Chapters RATED S FOR SCOOTALOO
Day One: Friday
Twilight stared at her pink party pony friend. A part of her wanted to ask what she was doing. The rest of her, for the sake of her questionable sanity, told that part to shut up and go with the flow. She gulped and opened her mouth, fully expecting the worst, “Pinkie, what are you doing?”
Pinkie turned to Twilight and grinned, “I’m getting ready!” she said, propping up the mattress in the middle of Sugarcube Corner, much to the dismay and protests of the Cakes, who were busy at the counter, and the customers, who were busy making a mess of said counter. “My Pinkie Sense says to get ready!~”
Twilight frowned and sighed, “Of course... So what exactly IS the mattress for? What’s going to happen?” She asked, much to the dismay of herself. She didn’t REALLY have to get involved. Probably. Hopefully.
Pinkie turned to Twilight once again. “I dunno! But it’ll happen any second now! Just wait!” Pinkie screamed in excitement.Twilight rolled her eyes, but regardless she turned towards the door, expecting any sort of monstrosity to come in. With Pinkie, you could never be too safe, she figured.
And then the wall of Sugarcube corner exploded behind her, amongst the sound of wood clattering and Mr. Cake having a panic attack, a soft ‘thump’, followed by the loud sound of a table getting crushed, distinctly reached the unicorn’s ear. “Hi Scootaloo!” Pinkie cheerfully called out over the loud sounds in Sugarcube Corner. Twilight turned around and saw, indeed, a familiar orange pegasus filly lying in the bed. She looked at the wall and saw a vaguely pony shaped hole. “I’ve been expecting you!” Pinkie said, smiling at the groaning filly.
Twilight was stunned into silence, looking between Scootaloo, Pinkie, the hole in the wall, Mr Cake having a break down, Roseluck screaming about the horrors of a ruined dessert, and then back to Scootaloo. “Wh-I...” she stammered. She stopped and watched Scootaloo sit up, rubbing her back and groaning.
“Ugggh... Pinkie...? I have... uh... filly problems.” Scootaloo simply said, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. Twilight was astounded by how much she downplayed her utter destruction of this eating establishment.
Pinkie pulled Scootaloo into a hug and comforted her. “Shh, there there. Aunty Pinkie is here to help!” the pink pony exclaimed. If Sugarcube Corner wasn’t such a chaotic mess, it would probably be a touching scene, Twilight thought. “Come on! We’ll go to my room!” And with that, Pinkie threw Scootaloo onto her back and ran upstairs.
“Wh-Pinkie, wait!” Twilight called out, but it was a little too late for that.
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Scootaloo sat on the bed, awkwardly twiddling her hooves. The bright, cheery atmosphere of Pinkie’s room did little to lessen the pain of her anxieties, and even less to lessen the pain of breaking a wall with her spine. She decided to ignore the latter, deeming the former slightly more important in her priorities for today. Only slightly though. Pinkie at least had the decency to get an ice pack for her as she slided up to the orange filly in a chair. “So Scoots! Tell us what ails you?” the pink pony smiled invitingly.
“Uh... us?” Scootaloo questioned. At that, she noticed a green alligator staring at her over Pinkie’s shoulder. She gulped. “R-right. Um... well... I... I... I’m in love!”
Pinke gasped and stood up from her chair. “Really!? Why didn’t you say so sooner! We can-” Scootaloo quickly shoved the ice pack in Pinkie’s mouth, shushing her and looking at the door suspiciously.
“It’s not that simple! I’m in love with Ruby Pinch...” Pinkie was in the middle of another gasp before Scootaloo gave her a pleading look. She nodded apologetically and urged her to continue. “I’ve been trying to get close to her and stuff, you know? Hanging out during playtime, walking her home... It’s been a really great week! Like, not as great as a week with Rainbow Dash but really REALLY close, you know?” Scootaloo smiled dreamily. Pinkie’s heart melted then reformed then melted again. Scootaloo continued, “But uh... it’s the weekend...” she paused, “So...”
“Soooooooooooo?” Pinkie questioned, leaning uncomfortably close to the pegasus.
“So... I asked Ruby out on a date! Like, a real date date!” Scootaloo confessed, her orange fur turning red across her cheeks. “A-and then...”
“And theeeeeeeen!?”
“And she said yes!” Scootaloo exclaimed happily. That moment was short lived as she went back to pouting. “But...”
“Buuuuu-”
“Pinkie seriously!” Pinkie blushed and covered her mouth. “So yeah... uh... she said yes, but first I had to, like, meet her mom and stuff. You know, so she wouldn’t worry about her or anything I guess. I was too excited from her saying yes to pay attention to whatever it was that happened after that, but then we got to her house and...”
________________________________________________________________________
“Mommy! I’m home! And I brought a friend!” Ruby Pinch called out, a flushed Scootaloo following close behind, wings buzzing a bit in excitement.
There was a clattering of glass, and a few uneven hoofsteps as a pale mulberry mare stumbled her way in. “Heeeeey honey! How wass school?” the large mare wobbled her way over to the 2 fillies, hugging Ruby tightly, who returned the hug in kind.
“Just fine, mommy! Oh, this is my friend Scootaloo! I wanted you to meet her!” Ruby pointed a hoof to the orange filly, smiling brightly. Scootaloo’s heart melted, then reformed. She nodded and waved to the... odd mare, face still slightly red.
Berry Punch looked up and examined Scootaloo. The filly stepped back a bit in response, but tried to keep it cool. “Uh... hello, miss... um... Ruby’s mom.”
Berry smiled crookedly. “Heeeeeey li’l filly. Nice ta meet one of my sweetie’s friends. What brings ya here? You can call me Miss Punch, by the way.”
Scootaloo gulped. “O-okay miss Punch. W-well, um, I... would... like tooo... take Ru-er, your daughter, out this weekend. You know, like, on a date. I-if that’s cool and all, I mean.” Scootaloo smiled nervously.
Berry’s eyes, while still suspiciously dim for reasons Scootaloo was not old enough to understand, gained a sudden bitterness. “Hon, go to your room.” Ruby smiled and nodded, getting her bag and giving Scootaloo a kiss on the cheek before running upstairs. While Scootaloo was very happy with this, the older mare definitely did not agree. She stepped up to the pegasus and stared down at her imposingly. “So, ya got somethin’ for my Ruby?”
Scootaloo gulped, stepping back against the wall and nodding.
Berry’s expression didn’t change. “And how do I know ya plan on takin’ good care of her?” Before Scootaloo could answer, Berry cut her off. “Ya can barely present yerself n’ ya want me to let ya take her out without my supervision?” Berry slurred. “Well??!”
Scootaloo stared up at the suddenly very scary mare. “W-well I’m pretty responsible! I mean, I can take care of things! I-I mean, I’m friends with Rainbow Dash! She’s the Element of Loyalty and stuff, you know? S-so uh-”
“I don’t care about that!” Berry exclaimed. Scootaloo winced and prodded her ears a bit. “What I wanna know, is if you’re willin’ to protect my baby. If ya can be there when I’m not!” Berry stepped back, staring the filly down.
“I-I’m willing! Totally willing! Completely willing!” Scootaloo nodded eagerly.
Berry put a hoof to her chin, giving a ‘hmmmmmmmm’ in thought. “Well, I’ll just have ta test ya...” She grinned and scraped her hoof on the wooden floor. “Fight me.”
Scootaloo quirked an eyebrow. “Fight...? But...”
“BUT NOTHING!” Berry screeched drunkenly, bending down to be at eye level with the terrified filly. “Fight me! For the honor of my sweetie!” She began hopping on her hooves, in an odd stance the Scootaloo couldn’t help but stare.
“B-but I dunno how to fight! I’m just a filly!” Scootaloo protested, wings compacting nervously.
“Tch.” Berry turned her head away from Scootaloo. “Whatta joke. So much for being there for Ruby, eh? Go tell yer Rainbows to teach ya some moves, yer all talk.”
Scootaloo frowned, wings buzzing angrily. “H-hey! I have moves! And don’t talk about Rainbow Dash like that! She’s awesome!” Scootaloo was soon silenced by Berry lifting her up.
“Then fight!” Berry growled, swirling her hoof around behind her. “Beeeeeerryyyyyyyyyyyyy...” Before Scootaloo could question what was going on, she felt three things. One, the feeling of Berry letting her go. Two, the feeling of a mulberry hoof painfully slamming into her orange chest. “PUNCH!!!”
And three, the feeling of her back smashing through a door, as well as the wind rushing past her as she flew across Ponyville, finally landing in Sugarcube Corner. Scootaloo was in a daze; both from the pain and from not fully comprehending what just happened. “Hi Scootaloo!”
“Oooh! Oooh! I know what happens next!” Pinkie cried, hoof waving frantically in the air.
“Ugh, Pinkie, that’s the end of the story...” Scootaloo sulked, wings buzzing. “What should I do...?”
Pinkie put her hoof down, beaming at the distressed filly. “Well, why NOT go tell Rainbow? She could, like, have a super duper training montage with you and make you tough and cool and fighty fighty!” Pinkie giggled. “She’s good at that!”
Scootaloo blinked, and mulled it over. “...W-well, I was totally going to do that after this! Yeah! ...Um...” She hopped off of Pinkie’s bed, cracking her back a bit. “Alright! To Rainbow Dash it is!” She grinned confidently, running out of the room.
Pinkie waved her off. “Tell Dashie I said hi! Oooh! I wonder if I should plan a ‘Good luck’ Party... Or maybe a ‘Training’ Party... Oh! Oh! How about a super duper silly filly love party!” Pinkie squee’d, squishing her cheeks together. “Why not ALL THREE!?”
…...................
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Rainbow Dash snored. Loudly. The sun was beginning to set, a hint of orange in the sky. Not that the pegasus would notice. Even if she wasn’t asleep, there was a book drooped over her face. “Zzz... Oh Daring... Take ME on a journey...” she mumbled into the book’s pages.
“Rainbow Dash!” A shrill cry made Rainbow Dash roll off the cloud and onto the hard ground below. “Ah! Sorry Dash!”
“Nnngh... dun worry about it...” The blue pegasus shook her head, giving her eyes a moment to stop spinning before settling on the filly in front of her with a noticeably exhausted and worried. “...Seriously kid, don’t worry. It takes more than that to get me down!”
Scootaloo panted, catching her breath. “I-I... I need help, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo whimpered, sweating.
The blue pegasus shot up, wings flaring. “What’s up, kid!?” Rainbow growled. “Who do I gotta beat up?!” She got on her hind legs and started punching the air. Scootaloo’s eyes sparkled from the sheer coolness radiating from the rainbow-maned pony.
“R-Rainbow Dash...” Scootaloo called, in sheer awe. Rainbow Dash was worried! For her! She was gonna beat a pony up! For HER!!! . She shook her head and blushed. Speaking of beating up, “I need to learn how to fight! For the honor of my love!” Scootaloo said coolly. Rainbow Dash stared, perplexed. Scootaloo’s face went even redder. “E-er... yeah. So, um... Can you teach me some moves?”
Dashie dropped down to her hooves again, thinking it over. “Hmm... what’s his name, squirt?”
Scootaloo stared at her hooves. “Ruby Pinch...” Rainbow Dash blinked. Then blinked again at the realization. Then blinked AGAIN at another realization.
“Oh... So THAT’s why you wanna fight.” The older mare confirmed. Scootaloo nodded. “Hrm... well, alright. I can teach ya. But if you wanna beat HER, we have some work to do!” Rainbow Dash grinned, putting a hoof over Scootaloo’s shoulder. “Meet me at Sweet Apple Acres at... hrm... how about Three? On the dot!”
Scootaloo practically bounced from happiness. “Yes! Yes! Of course Rainbow Dash! Thank you thank you thank you!”
And so, Dashie escorted Scootaloo home (Which was totally wicked). Scootaloo got ready for the next day!
She could hardly even feel the broken ribs anymore, either!
And on to the next day...
RATED S FOR SCOOTALOO
Day Two: Saturday
Scootaloo dreamt of awesome things that night. She dreamt of Rainbow Dash. She dreamt of being a superhero daredevil. She dreamt of flying.
She dreamt of Pinchy.
Scootaloo woke up at around noon, feeling particularly good. She yawned quietly, tossing the blankets to the side and hopping out of bed. She went into the kitchen and pulled out some juice and a muffin, looking at the ‘To-do’ list on the fridge.
THE SCOOTA-TO-DO LIST
She gulped down the makeshift breakfast and ran outside, hopping onto her scooter and trailing down Ponyville. “Just wait, Pinchy... I’m gonna take you out on a date whether your mom is okay with it or not!” she promptly smashed through a carrot stall. “AND IT WILL BE AWESOME !” she yelled over an angry yellow earth pony’s protests, ramping off the wreckage of her produce, heading towards Sweet Apple Acres. The ponies that saw this could only wonder what was up with that orange filly as she blasted down the trail, more eager than usual.
Scootaloo waited amongst the apple trees, leaning on her scooter. Rainbow Dash would be here any minute now! She waited... and waited... and waited. She sighed, grabbing an apple that fell off the tree (and on her head) and taking a bite out of it. “Maybe I came a little TOO early...” The orange filly mumbled, yawning. She closed her eyes and dozed off, going back to her dreams of the night before.
“ BWAHAHAHAHAAA!” The evil tyrant of the berry kingdom laughed menacingly down at the brave pegasus hero. “ Give it up, Scootaloo! YOU’LL NEVER DEFEAT ME!!”
“Never! Die, monster! You don’t belong in this world!” Scootaloo called out, removing the totally epic flaming sword from her mouth to speak. “I will end your reign of terror on all snack foods, and give the throne to the pony that will treat all the ponies down there right!” She yelled with all her might, putting the sword back and charging towards the evil overlord. She yelled as she jumped into the air, wings flaring and flapping powerfully to boost her towards her target as she swung. “Hyaaaaa!”
The devilish monstrosity of a mare swerved out of the way, slapping the orange mare away like a common house fly. “ How pitiful! You can’t beat me with these cheap parlor tricks!” She laughed menacingly as she stood over the fallen hero, picking her up in a giant hoof and holding her over the treacherous black pits. “ Farewell, ‘hero’.” She said, grinning evilly.
“NOT SO FAST!” Called out another voice. Before the overlord could react, she felt a burning pain in her chest, a rainbow trail going through her shadowy being. She let go of the limp Scootaloo, who was promptly caught by the same trail. “Gotcha, kid!”
Scootaloo groaned and opened her eyes. “T-took ya long enough, Dash...”
The armored, cyan pegasus grinned at her partner. “I was busy. Now, how about we take out this loudmouth before she starts another evil speech?” She proposed, setting the other pegasus down on a darkened balcony. Scootaloo promptly straightened herself out and flapped her wings, nodding. “Heh. That’s the spirit. Now come on. I got your back!” She cried, turning to the recovering evil being with a confident smirk. “Go!” And then both pegasi flew, leaving behind rainbow and orange trails respectively as they prepared to atta-
Another apple dropped on her head. Scootaloo grimaced and stared up at the tree. A squirrel was there, laughing at her! Or at least, she figured it was laughing. “Hey! What’s the big idea!?” She called out to the squirrel. It threw another apple in response, but Scootaloo managed to sidestep this one. “Quit it!” Scootaloo hefted up the remains of the apple she ate, and beaned it at the squirrel, who took the hit and fell out of the tree. Scootaloo went silent, comprehending what she just did, before running up to the fallen fuzzy creature. “O-oh no! Did I hit you too hard? Oh sweet Celestia I hope Fluttershy isn’t around.” Scootaloo hugged and petted the small squirrel, trying to rouse it awake. “Wake up! Wake up!”
“Uh, kid, what are you doing?” A familiar voice called out, the sound of hooves hitting the ground behind the orange filly.
“Uh, nothing Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo hastily hid the unconscious squirrel behind the tree. “Ehehe... he... um... how are you!?” Scootaloo yelled in a completely unconvincing and suspicious manner. Rainbow Dash seemed to agree.
“Uh... fine...?” The rainbow pegasus stared at Scootaloo, who’s nervous grin only grew wider, for a few seconds before dropping the subject. “...Whatever. You ready for your training!?” She yelled in excitement, putting her saddlebag down and pulling out a karate gi, quickly getting dressed for it, tying her hair back with a belt. “Cause I am!” She cried, striking a pose. Scootaloo stared at her idol, both in confusion and in awe. Dashie noticed the former, and grinned. “Gotta look the part, squirt! I got a spare for ya if you want to.” She shrugged. Scootaloo blushed and pulled out the spare gi, quickly climbing into it. “Heh. Alright.” She motioned the filly over, who happily obliged. “Just stand next to me and do what I do. Pinkie! Action!”
Scootaloo watched in shock as Pinkie, in an odd baggy outfit of some sort, hopped out from behind the tree with a large radio. “Action, Dashie!” And with that she turned on the radio, grinning widely. Scootaloo shook as she heard a gong, and she saw Rainbow Dash taking a deep breath.
“HYAAAAAAAATATATATA-TAAAAAAAAH...” Rainbow Dash yelled out, bouncing between her hooves to the beat. Scootaloo stared for a moment, before following along. Her idol grinned, and began to sing to the beat.
“Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind! If you want Ruby, I’m sure you’ll find- To beat her mother, and get your lover Well you’ll just have to be a little bit tougher! Now kick!”
“Kick!”
“Punch!”
“Punch!”
“Chop!”
“Chop!”
“And Block!”
“Block!” Scootaloo exclaimed, putting her hooves in front of her face.
“Once more now kick!”
“Kick!”
“Punch!”
“Punch!”
“Chop!”
“Chop!”
“And Block!”
“Block!” Scootaloo repeated the motions, working up a bit of a sweat. She noticed Pinkie bopping her head to the beat as it suddenly sped up and changed its tempo.
“Don’t be chicken, your time is tickin’ And we’re not stopping ‘til your moves are kickin’ Now DUCK!” Dashie exclaimed, reobtaining the filly’s attention as she tucked herself to the ground.
“D-duck!” Scootaloo yelled, repeating the mare’s movements.
“Jump!”
“Jump!”
“Tuurn!” Rainbow Dash yelled, doing a spin.
“Turn!” Scootaloo exclaimed just as loudly, spinning and wobbling on her hooves.
“And POSE!”
“Pose...?” Scootaloo looked at the cyan mare questioningly.
“Ya gotta look good kid. JUMP!”
“J-Jump!”
“Pose!”
“Pose!” Scootaloo yelled, this time doing the action without question.
“Duck!”
“Duck!”
“And Tuuurn!”
“Turn!”
Before Rainbow Dash could continue this... admittedly odd training, the music stopped and a familiar accented voice came in to replace it. “Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Scootaloo! What in TARNATION are y’all doing out here???”
“We’re teaching Scootaloo how to fight!” Pinkie exclaimed helpfully. Applejack stared at the pink pony before turning and giving Rainbow Dash a glare that made her wish Fluttershy was angry at her instead.
“I-it’s for a good cause!” Rainbow protested, grinning nervously. Scootaloo decided to stay silent. “For, uh, love and stuff, right kid?” Scootaloo blushed and nodded fiercely, staring at the ground. Just how many ponies need to know? She hasn’t even gone on a date yet! “Yeah, see! Love and stuff!” The pegasus mare called out in self-defense. Applejack just continued to stare at her, with what Scootaloo considered an impressively stoic expression of sisterly disapproval . “So... uh... you can go.” Applejack continued to stare. Even Pinkie started looking at her questioningly, taking a few steps away from the other earth pony. “Um... right... so... we’re just gonna keep going, okay?” No response. “Okay... Pinkie! Lesson 3!”
Pinkie obliged, turning the music back on and smiling. Scootaloo groaned, but pushed through her exhaustion. For Ruby!
Rainbow Dash grinned and continued on. “Hm, yeah, I see you’re getting better Push to the limit, so you can get her now Kick, punch!”
“Kick, punch!”
“Chop, block!”
“Chop, block!”
“Chop, kick!”
“Chop, kick!”
“Punch, block!”
“Punch, block!”
“Gonna get harder now Duck and jump!”
“Duck, jump!
“Turn and pose!!”
“Turn, pose!” Scootaloo said, spinning and flaring her wings, panting.
“Duck and turn!”
“Duck, turn!”
“Jump and punch!”
Suddenly Applejack jumped on Dashie, knocking her away and singing to the music.“Consarnit Dash, yer lessons are trash! Scoots if ya wanna win, ya gotta face the worst I’ll help ya see if ya wanna see, what it takes to be the best mare that ya can be Are you the mare now!?”
Everypony turned and stared at Applejack as a gong sounded in the track. Applejack turned to Scootaloo and took a deep breath. “Lesson 4.” Scootaloo gulped.
“Can we save lesson 4 for to-”
“Kick Punch Block!” Applejack yelled in quick succession. Scootaloo barely managed to copy her moves.
“G-gah! Punch... block... uuuh...!”
“Chop kick block!”
“Ch-chop.... chop... kick?” Scootaloo cried, sweating up a storm. “Slow down!”
“Block, turn, and buck it!”
“Block, turn, buck!” Scootaloo said, turning around and kicking the imaginary tree in front of her as Applejack did.
“Block duck punch!”
“Block, duck, punch... can I go no-?”
“Duck duck turn!”
“Duck duck turn!”
“Jump kick chop!”
“Jump kick chop!”
“And punch punch punch!”
“Punch punch punch!” And as Scootaloo finished the quick combo, another gong sounded and the song finally ended, Pinkie clapping and cheering as Applejack smirked.
“And that’s it. Did ya get all that, sugarcube?” Applejack said, her smirk turning into a kind smile.
“U-uh... maybe...?” Scootaloo frowned, scratching her head. In the corner of her eye she saw Rainbow Dash getting back up, glaring at Applejack. She probably didn’t enjoy having her training montage stolen from her. She shook her head and climbed out of the sweaty karate outfit.
“It’ll all come back ta ya when ya need it, trust me. Good job Scoots.” The farmer said, walking up and putting a hoof on Scootaloo’s back. “Now go get yer crush or whatever.”
Scootaloo stared up at Applejack, then frowned and nodded. “R-right! Thanks Applejack! A-and Rainbow Dash! And... um... Pinkie too I guess.” She said, quickly running back to her scooter and taking off in a hurry.
“Yay! On to the next stage!” Pinkie cried, adjusting her red beanie. Applejack turned to Pinkie.
“So what in the world are ya dressed like that for, anyway?”
“... I don’t know. I thought it would work, for some reason.” Pinkie giggled. “Even I think it’s silly!”
Scootaloo crashed into Berry Punch’s lawn, she brushed some of the grass off of her coat and ran up to the front door, knocking on it fiercely. “Urp, comin’, I’m comin!” A familiar voice that made Scootaloo shiver called out. She heard a few locks click open and the door began to swing. The orange filly stepped back, considering the possibility of simply running away. She could always just hang out with Ruby at school, after all. She didn’t NEED her mom’s permission to be in the same class after all. She didn’t need to risk getting thrown into another building, after all.
Scootaloo shook her head and put her hoof down, glaring at the mare who opened the door, confidence in her eyes. “Evening, Miss Punch. ” She stated simply. Berry stepped back, looking the filly over questioningly as she wobbled on her hooves, a hint of blush on her cheeks. She looked even MORE out of it than yesterday, Scootaloo thought. She shook that thought out of her head. Focus!
“....Oh yeh... I remember you... what do ya want this time, filly?” Berry snarked dizzily, leaning on the door. “‘m surprised yer even up after muh signature movve...”
“I had a soft landing.” The filly explained simply. She took a stance, wings buzzing as threateningly as possible. Show time. “And I’m here to beat you and get a date with Pinchy!”
Berry Punch rolled her eyes and grumbled, opening the door wider. “Ya think yer big, kid? Fine then...” She took a deep breath and suddenly swung at Scootaloo! Scootaloo yelped and ducked under the swing, then propelled herself into the air. Berry Punch stared.
“Duck and jump!” Scootaloo called out, then delivered a punch to Berry’s snout. “Jump and punch!” She grinned as the mare stumbled backwards, rubbing her nose. Berry cursed to herself, luckily out of Scootaloo’s hearing range, before charging. Block! Scootaloo put her hooves up over her face as Berry’s hoof nearly collided with it. The filly winced as the punch left a stinging feeling in her forelegs, but she fought through that. Chop! Scootaloo used Berry’s hoof to propel herself upwards, slamming her hooves down on the mare’s head.
Berry gave a yelp and shook, rubbing her head as Scootaloo scampered back, keeping an eye on the mare. Scootaloo may not have been smart, but she wasn’t an idiot. That wasn’t the Berry Punch. She had to make sure the mare didn’t use it. Either way, she hoped Pinkie had another bed ready just in case... Scootaloo charged at Berry and hopped into the air “Jump kick chop!” she called out, then yelped as the mare caught her and tossed her aside.
“‘nuff playing around, kid!” Berry growled, slamming her hooves on the ground. “Pullin’ out all the stops now!” She yelled, walking towards the filly who was still trying to get up. “Yer gonna pay for that one.” Scootaloo yelped and rolled out of the way just in time as Berry slammed her hooves down. The filly stared at the dents in the wooden floor this action left.
“This mare is crazy !” Scootaloo told herself as Berry charged at her for another attack, this time swiping at the filly. She jumped over the swing, then ducked as Berry turned and tried to kick her out of the air. Scootaloo retaliated with a kick of her own, right into the mare’s gut. Berry stumbled back again, giving the filly some more breathing room. Both ponies were panting now.
Berry yelled loudly and charged. “WHO DO YOU THINK I AM, KID!?” She exclaimed, jumping into the air and pulling her hoof back. “Berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....” Scootaloo squeaked nervously and considered her options, even as the hoof drew nearer. “MEGATON PUNCH!!!”
The impact of the punch caused the very foundation of the house to shake, smoke billowing out of the open doorway. The front wall of the simple house collapsed. “Mommy! The window is stuck open! And so is the wall!” A young filly’s voice called out from the floor above them.
Berry stared in shock at what had just occurred. No, not that she just destroyed her own house. Ponyville insurance would cover that. No, not that she had a sudden realization that beating up on little kids was a very irresponsible thing for a mother to be doing. What she was shocked by was something even more out there then both of these evidences of a questionable mental state combined.
Scootaloo blocked her attack. The filly was shaking on her hind legs, even as she slowly and silently turned around, propping herself on her burning forelegs, and delivered a solid kick right into the still stunned Berry’s chest, sending her slamming into the back wall. The mare groaned and rolled in pain a bit, staring at the filly who had managed to defeat her. Scootaloo turned around to look at the mare, then bent down and flared her wings outward. “Turn and pose.” the orange filly said, grinning proudly.
…
Berry Punch gave Scootaloo a congratulatory pat on the back. She eased up a bit as she saw the filly cringe in pain. “Sorry ‘bout that, kid.” she said. She wasn’t slurring anymore. Her buzz passed a while ago when she was still bandaging herself and Scootaloo up. “Forgot that I still got a few good hits on you after all. Hehe.”
“I-it’s alright, Miss Punch.” The orange filly said, holding back tears and smiling shakily. She glanced back at herself. Most of her torso was covered up in bandages. She didn’t really find it necessary to ask why Berry had all these first aid kits at the ready.
“You can call me Berry.” The mare said, smiling warmly. “I haven’t gotten a good beating like that in a WHILE. Eeesh...” she laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head before wincing and pulling her hoof away. She glanced out the window. “Probably one of my wildest weekends, for sure. And that’s saying something.”
“Eheh... yeah... I’ll say...” Scootaloo laughed along with the mare, nodding. “S-so... um...” she started.
Berry Punch turned to the filly, then smiled again. “Yeah yeah. You pass, kid. Pinchy has nothing to do tomorrow, so...”
Scootaloo stared, before giving a smile that would put Pinkie to shame, nodding frantically as her wings buzzed happily. “I-it’s a date! I-I’ll come at... um... five! And I’ll have her back before you know it!” Scootaloo saluted. “Thank you thank you thank you!” she bounced on her hooves, fighting the urge to hug the bandaged mare.
“Yeah yeah, you deserve it, and Pinchy’s been complaining about what I did to you since yesterday anyway...” Berry muttered. “Do ya need me to walk you home?”
“Nah, I can do it.” Scootaloo said, still beaming in excitement. “I-I’ll come by tomorrow!” she said as she walked out and got on her scooter. She waved at Berry through the giant hole in the building, then noticed Ruby watching her from the top floor. Ruby waved at her, giving a smile that would put Scootaloo’s to shame. The orange filly blushed, putting her helmet on and waving back up at the other filly, before heading home. “...What a totally awesome day.” she muttered to herself, practically skipping towards the door as she dragged her scooter up with her.
Scootaloo smiled to herself as she went inside. “Mooom. I’m home!” she called out. With all the craziness that happened, she almost forgot her mom was coming back from Canterlot today.
The familiar mustard colored pegasus peeked around the kitchen corner. “Oh, hello honey! I brought you back some of those donuts you like!” Scootaloo smiled, going over and hugging the pegasus. The older pegasus held her daughter close, looking down at her. “What’s with the wraps?”
“Eheh... it was a busy day. Don’t worry, I took care of it!” Scootaloo beamed up at the mare.
The pegasus brushed her gray mane back, sighing and smiling. “That’s my girl.” she said proudly. “...Oh, that reminds me! Did you pick up the laundry? You know I can’t go to work without my lucky hat.”
Scootaloo winced. “Uh... hehe... it was a really busy day, mom. I’ll do it first thing tomorrow! ...Oh yeah, speaking of tomorrow...”
On to the next day...
Author's Note
PaRappa the Rapper is a game that you should play.
RATED S FOR SCOOTALOO
Day Three: Sunday
Scootaloo ran across the roof, leaping over to the next silently. She had to continue her mission. Another building crossed. She stopped and listened. The wind brushed her through her mane. She took small, quiet breaths, the light of the moon overhead shining on her.
Suddenly she reached into a compartment in her sleeve, pulling something out and swiping behind her. The other figure fell back. That’s when they all came out. Before Scootaloo could blink, dozens of shadow-like figures surrounded her. She took a stance, ready for the first strike with a cool, confident grin. Her scarf blew in the wind dramatically, its flapping being the only noise on that roof.
She swiped behind her once again, and the shadow fell back into the crowd. They all turned towards it, then stared at Scootaloo, the light of their eyes glowing stronger than the moon. She twirled the mouth-grip of her weapon, grinning casually. They all charged, and Scootaloo retaliated. Effortlessly she slashed and stomped the competition away, but even in her preoccupied state she could see their reinforcements coming in, for every one she defeated, two would take his place.
She gasped and stumbled as a stinging pain went through her leg. She looked back. One of them managed to get a decent hit in. She frowned and flipped over the offender, kicking him off the roof. Looks like things were getting good...
“SCOOOOOOOTS!~” A sharp voice rang through the dead of night. Scootaloo looked up and gasped, as a giant menacing shadow came crashing down on he-
“GAH!” Scootaloo flew out of bed as a familiar weight came crashing down on it, giving her quite an impressive amount of airtime until she landed on the rug with a thud. “Uggggh... what was that for, mom...?” She cried, getting up, still groggy from her less-than-pleasant awakening.
“You told me to wake you up early, dear.” The grey-maned pegasus cheerfully responded, already straightening up the mess of a bed she helped to create. “And you wouldn’t wake up.” Scootaloo idly wondered where her alarm clock went, before noticing a suspiciously-sized hole in the window. She coughed and got her mother’s attention away from that part of the room.
“What time is it, anyway?”
“I dunno. Like, one?”
“...Mom, that’s not at all what I meant by early!” Scootaloo yelled a little higher than she felt was necessary, heading into the bathroom to wash up and dunk her head in cold water.
“Oh, sorry dear. Should I have woken you up a little later?” She didn’t hear a response... other than ‘AAAAAH, COLD COLD COLD. ’ a few seconds later. She shrugged, brushing her mane back and heading downstairs.
Minutes later, a fully awake Scootaloo rushed her way downstairs. “I’m heading to Sweetie’s house.” She gulped nervously. “I need something from Rarity .”
“Just remember to pick up my hat this time, honey.” Scootaloo heard, just as she got on her scooter and sped off.
“So, um, that was my week.” A yellow pegasus said to the white unicorn sitting across from her on the table outside. Rarity put her sandwich down, dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, and stared at Fluttershy stoically.
“Fluttershy, darling. Be a dear and remind me; when you tell me “You don’t want to hear how my week has been”, I really must take your word for it.”
“W-well, um, okay...” Fluttershy blushed, staring at the table. Rarity patted her shoulder comfortingly. “I-if it helps, the squirrels were fine afterwards.”
“No, Fluttershy, it honestly doesn’t help at all.” Rarity commented. Fluttershy squeaked and continued pretending to be fascinated by the table. The fashionista looked off to the side, noticing an orange blur speeding towards them. “....Hm...?” The blur got bigger and more detailed, and Rarity stared in interest as it began to swerve along the path, eventually crashing into the gate and landing on the table between the 2 chatting mares. “Ah! Scootaloo?” Fluttershy silently stared at the food-covered filly who began to lift herself back up.
“Ugg... Rarity! I need you to make me... ugh, pretty... for a date! Fast!”
Rarity blinked and looked at Fluttershy, who gave a helpless shrug in return. Scootaloo nonchalantly took a bit of the sandwich stuck in her hair and ate it. Rarity shuddered. This was going to be a challenge... She sighed.
But this was what the fashionista lived for .
…........
….........
“I REGRET EVERYTHING I’VE EVER DONE. APPLEBLOOM, SWEETIE BELLE, AVENGE ME.” A sharp cry pierced the walls of Carousel Boutique, breaking the spirits and vases of several passerby ponies. “AUGH. TOO TIGHT.”
“Oh hush now darling, we’re almost done! It’s your fault for waiting for the last minute!” A sophisticated voice responded, much quieter than the younger voice. “Oh you will look simply marvelous for this. You have to, of course, it is your first !” the mare voice sighed romantically. “Filly love, oh how adorable~”
“I-I don’t even know if this is worth it anymore!”
Rarity sighed wistfully. “Honestly, you complain more than Rainbow Dash...”
…........
….......
Scootaloo stared up the path to Ruby’s house. She gulped nervously. The trip here had been a little longer than she’d have preferred; Rarity specifically warned her not to do anything to ruin the dress she had eventually settled on. The orange filly resisted the urge to scratch her now-forcibly-brushed mane. It was easier than resisting the urge to black out from embarrassment in being seen in this get up.
She carefully trotted up to the door and knocked, taking a deep breath. The door creaked open and she smiled nervously. “H-hello miss Punch. Is Pinchy ready? N-not that I’m rushing or anything...” she added, already feeling the sweat going down her neck.
Berry, surprisingly sober for once, stared at the orange filly judgmentally. Scootaloo resisted every urge to break down crying as she was examined. Finally, the older mare smiled invitingly. “Ruby, dear, your date is here!” she called into the house. Berry stepped to the side of the door for the filly, but Scootaloo decided to wait outside. She could hear the steps upstairs from here anyway.
The orange filly glanced behind her, to her scooter and the ‘romantic’ version of what had once been her wagon, courtesy of Fluttershy deciding to help Rarity in whatever way she can; this of course meant adding ribbons, flowers, and the smell of various small animals to the ride.
Love is hard.
She turned back around when she heard a gasp. Her jaw would have dropped then and there if Berry wasn’t standing right next to her. Speaking of Berry, the older mare sighed. “My baby’s growing up...” she whispered to nopony in particular, “...And I expect you to take good care of her. And have her back early.” she exclaimed, turning towards the stunned pegasus. Scootaloo eeped and nodded, face red. She looked over the mare’s shoulder towards the pink filly, who was currently wearing a rose colored, flowery dress, with a blush to match Scootaloo’s own. She smiled nervously as she trotted over to Scootaloo, giving the other filly a small nuzzle. Berry looked at the 2 fillies, frowning slightly, but relented and smiled. “Just... have fun, okay? Both of you.”
Ruby smiled up to her mom, giving her a reassuring hug and closing the door, turning to Scootaloo, who was still clearly busy admiring. “Let’s go, Scooty!” she cheered, skipping towards Scootaloo’s ride, hopping in as a loveblind Scootaloo followed and drove them to the restaurant that Rarity (thankfully) booked for them...
~~~~~~<3~~~~~~~~~~~~<3~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m having fun, Scooty.” The overly adorable, cheerful filly commented as she ate her food. Scootaloo blushed and nodded, poking at her own salad. “It’s a little cold outside, but still, fun!” Ruby added.
“Y-yeah, me too...” Scootaloo gave as a rather delayed response. She shivered a little. Probably should have brought a jacket.
“I don’t really get out much... You know, mom’s a little overprotective and stuff.” Scootaloo just gave another nod, wincing and rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. “So it’s nice to be out with somepony my age!” Ruby smiled sweetly. Scootaloo gulped and nervously scarfed down some salad to hide the small heart attack she got from it. “So, um, how was your weekend, Scooty?”
“Oh, you know, boring. Applebloom was busy and I have no idea where Sweetie Belle got off to.” Scootaloo half-lied. She felt a little guilty, realizing how she had been neglecting the fellow cutie mark crusaders all week! Celestia knows what they’d been up to. She gave a small shrug to herself. She’d just have to talk to them tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow... “We should probably get going, Ruby. Don’t want ya getting home late.” Scootaloo shivered at the thought of an angry Berry Punch.
“Huh? Oh, okay...” Ruby said, an obvious tone of disappointment in her tiny voice, finishing the small bit of food on her plate and standing up. Scootaloo did the same, walking the other filly to the scooter and hopping on.
Scootaloo sighed, looking up at the sky. A few pegasi passed by. She couldn’t really get a good look to see if she knew any of them. Honestly, some ponies in this town just blended in with each other too much; they were starting to look alike.
“Scooty, I had a really good time tonight.” She heard a voice say behind her. Scootaloo cleared her throat and kept riding down the road at a slow pace. “Like, um, probably one of the best nights I’ve ever had. Thanks for taking me out...” Scootaloo stopped and took that in, face red as her wings flared out in embarrassment.
“W-wow, really Ruby? Thanks! I-I mean, I’m glad I could spend the day with you... I had a really good time.”
“Yeah, I could tell...”
Scootaloo scratched her head. “And, um, before we get into hearing distance from your mom I should probably say this...”
“Say what, Scooty...?”
Scootaloo stopped the scooter, shaking with nervousness. Now or never. I hope I’m doing this right. “I...” Scootaloo gulped, “I looooooove... I love you! I-I know it’s sudden, Ruby, but I’m really happy around you and this date was totally worth getting thrown through a wall by your mom and-and- I love you, that’s that!” she exclaimed into the wind, resting her head against the handlebars of her scooter.
All was silent... and then Scootaloo heard a sniffle. She turned and saw Ruby crying! She frowned and went over. Ouch . “Wh-what’s wrong, Ruby? Oh jeez, please don’t be mad at me... j-just pretend I didn’t say anything!” You totally did it wrong, Scoots. Now’s not a good time, Inner-Scoots.
“S-scooty! I-I can’t do this anymore. I-it just... it’s too much! I’m sorry!” The filly whimpered, staring at the pegasus through her tears.
“S-sorry for what? I should be sorry! I shouldn’t have rushed things!”
“N-no. It’s not that!” Ruby hopped off the wagon and looked around. She noticed the coast was clear and took a deep breath. “I-I... I’m not Ruby Pinch!”
“...What”
“I-it’s true! I-I’m actually...” Ruby(?) sighed and, after a hiccup, took a deep breath, suddenly bursting into green flames.
“WHAT”
Scootaloo couldn’t believe her eyes. Where Ruby supposedly once was, a familiar, bug/pony combination stood. And a rather... sad, embarrassed looking one as well. It was noticeably smaller than the ones she saw in Canterlot during that dumb wedding thing, too. The changeling looked up at her, then sniffed and stared at the ground in supposed shame. “I-I’m a changeling. The real Ruby is trapped. I-I’m sorry! I thought it would be easy, just, um, taking a little love and then putting her back like nothing happened, but you confessed to me!”
The changeling yelped as Scootaloo grabbed it by the collar. “...WHAT!? ”
~~~~~~~~~</3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</3~~~~~~~~~
“Not so fast!” The increasingly annoying young changeling cried out, holding onto the wagon for dear life.
“NO TIME FOR THAT!” Scootaloo exclaimed, travelling through Ponyville as fast as she could. “If I don’t get Ruby, the real Ruby” the orange filly stressed, “home on time, Berry will literally KILL me. And I do NOT plan on dying before confessing to Ruby, OR getting my cutie mark!”
“Just a little slower! Please Scooty! I don’t want to die!”
“Too bad! And you don’t get to call me that you homewrecker!” the pegasus screamed, a few tears in her eyes. She shook them off. First dates aren’t supposed to be this exciting/terrible, are they?
“I said I was sorry!”
“Yeah that doesn’t help! Just tell me where the real Ruby is!!”
“T-take a left!”
~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~
The changeling commander looked over the cocoons with a menacing grin. The light of the moon shone into their secret hideout. Nopony would ever find it. Ever realize how many of their own were being replaced. An ingenious plan, if he could say something like that so smugly. Which he did. He stared into a small cocoon, a little filly resting snugly within. He rolled his eyes, reminded of a certain ‘recruit’ he was forced to bring along. The social structure within the hive had fallen apart ever since the failed invasion, and so he had to take any scattered drone he could find. But after he takes over Ponyville, turning it into the new hive base, all the drones would simply come to hi-
“Commander! Commander!” A drone flew towards its superior, a panicked look on its face. “W-we have an intruder! And she has a hostage!”
The changeling commander grunted in frustration and turned to the interrupting drone. As much as he wanted to hurt him for rushing in, he was already short on grunts. “Only one intruder? Well, go stop her... and save the hostage too, I suppose” he half-heartedly added to the end of the order, already guessing who would get caught so easily so quickly. The other changeling saluted and charged out of the room.
The commander took a deep breath and continued his internal monologue... where was he...? Oh, right. Yes, all of his plans were coming together. Soon all the changelings would know of his greatness. The greatness of COMMANDER P-
And then the changeling commander was greeted by the door being smashed open. Several changelings flew amongst the debris of the door, along with an unfamiliar little filly, in a very oddly frilly dress even, on a scooter, speeding through the open entrance, skidding to a stop. The commander took note of the familiar changeling grub cowering in the wagon connected to said scooter. The armored changeling groaned and looked between the two young ones boredly. “A filly? The intruder? Really?” he sighed “The quality of grunts these days.” he grumbled.
Scootaloo took off her helmet and shook her head, her mane returning to its usual messy look. “Where’s Ruby?!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, filly. Why don’t you go home and pretend this never happened. I might just let you leave. Nopony would believe you.”
Scootaloo took a battle stance, wings flaring. “The one that this clown” she screamed, pointing a hoof at the young changeling, who squeaked and ducked into the wagon, “replaced! Where is she!? I want her back!”
The commander snorted. “No. You foolish little pony. I’m not letting any of these go. We’ve worked too hard, too long to let this plan fall out of reach now.” He kicked at the ground, smirking. “But now that you insist on annoying me, I will be happy to get rid of you before the invasion starts!” He said, boasting an evil laugh.
The changeling gave an uncharacteristic ‘eep’ as a sudden force smashed into his muzzle, one of his fangs chipping off as he slammed into the wall behind him. He shook the daze away and stared in shock. Scootaloo shook her hoof. “Ouch! You guys are REALLY solid...” she commented, wincing a bit before glaring back at the commander, grinning.
“Now you’ve done it, you foolish filly. ” The commander growled, charging towards Scootaloo. The orange filly jumped over the commander, pulling all of her weight down and slamming into his back and crushing him into the ground. The commander grunted, shaking the pegasus off of him. “Grr... just stay... still!!” he growled, calling his magic, firing a few beams at Scootaloo. The orange filly gasped and weaved out of the way, although the sound of tearing and shearing reaching her ears told her the dress wasn’t so lucky.
Well, at least Rarity was significantly less murderous than Berry.
Scootaloo tackled Commander Piece into the wall, he grunted, too stunned to move, as she turned around. “Scoota...” She murmured as she propped her forelegs onto the ground solidly. “KICK!! ” And with that she slammed both of her hind legs into Commander Piece’s chest. The changeling yelled in pain as he went flying straight into the wall and into the night.
The only conscious changeling in the room stared wide-eyed at the hole in the wall. “C-commander!”
Scootaloo ran over to the cocoons and peaked into each one, before finally finding the silhouette she was looking for. “Hey, changeling. Come here for a bit.” The tiny changeling squeaked and climbed out the wagon, nervously running over. Before she could ask, Scootaloo grabbed her head and bent her down, using her horn to cut the cocoon open. She then casually pushed the changeling away and pulled the familiar filly out. “Ruby... a-are you okay...?” The filly in her arms began to stir. Wait... how much of what happened between us was... real? The thought scared Scootaloo, shaking her core.
Ruby slowly opened her eyes, looking up at the orange filly in a daze. She then shook her head and smiled. “S-Scooty!” she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Scootaloo’s neck and gave her a kiss on the snout. Scootaloo nearly fainted then and there. “It was super scary! Everything was green! And they caught me by surprise! But I knew you’d come save me! Cause you’re awesome, and strong!” Ruby said ecstatically, causing quite a blush on the orange hero.
“R-right... um... you kinda missed your date. Sorry Pinchy... now come on, we gotta get you home quick.” Scootaloo said tiredly, helping the pink filly into the wagon and climbing onto the scooter. “Oh yeah, you. Free all the other ponies too I guess.” She said, pointing to the young changeling and speeding off with Ruby in tow, not even waiting for it to respond.
The young changeling stared at all the cocooned ponies, and then at its horn, and gave a defeated sigh.
"Still no hat, dear?" Scootaloo heard as she stumbled into her room and limply dropped herself into the bed. Her mom came up to check on her after she practically zombied her way upstairs. “Soooo.... how’d the date go, sweetie?~”
“Terrible...” Scootaloo mumbled into her pillow, wiggling out of the ruined dress and casually discarding it on the floor. “Can I stay home tomorrow, mom? I wanna rest... and sulk.”
“Oh sweetie...” Daring cooed. “No.” She flatly said, then smiled and walked over, giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead. “Sleep well, my little hero” she said, leaving the room and shutting the door.
Scootaloo groaned and just let the stress of her first date tire her into dreamland.
END OF SUNDAY....
Author's Note
Lots of things happened in this chapter. The weekend arc has ended with as much sillyness as I could muster, and now we must move on to the best day of the week, Monday!
RATED S FOR SCOOTALOO
Day Quatro: Monday
Scootaloo tuned her guitar, grinning coyly as she heard the screams in the crowd. She looked to the right and saw Sweetie Belle on her microphone, making sure it was working. Further right she saw Applebloom, clicking her drumsticks together in anticipation. And even further right (to the point where most doctors would recommend medical treatment if any normal pony had their neck in such an angle for any sustained period of time) she saw good old Babs on the bass. Scootaloo looked out into the crowd, delighted to see Ruby Pinch at the front seats, cheering her on before the show even started.
Scootaloo trotted up to her own mic. “ALRIGHT PONYVILLE! ARE YOU READY FOR THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!?”
“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!!!!” The crowd cheered.
Scootaloo grinned. “AWESOME! CUZ WE’RE READY FOR YOU! HOLD ON TIGHT, CUZ THIS RIDE’S JUST STARTING!” she exclaimed, motioning to her fellow club-members. “ONE... TWO... THRE-” And then the stage’s power went out. Scootaloo cursed to herself and looked off to the side. “Alright, who’s the wise guy!?”
“We apologize, Scootaloo.” A familiar, regal voice responded from behind the curtain. Scootaloo didn’t need to remember where she heard that voice before, as the source stepped out soon after.
“Princess Luna!” Scootaloo gasped, then frowned. “Aw man... don’t tell me I’m dreaming. I didn’t even get to rock out!” the orange filly complained. Luna had the decency to look marginally embarrassed/ashamed, taking her place next to the filly on the darkened stage. Scootaloo took note of how disappointed her dream-NPCs looked as well.
“Eheh... once again, we apologize, Scootaloo. We are sure the show would have been amazing.”
“Yes. It would have.” Scootaloo grumbled. Luna kicked the ground awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with the filly. “Ugh... why are you even here, princess?”
Luna sat down and relaxed her frame. Her figure was... much less imposing as she sagged in exasperation. “Our dear sister has us doing ALL the paperwork after a... recent discussion. Oh she says it’s for a good cause, but we feel like she’s just getting lazy in her age.” Luna grimaced, face hardening in an angry glare aimed at nothing, “Yes, Tia, we are definitely sure all these tariffs on vegetables and an increase in sugar production are for a good cause.”
“Uuuuh, princess, I don’t really know alot about that kinda stuff... yanno... being a kid and all...” Scootaloo pointed out, hiding the sudden urge to yawn, even if she was already asleep.
Luna sighed and frowned childishly. “Yes yes. To put it simply, Scootaloo... We are bored.”
“Bored?”
“Yeeeeeeeeees. We just want to leave the castle and have fun. We had fun before and it was marvelous! We would very much like to see our subjects again, without the leaning tower of paper in the way!”
Scootaloo rubbed her head with her hoof. “Uh... sorry to hear about that.”
“You are young and full of energy. What do you suggest we do!?”
“...You could get a hobby or something I guess. Maybe do sports or something.” Scootaloo scratched her head. “My mom does... uh... ‘crochet’, whatever that is. And I have my scooter and the CMC so...”
“A... hobby?” Luna repeated, perplexed. The filly nodded. “Would it be that easy?” The filly shrugged. “...Hmmmmmmm...”
_____________Scootascootascootascootascootascootascootascootascoota_______________
Scootaloo sat up from her bed. She rubbed her eyes and groaned. “Stupid dream walking...” She looked at her alarm. Or at least where the alarm would have been if there wasn’t currently an unfixed hole in the window. She glanced at the figure next to the clock, and screamed in shock, falling out of her bed. “M-mom! Why were you standing over me!?”
“Well I was about to wake you up, but I guess I didn’t need to today~” The mare grinned, brushing her gray mane back. “Hurry up and get ready. It’s almost time for school.” She said, before heading out the room.
Scootaloo groaned. She missed the weekend already... The orange filly shook her head and prepared for the day ahead, assuring herself that last night’s dream would have no effect on her day in general. Yeah.
Scootaloo’s mom waved her loving daughter off as she headed out, casually reminding her to pick up the laundry once school let out. And so it was time for school for our orange hero!
Or not. When Scootaloo arrived at the schoolhouse, she saw a crowd of ponies in various uniforms. She also took note of the particularly happy, more familiar fillies and colts hanging around outside. She zipped toward two fillies in particular. “Guys! Waddup!?”
Applebloom looked up, dropping the stick she was using to play tic-tac-toe with Sweetie and smiling to her other heterosexual life partner. “Scoots! We haven’t seen ya since friday! Where ya been?” she accused the orange filly jokingly. Meanwhile, Sweetie was staring at the current game, whistling innocently as she replaced one of Applebloom’s Os with an X.
“Oh uh... yanno... awesome... life... stuff.” Scootaloo waved Applebloom off. “Forget about it! What’s going on with the school. And where’s Cheerilee?”
“I heard the place was trashed by changelings. And they were holding miss Cheerilee hostage!” Sweetie exclaimed as she drew a line through her 3-in-a-row. Applebloom looked back at Sweetie and shook her head. “What? I heard it from the other kids!”
“Ah doubt that would happen. Our sisters woulda heard about it! Where would the changelings have gotten off to if the Elements of Harmony weren’t there ta take ‘em out?” The fillies, including Scootaloo, put their hooves to the chin and hummed in unison, before shrugging. “Anyways, there’s no school today, n’ ah think Cheerilee’s out sick or somethin’ too. We were waitin’ for ya to show up so we could go to the clubhouse fer the day!”
“Oh, cool! Let’s g-” Scootaloo’s rally call was interrupted as she was tackled to the ground by a more than familiar filly. Ruby hugged the orange pegasus, smiling.
“Hi Scoots! Did you hear about Cheerilee? Mommy told me she’d be in intense therapy for a week. And now she has a crippling fear of bugs.”
“Told you that’s what happened!” Scootaloo heard Sweetie call out, looking up to see Applebloom giving the white filly a glare before settling her eyes on the lovely couple.
“When’d ya get so buddy buddy with Pinchy?”
Scootaloo blushed and looked at the filly currently refusing to let her go. “Um... I had a busy weekend, yanno?” she said, coughing awkwardly, “...Hey! Why don’t we have Pinchy come crusading with us today? 4 ponies are totally better than 3!”
Applebloom frowned. “Are ya sure, Scoot? We can’t just initiate new members outta nowhere!”
“Why not?” Sweetie Belle noted.
Appleboom put a hoof to her chin. “...Huh, I don’t really know.”
Scootaloo grinned, hugging Ruby close. “Cool! Let’s g-”
“Oh look, it’s the gathering of blank flanks! ...Also Ruby.” A familiarly obnoxious voice ringed in Scootaloo’s core.
Scootaloo groaned and turned to Diamond Tiara (And Silver Spoon too I guess). “Oh look, it’s the trust fund fillies.”
Diamond stopped mid-step and frowned. “Trust F-...” she took a deep breath. “Ahem. As I was just telling Silver Spoon, it’s unfortunate that Cheerilee is out today. We were going to go visit her, and then carry on with our day, but here you three are!” She grinned. “What, tried getting cutie marks in vandalism?”
Sweetie Belle frowned. “Nuh uh! We tried that last month!”
Diamond stared blankly at Sweetie. Silver Spoon gave an amused giggle, smiling to her friend before wandering away, pulling Sweetie along with her. Scootaloo watched them go and shrugged, looking back at the main threat. “What are you trying to say, Diamond?”
“I’m saying that I know you ruined the school!” Diamond grimaced. “Everything ELSE that happens always involves you blank flanks!”
“Pfft, that’s not true! ‘Sides, we didn’t even do ANYTHING this weekend.”
Diamond blinked. “Nothing?”
“Nope.” “Not really.” “We went on a date!”
Everypony turned to Ruby, who was hugging an embarrassed Scootaloo. “What.” Appleboom and Diamond both said, staring at the couple.
“Eheh... yeah... we had fun an’... stuff.” Scootaloo nervously added.
“Scootaloo saved me from the changeling menace! It was all heroic and romantic and she knocked a changeling through a wall!”
Everypony looked back at the schoolhouse, which indeed had a pony-shaped hole in the wall. They then all stared at Scootaloo. “I knew you were involved.” Diamond Tiara said with a huff and grin.
Scootaloo frowned. “Oh yeah!? Well... your tiara is dumb!”
Diamond glared. Applebloom pulled Ruby away from the upcoming storm. “Well you can’t fly!”
“Go buy yourself an insult book!”
“Already did, nerd!”
“PINK”
“ORANGE”
“FLIGHTLESS BIRD”
“YOU’RE A PINK BALL OF FAT” Diamond froze and stared at Scootaloo, eye twitching. The orange filly stepped back a bit.
“.............FAT!?” Diamond charged and grabbed Scootaloo, eyes burning with rage.
Scootaloo gulped and smiled nervously. “Eheh... too far...?” Diamond growled and headbutt the other filly, knocking her unconscious.
“SILVER. We are LEAVING. Stop making out with the blank flank and let’s GO!” The tiara-clad filly exclaimed, brushing her mane back into place and stomping passed Ruby and Applebloom. She stopped at Ruby, however. “See you later, Ruby. You sure know how to pick them.” she said, huffing and continuing her anger-trot. Moments later, a red-faced Silver rushed passed them as well.
Sweetie skipped over, mane slightly messy. “Did Scootaloo fall asleep?”
______________________________________________________________________
“Nnngn... My face hurts.”
“Yeah, gotta be honest, ah always knew Diamond had a thick skull but that was jus’ ridiculous.” Applebloom commented as Scootaloo sat up, examining the room. The familiar clubhouse walls surrounded her, as well as Sweetie and Ruby Pinch.
“Har... har...” Scootaloo winced, rubbing her nose. “How long have I been out?”
“Like 2 hours. It was boring.” Sweetie whined. Scootaloo glared at the unicorn. “Erm, I mean... so scary. Watching you lie there. I was ready to take you to the hospital soon and everything.” the squeaky marshmallow whistled.
“Right...” The orange filly shook her head, calming down a bit when Ruby nuzzled into her side. “So what were we gonna do today, again...?”
“Well ya wanted ta make Ruby here an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and after that we were gonna go crusade.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah. Let’s do that...”
The masked filly leaped into the ring as the audience cheered, crying her name. She grinned and turned to her opponent. The champ wore her belt with pride, but she wouldn’t have either of those by the end of this match. “Well well, if it isn’t el Pollo Loco. And here I was getting ready to TRY~” the Lucha Princesa taunted.
Pollo Loco grimaced and took a stance. “Heh, well, if ya want to make it even easier for me to win, go ahead. I got a schedule to keep, after all.” she said, glancing out of the ring and winking at a certain filly in the audience.
The Lucha Princesa’s smug grin turned into a frown, but then curved back upwards as she laughed. “Oh I will destroy you.” she said, just before the bell rang.
The two wrestlers immediately tackled each other, hooves locked around each other as neither wanted to give the other any first advantage. The pink filly smirked and suddenly fell backwards, not letting go of her challenger all the while, flipping the poor orange filly right into the mat. Pollo Loco rolled out of the way of her follow up, then tackled her into the ropes, making sure not to give Princesa an edge.
...
The champion and the challenger collided in a mix of blood and sweat, both wrestlers pushed to their limits and then some. Princesa grinned. “You’re pretty good.” she commented, before sliding over to Pollo’s back and pulling her into a suplex.
Pollo fell over in a heap after Princesa let her go, panting, staring up to the tired figure of the champion, who only grinned and stepped back, waiting. She grunted and forced herself up. No way was she going down, especially not just after the champion herself recognized her. Princesa scuffed at the mat, brushing her disheveled mane out of her eyes. “Show me a good time, Pollo!”
Pollo took a deep breath and nodded, then charged.
____________________________________________
“So how and why do ya know Diamond, Ruby?” Applebloom asked as Scootaloo drove the group across town on her wagon.
“Oh, we used to go out.” Ruby commented nonchalantly.
“...Seriously?” Applebloom questioned, staring
“Oh yeah, it was great. But we drifted apart and decided we should just be friends. Last week we had a sleepover! She’s really fun when, uh, she’s not making fun of ponies, really.” Ruby blushed.
Scootaloo stopped her scooter and turned back, staring at Ruby. “Wait, so... she got passed your mom!?”
“Oh yeah, she wiped the floor with her. Mom cried tears of joy... and then cried more... and more... and, uh, more...” Ruby poked her hooves together. “Mom cried alot after that.”
“Wiped the floor...” Scootaloo repeated, eye twitching haphazardly. Sweetie Belle nudged Applebloom nervously. Scootaloo stared into the clouds, then nodded and sped forward. Her fellow CMC members could only look at each other worriedly.
________________________________________________________
Diamond Tiara stood, glaring out the window, tea set rattling. “Uh... Diamond?” Silver Spoon questioned her friend’s sudden behavior. The pink filly only ran out of the room. Silver Spoon glanced out the window, trying to get a glimpse at what had rustled her best friend. “Oh great...”
Scootaloo took a deep breath, standing on Diamond’s lawn, deep in enemy territory. Even as the pony in question charged outside and got face to face with her, she stood unmoving. “Well?”
Scootaloo grimaced. “I...” she sighed. “I’m sorry for calling you fat. And making fun of your trust fund. And your pinkness. Mostly for calling you fat.”
Diamond stepped back in shock. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Ruby Pinch all gasped. All was quiet on the Diamond Front. “You’re... wh-what? Um... wow that was... not what I was expecting...”
Scootaloo’s neutral expression was unwavering as she offered a hoof. Not of friendship, not of trickery, but of something deeper. Diamond stared at that hoof, realization dawning on her as she took it and shook. “...Very well... Scootaloo. ”
Applebloom nearly fainted, and Sweetie Belle did in fact faint, as the hooves of both fillies retracted. Diamond Tiara turned and, after a nod to Ruby, trotted back to her tea party. Applebloom rushed to her friend. “Now what in tarnation was THAT?!”
“A challenge.” Scootaloo answered simply, picking up Sweetie Belle and dumping her into the wagon.
“A wha??” Applebloom stepped back, flabbergasted.
“A challenge.” The orange filly repeated. “Me and Diamond are going to duel to finally see who’s superior. Tomorrow. And she gets to pick where and when, since I’m the challenger.”
“And when did y’all decide THAT!?”
“Just now.”
Ruby poked her hooves together. “U-um... is this about what I said before, Scootaloo? You don’t have to fight Diamond just for me.”
“Don’t worry, Pinchy.” Scootaloo assured her fillyfriend, giving her a kiss on the nose. “It’s just... something I gotta do.” Scootaloo stared off to the sunset. “Something WE gotta do. Me and Diamond. Once and for all.”
“Gosh, way ta be dramatic...” Applebloom groaned, as Scootaloo drove her fellow CMC members home.
End of Day 4/7
RATED S FOR SCOOTALOO
Day Cinq: Tuesday
“And THAT, my dear ponies, is why carrots are good for your eyes!” Carrot Top stated to start off this episode. She had been brought in to substitute for her dear friend Cheerilee, and even she knew things weren’t going well. Well, actually, the lesson she made up all of 5 minutes before class filled the time before recess flawlessly and she was at least 10% certain that more than 2 of the students in class had a generally vague idea about the wonders of carrots for the pony anatomy.
But from her personal experiences in Ponyville, she had picked up a sense. A vague idea as to when something troubling was brewing. She had used it 4 days ago when she convinced her friend Lyra that friday wasn’t a day to go to Sugarcube Corner, and lo and behold there was a giant hole in the wall of the bakery the next day. It freaked her out at first and she decided to avoid Pinkie for the next 2 months in case her ‘Pinkie Sense’ was contagious after all, but it was still there, a warm fuzzy feeling that shouted ‘ABANDON SHIP. ABANDON SHIP TOPPY!! ’
And right now? Oh that metaphorical ship was already colliding with an iceberg called shenanigans. She couldn’t put her hoof on it. Finally the bell rang, and all the fillies and colts ran through the inconspicuous hole in the side of the classroom to the yard to play. Carrot Top gave a loud sigh of relief and let her head meet Cheerilee’s desk.
...
Sweetie Belle looked between Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara. The 2 fillies weren’t anywhere near each other, but she could still feel a dark sort of energy connecting the 2 together. She wasn’t old and wise enough to understand the concept of mana and magical lines and all those other overly complicated topics, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel it, and she felt lots of tension in those lines wherever the rivals stepped.
A kiss on the cheek brought her attention out of the impending explosion. “It’s bothering you too, isn’t it?” Silver Spoon commented.
Sweetie blinked once, twice, and finally a third time before nodding, resting her marshmallow-y head on the grey sidekick’s neck. Silver Spoon sighed, both in aggravation and content. “Diamond’s been so... different these last few days. And now she’s back to that whole ‘Ring of honor’ phase again and it’s that dumb blank-fl-er, I mean, your friend Scootaloo’s fault.” Sweetie just nodded again, burying her face in Silver’s bushy grey locks, hugging the other filly.
Silver comforted the tiny marshmallow, stroking her candy-colored mane into place as she watched Diamond talk with Ruby.
...
“So she rescued you from the changelings, then?” Diamond inquired, taking very subtle glances towards the meditating filly, pushing her former fillyfriend on the swing.
“Yuppers!” Ruby chimed, waving her hind legs in the air. “It was amazing! She ponynapped one of them and barged right in and beat them all up! Like that one time you fought those dragons for me!”
Diamond Tiara sniffed and nodded, remembering that adventure. “I see. You really love her, huh Pinchy?” she asked absentmindedly.
“I... I do. Scootaloo’s really... something. I think she might be...”
Diamond stopped pushing the swing, holding onto the chain and looking Pinchy in the eye. “Might be??”
Ruby blushed and poked her hooves together, then smiled assuredly and nodded. “The one, Dimey.”
Diamond frowned, a mixture of anger, jealousy, and broken pride swelling within her instantly. But just as instantly, as she saw Ruby in pure, innocent happiness, all those negative feelings gave way. “I... I see. Good for her. Good for you, I mean. Uh, both of you.” Diamond rubbed her neck absentmindedly, grimacing. “...This, erm, fight. You won’t take it too personally, right Pinchy?”
Ruby’s smile curved downwards, breaking the icey heart of Diamond Tiara. What she would give to see her smile again. “I... I don’t know. I love you both, you know that. Do you really have to fight?”
Diamond Tiara thought really hard about it. Did they? She shook her head and then nodded. “Yes, of course we do.” Ruby sighed, accepting that answer for now.
...
“Ah feel kinda... tacked on right now.” Applebloom commented glumly to Scootaloo, who was off in her own little world. She grumbled, drawing on Scootaloo’s flank with a washable marker while the filly was still meditating.
______________________________
Thankfully for Carrot’s weakening heart, which even Derpy pointed out was an issue and she would soon have looked over by a professional, the second half of class proceeded relatively smoothly, and she rushed most of the children home as fast as she could.
Scootaloo, however, stayed a little later than she would have liked, washing off the fake cutie mark of Applebloom’s face that had appeared on her flank over recess. She had a vague idea as to who was the culprit, and made a mental reminder to run Snips over with her scooter at some point in the coming week.
She turned as the door opened, still scrubbing the marker ink off of her flank, shocked but not too surprised the Diamond was there. “Is it time already?” Scootaloo grumbled, washing the stain.
Diamond shook her head. “No, I’m not fighting you here. The school’s already damaged enough because of you.” she huffed. Her expression softened noticeably soon after. “Meet me at Sugarcube Corner. I figured we should eat first. Silver and Sweetie are going to meet us there, apparently they already had plans.” Diamond shrugged, then continued “The other blank flank with the bow can come too if she wants. Just don’t bring Ruby.”
Scootaloo blinked, then nodded. “I get it. Alright, see you there.” Scootaloo watched Diamond leave, and after waiting a moment to make sure she wasn’t planning a sneak attack, continued scrubbing.
_______________________________________________
Scootaloo rode her scooter to Sugarcube Corner, already spotting the pastel pink pony that would be her opponent. “Are ya sure ya can do this, Scoots?” Applebloom cried from the wagon.
Scootaloo skidded to a stop, removing her helmet and looking Diamond over. “Not at all, AB. Not at all.” she took a deep breath and parked her scooter. She noticed Sweetie and Silver watching from the relative safety of inside the scooter, and noticed Pinkie behind them with popcorn. “Go inside. We’ll chat after this is done.” Scootaloo felt a shiver of energy, “One way or another.”
Applebloom nodded and ran into the bakery, sliding up in between the other two fillies, much to the annoyance of Silver.
Scootaloo tossed her helmet into the wagon, and stood a fair distance away from Diamond. The two fillies stared each other down, no hint of emotion on the face of either. “I’m here” the orange filly said, “Ready?”
“Of course.” The pink filly said. She took a battle stance, and Scootaloo quickly followed. All was silent...
...
...
“DRAW!” The 2 fillies charged into one another, the battle had begun.
Diamond grabbed Scootaloo’s hoof as she tried to get the first strike, not letting go as she began kicking the other filly in the stomach repeatedly, letting go of her as she kicked her once more, sending her straight into the dirt.
Scootaloo coughed and hopped back to her hooves, just in time to dodge another swift strike from Diamond, taking the moment of weakness to get behind the crowned filly, wrapping her hooves around her and tossing her upwards. Diamond yelped helplessly, just before her head collided with the ground at the suplex.
Diamond Tiara grunted, rolling back up. She spared a glance to her head, and with a growl reached up and grabbed the remains of her tiara. She stared at it, then up at Scootaloo. Diamond Tiara threw her tiara away. “Show me what you've got, Scoot! ” she exclaimed, before tackling the pegasus, sending both fillies rolling along the dirt. Diamond sat atop Scootaloo and began slamming her hooves into the orange fillies chest. Scootaloo let out pained grunts, grabbing Diamond’s hooves so she couldn’t continue her beat down, using her hind legs to buck Diamond off of her.
She got back up, coughing, that last attack doing much more damage to her than she would have liked. Diamond charged at her once again, but the orange filly managed to sidestep her, grabbing the filly once again and using her momentum to send her tumbling into the dirt. With a quick motion, she brought a hoof down on Diamond’s skull and rolled away.
Diamond sat there in a daze before shaking her head and glaring at Scootaloo, wiping dirt off of her cheek and taking another stance. Scootaloo charged into it, wings buzzing, and Diamond smirked as she evaded the punch, bringing a hind leg right into the pegasus’ gut.
Scootaloo gasped and tumbled, tears in her eyes as she forced herself back up. “Graaaaaaaaaaagh!” she screamed into the air, turning to Diamond and punching her right in the jaw. “DIAMOOOOOOOND!!!”
Diamond Tiara screeched, stumbling back. “Urrrgh... SCOOTALOOO!!” she growled, punching Scootaloo in the nose right back.
Scootaloo stumbled, head lolling back just before she slammed it forward, colliding with Diamond’s skull in a sickening thud. Both fillies were silent, staring into each other’s eyes with an intense, equal, burning hatred. “...Ruby... ” The two fillies whispered to one another, falling over and holding each other for support.
... Pollo Loco punched Princesa across the jaw once more, knocking the champion to the ground. She stomped her hoof into Princesa’s back, eliciting a squeal and pained groaning from the champion.
Princesa grabbed Pollo’s leg, and rolled across the mat with it in tow, causing her challenger to topple over. Princesa stood up, legs shaking, out of breath.
...Scootaloo and Diamond snapped out of their daze, grimacing towards each other as they both shakingly got up, with a pained nod, they both took two steps back, and ran into each other once again, heads colliding.
... Pollo’s hoof met Princesa’s, both wrestlers spinning into a kick with their hind leg at the same moment, causing them both to stumble, they growled and grappled each other, Pollo tugging Princesa down into the mat, falling over herself from exhaustion.
...The two fillies got up again, forelegs colliding in continuous punches, the stalemate ending as both fillies punched their opponent straight in the face. Scootaloo and Diamond both wobbled, falling to their haunches.
...The two wrestlers glared at each other in a daze, breathing heavily. With a nod, they scuffed at the mat...
...The two fillies glared at each other in a daze, breathing heavily. With a nod, they scuffed at the dirt...
...They charged...
...They charged...
...right into each other...
...right into each other...
...and...
...and...
...Collided...
Pollo and Princesa fell apart in a crumpled mess of blood and sweat, heads thumping in rhythmatic shock and pain. Neither wrestlers were in any condition to continue, much less be aware of their surroundings. Nevertheless, they could both hear, over the sound of their own heartbeats, the familiar sound of somepony counting.
1...
2...
Both fillies blacked out.
__________________________________
“I can’t believe you got in a fight!” Daring Do and Filthy Rich both yelled at their currently hospitalized daughters.
“But daddyyyy, you always said I should fight my own battles instead of relying on money and the staff!!” Diamond Tiara complained, head wrapped nearly completely in gauze. Scootaloo wondered who thought it was a good idea to put them in the same room. “So I’ve been learning all sorts of fighting styles. Besides, it was just for fun!” She pouted, wincing as her forelegs vibrated with pain from being crossed.
“Yeah mom, it wasn’t anything bad or anythin... Just for fun...” Scootaloo said dizzily, covered from head to tail in bandaging.
The two angry parents looked at each other, unconvinced, turning to their respective children. “We will talk about this LATER!” they both exclaimed, turning back towards each other, “I apologize for my daughter’s behavior.” they told each other. “And you BETTER apologize.” they told their respective children. With a mutual agreement they both stormed out of the room.
Scootaloo watched her mom go. “That... was creepy.”
“I was expecting worse.” Diamond commented. “Urgh... this hurts like tartarus...”
“Totally..” groaned Scootaloo.
“Still... definitely worth it.”
Scootaloo grinned as best as she could. “Yeah. It was... No hard feelings?”
Diamond sighed, then winced, tears coming to her eyes as she coughed. “No hard feelings.”
The two fillies reached to each other with bandage wrapped hooves, hooves meeting in a hoof bump. They both winced and started crying from the pain, coming to a mutual agreement that THAT was a horrible, horrible, horrible idea.
End of Tuesday
5/7
Something Something Scootaloo
RATED S FOR SCOOTALOO
Day 6: Wednesday
Ruby Pinch was a happy filly. A simple filly, with simple interests and simple desires. She had a mommy that loved her. She had a fillyfriend that loved her. And a pretty darn awesome one at that, she could say with complete honesty!
Unfortunately, said fillyfriend was ‘incapacimitated’, as her marshmallowy dictionary-like friend had put it, for the next few days due to a severely mutual beatdown with the local trust fund filly, Diamond Tiara.
Not that Ruby had anything against good old Diamond. In fact, they were once lovers! True love had never been so... er, true. Diamond and Ruby, yes, the perfect gems made a perfect match at one point. Even after their surely dramatic and awesome breakup which isn’t important at the moment and both fillies will absolutely destroy anypony who tries to tell the tale, they remained good friends.
The morale of the story is Ruby was ‘clevererer’ than other ponies gave her credit for, and upper-class ponies give really awesome smooches.
But that’s besides the point. Today was another day. An odd day. In the distant future, Ruby would rank this in... her top 50 of most eventful days as a filly. Or... well, it gets an honorable mention.
Ruby Pinch had woken up early, as per usual, to bond with her dear sweet mother, Berry Punch, before school.
“Remember, dear. You gotta practice if you ever want to make a living out of that!” Berry Punch called to her beloved daughter. Ruby nodded, grasping her personalized sword in her mouth, leaping forward and cleanly slicing the empty barrels her mom had set up for her. “Oh goodness, you’re improving so fast!” Ruby could hear her mommy cry out whimsically.
Pinchy giggled and tossed the sword up, catching it in its sheath. She skipped over to her mom and gave her a hug, grabbing her saddlebag and stuffing her sword, along with a boxed lunch (mommy said she made cookies, yay!), into it. Pinchy never questioned why nopony asked her about the sword. Heck, it never even came to mind that maybe a small filly should not be carrying around a very poorly concealed dangerous weapon.
Ponyville was a weird place.
Nevertheless, Pinchy arrived to school. Carrot Top, the current substitute teacher due to unforeseen circumstances and Cheerilee totally not being in therapy, welcomed her in. She waved to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, the latter currently sitting next to Silver Spoon and the former awkwardly sitting a few spaces away. Pinchy glanced around and confirmed that, indeed, neither Diamond Tiara nor Scootaloo were there today.
“Okay class, I have good news! It looks like Cheerilee has recovered from her sudden illness!” Carrot noticed that half the class rolled their eyes in response to her lie, “...a-and will return to teaching you all tomorrow... so... um...” She glanced nervously at the clock. Yep. Still 2 minutes into class. Just have the whole day to go...
“J-just make some cards for your teacher today! You know where the arts and crafts supplies are!” the fillies and colts cheered, hopping out of their seats and getting to work.
___________<3_________<3______________________
“Ah put glitter an’ a heart with flowers on mine. Think Miss Cheerilee’ll like it?” Applebloom asked awkwardly to her make shift ‘group’. She looked at the fillies she had sat with. Ruby and Silver stood out, and Sweetie didn’t make it any easier by consistently gaga-ing over the latter.
Scootaloo had better come back soon. Thankfully she was an insanely quick healer. Honestly, Applebloom is firmly in the belief that Scootaloo had pretty much built up an immunity to physical trauma with how much she’s been in intensive care.
“Mm, definitely.” Silver Spoon commented. Clearly she was far more comfortable with this ‘casual conversation with your once bitter enemy’ thing than Applebloom was. A fact that only helped said bowed-filly even more uncomfortable. “Sweetie and I worked together to make a pop-up card.”
“What? Ya shared cards an’ didn’t even invite us? We’re supposed ta be a group!” Applebloom pouted.
“You can sign your name on ours if you want, Applebloom!” Sweetie blushed, trying to cool down her friend.
The rest of the conversation kinda faded out as Ruby stepped away. School had ended and she had sat with the other fillies outside to share their desky adventures, but other than that, it was sort of boring.
Ruby yawned and looked into the sky. Amongst the growing amount of clouds, a rainbow trail belonging to a certain pegasus zipped across for all of a second, and she was reminded of Scootaloo.
Her Scootaloo.
Not here.
Alone.
She huffed and began trotting, leaving her friends behind.
Ponyville Hospital was a generally nice place. It also doubled as an asylum. Arguably not the best design choice in the town, both for practicality and morale. However, that had nothing to do with what was going on there.
Speaking of which, what was going on there?
Ruby stepped forward, eyes wide in shock. She highly doubted the hospital decided to redecorate overnight. Let alone with sickly green goo. She grimaced at the thought. Changelings have invaded! Again! And Scootaloo is in there! She charged! I’m coming, Scooty!
...
Drone # 23-42-B (or as his friends liked to call him, Steve), was having the time of his life. He loved invasions! And he loved Ponyville, everypony there was so loving and polite! Well, when he wasn’t attacking them, wrapping them in goop, and holding them hostage, anyway. He adjusted the uniform of his disguise, keeping an eye on the door to ward off ‘visitors’.
Steve hummed. He couldn’t get this tune out of his head, but other than that, his day was actually going quite swell.
At least until the hospital door flew out of its hinges. Steve stood up in shock. He watched as the small filly stormed in, a sword twice her length in her maw. “H-heyo...?”
The filly turned. “Oh! Hi Doc! I’m just here to see Scootaloo. You don’t mind, right?” Ruby grinned widely, blade shining underneath the hospital lights.
Steve ducked under the counter, pointing down a hall. “Heyooo...!” at that, Ruby nodded and skipped down the hallway. Steve let out a breath he was holding... and promptly fainted.
...
Ruby snuck along the green-coated hallways of Ponyville hospital, trying to remember which room was Scootaloo’s. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember. She shrugged and opened the closest door. Empty. She moved on to the next door. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty. Ruby spit out her sword and sighed wearily, stretching her legs and picking her weapon back up, moving on.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. A bandage-wrapped pony, who glanced over at Ruby and began speaking incoherently in a panic under his wraps. Ruby smiled and went over, pushing the snack cart closer to the patient. The pony gave a muffled thanks before Ruby continued on her way, feeling all sorts of better about herself.
Moving on...
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Emp-
...
“Got any fives?”
“For the last time, 23-10-A! We’re playing Oneigha!” The frazzled changeling guard exclaimed. The other changelings around the table had mixed reactions. Next to a rather confused looking scout, one changeling couldn’t help but giggle at the first two, while the fourth seemed to be dozing off on top of his chips.
“Oh, well... um... all-in then?”
The distraught guard proceeded to slam his head into the table. Ruby shut the door. Just in time to block out the obscenities and an exclamation of “ROYAL FLUSH? I’LL FLUSH YOU YOU-”
And the next door. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And the next. Empty.
And... well, you get it. Ruby’s legs were starting to get tired. And let’s face it, the same patterned walls with green-tinted ambient lighting gets pretty boring after a while. Sure it was creepy and unsettling at first but there’s a point where experiencing the same thing over and over again in dead silence crosses anticipation
So here’s a dramatization.
___________________________________x____________________________________
The love-samurai ran down the hall, skidding to a halt at the sight of the bug-ninja forces that would dare to obscure her path. She unsheathed her blade and prepared herself. “Who’s first?” She asked the crowd.
A swarm came at her with all sorts of weapons that could tear apart a lesser filly.
But she wasn’t just a filly.
She swung her blade, parrying the first drone, and with his cry of ‘Heyo!!’ she thrust her sword into him, causing him to explode in a shower of fluffy pink hearts and bunnies. She then ran into the thick of the attackers, slicing and dicing these bugs with the cleanest, most expertly aimed cuts. She felt a sting on her cheek, and she knew that one of these pests had gotten a hit on her.
They wouldn’t be so lucky again.
She tossed her sword into the air and grabbed the nearest bug, tossing it into another one just before it could take a swing at the filly. They and a few changelings behind them fell into a pile, just before the samurai’s sword landed, blade down, piercing them all in an impressive shower of muffins and kittens.
She grinned and jumped, landing on another changeling and using them as a stepping stone to hop back to her blade, grabbing it and tugging it out of its indent in the ground. She took a deep breath and looked around. It looked as if the crowd got BIGGER, if anything. She took a step forward, and suddenly found at least two and a half dozens of sharp objects pointed her way.
She smirked. It was going to be a long day.
And it was. The only real injury sustained by the filly was her attention span and interest. Ruby sighed for what felt like the tenth time as she opened yet another door. Emp-
Oh, wait, there’s Scootaloo! Gasp! And she’s in a cocoon! Double gasp! And what looks like the commander of this operation is standing guard! Triple gasp!
...
Oh, hey, Diamond’s there too! Still kind of weird they were put in the same room considering they injured each other...
Oh well.
Ruby stomped into the room, sheathing her sword. “So you’re behind all this!”
Captain Image blinked and looked over to the intrusion. “Oh for the love of the queen, another filly?” She grimaced. “Look kid, it’s been a long day. I’m just here to retrieve the filly that apparently put Piece, the idiot, out of commission.” The threatening, armored changeling swooned. “Oh what I wouldn’t give to go back to that little smoothie place by the corner and just enjoy myself. But nooo.” she frowned. “I’m stuck here leading an impromptu assault over some petty revenge or whatever!”
Ruby rubbed the back of her head. “Um... I don’t think you should be telling me all this.”
Image shrugged, eating some jello from the snack cart. “Eh. Nothing you can do anyway. So how about you just go home or whatever?”
The filly stomped her hoof. “No! I’m here for my Scooty!” She glared as menacingly as she could.
Image blinked her glowing blue eyes, looking at Ruby and then at Scootaloo and then back to Ruby. “...Huh. I know about schoolyard crushes but this is pretty intense.”
Ruby smirked proudly. “Yeah, we ARE kind of, like, a perfect match and stuff. At least, I think so!”
The armored changeling shook her head, “Cute.” she added, reaching behind her and unsheathing a darkened blade. “In any case, I can’t let you take this filly.”
Ruby picked up her blade and grinned. “That’s my line!” she dramatically taunted before charging into her opponent.
The changeling and the filly collided in a clang of metal, bouncing back in a perfect mirror as they charged once again. Ruby narrowly avoided a slap with a hoof, stumbling back.
Changelings play dirty...! Keep calm Ruby... She chided to herself, gripping her sword and swinging her head in a wide angle towards her opponent. Image rolled out of the way in the nick of time, grimacing at how difficult this encounter may actually be. The changeling straightened, taking a deep breath and cracking her neck, before tossing her sword at Ruby.
Ruby gasped and ducked. She could feel the hairs on her cute little head being split as the sword whizzed over her. The filly tried her best to regain her composure, running towards the now unarmed changeling.
Luckily for Ruby, she realized the changeling’s horn was glowing an eerie green just in time to jump out of the way as the now glowing blade tried to slice her in two from behind. Ruby felt a sting on her side and knew that a light grazing wasn’t the worst that could have happened.
The changeling smirked, “Not bad.” she commented, before wrapping her maw around the sword once more. She tapped her hoof against the ground in anticipation, waiting for Ruby to make the first move.
And so Ruby did. She hopped into the air and sliced at the changeling, but was knocked away nearly effortlessly by her parry. Ruby tumbled across the hospital floor, sword sliding out of her grip. She shook her head out of her daze in time to hear the changeling trot over.
She looked up to see Image sheath her blade and smirk down at her. “Too bad, so sad, filly. You were far too confident in your abilities, it seems. Perhaps you should have trained a little more?” Image had a menacing sneer on her muzzle, teasingly ruffling the filly’s mane. “Trust me when I say I wish it didn’t have to come to this. I’ll let you and that other filly live, but orders are orders, no matter how disgustingly petty they are.” And with that, Image zapped Ruby straight between the eyes, harmlessly lulling her into a deep slumber.
...
Image loomed over the unconscious, cocooned form of Scootaloo, giving a melancholy sigh as she prepared her teleportation spell, wrapping Scootaloo in her magic and-
“I AM THE NIIIIGHT!” was the last thing Image heard before the window shattered and The Mysterious Mare-do-Well suddenly kicked her head in with her hoof.
“Nnh... smoothies...” the changeling uttered as Mare-Do-Well surveyed the room. The masked hero looked down at the unconscious villain, before uttering an uncharacteristic squee in delight.
She removed her hat and masked and smiled. “Scootaloo was correct. Hobbies are fun! We are pleased with our work!” Luna cheered, using her magic to tie up the changeling, going over and cutting the cocoons open, releasing Diamond and the orange filly herself. “There... yes, we, The...” She reached into her cape and pulled out the card Rarity had given her “‘Mysterious Mare Do Well’, say this was a triumph!” the night princess celebrated, lifting the unconscious Ruby into Scootaloo’s bed and taking a dramatic perch on the window, starry mane flowing in the night wind. She grinned back at the fillies, “Sleep well, little ponies.” she whispered, slipping her mask and hat back on and taking off into the night.
...
...
End of Day 6?
Author's Note
Next up: THE FINALE
Fun Fact: The first 3/4ths of this chapter were done like 2 months ago and the final portion was made in like the process of an hour. Does it show?
All's Well that Scootaloos
RATED S FOR SCOOTALOO
Day 7: Thursday
“And THAT’S what happened yesterday!” Pinkie finished, flashing the bedridden filly a bright smile.
Scootaloo stared at the pink pony, glancing over to the decidedly not broken window and her fillyfriend, who simply shrugged and went back to sipping one of the juice boxes she brought for this hospital visit. Scootaloo shook her head, groaning. “Pinkie, thanks for visiting and everything but can you...?” she motioned towards the door.
Pinkie pouted. “Aww, but I didn’t get to the part where Mare-do-well left the building and fought the evil dragon of sadness and snacks and s-”
“Pinkie!” Twilight exclaimed in exasperation, pushing the pink pony out. “Sorry about that, Scootaloo. She really wanted to visit you, for some reason... how are you?” The lavender unicorn asked, smiling.
“Confused.” Scootaloo frowned. “But the doc said I’d be able to leave later, so I guess if Pinkie being Pinkie for a few-” the orange filly shivered. “-hours, is the worst thing that happens today, I’m pretty happy!” the filly finished, Ruby taking this as her cue to come give her a hug.
All eyes turned towards the groaning other filly in the room. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Easy for you to say.” She grumbled. Ruby took THAT as her cue to give her ex a pity hug. Diamond, at least, seemed to cheer up at that.
________________________________________________
“So’s I’ve been thinkin’... yanno, purty hard about things the last week.” Applebloom commented.
“Oh?” Silver Spoon looked over to the yellow filly, resisting the instinctual urge to insult her with that easy set-up. She also resisted the urge to ignore Applebloom in favor of the Sweetie Belle who was currently hugging her. “And how’d that work out?”
“Well, I’m the only one in the CMC that ain’t got a fillyfriend now, and honestly it feels like I’ve had nothin’ important to say or do now while everypony’s been busy with their lovelives!” Applebloom pointed out, frowning all the while. “An’ I’m just wonderin’; what’s up wit’ that? Do I just NOT matter? I feel like all my usual presence is gone! I’ve only talked to Scootaloo like twice this whole week an’ I think Sweetie forgot I existed ever since ya’ve been hanging out with us!”
Silver Spoon blushed, actually feeling a slight pang of guilt for the clearly lonely filly. It just increased as Sweetie lifted her head up, “Huh? ...Oh, hi Applebloom! I thought you were visiting Babs! When’d you get back?”
Applebloom shouted.
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Applejack shouted. “Consarnit, Dash, didn’t I say I DON’T wanna have a rap battle with ya?”
Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Ya mean you’re too scared to go against the champ! ‘Sides, you owe me for taking away MY student-slash-sister!”
The farm mare groaned. “Yer killin’ me, sugarcube. Speakin’ o’ Scootaloo, maybe ya should go, yanno, visit her while she’s at the hospital? Twilight an’ Pinkie already went over, ‘ccording to Rares.” She offered as an excuse to have Rainbow Dash leave her alone for at least another 5 minutes.
Sadly, the world wasn’t perfect. “Nah, I know Scootaloo. She’s just like me. And I wouldn’t want my totally awesome idol and bestest big sister to see me while I’m weak !” Rainbow Dash remarked, smirking. “So, let’s get started! I’ll go first...” the pegasus commented, reaching for the radio Pinkie lent her for this totally epic duel.
Applejack sighed in defeat, grabbing her microphone.
“S-so, um, school was nice! I think I made a couple of friends. There was this nice grey filly I met. She said her mom makes really good muffins which I kinda wanna try now...” The inconspicuous blue colt poked his hooves together, looking between his parents.
The bored looking stallion grimaced, eyes glowing a sinister green. “Lousy hive, lousy town, lousy queen.”
The amused looking blue mare reached over and ruffled the colt’s mane, taking a sip of her smoothie. “You have noling to blame for your depromotion but yourself, ‘honey’.” She commented, grinning.
The stallion stared at the mare. “If you didn’t get caught by a filly and some spandex wearing weirdo, we would be out of this town, ‘dear’.” He hissed in response.
“And what a shame that we’re stuck in this peaceful, friendly town with these great ponies and smoothies, together as a family, instead of at our cozy, dark, ugly, damp hive with a bunch of yelling drones.” The mare shrugged, hugging her colt, who was busy snickering at her sarcasm.
The stallion seethed with rage, smashing his head against the table and knocking over his smoothie.
_______________________________________________________
Scootaloo stepped through the hospital door, glancing back and waving to Nurse Redheart. The filly looked down at herself; she may have been able to leave, but apparently stunts and crusading were strictly forbidden until it was safe to take the bandages off.
With a blush, Scootaloo sat in her own wagon as Ruby got on the scooter. “Why don’t we go see what the others are up to, Scooty?”
Scootaloo smiled contently, lying down in the decidedly cozier than usual wagon. “Yeah, that sounds awesome, Pinchy.”
And so they went to Sugarcube Corner, to find the rest of their friends.
The End
Author's Note
The End!
Special Credit goes to:
