~~~~The Running of the Leaves, some time later~~~~
“Get yer cider here! Fresh Apple Family cider, right here!”
Scootaloo catcalled into the crowd, leaning up over the edge of the stall with a big, cheerful grin spread over her face. All around her, hundreds of ponies milled about the area where Ponyville’s local farmers and chefs had set up food stalls for the insane crowds that were converging upon the town for the Running of the Leaves. “We got pie, we got fritters, we’ve got gen-u-wine Zap Apple Jam, no fooling folks! Hurray, Hurray, Hurray!” Scootaloo chanted into the crowd and wondered why in the world she found this to be so dang fun.
Okay, so maybe it was just that she was able to combine Crusading, hanging out with Applebloom, and helping out the family during this busy but profitable time. It was also kind of fun to affect the Apple accent in her own unique way as she chanted to the crowd, no few of which had already indulged in the many treats baked by Granny or the limited and fast depleting supply of their cider and Zap Apple Jam, both of which had been held over from their normal selling season just for today.
Applebloom was handling the money, and Big Macintosh was doling out the goodies with his usual laconic smile and easygoing attitude. It had taken a while, but Scootaloo thought she’d finally gotten a hoof on exactly what was up with Big Mac. He too had been seriously touched by the death of his mom and poppa, but instead of getting more emotional about things, he’d chosen to regard life in a relaxed new way. There wasn’t anything he could have done to help them, so he would focus on doing everything he could to make the things he could change happen.
It was an attitude Scootaloo could definately get along with. “Heyla, mister!” she called out to a particularly well-to-do looking unicorn couple, grinning cheekily as she hopped up onto the edge of the stall and clambered up the side of the sign. “Yes, you there! You two look like you could use a pull of the famous Apple Family cider! You’re not going to get many chances to taste it straight from the barrel, so c’mon over here!” The sales pitching had turned into quite a hilarious little game for her, trying to see just how far she could push her usual cocky attitude in a way that was both funny and appealing.
In this case, the fancy unicorns shrugged at one another with tolerant smiles and dutifully trotted over to the stall. Scootaloo felt another little thrill of victory, sliding down the sign’s pole and plopping to the ground with a little bounce for good measure when… “Hey, kiddo.” The words and voice were almost too soft to hear in the din of the crowd, but that voice was completely unmistakable. Scootaloo whirled around to see a dejected looking Rainbow Dash, her head bowed and her eyes kinda soft.
For a moment, neither of them said anything, until Dash spoke a little hesitantly. “Um… Scoots? I’m…” Dash hesitated over her words, turning her head to one side and looking like she half wanted to fly away to anywhere but here. “I’m… I’m real sorry, Scoots,” she blurted out the words, and instantly some of the tension in her wings and face eased up once she had them out. “I’m sorry for… for being… Argh! Why is this so hard!?!” she burst out a moment later, stomping her forehooves into the ground in pure frustration.
Scootaloo, however, knew exactly what to do in this situation. “You’re sorry for being an idiot. I know, Dash,” she replied in her best firm and grown-up pony voice, surprising Dash so much that her jaw dropped a little. Scootaloo felt a grin tug across her face before trotting over to throw a hug around Dash’s neck. “That’s okay. I’m sorry for being an idiot, too. I shoulda talked to you about it.” They were hard words to say, but Scootaloo had been building up to them for weeks now. They were true, after all, and she owed Dash that much.
Rainbow Dash hesitated, then wrapped a bigger foreleg around Scootaloo’s shoulder and sighed, leaning her cheek into Scootaloo’s. “Heh. You’ve grown up a bit, haven’t you?” Her tone of voice was wry and cocky, much more like herself. “I said I was going to be your big sister, and here I’ve been avoiding you like a silly filly because I couldn’t actually be your big sister when you needed it.” Dash was muttering now, and Scootaloo could tell she was about to get into a bad mood again.
That meant she had to act quickly before Dash decided to run off and beat herself up over this. “Hey… It’s okay, Rainbow Dash,” she quickly soothed, patting her back as firmly as she could with her tiny hooves. “I understand how you feel, I really do. Don’t worry about it, things turned out okay.” She pulled back to give Dash her best cocky smirk, winking cheekily up at her. “Just promise you’ll make up for all the flying lessons we missed, and that you’ll show me how to do that loop-the-loop.”
Dash stared at her for a moment, and her face split into an equally cocky grin. “Ha! You’re on, kid.” She gently shoved Scootaloo’s shoulder and gave her a quick cheek nuzzle. “You stick with me, and I’ll make you the second best flier in all of Equestria! After me, of course.” Dash preened a little, and Scootaloo couldn’t help but chuckle at her. It really didn’t take much to get Dash out of her funks, and Scootaloo was glad she could get some more flying practice in.
“Well, now. ‘Bout time you ponied up,” drawled Applejack, appearing out of the crowd with a sly grin on her face and leaning over the two of them. Rainbow Dash scrambled to her hooves and away from the brief intimate contact she’d had with Scootaloo, coughing and flaring her wings in the process. Applejack snickered and tipped her hat toward Dash, her green eyes sparkling. “Aw, don’t get yer tail in a twist, Dashie. I won’t tell nopony that ya got a soft side.” The nickname came out faintly teasingly, but there was something else there… something Scootaloo couldn’t put her hoof on.
Rainbow Dash’s wings poofed out, and she half glared at Applejack from behind her multihued mane. “Yeah, you say that now. But you just wait - I’m going to smoke you in the race this year, and I won’t even need any dirty tricks this time.” Her voice was surprisingly calm, almost challenging as she tilted her head up and a little sly smile crossed her face. “Unless you think we can’t beat out Twilight this year, since we’ll be staring at each other’s flanks the whole time?”
Applejack chuckled and adjusted her hat slowly. “I reckon we oughter be able to at least manage that. C’mon, let’s go get warmed up.” She turned deliberately on the spot, nudging at Dash with her shoulder and a sly grin across her face. “Scoots, make sure Applebloom don’t end up eatin’ half the stall while we’re racin’, would ya?” Her voice was thick with a wry concern, and Scootaloo couldn’t help but outright laughing at the thought. It was easy to suspect that she might do it, if left unattended.
“Sure thing, Applejack. Have fun with the race!” She waved at her as Applejack melted into the crowd, followed by a surprisingly frisky looking Rainbow Dash who wore a thoughtful look on her face. Scootaloo turned back to the stall and trotted back to her place, a faint warmth settling into her chest. It was good to have that final bit of drama finally laid to rest, and the prospect of extra flying lessons in the near future was super exciting.
The crowd was thinning out for now, anyway, as the prospect of the opening scramble for the race drew away much of the crowd toward the stands. It would get busy shortly after that, so Scootaloo focused on giving the stall a quick wipedown and helping Big Mac clean out the used mugs. Applebloom was carefully counting on the bits nearby and marking down the numbers on a little ledger while they worked.
After a few minutes of cleaning, Big Macintosh drew off three mugs of fresh foaming cider and set them down on the stall with a grin of his own. “Ain’t no harm in havin’ a little somethin’ before th’ lunch rush,” he joked, and Scootaloo couldn’t have agreed more with him. She hefted the mug carefully and tapped hers against Applebloom’s with a soft smile of her own. The apple tang of the cider was like nothing else in the world, and it sang a message as sweet as sunshine. Home. Friendship. Family.
“Um… Scootaloo?” came a surprisingly familiar and thoroughly unwelcome voice, interrupting her cider time. She carefully lowered the mug to find a sight she hadn’t expected in the least. Rarity was standing in front of the stall with a faint smile of satisfaction on her face, and right next to her was the source of the unwelcome voice: Silver Spoon. But… there was something distinctly off about Silver Spoon. Something was different.
Rarity tossed her mane fetchingly and nudged the little filly toward the stall. “Silver Spoon has something she needs to say to you, Scootaloo,” Rarity said in a tart and arch voice, her smile as wicked as a Nightmare Night witch’s. “Don’t you, Silver?” she asked in a much more stern tone, turning her hard gaze down upon the silver-maned filly, who shivered a little in response. Scootaloo couldn’t blame her - when Rarity was ticked off about something, she was a force of nature.
Silver Spoon swallowed an obvious lump in her throat and took a hesitant step forward. She awkwardly rubbed at her foreleg, looking down and to her side. “Um… I’m…” she hesitated, tripping over her words for a moment or two before blurting out, “I’msorryaboutwhatdiamondsaidtoyou!” The words came out all at once, tumbling over one another in a rush, and her voice descending into a fearful whine. Rarity sighed and gently bopped Silver Spoon on the head, who winced a little before taking a deep breath and speaking again in a much more normal speed. “I mean… I’m sorry about what happened with Diamond Tiara. That was wrong of her to talk about, and… and I’m sorry I’ve been such a jerk to you.”
Applebloom nearly dropped her mug of cider at that, and Scootaloo wasn’t terribly far behind her. She stared in mute shock and astonishment at Silver Spoon, who had just the faintest glitter of tears in her eyes. “Capital Gains, Silver Spoon’s father, has placed her in my care to teach her about manners,” Rarity said with a sly smile on her face and looking quietly triumphant. “Since Diamond Tiara shan't be returning to Ponyville any time soon, I thought it was time for her to own up to her misbehavior toward you and your friends, Scootaloo.”
For just one moment, Scootaloo entertained the thought of launching herself over the stall and giving Rarity the biggest hug she’d ever given any pony. She didn’t do it, but she really seriously thought about it. Silver Spoon wasn’t done though, apparently now having gotten past the really hard part, she was talking a bit more normally, if a whole lot less smugly. “I’ve been such a big jerk to you and your friends, Scootaloo. I didn’t even think twice about the hard stuff you girls might have been going through, too.” Scootaloo felt a little shock, and wondered just what Silver Spoon’s story might be. It was starting to look like a whole lot of ponies she thought she’d had figured out might have been a bit more in depth than at first glance.
Silver Spoon took a deep breath and then exhaled it in a familiar, stress relieving way. “Diamond Tiara was really my only friend, and now that she’s gone… I know it’s a lot to ask, but… can we maybe, you know... start over?” Silver Spoon was clutching at her other foreleg, and there was a look of barely restrained sadness… and just a touch of hope in her eye. “I… I want to start over, and try to be a better pony.”
Scootaloo leaned against the edge of the stall, staring at the triumphant looking Rarity and the fearful and sad looking Silver Spoon. How must she have looked when Applejack showed up in the clubhouse all those weeks ago? How alone had she felt, when Mom had passed on and there had been nopony else around to help her? Sure, Silver Spoon had been a grade-A jerk for a long time now, and there was no doubt in Scootaloo’s mind that she’d probably enjoyed being a jerk.
But after everything she’d been given, after everything that had happened these past few months, she just couldn’t bring herself to hate Silver Spoon. She’d come to understand that everypony had a story, and everypony had things in their lives which were hard for them to deal with. Everypony dealt with those things differently, and sometimes they weren’t very good at dealing with them. Sometimes they needed a hoof, extended in the spirit of friendship to help pull them up from those bad places in their lives. Sometimes, there was nopony around who could do that, and they ended up in worse and worse places because nopony had tried to help.
And how could she call herself an Apple if she didn’t extend the same hoof to Silver Spoon that had been extended to her? “I think…” she began slowly, and felt herself smiling just a bit. “I think the apology was a good place to start. Let’s have a cider and see where it goes from there.”
The End?