Several days had passed since the girls had skipped school and Crusaded their way up and down Twilight’s tree library. None of the trio managed to acquire a cutie-mark, but despite being inside of a tree they managed to avoid getting covered in tree sap. So that was progress.
As expected they all had been verbally disciplined by their parents for skipping school. Even under the circumstances that was an inevitable certainty. At least they hadn’t been grounded or barred from Crusading for any length of time. That leniency was likely due to the fact that Twilight’s library had, against the odds, managed to stay more-or-less intact throughout the entire day.
However, Scootaloo was still troubled by the issue that had started the whole mess to begin with, and it showed. Today it was only compounded by the onset of a headache that buzzed and pulsed in her ears. This, of course, only made it harder to concentrate on the already boring lesson of math. She tried to relax her brain by looking out the window. Thinking about how soft and fluffy the clouds felt, how nice it would be to just curl up and take a nap in one. Just thinking about it seemed to dim the pain humming around in her skull. If only Ms. Cheerilee wasn’t teaching so loud. It almost sounded like she was standing right … next … to …
Scootaloo winced and turned back to face the class proper. ‘Aww horseapples,’ she thought, giving a sheepish grin of apology to the purple Earth Pony standing over her desk.
“Perhaps you’d care to demonstrate the equation for those who don’t understand enough to spend their time daydreaming?”
“Ummm, I-” she instinctively glanced to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to see if she could get some backup. But they had long been separated from each other in an attempt to lower the number of class disturbances. “-I … wasn’t daydreaming.” She winced as Sweetie Belle’s desk was reintroduced to her forehead, indicating that that was the wrong answer. She could practically hear her saying, ‘Scootaloo, you Dodo’
“Well then you’ll be more than able to explain the problem I just went over with you,” said Ms. Cheerilee, handing a piece of chalk to the filly.
As she got up from her desk she heard, “Ah told ya t’ stop do’n that, ya featherbrain.” She whipped her head around to shoot a glare at her heavily accented friend … only to see her flipping absentmindedly through her book. What was more confusing was that Ms. Cheerilee didn’t say anything about it.
Continuing up to the board Scootaloo gulped as the unforgiving series of numbers stared her down. She could normally muddle her way through well enough on tests and homework. There was just something about the blackboard that always made her mind freeze up. ‘Why is it even called a blackboard in the first place? It’s GREEN.’
Fortunately for her the eggtimer that indicated it was time for recess rang. ‘Phew, saved by the bell.’ Being next to the door Scootaloo was outside before the teacher could say a word and was quickly followed by the rest of the class.
The fillies scattered throughout the schoolyard to their usual games and rambunctious behavior to burn off pent up energy. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell trotted over to the tree where a glaring Scootaloo waited. “What was that for?” she demanded.
“You know Ms. Cheerilee doesn’t like it when you don’t pay attention,” said Sweetie Belle.
The orange filly shook her head. “Not that,” she said, then pointed to Apple Bloom, “you.”
“Me?! What did I do?”
“Oh come on, calling me ‘a featherbrain’ in front of the whole class?”
“Ah did’n-”
“I don’t mind that you said it, but … there in front of everypony? Not cool.”
Sweetie Belle put a hoof on her shoulder. “Scoot’s … Apple Bloom didn’t say anything. Nopony did.”
Scootaloo looked between her two friends for a moment. Seeing the small amounts of worry in their eyes made her deflate a little. “Sorry guys,” she said, “I guess it’s the stress kinda getting to me.”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shared a knowing look. “You still haven’t decided what to do ‘bout yer pa’?”
Scootaloo shook her head. When the social worker first came to discuss it with her, her first instinct was to say no. What she’d heard about her dad was enough reason to justify never wanting to see him, ever. But still … part of her wanted to meet him. She wanted to see the man who was supposed to have been raising her.
And then there were the questions.
Of course, that was the time which Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon decided to get in their daily taunting. “Hello, blank-flanks,” called out the pink pony as she approached. “We’re going to play tag, and that’s the base,” she said pointing to the tree. Behind the duo they could see Button, Twist, Dinky, and Pibsqueak looking a little ashamed for the part they were now playing in the mocking.
Sweetie Belle's eyes met Button and she blushed, hiding behind Apple Bloom’s mane; who in turn rolled her eyes at the antics. The schoolyard crush was old hat among the trio and they gave her grief about it constantly, but now wasn’t the time for that. “Alright, who’s ‘it’ then?”
“She is,” said Silver Spoon, pointing to Dinky. The little unicorn couldn’t help but droop her ears at this revelation. It was hardly coincidence she was known to be the slowest filly in the class.
“That’s not fair,” exclaimed Sweetie Belle. “You should at least do ‘Pick a Pony Out’.”
Tiara scoffed at this. “We don’t have time for that stupid rhyme.”
Scootaloo who’d been silent up till now stepped up, getting nose to nose with the lead bully. “It’s still not a fair pick.”
“Tss,” she hissed, unfazed by the encroachment, “oh, go cry to mommy.”
It was a throwaway insult everypony used. Few would have even thought twice about its use. But today Scootaloo detected something a little more spiteful in that statement. It could have been the look in her eyes. It could have been the tone of her voice. She could have just imagined it. Either way, the end result was two screaming fillies rolling around the schoolyard.
For a few moments nopony believed what was happening. One moment it was a usual standoff between the Crusaders and the School Snobs. They’d traded insults so often everypony practically tuned out whatever was actually said because nothing ever came of it. They’d never truly fought before.
It wasn’t until some of the other students started egging things on that everypony exploded. Sweetie Belle began crying, and pleading for Scootaloo to stop, while Dinky and Silver Spoon ran to get Ms. Cheerilee. Apple Bloom, the slowest to respond, burst through the circle that had formed and pulled the flailing pegasus away from her target. This earned her an elbow to the chin for her trouble, but managed to maintain a hold on her screaming friend, who now resorted to words. “My mother’s DEAD, you slimy sack of gum. Go back to the desk sompony scraped you out from under.”
This prompted the pink pony to let out a war cry of her own and she charged in a blind rage of her own.
Apple bloom knew better than to let go so the fight could continue, but she wasn’t just going hold her friend down so she could get pounded. So in a bit to shield Scootaloo from the assault she turned so that her own back was to Diamond Tiara.
Fortunately her bodily sacrifice wasn’t necessary. Button had decided to jump in, pinning the smaller earth pony to the ground. The fighters resorted to incoherent screaming and yelling as they each thrashed about, trying to get away so they could continue mauling one another.
It wasn’t until Ms. Cheerilee’s towering form stepped in that the crowd silenced the crowd and caused the four brawlers to freeze. The wind blew ominously over the grass as she surveyed all of her students with disappointment so thick it could practically be tasted. “You four. Inside. Now.”