//------------------------------// // A New Challenger Has Appeared! // Story: Diamond Tiara Wants A Sister // by Yukito //------------------------------// Scootaloo winced as the brush moved through her mane, breaking apart the many knots laying within with each merciless stroke. “Your mane is ridiculous,” Diamond Tiara said as sprayed some water to wet the hair. “What do you do, practice tying your skates on it?” “My skates use Velcro ,” Scootaloo said as she grimaced at yet another harsh stroke, “And I don’t really see why it matters, since it’ll just get messy again anyway.” “Because as my sister, you have an image to uphold!” Diamond scolded as she ran the brush through once more, groaning as it found itself caught on Scootaloo’s mane. “Ow! Hey, easy!” “Ugh! This is a disaster!” Diamond Tiara placed the brush down and put a hoof to her chin. “At this rate, we’re going to have to pay a visit to the spa.” “No way!” Scootaloo shouted immediately, grabbing her mane and retreating to the other end of the room. She turned around to find Diamond Tiara grinning and reaching down for her brush… only to find that it wasn’t there. “Huh?” Diamond looked down to see no sign of the brush on her floor. She looked around and finally came face-to-face with an upside-down filly fluttering above her carpet. “… Hi!” “Ah!” Diamond Tiara fell back onto her flanks and crawled back from the sudden intruder. “W-Who are you?!” “Hi! I’m Zippoorwhill, but my friends call me Zip!” The filly flipped around so that she was the right way up and held out the missing manebrush towards Diamond Tiara. “You looking for this? I saw it on the floor and thought maybe you dropped it so I picked it up so I could return it to you!” “Who are you, again?” Scootaloo asked, raising her eyebrow at the strange, noisy filly suddenly in her sister’s room. “And why are you here?” “Oh, my dad’s here talking to your dad and he said there were two fillies up here I could play with, which is awesome ‘cause not many fillies like to play with me for some reason. Hey, you wanna play hide-and-seek?!” “Uh, I-” “Wanna see me do this new trick I learned last week?!” Without waiting for an answer, the filly zoomed around the room in a double-loop, making a series of ‘woo’s before slowing to a sudden stop. “It’s like the police chariots in Manehatten! Cool, huh?” Scootaloo scratched her head. “Uh, yeah… Cool.” “So what are your names? Mine’s Zippoorwhill, but my friends call me Zip!” Zippoowhill proclaimed as she landed before the other two fillies. “Yeah, you said,” Scootaloo pointed out before clearing her throat. “I’m Scootaloo, and this is my older sister, by just a few months,” she added in a whisper, “Diamond Tiara.” “S-She’s…” Diamond Tiara said, slowly approaching the filly with very wide eyes. “Hi there!” Zippoorwhill said as she smiled widely at Diamond Tiara. A squeak escaped Diamond’s lips, and the next thing she knew she was hugging the little filly tightly in her forelegs. “She’s so cute!” “Awww, I get that a lot!” Zippoorwhill said as her wings fluttered rapidly. Diamond Tiara released the filly and she ascended into the air again. “You wanna play hide-and-seek?” “Sure,” Diamond Tiara said as she rose to her hooves and reached up towards the filly, bringing her down to the ground and patting her on the head. “We’ll hide first, and we’ll let Scootaloo count to one hundred, okay?” “‘Kay!” “B-But what about my mane?” Scootaloo asked. “It will have to wait,” Diamond Tiara answered simply. “Besides, all fun and no games… blah blah blah. Okay, let’s go!” “YEAH!” Diamond Tiara left the room first, whilst Zippoorwhill stayed behind for a little bit longer and faced Scootaloo. “You’ve got a nice older sister! You’re so lucky! Hey, you think she could be my sister, too?!” Scootaloo’s eye twitched. There was something about this filly that was bothering her… Okay, many things… From the loudness in her voice, to her superior flying technique, to her winning over her older sister’s affection, and now to her trying to cut in on her sister… “I don’t like you,” Scootaloo growled with a glare. “I LOVE you!” Zippoorwhill said as she hugged Scootaloo, the orange filly trying to pry her off with a hoof. Zippoorwhill came off of her own free will and then turned around in the air. “Welp, I’m gonna go hide now! No peeking, ‘kay?” Scootaloo grumbled angrily under her breath as she watched the younger filly leave. She turned around and brought her hooves to her eyes. “… Diamond Tiara’s my sister, and she better not forget it.” After covering her eyes with her hooves, Scootaloo began counting to one hundred.