Scootaloo was resting her head against her hoof, leaning out her window when she saw a familiar blue figure in the clouds above. “Hey, Rainbow Dash! Down here!”
Swirling down through the overcast, Rainbow Dash flew up to Scootaloo’s window and gave her a grin. “What’s up, squirt?”
Scootaloo shrugged. “Oh, y’know, just hanging out. Hey, wanna go flying?” she asked, her wings fluttering unconsciously.
Rainbow hemmed and hawed, looking around awkwardly as she tried to avoid Scootaloo’s gaze. “I mean, that sounds cool and all, but I’m, like, really busy right now.”
“Rainbow! Y’all busy right now?”
Scootaloo leaned further out the window and saw Applejack standing there waving her hat at Rainbow.
She noticed Scootaloo looking out the window and said, “Oh, hey there, Scootaloo. Sorry about Big Mac. Doesn’t know his own strength, heh.”
Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. S’all good.”
“What’s up, AJ?” asked Rainbow, looking down at Applejack.
Applejack used her hat to point to a far off mountain. “There’s a dragon making trouble up on that there mountain. Twilight’s gatherin’ everyone to go try and talk to it. You comin’ with?”
Rainbow shrugged, fluttering down to land next to Applejack. “Sure, I’m not doing anything.”
Scootaloo practically threw herself out the window. “Oh! Oh! Can I come?”
“Ehhhhhh, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, squirt,” said Rainbow. “I mean, it is a dragon. It could be pretty dangerous.”
Disappearing from the window, Scootaloo reappeared a moment later wearing her scooter helmet. She smirked. “I ain’t afraid of no dragons.”
Rainbow glanced sidelong at Applejack, eyebrow raised. Applejack shrugged. Rainbow nodded. “All right, squirt. You can come along. Meet up with us at the south end of town in an hour.”
Grinning like an idiot, Scootaloo snapped off a salute. “Yes, ma’am, Rainbow Dash, ma’am! I’ll be there. Oh, wait,” she said, suddenly remembering something. “I gotta ask my parents for permission first.”
Raising an eyebrow, Rainbow said, “Parents? I thought they were dead?”
“Pfff, nah. I just pretend they are for kicks,” said Scootaloo, chuckling. She spun around and yelled downstairs. “Ma! Can I go fight a dragon?”
Her mother called up to her from the kitchen. “Did you finish your homework yet?”
“It’s summer!”
“You can go.”
Scootaloo grinned. “Sweet.” She went back to the window. “Hey, Rainbow, I can—Huh… she’s gone.” The street was empty, and Scootaloo felt her heart fall a bit. Sighing, she grabbed her scooter from its resting place against the wall and hurried downstairs. She flung open the front door and jumped on her scooter, revving up her wings until she was flying down the road. Weaving in and out of crowds, Scootaloo made her way southwards until she came to the edge of the town.
“Huh, Rainbow Dash isn’t here yet,” she remarked, noticing that there was in fact no one there at all. “Well, whatever. I’ll just wait here for her.”
Scootaloo settled down on a flat rock, laying out on her back, watching the clouds as they drifted by. The wind was blowing softly through her mane. She squinted, staring up at the sky. Using her hoof to waft air over her face, she said, "Is it just me, or is it hot here?"
“Hey,” said Rainbow Dash as she walked through the farmer’s market with Applejack. “Is it just me, or have you not seen Scootaloo for awhile either?”
Applejack brought a hoof to her chin. “Huh, now that you mention it, I reckon I ain’t seen her for at least two months."
“I see,” said Rainbow, absentmindedly looking up at the clouds, “I guess that woulda been around the time we talked to that dragon.”
“Didn’t you tell her she could come with us?” asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow.
Rainbow let out a long “Ooooooh”, smacking her hoof against her forehead. “Right, I think she was supposed to meet us somewhere. I wonder if she—nah. She wouldn’t have, right?”
Applejack shrugged. “Guess we better check, huh?”
With all the urgency of a by-the-hour plumber, Applejack and Rainbow Dash casually strolled across town to where they had told Scootaloo to meet them. When they got to the spot, something caught Rainbow's eye.
“Hey, isn’t that Scootaloo’s scooter sitting by that tree?” asked Rainbow.
“Yup, sure looks like it.”
“Where’s Scootaloo?”
Applejack approached a flat rock and jerked her head towards a pile of bones sitting on top of it. “Looks like she was waiting for awhile, huh?”
Rainbow frowned. “It’s only been, like, two months. How could she be a pile of bones already?”
Applejack shrugged, taking off her hat to cool herself off. “Whoo. It’s awful hot here, ain’t it?”
Suddenly, a thought came to Rainbow. “Wait!” She snapped her hooves, which wasn’t possible but she tried to do it anyway. “I remember now!” She turned to Applejack. “Twilight said she was setting up a huge mirror somewhere around here to try and see if she could melt rock.”
Applejack chuckled. “Well, ain’t that just a kick in the head? Guess Scootaloo really warmed up to this place, eh?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “‘Least the dragon didn’t get her, huh? That woulda been pretty lame.”
Applejack shook her head, placing her hat back in its place. “Can’t say I saw this one coming.”
“Welp, no use in crying over spilled Scootaloo.” Rainbow Dash started walking back towards Ponyville, followed shortly after by Applejack. “Hey, wanna get some ice cream?” she asked.
“Only if you’re buying.”