I want to change!
Scootaloo finished her story with a relieved sigh and had finally calmed down her trembling wings. Her friends care had helped her a lot with this task at hoof. Spikes claw laid warm on her check and a hoof from Sweetie Belle hugged her gently.
"...I just wanted to see Mum again and now she simply didn't show up.."
Spike caressed her check for the last time and let loose. He sounded calm, as he turned around in a search for a quill and some ink.
"She is definitely really sad about this, Scootaloo.
I would say you shouldn't be sad too.
In the meantime, you should rather write her a letter on your own.
When you're writing her a get well soon letter,
she'll surely recover much faster, don't you think?"
Finally Spike found a sheet of paper and a quill. He posed a little and awaited her letter.
"But Mum is surely too sick to go to the mailbox and..."
The wings trembled again and her voice faded more and more away.
Spike smiled very friendly and replied.
"Let me handle this, okay?"
Before he was able to explain further, the moving hooves sounded downstairs and Twilight trotted into the room.
"Spike, good timing. I just wanted to send a letter to.."
She spotted the untouched cake and the mugs full of cocoa on the sideboard and smiled delighted.
"Oh you have been waiting for me. How kind of you."
Scootaloo drooped her head again and searched the ground for any kind of secure. She sighed soundly, as she didn't find it anywhere. Sweetie Belle otherwise jumped back on her hooves and copied the bright smile from Twilight.
"We're just cheering Scootaloo up a little bit and..."
She squeaked more and more and Twilight raised a hoof to cut her explanation short. She cocked her head and looked at Scootaloo more or less curious. Her words were neither questioning nor pushing in any matter.
"Rainbow is sorry about... Well I just don't know for what precisely. What's your matter anyway?"
Spike opened his mouth, but a fast look from Scootaloo let him stay silent. The small pegasusfilly shook her head and stood up too.
"You have heard it. I can't fly."
Twilight bit her lips, the filly sounded angry and hurt at the same time and her wings supported these feelings with more trembling. Twilight tried an apologetic prancing, but the filly seemed not even mention her efforts.
"And Rainbow had looked so...so..."
Scootaloo stammered her disappointment out and tears were gathering in her eyes again.
"so...pitying..."
This was the last word, Twilight could understand, before Scootaloo pressed her eyes shut and gnawed on her lips again. The elder mare looked at the other filly in the room, who ran her hoof over the ground and squinched her face in an enquiring matter. Before she was able to ask anything, Sweetie Belle stepped up to her and whispered.
"This is the reason why she has come down here for the first time.
Every pegasus in Cloudsdale had looked at her in this way and she didn't liked it."
Twilight shook her head and her tail was moving fast from left to right. She blinked in confusion and whispered another question.
“But this isn't a bad thing or is it?”
Her voice hit Scootaloo loud enough, that she opened her eyes again and eyed up the elder unicorn for a long time.
“Not a bad thing?
Not a bad thing. Imagine for one sec that you can't do what everypony can do and everypony knows it.
Everypony looked at you as they would say: you're none of us. You are wrong...
I won't be looked at, like they do. I won't...”
First she yelled at Twilight, but the appalled looks from her and Sweetie Belle, let her voice fading and the last words she just whispered. Twilight looked stranded to Spike, who's quill sent slowly an ink drop down to the ground. But her assistant didn't know what to say either. Sweetie Belle stepped closer to her friend and smiled cautious in her face.
“You know, it's like...”
She started, but a glance from Scootaloo silenced her again. So the unicorn drew circles on the ground, not sure what to say. The other filly trembled and starred at Twilight, who retrieved apparent unwell to the cake and lifted a knife with her magic.
“Do you want same cake?”
This felt out of her mouth as an obvious try to distract everpony. Spike shook his head in disbelief and looked at her with his usual, are you kidding me look, but thankfully Sweetie Belle understand her policy here. She knocked once on the ground with a hoof and lifted Scootaloos face with it. She starred concern into the tear stained eyes of the elder pegasus and spoke up without any squeak.
“And when you are like you are.
Everypony was looking at you the way they did because...”
Scootaloo opened her eyes wide and the tears flowed down. Sweetie wiped them gently out of her face and lifted her hoof back to her watering eyes. She spoke quieter but sharper at the same time.
“You are a little whiner,
who everpony has to be pity with.”
Sweetie turned over to Twilight, her tail lashed in the direction of Scootaloos face, but didn't hit her actually. Scootaloo shied away anyway. The unicorn stepped closer to the sideboard and her voice softened.
“Yes please, Twilight.
I love cherrycake and I would like to have a mug of cacao too, Spike.”
The little dragon took Scootaloo in an estimated look, who followed then Sweetie Belle. The unicorn turned her back to Scootaloo with ostentation. She get a piece of cake, turned over to her friend and took a bite. The other filly looked puzzled at first, then pensive and finally she bit her lips. Her hooves wiped over her eyes a few times, then arranged her mane properly and stroked away the tears in it. She shook away her shivers and put a forced smile back on her face.
“May I...”
She spoke quietly and her voice even cracked. Scootaloo swallowed a sob and cleared her throat. She stepped beside Sweetie Belle.
“Please may I have a slice of cake too, Twilight?”
Yes the filly sounded faster as usual and Twilight saw still some tears gathering in her eyes. However she smiled back and lifted up a piece of cake to Scootaloo with her magic.
“Of course.”
Twilight looked at Spike, who shook his head again and turned finally away. He sat down on the first stair to her bed and tipped with the quill on the paper. The fillies and Twilight enjoyed the cake, the cacao and were talking about this and that, without any bad feelings. At least mentioned feelings. In which Scootaloo had to push herself really hard to suppress her bad feelings and Sweetie Belle tried to push it away with excessively joy. Twilight played along a little bit embarrassed, but Spike didn't have it. He planned to wait till the fillies have say goodbye and then wanted to follow Scootaloo.
Scootaloo went upstairs into the basement and said goodbye to Twilight.
“Would you please come back tomorrow, Scootaloo?
We have something else to do together.”
The filly nodded and opened the door. Sweetie Belle followed her and Spike tried too, but the door closed before him with the light of Twilights magic. Scootaloo heard an argument behind the closed door, but she wasn't interested in the subject of it and started to gallop. Sweetie rushed after her. It was very exhausting for the little unicorn to keep up with her pegasus friend but she was determined to stay with her no matter what. After the first corner however Scootaloo slowed down and even halted.
“I'm sorry, Sweetie. I would like to be alone.
Thanks. It was...fun.”
Her voice sounded affected and Sweetie could spot a few tears in her eyes. She nodded silently and turned around.
Scootaloo ran home, tried to control herself, until she was sure to be alone in her room. As she was she jumped on her bed, pressed her face into the pillow and stayed like this for many minutes. Sunny Rays had heard, that her niece come home and scudded into her room without any greetings. She trotted silently after her and looked into her room. There she saw her laying in her bed. She simply couldn't miss the sobs and the crying. So she let her hoof wandering over the ground very nervously and considered what she had to do. Finally she shook herself and passed the threshold. She stepped beside the bed, lifted one of her wings slowly, before she let it drop again.
Finally she sighed and covered the filly with her wing. She gently caressed her uncertain whether or not the filly even noticed her efforts inexperienced as she was,
but she continued anyway.
“I'm sorry Scootaloo, that Curryfeather isn't able to be here for you.”
She spotted the letter from her sister and stopped her calming words. She read it and shook her head.
“But she is sick and...”
The affected voice sounded out from under her wing and reached her ears. A shiver ran over her, as the words went deeper.
“This isn't what bothers me now, Aunt Sunny.
Rainbow Dash has me...today...”
The mare lifted her wing and put a hoof around her niece.
“What did she do, Scoot?
Was she mean to you?”
Sunny sounded angry and disappointed and she fondled gently over the tiny wings with one hoof.
“She has...she has... looked at me so pitying...”
Sunny Rays let out a low sigh and shook her head. Curryfeather had of course told her and the last talk about it started to whirl around in her head.
“I will talk with her about that, okay?”
Scootaloo startled, starred at her aunt even scared and grabbed her hoof.
“Please don't, aunt Sunny.
I won't...
I want to get better and...”
Her voice was trembling, but her eyes were clear and focussing themselves into the eyes of the elder mare. Sunny Rays had a clouded expression at first, but the firm look from the filly convinced her finally.
“Alright, but if you need help don't be afraid to ask me or Cheerilee, okay?”
Scootaloo nodded.
“You know, I have a few friends, who I can ask for help too.”
Sunny Rays nodded and smiled.
“I know, Scoot. Oh right, you got a letter.”
Scootaloo cocked her head and looked at the small letter from her mum. But aunt Sunny shook her head.
“No Scootaloo. Your friend Fluttershy had written to you.”
Scootaloo looked at her very puzzled and Sunny Rays laid down a letter in her hooves.
Dear Scootaloo,
it must be very confusing, to hear from me, while we just meet once, isn't it?
If it bothers you, you simply needn't answer.
I surely understand this probably concerns of you.
But if you like to, you could come to visit me once.
If you don't want to, I understand and don't want to make you uncomfortable.
If you want to, we can talk with a nice cup of tea
and maybe I can help you out if you like to.
I know what it means to be new down here.
I even know how it is like to be to shy to speak up on your behalf.
I'm looking forward to hear from you or even see you again.
Yours
Fluttershy.