Everypony knows they avoid ponies unless necessary. Or, maybe, not everypony knew. A plan started to hatch in Scootaloo's devious little brain. She held that image of a scared Applebloom, and used it to clobber down any ounce of fear she had. She found herself moving for the rickety gate. Various pickets along the fence stuck out of the ground at odd angles, and while it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell you, Scootaloo made it clear to herself that that fence wasn't going to slow down a snail. The gate had fallen out of place, seemingly long ago, and it currently lay discarded among the half-tended flower beds lining the fence row. A rusty watering can signaled that, once upon a time, somepony was actually growing something here.

The stiff weeds tickled her hooves as she made the transition from rough-trod ground to the very uneven brick pathway. She could see the house more clearly now. Obviously. There was a porch, built between two places where the house jetted out, seemingly forming a small, rigid 'C'. A swing was attached to the ceiling, and for a wonder seemed the only thing about the place that still worked as it should. More abandoned flower beds, overrun with weeds, ran the length of the walk way. Here and there, a discarded tool - almost always rusty - lay seemingly forgotten among the bent lengths of the weeds it once attacked with vigor. By now, she had reached the steps up to the porch. A rickety-looking banister ran the small length of the ascent, but it looked like a sturdy breeze would topple it. The stairs were so squeaky that she doubted a doorbell would even be necessary; Applebloom and Sweetie Belle must have heard that from where they watched along the road. Scattered about the porch was your standard refuse that came with any abandoned building, usually the trash that squatters left behind when they were either forced to leave, or left of their own choice.

And finally, she was standing before the door. Strange; from the road, it seemed about average size. But standing before it, it seemed to tower over poor little Scootaloo. Must be the atmosphere. It'd be scary to see a bug come crawling out of that mist. She raised a hoof, oblivious of the faint whispering of the curtain in the adjacent window. She was about to knock when she made herself pause. Despite its feigned girth, the door looked as rickety as the rest of the structure. Would one knock send it tumbling into whatever lay beyond? Surely not; Derpy had all-but declared that this mystery Doctor - whom Scootaloo was growing ever more dubious of his educated background - lives here, in this Celestia forsaken patch of Ponyville. She was about to turn around when she heard Applebloom's jeering in her mind. Call me a chicken, will ya? I actually made it up here by myself! Let's see you do that! She raised her hoof with new-found vigor, and brought it down hard. She missed the door, and found herself sprawled out on the floor just inside.

This 'Doctor Whoof' guy doesn't seem so bad...

Sweetie Belle was still surprised that somepony actually lived here. She had almost expected the place to be abandoned, and that they'd have to go back home for the night. Thankfully - or perhaps not? - Derpy's information was reliable enough. Still, she couldn't help but think about the strange pony in the white lab coat. He seemed...Distant. Preoccupied. Easily distracted. And a little jumpy; she had tried talking to him once, only to have him snap at her a little. 'By god, don't do that! You could give me a heart attack doing that!' Upon asking what exactly a heart attack was, he only told her to hold her question, that he had to check on something, and he'd be right back. He didn't seem like a bad guy, not like Applebloom seemed to think. That filly just couldn't think outside her mindset; if you weren't normal, you had a very abnormal reason for being abnormal.

Derpy was there, and apparently preoccupied helping the Doctor with whatever delicate process he had been doing when they arrived. She still found it astonishing that any delicate process could benefit from Derpy's help. No offence to Derpy, but the mailmare's reputation as a klutz was wide-spread and well-earned.

Dinky was there, too, and seemingly more backward than Fluttershy could be if she were trying. Ever since they had walked through the door - fell, in Scootaloo's case - she had taken to Derpy like a gosling to its mother. When Derpy had asked her to wait out here, she only nodded resignedly and retreated to the far corner to play with an odd assortment of toys. Dinky was obviously not inclined to start a conversation, but worse, neither were Applebloom and Scootaloo. The result was this strange pseudo-staring-contest, with a befuddled Applebloom and Scootaloo on one side, and a shy Dinky on the other. Strangely, she felt no anger for Scootaloo and Applebloom - even though they should be trying to welcome Dinky as a group - but only pity for that poor only child. Well, actually, Scootaloo claimed to be an only child, but since they've never met her parents or been to her house - she was also an exchange student, apparently - it was hard to gauge the validity of that. She nudged towards her compatriots in an attempt to chastise them in 'private'.

"You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You two were both outcasts, once. Would you rather have been left out?"

With that, she went over to where Dinky sat, playing by herself. Let them chew on that. She felt more than a little nervous, crossing that gap on her own. But she saw where Dinky sat - metaphysically speaking - and all that she needed was for somepony to offer her a hoof. Might as well be Sweetie Belle. Still, she still felt herself a tad old for toys.

As she got closer, Dinky started to shy away. When she stood over the other filly - maybe that wasn't the best way to approach the situation - Dinky only flinched and closed her eyes. A second passed before she opened them tentatively, and looked up at the looming Sweetie Belle with a sense of mixed dread and curiosity. She took Sweetie Belle's lack of action as a cue to shimmy back further into the corner, curling in on herself. Celestia's mane, she looked terrified! When she spoke, it was through a slight stutter and even slighter sob.

"Y-y-you're not g-gonna hurt me, are y-you?"

The question caught her off guard. What has this filly been through, to think that every new face was going to be another pony that was going to hurt her? She stooped down, getting on eye level with the shivering Dinky.

"Now why would I do that?"

"The other f-fillies...M-Mom says that m-my eyes make me s-sp-special...But they only u-use it as an exc-c-cuse to gang up on me..."

Poor thing... Sweetie Belle found herself frowning, which Dinky seemed to think was a sign to back further into her corner. Getting on eye level was hard! Where did Dinky learn to get so flexible?

"But you're one of us, right? You're a Cutie Mark Crusader; we take care of our own," she motioned to the strange assortment of toys. They seemed to all be about the same thing, more or less. Scootaloo seemed to know a lot about pop culture; maybe she'd recognize them from somewhere. She sure didn't recognize it; everything seemed to be made for these coatless ponies on two legs that always seemed to be wearing clothes.

"So what's this stuff? Is it some kind of show or something?"

Dinky sniffled, but quit sobbing. She actually gave a small smile, very reminiscent of Derpy's lopsided grin.

"Uh...Actually, it's a little embarrassing...to talk about...I'd rather n-"

"Hey, are those My Little Human toys?" Scootaloo was across the room in a flash, running Dinky back into her corner. She was about to give Scootaloo an earful, but then something surprising happened. "You mean, you're into this, too?"

Dinky looked confused - more so than usual - as she looked Scootaloo in the eye. Or, tried to, anyway.

"What? You mean...You too?"

Scootaloo gave her a big grin, and began naming off the various characters, and making obscure references to the show. Sweetie Belle only managed to stare, and keep her jaw from hanging to the floor.* She nudged Scootaloo, and whispered.

"You're a humare? Since when? I thought you didn't like that kinda stuff." Suddenly, Scootaloo's face turned into a thunderhead.

"If you tell anypony, and I mean anypony..." Her expression softened as she continued. "Yeah, I am. Lyra's the head of the little group here in Ponyville. Twilight is, too, but she hasn't been coming to the meetings lately. I think she's working on her fanfiction," She looked thoughtful. "And yes, before you ask, that's what I use the clubhouse for on Wednesday."

Sweetie Belle only managed a startled grunt. She had always wondered what went on during Wednesday.

An hour or two passed, with Scootaloo talking vehemently with a less-reclusive Dinky Do. Sweetie Belle seemed dumbfounded, and Applebloom thought she knew why. Normally, Scootaloo was better at making enemies, or at least rivals, than friends. Sweetie Belle smiled at her, and Applebloom only felt right to smile back. Maybe Scootaloo has finally found a true friend. Well, besides her and Sweetie Belle, that is. Soon after, Derpy and the Doctor came back from whatever they were doing, and before too long it was time to go home. Derpy had already made plans - and more importantly, had them approved - for them to tour the workshops below the house. Ditzy went on to Derpy that she was wrong about her first thought concerning the CMC, that she'd be happy to join. Then she whispered something into her mom's ear, and Applebloom caught the words 'Wednesday' and 'clubhouse'. Scootaloo blushed, and so did Sweetie Belle. She made a mental note to herself to find out what went on each Wednesday. After all, it was her clubhouse.

It was decided that tomorrow - Friday - they'd be able to take a closer look at what went on there. The Doctor insisted on shaking everypony's hoof, and apologizing for not being able to talk tonight, that he still had important work he needed to do before the night was out. Applebloom thought her initial reaction to him was a tad flawed; he wasn't crazy or diabolical. Maybe he was just a bit backward, and preoccupied. Derpy gave him a smile, which he returned - he had very white teeth! - and waved bye to everypony. Applebloom turned back from where she stood at the base of the hill, and waved back. Suddenly, that house on the hill seemed far less scary than it had a few hours ago.

End of Chapter 2

*Derelle'd!