The breeze blew my mane around the back of my head as I skated down the street on my scooter. Every few seconds I put a hoof into the brown satchel and produced an envelope or two. Occasionally I’d have a huge bundle of letters all tied together. Every time I took out a letter, a few seconds later I’d throw it into an open mailbox, remembering to flick the lid closed with my tail as I passed by.
Giving a yawn, I slowed to a stop at the end of the street. The moon was still up in the sky and only a few ponies seemed to be out this early in the morning. The few faces that did pass by seemed either tired or angry, and wanted nothing to do with this odd mailmare. I hated working the early morning shifts, but if I wanted to keep a job I couldn’t do anything but shut up and take what was given to me.
Being a mailmare wasn’t exactly that hard, anyways. I’d scoot around town at four in the morning and give the right letter to the right pony and then have the rest of the day off. I guess I had it easy when looking at the bigger picture, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being jipped.
Yawning again with a stretch of my wings, I took a glance into my bag, noticing that it was getting very light. The few hours it took to deliver all my letters had flown by once again. I was glad that I could go finish up my route like I did every day. Throwing the satchel over the handlebars of my scooter, I wiped the tail of it around and jumped on, speeding away as fast as I could towards my final stop.
As I felt my mane whip in the wind, a small smile grew across my face. This was my true passion, regardless of what the stupid letter on my flank said. I was meant to race around as fast I could, breaking ground-speed records, or learn to finally fly and be with the wonderbolts just like Rainbow Dash did all those years ago. A thought crossed my mind and instantly my eyes were glued forward, my wings beating as fast as I could get them to go.
I wanted to get out of town quickly so that I could try out what I had in mind without hurting anyone. The street turned to a dirt path as I got further and further from the center of town, and I gained speed as soon as I hit the countryside. Apple trees started popping up besides me and tears were starting to blur my vision from the wind. I knew it was time.
I could almost hear the roar of a crowd as I stopped flapping my wings and spread them out letting the air lift me up. I could see the stadium filled with hundreds of screaming fans as the daring Scootaloo tried out her latest death-defying stunt. I bit down on my tongue and let go of my scooter, launching upward from the draft. For a few seconds time seemed to move impossibly slow. I closed my eyes and let the wind take me as I felt my entire body shoot up into the sky.
Opening my eyes, I saw the horizon stretched out before me, the tip of the sun starting to shine its rays over the mountain. The moon behind me was just setting in the west, and for a brief moment, I saw Equestria and Canterlot off in the distance. I had gone just above the tips of the trees, so all around me lay a vast sea of green, dotted with slight speck of grey and a line of blue where the river ran. I drank it in as the seconds passed and the wind blew my mane and tail around. I could hear some distant imaginary announcer announcing my victory in some competition and another cheer of a happy crowd.
I couldn’t help but smile.
Blinking once, the reality of the entire situation came back to me, and suddenly, I could feel my body falling once again. The wave of euphoria was gone and I could feel a horrible fear in the pit of my stomach. I vainly flapped my wings and tried to keep my body airborne, but I knew from experience that the motion worked just as well as trying to flap my arms to stay airborne. I tried to glide as gracefully to the ground as I could, but the world had other plans.
Tensing up, I closed my eyes as I smashed into the ground, tumbling over and over until my flank hit something hard and wooden. My entire body was yelling at me for the stupid stunt, and I could only lie there in pain. Opening my eyes, I saw that my scooter had crashed into another tree and the mailbag had landed in the mud, luckily still closed. Pushing myself to my hooves, I brushed myself off and grunted in pain when I touched the bruise on my flank.
“Scootaloo, you are an idiot sometimes,” I mumbled to myself, looking back to see a black patch right next to the letter. I cracked my neck and walked over to the toppled scooter, picking it up and leaning it against a tree. Taking a step back, I picked the brown bag out from the wet mud and opened it to check if the letters were still dry. A few drips of mud covered one of the letters, but it was addressed to Apple Bloom. I was sure she’d understand. It hadn’t been the first time her mail had been desecrated on its way to her.
Hopping back onto my scooter, I carefully batted my wings and pushed myself towards the Sweet Apple Acres barn. Apple Bloom and her family were the last stop I had to make, and I always enjoyed talking with an old friend. My flank still hurt and I had probably strained a wing during the fall, but I couldn’t show Apple Bloom what I had done. She’d probably nag about how we weren’t fillies anymore and that we already got our cutie marks. The crusades were over, but I didn’t want them to be.
“Mornin’, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom waved from underneath one of the apple trees when I finally came upon the barn. She bucked the tree and collected the apples that fell. At least Apple Bloom had gotten a cutie mark that made sense. I watched the trifecta of appleseeds bounce around on her flank as she walked over to me. “How’s the mail today?”
“Pretty light, actually,” I responded stone-faced, reaching over and pulling out the muddy letters addressed to the yellow mare.
“Sorry about the mud. I accidentally ran over a puddle and some splashed into the bag.” There was no way I was telling her what I had actually done.
“Aw, Scoots,” she started with a smile, “Accidents happen. Ah understand.” She took the few envelopes and glanced through them before tossing them amongst the apples she had collected in her basket. “Come on in and join us for breakfast, won’t ‘cha? Granny Smith’s almost finished with th’ food.”
“That sounds nice Apple Bloom, but I don’t feel right–”
“Nonsense!” she cut me off, wrapping an arm around me and making me wince. “You already live in th’ old clubhouse and help
us ’round th’ farm enough. You’re practically family. C’mon.”
Before I could protest, she picked up the basket and trotted off towards the barn. Sighing, I jumped on my scooter and slowly flapped over to keep up with Apple Bloom. I guess I would at least be getting a decent breakfast today.
Hopping off my scooter, I looked up at the dirty-red tree house that had stood firm after all these years. The old clubhouse could probably use some renovations, but I didn’t want to mess with my only house and end up breaking it. I already owed enough to the Apple’s for letting me rent this old place out.
I winced as my mailbag bumped into my bruised flank. Luckily, it had apparently been a busy day on the farm because Applejack, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom were too busy talking about it to notice any of my injuries. I switched the side that the mailbag hung on and threw my scooter over my back, using my wings to keep it from sliding off. Trudging up the steps, I looked out over the fields of apple trees to see that the sun was now high in the sky. I turned around and leaned my scooter against the wall of the house, taking my bag off and setting it next to the blue board before sitting down gently on the wooden part.
I started idly pushing the scooter back and forth while I took the mailbag and retrieved my letters. “Hey Scootaloo,” a voice called out from below before I could leaf through all the junk mail to see what today’s haul brought. I looked down to see Apple Bloom waving a hoof.
“Hey AB,” I replied glancing back at my letters. The first few were just the typical junk all the town’s newspapers and magazines sent out. I sighed and threw them back into the hefty mailbag as Apple Bloom walked up the steps to sit next to me. “What’s up?”
“Not much, Scoots,” she said before turning to me with a serious tone, “So what happened today?”
“What?” I responded, completely surprised by what seemed to be an accusation.
“What happened to yer flank?” she asked, pointing to my bruised cutie mark which I quickly hid from her accusing hoof. “I noticed ya had a nasty bruise there durin’ breakfast, but I didn’t wanna bring it up in front a’ everypony.”
I sighed and leaned back over, slumping down on the piece of rolling wood. “I tried out a new stunt, gliding off my scooter and into the air.”
“Oh Scootaloo,” she shook her head while barely containing a smile, “One a’ these days I’m gonna wake up and find you in a hospital, I swear.” She gave a bit of a giggle and I felt a little better, glad she didn’t criticize me again for being reckless. “How high’d ya get this time?” she asked with a bit of a smirk on her face.
“I got above the treeline for your information,” I smirked back at the yellow mare, poking her in the side with one of my hooves. She giggled and nudged me back. I poked her in the stomach making her laugh louder, and she retaliated even more attempting to take a jab at my side. I anticipated her move though and jumped out of the way, throwing my mail haphazardly back into the bag.
“Ah see ah have come upon a worthy foe, Warrior Scootoshi,” Apple Bloom spoke in a thick accent before bowing and jumping into a ridiculous ninja pose. “Will you fight a superior opponent?”
“Ha ha ha,” I yelled out in the best foreign cartoon accent I could muster. “Better than the great warrior, Scootoshi? You must be crazy, Obana Blossom.” I threw some fake punches and tried my best to make up as many silly moves as I could before striking an equally absurd ninja stance.
“Oh?” she muttered with a sly smile. “Then you will not have a problem fighting me, Scootoshi. I attack!”
Apple Bloom jumped at me smiling and got me in the side pretty good, but through an onslaught of verbal yells and war calls, I managed a gentle jab back. We jumped over one another, running back and forth on the balcony, locked in pretend combat until I jumped a little too high and tripped over the edge. Apple Bloom gasped as I glided to the ground below. As I fell a little harder than I thought, I managed to yell out. “Truly, Obana Blossom, you are the superior warrior. You have defeated the mighty Scootoshi and gained honor for your family.”
I pretended to struggle before letting my body fall limp in an awkward position on the ground. I closed my eyes and stuck my tongue out in a fake “death” scene. We may be adults now, but I swore we tried our best to act as childish as we could sometimes. Apple Bloom burst out laughing and I could barely hold myself from cracking a smile. Opening an eye to see the yellow earth pony walking down the steps, I rolled over onto my side and let out a few chuckles myself.
Apple Bloom held out a hoof and helped me up before I walked up the stairs and over to the letter I had thrown aside to have our little “fight.” Picking up the note, I finally noticed who it had been addressed from. “Sweet Celestia’s Sun!” I shouted out, reading the text on the envelope.
“What?” Apple Bloom shouted back, trotting up the rest of the steps a little more urgently. “Wha’d ya find, Scoots?”
“This letter’s from Sweetie Belle!” I called out in joy, showing her the brown-splotched envelope. I hadn’t seen the white unicorn ever since she had gotten in with a famous band from Canterlot as a singer. I had heard a lot of her songs, and I loved her voice. I had no idea why she would be sending me a personal letter, because whenever I sent her anything, I was certain her fan-mail service always caught a hold of it and responded for her. “It’s actually from Sweetie Belle this time…”
“Well, open ‘er up,” Apple Bloom prompted, pointing a hoof at the dirty letter. “What does it say?”
I took the letter in my hooves and ripped the dirty top off the envelope, spitting it back into my bag. Pulling open the note, I read it under my breath, skimming over the hoof-written ink as fast as my eyes would allow.
Dear Scootaloo,
Hey, I haven’t seen you in forever! Sorry I couldn’t write to you more often, but you know how the show business can be I hope. I’ve just been as busy as can be with the new tour we’re about to go on. The band’s let me record some of my songs for our new album, and I hope you’ll like them.
So, I have some exciting news for you, and Apple Bloom if she’s still living in Ponyville with her family. The band and I are taking a break since we finished recording our new album, and I’m going to be coming back to Ponyville for the week. I was hoping to visit with you when I came down. We have so much to catch up on. My train comes in on Friday at seven in the afternoon. Maybe we could meet up and have dinner together?
Love you,
Sweetie Belle
When my eyes hit the salutation, I paused for a second, an odd feeling sweeping through my gut. My brain was still processing those two words as I stared at the signature beneath it. It was a genuine signature, so the two words above had to have been written by the same hooves. The writing was the same style as the one on all those patents we made up back when we were fillies. I just wasn’t sure whether she meant that as a friend or something more.
“Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked me, raising an eyebrow at my vacant stare. “What does it say?”
She looked worried, and I snapped out of my mini-crisis to tell her the good news. “Sweetie Belle’s coming home for a visit!” I paused a second thinking about the date. “And she’s coming in tonight at seven!”
Before I could tell Apple Bloom about the dinner plans, she muttered, “Drat.”
“Why the ‘Drat’ AB?” I asked, putting the letter into my satchel and opening the door to my house. “Aren’t you excited that Sweetie Belle’s finally coming home for a visit?” I continued, throwing the brown bag onto a well-used couch.
“Well a’course Ah’m excited to see Sweetie Belle again,” she started, jumping down the steps, “But we were gonna deliver a load a’ apples to Filthy Rich tonight. I won’t be able to see ‘er ‘till tomorrow.”
“Oh that sucks,” I said, looking over to the apple-filled baskets lying beneath the trees that Apple Bloom had been working
on when I showed up. “I should probably let you get back to work then, so you can get your apples harvested. I’m sure Sweetie Belle will understand if she has to wait one more day to see one of her best friends in Equestria.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” Apple Bloom said, trotting down the steps once again. “Just, when ya do see her, tell ‘er I miss havin’ her ‘round.”
“Can do, AB. Anything else you want me to tell her?” I asked walking down the steps with Apple Bloom. She picked up the few baskets lying under the trees before turning to me and giving me a smile.
“Tell her not tah be such a stranger.”
I gave a chuckle before confirming, “Sure thing.”
I slowly trotted up the stairs, feeling a sudden warm breeze blow through my coat. Turning my head, I saw a few dark clouds forming on the horizon, a team of weather ponies zipping around and pushing the clouds into each other. Sweetie Belle picked a bad time to suddenly visit us. There was a pretty big thunderstorm scheduled for tonight, but I couldn’t remember when exactly they were going to let it all out. I just hoped that it wasn’t until after seven.
The wind blew my mane into my face once again. I brushed it aside and looked at the clock another time, seeing that it was now five minutes before seven. The sky had started to get even darker and the wind was definitely picking up. The storm was close to erupting, and I desperately hoped that it wouldn’t while I was still out in the open.
Looking back at the clock, I saw that a minute had passed. The platform was completely deserted, and the only pony aside from me at the entire station was probably the ticket clerk sitting locked up in the ticket booth. I tried to listen down the track to see if I could hear a train coming, but the howling wind made that nearly impossible. Instead I started to pace back and forth on the platform, looking up to see that the sky was still as dark and menacing as it had been five minutes ago.
I hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella because when I had left half an hour ago from the house, I could still see the sun shining in the sky. Looking up and down the tracks for Sweetie Belle’s train, I saw nothing but leaves blowing across the track as the wind battered them about. Walking back to the front desk, I saw that the attendant was still sitting and reading a newspaper. I tapped on the window to get the green stallion’s attention.
“Back again, miss?” he greeted rather blandly, folding his newspaper into his lap. “What can I do for you?”
“Hi,” I replied, glancing back at the tracks in anticipation. I didn’t want to miss Sweetie’s train. “Does the paper say anything about the storm that’s been scheduled for today?”
“I think it said it was just your run-of-the-mill thunderstorm,” he said, not even glancing down at the printed text.
“Yes, but does it say anything about the time it’s scheduled for?” I quickly asked, looking up and seeing the swirling clouds looming over me.
“Let me take a look,” he said opening up the slightly greyed paper and flipping through the pages to look for the weather section. I anxiously tapped my hoof and tried not to look like I was being ungrateful, but I didn’t want to be standing out here when the skies burst. After a few seconds of flipping, the dark green stallion looked up from his paper. “Says here that the storm isn’t supposed to start until eight,” he began before leaning forward in his chair and looking up at the menacing clouds, “but from the looks of things, it might be happening a little sooner. It wouldn’t be the first time the posted time was wrong.”
“Thanks, mister,” I cheerily replied while swearing under my breath.
“You think that since the weather ponies make the weather themselves that the least they could do is tell us the right time now and then, eh?” he responded as I turned away from the booth.
“Yeah,” I mumbled back, keeping my eyes fixated on the end of the tracks. “You said the train was supposed to arrive at
seven?” I asked, turning back to the brown-maned stallion once again.
“Seven O'clock sharp,” he answered as I glanced at the clock once again. The clock face showed that the time was currently two past seven. “The weather might have held the train back though. We have delays occasionally when some really bad storms from the Everfree Forest aren’t caught by the weather pegasi in charge.”
“Drat,” I muttered under my breath. Judging by the clouds I wasn’t going to be getting home dry. “Thanks again,” I told the attendant as he picked up his paper and leafed once again through its pages.
I walked back over to the platform and fixed my sights once again on the train tracks leading into the trees in the distance. I waited there for a few more minutes, the wind picking up even further. If it had gotten any stronger, I wasn’t certain whether or not I would have been able to stand on the wooden surface of the train station.
The wind bellowed and a piece of loose paper slapped me in the face. I stumbled backwards and gave a shout. “Gah!” I yelled, my vision cut off by the newspaper, “Stupid paper…” I complained to nopony, brushing it off with a frown.
I felt a sudden low rumble in my hooves and when I looked back down the track, I saw something that raised my spirits a bit. From around the bend, I saw the familiar white smoke erupting from a pipe at the top of the train. The tan engineer was leaning out the side of the control car and glancing up at the sky, probably noticing that the weather was less than ideal. When he leaned back in, he blew the whistle on the locomotive and I heard the hiss of steam as the brakes were applied.
The loud screech of the wheels grinding on the metal to slow down reached my ears, and instead of the feeling of pain, only that of euphoria entered into me. I jumped up and fluttered my wings a bit, the excitement of finally seeing my best friend after almost a year now getting to me. The train shuddered again and again, slowing down gently until finally the passenger cars reached the station. I tried to look into the windows of some of the cars as they passed by, but the blinds were shut on nearly all of them. If Sweetie Belle was on one of them, there was no way I was seeing her.
Finally the beast lunged to a halt, and a hiss of steam escaped as the brakes were finally released. The conductor of the train, a purple stallion with a pocket watch for a cutie mark stepped out from the first car and, after a quick glance at his watch, yelled out to nopony in particular, “All Clear for Ponyville Station! All aboard who’s coming aboard!” I waited a few moments for him to finish his statement before the doors finally opened up to let the passengers on and off.
A few mares and stallions either holding briefcases or juggling papers stepped off the train and hurried past me, probably trying to beat the storm and get home dry. After about ten ponies got off the train, I still hadn’t seen Sweetie Belle come out. My excited smile turned to that of worry as I wondered what was keeping her.
I went up to one of the stallions that was getting off the train and asked, “Excuse me, but have you seen a mare with a pink and purple hair on that train anywhere? Her name is Sweetie Belle, and I was supposed to meet her.”
“Is that you friend over there?” the stallion asked, pointing over to a smiling white unicorn holding a few bags.
“Sweetie Belle!” I shouted, rushing over to the happy mare and throwing my hooves around her. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“Hey Scootaloo!” Sweetie cheerfully replied, swinging a hoof around my back while keeping the other on a light blue travel bag. “I’m glad that I could see my friend again.” I let go of her and noticed that she was looking around a bit confused. “Is Apple Bloom not coming?” she asked with a bit of a frown.
“Oh, right,” I said with a chuckle, “AB really wanted to come, but she’s off ‘overseeing a delivery’ to Filthy Rich. She’s going to try and see you tomorrow after she gets back.” I paused and looked nervously around for some reason before saying, “Tonight it’s just you and me…if you want it to be that is.”
I started blushing, and I didn’t know why. Sweetie Belle was my friend. She’d be fine with just hanging out for the night, and there was nothing embarrassing about this moment. There was no reason to be blushing. “Sounds good to me!” Sweetie Belle cheerfully chipped in, giving a huge smile. “But, we might want to get going. I think it might rain soon.”
I took a look at the clouds still swirling around above us, dangerously close to bursting. “Heh, right,” I muttered. “So how does dinner sound? We can catch up there, huh?”
“Sounds lovely,” she said before turning around and digging through her bag for a few seconds, pulling out random combs and other junk.
“Any place sound good?” I asked, while she kept digging in her bag. “There’s always that café off Main Street?” She didn’t say anything in response, instead just rifling through her bag some more. “What are you looking–”
I was cut off by the crash of thunder and a bolt of lightning. “The café sounds like fun, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle finally replied, lifting her head out from her bag. “I just figured you and I might want to share this.” With a glow of her horn, she levitated an umbrella out from her bag. “I have to watch out for you, Scootaloo,” she said with a wink, as the clouds finally erupted in a torrent of rain.
“Thanks,” I said, confused even more about the sentiment. Was she being a good friend, or was she trying to be more? Suddenly, my stomach gave a rumble. I’d have to figure it out later. For now I had to take a friend to go eat. “Lead on then,” I said with a smile, pointing a hoof towards the waves of rain pounding outside the station.
“My pleasure,” Sweetie said, opening the umbrella and lifting it over both her and me as we both stepped down from the platform.
“So I pretty much am the only reason the mail gets delivered in Ponyville nowadays, but it’s still a pretty boring job,” I finished, kicking a pebble down the road. “I’m sure you have a lot more fun than I do delivering the mail. You’re part of The Bells.”
“Yeah, it sure is a lot of fun singing with them, but I’ve missed being with you,” Sweetie Belle said as we arrived at the café. There it was again. Sweetie Belle had specified she had missed me. Did she mean to say all of us here in Ponyville, or just me? Here I was thinking about what it meant too.
Why did I get these weird feelings whenever Sweetie Belle started talking about missing me and having fun with me. It had always been that way since before she left, since we got our cutie marks. She always wanted to be with me, and I enjoyed hanging out with her, but she always seemed to want to be with me more than anypony else. We always went to treehouse together and she would insist we stay up late and stargaze. I always liked her, but we were just friends, or so I thought. Did it mean something, though? Was Sweetie Belle… was she..?
“You alright Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle said with a worried look on her face.
“Huh?” I grunted, snapping out of my thoughts. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Alright, then,” she continued on with a smile. “Well we’re here! Time for some grub, right Scootaloo.”
“Heh, yeah,” I nervously laughed, opening the door and letting Sweetie Belle step inside. I followed behind her to see that the café was nearly deserted. The usual mares and stallions I always saw whenever I would stop by for dinner were nowhere to be found. With the storm raging outside I wasn’t too surprised the place was empty.
“Evening ladies,” the stallion working the front counter called out as we walked inside. “You can leave your bags up here behind the counter if you want to try and wait out the storm,” the stallion gestured, pointing a light brown hoof behind him. “I know it’s pretty bad out there already, but the paper says it’s only scheduled for an hour or so before it’ll lighten up.”
“Thank you, sir!” Sweetie cheerfully thanked the pegasus before levitating her bags over the countertop.
“Anytime,” he said, pushing the bags up against the wall before pausing a second, seemingly deep in thought. “I think I recognize that voice,” he finally said. “You wouldn’t happen to be Sweetie Belle of The Bells, would you?”
“My name’s Drew, Brewer Drew,” the blonde-maned stallion introduced himself, holding out a hoof.
Sweetie Belle took it with a smile and gave a gentle shake. “Pleased to meet you, Drew,” she stated, as I took a seat at a table in a secluded corner. I started to look at the menu half-heartedly, waiting for Sweetie Belle to finish being famous for the time being.
“My kids listen to your music quite a bit back home,” Drew continued, crouching down and shuffling through something under the counter. “If it’s allright, could I get your autograph to give to them? They’d love it.” He put a pencil and a piece of paper on the counter.
“Aww,” Sweetie cooed, “Of course I can, Drew. What are their names?”
“I have two daughters, Silver Lining and Daisy Springs.”
“To Silver Lining and Daisy Springs,” Sweetie Belle read aloud, writing the note with her horn. “One of these days, I’ll see you at the top,” she finished, referencing one of her recent hits, “Meet me at the Top.” She signed her name at the bottom and handed the paper back to Drew.
“Here, Miss Belle” Drew said, taking two blueberry muffins out from the display, “On the house. One for your friend too.”
“You’re too kind,” Sweetie Belle blushed. “Thank you very much, Drew.”
Sweetie Belle gave drew a gleeful look before turning around and sitting down with me. “Wow, it must be awesome to be famous, everypony knowing who you are,” I said, as she handed me one of the muffins. “You get free food like this,” I said, pointing to the pastry, “and you get to hang out with all the other famous ponies."
Sweetie Belle, sat for a moment, her smile slightly vacant. “I suppose,” she mumbled, her smile fading entirely as she intently stared at the piece of plastic showing the various options. “I think I know what I want,” she began, setting the plastic menu down and regaining her always present smile. The moment she had while looking at the menu worried me, though. I, in all the years I had known her, had never seen her make an sort of expression like she just had. “Do you know what you want to get?”
“I was going to get a house salad sandwich and a coffee, but Sweetie…” I answered trying to get her attention, but before I could ask her what was up, she got up from the table and walked over to Drew, her happy attitude completely rejuvenated.
I decided to let it go as she called out, “Hey Drew, can we get a house salad sandwich, a hay and oats soup and sandwich combo and two regular coffees?”
“Coming right up, Miss Belle,” he replied, trotting over to a pot and throwing some ingredients in.
“Thanks!” she beamed back, walking back over to the table and sitting down across from me. “What were you about to say Scootaloo?” her eyes now seeming filled with an air of curiosity.
“Oh,” I stuttered, scratching the back of my head. She definitely seemed fine. The menu thing was probably just her concentrating. “You’ve got to enjoy singing up onstage in front of thousands of fans, the center of attention. It sure seems better that driving around all morning delivering junk to ponies that don’t want it.”
“It’s fun, yes,” Sweetie started, a bit of a skeptical look on her face, “but it’s really nerve-wracking. Standing in front of everypony as they wait to hear the band and listen to me alone…” she trailed off, a small frown on her face. “I always have this feeling that I’m going to screw up somewhere.”
“But you always go out and sweep everypony off their hooves!” I responded, throwing up my own. “You’re an amazing singer, Sweetie Belle. I’ve seen so many letters addressed to you and the band.”
“Thanks, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle chuckled as Drew came from around the corner with two dishes on his back.
“So I have a House Salad Sandwich and a Hay and Oats soup and sandwich platter?” he quizzically looked at both of us.
“I had the Salad Sandwich,” I replied, raising a hoof at Drew. Drew nodded his head before doing a quick one-eighty and sliding both plates off his back and onto the table.
“You girls want me to just bring the whole pot out for you? Whatever you don’t drink I’m probably going to end up pitching anyways. We usually close at eight, and the storm probably killed the rest of my business. I won’t charge you any extra.”
“Sure,” I said, scooting my plate closer to me. “Thanks, Drew.”
“No problem, Ma’am,” he replied, trotting back to the front counter. He paused for a second and turned around once more. “Also, Miss Belle, your soup should be right out.”
“Alright, then. Take your time,” she called to the stallion as I picked up the sandwich that laid in front of me.
“You know, I deliver his mail every morning. I’ve even talked with him once or twice. You think he’d know my name.”
Sweetie Belle chomped down on her hay and oats sandwich as I did the same with my house salad sandwich. We both sat for a moment before Drew came back out carrying a pot of coffee in his teeth and balancing two mugs and a bowl on his back. He set the pot down on the table and slid the bowl expertly off his back with the two mugs following.
“Here you girls go. I’m going to lock up in the back. Give a shout when you’re leaving so I can lock the front, ok?”
“Sure thing,” Sweetie said after swallowing her first bite. Drew headed out to a door that I assumed led to the storage area. “So how’s life been since I’ve been gone? Anything interesting happen?”
“Ugh, not really,” I said, taking another huge bite out of my sandwich, taking out nearly half of it. I swallowed the bite and continued on, “Only thing I can think of is that Applejack got pregnant a few months back. I think she’s getting married here in a few months to some stallion named Time Turner. Life’s been downright bland since. Nothing glamorous like the parties I’m sure you get to attend. I envy you.”
“Scootaloo, don’t. My life really isn’t as glamorous as you’d think,” Sweetie admitted, finishing off her sandwich and taking a big gulp of soup.
“What do you mean?” I asked, finishing off my own sandwich. I gave her a quizzical look to show my disbelief. She had to always be at the big parties with all the mares and stallions. “Aren’t you always on the scene?”
“No, Scootaloo,” she said, a bit of a melancholy tone settling in her voice. “I hate being ‘on the scene’ because that either means surrounded by paparazzi or near a bunch of ponies who are drunk or high at a party.” Her face was dead serious at the end of her sentence, so I knew she wasn’t joking around.
“Oh,” I muttered, taking a sip of my coffee to absorb what she had said. I figured there’d be drugs and such around Sweetie Belle, but hearing her talk about it openly just struck me the wrong way.
She sighed and continued on, “I may as well tell you, since I’m sure the papers will leak it somehow. The band has been shaky for the past few months. We’re starting to hit a few rifts, and there’s been a lot of fighting between our drummer and guitarist. They just recently broke up, so the past month has been tense.”
Sweetie Belle paused for a second and took a sip of coffee, completely disregarding her soup now. “So I suggested we take a break and then everyone agreed. I had been really lonely up in the band. That’s why I came down here to see you. You and Apple Bloom are my only friends.” She laid a cheek down on the table and started playing with her soup spoon. “Sorry to be such a downer,” she mumbled.
“Hey, if anyone’s going to be a downer, that’s my job,” I said, leaning over to join her in the lying of heads. “I’m the one with the worthless cutie mark and dead-end job. If you left the band, all you have to do is write more songs and I guarantee you could start your own band. You’re talented, Sweetie. Really, you are.”
“You know, this is why I missed you. You always knew how to keep me going. You always pushed me towards success,” she said, giving me a heartwarming smile.
“We missed you, too Sweetie Belle,” I said, placing a hoof on hers.
“Thanks, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle blushed and took another sip of coffee. “We should probably head out soon. I hate to have Drew wait on us if he’s got a family to get home to. Do you want to grab my bags from behind the counter?”
“I got you covered, SB,” I said, trotting over and vaulting the counter. I lifted the bags onto the counter as Sweetie called out to
the back room to say that we were leaving. “So,” I started, vaulting over the counter and throwing the bags onto my back as Sweetie and I headed for the front door, “Have you written up anything new since the spat started?”
“Well, I’ve gotten one thing written up,” she started, pushing the door open for me with her magic. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still pretty wet.
“Well,” I said, taking one step and covering my hoof in mud. I wiggled it a bit as Sweetie Belle giggled “Would you care to sing me this lovely song?”
“Scootaloo,” Sweetie began, “can I tell you something about the song before I sing it?”
“Yeah,” I acknowledged Sweetie with a curious look, “What’s up with the song?”
“I guess maybe it’s not about the song, but…” she trailed off, looking every direction but me. “Do you remember that night before I left for Canterlot about a year ago I slept over at the treehouse with you?”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember how we laid there and watched the stars?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember how I–”
“Yes, Sweetie Belle,” I cut in, “I remember the entire night. We crusaded one last time, just to have some fun, we watched the stars, we slept in the treehouse loft, and you sang songs for me. You seemed really sad the next morning when you had to go. Yes, Sweetie Belle, I remember the night.”
“Ok,” she said, stopping in the middle of the street. “I just wanted to remind you of that night because the song is about that night. I wrote it almost immediately after I left, but I didn’t want to sing it in case you didn’t like it.” She hung her head low and looked away from me at the wet mud beneath her.
“Sweetie Belle,” I said, lifting her head up with a hoof, “I loved that night we spent together. Sing it for me.”
“Ok...” she paused for a second and closed her eyes. When she opened them up, she started humming a few notes to set up what sounded like a slow heartfelt piece. Then she sung it all.
“Do you remember when we had our final night?
You were with me, we didn’t bicker, didn’t fight.
We went on our little adventure once again.
We climbed a tree, rode some pigs outside their pen.
But when the night was young,
And we all but had our fun.
We went to the roof to see the stars in zen.
The night was warm, the sky was clear.
You held me tight and I didn’t fear.
I pointed out the constellations floating in the void.
That you and I could watch as we enjoyed,
Until the night was old.
And my hooves you’d hold.
You tucked me into bed not at all annoyed.
It was then ooo-ooo.
That it had been all you.
I had the night to think,
of your mane, the color pink.
I saw the sign and knew.
I loved you.
I loved you.
I. Loved. You.”
She finished with a smile and I stood awestruck. “Sweetie Belle…” I started.
Before I could go any further, she quickly turned away. “I’m sorry, Scootaloo.”
“For what?” I responded quickly embracing her in a hug. “That was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. You wrote that for me?”
“Well, yeah,” she said, hugging me back. “I just wrote how it felt that night. Scootaloo, I still feel that way about you.” She backed a step up and looked into my eyes. “You were the girl that kept me going whenever I got down, and you were always so fun and adventurous whenever I was with you. I missed you the entire time I was with the band. I wanted so badly to come back and see you. When the opportunity came, I went with it and I came here so that you and I could see each other again. I just didn’t know if you–”
I stopped Sweetie Belle in mid sentence by grabbing her by the chin and placing my lips against hers. At first she was startled, but I nibbled slightly on her lower lip and ran my tongue along the edge of it. I stayed there for a few seconds before backing up a bit. Sweetie Belle just stood in front of me completely stunned.
“Does that answer your question?” she still stood speechless in front of me, only nodding her head slightly, mouth partially agape. “What do you say you come back to the treehouse and we take a look at the stars. It looks like the clouds cleared up.”
Her look of surprise melted into that of happiness. She turned towards Sweet Apple Acres, and I laid a wing over her.
It was going to be a good night after all.