//------------------------------// // Chapter Six; Stay In School // Story: Working Towards The Future // by Dasponi //------------------------------// “Everything is going to be fine.” Rainbow Dash reassured Scootaloo one last time before nudging her towards the entrance to the school building. Scootaloo gave one last sigh before walking slowly into the school with Rainbow Dash trailing behind. “Oh, Scootaloo, how lovely to see you again. We’ve been getting a little worried about you.” Cheerilee, the teacher, chirped happily. If the sound of the door opening didn’t make everypony look at the door then the words of Cheerilee definitely did. Much to her own discomfort Scootaloo found the eyes of every single pony in the room trained on her. Most of them were neutral or a little surprised that she had actually turned up again. The ones that broke the mold were Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were smiling wide, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They weren’t showing outright contempt or displeasure, but it was still clear that they felt their day was made slightly worse by the arrival of one Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash gave Scootaloo one more nudge to push her all the way into the room and heard the gasps of the students as she made herself known to them. “Rainbow Dash too? To what do we owe the pleasure?” Cheerilee asked. Rainbow Dash stopped responding to the mutterings and small packets of applause that had entered the schoolroom as she realised why she had followed Scootaloo into the building. “Do you think I could have a word Miss Cheerilee?” Rainbow Dash asked. Scootaloo looked up at her with worry and concern. Rainbow Dash was hardly known for her formality and manners. If she was taking the time to be formal then it meant it was something serious, which meant it could only be one thing. “No no no no don’t. Please don’t Dash.” Scootaloo started quietly pleading. She could tell Rainbow Dash planned to tell Cheerilee what had happened and Scootaloo wanted no part of that. She didn’t want anypony to know. She wanted to pretend she was just ill or something. There was no need for anypony to know what she had done. “Please don’t do this. You don’t need to do this.” Scootaloo added, bringing her hooves together in a gesture of prayer, pleading with Rainbow Dash. “I do Squirt. It’s for the best. Don’t worry about a thing.” Rainbow Dash said, patting Scootaloo affectionately. “But I AM worrying.” Scootaloo replied, unconvinced. Cheerliee watched the display for a few moments to make sure that everything was okay. “We can talk in my office if you’d like Miss Rainbow Dash, but is Scootaloo going to be okay?” Cheerliee asked. She was more than a little concerned by the emotional display of the filly. “She’s going to be fine, aren’t you Scoots?” Rainbow Dash replied, looking down at the trembling filly. Scootaloo looked into those wide magenta eyes and her resolve reformed. She saw in them strength and she knew that she could borrow that strength any time she needed it. At the very least she couldn’t appear weak to Rainbow Dash. She stopped shaking, nodded at Rainbow Dash, and moved slowly towards her seat in the class. It was still unoccupied. Scootaloo kept her eyes to the ground to avoid the stares of her classmates and he tucked in her ears to try and silence the chattering and whispering that followed her. Cheerilee motioned towards her office to the side of the classroom and her and Rainbow Dash went inside. As soon as the door closed the class started talking immediately. “Where have you been?” “What happened?” “Why was Rainbow Dash with you?” “Are you living with her or something?” The questions bombarded Scootaloo and she didn’t have the time or the patience to handle them all. She was too busy worrying about what Rainbow Dash was telling Cheerilee in the office. She couldn’t hear any sounds from the office but she had a good idea at what they were talking about. “Give her some space.” a slightly high pitched voice said. “Yeah, leave her alone. Ah’m sure if she wants to tell us then she will. Asking her won’t help.” a voice with a southern accent added. Scootaloo surprised even herself by smiling at the voices of support from her friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They were trying to help her. Maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad after all. “So uhh...just where were you anyway?” Apple Bloom leaned over and asked her. Perhaps the day wouldn’t be so good. Scootaloo would have been surprised if it did go well, but everypony keeps a tiny shred of hope somewhere. Inward she breathed a sigh of relief though that her friends didn’t know anything. After Rainbow Dash had caught her Scootaloo had asked her to go back to the clubhouse and retrieve the note she left before anypony else saw it. It had been where Rainbow Dash had left it but they weren’t sure if anypony had seen it. She was about to answer when a shriek from Cheerilee’s office caught everypony by surprise. “She did WHAT!?” the class heard Cheerilee shout before the door of her office hit the wall next to it with a resounding thud and she was hugging Scootaloo. “I’m so so sorry Scootaloo. I had no idea. If I did-” Cheerilee said, nuzzling Scootaloo. “It’s okay Miss Cheerilee, really. I’m fine now.” Scootaloo quickly cut her off, trying to avoid making the situation more embarrassing than it already was. “It’s not okay. It’s not okay at all. You poor little thing...” Cheerilee carried on, disregarding Scootaloo’s protests and efforts to squeeze out of her forelegs. “Jeez, what did the blank flank do?” Diamond Tiara asked sardonically. She began giggling and Diamond Tiara joined in. They stopped as soon as they saw the look that Cheerilee gave them. It was one of pure disdain and anger. It put the look Fluttershy had given her chickens and the Cockatrice to shame. Scootaloo was shivering in her forelegs. “You do NOT call her that.” Cheerilee said, keeping her calm. She would never, ever, shout at her students but she could strike fear in their hearts when she got serious. She left Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with no doubt in their minds that they really were in the wrong. “...Sorry.” they said together, much to the surprise of Scootaloo. Getting them to stop was one thing, but to apologise? Scootaloo was beginning to see why Cheerilee was such a good teacher. She know when to be nice and happy but she also knew how to control a class. “It’s...it’s okay...” Scootaloo said. “It’s not okay.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to where Scootaloo and Cheerilee were.. She had been watching from the doorway to Cheerilee’s office and gave the two bullies a glare of her own. “Can’t I just go home? Please?” Scootaloo asked. Cheerilee gave her one last squeeze and then finally released her before she and Rainbow Dash smiled down at Scootaloo. “I want you to stay until dinner time. You’ll keep an eye on her won’t you Miss Cheerilee?” Rainbow Dash said. “Of course I will.” Cheerilee replied with a smile. “Everything will be fine.” she added, lowering herself to Scootaloo’s level. The same look that inspired faith was present in Cheerilee’s eyes but Scootaloo was too depressed to really accept it. “Don’t adults always say that?” Scootaloo asked, unconvinced. “Sometimes we mean it.” Cheerilee replied, still smiling reassuringly. “Do I really have to stay?” Scootaloo asked. “Just for a few hours. For me.” Rainbow Dash said, leaning down and nuzzling the filly. “Alright...for you...” Scootaloo said with a sigh. Rainbow Dash gave her one last smile and headed for the door. “I should probably get going. I’m already late for work as it is. I’ll see you later then Scoots” Rainbow Dash said before spreading her wings and flying out the door. She couldn’t resist one last theatrical act for her fans in the class and she hoped the display might cheer Scootaloo up a little, as well as draw attention away from her. While it didn’t really cheer Scootaloo up, it did draw attention away from her. Cheerilee got to her feet and walked up to the blackboard at the front of the class. “Okay my little ponies, get your books out please. We have a busy day ahead of us.” she said to the class. The sound of a class full of fillies and colts preparing their schoolwork filled the air as Scootaloo gave one last sigh. It was going to be the longest few hours of her life.