Scootaloo was not happy.
Diamond Tiara had encountered her during recess. While Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went to the other end of the yard to get a ball for the three Crusaders to play with, Diamond Tiara busied herself with tearing down Scootaloo's self-esteem bit by bit.
"Hey there, Blank Flank! I bet your special talent is, like, being the only pegasus in all of Equestria who can't fly!" Diamond stared Scootaloo down, forcing her to back up into Silver Spoon. When Silver Spoon had snuck up behind her, Scootaloo didn't know. She felt her heart drop into her stomach as she realized that she was completely trapped. Where were the other Crusaders when she needed them?
"Hey, Diamond Tiara?"
"Yes, Silver Spoon?" The two fillies smirked at one another before looking down on their frightened prey.
"Like, what kind of pegasus can't even fly? She's no better than a chicken." Silver Spoon's eye took on and evil gleam as Scootaloo squirmed uncomfortably, wishing not for the first time that her little wings were stronger so that she could fly off to safety. She knew that they were right; a pegasus who couldn't fly was no better than a glorified chicken. She flattened her ears to her head, praying for the recess bell to ring. This was probably the first time she had looked forward to one of Miss Cheerilee's boring lessons. She tried to make herself as small as possible as her ears and nose grew hotter and hotter from her embarrassment.
"Scootaloo! We got a ball-" Scootaloo heard Sweetie Belle's squeaky, high-pitched voice and Apple Bloom's gasp followed by the unmistakeable bump of a ball hitting the grass. Scoot hadn't realized that she had squeezed her eyes shut until she opened them at the sound of her friends' voices, and noticed that she had started to cry. She quickly used her foreleg to rub her eyes, trying- in vain- to hide the evidence of tears. Scootaloo never cried, she was too awesome for that. Rainbow Dash wouldn't have cried. In fact, she would have given Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon what for. She stood up, strengthened by the presence of her friends behind her though tears were still running down her face.
"What does it matter if I can't fly now? I'll be able to fly when I get bigger, and I'll be the very best! And nopony will be able to stop me. Nopony!" Scootaloo screamed, stomping her hoof to emphasize her point. Her wings began to flap violently as she glared at the two bullies. But Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just laughed at her assertion.
"You'll be stuck on the ground forever, Blank Flank. And there is, like, no way that you'll ever get those puny wings of yours to get you flying. Let's go, Silver Spoon." With a final snicker, the pair waltzed off, scooping up Sweetie Belle's abandoned ball as they left. Scootaloo sat down with her ears once more pressed against her skull as she watched the procession. She felt a hoof against her shoulder, but didn't look around.
"Come on, Scoot. You're a-gonna show them! Sweetie Belle an' I'll train you! We'll be Cutie Mark Crusaders Flight Instructors!" Sweetie Belle let out an enthused "YEAH!" while Apple Bloom wrapped Scootaloo in a tight hug, nearly suffocating the pegasus in her ostentatious pink bow. But Scootaloo just pushed her friends away.
"What does an earth pony and a unicorn know about flight? I'm real sorry girls, but Diamond Tiara and Sliver Spoon were right. I'm just a flightless chicken." Brushing past the two other Crusaders with a sigh, Scootaloo crossed the yard until she reached the schoolhouse. The door was opened slightly to allow for a breeze, and Scootaloo pushed her way inside while her two friends stayed behind, sharing confused looks. Scootaloo had never been this upset about not being able to fly before, and even Sweetie Belle wasn't as worried about not being able to use magic yet. It just didn't make sense to the two other Crusaders.
"Scootaloo? Why are you inside? Recess won't be over for another ten minutes." Miss Cheerilee looked up from her marking, putting down the red pencil that had been in her mouth. Scootaloo was probably one of the last students in her class who would rather be inside the classroom during break time.
"Miss Cheerilee, I know I should be outside right now, but I just want to be in here. Can I please stay?" Scootaloo rubbed her foreleg with the opposite hoof, not looking up at her teacher. Cheerilee must have sensed that something was wrong, because she let Scoot sit down in her desk and gave her some seatwork to do, something easy that would keep the filly busy and quiet for the rest of the break so that she could finish up her marking. Scootaloo didn't complain, but drew rough pictures of what seemed like a pegasus filly flying high over the rest of the little ponies in the margins.
After school, Scootaloo went home by herself. She felt bad for ignoring her friends as she rode away on her ever-present blue scooter, but she just wanted to be alone. The quicker she got to her parents' house, the quicker she got away from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who obviously weren't done making fun of her flightlessness yet.
She burst through her front door after stowing her scooter and helmet behind the house. Her parents were both still gone at work, so she figured they wouldn't mind if she grabbed a cookie from the jar on the counter. Cookies in her house were a rare treat, her mother was always too busy working to have time to bake them. Tossing off her saddlebags loaded with homework and returned grades, she grabbed her stepstool from under the sink and pushed it next to where the cookies sat beckoning. Scrambling up onto the stool, she reached for the jar. But her mother had been thinking two steps ahead of the filly, and had pushed the cookie jar further than where she was able to reach.
After swinging her hoof wildly for a few minutes, trying to at least knock the jar closer, she started flapping her wings in a last-ditch effort to get the sweets. Sweat began to form on her forehead, but she just couldn't manage to lift her body from its perch on the stepstool. But then, to her surprise, her hooves began to lift off. Getting excited at this new development, Scootaloo momentarily forgot to keep flapping. This quick pause was enough to dump her painfully back onto the stool, much to her chagrin.
Scootaloo rubbed her now-sore backside and clambered off the stool, bested by none other than the ruthless foe known to fillies all across Equestria as the cookie jar.