//------------------------------// // Crusaders // Story: Scootamom // by Richardson //------------------------------// "Why does Diamond Tiara get all the luck? She hates me. Me and every other kid in town. She's a jerk, and she gets her cutie mark just like that? And then! Then she invites me to her cutiecanara just to screw with me! Why do I have to go, Mom?" Scootaloo valiantly held her ground, stomping a hoof pitifully to express her displeasure with the whole idea. Celestia once more took her brush into her magic, dragging it into Scootaloo's mane to try and make it cooperate. "Scootaloo, good can come from even the worst of things. You need to go; it'll show Tiara that you aren't afraid of her. Who knows, you might even make some friends." Tug. Tug. Celestia pulled her brush with a great deal of force to try and save it from Scootaloo's mane. With horror, she watched as her efforts just picked the filly up from the floor entirely, dangling her by the mane. "But you skip meetings you don't want to go to all the time, and you miss out on those fancy dinners!" Scootaloo flailed her hooves grumpily, wishing she didn't have to get up before dawn with her mom every school day. It always left her grouchy. She didn't even want to think about how often her mom got brushes stuck in her mane. "Well, that's different, Scootaloo." "How?!" Celestia caught Scootaloo in a bubble of her magic as she finally shook her foal free of the brush, gently setting her down onto the dining room floor to keep on talking to her. That mane was never going to get tamed. Sometimes she swore that it looked like a big purple simmering flame stuck to Scootaloo's head. "Scootaloo, I'm a head of state, AND a mom. Sometimes, I have to choose you over the state, because we're only going to have a short time together. Sometimes I have to pick and choose what I have to do, because I can't do it all no matter how long I live." "Really." Scootaloo drawled out her response as she shuffled her hooves against her mane to work out the worst of the tangles. She fixed her mom with a look, smiling as she knew she had her. "Funny, I didn't know sneaking out to Sugarcube Corner instead of meeting up with Eaglehoof and Luna counted as affairs of state. I guess I could get out of anyth-" Celestia rapidly cleared her throat, glancing back and forth to make sure that Luna hadn't stopped by to find out what was taking her so long. Seeing nothing in the hallway or the kitchen, she pointedly questioned her filly in a hissing tone. "Now where did you find out about that?" Scootaloo unzipped her backpack, dragging out a single photo of 'Sunbeam' in an all-out eating contest with Pinkie Pie in Sugarcube Corner, with a timestamp marked into the corner. She slid it over to her mom almost smugly, enjoying getting one up on the supposed chessmaster of Equestria. "I've got more. It'd be a real shame if Luna found out and decided you needed to go on a diet." Celestia snatched the photo with a little too much force in her urgency, nearly ripping it as she yanked it from under Scootaloo's hoof. Her head whipped around again, even looking out the dining room windows to the front lawn. No sign of her. Celestia held the photo up, wincing as she wondered who had taken the picture. "Where did you get this?" "'A good newspony never reveals her secrets', didn't you say that, Mom? I figured you would be asking what my price for not revealing them to Luna would be." Scootaloo slipped her backpack on, taking it off the dining room table. Darn, already ready for school, and the predawn light was only just starting to come up on the horizon. Celestia glared crossly at her daughter and passed a lunchbox from the kitchen counter to her. "Oh, I already know what your 'price' will be. The answer is no, by the way. I should be asking whether or not you want a spanking for trying to blackmail me." "No! Not that!" "You're right." Celestia smiled wickedly, and stuffed a copy of Diamond Tiara's invitation into Scootaloo's backpack. "Your punishment shall be instead to go to her cutiecanara, and deliver your acceptance of her invitation. Personally." Scootaloo shrank back like a kicked puppy at her mother's judgement, nodding meekly in response. The hardwood floors squeaked and creaked as Scootaloo rocked back and forth with anxious energy, hoping that no further punishment was to come. "But... I don't want to." "Well, it was rather silly of you to blackmail Tia. We gave you those photos for other purposes. At least you picked the one we were not all that proud of. We prefer the one where she and Pinkie attempt to eat the same cake at the same time." Celestia sighed, knowing that one of the more embarrassing moments of that ordeal was still in the dark. Luna didn't need to know, especially with her daughter's situation. She still didn't know who could have taken the pictures, there had only been a blue- "Scootaloo, tell me that Luna isn't smugly staring over my shoulder." "Nope." Luna chuckled, nuzzling Celestia in the ear while harshly laughing. "You didn't think that Scootaloo would rely on a mere mortal to take these photos, did you?" "No, I- that was you?" Celestia reflexively hopped to one side as Luna sat down next to her. Luna irrelevantly preened herself, taking glances at the shelf coated in photos and memorabilia of the 10 years that Scootaloo and Celestia had been together. "But... I- HOW?" Luna looked to Scootaloo, who had been uncomfortably edging towards the door. Her hoof imperiously pointed to the foal, clad in silver and onyx spiraling and swirling in an intricate pattern on her royal shoe. "Tell us, what is the modern parlance for obvious facts presented with indifference?" Scootaloo set her hindhoof back to the ground, plopping down in the archway to the foyer from the royal command. Eyes shifted back and forth, looking from her mother to the nearest window, hoping the two wouldn't do something rather foalish in the house. "Uuuhh, duh?" "Yes, that is it. Duuuh." Luna rubbed the hoof she had pointed at Scootaloo against her breastplate, scratching at the slightest defect in her workmanship. Rather sloppy, actually. Hmm, sloppy. Maybe she could have some oatmeal for breakfast? "Say, Tia? Where is the pantry. We're hungry." Luna rose and started into the kitchen, her magic reaching out to all of the cabinet doors. Celestia jumped to her own hooves, nabbing Luna by the tail to drag her back. "No! Bad Luna! You already ate half the royal pantries, you're not eating us out of house and home! Especially not until you tell me how you got that photo!" Celestia waved to her daughter as she began charging up a two-pony teleport spell, looking to keep Luna from getting into trouble. "Once again, Tia, duh. Shapeshifter, remember? You can let go of our tail now." Luna sat back down, nearly pulling Celestia over on top of her as Scootaloo edged out the door. "You know, Scootaloo, your mother would be far more distracted and likely to agree if you just made some friends. We're a rather easy target for her." Luna yelped as the teleport spell took hold, zapping them across space to the balcony of the sun and moon in Canterlot. "Yeah, just make some friends. Real good idea." Scootaloo grumbled as she hopped up to hit the light switch for the mage lights of the house. "Real hard to explain that your Mom's real job is classified. And that she's actually cool. I can't just go around making pony friends." Scootaloo paused with a hoof against the front door as a trick of words struck her suddenly. The thick oaken planks of the door coldly supported that hoof as Scootaloo's brain worked in overdrive. The little filly's ears perked up, then curled inwards, as if forming small spines atop her head in response to her idea. "They're right. If I can't find a pony friend..." Scootaloo took her backpack off and pulled out a sheet of graph paper and a pencil, sketching up her most insane idea ever developed. "You know what? I can make a pony friend. Forever." -------------------------------------------- Luna's eyebrow raised in impressed admiration as she beheld Scootaloo's concepts. For somepony with no knowledge of advanced robots, not even the concept of automation, it was a rather intricate design. Careful thought had been poured into the articulation, protection and control of the limbs she had designed. Not at all bad for a school day's idle drawings. "So, tell us Scootaloo, what inspired you to create these designs?" "Well, school's kind of inspiring me. You know, Miss Cheerilee's riveting classes about the future. I kinda want to surprise everypony at the Tri-Town Science Fair." Scootaloo tried to sound as truthful as possible, looking up into Luna's imperious gaze. After catching Luna at home in the observatory hiding away in a nap, she had presented the Lunar Diarch with the plans she had come up with. Luna's eyebrow raised higher, its counterpart drawing closer to the bridge of the blue alicorn's nose in a scowl. She knew that Scootaloo wasn't telling the whole truth; it was visible in the little filly's purple eyes. Luna set the scribbled plans back down on the oak planking of the observatory floor, only a single question at the front of her mind. "So, did Tia put you up to this to distract us?" "What? No. Mom didn't put me up to anything!" "Ah. So, why present us with the balm of busywork? We know that you know of our own troubles, that much is clear in the way that your gaze trembles and flinches away from ours." Luna cupped Scootaloo's chin in a hoof, raising the filly's eyes to her own. "Oh, yeah. You and Trixie. I, uh, might have heard." Scootaloo backed away, pulling herself out of Luna's light grip. The filly walked to the south wall, looking over the many maps that adorned it, all covered in notes and photos. Luna followed, not letting Scootaloo escape her inquisition. "How much?" "Uh, well what I didn't hear I figured out. It's not that hard, and figuring from the fact that you somehow was Moonstone the Mighty and Magnificent made it kind of easy to figure out." "Oh?" Luna traced a hoof along the lines of a starchart, tracing out the forgotten constellation of the Enkindler in the zodiac. Scootaloo nodded slowly, bowing her head afterwards while kicking at the planks. "Well, they're surprisingly more likely to just hand you birth certificates if they think it's for a school project." "A school project? How did you even find the hospital that we gave birth to her in?" Luna picked the plans up into the air, arranging them before herself to better inspect how they all fit together. Wait... oh dear. Clever, clever Scootaloo. "Well, I found out where you started performing as Moonstone, and it wasn't that hard to figure out when she showed up." Scootaloo padded over to the telescope, poking the eyepiece with a hoof to distract herself. She hadn't really ever explored the observatory that her mom had built for Luna. She'd never realized how big the telescope was. Hay, bigger than her mom, even. "Clever. Just like trying to circumvent your mother's edict by MAKING a friend." Luna shuffled all the sketches and plans together; rolling them up and floating them over to the desk she had set up. "Uhh..." Luna drew the sketches out in air with her magic, layering on page by page of the designs until the whole had been completed. "As admirable as your designs are, a mechanical friend is not what your mother meant." Luna watched as Scootaloo squirmed under her gaze, slowly walking over to join her. Poor thing, afraid to reach out, much as she herself had been. "Perhaps we should help you out." "So you'll build it?" "No. We're going to help you get over your fear of this 'Diamond Tiara'. Your avoidance isn't healthy. It reminds us far too much of our own troubles." Luna scooped Scootaloo up, knowing where to head off to first. To her credit, Scootaloo didn't quite flinch at the words. ------------------------------ Scootaloo sweated under her mother's sun. Not from the heat, of course, but of the nervousness of fear. Fear that 'Moonbeam' might have issues with ponies in town, and the fear that at any second Diamond Tiara and her little friend might show up. Somepony couldn't be too careful in avoiding those two. She just wished 'Moonbeam' had let her use those crates her Mom had in the upstairs storage room for a disguise. A nearby trash can rattled for a moment, startling her in the shadows of the alley, causing the foal to swiftly zip back around the corner and press flat against the back wall of the Sugarcube Corner. After a moment of no activity, she peeked around again, groaning at her own stupidity as a cat jumped out from behind the can and into the dirt-paved alley to lick it's paws. Why the hay was she so nervous? She could get through town without being seen, there was no way that- "If you stand around all day, you'll miss a perfectly good weekend." 'Moonbeam's voice whispered into her ear teasingly, startling the filly into the air and yelping in surprise from the sudden noise. "Oh." "Don't do that!" Scootaloo huffed and panted, leaning against the bakery's wall to catch her breath as she held a hoof against her pounding chest. She had almost forgotten that 'Moonbeam' had been right behind her. The irritating mare chuckled lightly, her magic tightening the straps on her saddlebags as she did. "Come now, there wasn't all that much to be scared of. Okay, there is me. I'm rather scary, but that's it. Nopony is going to eat you, or bury you in apples, or tar and feather you. It's just a marketplace you silly filly." 'Moonbeam' stepped out into the sunlight as she spoke, closing her eyes and letting the warmth of the late summer day soak into her coat. "I am not a silly filly!" "And you're not a mare. But you do act rather sillily. So, therefore as a filly who acts sillily, you are a silly filly. It all makes sense! Now do I have to drag you out here, or will you come willingly?" 'Moonbeam' cheezily smiled at her charge as she beckoned from the sunlight, her horn glowing and threatening to drag Scootaloo out. Scootaloo anxiously looked about, darting towards 'Moonbeam' from crate to crate in the alley, annoyedly realizing that the older mare was stepping back each time. The gravel underhoof crunched with her movement far too noisily for her taste, setting off her nerves every time she moved. Magic snatched her tail as 'Moonbeam' became impatient, dragging her up next to the full grown mare and plopping her down in the shadow there. "See, now that wasn't so bad, now was it?" 'Moonbeam' draped a set of foal-sized saddlebags on Scootaloo's back, enjoying the pouting scowl on the foal's face as they sat in the grass outside Ponyville's extravagant bakery. "Yes." 'Moonbeam' smiled, mentally marking off the various vendors in the town square, noting to herself how it seemed to wrap around the multi-story town hall. Sensible enough to increase traffic flow, she supposed. But there was just so much variety! She couldn't even imagine where a good place to start could be found, what stall would be her best bet to start with. Why, just look at those necklaces, or that curious little replica-Dijinn bottle emporium, or those hot, juicy apples... In a warning of her ravenous hunger, 'Moonbeam's stomach growled like a demon had possessed it. She and Scootaloo looked at each other in shock at the strength of the shaking in her belly, wondering how long the mare had been neglecting her taste buds. 'Moonbeam' sheepishly looked to her charge, rubbing her belly with an idle forehoof. Several ponies around them stopped to gawk, lightly embarrassing the pair. Finally, the chaperoning mare cleared her throat and pointed towards the apple stand nearby, where an exasperated orange mare was trying to run herd on a yellow and red filly who was excitedly bouncing around. "So, Scootaloo, how about some apples. Lots of apples..." "Well, what else is there to eat on short notice? I didn't pack a Pinkie." 'Moonbeam' leaned over and stuck her tongue out, firmly SLUUUUUURP!ing up the back of Scootaloo's ears, before tasting the flavor left over on her tongue rapidly. "Bleagh. Pegasus fillies taste like citrus. Maybe if I get really, really hungry." "WHAT!?" Scootaloo hopped back, her wings extended in shock as she stared at her chaperone with pinprick eyes. "I was joking. What crazy stories has she been telling you about me, anyway?" 'Moonbeam' shook her head, firmly marching towards the stand. Curiously, despite the utterly delicious-looking apples displayed for all to have, ponies were keeping a wary distance from it. Why over to one side, a trio of mares with flowers woven into their manes cowered behind their stand with only their eyes barely visible over it's back lip. She stopped, feeling Scootaloo trot up behind her and sit down. 'Moonbeam' rubbed a hoof against the grass, feeling for possible razor wire or spell hidden in it, or something, anything to explain the lack of business. It wasn't like the stand was suddenly going to start raining apples on hapless customers, surely they wouldn't be that- ZIP! "Hiya, Ah'm Applebloom! Care for an apple? No-no-" ZIP-ZIP! "Two Apples! Ya' can't go wrong with two apples!" 'Moonbeam' recoiled in shock as the yellow and red blur shot up to her and dropped off two apples at her hooves. Oh no. Scootaloo had already made a break for it, leaving her with no bait to distract the sudden overeager apple peddler. "I- uh..." "Oh no, ya' don't know about Sweet Apple Acre Apples? Only the most yummy, good-for-you apples to ever be grown if Ah do say so myself and Ah do, but ya don't want just two apples, do ya', no ya want our Apple Cobbler, too!" ZIP! ZIP! "No? Aww, c'mon, please buy something! Ah know, ya want our Apple Jam and Zap Apple Jam!" ZIP-ZIP-ZIP! "See, look how all goldeney-good they are!" 'Moonbeam' trembled back from the growing pile of apple-based foodstuffs in bewilderment and shock, hoping that it would end shortly. The deep, soulful eyes of the earth pony filly before her seemed to bore into her soul, demanding that she buy all the apples that they had. Apples, apples.... oh why were there so many kinds of apples? "Ya' know what they say; an apple a day keeps the doctor away!" A brown stallion jumping up behind a stall on the other side of the marketplace broke the reverie as he shouted at the filly before the besieged mare. "No it doesn't! Crazy fillies who try and stuff me with them keep me away!" "Hey! Ya'll still need to try our Zap Apple Cider!" The yellow filly before her shook a hoof at him, giving 'Moonbeam' a chance to gather her wits about herself. "I'll take it, I'll take it, please stop giving me more apple stuff!" Whipping coinage out with her magic, she counted out the total she came up with in her mind and dropped it into the collection chest on the stand's counter. The blond and orange mare behind the stall swooped around, hooking a leg around the errant filly driving 'Moonbeam' away."Applebloom! Stop scarin' away our customers. M'am, Ah'm terribly sorry, she's been such a hassle all day. You really don't need to pay us that much Miss..." "Moonbeam. Uh, I should probably go." 'Moonbeam' snatched up the offered goods in her magic, backing away skittishly towards the storefronts as she did. "Probably for the best, Miss. Ah'm sorry, again. Ah just don't know what's gotten into little Applebloom here." The orange mare tipped the large hat on her head towards 'Moonbeam', before scowling and pulling out a rope to tie her filly store-partner up with. "Sis, all this nonsense has to stop before you get somepony hurt, or drive us out of business." 'Moonbeam' skittered back a little further, before turning and galloping away as fast as she could. Oh Tia, Oh Tia that was horrifying! The corner of her vision caught the rapidly flailing hoof that Scootaloo was waving around a corner, and she ran headlong for it, tripping and tumbling end over end as she tried to stop. Blue skies gave way for purple mane as Scootaloo leaned over her, poking her in the chest. "What was that you said? It's not scary, you said? Nopony was going to try and bury us in apples, you said? I told you so." Scootaloo sarcastically poked her hoof into 'Moonbeam's heaving chest to punctuate each sentence as she rolled her eyes. "That was- Huff... The most Random- Huff... Encounter- Huff... I've ever had." 'Moonbeam' tried to raise her head, but let it fall back down after it proved to be too much strain. Distantly, she could hear, and just barely see the conversation the apparent siblings were having about their treatment of their customer. "-Ain't nopony else in this town having such a hullabaloo about it, Applebloom. Now after this, ya'll are going home, and yer' gonna think long and hard about what ya did here today." The older sister had her little sibling hogtied and sitting on her back, squirming in indignity over her situation. The crowd seemed to relax as the mare set Applebloom into the shade under the stand, though her voice kept on ranting pitifully. "But Applejack, Diamond Tiara is gonna rag on me forever if Ah don't get it. Ah need it to appear, right naow!" Scootaloo mumbled under her breath, low enough that 'Moonbeam' couldn't quite catch it. She wondered just who this 'Diamond Tiara' was, and what she might have done to drive two fillies to shun her. She concentrated, slowly straightening out her breathing rhythm and calming herself to keep it under control. "Well, 'sis', where do you want to go next in the crazy, crazy town of Ponyville?" Scootaloo's proffered hoof was gratefully accepted, helping 'Moonbeam' back to her hooves with a bit of effort. Looking about, she sought an indoors store, needing to hide her shame. It wasn't everyday that a goddess of the moon, even one disguised as a mortal pony was beaten by somepony just trying to sell her something. Sheesh. "Perhaps you could tell me about a store that sells hats? I have a need to hide my face, because I'm too ashamed to ever show my face again." Scootaloo's smile widened further, the little filly rubbing her hooves together in a somewhat disturbing fashion behind 'Moonbeam's back. "Oh, I know just the place." 'Moonbeam' nodded, panting ever so slightly still as she mused about her horrible luck. "What's next, a unicorn who can't do magic? A Seapony walking on dry land?" ------------------------------- "AAACHHOOOOOO!" "Blessed be, Bartholemew. That cold of yours isn't getting any better, is it?" Bonnie Pie rubbed at her colt's blue-tinged nose with a hankerchief, wiping away the mess that had come with his sneeze. "I'm fine, Ma. Really. I just think somepony important was talking about me again. My nose always gets like this when they do." The youngest member of the Pie Clan rubbed at his nose after his mom was done, wincing at the dust stuck to his normally damp fur. Wet earth was always an unpleasant smell to sniff into your nose, after all. With that done, he fell back onto the couch in the family parlor, stretching out his aching body. "Hardly anypony knows about you, son. It's your imagination. I doubt you've got your sister Pinkamina's sense." Clyde Pie stepped out of the kitchen with a newspaper clutched in the crook of his leg, the family's prodigal daughter pictured front and center as the star of it's big article. "Just like Inkie and Blinkie don't? They get flashes of it, too, Pa. What'chya reading?" The young colt squirmed on the couch as his mother checked his temperature, doing his best to ignore the thermometer in his mouth and stare at the picture filled walls. It used to be so much more fun back when his sis Pinkie was still around. "Something about Pinkamina. Celestia bless her, do I miss her. But she's just too big for this little old farm of ours. Something you do share with her, son." Clyde sat down beside his wife, looking to her for the prognosis. A solemn shake of her head was more than enough for them to make up their minds. "Ma, Pa? What exactly are you saying?" Bonnie sighed, running a hoof down her son's mane. He was never what she had expected, or wanted. But that bright spark in his eyes... she was scared for him, scared for their relationship, and their family as a whole. "Bartholemew, we're sending you to live with your sister Pinkamina. It's just too dry up here on our farm for you to get over your sickness." "You're sending me away?" Clyde nodded, a frown of sadness upon his face as he did. He wished it hadn't come to this, just as he hadn't wanted to send Pinkamina to their cousins in Ponyville. But just like his daughter, their farm was slowly strangling the life and light out of their son. "I won't lie to you. Yes, we're sending you to Pinkamina. It's going to be the second-hardest thing I've done in my life." "But, you're sending me away anyway." "Yes, son. The most important lesson I ever learned was that sometimes a problem is just too big for you by yourself. I want to build you a nice lake so you can stay, but with certain things that have gone on lately, we can't afford it. And we can't afford to see you get sicker and sicker up here. We want to help you, son. We want you to stay here, so we can see you grow up into a fine young stallion." Clyde was normally a stoic and repressed old farmer, as stony as the rocks he farmed. But it wasn't something he could keep up. His voice cracked as he spoke, knowing how much he was hurting his family, and how much more it would hurt if he didn't. Bonnie nodded, sliding a foreleg under her son's shoulder's to hug him tightly. "If you love something, Bartholemew, let it go. If it comes back, it was yours to keep. If not, it was never yours to begin with. This farm is going to eat you up if you stay. Maybe you'll be able to come back some day, when we've got the place fixed up. Maybe we'll have to come join you. But we love you enough to let go." Their colt nodded, knowing how dreary it was and how hard the farm was on him. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he rolled over, hugging his parents tightly. "I think I get it, Ma. I don't suppose you two could help me find my back legs and get them on? It'll be hard to walk to the train station without them." Small giggles met his words as they hugged for a while longer. "Say, where did you leave them, son?" "Hey, Berry!" Inkie's widely smiling face popped up in the front windows as she reared up on the porch. "Guess who's the six-legged pony!" Clyde and Bonnie winced; Clyde's hoof finding it's way to his face to rub out the sudden headache that jumped in between his eyes. "Celestia almighty, give me strength..." ------------------------------------------------------ "But Rarity!" "No buts, Missey! You've scared the daylights out of our guest, and I mustn't let this little farce continue any farther. Now march right up to the bedroom, and sit on that bed to think through what you just did, young lady!" Rarity angrily pointed towards the stairs for Sweetie Belle, glaring at her little sister's smoke-encrusted form. Scootaloo and 'Moonbeam' stared on in shock from having watched Sweetie Belle's disastrous attempt at replicating 'Moonbeam's fireworks spell. Rarity waved her hooves before their faces, whistling as she did. Concernedly, the fashionista upgraded from semi-passive means of signaling, and proceeded to her little sister's favored tactic. Two licked hooves tickled at the insides of the pair's ears, shocking them into awareness again. 'Moonbeam' shook out of it first, looking to the scorch mark on the floor where Sweetie's attempt at a spell had gone out of control. "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry, Ma'am. I didn't know she would attempt to cast the spell inside like that. I've caused you so many problems, I really should take my sister and go..." Rarity's magic caught her by the tail, dragging the disguised mare back to where she had been standing before her attempt to slink away. "Oh, no-no-no! I can't have such a natural beauty like yours go to waste over such a silly little incident! Besides, what are a few burns on the floor between friends?" "But-but- what about the damage? I barely even know you, how could we be-" "Because I want to be, darling! Oh, look at you, so afraid to trust. Somepony must have hurt you in the past, didn't they?" Rarity snuggled up to her now slightly disturbed customer, using her telekinesis to throw the measuring tape around both their necks in a friendly gesture. Before she could start dragging 'Moonbeam' to the fitting room for her measurements, she realized that there was one last pony in the room who needed to be taken care of. "Oh, I'm sorry. I seem to have forgotten your name. Rather dreadfully embarrassing of me, since you're around town so much. Soobertoo? Scoogerboo?" "Scootaloo. I'm one of your sister's friends." 'Moonbeam' nodded with Scootaloo's statement. "And she's my little sister and totally best friend forever." Rarity looked between them, eyebrow raised in confusion. 'Moonbeam' carried herself like somepony who spent their formative young adult years in the Neighties, while Scoober- ugh, Scootaloo was only a little older than 10 years old. Curious. And they barely looked anything alike! Sure, they both had those remarkable purple eyes, so much like Princess Celestia's, and they did have the same general facial structure, and hmm, maybe they were closely related. After all, the Lotus twins didn't look all that much alike at first glace. "Ah. I suppose I do see a slight family resemblance. I don't suppose you would be willing to keep Sweetie Belle company while I fit Miss Moonbeam here? It will be so awfully boring to somepony as young as you are." Rarity drew a tape measure out of her workstations, cracking it like a whip as she extended it out to full length. "Aren't you punishing her?" "Yes. But, I know how... boring, foals find my work." Rarity picked Scootaloo up with her magic, pushing her towards the stairs. Scootaloo caught a glimpse of Rarity backing 'Moonbeam' onto a fitting stage, armed to the horn with a cornucopia of sewing instruments as she gleefully planned how to harness the natural beauty before her. "Now then, who's ready to shine?" "Um... I only came here for a hat." "Nonsense! Why would anypony hide such a mane as your own in a mere hat?" Scootaloo shook her head, feeling sorry for 'Moonbeam' as she quietly opened and slipped into the bedroom upstairs. "Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo found herself practically pulverized by the protectively perky pounce of the miniature marshmallow pony projectile that pressed her into the portal. Weak groans of pain escaped her as she wriggled underneath the animatedly jibbering unicorn above her, who busily was trying to catch Scootaloo up on everything that had happened in Ponyville while she was gone. Scootaloo raised a foreleg over her eyes, shielding them from the mid-afternoon sunlight that streamed through the western windows of the room. "And that's everything that's happened!" Sweetie Belle hopped with her exclamation, sending a fresh wave of pain through Scootaloo's poor abused body. Oddly, from where she was being stepped on, Sweetie's form almost looked like her Mom's in the midst of one of her 'showy' days. Might have had something to do with the way that Sweetie Belle stood within a beam of light from the windows. "Could you repeat some of that? Yanno, while not standing on me? Kind of hard to listen when you're being squished to death." Scootaloo grunted out her request in the short breaths that she could get with Sweetie on her chest. Sweetie sheepishly cringed in embarrassment and hopped off, helping Scootaloo back to her hooves with an offered leg up. "I was just so excited to see you again... Diamond Tiara was going on about how your mom got killed and eaten by Nightmare Moon, and how you got taken to some horrible orphana-" "What? No! NononoNo! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. My mom is fine, we've just been in Canterlot helping Princess Celestia transfer the moon back to it's rightful owner. And getting to know my sister, who got kidnapped in some crazy plot to give Nightmare Moon a body. It didn't work, and she got dragged up into the moon until Princess Celestia's student freed Luna." Scootaloo spun her tale as quickly as she could, her summary accurate enough. Speaking of Luna, what was going on downst- "But darling, sparkles in your mane would make it look like you're wearing the night skies on your head!" "No! I get mistaken for Princess Luna enough, I don't want more ponies mistaking me for her!" "Princess Luna has a mane made of STARS? Idea!" The sound of a hundred drawers slamming open at once rocked the business for a moment as Rarity enthusiastically got to work on her latest idea for 'Moonbeam'. Sweetie Belle winced, realizing that any chance of hanging out with her big sister during the stupid party coming up just went out the window. A dejected sniffle scrunched her nose, and her head slowly drooped in disappointment as she turned to walk to Rarity's bed. "That figures." Scootaloo confusedly walked up to Sweetie's side, tapping her on the shoulder. "What's wrong?" "Sniff. Nothing." Sweetie tried to turn away from Scootaloo, only to find her mysteriously somehow already in her path again. "It's not nothing. I hate it when you get mopey. It means I have to break out the robot chicken dance. You know I hate that dance." Scootaloo poked the tip of Sweetie's horn, using it as leverage to make her shake her head 'no'. It was pretty depressing, seeing her only friend that was her age all mopey. Wait. "Stupid Tiara invited you to her cutiecanara as well, didn't she?" Sweetie nodded faintly. "She invited all the foals, so she could make fun of everypony that doesn't have their cutie marks yet. I was gonna go with Rarity, or stay here with her. But now she's all inspired and stuff, and I'll be bored. And... I'll have nopony to keep me from going." Sweetie Belle climbed up on the bed and slumped down over it's side, her head hanging against the edge as she closed her eyes in moping frustration. Odd whirring noises and clucking sounds tried to tickle her ears. Sweetie tried to ignore them as best she could; she knew that it was Scootaloo making an utter foal of herself for the sake of a friend. But the beat to the noise was too infectious, and a single peek of an eye was all it took to wipe the frown from the little unicorn's face. A minute or two more had her eyes closed again once more from the mechanical movements and pretend-pecking at the ground as Scootaloo danced; this time trying to hold back tears of mirth as she clamped both forehooves over her mouth to try and hold back the uproarious laughter. "I can ~CLUCK!~ keep this up all day, Sweetie. And you know what? If every foal in town is getting dragged in, guess who else has to go?" Scootaloo pointed to herself in the middle of her movements as Sweetie Belle opened her eyes, nearly loosing her balance from the act. The marshmallowy unicorn squeaked happily, falling off the bed and into Scootaloo, who collapsed atop her. Panting from the exertion, she continued. "And you know what? Mom never did find out I became friends with you. It'd be a good way to make her stop needling me about makin-" "For the love of Celestia, I look like a pink clown! I only wanted a hat!" Sweetie Belle looked to Scootaloo, trying to hold back the laughter. Scootaloo didn't even try, rolling onto her back as her wings buzzed in time with her wheezing chuckles and squeaks. "YES! I AM THE MIGHTY AND MAGNIFICENT MOONSTONE, AND I WILL- ooo~OOOOH! You have my attention!" Sweetie hopped off her sister's bed, poking Scootaloo in the belly to see if she was dead. No time quite like having her sister distracted to make a deal. "You know what? Let's go. It can't be all that bad..." Her eyes flickered over to the windows, which still were nearly glowing with late afternoon light. Well, why not? "But maybe we should go. If my sis gets too into the zone, she might borrow us as scale dummies for her dress." Scootaloo's eyes snapped open again as the horror of being caught dead or alive in a little pink dress in Rarity's shop hit her. "Run away. Run AWAY!" --------------------------------------------------- There was still the meeting with the Subcommitte for Northern Mining he had to attend, and having to listen to the begging of the Airdock Union whining at him to give them a raise on the shipping lines, and maybe even time to enjoy an hour or two of cursing Celestia in private. Not the best day for Redcoat, Duke of Neighagra, but at least he didn't have to put up with that weak-willed sunnag. He brushed off the white cape of office, looking out from his tower suite over the city of Canterlot towards the setting sun; the sun that was setting on Equestria, as it was. The sun's harsh orange evening light glared into his dark eyes, casting long shadows across the dark red of his fur, casting a sinister look upon his features. Redcoat lit his horn, checking the pocketwatch he carried for the time, scowling as he saw the time. At the rate that he kept going, he was going to turn into that careless nag upon the throne himself, always taking personal time and ignoring Equestria's plight. He was almost late. Striding around his throne-like desk, he headed for his suite's front room to catch up with his schedule. The thick star-emblazoned rug that covered the floor of his office swallowed up his hoofsteps as he walked, protecting the unyielding white marble of his floor. At a touch of his magic, the double doors of his realm opened and he strode forth to do battle with the ignorance of his subjects for the sake of Equestria. Nodding, he gave a signal of his intentions to his secretary, whoever she was. He couldn't remember her name. "I'm leaving for the day, no appointments for tomorrow, I'm afraid. I have much to do, and to plan." "Mi'lord, there is a petitioner who urgently requests to see you just outside. He claims several associates of his have a business deal they would like to discuss with you." His secretary bowed against her plain and modest desk; looking up to him from where she planted her nose in her paperwork in supplication. Redcoat stopped by the plain doors leading into the main hall of the governmental office complex, rubbing the bridge of his muzzle with a steel-clad hoof. He didn't have time for some simpleton idiot who wanted to get involved in the government. Right. Well then, he might as well just barge through, not much that he could do otherwise. "Thank you for the warning. Take an extra bit home for your trouble." The duke slammed the outer doors of his office open, hearing a satisfying grunt of pain as the petitioner stumbled back from the door. Poor fool had the brilliant idea to stand within the swing radius of the door. Redcoat marched out, heading for the elevator at the end of the hall and hoping every step of the way that he had disoriented his latest leach enough to escape. No such luck, though. The awkward sound of a pony limping on three hooves caught up to him rapidly. The slightly gurgly sound of somepony trying to breath through a bloody nose that had a hoof applying pressure to it grated against his ears as he steadfastly looked ahead, trying to ignore the commoner fool. "Your excellency, I am-" "Representing the interests of unnamed associates, attempting to con me into going along with some Celestia-bedamned scheme of one form or another. Yes. Now go away." Redcoat focused on the steeley sounds of his hooffalls, scowling directly ahead. Blessed silence followed him for a moment, before his tail caught up. "Is that all you want, Duke?" "All that I care about at the moment. A thousand brush fires to put out, a thousand idiocies that 'her majesty' promotes in the name of her thrice bedamned harmony. I have no time for anything more." The petitioner caught up with him once more, walking steadily once more as his nose stopped bleeding. They were almost to the sanctuary of the elevators, where he could escape his current frustration. Even if it was only to replace it with the frustration of the subcommitte. Oddly, he could almost swear that he heard something in the echoes of the hall. Harsh, metallic and sinister. "A shame, really. My associates sought to find out what your real plan for the future of Equestria was. We just wanted to know what you wanted. They thought they could fulfill your wishes, and use your vision for advancing the cause of Equestria. No wonder Princess Celestia irritates you so greatly, since you seem not to have a vision after all. Good day." Oh, he did not just- yes he did. Redcoat slammed a hoof against the door of the elevator, the loud clack echoing through the halls in voicing of his anger. "WAIT!" The stranger stopped at the corner of the main hall, turning around to finally look Redcoat eye to eye. The reflectively polished marble glittered in the fading sunlight as they stared each other down, a thousand unspoken observations passing between them. "Do you really want to know what I want? What my... vision for Equestria is, hmm?" "Yes, that is the reason I came, your excellency." "I want... to see Celestia deposed from the throne. I want Equestria to be the shining beacon it once was. I want to see the Glasslands put in their place for daring to threaten us with sanctions and rules. I want to show Celestia how wrong her 'Harmony' is, to show her that there are indeed betters and inferiors. I want to see Equestria's star rise once more, to put the Aerie States, the Drakesland Republics, to put every nation in our shadow. But your... associates. I rather doubt they can help me in my quest, now can they?" Every word slowly widened the sly smile on the petitioner's face, a dark and knowing glint shining deep in his eyes. He nodded once as he stepped forward, reaching a hoof out to Redcoat to shake on a deal. "Now there is the vision my associates have been looking for. All you need to do is ask." "You have yet to actually tell me what they can provide." "Anything." Redcoat's eyebrow raised in questioning. "Anything?" "Anything. As a token of proof, you'll find in your cape something that may be useful in dealing with your problems." The petitioner lowered his hoof as he realized that Redcoat was in no mood to shake on a business deal. Redcoat turned to his short cape, realizing that a laminated pamphlet had been placed amongst the papers hidden within it. "And what is this supposed to be?" Redcoat looked up from the odd papers, startling as he saw that his petitioner had vanished. "Leverage, your excellency, leverage." Redcoat looked one way and another, seeing no sign of where the voice had come from. Opening the small pamphlet revealed only a few sheets of paper, dossiers on several ponies; two mares, a foal, and a comparison between the mares and the princesses. "Why in the world would he tell me about the Princess's secretary?" ------------------------------------------------- Well, the party was going along nicely enough. Such... strange and silly ponies, though. 'Moonbeam' glanced about over the rim of her punchglass carefully, watching the guest of honor and her closest friend talk with the little foal who had driven her so crazy in the market. Their discussion seemed to be getting rather heated. And... was that dress made of a tablecloth? What did she have to hide from those two? And where in Tia's good land had Scootaloo and that little unicorn filly run off to? POP! 'Moonbeam' yelped and jumped as the dark blue stallion beside her began popping balloons once more; his oblivious happiness continuing onwards past her as he went. Now there was a shock her system didn't need. Wait, where had that silly filly gone? Oh, at the door, being dragged back inside by- oh, now she recognized the older mare. Applejack, her successor Scion and Bearer of Honesty. She took another long draught of her punch, letting her new wide-brimmed hat slowly slip down over her eyes in the process. Lovely thing, it was. Silken, with braces of unicorn-enchanted wire to hold it's point out above her head. "Oh, look, she doesn't have a cutie mark after all. What a cute little worthless blank flank." Punch became mist in a moment, 'Moonbeam's horn lighting righteously in anger as she slammed back what little of her punch remained. A push of her aura righted her hat, revealing the eyes of a mare on a mission. How dare they taunt and tease that poor filly. How dare they back her into a corner like that. She stomped their way, brushing aside foals and mares in her march, determined to scold that little brat within an inch of her- "HEY! You got a problem with blank flanks?" "Scootaloo?" 'Moonbeam' looked a little further on, seeing two pairs of eyes glinting under the nearest tables to the confrontation. She hesitated, wondering now if she should interfere, or let Tia's child grow a little further. "Who said that? Come on!" The grey filly angrily looked around, even as the little yellow filly they had been picking on looked on in hope. "I said, DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BLANK FLANKS?" Scootaloo burst out from under the table she had been hiding under, her white-coated friend cautiously following behind her. The two obnoxious brats recoiled slightly at their approach, even as they joined the yellow filly in facing down her tormentors. "What's it matter to you anyway?" "I- uh-" The pink one stammered, trying to get back to her mental hooves. 'Moonbeam' slunk behind her, blocking their escape as she relished in their discomfort. The white unicorn foal spoke up, poking the yellow and red filly in the flank as if pointing something out. "You know what? A blank flank just means she's full of potential! Her special talent could be ANYTHING!" The other foals began babbling as they realized what Scootaloo and... and... Sweetie Belle! That was it, as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood together with the yellow Apple filly, encouraging them and realizing how they could have been different. The sudden commotion seemed to infuriate the pink one, emboldening her into speaking up. "And why are you sticking up for her, anyway?" Scootaloo smirked, waving her rump in the air with Sweetie Belle as she showed off the burnt orange expanse of blank fur on her own rump. "Take a look, Diamond Tiara! I thought you hadn't forgotten that we're blank flanks too!" 'Moonbeam' satisfiedly watched as two of the element bearers swooped in, unintentionally driving off any further efforts on Diamond Tiara's part to put the trio down. So, it looked like Tia was right after all. Scootaloo did make some friends here. How adorable, the little things. Why, there they went over to a corner table, getting to know each other better. Now if only her problems were so easy to solve. With Trixie in... trouble, a world that had gone without her for so long... The nobles hated her; they hated her plans to dismantle their system for the good of Equestria. She still needed to make something of the remaining shards of the Rainbow of Light; and for that matter she had so many ideas to advance Equestria, to prepare it for what she had seen in her thousand year absence. And even- A cold icy sweat dripped down her spine, freezing her thoughts in place as three voices spoke at once. "That's it! The CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! YAAAAAY!" Um, well that probably wouldn't be so bad, would it?