Yet again, Natalya’s stay in Ponyville had lured her into doing something she had never dreamt of doing before: Reading for fun… voluntarily.
Natalya had never found the urge or need to pick up a book. After all, she was an athlete, and time spent reading meant time not being used to help her win competitions. It did not help that the Griffonstone Library was nothing more than a group of shelves containing worn out, torn books that had been left out in the open for who knows how long.
But here she was, sitting upright in her bed at the Castle of Friendship with a book in her paws.
It had been a few days since Natalya’s failed attempt at jumpstarting her Sonic Rainboom training. Her sprained foreleg had mended, and the hospital allowed her to return to the Castle of Friendship while her broken wing continued to heal. However, Natalya did not regain as much freedom as she had hoped; Doctor Horse had ordered her to refrain from putting too much exertion on her foreleg, which meant that Natalya could not do many of her exercises, nor take on some more odd jobs for bits.
With her choice of activities severely limited, Natalya turned to the Daring Do books that Rainbow introduced to her. While she did not develop the same fervent zeal for Daring Do like her friend possessed, Natalya had found the explorer pegasus interesting enough to warrant further reading into the book series.
Fortunately, Twilight had found out about Natalya’s newfound interest in the Daring Do series and had lent the griffon her entire collection. Natalya balked when she found out that there were more than two dozen Daring Do books.
Finishing another chapter in the book, Natalya’s eyes needed a brief respite from the extensive reading. She placed a bookmark with Twilight’s cutie mark, also on loan from the alicorn, between the pages and closed the book.
Setting the book aside, Natalya shifted in the quilt that was draped over her lower half and made by Fluttershy. She leaned over and reached toward her night stand for a bottle of apple juice, one of several that had been gifted by Applejack. After taking a huge swig of juice, she placed the bottle back on the night stand, next to a box of pastries from Pinkie and Gilda.
Natalya was still getting used to all the attention she received since her crash. Besides Rainbow and Scootaloo, the other friends she had made had visited her in the hospital at least once to give her a kind words and a get well gift.
Even Rarity made an appearance to give her a new white and dark-grey scarf, which now hung on a wall hook near the door. Natalya was surprised to receive a gift from the unicorn, given the fact that her first interaction with Rarity participating in a prank on her.
Once she was situated back into a comfortable position, Natalya picked the book back up to continue her quiet reading.
“Yo, Natalya!” Rainbow hollered as she barged through the door. “You gotta come—Oh hey, you’re reading Daring Do and the Abyss of Despair! Did you get to the part where Daring Do—”
“Stop. Just stop, Rainbow,” Natalya warned without taking her eyes off the book. “Knowing you, you’re just going to blurt out something and spoil the story for me.”
“I only made that mistake once, and Twilight didn’t have that big of a breakdown. But, yeah, I get your point. Glad to see that you’re catching up on Daring Do.”
“It’s just something to pass the time while I get better.” Natalya looked up from the book. “So, what do you want, Rainbow?”
“Pinkie is throwing a huge party at Sugarcube Corner, and I came to get you. Hurry up, Twilight and Spike are waiting on us.”
Natalya made an annoyed grunt. “Wasn’t that party we had when I got out of the hospital enough? We had it here in the castle with you, me, Gilda, Pinkie, Twilight, and Spike.”
“This party isn’t for you. It’s a Cute-ceañera.”
“A Cute-cewhata?”
“A celebration for when a pony gets their cutie mark.”
“Ah…” Natalya raised the book so that it covered her face. “Not interested.”
“You sure?”
“Mhmm…”
“Even when the Cute-ceañera is for somepony you know? Somepony that you like?”
Natalya lowered her book slightly so she could peer over the top at Rainbow. “Who?”
“I’ll give you a hint.” Rainbow moved to the side of the room and pointed at a drawing stuck to the wall with a piece of tape.
The picture was crudely drawn with crayon. On the left side was a blue pony stick figure with a rainbow mane, and on the right side was a white one with patches of dark-grey, along with a small dark-grey triangle in front of its face. Between those two figures was a smaller orange pony with a magenta mane, and at the bottom of the drawing were the words “Get Well Soon Natalya!”
Natalya lowered the book even more, revealing her whole face to Rainbow. “Scootaloo got her cutie mark?”
“She sure did! Along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They got matching cutie marks, which is like beyond awesome!”
Natalya did not know that much about cutie marks, but she did know that getting one was a big deal for ponies. It was like a rite of passage for a growing kid.
“I have to go, don’t I?” Natalya asked.
“You know that she would love to have you there,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Yeah, I do.” Natalya sighed, placing the book aside and sliding off the bed. “Alright, alright. I’m going.”
Since Natalya was still grounded, she and Rainbow exited her room and headed downstairs, where Twilight and Spike were waiting for them at the door.
“You guys ready to head to the Cute-ceañera as well?” Rainbow asked the purple pair.
“We sure are!” Twilight proclaimed. Rolls of parchment and a quill appeared next to her in her magic. “I can’t believe it! Matching cutie marks! It’s such a rare, phenomenal occurrence! I have so many questions to ask them!”
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike spoke up, poking the alicorn’s side. “Maybe you can save that for another day? We’re going to a party, and I don’t think the Crusaders want to spend the entire time answering your questions.”
“Yeah, Twilight,” Rainbow agreed. “Cut the research schtick out for once. Let the fillies have their fun.”
“But… but… research…” Twilight pouted and whimpered. She then sighed and nodded, magicking the parchment and quill away in a burst of light. “I guess you’re right. They certainly deserve it, and it is their party after all.” She then turned and smiled at Natalya. “Good to see that you are able to attend the Cute-ceañera as well, Natalya.”
“Rainbow would’ve gotten me there one way or another anyway, so I might as well go willingly,” Natalya replied.
“You got that right!” Rainbow cheered. “Now come on; we can keep talking while we walk. We don’t want to be late.”
As the four of them left the castle and began walking toward the party, they quickly noticed that more than a few ponies were heading in same direction, no doubt attracted to the Cute-ceañera as well.
“So how are you doing with the Daring Do books I lent you, Natalya?” Twilight asked as they made their way down the street. “I know that Rainbow already read the first one to you while you were in the hospital.”
“I finished the second one last night, and I’m now working on the third one,” Natalya answered. “I have to admit, it’s making my recovery a lot more bearable.”
“Knew you would like it. Nopony can resist Daring Do,” Rainbow commented, gently elbowing Natalya with a smug grin. “You know, there’s a Daring Do convention coming up. Twilight and I already got tickets, but you—”
“No,” Natalya flatly rejected. “I might be interested in Daring Do, but I’m not that interested.”
“Aww, come on! You gotta come! Daring Do will be there to talk about her latest adventure!”
“You mean the author, A. K. Yearling, will be there to talk about her latest book, right, Rainbow?” Twilight amended, flashing a stern glare at the pegasus.
“Oh, um, right! I meant A. K. Yearling because Daring Do is totally not real,” Rainbow amended, flashing an all-too-wide grin.
Natalya glanced back and forth between Rainbow and Twilight’s odd exchange, but she shrugged it off, dismissing it as a Daring Do fan thing.
When they reached Sugarcube Corner, the party was already underway as a huge crowd of ponies celebrated in front of the bakery.
Pinkie must have predicted the large turnout and had set the party up outside. Multiple long tables had been placed around the area, all laden with various confectioneries. Just about every single inch of the area was decorated as a plethora of colorful banners and balloons were tied to various fixtures all over the place. Pinkie and Gilda could also be seen patrolling around the party, quickly resupplying any tables that were running low on sweets.
The main attraction was one larger banner was hanging above the entrance to Sugarcube Corner, depicting what Natalya presumed to be the Crusaders’ new cutie marks. The matching cutie marks were three vertical stripes of red, pink-white, and violet in a shield shape with a magenta symbol within a dark-violet one at the center. Those objects in the center were the only things that differentiated the cutie marks from one another, One was an apple within an apple, while another was a music note contained in a star. The final one was a pegasus wing around a lightning bolt, which Natalya was sure belonged to Scootaloo.
Unsurprisingly, at the center of the crowd and right in front of Sugarcube Corner were Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, along with Applejack and Rarity, as pony after pony walked up to them to congratulate the fillies.
“I’m heading over to Scootaloo,” Rainbow informed. “You guys coming?”
“I think it’s better to just let the Crusaders and their sisters, official and unofficial ones, be the center of attention at the moment,” Twilight suggested. “We can catch up with you girls later.” She paused to point to the side where a familiar, yellow pegasus was standing in a less crowded section. “I see Fluttershy over there, so Spike and I are going to join her for a while. You want to come as well, Natalya?”
“I’m going to wander around a bit and grab some grub,” Natalya replied. “Might as well have my fill while I’m here.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Sounds fine to me. Just remember to eventually come and congratulate the fillies. See ya!”
Walking off on her own, Natalya waded through the crowd, heading toward one of the farther tables where there were less ponies. She eventually came to a table where there were hardly any ponies around while still offering her a view of the Crusaders and their sisters standing in front of the bakery. More importantly, there was a large tray of tantalizing muffins that were neatly stacked neatly into a small pyramid. She quickly reached forward, only to pause when a grey hoof suddenly darted in front of her and swiped several muffins.
“Hey!” Natalya cried out angrily.
“Oops, my bad,” a bubbly voice apologized.
Natalya turned her head to glare at the rude pony. It was a grey pegasus mare with a postal worker cap on top of her blonde mane, and she was stuffing the muffins in a saddlebag she wore on her side. However, when the mare looked back up at Natalya with an apologetic face, the griffon quickly lost her scowl.
“Sorry about cutting in front of you,” the pegasus apologized. “It’s just that—”
“What’s the deal with your eyes?” Natalya asked. She could not stop staring at the mare’s eyes. For some odd reason, only one eye was focusing on her while the other was staring off to the side.
“Wow, not even going to try and dance around it, huh?” the mare commented. However, the soft smile on her face showed that she was more amused than offended. After taking a breath, she said, “I have exotropia.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
The mare rolled her eyes, which was made all the more impressive by them going in different directions. “The informal term would be derp eyes. It’s something that developed while I was a filly, and it affects my depth perception.”
“Ah…” Natalya slowly nodded, even though she did not fully understand it. “Uh, I guess I’m supposed to say sorry or something?”
The mare giggled. “It’s alright. I’m used to it, and I’m happy living here in Ponyville as a mailmare. The name’s Derpy, by the way,” she said as she raised her hoof forward.
Natalya bumped Derpy’s offered hoof in greeting with a fist. “Natalya.”
“So, as I was saying, I’m sorry about earlier. I really enjoy muffins, and I often forget my manners whenever they’re around.”
“Well, uh, it’s alright, I guess.” Natalya was finding it hard to stay annoyed at the upbeat, positive nature of this pegasus.
“Say…” Both of Derpy’s eyes focused on Natalya for a moment before one of them drifted in a different direction again. “You’re the griffon that’s been hanging out with Rainbow Dash, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Could you please give this to Rainbow?” Derpy requested, taking out an envelope from her saddlebag and holding it out to Natalya. “It’s a priority express letter for her. I knew Rainbow was going to be here, but…”
Derpy looked over to where Rainbow was still chatting and laughing with Scootaloo as they continued to be swarmed by other ponies and smiled. “I don’t want to disturb such a happy moment, but at the same time, I still have some other priority deliveries to make. If you could get that to her when she’s free, I would very much appreciate it.”
“Alright, I guess I can do that,” Natalya agreed, taking the envelope from the mailmare.
“Thanks!” Derpy hastily stuffed several more muffins into her saddlebag and one last one into her mouth. “See you later, Natalya,” her muffin-muffled mouth bade before she flew up into the air.
Natalya watched the odd pegasus leave for a few seconds, the mare swaying left and right as she flew away, before she looked down at the envelope.
“Wonderbolt Headquarters?” Natalya murmured, her eyes slightly widening at the sender’s address. She knew that Rainbow was in the reserves for the Wonderbolts, but this was the first time Natalya had seen or heard the premiere flying team contact the pegasus.
An urgent letter from the Wonderbolts… Does this mean there are orders in here for Rainbow? Natalya wondered as she tucked the envelope under her free wing. She gazed back in Rainbow’s direction, waiting for the crowd to clear up.
Fortunately, it did not take much longer before there was a lull in the ponies going up to the Crusaders. Shortly afterwards, Applejack and Rarity went off together, leaving behind the fillies and Rainbow. Natalya decided now was the best time and hurried toward the free ponies.
Scootaloo quickly noticed her approach and enthusiastically waved her over. As Natalya made her way over to them, she saw Scootaloo say a few things to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle before those two scampered off into the crowd.
“Natalya!” Scootaloo chirped, running over to the griffon. “How’s the wing?”
“It’s doing alright. Could do without it getting itchy all the time though.” Natalya smiled softly and patted Scootaloo’s head. “Congrats on the cutie mark, kid.”
“Thanks, Natalya. I’m really glad that you could come.”
“Yeah, I pulled myself out of bed once I found out this party was for you. Well, you and your friends.” Natalya pointed at the cutie mark that now adorned Scootaloo’s flanks. “I know that cutie marks have something to do with your special talent, so what’s yours supposed to mean?”
“I want to know too,” Rainbow added. “I was so excited to hear that you got your cutie mark, I didn’t hear how you actually got it.”
“Well, I’m going to need some help from my friends to explain it.” Scootaloo waved at somepony behind Natalya. “And here they come now!”
Natalya turned to say hi to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but she paused when she saw two different fillies instead.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were moving toward her, although not of their own volition. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were pushing the two pompous fillies from behind. Even with their rears parked onto the ground and their hooves desperately digging into the dirt, Diamond and Silver could not escape. They whimpered when Natalya’s eyes narrowed at them.
“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon…” Natalya said in a low, ominous tone. “You two bothering the Crusaders again?”
“No, we’re not! Honest!” Diamond begged. “Tell her, Apple Bloom!”
“Sweetie Belle! You said she wasn’t going to do anything to us!” Silver Spoon cried out in fear.
“Uh, Natalya?” Scootaloo poked the griffon’s side, grabbing her attention. “You can calm down now. I know this is going to sound weird, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon really are our friends now.”
“Say what?” Natalya and Rainbow uttered at the same time, staring at Scootaloo as though she had grown a horn on her head.
“Did I hear you right?” Rainbow continued. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, the same two fillies that have been bothering you and your friends so much for like forever, are now your friends?”
“Uh, yep,” Scootaloo replied.
“If it helps, we didn’t say they were good friends,” Apple Bloom chimed in.
“That doesn’t help at all, Apple Bloom!” Diamond hissed.
Natalya sighed, lamenting the lost opportunity to torture some fillies again. “Could you girls just hurry up and explain how these two…” She pointed at Diamond and Silver. “helped you get your cutie marks?”
“The student president election happened,” Scootaloo explained. “Pipsqueak asked me, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle to be his campaign managers to help him win.”
“Which we totally nailed!” Sweetie Belle chirped. “It was a landslide! We crushed Diamond so bad! She only got one vote out of the entire class and that’s only because she voted for herself!”
“Uh, Sweetie Belle?” Silver pointed at the glaring Diamond Tiara.
“Oops.” Sweetie Belle chuckled nervously. “Sorry, Diamond,” she apologized, earning her an eye roll from the offended filly.
“Anyway,” Apple Bloom said, picking the story back up, “Silver blew Diamond off because Diamond would not listen to her advice. Even though we weren’t too fond of Diamond, we felt sorry that she had a fight with her friend and followed her just to make sure she was okay.”
“We ended up finding out that it’s her mother that is pushing her to be all high and mighty,” Sweetie Belle explained. “In truth, Diamond is not sure she really likes doing that kind of stuff, but it’s pretty hard to say no to your mother.”
“We invited Diamond back to our clubhouse to make friends with her,” Scootaloo told. “Suddenly, Pipsqueak came in and told us that the school board wouldn’t cough up the bits for a new playground. Diamond wanted to tell everypony that Pipsqueak couldn't keep one of his campaign promises so that she could take over being student president. Luckily, we were able to convince Diamond to not do that."
“So, I ended up standing up to my mother. It felt so good to finally get her off my back.” Diamond took a deep breath. “I’m done with being the kind of pony my mother was making me. From now on, I’m going to be the pony I want to be, which includes me not treating other ponies like they’re beneath me anymore.”
Looking Natalya in the eye, Diamond said with conviction, “I know that you’re protecting Scootaloo, and I’m sorry for all the mean things I said to her. I promise that I won’t be doing that anymore.” She then put on a nervous smile. “So, uh, please don’t hurt me?”
“And I’m sorry too, Miss Natalya!” Silver Spoon hastily added, throwing her forehooves around the pink filly. “Diamond and I have been friends for so long, her mother’s teachings also kind of rubbed off on me as well. Most of all, I didn’t want to go against her mother and possibly lose my best friend.”
Natalya stared at the cowering fillies, unsure what to do. She glanced over at Scootaloo and received a nod and smile from the filly. With a sigh, she conceded, “Alright, I guess if you two really are friends with the Crusaders now, I don’t have to keep my eye on you. Just make sure to keep things that way, and we won’t have any problems, got it?”
“Got it!” Diamond and Silver immediately complied, both letting out a sigh of relief.
“So, uh, am I hearing this right?” Rainbow asked. “You three got your cutie marks by getting Diamond to mouth off to her mother?”
That got all the fillies to giggle.
“Can you imagine all the trouble we would get into with adults if that really were true?” Sweetie Belle mused.
“We kind of already have been gettin’ into trouble for a long time, what with all the stuff we did to try and get our cutie marks,” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“Well, we didn’t quite finish how things turned out,” Diamond remarked, and she turned to display her tiara cutie mark. “The Crusaders helped me realize what I should be doing with my special talent. I always knew that I was good at bossing ponies around, but they helped me realize I should be leading ponies to get things done. I got my parents to buy the new playground equipment, and I helped direct my classmates to install everything.”
“That’s when we learned that we really liked helping others,” Scootaloo explained. “We want to assist others in getting their marks and help the ones that already got theirs but don’t fully understand what they mean. When we decided that’s what we wanted to do from now on…”
The Crusaders hastily gathered together to show off their flanks. “We got our cutie marks!” the Crusaders shouted in unison.
“Wow, that’s so cool!” Rainbow gushed. “It’s even cooler that you girls are going to be helping all sorts of ponies.”
“Dedicating your life to help others, huh?” Natalya mused. “That’s quite a heavy load for a couple of fillies.”
“Yeah, we know it’s not gonna be easy,” Apple Bloom admitted. “But it’s what we really want to do from now on.”
“And we really love helping other ponies out!” Sweetie Belle cheered.
“Which is a totally awesome thing to do,” Rainbow complimented. “I have no doubt you girls are going to improve the lives of so many ponies once you get things rolling.”
Natalya slowly nodded in agreement. She might not fully understand the whole cutie mark business, but she could still see that the Crusaders had set some lofty goals for themselves.
“Hey, can we go find Pipsqueak?” Diamond suddenly asked. “Maybe we can convince him to make me vice president!”
“You girls go on ahead,” Scootaloo said. “I’m going to hang out with Rainbow and Natalya for a while.”
After a quick goodbye, the two other Crusaders and two former bullies rushed off into the crowd, leaving Natalya, Rainbow, and Scootaloo behind.
“So, you meet anypony interesting while Scootaloo and I were busy?” Rainbow asked Natalya.
“Actually, yes. I talked to that mailmare Derpy.” Natalya took out the envelope from her wing. “She was busy and asked me to pass on a letter to you.”
Rainbow grasped the envelope in a hoof. She let out a gasp and her eyes bulged when she saw who was writing to her, and in a blur of movement, she shredded through the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.
“Who’s it from, Rainbow?” Scootaloo asked.
“The Wonderbolts,” Natalya informed since Rainbow was too busy hastily reading through the letter clutched in her forehooves.
“Really?!” Scootaloo’s wings buzzed in excitement. “What’s it say?”
“SWEEEEET!” Rainbow elatedly cried out, launching herself high into the air and doing a hoof pump.
“Well, somepony is lively,” Rarity commented, emerging from the crowd to join the group. “Given Rainbow’s exuberance, I take it something good has happened?”
“Oh, it’s more than good! It’s awe—No, super awesome!” Rainbow said as she descended back to the group. “I’m going to be the backup member for the airshow in the upcoming Royal Garden Opening at Canterlot!”
“Oh my gosh! That’s fantastic, Rainbow!” Scootaloo cheered.
“Simply marvelous, darling!” Rarity congratulated.
“Uh, so you get to sit on the sidelines of this airshow?” Natalya asked.
“Well, yeah, but I’m going to be the only reserve there,” Rainbow replied. “That means that if one of the regular Wonderbolts isn’t able to perform, I get to fill in for them. Of course, the chance of that happening is extremely rare, so it does look like I’ll just be benched the entire…” She paused for a few moments and then switched to a flat gaze. “Wow, way to be a buzzkill, Natalya.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Natalya snarked with a small smirk. “But, I guess it’s still pretty cool. They picked you out of all the other reserves, so that means something, right?”
“That’s right, Rainbow,” Scootaloo agreed. “They got their eye on you. You’re another step closer to becoming one of the main Wonderbolts!”
“Not to mention that you’ll be able to attend the soiree that’s happening along with the opening,” Rarity added. “I haven’t told any of the others yet, but I’m actually going to be attending the opening as well.”
“You are? That’s awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Hey, you think that we could get the others to come?”
Rarity shook her head. “I don’t think that’s possible. As far as I know, tickets have been sold out for weeks. I guess I could ask around, but I very much doubt it will do any good. I was lucky that Fancy Pants was able to secure me a spot, but I doubt even his influence would be of assistance now.”
“Oh…” Rainbow deflated. She gave Natalya and Scootaloo an apologetic look. “Sorry, guys.”
“It’s alright, Rainbow,” Scootaloo assured. “I’ll just wait until you’re one of the main Wonderbolts.”
“And watching others fly isn’t really my thing,” Natalya stated. “I’m guessing that you’ll be gone for a few days, huh?” To her surprise, a sinking feeling hit her when she uttered those words.
“Oh, right. I should probably check when they want me to come in and all that stuff.” Rainbow looked back at the letter. “Seriously?! Tomorrow?!”
“I suppose that is a bit tight, but it is understandable,” Rarity reasoned. “The opening is only a week away, and the Wonderbolts need to bring you up to speed with their routine.”
“Yeah, I know that, but…” Rainbow sighed and turned to Scootaloo. “I just promised Scootaloo that we would do some more flying training tomorrow.”
“Rainbow, come on! It’s the Wonderbolts!” Scootaloo argued. “Forget about me!”
“You sure, Scootaloo? I know that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle will be with their families tomorrow, plus I feel pretty rotten that I might be backing out of a promise I made to you just a few moments ago.”
“I officially release you from the promise you made to me.” Scootaloo sat down and spread her forehooves in an upwards and outwards flourish for emphasis. “Seriously, Rainbow. Just go. I’ll be fine. You can help me train any other time.”
Natalya’s gaze flicked over to the filly. Despite Scootaloo’s urging, Natalya could hear the disappointment the filly was trying to mask. She knew that spending time with Rainbow was likely Scootaloo’s most favorite thing to do, but here she was, putting on a brave face so that Rainbow can do something that she loved.
Natalya already liked Scootaloo, and this act only furthered her fondness for the filly. In fact, she felt an urge to ponder if there was something she could do to help.
“So, just throwing it out there... ” Natalya said out loud after a few moments. “How about I take over Scootaloo’s training tomorrow instead?”
Rainbow, Scootaloo, and Rarity all shifted their gazes toward Natalya.
“That’s quite the generous offer there, darling,” Rarity complimented.
“Really? You’d do that for me?” Scootaloo asked eagerly.
“Why not? I got a lot of free time now,” Natalya reasoned. “I’ll have even more if Rainbow does go to Canterlot. What else am I supposed to do with it all? Lay in bed and read Daring Do all day?”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Rainbow smirked and draped a wing over Scootaloo. “But I guess spending time with the squirt is more important.
“Still, are you sure you’re up to this, Natalya? I know that you’ve been coming to more of our flying lessons, but you’ve only just watched us.”
“Yeah, I’ll admit I’m not much of a teacher.” Natalya glanced over at her injured wing. “Doesn’t help that I got this as well. Still, it’s better than nothing, and at the very least, maybe Scootaloo will be fine with hanging out for a bit.”
“That sounds more than fine, Natalya!” Scootaloo cheered. “I’d love to spend more time with you.”
“Then it’s settled,” Rarity proclaimed. “Natalya will spend some quality time with Scootaloo so that Rainbow can fulfill her duties as an upcoming Wonderbolt.”
Rainbow looked to Rarity, Scootaloo, and then Natalya, letting out a resigned chuckle as she smiled. “Guess I’m going, huh?”
“That you are, darling. I would appreciate having a friendly face around during the opening’s party, and I suspect that you’ll have a fun time as well mingling with the Wonderbolts. In fact, I can even take the train with you to Canterlot. I was planning to spend a few days checking on the Canterlot Carousel anyway.”
“Really? That would be cool of you, Rarity. I bet that I could talk to some ponies and get you in to see some of the practice runs.”
“That sounds splendid, darling.”
“Looks like you two got everything planned out already,” Scootaloo remarked. “I can’t wait to hear all about it when you come back.”
“Well, we got to start packing first, but that can wait until after the party, and knowing Pinkie, there’s still plenty of party left to go,” said Rainbow. “But, uh, right now, you guys mind if Natalya and I talk for a bit?” When Natalya opened her beak, Rainbow rolled her eyes at the griffon and quickly added, “And before you say anything, smart mouth, I mean in private.”
Natalya smirked. “Yeah, sure.”
“Sure,” Scootaloo complied. “I should get back to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle anyway.”
“And I should really go say hello to our friends,” Rarity remarked. “Oh, and Rainbow, do make sure that you save some time to see them so that we can tell them about our Canterlot plans, alright?”
“Will do, Rarity,” Rainbow said with a salute. “Come on, Natalya, it should be quieter inside Sugarcube Corner.”
Natalya and Rainbow headed inside the bakery, finding the place pretty empty due to all the festivities being outside. Pinkie and Gilda periodically went in and out of the kitchen to bring out more food for the party, but they left the pair alone after a quick explanation from Rainbow.
“So, what’s up?” Natalya asked as they moved to a corner of the bakery.
“I wanted to thank you for filling in for me for Scootaloo,” Rainbow answered with a grateful smile.
“No big deal. Like I said, I got nothing better to do.”
“And you also like Scootaloo.”
“That too.”
Rainbow chuckled for a second before her gaze drifted to the ground. “I also want to say sorry.”
“For what? I don’t recall you annoying me today, at least not yet.”
Rainbow tilted her head slightly. “So you’re not at all bothered that I’m going to be gone for a whole week?”
“Should I be?”
“Aren’t you bummed that I won’t be around to help you train? You were all worried that time is running out for you to learn the Sonic Rainboom before your crash.”
Natalya pointed at her broken wing with a talon. “Did you forget about this? It’s going to be a few more days before the cast comes off, and I’ll probably need another few to rebuild my strength. I can’t do anything about the Sonic Rainboom right now.” She then glanced away and sighed. “Plus, I know this is a big deal for you. And well… you’ve done a bunch of stuff for me, so I guess I could help you out a bit by covering for you.”
Rainbow smiled. “Thanks, Natalya. I owe you one.”
“You sure do. Once I’m better, we’re getting back to my training.”
Rainbow chuckled softly. “Got it.”
“So, is that everything?”
“Just one more question…” Rainbow put on a cocky smirk. “You gonna miss me?”
Natalya’s eyebrow went up. “No.”
“You sure? I know that I’m gonna miss hanging out with you.”
“Sucks to be you then.”
“Aww, don’t be like that,” Rainbow teased, her smirk growing wider. “You know that you will. Remember what you said in the hospital about being glad to having me around and being all mushy and—”
“How about I just slap a stamp over that big mouth of yours and ship you off to Canterlot right now?” Natalya asked, giving Rainbow a forceful nudge while she tried to stop her mouth from twitching upwards.
Rainbow cackled, playfully sticking out her tongue at Natalya before she exited Sugarcube Corner.
Natalya snorted in amusement and slowly walked over to the bakery entryway, watching Rainbow head toward Scootaloo.
A sigh escaped Natalya. She realized that she had never spent more than a day away from Rainbow since she came to Ponyville, so spending a week apart was a bit of a daunting thought. While at first she saw Rainbow as another competitor to crush, Natalya had grown to enjoy the companionship the pegasus gave her.
A small smile crossed her face when she saw Rainbow say a few words to Scootaloo before the filly tackled Rainbow to the ground in a hug.
Maybe I’ll miss her a little bit.