Scootaloo was sitting on a bench trying to comprehend exactly what she had seen. Normally she would have shrugged this off and done something more fun, but she was so bored that she couldn’t help but think of the strange store. I know I saw a big diaper, I mean it was huge! That was the one thing she was sure of. Scootaloo had only caught a single glance at the stallion’s wares after all, but the one thing she definitely saw were diapers that just looked too big to be normal. Still… maybe I was just seeing things. She snorted when thinking of Mrs. Cake though. Figures, grownups are always keeping secrets, she just pushed me out!
A few moments later, she got off the bench and decided to figure out something that she could do. “Let’s see,” she paused to throw a rock across a lake, “homework’s done, did my job, ate breakfast, got thrown out of a weird baby store… Eeyup! I’m bored.” She flopped onto her back and sighed. She scratched her belly a few times. “Maybe I should just go get my scooter out again…”
She knew taking out her most prized possession was only a matter of time. Scooting was the one thing she could do when she was bored after all. She was ever thankful that their clubhouse was, for the most part, a secret to others. Getting to it didn't even require going onto the main part of the Apple’s farm. So she went unnoticed when going to grab her scooter. She squealed in delight as she jumped off the clubhouse’s balcony and used her wings to propel forward.
Riding her scooter was never not fun in her opinion. Worries, stress and memories all faded away to nothing while she simply moved forward on the thing. It was almost hypnotizing in a way. She was so caught up in going fast and having fun that she failed to register the shock of other ponies as she bolted through town. She swerved around, over and even under Ponyville’s citizens in her pursuit of fun. At one point she raced right through somepony’s house.
Finally, Scootaloo slowed to a stop just outside of town to take a break and calm down a bit. “To be fair, Lyra did have her front and back doors wide open,” she said, chuckling at the thought. She had spent the whole day on the scooter and still did not feel exhausted. But stopping for a while did bring back the boredom.
“I guess I’ll just go home now.” She also laughed on the inside in a bitter way when she told her friends she would be heading home. Her home, after all, was their clubhouse and they were always in it. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had always wanted to visit her home, but she always had excuses. Little did they know, they were always ‘visiting’ her home.
As she walked along, she noticed the stars starting to shine. Her mom always liked to look at the stars. Scootaloo tried to learn the constellations from her mother but never really got most of them. She knew the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt, but the others just looked like a big mess of dots. She was so enamored with trying to find the stars that she didn’t even notice the upcoming apple tree until she bumped right into it.
She shook the thought of her mother off her mind. Though, as much as she tried, her mother never really left her thoughts. Passing through the apple orchard, she noticed quite a few trees missing fruit. I guess they're done with their chores. She heard a noise off in the distance and listened.
“Wait up, Apple Bloom!” It was Sweetie Belle’s voice.
Scootaloo panicked and dragged her scooter far off the regular path to hide behind a rather large tree.
“Sorry!” The two quickly passed the tree and walked off towards the clubhouse.
Great! Now what do I do? She figured, though, that they most likely weren’t having a sleepover. It would be odd to just show up out of the blue, but she had the excuse that she was looking for her scooter, maybe. “It could work. I’ll just leave it here!” Her plan was to tell them that she couldn’t remember where she left it and her mom said to be back when she could.
She neared the clubhouse and heard giggling as shadows danced across the lit room. Something took her attention away as she looked up and saw all the stars twinkling already. A distant memory stirred for a moment, something so far away but so close to her heart. She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to make noise, sniffle or cry and shoved all thoughts aside. Not now. It’s time to have some fun!
She walked up to the steps as quietly as possible and then jumped through one of the windows. “Boo!”
The two fillies nearly jumped out of their skins and looked at her with shocked faces.
“Too much?’
“Scootaloo, what in the hay was that for?!”
She chuckled from their glares. “Heh, sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
Their glares softened and the farm filly simply rolled her eyes. “So what you here for? Isn't it kind of late?”
She blinked and then remembered her plan. “Oh yeah. I kind of forgot where I left my scooter, so my… mom let me go out here to look for it.”
Sweetie Belle nodded and Apple Bloom scratched her mane. “Sorry Scoots, ah haven’t seen it lately. Maybe you should retrace your steps!”
“Hey yeah!”
She blushed. “Does it count if you forgot which step goes where?”
They both groaned and smacked their heads with their hooves. Then Sweetie giggled. “I’m sure it'll turn up. I’m kind of glad were all here right now though.”
“I thought you two were busy today.” Scootaloo walked close and took a seat.
“Oh, well I was with my parents for a while until they dropped me off at my sister’s. She needed to talk to Applejack about something or other so we came here.”
“Oh, okay.” Scootaloo nodded, feeling a quick sense of relief that nopony had lied to her. She relaxed further and made a very quiet and tired sigh.
“Um, so I have an announcement to make.” Both fillies looked up to Sweetie who was already blushing like crazy. “Its kind of a weird announcement though.”
Both ponies saw her shuffle her hooves as she refused to greet their eyes.
Apple Bloom stood up and draped her hooves around her friend. “Ah’m sure it’s not that weird. And even if it is, we won’t mind. Promise!”
“Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed with a small smile. I guess.
“Okay. Well, I’ve been feeling kind of weird lately. Like, sad when we play. I try to hide it, but I keep getting distracted by all kinds of weird things.”
Apple Bloom rubbed her chin and tried to think of a time when Sweetie was distracted. “Now that you mention it, ah guess you’ve been doing that a bit.”
Maybe she just wasn’t paying enough attention, but Scootaloo couldn’t think of a single time that Sweetie acted weird. At least, no weirder than normal.
“Yeah. Well for a while I just thought I was a big weirdo. But Pinkie Pie and Twilight talked to me and showed me this book and it actually happens more than you might think so I’m actually not weird at all and—”
“Sweetie Belle, just what are you tryin’ to say?” Apple Bloom asked, getting a little annoyed at Sweetie’s rambling.
Sweetie took one big breath. “I’m a foal!”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom stared at her, no real emotion on their faces.
“What?” Scootaloo finally asked.
“Uh, Sweetie? You know a foal is, like, a newborn pony, right?” Apple Bloom asked.
“No. Yes… ugh. That’s not what I mean. I mean that’s how I feel. I like being treated like a foal sometimes and playing like one and dressing in kiddie pajamas and hugging my stuffed animals and… maybe other things…”
The fillies stared at Sweetie again, this time their faces were contorted in confusion.
“What kind of ‘other things’?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Well,” Sweetie said in a low voice, “like wearing diapers…”
“Ah don’t get it,” Apple Bloom said plainly. “Why would you want to wear a diaper?”
“I just like it, okay?!” Sweetie snapped back. “It makes me feel safe…”
“Woah, Sweetie. Ah don’t mean anything by it. Ah mean, ah don’t really understand, but ah don’t see a problem with it or nothing,” Apple Bloom said, letting Sweetie relax a bit.
Apple Bloom might not have seen a problem, but Scootaloo sure did. They weren’t little foals anymore. They were supposed to grow up, that’s how it worked; grow up, be responsible, get a job, and be an adult. But now Sweetie wanted to go backwards? That just… wasn’t fair!
“Have you told Rarity about this?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Actually, she’s agreed to help me be a foal when I want to. She’s almost like a second Mom to me now.”
Scootaloo’s eye twitched furiously at that last part. “That’s so stupid!”
“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom scolded.
“So, what? Just because you can’t grow up like us, you need two moms? You think that’s fair?”
Sweetie quivered. “But I—”
“You can’t just be a filly forever! It doesn’t work like that!” Scootaloo barked at her.
“Scootaloo, that’s enough! Can’t you see you’re making Sweetie upset!?”
Scootaloo looked at her friends as Apple Bloom tried to comfort a sniffling Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom shot a glare at Scootaloo. Scootaloo just looked around nervously before steeling herself and charging out the door. Apple Bloom was left petting Sweetie’s mane as Sweetie fought back tears.
Scootaloo stormed off, not really having any destination in mind. It was late, she needed a new place to sleep. Eventually she settled on a tree far from the clubhouse. “Stupid Sweetie Belle,” she mumbled as she climbed onto one of the branches. “Stupid Apple Bloom.” A cloud floated away letting the light of the stars hit her eyes. “Stupid starlight!”
Scootaloo covered her eyes with her forelegs and started to breathe heavily. That night, she cried herself to sleep.