//------------------------------//
// Life's Bag of Tricks 
// Story: Spike's Scootaloo 
// by MallaJong1 
//------------------------------//

	Everything seemed to freeze. It was as if time itself had stopped ticking forward, rendering everypony motionless. Each individual on that particular patch of grass sported a different expression in response to Spike’s question. Snips was biting his bottom lip, ready to burst into a fit of laughter. Snails’s eyes squeezed shut from total amusement. Applebloom’s pupils had dilated so widely the white of her irises were almost completely covered. Sweetie Belle’s jaw hung so low it could just barely touch the soil beneath her hooves. Scootaloo’s face donned an utter blankness so cryptic that even after thorough analysis one couldn’t decipher it. And Spike. Oh, that poor baby dragon. The color in his demeanor had gone so pale it wouldn’t have been wrong to label him a ghost. His eyes seemed to have already glazed over, even before he finished his sentence. The mortification displayed on his countenance was too great for words alone. Describing it would only humiliate Spike even further.

So when time decided to keep moving – when everypony was given a few seconds to register what was just asked by the baby dragon – all eyes were on a certain orange foal. Expectant looks to say something, anything, jabbed at the filly ceaselessly. Applebloom’s face demonstrated she was still experiencing ecstasy. Sweetie Belle’s gaping orifice continued to remain suspended. Snips and Snails’ ears pricked up, and Spike stared ahead without a single thought swimming through his brain. Scootaloo looked to all of them in confusion. She had absolutely no idea how to respond. She couldn’t quite understand why exactly it was asked in the first place.

Instead of forming any kind of audible, coherent word, the orange foal simply smiled sheepishly. Her cheeks took on a rosy shade, and all she could do was produce the only sound that came up her throat.

“Uhhh…”

“OF COURSE SHE WILL!” Sweetie Belle squeaked out excitedly, her voice cracking.

“Ya bet ya, Spike! She’d go out with ya in a heartbeat!” Applebloom bobbed her head giddily. “Won’t ya, Scootaloo?”

“I don’t…I, uh, but…” Scootaloo muttered, overwhelmed.

“What she means to say is ‘yes’!” Sweetie Belle said, attempting to translate.

“When do ya want to take her on this date?” Applebloom hopped. “How about today? You two can have your own private picnic right here!”

Spike’s mind suddenly began spinning. A billion commands were being sent through his nervous system, and he was left helplessly grasping at any one of them. Unfortunately he wasn’t snagging onto anything. Everything was too muddled and foggy for the baby dragon to make sense of it all. What was happening? Wasn’t it supposed to be over by now? Wasn’t he finally free from the bonds of this tortuous punishment? He couldn’t allow it to go on any longer. His heart just couldn’t take it.

With all his strength, the baby dragon replied. “I don’t…think Scootaloo wants to, though. Right, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “Y-yeah, I don’t really get what’s going on right no –“

“She’s just flustered. She’s not thinking straight right now.” Sweetie Belle placed her hoof over the orange foal’s mouth, beaming. “Asking her out on a date is a total privilege for her.”

“How about today at noon? Y’all can be left alone to yourselves right at this spot.” Applebloom chimed in. “We’ll take care of everything. I can supply the food!”

“And I can bring the blanket!” Sweetie Belle added eagerly. “I’ve got the perfect picnic blanket for this occasion, too!”

“Mmph! Hmph!” Scootaloo muffled through her friend’s hoof, struggling to break free.

Spike swallowed loudly. His anxiety levels had now skyrocketed. This couldn’t be happening! Didn’t Scootaloo say ‘no’? That should have been it then! So why was he still distressed? Where was his rejection? Where was it?

“Scootaloo, say something, please!” Spike pleaded desperately.

“It’s a date!” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle cheered, restraining the orange foal.

“So we’re gonnna go now! She’ll be here ready for ya, okay?” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle began dragging the third Crusader away.

The three huddled fillies slowly distanced themselves from the exasperated dragon. With the exception of Scootaloo, the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders shone brilliant smiles as they inched further away. Wait, what just happened? Why were they leaving? No! They were getting away!

“Wait! Hold on a moment!” Spike was ready to make chase, but he found himself held back by two pairs of hooves. Snips and Snails had abruptly entered the scene.

Earlier they had been silently dumbfounded by the whole spectacle before them.

“Let me go, guys!” Spike wriggled restlessly, trying to slip out from their clutches. “What you doing?”

“Let you go?” Snips yelped, whispering. “You don’t even know how lucky you are, do you?”

“Dah, how could you be so selfish? I’m totally jealous right now.” Snails gritted his teeth, preventing Spike from escaping their stronghold. “Scootaloo’s hot.”

“That’s not the point! Now release me!” Spike kicked about frantically. His efforts were in vain, however, because the two colts had him well-confined.

Spike watched hopelessly at the three exiting fillies. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were chatting animatedly to each other while lugging Scootaloo in their hooves. And right before the Crusaders disappeared over a grassy knoll, the baby dragon and the orange foal locked gazes. They both noted the nervousness painfully apparent on their mugs. They also immediately comprehended the spontaneity of this bewildering event. Life had tossed a bag full of tricks to both Spike and Scootaloo, and neither could give a proper response. Open it or walk away? What could life be planning for the two?

Their eyes lingered on each other, wondering what was in store for the future. It was an interesting moment, because for some unknown reason both Spike and Scootaloo’s hearts skipped a beat –  a palpitation that shocked their very beings. The filly then blushed and shifted her eyes away as she vanished among the hill with her friends. They were gone, and Spike, Snips and Snails remained.

The date was to occur at noon sharp. What a delightfully charming scenario for these little innocents.

How sweet is it, though, that unbeknownst to the baby dragon, Scootaloo had first wanted to say ‘yes’. And as puzzling as that was for the filly, she didn’t really mind that she wanted to.

Spike’s Scootaloo