//------------------------------// // Love in Manehattan // Story: Finding Love // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// "Hey, what's your name?" I looked up from my hooves to see a white Unicorn filly about my age with a curled pink and purple mane. She was offering a hoof to me with a smile. "Uh, Scootaloo," I said as I took her hoof, I was surprised honestly, most ponies at school ignored me ever since I had moved into town. "I'm Sweetie Belle," the Unicorn said with a smile. "Its nice to meet you Scootaloo, why are you sitting here all alone?" My ears drooped a little, how was I going to tell her? I was an orphan living in a foster home here in Ponyville, most foals just ignored me, or worse teased me when they found out. "Well, I'm still pretty new to Ponyville," I admitted to her, it wasn't a lie really, I had only been recently placed in Ponyville, but I wasn't really sure if I liked it here yet. "My, family just moved in a few days ago." "Yeah, same here," Sweetie Belle said as she sat down next to me with a sigh. "My parents are always running around doing something or another, so they asked my big sister to take care of me and got me enrolled in school here." "You're lucky, I've just got my parents," I said with a shake of my head. "Nopony ever really seems to want to hang out with me." "Well that's too bad you seem like a cool pony," Sweetie Belle said with a smile and got to her hooves, offering her hoof to me. "Come on, lets go play together!" I couldn't help but smile as we ran off together to the nearby playground. It felt nice to actually have somepony to play with for once. That was the beginning of a friendship that would last me the rest of my life. A year later we'd meet Apple Bloom and form the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and our lives would be set on a path that none of us truly understood back then. 00000 "Come on squirt, you're not going to spend all day in bed are you?" Momma Rainbow said as I yawned. "Come on, we're on vacation, vacations are meant for sleeping in," I said with a yawn and turned around in bed my back turned to her. "Besides I'm 18, if I want to sleep in you can't make me get up." "Oh really?" She asked, uh-oh, I was in for it now wasn't I? "Well, I'll just have to..." "I'm up, I'm up!" I protested as I jumped out of bed, making my adopted mother laugh. Me and my adopted moms Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been on a trip around Equestria after my graduation, which had brought us to Manehattan. We were going to be traveling for a few more days, which wasn't too bad, except it meant that I wouldn't be able to see my friends again until next week. It had been a few years since I had been adopted by Rainbow and Fluttershy and I couldn't be happier. I was even going to have a little sister soon, a spell had recently been developed that allowed two mares to have a child together, handy really. "So, where are we going today?" I asked as I ran a brush through my mane. "Oh, well Rarity, Applejack, and Sweetie Belle are in town visiting the Boutique, so I thought we'd pay them a visit," Rainbow said which made me pause. "I figured since you haven't seen Sweetie Belle since graduation you'd be happy to see her again." "Yeah, it would be great," I said with a small smile, honestly I did want to see her again, but at the same time, if I saw her again, all the feelings would come flooding back. "Scootaloo, you know I can tell when something is bothering you," Rainbow said as we went to go to where Fluttershy is. "Come on, I'll guess, what is it... you have a crush on Sweetie Belle don't you?" I let out an eep as I blushed heavily, Rainbow Dash laughed before she realized why I was blushing. "Oh my gosh, you really do don't you?" She asked and I nodded. "For how long?" "A couple of years now, I just, don't know how to tell her," I admitted with a blush. "I don't want to ruin our friendship." "I think you should tell her," Rainbow said as Fluttershy looked up at us with a smile. "You two have been friends for years after all." "I'll, think about it," I said with a shrug. "What are you two talking about?" Fluttershy asked curiously as she got up to join us. "Oh, Scootaloo has a crush," Rainbow said with a grin. "Mooom!" I groaned with a blush, which just made Rainbow laugh. "Come on you two, lets go," Fluttershy said and we headed out. 00000 We entered the boutique and honestly I had no idea what to expect, Rarity and Applejack were talking as we entered and smiled when they saw us. "Hey ya'll," Applejack said with a wave. "Long time no see." "Hey Rarity, Applejack," Fluttershy said with a smile. "Oh darling, how far along are you?" Rarity asked curiously as she noticed the slight bulge to Fluttershy's stomach. "Almost five months," she said with a smile. "Well Ah'm sure Scootaloo is lookin' forward ta bein' a big sister," Applejack said with a chuckle as she looked at me. "Yeah, I am," I said with a smile, it was actually kind of funny I had never thought of myself being a big sister until Fluttershy and Rainbow asked me what I thought about them using the spell. "Where's Sweetie Belle?" "Oh, she went down the street to pick some things up, she'll be back soon," Rarity said, that figured really. "She was really excited to get to see you again Scootaloo." "Really? That's, great," I said, looking around to try and hide the blush I could feel creeping up on my face as the bell at the door sounded. "When will she be..." "Scootaloo!" A familiar voice called out and I turned only to be hugged tightly by Sweetie Belle. "Its so good to see you again!" "Yeah, its good to see you again too," I said with a smile as I hugged her back, she was just as beautiful as I remembered, and she smelled, nice? Did she put on perfume for some reason? "How have you been?" Sweetie asked with a smile. "Oh, I'm good, though I'll be happy to get back home," I admitted, really I missed being able to spend time with my friends. "So, uh, why didn't Apple Bloom come along too?" "Oh, she and Big Mac had ta stay behind ta take care of tha farm," Applejack said. "She says she looks forward ta seein' yah again when yah make it back home." "So, Scoots... I was thinking..." Sweetie said as she trailed off a little for a moment before speaking up again. "There's this really nice restaurant a few blocks away, I was thinking maybe you and me could go there for lunch." Wait, did she mean that as friends or what? "Uh, what do you think moms?" I asked looking over at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "Oh go ahead Scootaloo, you two have fun!" Rainbow said with a grin, yeah, real big help there. "Darlings, you're grown mares, feel free to do as you want," Rarity said with a smile. "Shall we meet up for dinner later?" "Yeah, sounds good, lets go," Sweetie said and we headed out together. 00000 "Here's your table," the host said as we were seated at our table in the restaurant. "Your server will be here shortly." "Thank you," Sweetie said with a smile as we opened up our menus. "So how are things going in Ponyville?" I asked curiously as I checked over my options, geez this place wasn't cheap but Sweetie said she'd pay for it. "Great," Sweetie said with a smile. "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon got engaged recently, so that's something, not much has been happening other than that really." "Heh, really? Well I'm happy for them," I said with a light smile, though really it felt like everypony but me was finding a special somepony at times. "How about you? I'm sure the stallions are lining up to ask you out." "Well, that's definitely true," Sweetie admitted. "But honestly, I haven't really been dating anypony lately. The only pony I've ever been interested in hasn't really been in Ponyville lately and I don't really know how to tell them." "Oh, well, maybe you should tell them," I said with a frown, she already loved somepony else, I probably didn't stand a chance. "Yeah, maybe I should," Sweetie said. "Umm, how about you, are you seeing anypony special these days?" "Not really, I mean Rumble had that crush on me back in school, but we never really hit it off," I said with a shrug and closed up my menu once I had made a decision. "Really, I'm just waiting for the right pony." "I understand," Sweetie said as she closed up her menu too and looked at me with those beautiful green eyes of her's. "Scootaloo, there's something I need to tell you something, something I should've told you a long time ago..." "You can tell me anything Sweetie, we've been best friends for years," I said with a smile as I took Sweetie's hoof in mine. "And, there's something I want to tell you too." "Okay, you go ahead," Sweetie said with a smile. "Sweetie, I..." I started to say but paused as I tried to figure out just how to say it. "You're one of the best friends I've ever had, you make my life special and..." "And what?" Sweetie asked curiously. "Since High School, I've been in love with you," I said with a blush, which made Sweetie's eyes go wide. "I've been wanting to tell you but, I was afraid of how you'd react, I didn't want to ruin our friendship." Sweetie just sat there for the longest moment in stunned silence. For a moment I was afraid that she was going to hate me or something because of this. Maybe telling her wasn't a good idea after all, I could always find somepony else, right? But how would I find somepony as amazing as Sweetie Belle. "Scootaloo, you have nothing to worry about," Sweetie said with a smile as she finally broke the silence as she moved in closer. "I love you too Scootaloo, I have ever since high school." "You, really love me too?" I asked surprised. "Yeah, I invited you here so I can tell you finally," she said. "I love you more than anything Scootaloo." "I love you too Sweetie," I said and leaned in and kisses her. It was the happiest moment of my life, I couldn't believe that she really loved me. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the kiss. "Uh, I'm sorry for interrupting, but are you ready to order?" The waitress asked as we broke the kiss. "Oh, of course, sorry," I said with a blush but smiled at Sweetie as we started to order our food. 00000 That night at dinner I was seated next to Sweetie Belle and took a deep breath as we looked over at our families. "So, umm, how was lunch?" Fluttershy asked as she looked at us. "It was, really good," I said with another blush as me and Sweetie exchanged looks, we had already decided to tell them, it was just a matter of figuring out how. "Yeah," Sweetie said with a smile. "Listen, there's, something we want to tell you." "What is it Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked. "Me and Scootaloo are dating," Sweetie said with a smile on her face as she wrapped a foreleg around me. "That's great!" Rainbow said with a smile as she ruffled my mane. "See Squirt, I told you that you had nothing to worry about." "Thanks," I said with a smile as I nuzzled Sweetie gently, wrapping a wing around her. "I have two wonderful moms and a wonderful marefriend, I couldn't be happier." Sweetie smiled and nuzzled back. "Same here." I just smiled and gave my marefriend a long passionate kiss, I didn't care who was watching, I loved Sweetie Belle more than anything. I knew it was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. 00000 That night I was laying on the bed in my hotel room with Sweetie Belle. I looked up at the ceiling, thinking about how things had changed just over the last day. Sweetie Belle, my best friend ever since we were fillies, was now my marefriend, it was what I had dreamed of since we were in High School together. But still, I hadn't really ever expected it to happen. "So, what's the latest word on your singing career?" I asked Sweetie curiously. "Oh, its been going pretty well," she said. "Octavia and Vinyl have helped me get a few gigs and a record so that's something." "That's great," I said with a smile as I nuzzled her gently. "You made me the happiest mare in Equestria today." Sweetie smiled and snuggled up to me, wrapping her forelegs around me gently and smiling. "And you made me just as happy, I love you Scootaloo Dash." "I love you too Sweetie Belle," I said and Sweetie levitated the covers over us before she started to drift off to sleep. I smiled and gave her one more kiss before draping my wing over her. I was going to do everything I could to keep her happy, Sweetie Belle was now officially my special somepony. I smiled at that thought and drifted off to sleep, keeping Sweetie close to me.