Scoot scoot, Scootaloo
`Scootaloo hung her head glumly, her right fore-hoof absently drawing an indistinguishable pattern on the wood of her desk. Her mind ticked over slowly as she pondered her eventual fate. Besides the rhythmical ticking of the clock set on the wall, the classroom was silent, the rest of the colts and fillies having been sent home already. Her purple eyes drifted wistfully to one of the windows. The sun was shining and a light breeze was blowing, a perfect day to be out.
But she was stuck here.
The steady growing sound of hooves clopping against hard wood made her look up in surprise, but the stern gaze of her teacher, Cheerilee, made her turn her eyes down again in shame. Cheerilee pulled another chair up to Scootlaoo’s desk, the rough scraping sound cutting through the silence.
Cheerilee gazed at the student for a moment, concern clouding her eyes for a moment.
“Now Scootaloo, what are we going to do with you?”
“Expel me?”
“It was a rhetorical question.” Cheerilee said back sweetly.
“Oh…” Scootaloo wasn’t exactly sure what that meant but she didn’t think it prudent to ask.
Cheerilee groaned and rubbed her eyes. “Okay, tell me what happened today.”
“Nothing happened; there was just a little scuffle.” Scootaloo lied.
“Don’t lie to me missy, tell me what happened. Everything that happened.”
Scootaloo’s face turned a faint shade of red and she took a deep breath. “Okay… Here’s what happened…”
***
Earlier that day
***
Scootaloo buzzed through the centre of Ponyville, her tiny wings beating furiously to propel herself through the town as quickly as she could.
“Come on, come on, come on!” She muttered under her breath as she swerved around a cart pulled by Applebloom’s older brother; the wheels on her scooter squealing in protest as she shot around the surprised stallion in a cloud of dust.
“Sorry!” She yelled as she dodged a pink and blue mare that dropped her shopping in surprise, a veritable horde of apples spilling out onto the street. Within a minute she was clear of the market and speeding up the hill to the schoolhouse.
“Aww hay.” She muttered, noticing that the outside of the school was deserted, the class having already gone in for the morning’s lesson. Panting heavily, she skidded to a stop just short of the front door, picked her scooter up with a deft flick and scurried through the front room as quickly as she could. She noticed with confusion that Sweetie Belle’s and Applebloom’s bags were missing off the port racks as she dashed past.
“Come on, come on, come on.” She muttered hurriedly as she grabbed half a dozen things out her bag at once. Taking her things in her mouth, she pushed open the door to the classroom.
“Rumble?”
“Here miss.” Cheerilee smiled at the young Pegasus and moved down to the next name on the roll.
“Scootaloo.” Cheerilee asked; looking up to see the classroom door slam shut on the orange filly in question.
“Here miss.” Scootaloo panted, quickly moving to her desk; avoiding the inquisitive looks of her fellow classmates.
Cheerilee looked at her with amusement. “Just in time too, you shouldn’t be making a habit of this, my little pony.”
“Sorry, it won’t happen again.” Scootaloo murmured, downcast. A quiet snicker came from the general direction of Diamond Tiara’s desk, making Scootaloo scowl slightly.
“Good.” Cheerilee said with a smile, she promptly moved to the next student on the roll.
“Hey, Archer.” Scootaloo asked, prodding her classmate as subtly as she could. “Where are Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?”
“Dunno, sick I guess.” Archer said back, not even turning to look at her.
Scootaloo muttered under her breath, what were the chances her two friends would be sick the same day?
“Yeah, right. Thanks.” She rumbled, setting her few things out on the desk.
“Okay class, settle down. Take out your Equestrian history books and open to page seventy-two.”
‘This isn’t too bad, I can deal with this.’ Scootaloo thought to herself, opening her book to the indicated page. She barely had time to look down at the page before a spitball hit her on the back of the head and rolled down her neck.
“I can deal with it…” She growled under her breath.
***
Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief as the bell for the end of first class rang loudly. While she had managed to maintain her composure despite the barrage of spitballs and snide remarks written on notes directed at her from the classes’ queen bully, she could feel it cracking as another slimy gift was deposited on her right cheek. While she was adept a controlling her anger, the usually calming presence of her two friends was being sorely missed. She packed her things away quickly, hoping to avoid both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon out in the school yard.
With Applebloom and Sweetie Belle missing, Diamond Tiara and her minion had also directed their attention to the other, admittedly few, cutie mark-less children in the room. The fact that she was sitting next to Rumble didn’t lessen the barrage of disgusting projectiles.
“They get you too?” Rumble asked pointlessly, his purple eyes tracking the spitball sliding down her cheek.
“Yeah, pretty normal day for me.” Scootaloo sighed, placing her book away and laying her head on her desk in weary resignation.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Rumble said sympathetically “They normally leave me alone.”
He stood up, still eyeing the spitball stubbornly hanging to her cheek. He hesitated for a moment before wiping it away with a grimace. “That’s disgusting, who knows where her mouth has been?”
Scootaloo had several ideas where it had been but kept the thoughts to herself. “Thanks.” She said quietly.
“You can come hang out with me if you want; I noticed your friends aren’t here today.” He said timidly.
Scootaloo’s ears perked up slightly. She had spent some time playing around with Rumble and a few other kids at the last Tornado day. She had even asked Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom if he could join the Cutie Mark Crusaders but they had just giggled at her.
‘I think someponys got a crush!’ Sweetie Belle sang, skipping in circles around Scootaloo
‘What, no! He’s just really nice… and cool.’ Scootaloo said flustered.
“Rumble and Scootaloo, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.’ Applebloom giggled, joining in with Sweetie Belle’s dance.
“Stop that!” Scootaloo said, blushing fiercely.
“She’s blushing!” Her friends giggled together.
Scootaloo banished the memory with a shake of her head. Rumble was a cool kid, but anything beyond that… not her sort of thing.
“Scootaloo?” Rumble asked, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. “You okay?”
“Fine, why wouldn’t I be fine? See I’m fine.” She looked around, noticing that most of the class had already filed out. “I guess we could han-.”
“Scootaloo, a moment please?” Cheerilee interrupted from the front of the room.
“I’ll see you later.” Rumble muttered, trotting happily from the classroom.
Scootaloo sighed and turned to the front of the class. Cheerilee placed a heavy book on the front desk and trotted over to Scootaloo’s desk, humming quietly to herself.
“You were late for class again.” She said simply.
“Sorry miss, it won’t happen again.” Scootaloo said, hoping she could escape her teacher’s questions quickly.
“That’s what you said the last five times, I’m not sure if I believe you any more.” Cheerilee said sternly. “Is there… some reason for your tardiness?”
“Tardi-what now?” Scootaloo asked.
“Lateness.” Her teacher said flatly. “If you were paying attention last lesson, you would know that.” She sighed deeply and looked Scootaloo in the eyes. “Normally I wouldn’t be worried, but you’re making a habit of showing up late and your focus in class today was terrible. And it’s not just today, it seems like something has been bothering you for a while now.” She stared at Scootaloo for a second before relenting. “Is there something bothering you? Anything at all?”
“Nope, nothing at all.” Scootaloo said a little too quickly. There was no way she’d snitch on Diamond Tiara or her cronies, not that Cheerilee would be able to do anything about it anyway.
“If you say so.” Cheerilee said, he eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion. A tense silence hung over the teacher and her pupil.
“So… uhh… Can I go now?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yes, run along. Have fun.”
Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief and stood up from her chair, she had almost made it too the door when Cheerilee called out to her.
“And Scootaloo, please don’t lie again to me again; you’re terrible at it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Scootaloo said nervously.
“Of course you don’t.” Cheerilee said with a smile, “Now run along.”
Scootaloo ran outside without looking, crashing into a patiently waiting Rumble waiting in the doorway. The two pegasi fell into a scrambled heap on the welcome mat, their faces flushed in embarrassment.
“Oh my gosh, sorry!’ Scootaloo gushed, untangling herself from his off-white coat.
“That’s alright.” Rumble said, seemingly unconcerned. In fact, he seemed to be quite enjoying himself. “Shouldn’t have been standing in the doorway I guess.”
Scootaloo bit back her response; no harm had come from the accident so it was probably best to just drop it. She buzzed her tiny wings and looked him over.
“So what do you do at lunch?”
“Eat my lunch I guess.” Rumble said timidly. “I usually hang out with Shady Daze and Dinky… Diamond Tiara tells everypony else to stay away from us.” He said with a pout.
Scootaloo frowned. Shady Daze was an interesting colt, he claimed to be Soarin the Wonderbolt’s little brother yet with no way to back up his claim, most of the class dismissed it as rubbish. Dinky on the other hand was just… well… Dinky. Scootaloo found the filly nice but a little strange to be around.
“You’re a lot cooler than them though; why not find someone else to hang out with?” Scootaloo asked. Rumble fixed a curious eye on her.
“They’re my friends and I enjoy spending time with them; not everything is about being ‘cool’.” He quipped, his wings flapping in annoyance. “If I just abandoned them how would I be any better than somepony like Diamond Tiara? I’m sure you could hang out with much cooler ponies than Applebloom and Sweetie Belle if you wanted to, am I right?”
Scootaloo blinked at him in surprise. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“But you don’t. In fact I think those two are the only other ponies who hang out with you at all.”
“You calling me unpopular?” Scootaloo asked, slightly offended.
“No, no. I’m just proving my point.” Rumble said quickly. “I think you’re cool. And nice, cool and nice. And pretty.” His eyes widened slightly. “I mean, pretty nice. Yeah pretty nice. And cool.” He blubbered, his face turning a deep red. “Nice and pretty cute.” His eyes bulged again. “Oh balls…” he muttered under his breath.
“Thanks Rumble.” Scootaloo said, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder, making him blush deeper. She giggled at his discomfort.
“Well, uh… here we are.” Rumble announced a little louder than he had to. He gestured at a pair of small benches were an earth pony and a unicorn were perched.
“Oh hey Rumble.” Shady Daze said, his voice very deep for a young colt.
Dinky peered at Rumble for a moment. “What’s wrong with your face? Are you sunburnt again?” She peered at him for a moment longer before noticing Scootaloo behind him. “Hey Scootaloo!” She said, waving enthusiastically.
“Hi.” Scootaloo said, giving her a limp wave.
“What’s wrong with Rumble’s face?” Dinky asked again.
“He’s with Scootaloo you silly filly, he likes her remember?” Shady said, oblivious to the way Rumble’s face went from beet red to ghostly white in a matter of seconds. “He’s probably feeling more embarrassed than a buffalo in a tutu.”
Rumble shot him a horrified look. “He means I like your… your mane.” He said quickly. “Yeah, I really like your mane.” He said, elbowing Shady in a not-so-subtle way.
Shady caught on his quick cue. “Yeah, your mane. Totally.”
Scootaloo looked between the three foals, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. “Right… let’s go with that.” She said, sitting next to the still enthusiastic Dinky.
“So what brings you to our neck of the woods, Scootaloo?” Shady asked, examining a slice of apple pie methodically. Before she could answer he wolfed the slice down in a horrifying yet fascinating manner.
“Uh… My other friends are sick… and I don’t have anyone else to hang out with.” She explained sadly.
“That’d be Diamond Tiara’s fault eh? She’s a real meanie.” Shady said though his mouthful of pie. “I know what you mean.”
“Really big meanie!” Dinky agreed, “She doesn’t let me talk with anypony else anymore.”
Rumble nodded sourly. “At least we’ve got each other, Diamond Tiara could never break us apart.” He said, nibbling an orange slowly. “You got any lunch Scootaloo?” He asked, noticing the purple maned filly was empty-hoofed.
“No. I was running late and didn’t get anything this morning.”
“Oh…” He mumbled, looking down at his orange. He tore it half and offered some to her. “Want some?”
Scootaloo looked at the orange suspiciously for a moment before shrugging. “Yeah, Thanks.” She mumbled.
“Careful of the colt germs.” Dinky whispered, eyeing the orange cautiously.
“Colt germs? Don’t be silly, they don’t exist.”
“My mummy says they exist. She says that she can see them everywhere and would know if I’ve been kissing boys.” She glanced around nervously. “She has special eyes.”
“That’s rubbish, they don’t exist and even if they did, I’m not scared of them.” Scootaloo said fearlessly, biting into the succulent fruit with gusto.
“Oh really?” Dinky huffed, “Well if you’re so brave, I dare you to… to… kiss Rumble!”
Rumble gagged on a piece of half eaten orange, the chewed fruit nearly flying out of his nose in surprise.
“WHAT?!” Scootaloo and Rumble spluttered at the same time.
“Well Rumble likes you and you’re not afraid of nasty colt germs so he’s the perfect candy- candidate.” She stated proudly.
“Oh no, no way am I kissing him.” Scootaloo protested, shaking her head vehemently.
“What, are you chicken?” Dinky asked. She clucked a few times cheerfully before breaking down into giggles.
“Hey, I’m not a chicken!”
“Then kiss him you chicken!” Dinky giggled. She and Shady clucked together a few times.
“Don’t I get some say in this?” Rumble whined. “I mean after all, aren’t I the one-.”
“Stop complaining, you’re the one with the big crush.” Shady said, elbowing him in the ribs before continuing to cluck away like a berserk chicken.
Scootaloo eyed Rumble over; she had heard several stories from Rainbow Dash about her successful dates and in turn, quite a few tales of her idol’s best kisses. She mulled it over, how bad could it be? Rainbow Dash said it was awesome so they couldn’t be that terrible.
“Alright fine! Just don’t call me a chicken anymore, got it?” Scootaloo yelled.
Dinky and Shady immediately fell silent, their eyes wide in excitement. Rumble’s mouth fell open in surprise.
“Right let’s get this over with.” Scootaloo grumbled, pushing herself up off her seat and trotting in front of the stunned Rumble.
“So how do we do this? I’ve never kissed colt before.” Scootaloo admitted.
Rumble’s jaw worked up and down for a second, his mind still trying to comprehend how this turn of events had transpired.
“Just lean in and smoochy smoochy!” Dinky giggled, a large bowl of popcorn now held in her fore-hooves.
Scootaloo turned back to Rumble and shrugged. “Whatever, here goes…”
***
“Okay, when I said tell me everything, I didn’t mean everything. You can keep your… kissing stories with Rumble to yourself.” Cheerilee said, interrupting Scootaloo for the first time.
Scootaloo shrugged. “You said everything and I thought it was pretty important.”
Cheerilee rolled her eyes but still managed to look incredibly interested. “Fine…”
***
Scootaloo darted in quickly and planted a soft kiss on Rumble’s mouth. She keep contact for a moment, surprised by how soft his lips were before breaking away, the taste of orangey raindrops lingering on her lips.
Shady wolf-whistled loudly.
“See, no problem.” Scootaloo said confidently, taking a step away from the still stunned Rumble and poking her tongue out at Dinky.
“That… that…” Rumble muttered, words still escaping him. “That was… awesome…” He swayed on the spot for a moment before regaining his composure. “Don’t suppose you want to try that again?” He asked hopefully.
“Boys and mushy stuff isn’t really my thing….” Scootaloo stated, crossing her fore hooves.
“Give him another chance, give him another chance!” Dinky yelled, her seemingly bottomless enthusiasm making her seem like a drunken enthusiast.
“Alright, fine.” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “I suppose that was pretty cool. But just once more, got it?” She said, not willing to admit she had actually enjoyed kissing him.
“Yeah!” Dinky and Shady cried together. Rumble grinned nervously, a bead of sweat running down his face.
Scootaloo took a step towards Rumble and planted another kiss on his lips, it felt a lot better than the first one now that Rumble wasn’t stupefied and was actually kissing her back. She broke the contact after a couple of seconds and wiped her mouth on her foreleg.
“Urgh, enough of that. What els-.”
She was interrupted by a pink filly barging past Shady, knocking him unceremoniously into the mud. A dark grey pony trotted behind her, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
“Diamond Tiara! What are you doing here?” Scootaloo hissed, her eyes narrowing.
Diamond Tiara looked around with faux innocence. “What, me? What am I doing here associating with blank-flanks like you?” She sneered. “Well if you really must know, I heard something that sounded like a bunch of blankers having fun. Blankers don’t have fun, do they Silver Spoon?”
The grey pony shook her head.
“Exactly.” She said, flashing a perfectly white set of teeth at Scootaloo. “So what’s happening over here anyway? Are you trying to recruit more ponies for your stupid little club? What was it called again, the Cutie Mark Cry-babies?” She laughed mockingly. “Maybe you should make another club, maybe one that isn’t so pathetically stupid.”
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders is a great club.” Rumble said defensively.
“Defending your girlfriend now, huh?” Diamond Tiara snapped, wheeling around to face him.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Scootaloo snapped, “Besides, the Cutie Mark Crusaders is the best thing that ever happened to me. I have real friends, not just some hanger-ons.” She said, glaring at Silver Spoon.
“Yeah, we’ll make our own club. With blackjack and hookers! You’d be lucky to ever get such a privilege of joining a club like that.” Shady yelled from his mud patch. Everypony wheeled around to look at him, some with contempt and others in amazement.
“What? Some guy on TV said that…” Shady mumbled to his friends before turning back to Diamond Tiara. “We don’t have to listen to you; you’re just a big bully!”
“And you’re just a worthless blank-flank.” Diamond Tiara said back coolly, “Maybe when you get one you’ll be worthy of speaking back to me. Maybe.” She snorted in amusement.
Dinky looked at Shady with confusion. “What’s a hooker?” She asked.
“Maybe you should ask that wall-eyed freak you call your mother. I’m sure she’d be quite knowledgeable in the field.” Diamond Tiara spat, a smug look on her face.
Dinky’s eyes welled up with angry tears. “Don’t insult my mummy.” She growled.
“Or what? What are you going to do about it, Blanker?” Diamond Tiara sneered, shoving Dinky roughly.
"Hey, leave her alone!" Scootaloo growled, stepping in between Diamond Tiara and Dinky.
"Getting a bit plucky for a chicken." Diamond Tiara said with an evil grin. "Why shouldn't I just push the freak around? Who's gonna stop me?" She poked Scootaloo hard in the chest. "Not going to be, Chicken."
It was safe to say that nopony expected what happened next.
With a feral yell, Scootaloo leapt on Diamond Tiara and landed a solid blow on her nose. Before anypony could react, she punched her several more times, pink limbs flailing wildly as Scootaloo beat her mercilessly to a pulp.
“Get off me!” Diamond Tiara shrieked.
“Don’t push my friends around you bitch!” Scootaloo yelled, her eyes full of rage. She knew she would get in trouble but she had already thrown the first blow so for her, there was nothing else to loose.
“Scootaloo! Stop it!” Shady and Rumble yelled, pulling the angry filly off her victim with a rough yank. They held her back as she struggled to get to grips with Diamond Tiara again. “She’s not worth it.”
Coughing, the school bully hauled herself to her hooves, an ugly smear of blood running across her nose. “You’ll regret that.” She barked, wiping away the worst of the mess.
“Yeah, I probably will. But you deserved it.” Scootaloo barked, the fire in her eyes still burning strongly. She broke free of her new friends holding her back but was cut short by a purple figure appearing between them.
“What is the meaning of this? A school yard brawl?” Cheerilee screeched. “I expect better of you kids.” She glared at Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo with equal rage. “All of you, to my office.” The assembled colts and fillies glanced at each other nervously. “NOW!” she barked, sending them scurrying towards the schoolhouse like terrified rats.
“Silver Spoon, take Diamond Tiara to the nurse and get her patched up please.” She added gently.
“Yes Miss Cheerilee.” Silver spoon said before dashing off with her leader.
Cheerilee rounded back on Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo, go to the classroom. You’ll wait for me there, we have quite a bit to talk about.”
***
“And I think you know the rest of it from there.” Scootaloo finished simply.
“I see.” Cheerilee said, tapping her chin with a hoof. She paced the classroom for a moment before sitting down in front of Scootaloo again. “Shady, Dinky and Rumble all told me a similar story. I believe them when they say you were provoked, but violence is never the answer. I think you should have been able to hold your anger in check a bit better, Scootaloo.”
“It’s not just that…” Scootaloo started. “You see, Diamond Tiara has been picking on us, well me and my friends for a long time. Ever since she got her cutie mark in fact.” She looked down at the floor. “I’ve had to put up with her now for ages… somepony can only take so much before something snaps."
Cheerilee’s gaze softened slightly before regaining its former edge. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m not a snitch.” Scootaloo mumbled. “Besides, there’s hardly anything you could’ve done.”
“On the contrary, my little pony. You should have come to me when this first started.” Cheerilee said sternly. “Look, I understand the pain you’re going through but I can’t just let you completely off the hook. You almost broke that poor filly’s nose.”
“She deserved it, she called Dinky’s mother a slut.” Scootaloo said bitterly.
“I heard you the first time, there’s no need for any more foul language.” Cheerilee admonished. “Now understand this, I don’t want to punish you, but I have to. I would have a few ponies breathing down my neck otherwise.”
Scootaloo shook her head, a few tears falling to her desk. “Are you going to expel me?” She asked sadly. She never imagined a life without the daily routine of school. What if she never found another school that wanted her and she became a washout, a failure?
“No my dear, I do think though a fair few detentions are in order though.” Cheerilee said with a small smile. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her tears away.
“Thank you miss.”
“You’re welcome, Now run along and see your friends, I’m sure you’ll have plenty to talk about.” Cheerilee said with a wink.
Scootaloo galloped outside, barely pausing to grab her scooter and bag from outside the classroom. Hardly breaking stride Scootaloo shot outside, her eyes widening in surprise.
Directly in front of her was Dinky riding proudly on her mother’s back. The wall-eyed Pegasus looked at Scootaloo fondly, a grin Scootaloo had seen on Dinky plastered on her face. Without a word she wrapped Scootaloo in a warm hug.
“Thank you. Maybe next time don’t punch the naughty filly though.” She said finally, stepping back and pulling a selection of muffins out of her saddlebag. “You look hungry, muffin?”
“Thanks.” Scootaloo said sheepishly, taking an oatmeal and banana muffin from the front.
Behind Dinky and her mother stood Shady Daze; a familiar looking flier standing at his shoulder.
“Soarin!?” Scootaloo stuttered in amazement as she made the connection between the stallion’s cutie mark and her favourite flight demonstration team.
“And nopony believed he was my big brother.” Shady said, a smug smile on his face.
“Really?” Soarin asked without surprise. “I wonder why they didn’t believe you.”
Shady shrugged. “Jealous?”
Scootaloo stood agape. “You have no idea, I… I…” She trailed off speechlessly, her eyes brimming full of hero worship.
“I get that a lot.” Soarin said pulling a small envelope from a small bag he carried. “Thanks for standing up for my brother by the way. A bit of the old one-two happened as well I hear.” He gave Scootaloo a wink, making her blush suddenly. “You’ll find a nice autograph in there… and maybe some tickets to our next show in Ponyville if you’re lucky.”
“Thanks…” Scootaloo said in awe.
Dinky looked at the famous flier in confusion. “Why would you just carry tickets around?” She asked.
“Never know when they’ll come in handy.” Soarin said with a shrug. He glanced around and gave Scootaloo another envelope. “There’s something special in there in there for your rainbow friend, make sure she gets it.”
Scootaloo turned the letter over and tugged at the back flap which was emblazoned with the Wonderbolt's logo.
“Ah ah, that’s for her to open. It’s a surprise.” Soarin admonished, swatting her hoof away. He grinned again and pulled himself up to his full height. “Now I’m a very busy pony so I need to go, some important business to do in Canterlot.” He gave his brother a rough hug. “See ya.” He said before taking off in a cloud of dust.
Scootaloo turned the envelope over in her hoof. “Hey Shady, why do you reckon he put an extra one in for Rainbow Dash… How would he even know her… How would he even now I know her...?” She trailed off as several possible implications swam through her mind.
Shady picked up on her train of thought. “You don’t suppose…”
“I mean what if they…?” Scootaloo added.
“That’d just be weird…” Shady said.
“I mean they wouldn’t ever…?”
They looked at each other for a moment. “Naahh.”
***
“So…” Rumble said awkwardly. He flew a few feet off the ground, Scootaloo driving her scooter below him.
“Yeah…” Scootaloo added, tossing a look over her shoulder at Rumble’s older brother and Rainbow Dash walking behind them. The rainbow-maned mare had gotten into a routine of picking her up from school and dropping her home, a habit that Scootaloo was very happy about. As she watched, Thunderlane adopted an expression ranging somewhere wildly between indifference and concern as Rainbow Dash complained about something he done during their day at work.
“I don’t get it, is she your sister?” Rumble asked, following Scootaloo’s gaze.
“Not really, more like a good-friend-mentor-sister… sorta… thing.”
“That’s quite a mouthful.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Rumble looked back at the two bickering pegasi. “You don’t suppose they...?”
“No.” Scootaloo stated firmly, slightly amused that Rumble had asked the exact same thing about his brother than Shady had.
“Huh.”
“Yeah…”
“So…”
Scootaloo looked up at Rumble, slightly envious of her new friend’s basic flying skills. “Something on your mind chump?”
Rumble looked back over his shoulder, unsure whether he was far enough from his brother to talk in private. “What about us?” he asked nervously, a faint blush appearing over his face.
“What about us?” Scootaloo asked back, knowing this question would pop up eventually.
“I mean, you know I like you and we kissed and I kinda thought… maybe we could...”
“Rumble, can we enjoy being kids while we’re kids? None of this lovey-dovey mushy stuff; can’t we just enjoy what we’ve got without anything else getting in the way?”
Rumble’s jaw dropped open and closed again. “I suppose.” He muttered, accepting that the object of his affections was currently unavailable.
“Ask me again in a couple of years.” Scootaloo said with a smile. “Until then, just keep the whole kissing thing between me and you okay?”
“And Shady.” Rumble added.
“And Shady.” Scootaloo agreed.
“And Dinky.”
“And Dinky too I guess.” Scootaloo said with a sigh.
“And probably most of the school…” Rumble added with a chortle.
“And probably most of the school…” Scootaloo grumbled, her teeth gritting together.
“And I think by the look on my brother’s face, him too…” Rumble said with another laugh. He swooped out of reach as Scootaloo tried to tackle him out of the air.
“Rumble! I’m gonna kill you!” Scootaloo shrieked as she vainly tried catching her friend.
“Gotta catch me first!”
***
Rainbow Dash looked on fondly as Scootaloo mucked around with Rumble. The small orange filly seemed intent on plucking the colt out of the sky with no success.
“They seem to be enjoying each other.” She noted, her magenta eyes tracking the two foals.
“Yeah, a bit like me and you when we were younger.” Thunderlane said, slightly nostalgic.
“Boy, I hope they don’t turn out like us. Grumpy and arguing with each other all the time.”
“I’m sure we’d be less grumpy and argue less if we spent some time together at my place…” Thunderlane said hopefully.
Rainbow Dash gave him an amused look. “Nice try, but no.” She said, giving him a friendly pat on the head.
Thunderlane grinned stupidly, like a dog receiving a treat from its owner.
“They get along pretty well… You don’t suppose they’d ever…” She added, watching Scootaloo miss Rumble by a hairs breadth.
“Yeah… I mean, what if they..?” Thunderlane added, catching onto her train of thought quickly.
“That’d just be weird…” Rainbow finished.
“I mean they wouldn’t ever…?”
They looked at each other, identical thoughts forming in their minds.
“Naahh.”