Chapter Twelve Preview · 4:33am Jan 11th, 2013

What the hay? Have something to occupy yourselves before the chapter goes up!

-G-M-

“Ahhhhhhh…”

Sweetie Belle paused and cocked her head to the side. She raised a hoof to her ear even while swiveling it to try and get a better read on the sound. “Hey, do you girls hear something?”

“I think I—” started Apple Bloom, but before she could finish, the three of them saw the screaming filly blindly galloping down the road. The eyes of all three Cutie Mark Crusaders widened considerably, but with the speed at which the filly was running, there was barely any time left to them to react.

They didn’t use that time wisely, and instead decided to stare at the rapidly approaching cyan unicorn. It came as no surprise then when the filly ran straight into the trio, scattering the four of them to the ground like struck bowling pins.

“Ow, my head,” Scootaloo moaned, rubbing said body part as tenderly as she could. It didn’t really hurt, much, but it was still a sudden blow. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and shook her head before looking up at the form of the filly currently collapsed across her barrel. “The flank is wrong with you?” she grouched. “Running around screaming like that?”

“Uh, heh-heh, sorry about that,” the filly returned sheepishly. She got off of Scootaloo, for which the crusader was grateful, and extended a hoof to help her back up. In no mood at the moment, Scootaloo swatted the offered hoof away and got up under her own power. Now that Scootaloo looked at the foal, that she now noticed was a unicorn, she realized that she had never seen her before.

“It’s just,” the filly was continuing, “my brother and his stupid friend mentioned something about my parents that grossed me right out.”

“And y’all had to run away screamin’?” Apple Bloom asked. The unicorn shuddered.

“When you know how babies are really made, and it clicks in that that’s what your parents did with each other, twice, because you’ve got an older brother…” she trailed off, shuddering and making a gagging noise from the back of her throat. Scootaloo glanced away and rubbed a hoof against her foreleg, feeling a little uncomfortable about the subject.

“Never mind that,” she said, quickly changing the subject. “Who are you? We haven’t seen you around before.”

“Oh, my name’s Rei,” the unicorn filly answered. “I just got here today.”

“Hi, Rei, I’m Sweetie Belle,” said the other unicorn. “This is Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.”

“Howdy,” Apple Bloom greeted.

“Yeah, hi,” added Scootaloo. “Listen, uh, Rei, we’ve had a bit of a disappointing morning already, so we’d like to leave it at that without getting run over again,” she glanced at her front left hock, “or torn to pieces by a fluffball with claws.”

“Hey, Ah’ve got an idea!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Why don’t ya come with us? There’s nothin’ better to get yer mind off o’ stuff than a treat from Sugarcube Corner.”

“That sounds good,” Rei answered brightly. Her stomach rumbled audibly, causing her to blush. “And I think my stomach agrees since we skipped breakfast this morning to get on the train.”

“I know what that feels like,” Scootaloo lamented with a rueful smile.

“Then there’s no time like the present,” Sweetie Belle declared, and immediately began to lead the way.

It didn’t take them very long to get to Sugarcube Corner, and Scootaloo had to giggle to herself when she saw the look on the unicorn’s face at the very gingerbread-house looking bakery. “Come on in,” she said. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake are really nice. I’ll bet they’ll give you something extra special on the house because you’re new in town.”

Scootaloo entered the bakery, sweet shack, and local hangout for just about everypony in Ponyville, when the mood came to them, with renewed confidence and vigor in her step. So what if they hadn’t earned their cutie marks this morning? Did that mean that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to give up? Oh no they weren’t! A minor setback, that was all this was, and something from Sugarcube Corner for their new friend would certainly get them back on track.

“Hey Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” Scootaloo greeted, seeing the yellow earth pony stallion in the front and his blue earth pony wife at the counter. Carrot Cake had just been in the middle of putting a delicious-looking black forest cake up on a shelf, while Cup Cake was currently piping bright yellow icing onto a batch of fresh cupcakes.

“Oh! Good morning Crusaders,” Mr. Cake said, spying all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders entering the shop. “How has crusading for your cutie marks been?”

Sweetie Belle sighed and displayed her blank flank. “No luck this morning,” she said. “But…” her expression brightened and she pulled Rei up close. “We met a filly who’s new in town!”

“Is that right?” Mrs. Cake asked. “Well welcome to Ponyville, dearie. What’s your name?”

“I’m Rei,” answered she, “my brother and I just got here from Canterlot this morning.”

“Have you met Pinkie Pie yet?” Mr. Cake asked, looking down at her kindly. “I know she can be a little invasive and ignorant of personal space at times, but she has a heart of gold and is always there to make a friend smile.”

Rei nodded quickly. “Actually, we have met Pinkie Pie! We met her in Canterlot and came back to Ponyville with us on the train. She’s showing my brother and his friends around right now. She’s really nice.”

Mr. and Mrs. Cake brightened even more at the news that the filly had already met Ponyville’s resident party pony and hadn’t been scared away by her. “That’s good to hear,” Mrs. Cake told her. “Here, why don’t you and your new friends have some of these cupcakes? Carrot, could you get a few milkshakes for these lovely young fillies while I check on the twins?”

“Sure thing honeybun,” Mr. Cake said. He smiled at Rei again as he started to walk to the back. “Welcome to Ponyville, Rei. What flavour milkshake would you like?”

Scootaloo calmly moved towards the counter where the cupcakes were while Rei told Sugarcube Corner’s proprietor what she liked. Free cupcakes and a milkshake just from meeting the new girl in town? Score! Cutie mark schmutie mark, free cupcakes!

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