Scootaloo Grows Up

by Saatchi

Sweet Apple Shenanigans

Back at the orchard, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were sprawled out on the grassland of Sweet Apple Acres. They had spent their time playing in the fields, coming up with any game that their minds could offer. But playtime can only last so long, and it hadn’t been long before the trio had decided to take a rest. As they lay on their backs in the grass, an eerie silence drifted over them. The only sounds to break this silence were their heavy panting, and the low growl of Scootaloo’s stomach. Scootaloo rolled over onto her front, her stomach growling once more as she went. The other two CMC remained on their backs, obviously not feeling the same as Scootaloo.

“Girls, I’m hungry, can we go get something to eat?” moaned Scootaloo.

“Well ah wus gonna wait until we were all hungry, an’ then go git some o’ Granny’s Apple Pie…” replied Apple Bloom.

“Well, why don’t we go get it and bring it back here? Who knows, maybe you’ll both be hungry by them”

“Can we get a mat too? Then we can have a picnic!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

“That’s a good idea, it would be a shame to waste this beautiful weather by sitting inside to eat,” began Scootaloo. “Why don’t you girls go get it, and I’ll wait here and savour the weather a little more.”

“C’mon Scootaloo, if ya don’ come, ya won’t git any pie!”

“But I’m too hungry, I don’t even have the energy to stand up!” groaned Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle scoffed as they stood up. This was so unlike her, sure she often tried to avoid work, but when the three of them had something to do together; she was usually so willing to help. Apple Bloom wondered if this was just a part of growing up, or at least she hoped that her friend was just going through a natural phase of some sort. Sweetie Belle on the other hand wasn’t sure what to make of anything. She recalled the time that Spike had grown up at a rapid pace and had experienced a selfish phase like no other. She’d been told that this sort of thing only happened to dragons as they came of age, but was there a chance that it could happen to ponies as well? The two stared on, each deep in thought as to whether or not their friend was going to be ok. More importantly they wondered if it would happen to them, both of them hoped that it wasn’t going to, but their thoughts were clouded with insecurity.

“Well? Are you going or not?” asked an impatient Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both shook their heads, dragging themselves from their thoughts. They had gotten so caught up on the future and the theoretical effects of growing up on their friend, that the thought of apple pie seemed so far away. The two fillies set off at a sprint, leaving their friend alone in the shade of the orchard apple trees. Scootaloo watched them go, her mouth already watering at the delicious thought of that delectable apple pie. Her stomach growled angrily in response, causing Scootaloo to shudder and clutch her stomach in pain. She tried to suppress thoughts of food, but each time she tried her stomach growled impatiently, reminding her that she needed food and she needed it now. Scootaloo reluctantly agreed with her stomach, she did indeed need food now, but where was she going to get it? She couldn’t walk very far, there was no way that was going to work. She could feel her legs already threatening to give way, and she hadn’t even stood up yet. It took her a moment to realise that she didn’t actually need to go far, she was in an orchard after all. She pushed her weight down on her hooves, using the sturdy ground beneath them to stand up. Her legs wobbled a little underneath her, but she managed to take a few shaky steps towards the nearest apple tree. Her stomach growled almost constantly with every step she took, but to Scootaloo it seemed more like a form of motivation, like her stomach was now cheering for her.

She pressed on, taking careful step after careful step, until she finally reached the tree she had been aiming for. She glanced up at it, admiring the succulent fruit that hung there, its waxy, red, skin shimmering in the light, as though a thin layer of moisture covered its entire being. Scootaloo felt her mouth begin to salivate, even going so far as to allow for a low, guttural moan. An apple had never looked so good to the starving pony, and soon she would be biting into its flesh, digging through to its very core. All she had to do, was buck the tree hard enough for the apple to fall, and with her new size that seemed like the easiest thing in the world right now. She turned herself around, sighing as she lost eye contact with the apple just for a few moments, and prepped her legs for bucking. She would only have one shot at this, so it had to count. She pulled her legs back as tight as her joints would allow and straightened them back out again, slamming her hooves into the tree. She wasn’t sure if it was the tree vibrating under her hooves, or if her hooves were shaking from the force she had used to hit it with. She slumped to the floor, propping herself up against the tree, awaiting the fall of that delectable apple. Seconds ticked by and still there was no apple for her to chow down on. In fact, all she had received in that time was an increase in stomach pains, and those just seemed to help make her hungrier. She glanced upwards and sure enough the apple was there, still hanging from the tree, taunting her efforts. She stood up once more, hiccupping a couple of times, forcing her head back and nearly sending her off balance.

“Do you want to be fed or not?” she asked her body, not even caring about how bizarre a thing that was to do.

She leant forward pressing her forehooves against the tree for support, then gradually she inched them further up the tree trunk. She was going to get this apple, and there was nothing that would stop her. Sure Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would arrive with the pie soon enough, but soon didn’t cut it. She was living in the present and as such, she wanted the apple this very instant. Her hooves inched up the trunk of the tree and she soon felt her body being stretched. She was bigger than Big Macintosh, and yet not even that quality provided enough height for her to reach. She thumped a hoof against the tree trunk, before sliding down to ground, admitting defeat. She lay there, trying to focus on the fact that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were only a short distance away. Unbeknownst to the small filly, her body experienced a very small growth spurt. Her body expanded outwards, growing a couple of inches in height as well as width. All sensations that the growth caused were masked by the intense hunger pangs she was experiencing. She did however feel an unusual determination spread through her body. She felt slightly refreshed, as though she had just enough energy to make for another attempt.

She gradually took up her original position, she grimaced as her stomach roared at her, reminding her of just how hungry she was. She took the same method as before, each hoof pounding against the tree as she worked up it. Surprisingly she passed her original record, and her hooves kept on climbing. Up and up, until finally the apple was in her grasp, with a quick tug she pulled the apple free of the tree’s grip. Without hesitation she bit into the apple, barely savouring the first bite before diving in for some more. She revelled in the succulent, juicy bites of apple, each one seeming more delicious than the last. Her frantic bites soon demolished the apple, leaving nothing but a thin core and a few seeds left. She tossed that away and turned her attention back to the tree. There were more apples on there, and most were within her grasp.

Scootaloo plucked more apples, piling a group of them by the trunk of the tree. She passed to another tree, repeating the same process, placing them in the same place. She continued until she had at least five separate piles, spread around her. She could make a few apple pies with this many apples, not that she had the resources at hoof to make one. She sat down in front of her prizes, her stomach once again growling fiercely. She picked up an apple and bit into its sweetened skin, tearing out a chunk of the fruit. Her tongue lashed out against the piece, thrashing it back against her teeth. She groaned as the moist flavours danced across her taste buds. She felt them slide down her throat and into her stomach, yet still she was not satisfied. She ravenously devoured the rest of the apple, grappling for two more; no sooner had she finished the first. Her mind buzzed, yelling at her limbs and jaw to move and chew faster. She didn’t ache at all, whether that was just the adrenaline pumping through her body, or a matter of circumstance, she couldn’t be sure.

As each apple was slowly digested by her stomach, her body was rewarded with a growth spurt. Her body expanded almost continuously thanks to the sheer volume of food that she was eating. Her head rose higher and higher, expanding past the trunk of the tree, pushing past the leafy canopy. Her hooves pushed outwards into the pile of apples, knocking a few of them loose, though she quickly regrouped them. The pile was soon brought to halfway and Scoots had grown enough to allow her to simply swallow multiple apples at once. Her body lengthened and her hooves grew outwards, whilst her senses seemed to heighten. Scootaloo groaned as each apple she ate tasted better than the last. Some tasted like extremely sweet apple, whilst others seemed to give off a flavour completely outside that of the standard for apples. As she popped the last of the apples into her maw, crunching them to mush within a single bite, she burped loudly and patted her stomach. She sat up straight, her body now bigger than an apple tree, her head standing well above that height. Her flank was stuck between two trees, but she didn't care. She'd just wait for her friends to get back, and for that delightful apple pie they'd be bringing her.

The friends in question were on their return approach, apple pie balanced firmly on Apple Bloom’s head, just in front of her bow. Sweetie Belle travelled alongside her, the soft scent of the fresh pie tickling at her nostrils. She gazed longingly at it, causing her to flashback to the last time she had this particular type of apple pie. She remembered how lovely it had tasted, how it had warmed her all over with each mouthful. Alas, she had to wait, the three of them were going to enjoy this pie together, no matter how much anyone in particular wanted it to themselves.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle, d’ya reckon that we’ll do th same as Scoots, when we grow up? Ah’d love t’ see Applejack’s face if ah ended up bein’ bigger than her.”

“I’m not sure. I guess Rarity would be pleased if I did, that way she wouldn’t need to keep hiring stallion models to show off her new range of stallion clothes. But outside of that, I don’t really think I would want to end up like that. I mean can you imagine how awkward things would be?” replied Sweetie Belle.

“Whut d’ya mean by that?”

“Well what if we grew more than her? We could end up twice as tall as the average stallion, and that wouldn’t be good at all. I mean look at everything around us, it’s all built for the average mare or stallion, so if we were bigger than average, we couldn’t use all of that stuff.”

“Naw, yer jus’ bein’ silly. If we did git t’ that height, they’d make new things, jus fer us.”

The two fillies continued their back and forth as they returned to spot where they had left Scootaloo. Strangely enough, this one particular part of the orchard seemed a lot darker in comparison to the rest of it. It was almost as though the trees had suddenly grown exponentially, and their leaves now blocked out the sun. But to both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle’s surprise, it wasn’t the trees at all; it turned out to be something much bigger than that. Somehow, Scootaloo had grown to a tremendous height, standing just over the height of three of the orchard’s apple trees. She stood there, grinning down at her friends, as they glanced back with surprise etched into their faces.

“You took your time, I had to take matters into my own hooves while you were gone,” explained Scootaloo.

As Apple Bloom raised her head to look up at the titanic form of Scootaloo, the pie slipped from her head and landed with a splat against the floor. Sweetie Belle focused on the bare trees that surrounded them, mouth agape as she came to the realisation that Scootaloo had probably eaten all the fruit from these trees.

“Oh, was that the pie? Probably wasn’t going to be big enough for me anyway.”

“An’ what would be big enough fer ya?” asked Apple Bloom foolishly.

Scootaloo reached to her left and uprooted one of the few trees that she hadn’t plucked clean yet. She held it in front of her friends, just letting them take in the fact that she had actually just pulled a tree clean from the ground. Then she held it in front of her maw, slowly rotating it as she plucked the apples from the tree with her teeth. One by one they disappeared into her maw, leaving only the greenery on the tree. After it had served its purpose it was cast aside, taking out a few more trees as it smashed into the ground.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were shaken off their hooves as the tree made contact with the floor. They quickly righted themselves and started to back away. This was all too much for them to process, Scootaloo wouldn’t be so careless, nor would she seem so content at such a height. Something was wrong here, and they weren’t going to find a solution just hanging around in the orchard. Apple Bloom was first to break out into a run, whilst Sweetie Belle followed hot on her heels. The pair weaved in and out of the trees, hoping that if Scootaloo did decide to give chase, their actions would at least give them a fighting chance.

Scootaloo however, didn’t plan on giving chase she would much rather flaunt her new size to the rest of the town. After all, why should Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle be the only two ponies to benefit from an audience with their new ruler? She giggled at that, this day had certainly been full of surprises. Uprooting several trees as she made her way out of the orchard, she began to snack upon them, having one last delightful feast of apples before she left for Ponyville. Scootaloo couldn’t decide on where to visit first, maybe she’d swing by the school and show Miss Cheerilee that it was pretty easy for a filly to outgrow Celestia. Or maybe she’d just head to town hall and show off to everyone all at once. There was so much choice, and yet it seemed like she had so little time.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hurried back to the farmhouse, hoping that Applejack and Big Macintosh had returned from their trip to the schoolhouse. They charged through the front door and into the kitchen, babbling incomprehensible nonsense about what they had just seen. Unfortunately nobody was around to hear it, well Granny Smith had fallen asleep at the table, but she probably couldn’t hear them, nor could she help. Apple Bloom tried to rouse her sleeping elder, but when Granny falls asleep, she’s out for the count. The two fillies started to panic, they needed someone to help them, or at least tell them that they were dreaming. They needed someone with authority, someone smart, who would know of a solution. Then, as though by divine intervention they both happened across the same idea, they could go find Cheerilee. She was both a figure of authority to the children, and rational enough to think of a reasonable solution.

“We should go see Cheerilee!” they both chorused.

The pair stared at each other, surprised to find that they had both spoke the exact same phrase each other, at the exact same time. Apple Bloom scrunched her face up, whilst Sweetie Belle widened her eyes. Naturally, their childlike imaginations began to consider the possibility that they had a psychic connection, or at least some sort of telepathic link. Then the rational parts of their minds kicked in and it was reduced to a mere coincidence.

“That was weird…” they both said in unison once more.

This time they didn’t delay, they just bolted for the door, having wasted enough time coming up with the idea in the first place. They both squeezed through the door within seconds of each other, narrowly avoiding getting stuck. Keeping level with one another they pelted down the dirt path, kicking up a storm of dust and dirt in their wake. They glanced through the trees of the orchard as they passed; catching sight of the destructive trail that Scootaloo had left in her wake. If this was the kind of damage that Scootaloo could do to an apple orchard, they didn’t want to think of what she could do to an entire town. The state of the orchard was too distracting to the fillies, and as a result, they crashed straight into two approaching ponies.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were bowled over backwards, and the two ponies they crashed into just managed to remain standing. Apple Bloom nursed her head, urging it to stop pounding so she could get back to thinking of how she was going to explain the state of the orchard and Scootaloo to Cheerilee and her brother and sister. She flailed a little as she tried to get back up to her hooves, eventually rolling onto her side to make the task easier. Her yellow coat was darkened a little, now standing a little brown from the dirt she had just rolled about in. She half-heartedly brushed a hoof against her legs and front, sprucing those up just a little, but leaving the rest of her dirty.

“Apple Bloom! Jus’ where d’ya think yer goin’? We’ve jus’ been t’ see yer teacher, an’ guess what? Yer class weren’t let out early, y’all lied to me ‘n Mac!” exclaimed one of the ponies.

“Applejack! Big Mac! No time t’ explain, but ya have t’ come with us right now!”

“An’ jus’ where is that?”

They didn’t get the response they needed; Apple Bloom was already dragging Sweetie Belle along with her. Applejack and Big Macintosh had no choice but to follow after the fillies and bombard them with questions until one of them slipped up. Apple Bloom was just glad that they hadn’t seemed to notice Scootaloo was missing from the group, or that she had probably started tearing up the town, shortly after they had departed. Both of the fillies made sure to keep one step ahead of the adults, weaving around each other so as to avoid their clutches.