Even Ponies Without Cutie Marks Can Dream.
Scootaloo sighed as she skidded to a halt in front of Sugarcube Corner, a cloud of dust following in her wake. She inhaled deep the earthy scent, smiling to herself despite her melancholy state of mind.
’I may never be able to fly normally, but Celestia damn it if I don’t enjoy riding my scooter.’ She gave a little grin to herself before vaulting off of the trusty toy, landing smartly on her hooves. Her friends were waiting for her inside Sugarcube Corner. She could see Sweetie Belle with her new coltfriend, and Apple Bloom was cuddled up close with some other pegasus from their class. She forgot his name, but it was something light. Feather-hoof or something like that. Sighing once more, she plodded up the steps and into the bustling air of Ponyville’s sweet shop. Sweetie Belle saw her and brightened with a smile, and Apple Bloom shot her a quick grin as well. Waving weakly, Scootaloo went to order her own milkshake.
Despite coming along in years, Pinkie Pie remained as boisterous as ever. Scootaloo had to pick confetti out of the whipped cream on her shake as she made her way back to her friends.
“Heya Scootaloo!” Feather-mane, or whatever his name was, beamed at her. The other colt gave an incomprehensible grunt as his eyes stayed fixed on his game console. Scootaloo took the one empty seat next to Sweetie Belle, who scooted over just a bit.
“How’ve you been, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked innocently. Scootaloo knew a loaded question when she heard one. She shot the white unicorn a quick, seething glare before focusing on her milkshake.
“Fine.”
“Y’all don’t sound like it.” Apple Bloom interjected quietly. She earned a glare as well. Both her friends knew her feelings on her latest flight-based failure, and although they promised to be civil about it, their questions were quickly becoming less and less innocent and more and more probing. Scootaloo continued to glare at Apple Bloom for a few moments before returning to her shake.
“I told you, I’m fine.” Her cheeks began to heat up.
“You don’t really look fine,” Feather-brain leaned in, frowning a little. “Do you want to talk about what happened last week?”
“No.” Scootlaoo returned, mumbling into her milkshake. She watched several bubbles rise from the bottom, where her response emerged from her straw. She took a deep sip, wincing as the cold threatened to rise to brain-freeze levels.
“Yeah, but…” The game-colt (She forgot his damn name) spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “You biffed it in front of everybody.” He didn’t even look up at Scootaloo. But she looked at him. They all did. At least for a moment. Scootaloo’s cheeks heated up, and soon everyone (except the gaming colt) was looking at her.
“I-I…” Scootaloo stuttered for a few moments before abruptly standing up. Her chair clattered away from the table and she hollered at her ‘friends.’ “I DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO BE THE FLAG BEARER! YOU ALL FORCED ME TO!”
“Scootaloo, wait-!” Sweetie Belle lifted a hoof, but she was already gone. A wayward hoof smacked the table, sending the milkshakes spilling all over. She didn’t care. In her mind, she was already on her scooter.
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She wasn’t exactly sure where she was heading. Somewhere between Sweet Apple Acres and the Everfree Forest. Somewhere she could be alone and just think. Her scooter stopped somewhere on the edge of a clearing, and she found a large, flat rock to sit on. She tried not to, but the tears came anyways. Sniffling, she broke down into sobs, whimpering and blubbering as the tears flowed fast and free.
“I didn’t want to carry the flag, but they told me to. They said I’d be good at it. I can’t even fly like every other pegasus at school.” She continued on until her eyes were puffy and her nose was runny. She fetched a hoofkerchief from her bag and blew into it, cursing at how sloppy she could be sometimes.
Her school had had a ‘school pride parade’ where each of the years would represent themselves with a float and a flag. Scootaloo, being one of the only pegasi on the design team (Everypony else was in athletics, and as such was marching with the sports teams) She had been all but forced to carry their flag in the parade. Over her elementary and middle school years, Scootaloo had become a mildly proficient flier, but she wasn’t able to stay airborne for long. The past three years she had skipped out of the design committee, or somepony else had been involved. Now, in her senior year of high school, she had been the lone feathered pony on said committee.
And as such, the only one capable of carrying the flag above their float. Well, needless to say, she couldn’t last the whole parade route. Right as they reached the main drag of Ponyville’s central square, she nose-dived right into the display, positively wrecking the entire senior float. Her entire class, and even her friends it seemed, wasn’t about to let her off that easily.
Sniffling even more, Scootaloo resigned herself to a quiet misery, staring at the ground beneath her dangling hooves with a resigned rage. The tears remained, if only marginally. She let them drip down her face, but she managed to keep from sobbing. The light began to fade away, casting long shadows across the ground. Scootaloo felt a shiver pass over her, so she decided it was time to go home. She wiped a hoof across her eyes and grabbed her scooter…
Just as a grey streak zoomed in out of the sky and skidded halfway across the clearing to land, almost pose-perfect, atop her scooter. The grey mare’s mane stuck up at odd angles, and her golden eyes pointed different directions. She blinked a few times at Scootaloo before very awkwardly stating: “T-Tada! Nailed it!”
“I… What?” Scootaloo raised a hoof cautiously. “Are you okay? You took a nasty spill just there.”
“I’m fine!” The grey mare grinned and brushed herself off, shaking dirt and grass off her coat. “But what about you? You look like you’ve got allergies.”
“N-no, I don’t.” Scootaloo wiped a hoof across her eyes, frowning a little more. The pegasus’ sudden entrance and observation made the pit of her stomach drop out, and she shyly looked away. “I’m fine.”
“You were crying, huh?” The grey mare said in a surprisingly world-wise manner. Scootaloo blushed deeper and bit her lip.
“Y-yeah. I was.” She admitted. “How could you tell?”
“My daughter,” The mysterious and slightly frumpy-looking pegasus shrugged. “She’s kinda like me, really clumsy. So the other foals in her school used to pick on her all the time. I learned to recognize when a cute filly’s been crying.”
Scootaloo blushed once more, more at the mention of being called ‘cute’ than being called out on crying. She looked down at her hooves again, frowning even more. The mare, though, just reached out to cup her chin gingerly. Scootaloo almost flinched away from the touch… Almost. Instead, she found herself looking into the grey mare’s slightly askew eyes.
“I recognize you now. I don’t normally get a good look at somepony until I get real close.” She gestured to her eyes vaguely. “You’re that pony at the parade.”
“Oh.” Scootaloo sounded crestfallen. “You saw that.”
“Hey, it was an honest mistake.” She grinned and nudged Scootaloo softly. “Believe me, I’ve never been much of a strong flier. But I kind of made my own way. You’re not that strong of a flier, either. Would you like me to teach you?”
“B-but I already take lessons,” Scootaloo kicked the dirt with a hoof. “From Rainbow Dash…”
“Lemme guess,” the straw-maned pony smiled knowingly. “She told you about vector angles and wind velocity and wing power, huh?”
“Eer… Y-yeah…” Scootaloo blushed. “Wait, I’m sorry, who are you? Do I know you?”
“Ponyville’s resident Mailmare!” She rose a hoof to her brow in a salute. “Derpy Hooves at your service!”
“That’s right. I’ve seen you around.” Scootaloo breathed, a slight smile crossing her lips. “But how’d you know what Rainbow Dash taught me?”
“Well,” Derpy rolled her eyes – a comical gesture – and smiled at Scootaloo. “There was a time a while ago when I was helping out, and I almost hurt Rainbow Dash… This was before the town hall was repaired, mind you. After that little incident, she offered to coach me, so I didn’t cause so much, aah… Collateral damage. But her method of teaching is too practical; too complex. Fillies like you and me, we gotta feel the sky to fly, not analyze and observe. Trust me, girlie. You take a few lessons from me, and I’m sure I can at least keep you from nose-diving the Ponyville High School Pride Parade.”
“Okay.” Scootaloo looked back up at Derpy with the faintest of smiles on her lips. What the mailmare said made sense, if nothing else. She wasn’t a typical flier, and none of Rainbow Dash’s lessons had made any significant headway. At least, not enough to make her avoid crashing during the middle of a school parade. Maybe Derpy, who wasn’t a conventional flier herself, could show Scootaloo a thing or two.
“I gotta package to deliver to Sweet Apple Acres, and it’s getting late.” Derpy said, scanning the sky. “How does this weekend work for you?”
“Sounds good.” Scootaloo had plans to go Cutie Mark Crusading with her friends… Emphasis on had. Spending a day getting flight lessons from somepony other than Rainbow Dash might actually serve her well. “I’ll see you Saturday?”
“Right here.” Derpy waved a hoof out to the clearing. “I’ll see you then.” She flapped her wings and took off, albeit a bit wobbly. Scootaloo watched her go with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Maybe with a different tutor, she could stop being such a weak flier… Maybe, just maybe, even ponies without their cutie marks could dream.
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Saturday approached quickly, with much thanks from Scootaloo. The last few days at school had been murder; apparently her outburst at Sugarcube Corner had earned her the reputation of a short temper on top of a poor flier. She avoided as many as she could, even her ‘friends.’ They were all too busy with their coltfriends anyways, so she blissfully managed to avoid them.
This wouldn’t impact their friendship in any major way. The three of them had been together since first grade. It’d take more than a nose-dive and some teasing to get between them. But Sweetie Belle’s obsession with Joystick or whatever the hell that dumb colt’s name was and Apple Bloom’s relationship with Feather-fucker would drive them apart if given the chance.
Scootaloo wasn’t just an inadequate flier, she was a poor pony to be in a relationship with as well, apparently. She woke early on Saturday and warmed up with a vigorous scooter ride around Ponyville. She made her way to the clearing Derpy had crashed in by about ten, and was the first to arrive. Derpy struck her as the reliable sort, though, so Scootaloo just munched an apple and waited for her instructor to arrive.
It was hardly ten thirty when two mares emerged from the forest. Why Derpy didn’t fly in, she could only guess. But the answer soon became clear. Derpy walked alongside a unicorn, and if the straw-colored mane was any indication, it was her daughter she had mentioned. Scootaloo gnawed her lip nervously as the two approached.
“G-good morning, Derpy.” Scootaloo managed, glancing between Derpy and who she assumed was the mailmare’s daughter. Upon closer look, the younger mare had a light pink coat, but her eyes weren’t askew like Derpy’s were. She was rather normal-looking. And cute to boot. A blush crossed her cheeks, and Scootaloo prayed neither of them could see it.
“Scootaloo, meet my daughter, Dinky Doo.”
“Just Dinky, please.” The pink unicorn smiled and offered a hoof, which Scootaloo took slowly.
“Dinky… That name rings a bell…”
“We were in elementary together, a long time ago.” Dinky smiled warmly. “The other foals made a lot of fun of me, though. I was really clumsy with my magic, and I had a lot of mistakes. So I dropped out, and my mom homeschooled me.” Dinky looked up at Derpy with a warm smile, and got one in return. Scootaloo felt a small bit of heartache throb in her chest. Being an orphan, she had never had parents. Seeing the relationship between these two was a painful reminder of that fact. But still, it was wholesome and warm, and despite the pain, Scootaloo felt herself warm to them a little more.
“Alright then.” Derpy grinned at Scootaloo, flapping her wings a few times, as if in anticipation. “Shall we begin?”
Scootlaoo remembered why they were there, and grinned as her own petite wings spread as wide as they could.
“Let’s do this.”
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Lessons with Derpy soon became Scootaloo’s life. She spent less and less time with her friends and more time with the mailmare and her daughter. Derpy’s approach was unorthodox and completely out of left-field, but holy burning burritos did it work. It involved feeling how to fly, rather than focusing on such things like temperature and velocity and wing angle and vectors. Dinky would use her magic to keep Scootaloo aloft while Derpy simulated wind with her wings. When Scootaloo closed her eyes, it was like she was actually flying.
The day came when Dinky no longer needed magic to hold Scootaloo up. The revelation had come when Scootaloo’s eyes were closed and she smashed face-first into a tree…
She had been flying!
Granted, she flew straight into a tree, but she was still flying! Next came opening her eyes. It felt weird at first, but soon enough she was able to use her miniature wings to keep her aloft, and even maneuver around some basic obstacles.
Next came the strength training. Derpy had been clumsy all her life, and because of that she had been forced to develop a thick skull, tough skin, and a resistance to pain. She taught Scootaloo how to control herself in a crash, how protecting her wings and her neck were the most important things. Scootaloo’s wings didn’t have the lift to help her change direction in midair rapidly. So she learned to control her crashes – which were inevitable for every learning pegasus – at high speeds.
The whole process was somewhat painful, and led to some awkward moments around town, but soon enough she began to grow toughened to pain. She careened into carts and houses a lot less often, and into the ground or the relative safety of a treetop, more and more.
Before long, Scootaloo had fostered a strong friendship with Derpy and her daughter, one that seemed to all but take the place of her friendship with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The two of them were more focused on their coltfriends than usual. Normally, Scootaloo would have taken that personally. But with her time being filled by Derpy and Dinky, she hardly even noticed.
Scootaloo had finally found her place. A misfit among misfits.
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“Hey Scootaloo!” Dinky drew her attention with a wide grin. “Excited?”
“Kinda, yeah.” Scootaloo felt ridiculous in her gown and cap with the silly tassel. But it was required she wear it. She was graduating today, after all. “More nervous than anything.” Dinky pushed through the group of waiting ponies to stand next to Scootaloo. “I’m glad you could make it.”
“Yeah, me too.” Dinky admitted. She looked around, and a ghost of a frown crossed her lips. “I remember a lot of these ponies.”
Scootaloo followed her lead, frowning when she spotted Apple Bloom swooning over Feather-Tail and Sweetie Belle leaning against button-whatever. Rather than dwell on how far apart she and her other friends had become, Scootaloo smiled at Dinky. “Will your mom be here?”
“No, she’s in Cloudsdale this week.”
“That’s right.” Scootaloo scolded herself mentally. “Mailmare training.”
“She goes once a year. But she did say she’s got a present for you!”
“Really?” Scootaloo brightened up, beaming at Dinky. “What is it?!”
“Wouldn’t be much of a present if you found out.” Dinky teased, winking at her. “Come to my house after the ceremony. You can open it then.”
“Awwright!” Scootaloo spun a circle with a wide grin, brushing a few of her classmates in the process. She apologized with a blush, but turned to Dinky with a happy grin. “I can’t wait!”
“Hey, just enjoy this.” Dinky sighed, looking around once more. “I didn’t get a graduation…”
“Yeah, but you graduated, right?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well duh.” Dinky rolled her eyes. “I’ve been taking a mail-in course from Canterlot the past year.”
“You’re in college?”
“Just to study arcane development,” Dinky blushed and kicked the grass field self-consciously. “I wanna be a teacher…”
“That’s great! Hey, how about this;” Scootaloo leaned close and nudged Dinky with a warm smile. “Since you didn’t get a graduation, we’ll give you one when we’re done here!”
“Really?” Dinky looked shocked. “How, though? Not like a whole school is gonna watch one dropout home-schooled filly accept her diploma.”
“Just you and me, then.” Scootaloo beamed. “I’ll think of something. But I think it’s about to start.” Scootaloo craned her neck to look at the stage, where Cheerilee and Twilight Sparkle appeared to be preparing to hand out their diplomas.
“Remember, come to my place after.” Dinky nudged Scootaloo’s flank with a teasing wink. Scootaloo beamed at her in return, nodding her understanding. It came with a blush, but she quickly shrugged that off. The ceremony was about to start…
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Clutching her diploma in clenched teeth and sporting full saddlebags, Scootaloo made her way to the opposite end of town, where Derpy and Dinky lived. Her heart raced and she couldn’t help but smile, which only made her drool against the hard case clenched in her teeth. As soon as Cheerilee had released them from any further obligation, Scootaloo had emptied her entire locker into her saddlebags and flown straight for Dinky’s house.
“I’m here!” Scootaloo called out as she knocked on the front door. Dinky opened it with a wide grin, ushering Scootaloo inside. She had to stop on the threshold, though, as a buffet of sound and cheer washed over her.
”CONGRATULATIONS!” Several ponies, mostly mail workers and friends of Derpy’s, cheered for Scootaloo just as she was showered with confetti, blasted with streamers, and buffeted by hugs and clapping.
“You guys!” Scootaloo managed to choke past the tears welling in her eyes. “Thank you so much!” Derpy’s house had been decorated brilliantly. Above the living room hung a banner reading ’Congratulations, Scootaloo!’ It was wreathed by streamers dangling from the ceiling, colorful balloons, and confetti on the floor. A nearby table held a cake with a graduation cap decorated on it, chips and salsa, punch, and all sorts of other treats. She was surrounded by well-wishers, asking to see her diploma, congratulating her, asking if she was going to go to college for anything.
Derpy was there, so was Ditzy, and even Rainbow Dash had managed to make it. Absent were her two ‘friends,’ but they had their own graduation parties to attend. That’d probably explain why Rarity and Applejack weren’t there. And as the party went on a little longer, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash excused themselves, saying they had other parties to attend. The crowd thinned out shortly, leaving half of the picked-at cake, most of the salsa, and a good amount of punch.
Scootaloo had almost forgotten. She excused herself from a group of mail ponies who were interested in letting her on the team to go retrieve her saddlebags.
“Dinky!” She whispered, ushering the pink unicorn aside. “Come on!”
“Wh-what?” Dinky went along with Scootaloo’s insistent tugging, stumbling a little on their way upstairs. “What’s up? Why are we going to my room?” She asked, blushing a little. Scootaloo just insistently pulled her along. Once inside, she fished her graduation gown and cap from the saddlebags.
“Here, put it on!” She urged, shoving the fabric into Ditzy’s face.
“Pfft! Scootaloo, this belongs to the school! I can’t wear this!” She protested, holding the gown up.
“I’m gonna take it back!” Scootaloo plopped the cap onto Ditzy’s head, leaving her horn poking out of the front. “Just wear it, and come downstairs in like, two minutes, okay?”
“O-okay…” Ditzy blushed and glanced at Scootaloo before pulling the cap off so she could properly wear the gown. Scootaloo dashed out of the bedroom and back downstairs in a flash.
“Hey!” Scootaloo flagged down one of the few unicorns in attendance, waving at the banner. “I need you to do us a favor.”
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”Congratulations, Dinky!” Everyone cheered as the pink unicorn came down the staircase, her eyes wide at the scene below. All of the ponies left cheered and hollered, Scootaloo the loudest among them, as her eyes took in the scene. The banner had been changed to her name instead of Scootaloo’s, and now everypony was cheering for her, not Scootaloo. She collapsed into happy tears just as the party-goers started hugging and congratulating her.
The party really kicked off then. Dinky, wearing Scootaloo’s graduation gown, and accompanied by her mother, cleared the living room floor just as upbeat music began to play, and everypony joined in on the dancing. They ate cake, played games, talked, laughed, danced, and sang well into the evening. Scootaloo felt happier just then than she had in her entire life.
Just as the sun began to touch the horizon, though, the music turned off and all of the mail team ponies began to gather. “What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked quizzically.
“Heh, sorry kiddo.” Derpy ruffled her mane playfully, eliciting a smile and a giggle. “You’re not part of the mail team yet. Soon, though. If you want to.”
“Whaddya mean?” Scootaloo looked up. All of the mail ponies were looking at one another and chatting excitedly.
“Dinky didn’t tell you?” Derpy arched her eyebrow. “The mail team is leaving for Cloudsdale for training.”
“Oh. She said you were going there today… I thought that was a cover-up for the surprise party, though…?”
“Well, not so much a cover-up as a convenient excuse. We DO have training today,” Derpy ruffled her mane again. “But we wouldn’t miss out on your graduation for anything, Scootaloo. Or Dinky’s, for that matter.” The pink unicorn joined them then, still somewhat teary-eyed, though her gown and cap were tussled from so much dancing. “We’ll be back in two days. I’d hate to leave without cleaning up, but we need to get there before dark. Can I trust you two to clean up right?”
“Of course.” Scootaloo grinned confidently. “It’s the least I can do. I wasn’t expecting a party or anything. I wasn’t even expecting to see you here.”
“Just glad I could help out, kiddo.” Derpy smiled once more before wrapping Scootaloo in a tender hug. “I’ll be back in two days. And we can have a few more lessons then.”
“Sounds like a deal.” Scootaloo embraced the grey mare warmly before pulling away. “I’ll have the place spotless when you come back.”
“You help out too,” Derpy ruffled Dinky’s mane, causing the hat to dance atop her head.
“Will do, mom.” Dinky bubbled. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
“See you, kiddo.” Derpy kissed Dinky right on the tip of her horn before joining the rest of the mail team on their way out of the door. Scootaloo and Dinky stood on the threshold, waving the last of the party-goers goodbye.
“Well.” Scootaloo looked at the jumbled living room, littered with cups and confetti and loose streamers. “We got our work cut out for us.”
“Let’s get to it.” Dinky grinned, her horn glowing as she passed Scootaloo a broom.
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“Phew!” Scootaloo collapsed on the couch, sighing contentedly.
“You’re telling me.” Dinky sat next to her, landing with enough force to jostle Scootaloo. In doing so, she scooted the two of them closer, just enough that they were touching. But she didn’t scoot away, so neither did Scootaloo. She was too tired to do anything, anyways.
The entire house had been cleaned, or at least the parts where the party was. Two full trashbags of confetti, cupcake doilies, cups, streamers, popped balloons, and the banner sat by the back door, ready to be taken out in the morning. The floors were swept, mopped, and vacuumed where applicable. The living room was rearranged, and everything was normal once more. The two tired mares sat on the couch, thankful to finally relax.
“What a day.” Scootaloo moaned.
“Hey,” Dinky drew her attention with a soft sound. Scootaloo glanced at her. She was blushing. Normally, Scootaloo found it hard to tell when Dinky was blushing. But the bright red splotches on her cheeks were rather obvious just then. “Th-thank you. For today.”
“You deserved it.” Scootaloo beamed, nudging Dinky with her knee. “Everypony deserves a graduation and a party.”
“Y-yeah…” Dinky blushed some more, still not looking at Scootaloo. “But, I mean…” She flustered a bit, her cheeks darkening even more. “It means a lot. Coming from… From you.”
“Huh?” Scootaloo leaned forwards a bit. “Whaddya mean?”
“I…” Dinky looked at her then, her eyes filled with tears. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before suddenly rushing forth. Scootaloo’s eyes went wide as their lips met.
’My first kiss?! What?! I don’t-‘
“Haah…” Dinky pulled away slowly, their lips emitting a rather sensuous and confusing sound as she ended the kiss. Dinky cried a few tears. “It meant a lot coming from you, because I really, really like you, Scootaloo.” Dinky wiped a hoof over her eyes, even as Scootaloo sat on the couch in stunned silence. “Ever since mom started helping you fly, I see you’re a lot like me… You’ve never really been good at something your entire race was designed to do. Just like I’m not a very good magic-user, you’re not a very good flier. And we got made fun of a lot for it. It made our school lives a lot harder. You’re like… A pegasus me.”
“H-hey,” Scootaloo blushed, raising her hooves slowly. “I-I don’t wanna like, curb your enthusiasm, but… You’re a really good magic-user.”
“But I wasn’t always.“ Dinky sat back and sighed. “When I was in school with all the other foals, I was terrible. And it took a long time after that for me to get good, too… And I still have a long ways to go.”
“Hey.” Scootaloo reached a hoof out, gently cupping Dinky’s chin. “You’re an amazing magic-user. And you’re going to do amazing things.” She smiled warmly, looking straight into Dinky’s beautiful eyes. “I know you will.”
Dinky sniffled a little, her lips pressed tight for a few moments.
“Really?”
“Of course.” Scootaloo smiled and removed her hoof, sitting back just a little. “I mean, if I can learn to fly even moderately well, you’re going to be an amazing unicorn.”
“Scootaloo!”
“HMPH!” Scootaloo grunted as Dinky’s entire body pressed against hers. The impact drove her sideways on the couch, and she managed (more out of reflex than anything else) to tuck her wings back against her body. Dinky landed on top, her lips plastered tight against Scootaloo’s. Her second kiss tasted like tears, but the curl of Dinky’s lips against hers betrayed the pink unicorn’s elation. Scootaloo wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the most recent development. She lay there, Dinky on top of her, the graduation gown between them, their lips tight, and her mind going very confusing places.
’This is DINKY here. And she’s KISSING me. I’ve never kissed another mare before. Heck, I’ve never kissed ANYPONY before! This is so weird… But I kind of like it… I mean, I like her too. She’s awfully cute, and her mom’s awesome, and she’s so kind and helpful and quirky…’
“Hmm-Mwah.” Dinky separated from the kiss with a very pronounced smacking noise, the kind that sent a shiver down Scootaloo’s spine. She looked up at Dinky and Dinky looked down at her for a few long, tense moments. Dinky spoke first.
“I really meant what I said, Scootaloo.” She blushed. “That it meant a lot coming from you… Mom and I threw our own little party when I finished my homeschooling, but it didn’t mean that much to me since it was just the two of us. Today, with the whole mail team and everypony else… I know you arranged it. Why else would you have brought your graduation gown when all the others changed out of theirs and left them at the school? And the banner, and everypony cheering me…” She smiled then. Laying underneath her, Scootaloo thought she had the most beautiful, genuine, and thankful smile she’d ever seen cross another pony’s lips. Her own mirrored it, and she blushed deeply.
“I just wanted to do something nice for you. Derpy’s a good teacher, but she wouldn’t be able to do what she did without your help. Really, all these months we’ve been training together, I should have done something for you sooner.”
“W-well,” Dinky blushed ever-deeper (her cheeks looked crimson by now) and looked down at Scootaloo. Her gaze took on a very different sort of look, one that made Scootaloo’s heart throb in her chest. “You can… Keep kissing me…?”
Scootaloo didn’t know if she ever wanted to stop.
With a gentle hoof, she pulled Dinky back down, who came only all too willingly. Their lips pressed together once more, and she moaned into the delightful embrace. Dinky’s lips were very soft, and the way she insistently pressed against her was rather cute. Scootaloo’s heart continued to throb harder and faster, even as the two mares began to deepened the embrace they shared. Their legs became tangled, and the graduation gown wasn’t helping anything either.
They broke apart for a few tentative, breathy moments before meeting in the middle once more, kissing insistently until their lips were pinched tight between their teeth. When they couldn’t possibly kiss one another any harder, when their lips began to hurt, they moved one step further. Scootaloo’s tongue acted almost on its own, slipping past her lips and between Dinky’s. There, she met the pink unicorn’s tongue.
The first contact was both shudder-inducing and strange. Scootaloo had never kissed anypony before, let alone like this. The slippery feel of Dinky’s tongue was addictive and made her squirm in ways she was loathe to admit weren’t that bad. The silky-smooth fabric of the graduation gown was rubbing her in all the right ways and all the right places, making her whimper thinly.
“Pwah… Haah… Should we…” Dinky panted several times, a thin trail of saliva spreading between their lips. “Move? Or something?”
“Where?” Scootaloo returned, her tongue emerging to lick up the stray spit. Doing so seemed to put Dinky in an even more awkward position than they were (an admirable feat for sure.) She stared dumbfounded down at Scootaloo for a few moments. Scootaloo gave her another peek of her tongue, this time licking her lips almost like she were looking at a delicious treat.
“M-my room?” Dinky finally managed to choke. Scootaloo grinned and squirmed in a way that said ‘well then let me up, silly.’ Dinky unceremoniously rolled off of the couch…
And straight onto her side.
“Ow…” She moaned, rubbing her flank with a blush of either embarrassment or arousal. Scootaloo just chuckled and rolled onto her hooves, straddling the prone unicorn for a few long, blissful moments.
“Tell you what,” She teased, leaning in to kiss the tip of Dinky’s horn. “Get me to your room and I’ll kiss it to make it feel better.”
“O-okay.” Dinky whimpered and got up. Scootaloo backed away and watched her.
In the aftermath of that heated, wet kiss, she was beginning to see Dinky in a very different light. Granted, whenever ponies hung around one another enough, they saw parts that weren’t exactly publicly visible. Training with Dinky had put Scootaloo in some awkward positions, so she was certain Dinky had seen her own marehood, but looking back on their time together, Scootaloo could only recall having seen brief glimpses of Dinky’s crotch. Watching the cute little unicorn rise to her hooves and lead her to the stairs, Scootaloo was rather frustrated she was wearing that graduation gown.
Her curiosity was growing moment by moment.
Only about five hours earlier, Scootaloo had been in this room, handing her graduation gown off to Dinky. Back then, handing her friend clothes had been a platonic experience, completely unremarkable in every way.
Now, after what they had done, the things they had shared… Scootaloo was paying much more attention to the trade of fabric than she ought to have. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and slowly sat near the entrance to the room. A wave of awkwardness passed her.
’I’ve never done anything like this before… Where the hell do I start? Do I tell her to take that gown off? Do I kiss her? Do we get on the bed?’
“Uum…” Dinky’s hesitant expression betrayed that she felt the same way Scootaloo did. “Do we… Want to get on the bed…?”
“That sounds like a starting place…” Scootaloo flushed and glanced at the ground. “But it’d be odd taking the gown off once we’re laying together, wouldn’t it?”
“True.” Dinky smiled faintly, her horn glowing as she grasped the fabric. Scootaloo watched with a growing sense of anticipation as Dinky finally took the damned gown off. The rumpled fabric fell to the floor, revealing a very slender and fit unicorn. Scootaloo had never paid attention to it before, but Dinky’s petite frame bore her femininity well. She was very shapely, but not overly curvaceous.
In short, she was perfect. Scootaloo had to swallow a mouthful of saliva as she slowly rose to all four hooves. She had been in Dinky’s room a few times before… There was even one night she got the privilege of sleeping over. She had slept downstairs on the couch, but most of that night was spent here in this room, chatting with Dinky about nonsensical things. Music, food, cute colts at school, that sort of thing…
Scootaloo suddenly saw the room in an entirely different light. Dinky’s bed was only big enough for one pony to sleep on. Two could lie on it, but only very uncomfortably. Doing something like kissing or… Or…
Or something like kissing was going to be tricky. Scootaloo swallowed as she stood at the edge of the bed. Dinky appeared to share her apprehension.
“How… How do you want to do this…?” She asked hesitantly. Scootaloo pondered that, trying hard not to think about how Celestia-damned cute Dinky looked when her mane was rumpled like that…
“It was almost easier on the couch…” Scootaloo grimaced, looking back towards the door with a slight sense of longing. Her train of thought was broken as Dinky kissed her neck.
“Let’s just go for it.” She offered. Wasting no time, Dinky jumped up onto her bed. Scootaloo waited, if only to hopefully catch a glimpse of what she wanted to see past Dinky’s tail. She might have caught a snatch, but it was difficult to tell with the color of Dinky’s coat. Swallowing her doubt and apprehension, Scootaloo slowly crawled up onto the bed.
“Like… This?” She asked awkwardly, straddling Dinky.
“This works.” Dinky stretched out underneath her, smiling up at the pegasus with that same look in her eyes. The same look she had had between their kisses. That half-lidded, lusty sort of look that made Scootaloo want to do things she had only in the magazines Sweetie Belle managed to swipe from Rarity now and then.
Her knees were suddenly very weak. She literally and figuratively collapsed into the kiss, her lips pressed tight against Dinky’s. They laid there like that, their tongues wrestling for dominance, their legs steadily becoming more and more tangled. Scootaloo gasped when Dinky’s leg rose between both of hers.
“Ahn!” She moaned, breaking the kiss with a fair bit of spit between them. Dinky moaned and kept kissing, her lips pressing along the line of Scootaloo’s jaw and down her neck. “Dinky!” Scootaloo moaned, feeling the unicorn’s leg grind and move in some of the most sensitive places.
“Hmm?” Dinky hummed, her mouth a little too preoccupied with giving Scootaloo a hickey. At least, that’s what it felt like.
’It’s just like when I touch myself… Only so much better.’ Scootaloo was no stranger to masturbation. She was, after all, a teenage filly with plenty of desires. But her stimulation usually took the form of hunky Wonderbolts posters, or the occasional ‘Playmare’ magazine (courtesy of an unwitting Rarity, once more.) Once she turned eighteen, she had invested in a few magazines of her own…
But all of them had colts.
Dinky was - very obviously - a mare.
Hence the second part of Scootaloo’s conundrum. She had an idea how intercourse worked normally… Between a stallion and a mare… How did mares make love?
“Scoots,” Dinky whimpered, her lips finally done torturing the pegasus’ neck. “You feel really wet down there…”
“D-do I?” Scootaloo whimpered. She flexed her core muscles, whimpering when she felt a bead of wetness trickle down her thigh. She shuddered softly, wanting nothing more than to explore this sensation with a hoof of her own. She drew a deep, shaky breath before letting it out. “I’m… Sorry?”
“Don’t be.” Dinky smiled up at her, giving Scootaloo another teasing kiss on her neck. “I like it… And it smells kind of nice…” Dinky inhaled as if to emphasize her point, and gave a soft moan of approval. “I wonder if it tastes like I think it does…”
“Y-you’re gonna lick it?” Scootaloo whimpered. She hadn’t exactly showered since that morning, and the party had featured quite a bit of dancing.
“Unless you don’t want me to…?” Dinky’s voice was borderline crestfallen. Scootaloo’s heart thundered into a panicked overdrive.
“N-no! I-I-I think I’d like that a l-lot! B-but…” She squirmed atop Dinky, half to work her dripping marehood against Dinky’s leg, half because she was embarrassed. “I haven’t showered in a while…”
“We can shower after.” Dinky smiled warmly up at her. “I promise, I won’t get grossed out or anything…” She blushed then, her eyes flickering to the side. “I-if you promise not to… Get weirded out by me or anything.”
“Never!” Scootaloo practically screamed it, but it came out as a squeak anyways. “No! I wouldn’t!” She reasserted herself a little more quietly. “You probably smell like flowers and taste like candy.” She wished she could have brought those words back as soon as she said them, but there they were, gone. Dinky didn’t glare at her or shove her off.
She laughed. It was an easy laugh, the kind Scootaloo had heard her make quite a few times before. But in light of the stupid things she had just said, and what they were planning, it was surprisingly relaxing. She cut the pink unicorn off with a tender kiss, moaning into her curled lips softly.
“Relax, Scootaloo.” Dinky smiled. “I’ve never done this before, either, so we’ll be each other’s firsts, okay?”
“O-okay.” Scootaloo nodded, slowly picking herself up.
’Holy crap, I WAS wet.’ Her marehood dribbled a thin bit of liquid onto Dinky’s leg, which was positively matted with it already. She blushed, knowing that much liquid would only make the smell worse, but Dinky glanced down the length of her body eagerly. No sense in making her marefriend (Were they marefriends now?) wait. The narrow bed wasn’t the most conducive to turning around, so Scootaloo flapped her wings to hover in the air above her before slowly turning around and settling atop the bed straddling Dinky’s face.
“Oh wow.” Dinky breathed. Scootaloo looked down the length of her own body at Dinky’s head resting between her hind legs.
“Wh-what?” Scootaloo almost tucked her tail against herself out of embarrassment. But Dinky’s hooves rose to gently lay on her flanks, right on where her cutie mark should have been.
“You look amazing down here…” She inhaled softly, closing her eyes as she leaned in a little. Scootaloo shuddered as she exhaled, the hot breath washing over all of the right parts. “It looks really cute… And kinda tasty.”
“Th-thanks…” Scootaloo had been too caught up in watching Dinky’s reaction that she hadn’t gotten the chance to see what she had been waiting for. Dinky’s hind legs lay beneath her head, completely spread open. Her straw-colored tail fanned out on the bed, and unless she was mistaken, a smell that wasn’t her own wafted past her nose. She inhaled as well, leaning in.
“Smells kinda like sweat…”
“Smells good.” Dinky replied. The soft, muttered words pulsed against Scootaloo’s marehood, making her whimper and flex again. Dinky gave a soft noise from her throat, and Scootaloo could swear she heard the wet sound of the unicorn’s tongue as it slowly moved forth…
“AHN!” Scootaloo’s entire world became pleasure.
’Holy FUCK! This is WAY better than using my hooves!’ Being licked down there was so new and unknown to her, Scootaloo didn’t have any words to describe it. Using her hooves was a clumsy and strange process, where the pleasure came in shuddering waves. But this was something else entirely. The pleasure was constant, like a steady rain or a bathtub’s spigot. It flowed into her, filling her inch by inch.
“Dinky!” Scootaloo panted, her limit rapidly approaching. “I’m gonna- AUGH!” Giving a very un-mare-like grunt, Scootaloo was pushed over the edge of her first lesbian orgasm.
And what an orgasm it was.
“Okay, Scootaloo,” Dinky teased, her low voice sounding husky and teasing. “I said shower after. I really hope this isn’t pee…”
“I-It’s not.” Scootaloo whimpered, her thighs quivering helplessly. “It’s something else… I dunno what, but it’s not pee…”
“Good. Because it actually tastes kinda good, and I don’t wanna stop licking you…”
“HNNG~ Hey!” Dinky’s tongue very insistently returned to Scootaloo’s dripping hole, licking eagerly. “No fair! Lemme get you back! H-hey! Sto-ho-ho-hoooopp…” Her complaint fell short, cut off by another firm stream of pleasure flowing fast and free into her. Her poor mind could only formulate one thought:
’Gotta pay her back!’
It tasted kind of bad. But not the kind of bad that turned her off. Scootaloo’s first attempt at licking another mare was clumsy, and she clenched her eyes against the taste, but it was kind of nice at the same time. Kind of like really expensive food you knew was strange, but you ate it anyways for the experience. To tell your friends you did it. Or simply because it was something you could look back on and say you did it.
While Scootaloo didn’t think she’d ever tell her friends she’d done something like this (aside from Dinky, of course,) she did want to look back on this and smile. So she focused less on the taste and more on the feel. Her own pleasure deadened into a dull sensation that still flowed, but didn’t quite spike or inundate her as it had previously. When she focused on licking Dinky, her own core didn’t seem so difficult to cope with.
She wasn’t sure when or how it happened, but Dinky came. Her tongue was suddenly coated with a musky, heady taste. It was just like earlier, only more pervasive. She nearly gagged, but managed to resist. She did, however, have to pull away and work her tongue to cope with it. Beneath her, Dinky’s pink hole pulsed visibly, dribbling a small bit of clear liquid onto the sheets.
“Woah,” Dinky panted, her hooves falling onto the cover. “I’ve never… Done that before…”
“What, squirted?” Scootaloo looked down between her legs. Dinky nodded, giving a soft sound from her throat to confirm. “Well, I guess I was your first in more ways than one, huh?” She teased, lifting one of her own hooves to gingerly rub Dinky’s crotch. She got a moan in return, so she kept doing it.
“Scoots,” Dinky panted, her thighs twitching now and then. “That… Feels really good… Don’t stop.”
“Never in a million years.” Scootaloo grinned and continued rubbing a little harder, her hoof grinding into Dinky’s pulsing marehood. Kissing her stomach while rubbing her clit seemed to do the trick, so Scootaloo settled on making her partner cum at least once more like this.
“Scoots! I’m- I’m- AHN!” Dinky’s pussy emitted a thin stream of cum against her hoof, spattering into the sheets lewdly. Scootaloo grinned down at her, watching as her pleasured expression fought to reconcile what she had just experienced. “Oh my stars,” Dinky panted, her eyes blinking unevenly. “That was… Holy fuck…”
“Good, huh?” Scootaloo teased, licking her hoof. The liquid didn’t taste so bad anymore. Maybe she was a little accustomed to it, or maybe watching Dinky cum had just put her in a mood. Either way, she continued licking, moaning with satisfaction.
“About that shower…?” Dinky asked quietly, still stretched out beneath Scootaloo.
“Can we take it together?”
“Of course.” Dinky squirmed, and Scootaloo leapt off of her bed. Dinky followed on unsure hooves, and she was even limping a little.
“I didn’t… Hurt you, did I?”
“No, not at all.” Dinky smiled bravely. “Just… It feels funny down there. Like I can’t quite control my legs…”
“Sorry…” Scootaloo dipped underneath Dinky’s foreleg, lifting a little of her weight.
“Thanks, Scoots.” Dinky smiled warmly before pointing them towards her bathroom. “I’m glad.”
“That you had sex?” Scootaloo offered with a teasing grin.
“No, silly.” Dinky nipped her ear, making Scootaloo falter a step. “I’m glad I graduated.”