Scootaloo was nervous sneaking out of the house. She couldn't even fathom what punishment Celestia would dream up if she got caught. It didn't help that during dinner, whenever their mom wasn't looking, Sunset was looking at her with a glare that could scare the devil. Luckily, she had been able to avoid Sunset after dinner. She just had to wait until she was sure that both Celestia and Sunset were asleep, then she carefully and quietly snuck out of the house.
She wasn't surprised to find Adagio, Aria and Sonata already waiting for her in front of CHS.
"You've arrived," Adagio said, "what took you?"
"Sunset's been on my butt since I got home," Scootaloo explained, "what about you, aren't you worried about Tiberius letting Luna know that you snuck out?"
"Nope," Sonata said as she help up a rather familiar and fat oppossum wearing a little mask around it's eyes.
"Really," Scootaloo deadpanned, "you brought Tiberius?"
"It was either that," Aria replied, "or he'd tell our mom."
Scootaloo just rolled her eyes.
"So what's the plan then," She asked Adagio.
"Well this was the last place we encountered Incognito," Adagio replied, "So maybe we should start looking for it here "
"The last thing we need is for Incognito to make an appearance during the Friendship Games," Aria added.
"So where do we start looking," Scootaloo asked.
"That's the problem," Adagio said, "I have no idea."
Sonata began rummaging through her backpack and came out with a silver hand mirror.
"Incognito, Incognito, Incognito," Sonata intoned while looking into the mirror.
"It isn't Bloody Mary," Aria said, "be serious."
"I am being serious, and I don't see you coming up with a plan." Sonata retorted.
"Would you two just stop it," Adagio said loud enough just to get their attention, "we are trying to help Sunset, could you two please focus."
"Unfortunately we can't sneak into the school," Scootaloo said as she looked at the front of the school, "they lock it up tight after hours."
She turned and found her cousins and one fat marsupial looking at her.
"It was raining," Scootaloo said, "scratch that, it was a typhoon, and I was looking for a dry place to sleep. I also learned that the school has a silent alarm."
"Why didn't you try the homeless shelter," Adagio asked.
"And get Children's Services notified immediately about my," Scootaloo paused as she looked for the right word, "situation. Plus both of Apple Bloom's older siblings volunteer there on a regular basis, I couldn't take that risk."
Adagio enveloped her cousin in a gentle hug, "well you have us and Sunset now."
"I'm wondering why we never ran into each other before we became family," Aria said suddenly, "I mean, the five us were all living on the streets at the same time at one point."
Four pairs of eyes looked at her unblinking, as though she had presented them with a great revelation.
"What," she said, "do I have spaghetti sauce on my shirt?"
"What does that have to do with anything," Scootaloo asked.
"Mom and Raven made spaghetti for dinner," Sonata explained.
"Aria does bring up a good point," Adagio said thoughtfully, "I mean the odds of us running into each other while we were still living on the streets are pretty high, but the odds that we would all get adopted into the same family are even more astronomical."
"Maybe it's fate," Scootaloo said.
"Shhhh," Aria said suddenly, "anyone else feel that?"
"Feel what," Adagio said, "I can barely feel my fingers, I didn't think that it was going to get this cold tonight."
"I dunno," Sonata said as she looked around, "it feels like we're being watched."
"C'mon," Scootaloo said with a laugh, "stop trying to scare me."
She didn't want to admit it, but it did feel like they were being watched. She glanced up at the statue that sat in front of the school. She never noticed it in the daylight, but at night the horse that sat atop the stone plinth looked absolutely demonic. That and the fact that she couldn't pinpoint where the feeling was coming from made it even more unsettling.
"Maybe it's time we headed home," Scootaloo suggested, "it's obvious that we aren't going to get any answers tonight."
"Yeah you're probably right," Adagio said, "I'll walk you home. Catch up with you two later."
"We'll see you at home," Sonata said, "just don't take to long just in case we need to make excuses to mom or Raven."
"I hear ya," Adagio said, "come on Scoots, I don't want to be out in this cold any longer than I have to be."
Sonata didn't realize it, but she left her hand mirror sitting on the sidewalk as they left the schoolyard. None of the girls noticed as the glowing pair of eyes from within the mirror watched them walk away.
It didn't take long for Adagio and Scootaloo to arrive at Principal Celestia's house. Luckily for Scootaloo there was a tree that grew right outside her bedroom window, a tree that Scootaloo had climbed dozens of times since she had moved in with Celestia. Celestia had taken to calling the tree Scootaloo's fire escape.
"Can you sneak in without being caught," Adagio asked using a stage whisper. Scootaloo just nodded and pointed at the tree outside her bedroom window.
"Ok, see you tomorrow afternoon," Adagio said before she began walking in the direction of Vice Principal Luna's house.
Moving like a cat, and showing exceptional grace for someone with no gymnast training Scootaloo was up the tree and sliding through her open window in no time. Not wanting to risk turning on the light in her bedroom, Scootaloo was able to change into her pajamas in the dark. Scootaloo decided to hang her jacket on the back of her desk chair. She was surprised when she heard her jacket hit the floor. Her desk chair wasn't where she had left it. Sitting on her bed, Scootaloo reached over to her nightstand and turned on her bedside lamp. After her eyes adjusted to the light, she found herself face to face with Sunset Shimmer.