//------------------------------//
// Lies on a school-day. 
// Story: A Game of Homes. 
// by Lethrael 
//------------------------------//

Lies on a schoolday.

Scootaloo starred at both earthponys and tried to listen to the conversation. Because of the noises around her, she only heard the last words.
“...and that's why we are late, Miss Cheerilee.”
The teacher glanced at Scootaloo and cocked her head.
“My little ponies, please sit down.”
Scootaloo took the order as fast as she can and sat down on her seat. She looked to the other fillies in her line and smiled friendly to Sweetie Belle, who sat two seats on the left. Between them sat the crème coloured earthpony and pushed back her glasses with one hoof. 	Cheerilee nocked with a hoof on the desk and the remaining schoolponies silenced and sat down. Scootaloo was distracted by a low giggle behind her. She turned over and looked to the line behind her and saw the source of the giggle, the grey earthpony. It grinned at the pegasusfilly and shook her head with a slight glance of  rejection in her eyes.
“Scootaloo, are you listening?”
She turned surprised back and put a pen and a piece of paper out off her saddlebacks. She laid it down on her desk with one hoof and looked to the teacher. Again somepony snickered behind her in a low voice.

For the rest of the entire school day, she took attention and wrote everything down, even the homework she noticed on her papers. Just as the bell finished the school day with a nice sound, Cheerilee headed to her desk. 	She looked stern and spoke up with such a firm voice, that Scootaloos ears twitched once.
“Please wait and stay here, Scootaloo. You too, Sweetie Belle.”
The fillies looked at each other and sat down on her seats. Laughter passed by Scootaloo, as the pink filly with the crown and the grey with the tail went slowly out off the room. They grinned to the fillies on the front line with a wide smile, as they went over the doorstep finally. Cheerilee shut the door behind them and headed back to the nervous fillies. She beckoned Sweetie Belle to step closer and the unicorn sat down on Twist's seat. Finally Cheerilee glanced stern to the fillies. They gave each other a short look and Sweetie Belle was just as confused about what was to come as Scootaloo was. But Cheerilee didn't let the confusion grow much longer. She sounded fairly disappointed, but a questioning under tone was audible too.
“I heard, you two have been mean too Diamond  Tiara and Silver Spoon. 
They were afraid of your actions and didn't dare to enter the classroom, as long as I haven't arrived. 
What are saying about this?”
Both fillies starred at each other very surprised  and Sweetie Belle opened her mouth first.
“What...when somepony had act badly, then these two. This isn't fair, they...”
Cheerilee raised a hoof and stopped the burst out words from Sweetie Belle. She turned over and  looked directly at Scootaloo.
“Just a moment, Sweetie Belle. I know you wouldn't do such a thing on yourself. 
But I don't know you quite as well as her right now, Scootaloo.”
The elder pony searched her eyes and looked firmly at her. Scootaloo lost the eye contact for a moment and thought about her past mistake. Her wings trembled and she bit her lips, to calm herself down a little bit. As she was calm enough to speak, she looked back into Cheerilee's eyes.
“Maybe, I have done something wrong, when I introduce myself...”
She spoke with a lower voice then usual and stood slowly up. The teacher cocked her head and tried to say something, but felt silent, as she saw, that the filly wasn't finished with her explanation. Scootaloo continued and told her about the first meeting with the earth ponies.
“I just wanted to say hello and have done what my aunt had taught me. 
She thought earthponys wouldn't understand the wing language quite easily. 
So I should work more with the hooves. It is a little bit difficult for me to do it right. 
Eventually I had done something wrong with my hooves and...”
Cheerilee interrupted her stammered explanation and a confused expression wandered over her face. She spoke up a little bit gentler and guided the filly back to her seat, to let her sit down again.
“They told me that you were really mean to them and even badmouthed them. 
They told me you tried to trip them with your hoof. 
What are you saying to this?”
Scootaloo opened staggered the mouth and her wings opened widely, too. She stood up and rumbled around on the wooden floor, then she gave Sweetie Belle a short look. The other filly was quite as surprised, as she was and gnawed at her lips. Scootaloo shut her eyes closed and took a deep breath. Anyway she spoke up faster and more nervous, as she wanted too and became faster and faster in her pace.
“This...this isn't true, Miss Cheerilee. I didn't do such rude things, I promise. I wanted just to say hello in a friendly manner. I have done this. Just this.”
She demonstrated the prancing, the gently running with a hoof, the shaking tail and smiled nervously finally. Her wings started to tremble more, possibly it was wrong what she had learned and she has...A drop of sweat ran down her face. What if she insulted Miss Cheerilee with that.
“I don't mean to do anything wrong...I should go to them and apologize for my wrongdoing...”

Just now, Sweetie Belle couldn't held herself more, she jumped off her seat and pushed her hoof hard on the wooden floor. Her voice trembled and reached for new heights.
“You haven't done...anything wrong.”
She squeaked after the first words and softened into a whisper. She paced up and down in the classroom and babbled for a while incomprehensible words. Squeaking noises made it impossible for Scootaloo to understand one of them. Finally Cheerilee caught her and led her back to the seat. Scootaloo stood there, where she had finished her demonstration and overthought, if she had done something different at this morning. Her wings trembled even more and her eyes looked down on the ground. 	Cheerilee placed Sweetie Belle beside the bigger pegasusfilly and looked at both of them.

“I trust you, Scootaloo. And no your greeting is right and very friendly.
But I don't believe, that Diamond Tiara would simply lie to my.
So, please write her a letter as an apology. 
And you Sweetie Belle write one for Silver Spoon as well.
In minimum thirty words, alright?
I want, that you'll read t in front off the class tomorrow.
Now you can leave.”
They were trying to speak up, but Cheerilee didn't let any protest slip through her firmly glance. Scootaloo sighed finally and put her saddleback on. She smiled to Sweetie Belle, as she finished too and pushed the door open. Snickers were welcoming her again. The unfriendly earth ponies stood in front of her and had a fake smile on their faces.	They pointed directly to the fillies in the door and opened their mouths.
“Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, I have to talk with you.”
Cheerilee appeared after the friends in the warm sunlight and the earth ponies lost their smile. This didn't sound good. The four students traded places and the door closed behind the two earth ponies. Sweetie Belle starred to the schoolhouse for a while, she searched for words, but didn't find anyone. Scootaloo on the other hoof turned over quickly and jogged slowly down the road.

“Sweetie Belle, would you like to show me the way to the flower field now...”
Her friend turned over too, galloped beside her and ejected a bunch of angry words.
“It's not fair Scoot! 
We didn't do anything wrong but she punishes us anyway! 
Just because they are lying! 
It's so unfair!”
She squeaked the last sentence, laid a hoof on her mouth and blushed. Scootaloo smiled gently and put down one of her hooves on Sweetie's hoof. 
She tried to answer calmly, but sounded agitated too.
“I know, Sweetie. But what should we do?
We can't say more then the truth! Right?”
Just now she stroke the ground angrily with one hoof.
“These birdbrained dodos just don't have enough wind under their wings and instead more in their heads.”

First Sweetie Belle starred confused at her friend, then a smile raised on her face. As it grow more to a real laughter she tried to pushed it back with her holding hoof, but she couldn't held it back for long. She cracked up and even tumbled down on the ground. She put her hooves around her body and was rolling on the floor laughing.
“What gives?”
Scootaloo didn't understand, what she had done wrong and looked confused to her friend. She was so out off her mind, that she only first could snort.
“You have...you have...you have...”
Every time a hard laughter interrupted her, as she tried to explain. The other filly shook her head and smiled, because she didn't know what else to do. Finally Sweetie Belle calmed down and panted heavily. Even tears of joy were gliding down her face. 	She looked up to her friend and smiled widely. She giggled once more, took another deep breath and picked herself up. At the same time she wiped away the tears with a hoof.
“Wind in the head....is this a pegasus insult? I have never heard of it.”
Again she could just barely suppress a laughter. Scootaloo nodded and chocked her head. She smiled too.
“Yeah, we said this in Cloudsdale sometimes.
If someone didn't learn...to fly fast enough.
Or if somepony said something stupid.”
Her face let got her smile and she even drooped her head. She remembered Ice Prism and her clique. This memory let her frown.

“It seems, that even wind under your wings doesn't help you, Stubby.”
Three flying silhouettes were passing by her and she heard their laughter.

Sweetie Belle saw the trembling wings and the eyes, which were seeing direct through her. She nudged Scootaloo gently.
“Scootaloo, are you alright?”
The pegasus shook her memory back and pretended a smile. She pressed her wings firmly at her body and tölted on the spot.
“You wanted to show me the flower field today, didn't you?”
Sweetie Belle smiled again, nodded and rushed forward.

Dear Mummy...

Scootaloo put away the quill and looked at her desk on the other side of her room. There laid the letter from mum and she smiled as she remembered.	Aunt Sunny had picked her up from Sweetie Belles house after supper and saw her home. Scootaloo was indeed a little bit disappointed, that she couldn't sleep a second night by her friend. 	But the greeting in her room had compensated it. Mum had sent a parcel with toys, clothes and school stuff. She had also sent a letter with it. Scootaloo had opened it very excited.

Dear Scootaloo,
I am so, so sorry, but I haven't been able to come by today. 
I'm sure you must be disappointed and I'm really sorry about that. 
I just can't leave Cloudsdale at the moment. My friends need me.
I can't leave them so easily. 
Somepony has to help them with their problems and you know, 
I can't let my friends hanging. So this pony is me.
I will try to find another pony, to help them, but it will take time to find somepony else.
So for the next few weeks, we will set this up, okay?
I'm going to stay two days in a row up here in Cloudsdale to help my friends.
Then I will return to you and spent the whole day with you.
I'm going to write to Miss Cheerilee to excuse you from school that days.
I promise we will do this every other day, from now on. I'm very much looking forward to it
we can cook together and I'm so looking forward to hear all about 
how you have been doing and about your new friends.
I'm really very sorry that I couldn't come as originally planned, 
but now there is a whole day to look forward to and I can't wait for it to come
Love and kiss
Mum.

First her wings trembled, but the further she read, the calmer she get. It would surely help Mum to be happier and she had to go to school just every other day, right? 	That should be cool. But first she had to tell Mum about Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle. She was afraid, that her letter would get to long and put it off till Mums return.

Rainbow Dash,

I think you are...
you're my hero...
I thank you for...

Scootaloo scrunched the note with a sigh, as she had started over three times. She yawned and put away the pen. She could write a letter for Rainbow Dash tomorrow. 	Luckily she had finished the one for Diamond Tiara first.

Dear Diamond Tiara,

I 'm so sorry to scare you.
I didn't want to badmouthed you and hope you forgive me.
Couldn't we be just friends?
I hope you show me once, how somepony introduce herself friendly to another.
I'm just moving in a while ago, do you know.

Your classmate Scootaloo.