Scootaloo's Feelings

by abdlpony

Chapter One

The average filly or colt in Ponyville would spend the early morning sleeping in or eating a slow, drawn-out breakfast. Even on school days most kids got the benefit of extra sleep in a nice warm bed. The promise of love from their guardians awaiting them with the morning sun rise. The average child’s top problems stemmed from keeping up with grades in school or learning a new skill or gaining something as special as their cutie mark. Scootaloo, however, was not the average filly.

Each morning she had to force her brain and body to wake up bright and early. It wasn’t particularly difficult being so young, but that didn’t make it any more pleasant. It wasn’t just her living conditions that forced her to wake up so early, it was her job. Paper routes were common among pegasus ponies but Scootaloo was the only one in the town who did not fly yet. She, instead, resorted to using her scooter.

Scootaloo let out an ear-screeching yawn; she may have been used to her morning duties by now but they were still exhausting. “It’s too early for this. Stupid papers.” Her eyes drooped low, but she knew that wouldn’t do. She shook her head vigorously. It helped slightly. Letting out one last sigh, she quickly got to work. She quietly knocked on the wooden floorboards until she found one that sounded more hollow. Using one of her wings, she wedged open a secret compartment in her home. Home being a bit of a strong word. But it never bothered her to think that way. Inside was a fold-up scooter. She quickly snatched it up and placed some blankets and pillows in its place. Shutting the floorboard, she let out another sigh.

“Okay, let’s get to work.” Grumbling to herself, she walked outside and slammed the door to a rather elaborate-looking clubhouse, her house. She took one last look at the clubhouse and then set her wings into ‘buzzing mode’ as she put it. Chuckling a bit, she set off for town. Her destination was The Ponyville Daily. Passing by buildings and shops every morning that had yet to open was starting to get to her. It was a boring and depressing way to start her day, but she had no other choice.

After a ten minute ride, she ended up in the back of the building with a rough-looking earth pony stallion eagerly awaiting her arrival. He was not terribly interesting, but she didn’t care. He got her the job after all.

“You’re late,” he said bluntly.

“Yeah, sorry I guess I—“

Cutting her off, he sighed and began one of his long winded speeches that she was very much used to at this point. “Look, as I tell you every morning, I don’t want to hear excuses, I want you to be on time. Now I know you are the fastest filly we got working here,” he paused and sighed when he noticed her grin, “but that does not mean you get special treatment. You really need to keep coming on time or you risk losing your job, understand?” She nodded vigorously and gave him her best apology smile. He then gave her the daily stack of papers and in a flash she was off.

Why does he have to give me the same dang lecture every day? It’s not like he’s ever fired me! He just wastes time, ugh. Her thoughts were interrupted as she came to the first house. She dropped off the paper and then flashed off to the next house and the next. The sheer speed with which she did her job kept it from being dull. She pushed herself each morning to cover all of Ponyville in less than an hour.

Being Saturday, Scootaloo had plans to go crusading with her friends. It was always nice to have money if they decided to do something else though. The end of each week was when she would gather her bits. Unlike most colts and fillies who spent their allowances on toys and candy, Scootaloo saved whatever she could.

“Let’s see… Twenty bits for the week, got to make it last until Friday.” Her grumbling stomach disagreed with that statement and she groaned. “Better go see Pinkie, she usually gives me a discount at least… I hope.” She checked a nearby clock and relented that it was still eight o’clock; her friends would just be waking up. Propelling her wings again, she set off for Sugarcube Corner.

Stopping in front of the bakery, she noticed that the pink colored mare was not running the shop, instead Mr. Cake was at the front register.

That’s weird. Where’s Pinkie? Shrugging, she entered and made a beeline for the register.

“Ahh, good morning, Scootaloo! What can I get for ya?” His voice was pleasant, his face was pleasant, but something was missing. Her hunger could wait she decided.

“Morning. Uh, where’s Pinkie at?” She looked behind the counter quickly, but found nopony else.

“You know, I’m not quite sure…”

“But she works for you!”

The stallion chuckled. “Sometimes I wonder…” He kept chuckling but then cleared his throat when the filly couldn’t figure out what was so funny. “She does, but we shouldn’t need her today. Now, can I help you?”

I guess a day without free breakfast isn't the worst thing in the world.

“Oh, well, can I please get two chocolate donuts?”

“Certainly. That will be one bit, please.”

She nodded and paid. Scootaloo was about to leave but decided that eating inside seemed easier. She finished off her donuts a lot quicker than usual though and then left the establishment.

She decided to make her way to Carousel Boutique, hoping to find Sweetie Belle so they could begin their crusading. She knocked on the door a few times and then quietly let herself in. “Hello? Sweetie Belle?”

“Oh, goodness dear you scared me.” Scootaloo turned her head and spotted Rarity busy on the other side of the store making a few dresses. “I’m afraid that Sweetie Belle is spending the day with Mother and Father.”

Scootaloo’s ears flattened at the mention of this. “We were supposed to go crusading,” she practically whined.

“Well, I’m truly sorry and so is she. Perhaps you could use this time to spend the day with your parents, hmm?”

Scootaloo nodded and left, choosing to barely acknowledge that. “Fine, I’ll just crusade with Apple Bloom!” She made her way back in the direction of the clubhouse and went to knock on the Apple’s residence front door. No answer. After waiting a little bit, she heard the tell-tale sign of trees being worked on or ‘bucked’ as the workers would call it. Following the sounds, she eventually found both Apple Bloom and her elder sister, Applejack, working on the trees.

“Apple Bloom, uh, can you go crusading today?” Her voice was small and timid. She already knew the answer before she asked.

“Sorry, Scootaloo, ah got chores all day. Maybe you can spend the day with Dash. Isn’t she like your big sister now?”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in excitement but slowly began to droop as a certain realization hit. “I dunno, she said that she would take me under her wing, but she still acts weird around me. Like… I dunno how to explain it.”

“Dash has always been slow to trustin’ ponies,” Applejack said. “Just give her time Scootaloo.”

“Right, okay I guess I can go find her. See ya later!”

Only one problem, I can’t fly up to her… She shook that thought aside and hoped Dash would be practicing somewhere instead. She saw no sign of her ‘big sister’ in any of the usual practice spots. Maybe she’s having a cloud nap? She tried checking every cloud that was close enough but, as far as she could see, there was no pony sleeping on one.

“Well, if I can’t find her then maybe her friends can!” Her first stop was Fluttershy’s cottage. She found her watering some flowers. “Hey, Fluttershy.”

The mare frowned for a second before spotting the filly, just under her current line of sight. “Oh, Scootaloo, how are you?”

“Good.”

“That’s good to hear. Did you stop by for a visit? Or perhaps to help me feed the animals?” Fluttershy asked, a bit of excitement in her voice.

“Uh, no. Sorry, Fluttershy.” Her ears flattened but only for a moment. “I was wondering if you’ve seen Rainbow Dash around today?”

“Oh, no I’m sorry, Scootaloo. Maybe you can check with Twilight.”

Scootaloo nodded and sighed before turning around and heading for the library. Inside, she found the lavender mare busy making pancakes. I guess it’s still breakfast. She was going to interrupt but the ecstatic look on Twilight’s face told her to wait. Twilight seemed very enthralled with the simple act of baking. It was almost unnerving. Eventually Scootaloo gathered up the courage to make a slightly audible cough.

“Oh, goodness, Scootaloo, you scared me.” She continued to bake, waiting for a response.

Scootaloo stifled a giggle. “Sorry, it’s just you seemed to be enjoying yourself. A lot.”

Twilight blushed a bit but kept her focus on the pancakes. “Yeah, well I was making these for Spike. He works so hard and I felt I should do something special for him, you know?” Twilight’s smile couldn’t have been any wider.

“Uhh…” She trailed off, not having a clue what Twilight meant. Twilight’s voice sounded distant and almost like Fluttershy’s. It was creeping Scootaloo out.

The mare blushed and donned a more basic-looking smirk. “What I mean to say is that Spike is very special to me and he deserves a special meal… Every once in a while at least, you know?”

Scootaloo nodded hesitantly. Okay, Twilight has either snapped or she really, really loves Spike. Must feel nice… Lucky lizard.

“Uh, right, so have you seen Rainbow Dash around?”

“Hmm, not today. After all I just woke up. Sorry, Scootaloo.”

“Great! This bites!” Scootaloo yelled, throwing her hooves up in annoyance. She felt it was the right time to lose her temper, even a little. Twilight turned to her and regarded the filly in a calm manner.

“You wanted to spend the day with Rainbow Dash, right?”

The filly nodded, figuring it was pointless to keep that of all things a secret.

“Hmm, when was the last time you spent the day with one of your parents? I’m sure they would appreciate something like that if you offered.” Her voice was still motherly and calm. Scootaloo wanted to sag and sigh but kept her stance neutral.

Last time I did that? Ages ago… She knew that showing any signs of distress when in front of somepony like Twilight was not in her best interests. Scootaloo quickly broke into her best fake grin and nodded. “Thanks, Twilight, good idea!” She ran off as quickly as possible. Twilight never called back and simply replied with a quick grin of her own.

Stupid Twilight! Scootaloo kept herself busy by kicking a tin can in the road from random spot to random spot. Stupid Fluttershy! Another kick. Only this time she used much more force and the can shot off almost twice the distance. Stupid… Arg! Stupid day! This day sucks! A final kick sent the can flying and it hit a building nearby. Scootaloo didn’t bother to see where it landed. She sat down in the middle of the road and sighed. Looking around, she saw plenty of ponies out and about. Some fillies and colts were walking around with their parents. I miss Mom… She would know what to do, she would play with me.

Scootaloo hated when she got this way. She hated to mope and hated feelings of depression. Every day she had tried telling herself to look on the brighter side of things, to take each and every day and even night and make the most of it. Every day, however, it became harder and harder to do just that. She sighed with both of her front hooves planted firmly under her chin. “What the hay am I supposed to do now? I’M SO BORED!”

In her frustration, she failed to notice that several of the ponies walking by were following a pattern. Eventually she looked behind and noticed a shop. She recognized it as the place to shop for various baby items, everything from diapers to bottles to pacifiers and anything else a foal might need. But what caught her attention was the alleyway on the side. She watched closely as several adult ponies walked to the alley, gently knocked on the door and waited. Each would then walk inside a door off on the side and would leave exactly five minutes later with rather large packages.

“That’s weird…” She stood up and waited for the last pony she saw to leave. Not recognizing the mare, she shrugged. Scootaloo slowly walked to the door and paused. It had a metal grate blocking a window that could be opened and closed. Not really sure on why she was doing it other than pure curiosity, she knocked. She waited one full minute before the the grate swung open, meeting eyes with a blue colored Stallion.

“Can I… help you, missy?” He asked sounding quite unsure.

“Y-yeah, I, uh, was wonder—” She stopped herself and tried to think of something to say, she was drawing a blank.

What do I want here anyway? Am I that bored?! She struggled to come up with a response while giving a few of the shop’s items some glances. Her eyes were glued to a giant stuffed red dragon.

“Uh, see something you like?” the stallion asked.

Scootaloo quickly snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head. “Well—”

She was interrupted by three loud knocks at the door. They both paused and looked at the door. The stallion turned back to the kid and gave her a sheepish smile.

“I better let whoever that is in…” He opened the grating and smiled.

“Back again I see, Mrs. Cake, come on in!” Scootaloo would not believe it, her brain refused to comprehend what she had just heard. Slowly the door opened and in walked the mare, after a second both filly and mare locked eyes with each other. Mrs. Cake was the first to recover.

“Oh my, Scootaloo, is it?” The mare had a huge blush on her face.

She nodded.

The mare turned towards the stallion with a questioning look. She also hesitated “Is she…?”

Shaking his head he sighed. “I’m afraid not, this was sort of a mistake…”

Scootaloo furrowed her brow. What mistake? She looked back at the other things more clearly and noticed something off about the baby supplies. They looked huge! She quickly turned back to the two who were walking up to her. “Hey, what is this—”

She was quickly interrupted by Mrs. Cake. “You know dear you really shouldn’t be in the back, this is where Boomer holds his stock at. I was simply picking something up… so…”

Boomer gently grabbed Scootaloo and shoved her right outside. “Bye!”

The filly blinked a few times. “What the?” She turned back and heard the distinct sound of a click indicating that the door had been locked. She made a ‘hmmpf’ noise and decided to leave the alley. “Whatever.”

Comments

[The Abyss]

We we’re supposed to go crusading,”

It's supposed to be we were.

She ran off as quickly as possible. Twilight never called back and simply replied with a quick grin of her own.

If Scootaloo ran off, how could she have known that Twilight grinned at her?

[Orange slice]

This while emotional is awsome

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Hm, either Mrs. Cake is picking up supplies for her twins. Or she has a secret that she clearly doesn't want anyone to find out. I'm guessing it's the latter, and I know what it is.

[Caper]

Haha nice little start. Could you imagine what's she thinking.. Btw I like to think that Mrs. Cake's appearance is a part of Pinky Dinky Pie. The first i read here.