"What now?" Sweetie asked.
"Ah'm not sure," Applebloom began, "maybe Twilight needs help with somethin'. She still likes ta' do all them experiments."
"Yeah, right," Scootaloo said rolling her eyes, "After that why don't we just go apply to the School for Gifted Unicorns?"
"First off, we aren't foals anymore," Sweetie said, not catching the sarcasm in her voice. "and secondly, I'm the only unicorn out of the three of us."
Although the three of them were growing into young fillies and already got their cutie marks a long time ago, they kept the club together the best they could.
Scootaloo let out a loud groan. "That was sarcasm, Sweetie. I know we aren't foals anymore…"
"Oh, well, what do we do now?" Sweetie liked to stay on topic. She didn't like to get too far off, which seemed to happen a lot between these three.
"Why don't we go see if Rainbow Dash needs any help?"
"Because that's what we do every day!"
"Well, I don't see you coming up with ideas, Sweetie!"
"Girls!" Applebloom decided it was time to jump in before things got too far out of hoof. "Fightin' ain't gonna solve anythin'!"
"She's right," Sweetie said looking towards the ground.
"Kiss-up," Scootaloo mumbled under her breath.
"Now, we need ta' come up with somethin' ta' do. We can't just sit in our old clubhouse like we did when we were young."
The clubhouse that once served as their base for their cutie mark crusading missions was now rotting away. Boards were beginning to fall off and the paint was beginning to peel.
"Not to mention it's a safety hazard," Scootaloo added.
"Now who is there ta' help?" Applebloom asked, motioning to their old chalkboard which now had the faces of six mares drawn on it.
"Rarity still doesn't like it when I try to help her," Sweetie said, glaring at the crudely drawn Rarity.
"What about Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo repeated, "She always lets us help."
"Yeah, and we always go ta' help her. Let's try somepony else for a change," Applebloom suggested, marking off the pictures of Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
"Fine." She folded her forelegs and started to pout.
"Why don't we try to help Pinkie Pie? She's always tons of fun!" Sweetie said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Yeah, what do ya' think Scootaloo? Wanna go help Pinkie?" Applebloom turned to the spot where Scootaloo had been sitting, only to find that she disappeared.
Applebloom grumbled to herself, "Why can't she just stick with us? Does she really like Rainbow Dash that much?"
"Should we go get her?"
"Nah, let's just go help Pinkie. If she doesn't want ta' hang out with us, then I don't wanna hang out with her neither."
-----
Rainbow Dash was flying through the skies, kicking and moving clouds as she saw fit. She liked her work, because she got to do two of her favorite things: fly and do tricks.
Suddenly, she was caught off guard by a flash of orange and purple, which tackled her right into a nearby cloud.
"What the—" Rainbow managed before she looked up to see the orange filly sitting on top of her.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash! I came to see if you wanted any help!" Scootaloo shouted excitedly. She liked to help Rainbow Dash. Ever since she was able to fly, she wanted to go up and help Rainbow. She liked having the practice along with being able to spend time with her role model.
"Oh, hey Squirt." Even though Scootaloo was close to her size, the nickname just stuck. "Sure, why don't you get rid of that bunch of clouds over there?" She pointed over to an area that was full of clouds, Scootaloo's head followed.
"All of them?" She turned back to Rainbow Dash who now had a smirk on her face.
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to help - besides, you could use the practice,"
"Fine…" She started to fly towards the clouds and kicking at the ones closest to her.
Rainbow sighed to herself and resumed her work. She started to fly towards a few clouds that needed to be moved for the upcoming rainstorm.
-----
As Applebloom opened the front door to Sugarcube Corner, she saw Pinkie Pie standing behind the counter, munching on a chocolate chip cookie. Actually, devouring would be a better word for it.
The bell over the door rang and Pinkie was immediately standing right in front of the fillies. They looked to where she had been standing to see a pink cloud quickly dissipating.
"Hey, girls!" Pinkie started, "What can I help you with? Do want some cupcakes? Cookies? Crape? Cupcakes? Oops, silly me, I already said that!" She then began to laugh uncontrollably.
"Um, sorry to interrupt, Pinkie," Sweetie Belle began, "but we were here to see if we could help you with anything,"
"Oh, of course I can find something for the two of you to... Wait, where's Scootaloo?"
"Well, she decided ta' help Rainbow Dash... again." Applebloom sighed.
"Oh, well, don't you worry your little face about that!" Pinkie was still as... Pinkie, as she always was. "There's still plenty of stuff for you to do!" She rushed into the kitchen and popped her head back out the door. "Come on, silly-billies!"
The two looked at each other and followed Pinkie into the kitchen.
"Why don't you help me make some cupcakes? We could always use more cupcakes!" Pinkie said while gathering the many utensils and ingredients needed.
"But we ain't no good at makin' cupcakes, remember?" Applebloom said with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course I do, silly!" Pinkie said in her usual enthusiastic voice. "I was cleaning up batter for days." She mumbled that last part to herself.
"But you're older now! Maybe you will be better!" Pinkie raised a cup of milk in her hoof. "So, let's get started!"
-----
About a hundred clouds later, Scootaloo managed to spend some time with Rainbow Dash. They finished up with the clouds earlier with Scootaloo's help.
"So, squirt," Rainbow began, "how's school going?"
"It's fine, I guess, still as boring as it always has been though."
"Yeah, I never liked school either. Only eggheads like school."
Scootaloo chuckled to herself, "Yeah, eggheads... Rainbow Dash? Can I ask you something?"
Rainbow looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"
"How come you are still friends with Twilight even though you two are so different? You have almost nothing in common, so why are you still friends?" She looked almost like she was worried about something.
"Well, we might not have much in common," she looked back at Scootaloo, "but I know that she'll always be there for me, no matter what. Being a friend is more than just liking the same music or liking the same sport; it's about being there for one another. And if you tell anypony that I was talking like that, you and I are gonna have a problem."
Scootaloo chuckled, "No worries Rainbow Dash," her smile quickly faded however.
"What is it Squirt?"
"It's nothing."
"Come on, you can tell me!"
"Well," Scootaloo began, "I've been hanging out with Sweetie and Applebloom a lot. I actually thought about it the other day, and I discovered that I don't have anything in common with either of them. I like to fly and play sports, but they don't like to do anything like that! Sweetie only wants to sing and perform, and all Applebloom does is work."
"Well, where are they now?"
"I think they're at Sugarcube Corner."
"Don't you think you should be hanging out with them then? Like I said, friendship isn't about doing the same things, or liking the same stuff. It's about being there for each other. They're always there for you, aren't they?"
Scootaloo nodded.
"Then shouldn't you always be there for them too? Maybe you should try to help them instead of doing only what you want."
Scootaloo looked at her. "Maybe you're right, they're always there for me, and I just ditched them to get what I wanted. Thanks, Rainbow Dash."
"No pro—" Suddenly, the orange filly flew right past her and towards Ponyville. Rainbow just sighed, "She's more excited about getting her wings than I was." She then lied back on the soft plushy cloud and relaxed.
Scootaloo flew through the air as fast as her wings would allow, which was surprisingly fast. Her destination was clear: Sugarcube Corner, to talk to her friends. On the way she thought about how she was going to do it, how she would apologize to them.
“I think this is going to be harder than I thought,” she thought to herself as she stopped at the front door of Sugarcube Corner. As she walked through the front door, she could hear yelling from the kitchen.
"No, not that! The other thing! No!" She could hear what she knew had to be Pinkie Pie. She could also hear Sweetie Belle yelling, "Sorry, Pinkie! Do I need more flour?"
Scootaloo sighed and walked through the kitchen door, nearly getting hit in the head by a glob of batter as she did so. She's looked around to see that there was batter and frosting all over the room. The walls, floor, and even the ceiling were covered in the ingredients. She turned to see the three ponies mixing a bowl full of batter. She walked over to where they were standing and tapped Applebloom on her flank.
Applebloom jumped and turned around. She frowned when she saw it was Scootaloo. "Oh, hey Scootaloo..."
"Hey, Applebloom," The other two stopped messing with the batter and turned to face Scootaloo and Applebloom. "Pinkie, do you mind if I talk to Applebloom and Sweetie alone?"
Pinkie blinked, then smiled her normal, cheery smile. "Okie dokie lokie!" She then bounced away to the front of the bakery to tend to the customers.
"Look, you guys," Scootaloo began, "I know I haven't been the best of friends lately,"
"More like ever," Applebloom mumbled under her breath.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for ditching you guys this morning. I was just thinking about myself and getting what I wanted. So again, I'm sorry."
"Oh, don't worry about it, Scootaloo. We all make mistakes. I forgive you," Sweetie said before turning towards Applebloom, "Come on Applebloom, she said she was sorry,"
Applebloom's frown didn't change, "So? That still don't change the fact that ya' left us fer' Rainbow Dash!"
Scootaloo was shocked at this sudden outburst of the normally calm pony, "I know, I'm trying to apologize. I know that it was wrong,"
Applebloom was close to tears now. "Yeah, but it always seems like ya'd rather hang out with Rainbow Dash instead of us! We never get ta' hang out no more."
"Maybe that's because you're always working at the farm!" Scootaloo barked, growing irritated.
"I have ta' work! It's mah' job!" She began to walk to the door. "And besides, anytime ah'm not workin' ya'd rather be with Rainbow Dash instead of us!" She walked through the door, slamming it behind her. They then heard the bell over the front door as they figured out that she had left.
Sweetie walked over to Scootaloo. "I think you should just let her cool down. You know we're her best friends in all of Equestria. The least you could do is hang out with her for once." She started towards the door but was stopped when Scootaloo started talking.
"I know, don't worry. I'll make it up to her." Sweetie smiled at her and went out into the front of the bakery.
"Somehow…"