//------------------------------// // The Map Calls // Story: The Stub and the Snub // by Wise Cracker //------------------------------// Scootaloo kept her breath steady as she ran to the castle in a tight formation with her friends. Apple Bloom always had the front, and Scootaloo didn’t want Sweetie Belle to lag behind, so she always made sure to be just a little slower than the Unicorn. Still, even if the pace wasn’t enough to make her break a sweat, the excitement was enough to make the Pegasus’s heart rate quicken as she sped through the castle gates. “Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight! We’re glowing again!” They called in unison. The Cutie Mark Crusaders came galloping through the crystal corridors as fast as their little legs could carry them. They headed straight to the map of Equestria in the throne room, where a pair of Unicorns and a dragon were already surveying the situation. “I noticed, girls,” Twilight said once they skidded to a halt in front of the map. “Looks like you have another friendship mission on your hooves.” Scootaloo hopped up and down, wings abuzz with excitement. “So where are we going this time? Cloudsdale? Las Pegasus?” “Ooh, maybe we can go to Canterlot this time,” Sweetie Belle said. “Do you think we could help Princess Celestia with a friendship problem?” Scootaloo wanted to nod, but then a sound came from next to the girls, one Rainbow Dash had warned her about a few times. The sound was something of a nervous whinny and a frightful gasp, and, as the winged filly had learned from some foreign students, was commonly referred to as ‘panicky horse noise.’ According to Ocellus, when Twilight made that sound, it was usually a good time to either take cover or find a paper bag. “I don’t think the Royal Sisters will be getting any friendship problems anytime soon,” said Starlight Glimmer. “Not after what happened last time. No, you girls are needed in Cornucopia, apparently.” “Corny whatnow?” Apple Bloom asked. “Cornucopia,” Twilight replied once the panic attack had worn off. “It’s a Unicorn village near the coast of Southern Equestria, one of the few settlements built exclusively by Unicorns.” With a quirked eyebrow, Apple Bloom said, “Really? One of the few? Wasn’t your village built by a Unicorn, too, Starlight? You know, you?” “Yes, but most cities in Equestria aren’t,” Starlight replied. “It’s a long story. Cornucopia’s a great place, it’s pretty famous… in certain circles.” “I’ve never heard of it,” Scootaloo said. “That’s because you’re not in those circles,” Spike remarked. “No, it’s mostly known for its schools.” Starlight gestured to the map, above where the girl’s cutie marks were floating. “A lot of Unicorns end up going to school there if they can’t go to Canterlot, and a lot of travelling tutors came from there, too. Cornucopia has a long history of producing powerful master wizards.” Sweetie Belle’s ears perked. “If it’s a Unicorn town, then it’s a probably a Unicorn problem.” Scootaloo’s ears drooped right along with her wings. “Oh. Yeah, we might have to let you handle this one, Sweetie Belle. You’re the only Unicorn expert we’ve got.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Be that as it may, the map called for all three of you. And it’s not exclusively Unicorns that live there, you know. There are plenty of Pegasi and Earth ponies, too. Actually, they’ll be pretty busy when you get there. That’s why Starlight will be joining you.” Scootaloo stared at those floating cutie marks above the map, as if somehow she might make the things disappear, or at least scatter to somewhere better. She quickly gave up on the whole endeavour. “Yup,” Starlight said. “They’ll be holding the Official Royal Guard Fitness Test there in a few weeks, and one of the teachers has asked me to help out. It’ll be nice to see some of my old frie–err, ahem, teachers there.” “No need to worry, Starlight.” Twilight walked up and put a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “It’s just a simple consultation, nothing more. And you can keep an eye on the girls while they’re there, maybe even give them some advice in case there’s any advanced magic they need to understand.” “Will do.” Scootaloo snorted and bunched her wings against her sides, as her shoulders were feeling quite cold and unpatted all of a sudden. “Are you sure the Map needs all three of us?” “Of course I’m sure. You’re all glowing, aren’t you?” Twilight gestured to the glowing marks. For once, the little filly didn’t turn and stare at her flickering rump. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” “Why, what’s wrong? Sweetie Belle asked. “Nothing’s wrong,” Scootaloo replied. “Everything is fine. Let’s just go and see what the problem is.” Starlight Glimmer stayed quiet most of the way, letting the girls talk about this and that, mostly the usual foal things: cutie mark problems, overbearing siblings, farm life. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were real chatterboxes when left to their own devices. Scootaloo, however, had taken a seat by the window, and she took full advantage of the opportunity to stare into the distance when her friends started arguing about what sort of problem they might face and how best to face it. “Well, I say it’s probably a Unicorn problem and that means I should take charge,” Sweetie Belle said. “But it might be somethin’ that you don’t know about,” Apple Bloom replied. “So we won’t know who’s in charge until we find the problem.” This went on for a while, the two girls going back and forth in their debate, never once asking what they might expect to find once they got to their destination. Around the halfway mark of their journey, Starlight Glimmer spoke up on the matter. “Why do you girls even need someone to take charge? I thought you always worked together?” “Usually we do, but last time we went on a mission from the map, we couldn’t decide what to do, and we ended up making things worse,” Scootaloo said with a groan. “A lot worse.” Making things infinitely worse in a misguided attempt to help? This sounded like familiar territory to Starlight, at least. “Oh?” “See, we had this Hippogriph boy who wasn’t sure where he belonged: in the water, where his mom was living, or on land, where his dad lived.” Apple Bloom gestured with her left hoof and her right to illustrate the point. Starlight’s ears twitched. “But Hippogriphs move between the two now. They don’t have to choose.” “They can go back and forth, sure, but he said everyone his age had already picked one spot to live. I mean, you gotta live somewhere, your house isn’t gonna be in both places at once, or move in between. Unless you live in a submarine, I suppose. Anyway, I guess that kinda choice is part of growin’ up for them now.” Apple Bloom shrugged. ”Point is, he felt like he’d be lettin’ his family down no matter what he did, so he couldn’t decide. And we couldn’t make up our minds about it, either. Sweetie Belle thought he should stay on land, because they had this beautiful nature reserve there, Scootaloo thought he should stay in the water, because...” She stopped herself. “Well, she liked it better.” “Uhuh.” Starlight furrowed her brow. “And why did you like it better underwater, Scootaloo?” “Nothing major, really,” came the sullen reponse. “I just liked all the fish and the drums.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “We got into an argument, and we ended up makin’ poor Terramar even more confused than he already was. So if we wanna avoid that this time, we should decide on who’s in charge nice and early, so we can plan ahead and do this right.” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Honestly, girls, I think you should at least wait until you know who it is you’re helping in the first place. Who knows, it might be a simple cutie mark problem. Or it could be a three-way problem that requires all of you. There’s no need to argue about it already. What do you think, Scootaloo?” The girl’s ears twitched. “Huh?” “You’ve been pretty quiet so far. What do you think?” “Whatever you decide is fine. Why don’t you take charge, Starlight? You’ve been to Cornucopia before, right?” Starlight flinched, both because of the suggestion itself and because of what it implied. Was this girl really that lacking in confidence? After all the stories about these three? “Sure, I went to school there, but the Map didn’t call me. I’m just tagging along for the ride, and talking to some of the teachers about the upcoming test.” “What’s it like?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Cornucopia, I mean.” Starlight smiled wistfully. “It’s a nice and rustic town, with plenty of buildings in the olden pony style and a castle overlooking everything. There’s a lot of wide, open space on the outskirts, perfect for any pony who wants to practise their magic without getting in anyone’s way. That’s where the training grounds are. In the town itself, you’ve got all the basics: book stores, grocers, lots and lots of jewelers and trinket makers, and of course bakers for olden pony bread.” Scootaloo scrunched her nose. “Olden pony bread?” “Olden pony bread,” Starlight said with a nod. “Exactly the way the forefathers ate it. Cornucopia happens to be right next to the ancient grain capital of Equestria.” Apple Bloom, ever attentive when it came to matters of farming, tapped her chin, thinking out loud. “How does a town even get that kind of title?” Starlight groaned. “That would be thanks to one stallion in particular who lives in the past and wants everything to stay exactly the same so he can protect his little girl’s feelings.” She shook her head. “Well, that and some interest and money from city ponies, obviously. When you need to perform at a high level, your food becomes really important. When you perform magic at a high level, it’s even more important.” “High level, like that fitness test?” Scootaloo asked. “Are we gonna run into a bunch of, you know...” Starlight hesitated when she heard the girl’s tone. It was subtle, but there was some apprehension in the filly’s voice, and those little wings were bunched up tighter than a corset, too. “Prodigies? Probably,” she replied with a smile she hoped would be comforting. “A lot of kids go there this time of year, for magic camps, flight camp prep, or studying aides.” This did not sit well with the orange filly, from the looks of it. “So we’ll see a lot of little high flyers, huh?” High flyers. Was that what was bothering the girl? Couldn’t be: Scootaloo was an athlete, too, that much Starlight Glimmer knew already. “Maybe, but I doubt that. Last time I was there, it was mostly a lot of young Unicorns trying to get ready. Pegasi usually go to Rainbow Falls if they want to get ready for flight camp. But there are Pegasi and Earth ponies who just, you know, live there, they don’t bother going anywhere else to prepare.” Starlight thought that would settle the argument. She was wrong. “See?” Sweetie Belle started. “It’s going to be a Unicorn problem, so I know better.” “We’ll see about that, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom replied. “You don’t know everything about magic, and I’m still better at the athletic stuff than you.” “Isn’t Scootaloo the athlete of you three, though?” Starlight asked. Apple Bloom winced. Scootaloo resumed her staring out the window. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” The girls all gasped when they saw the view outside the train station. “Told you,” Starlight said. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Uphill from the train station, the town stood proudly, as it clearly had for centuries, from the looks of it. The roads were paved with cobblestones, the houses were a grey stone and mortar, yet nothing about this place seemed devoid of colour. Flower pots and banners littered the landscape, the nearby market district had all sorts of fresh fruits on display, and all the shops had a clear and tidy sign hanging out, even the rooftops were colour-coded, Starlight knew. The centrepiece to it all was the castle, a square-looking block of stone that had remained the same since the Middle Pony Ages, but even that didn’t look too grey. Flags and flowers decorated it, and greenery surrounded it, providing ample room for the younger residents to play in, and zero cover for any enemies of old. “This is like Canterlot,” Scootaloo said. “Only older.” “No, it’s not. It’s Ponyville, only more magic,” Apple Bloom retorted. “You’re both right, sort of,” Starlight said. “This place is a lot older than Ponyville, and the wizards have tried to keep things intact as much as possible, so most of the houses are in the old style. You won’t find Canterlot architecture here. But they have made it greener over the centuries, it’s a lot prettier than when it was first founded, and Ponyville was built with a lot of the same materials and techniques.” “Okay, then where do we go to find this friendship problem?” Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle shrugged. “I guess the first place to check is where there are a lot of ponies. Where do they go to prepare for this Fitness Test?” Starlight led the way. As soon as they reached the city limits, marked by the remains of the old walls, they found themselves having to navigate all sorts of crowds. Pegasus foals ran past, their wings flapping excitedly yet none of them flying, probably a school trip out of Rainbow Falls. A quick look at where they were going, and Starlight realised they were heading for the candy shop. “Assuming this friendship problem involves locals and not tourists? You’ll want to start near the training grounds, then. There’s a park, swimming pools, shallow pools for water-walking, and a few shooting ranges.” The girls and mare had to stop and duck out of the way of a pair of Unicorn tourists, Canterlot ponies from the sounds of their accents. The ponies themselves were not hard to dodge, but their goods floated clumsily behind them in a magic glow. They reached one of the main crossroads of the town, where a sign stood that pretty much summed up the place. Welcome to Cornucopia, the town where everything flies. Flying pig contests every second Thursday of the month. Scootaloo furrowed her brow and rolled her eyes at that last part. “What do you mean by ‘shooting ranges?’” Starlight stifled a pout. The flying pig contests were fun, but part of her supposed Scootaloo preferred contests of speed to involve actual speedsters, not projectiles. And, if she were totally honest, that was an attitude she could respect. “For magic practice, of course. Plenty of offensive spells require careful aim, and some types of magic are easier to control than others. Besides that, Unicorn foals love to test their abilities once their magic hits a certain level. You’ll see.” They took a side street towards the castle, and the parks nearby. “Stay close to me, now, you don’t want to get lost,” Starlight said. “We can handle ourselves, Starlight, we’re fine,” Scootaloo replied as the four dodged another Unicorn carrying five bags worth of bread with Celestia-only-knows how many grains in them. Starlight looked back and wondered if that mare was carrying genuine Sire’s Hollow produce. Then said mare quickly made a detour towards the nearest cosmetics store, carrying her breads along, and that answered that question. No normal Unicorn could carry that weight and squint for so long without needing a dose of anti-wrinkle cream. “I know, you’re big girls, you can take of yourselves. But I’d feel a lot better if I left you after you know where everything is. So let’s head to the park first and see from there.” The park was, thankfully, much roomier than the busy town that considered the laws of gravity more of a polite set of suggestions. Still, even here there were Unicorns walking their dogs, holding leashes in magic. A crowd of joggers came past, all holding strings that led up into the air. The girls looked up, and Starlight followed. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, this is also the kite capital of Equestria. As you might expect.” Sweetie Belle stared on in confusion. “Huh?” “It’s a wizard thing, you’ll learn about it when you’re older. Anyway, the pool areas are down that way, the running tracks are that way, just follow the road around the castle, you know which way the town is, and the main shooting range is over there.” A vague thumping sound came from the last area Starlight pointed to. “If you get separated or lost, head back here, and we’ll meet at the statue of Princess Celestia, okay? We’ll see about grabbing lunch around, let’s say, one o’clock? Think you can manage to be here by then?” Scootaloo nodded, Apple Bloom followed suit. Sweetie Belle did not. She stared on into the distance where the shooting ranges were. “Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked. “Did you hear what she said?” “Huh? Um, yeah, meet up here at the statue. Hey, did anypony else hear that crashing noise?” Starlight followed the girl’s gaze. “Hmm? Probably one of the masters doing a demonstration. That’s where I’m headed first, actually.” Starlight trotted off, before turning back and gesturing to the fillies. “You want to start there, too?” “Yeah, I think we do,” Sweetie Belle replied. “I wonder…” Once they cleared the green hill and the meadows came into view, Scootaloo heard Sweetie Belle gasp. It was one of her good gasps, too: the kind she used when she had an idea for a new play or a dress. There were no dresses around, though. Instead, there was a very impressive-looking shooting range. Somehow, Scootaloo figured that Sweetie Belle was not a shooting range enthusiast quite as much as she was a dress enthusiast, so there was probably something else to it. The colt she started walking towards was probably a good bet. On one of the rows, a coffee-brown unicorn colt with a greyish white mane and tail had taken centre stage, drawing the attention from everyone around with his performance. A nearby stallion, a coach, judging from the whistle, was levitating some kind of white gems around the boy, like homing missiles, in what Scootaloo presumed was a tight practice routine. The boy certainly had a tight response to it. As soon as the things started heading towards him, he ran straight into the path of a threesome of projectiles, fast enough to go into a blur, leaving behind a trail of lightning that zapped the gems as they hit the ground. He had a good half a second of leeway before they hit him, too, which was pretty impressive, but not out of the ordinary compared to the speeds she got sometimes. Then he leaped up with a burst of electricity, high enough to get away from at least a dozen more gems that trailed behind him to form a grasping cage of sorts once gravity stopped his upward momentum. Right as they stopped and prepared to strike him from all angles, he swept a crackling hoof through the air, going into a flip. His sweep had cleared a way out with what looked like a ball of lightning at the tip, though the noise it produced made the girl wonder if maybe that spell did its damage through sound. The projectiles that were left followed him down to the ground, but he quickly landed on all fours, faced his assailants, and with closed eyes he cast another wide lightning spell, this one looking like a crackling spiderweb. The gems fell, the coach doing the testing nodded in appreciation. Every kid behind him had to pick up their jaw. Sweetie Belle had stopped at the bottom of the hill, no doubt to avoid distracting him. “Okay, let somepony else showboat now,” the stallion said. “Next!” Scootaloo went wide-eyed as she came down the hill. “Whoa, lightning magic? Do all Unicorns get that?” “No,” Starlight said with a chuckle. “Elemental magic follows a whole different set of rules from regular magic, most Unicorns don’t bother. I don’t think he got that from just studying, though. I mean, that was Silverleaf’s Lightning Rush spell.” She thought for a moment. “And I’m guessing that swoop was Sparkmane’s Arc of Destruction, and he can do Shining Willow’s Thunderwave spell? At that age? That’s pretty hardcore, even for this town.” The colt walked over to the crowds, and immediately looked to the stallion for the nod of approval, which he got. The next kid in line braced herself, the gems floated back up, the colt moved along. “Huh,” Scootaloo said to no one in particular. For a colt who was apparently hardcore, he seemed very eager to get some approval, not at all the cool and collected sort one usually expects to have that kind of power. “Think maybe he’d know some friendship problems around here?” “Live Wire!” With a shout, Sweetie Belle dashed off to the brown colt. Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom, and both shot each other a puzzled glance. “Live Wire?” Sweetie Belle stopped right in front of him and raised her arms, as if to hug the boy. Only, he flinched, hard, making her stop. Then he tapped his horn. “Oh, sorry,” Sweetie said. He smiled, and rubbed his arms from his shoulders to his hooves, producing a distinct sparking sound. “No problem. It’s great to see you again, Sweetie Belle. And hey, you got your cutie mark now? That’s awesome!” Live Wire patted her on the shoulder, and that was apparently enough of an okay to let her try to hug him again. This time, he hugged her right back, even squeezing softly. Scootaloo got a good look at him then. His manedo was similar to hers: all the hair combed towards a point. The tip at the front was split, though, and he had more volume going for him, as well as a rigidity that kept it from falling in front of his eyes. Clearly, this boy had a very good hair conditioner, and Scootaloo thought she should ask him how he got his hair the way he did, but quickly realised there were other factors involved that she wasn’t going to be copying anytime soon. “Somethin’ tells me you two’ve got a history together,” Apple Bloom joked, making Sweetie Belle blush. “Oh, right.” Sweetie broke the hug and gestured between him and her friends. “Umm, girls, this is Live Wire. We were friends back in kindergarten. Live Wire, this is Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Starlight Glimmer.” The boy looked up in awe at the mare. “Whoa. You’re the Starlight Glimmer? The one who mastered the cutie mark stripping spell and Star Swirl’s time travel spell?” “That’s me,” Starlight said with a nervous chuckle. “I don’t use those spells much anymore, though, either of them. Speaking of which, that’s an interesting display you did there. Do you have a talent for lightning magic?” “Does he? He’s been zapping ponies since he was five,” Sweetie Belle joked. “He was the first pony in class to get his cutie mark, too.” “Five?” Scootaloo muttered. He winced and looked away, embarrassed. “Eheh, yeah, I was kind of an early bloomer.” Scootaloo took a good look at that cutie mark. It was a bright yellow rounded triangle with a black border, which in and of itself was odd. In it, there were black markings that clearly resembled cords or wires, and a pony’s hoof reaching out to touch them. There were also lightning bolts around the hoof, indicating the wires had an electric current running through them. A danger sign, like the ones ponies would hang on an electrified fence in the zoo. This kid’s cutie mark was a danger sign. A danger sign of electrical hazards. It didn’t take long for Scootaloo to connect the dots between his cutie mark, his magic, and his manestyle. Apple Bloom nudged her, the two exchanged another glance, and they both nodded. “Well, that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Starlight said. “Looks like you’re still blooming.” “What are you doing here?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Preparing for the test?” “I live here, actually,” he replied. “What about you?” “Princess Twilight’s map sent us here for a friendship problem,” Scootaloo replied. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary lately?” Right at that moment, sparkles exploded behind the boy. A pig squealed as it flew off with its owner scampering to catch it, a lobster swam through the air doing a backstroke, and the sound of a flowerpot breaking could be heard. Said sound was swiftly followed by a distress call from a blue whale. Live Wire quirked an eyebrow. “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific than that.” “Right. Unicorn town,” Apple Bloom said with a groan. “Umm, anypony arguing more than usual? Any family feuds that might need fixing?” “No, not especially.” “Starlight Glimmer! Is that you?” Starlight and the girls turned towards the voice calling out. It was an older unicorn stallion, clad in a wizard’s cape. “Master Horizon?” “Hello, Starlight, hello,” the stallion greeted cheerfully. “So good to see you again.” He came trotting down the hill with a bright smile on his face and a spring in his gait that reminded Scootaloo of Pegasi on clouds. In fact, his curiously light gait drew her attention to his hooves. Unlike the rest of his coat, which was a reddish brown, his hooves were a light beige, and so was his coat colour up to about halfway his arms. Not that it was easy to spot, because he wore thick bracers on those arms that just barely failed to conceal the transition. “Master Horizon,” Starlight greeted. “It’s been a while.” “That it has,” he said with a nod, before reaching over to give the mare a friendly hug. “Too long. And who are your little friends? Apprentices?” Starlight shook her head. “No, no, they’re here on… well, they have some business here of their own. Girls, this is Master Red Horizon, one of my teachers. Master Horizon, this is Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.” The stallion murmured and stroked his goatish beard. “Mhmm, pleased to make your acquaintance.” He squinted as he looked them over. “Interesting cutie marks you have, girls. Matching designs, garishly bright colours, if you don’t mind me saying so, and shields to boot, very interesting. I could have sworn I’ve seen you before, too. Are you three quite famous, perchance? Or infamous?” “We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, sir,” Apple Bloom said. “We try to help ponies with cutie mark problems.” The stallion nodded and tapped his head. “And when you’re not busy with that, you carry flags around, is that right?” “Yes, sir,” Sweetie Belle said. “We did carry the flag for Ponyville last Equestria Games.” He smirked at that. “Glad to know my memory isn’t going quite yet. Are you, ah, occupied for the day, Starlight? Don’t tell me young Live Wire has procured your services?” The boy snorted. “I wish.” “No,” Starlight replied. “I got your message, I’m free for the day. I just wanted to make sure my companions here don’t get lost. You girls be careful, now, and don’t walk in front of a Unicorn if they’ve got their eyes closed. You never know what kind of spells you get tossed your way around here.” “We won’t,” the fillies said in unison. “Remember to meet up at the statue, okay?” Starlight headed off with the master. “Will this take long?” “We should be done around lunchtime, it’s of no concern to a pony of your talents,” he replied. Scootaloo saw Starlight’s ears fall back at that. “We’ll try to be there around lunchtime!” the filly called out. “Okay, great!” Apple Bloom sighed. “Okay, she’s gone, back to business. You really don’t know about any friendship problems around here, Live Wire? Nothin’ at all?” Live Wire shook his head. “No more than usual.” Sweetie Belle glared at him. “And what do you call ‘usual,’ Live Wire?” “Oh, you know, ponies avoiding me.” He rubbed his arms again, always brushing in a downward motion, never touching on the way back up. “You remember what it was like when I couldn’t control my horn.” Then it dawned on Scootaloo: he was grounding himself, or discharging. All that rubbing was to make sure he didn’t accidentally zap anypony. And apparently he had to do a lot of it to stay safe. She idly wondered how he managed to get through swimming lessons, then. Or rather, how would anypony else get through swimming lessons with him in the pool? “I guess, but… there’s really nothing else going on?” Sweetie persisted. He murmured under his breath, before speaking up. “I guess if you absolutely have to find a problem, there is one pony, maybe. One of my friends, her name’s Haylee.” Scootaloo’s ears twitched. Hay Lee? An Eastern Unicorn name? She shouldn’t be too hard to find, then. Live Wire idly kicked the ground. “It’s probably nothing, but Haylee’s supposed to join me for training, and she’s been skipping out on it.” “That doesn’t sound like a big problem to me,” Apple Bloom said. “That’s just it: she’s been skipping everything. She won’t show up for Ogres and Oubliettes anymore, she’s stopped going to the story sessions at the library, she’s even quit the drama club.” “And she usually does all of that?” Scootaloo asked. “You’re sure?” “Positive. We do all that stuff together,” Live Wire replied. “Now she won’t show, and nopony in drama will tell me why. They just expect me to do all the special effects myself. I mean, not that I can’t do it, it’s just kinda frustrating being on my own all of a sudden. You know, again.” “Right. The effects,” Sweetie Belle chuckled softly and looked at his horn. “I guess that would be kind of your thing. And Haylee’s into all the stuff you are, but then she quits right before a big test? That is strange.” Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah, I could understand layin’ off one hobby or another, but quittin’ everything out of the blue? Right before a big event, too? That’s downright worrisome, ain’t it, Scootaloo?” Scootaloo’s wings clenched against her sides. “Yeah. Kinda makes you wonder what might be so bad to make her give up.” He shrugged. “I wish I knew. I think she might just be avoiding me. And obviously I don’t wanna go running after her or anything if she doesn’t want to be around me.” Sweetie Belle pouted. “What happened?” His ears fell back. His whole body seemed to shrink before the girls. “I had an accident. I kind of, sort of… upset her, I think. I’m not sure.” Scootaloo felt the boy’s pain in her chest. “You zapped her, huh?” He shook his head and frowned. “Sort of, maybe, I guess. It happened kinda quick, I can’t always tell. But she’s upset with me, and she’s been avoiding me for the past couple of weeks. On everything.” Apple Bloom furrowed her brow, looking left and right to her friends. “You can still ask her, though. We could come with ya to help smooth things out.” “I can’t,” Live Wire insisted. “She always hangs out in the Filly Lily garden now, I’m not allowed there.” “There’s a ‘fillies only’ garden here?” Sweetie Belle asked. “That sounds harsh.” “No, colts are allowed. But it’s also a butterfly and bee sanctuary. I have a restraining order,” he said with a groan. “It’s a long story.” Sweetie Belle gave him a determined nod. “Don’t worry, we understand.” “We do?” “Yes, we totally do, Apple Bloom,” the Unicorn insisted through gritted teeth. “We’ll talk to her for you. We can fix this.” He winced and forced out a smile. “Thanks.”