//------------------------------//
// 3. Best Friend 
// Story: One year 
// by PonyFromSpace 
//------------------------------//

3. Best friend




Having a cast on your leg is annoying. The problem is not as much the cast as it is the inability to move. Stride hated not being able to move. Laying in the couch for the rest of the day had not been what he'd hoped for. It helped that his best friend was there. It didn't stop him from feeling miserable though.
"This is a really good book, you know," Scootaloo said. She waved the princess' book.
Books wouldn't be good enough to channel the energy Stride had running in his veins. He wanted to go outside. Play. Crusade.
"I'm bored," he told Scootaloo.
She put down the book.
"Let's see if there's something we can do, then. "

She got up and looked around the room. There wasn't really a lot to be seen.
A couch, Stride was currently lying on. A coffee table with two glasses of chocolate milk. A joyboy with a dead battery and a book. Oh, and the chair Scootaloo just got up from.
Her search was interrupted by a question.
"What's up with Diamond and Spoon?"
Scootaloo turned around.
"Just your average snobs and bullies. I like how you handle them with those projectiles, by the way."
"I got angry and threw mud at them," he said flat.
"That's what I meant!  Most ponies are too scared to put up with those two."
Stride laughed.
"Really? Those softies? I've met way worse in Manehattan!"
"Worse than Diamond Tiara?" Scootaloo frowned.
"Really, if that's the worst in town, you guys can consider yourselves lucky."
"I'll try to keep that in mind."
Scootaloo continued her search. She noticed how Stride was staring at her wings.
"What is it?" she asked, a bit annoyed.
He didn't take his eyes off her wings. He looked almost hungry. Creepy.
"Do you fly?" he asked, eyes locked on her feathers.
"No," she said, agitated.
"Okay."
Okay? No 'oh, I'm sorry'? No 'that's so sad'? She suddenly felt a lot more comfortable on the subject.
"But one day, I will!" she added, "I go out training with Rainbow Dash every week."
Stride's ears flopped up.
"Rainbow Dash? Fastest flyer in Equestria? Beat the Wonderbolts?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome!" Stride shouted enthusiastically.
"You tell me," the orange pegasus grinned.
A voice resounded from the kitchen.
"Who wants pancakes?" a happy looking Storm announced.
She came in with a hot plate with a tower of pancakes and chocolate sauce balancing on her left wing. She shoved it onto the coffee table.
With her other wing, she shoved a plateau with forks and plates next to it. She picked three plates and three forks. Soon, Scootaloo had a delicious dough treat before her nose.
"Thanks, Mrs Early!" she uttered.
"No problem," Storm replied, "now just let me get you two some milkshakes."
"Thanks mom!" Stride spoke.

It was the most delicious meal Scootaloo had ever had. Storm sure was a good cook.
Her chin dripped with sauce, so she had to use a napkin. When she lowered the napkin, she noticed Stride was looking straight at her. He saw she looked back and quickly turned his gaze back to his plate. She drank the last drip from her milkshake.
"So, are you coming to the play next Saturday?" Scootaloo asked.
Stride tilted his head.
"Play?"
"Yes, the school play. Didn't anypony tell you about it?"
"No, not really."
"Well, the school has organised a big spectacle next Saturday. We've been training all of Summer for it. I'm captain of the third regiment. Sweetie Belle plays main role as lady Vanilla."
Stride's eyes widened.
"Sweetie Belle got the main role?"
Scootaloo shrugged.
"Yeah, what's so strange about that?"
"Well, I would've thought Diamond Tiara would've bought it or something," Stride replied.
Scootaloo laughed, "That does sound really Diamond. No, she was on a trip to Canterlot with her dad, so she couldn't attend any rehearsal."
"Well, I'm coming for sure!"
Storm swallowed a piece of pancake.
"But, umm, we have certain things to do next Saturday."
Stride gave her his best puppy dog eyes.
Storm sighed, "All right, you can go next Saturday."
"Thanks mom!"





Storm had brought in an old projector. Light reflected on the white wall, it was a movie. Daring Do and the Saddle of Doom. Scootaloo and Stride were watching it silently, as the on-screen heroine attempted to save the day once again. Scootaloo had now taken place in the couch, next to Stride. Suddenly, she made a remark.
"Rainbow Dash says the movie resembles perfectly what she read in the book."
Storm looked up from the screen and checked the time. Was it that late already?
"Scootaloo, shouldn't you be getting home? Your parents must be worried!"
Scootaloo shook her head, her eyes still directed at the movie.
"Don't worry, nopony would care if I stayed away for a month."
That must be really bad parents, Storm thought.
"Should I prepare a bed for you, so you can spend the night here?"
Scootaloo turned her gaze away from the screen.
"Really? Awesome! Thanks!"
"Anything for a friend of Stride's, Scootaloo," Storm smiled.
Storm started wondering about Stride's friends. Did they know? Had he told them?
Daring Do tipped her hat at the box containing the dangerous artefact. The credits popped on the screen and Storm decided to hear her son out.
"Stride, can you come to the kitchen?"
"Uh, sure," her son said. He folded his ankle to his belly and followed her out of the living room.
Scootaloo could faintly ear the whispers from the kitchen.
"Do they know?" Storm said.
"No, they don't, I don't know how to tell them," Stride answered.
Tell them what? Scootaloo was suddenly very curious. Stride had secrets? The crusaders would do some exploring on that!
"Don't worry, they'll understand if you wait a bit before telling them. There's still time."
"Thanks mom."
"Now let's get some deserts, shall we?"
After two minutes of kitchen sounds, Storm walked in with three bowls of ice cream.
"Yummy!" Scootaloo smiled.
"Want to watch another movie?" Storm asked.

Storm smiled down at the two foals. The tough action mare Scootaloo was now curled up in a little ball, sleeping like a baby. Stride was laying on his back on the other side of the couch. His legs pointing at the ceiling. A drip of saliva hung from the corner of his mouth.
Storm thought about next Saturday. She had no idea how Pinkie would react. She only knew her for two days, after all. She walked to the door and flicked off the light. If only Burst could see this, too bad he had night shift. Stride finally had friends. Real friends. In Manehattan, everypony  had always avoided him. Now, things had finally changed.





Stride slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the grey ceiling. This wasn't his room. His room had a white ceiling. He looked around. He was in the couch. Of course, he had fallen asleep in the couch last night. He gazed around the room, slightly expecting to see Scootaloo. She wasn't there. He was alone. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his forelegs. He suppressed a yawn. On the coffee table lay a note. He grabbed it and read it.

"I'm off to Sugar Cube corner to take care of something. Scootaloo is at school. She promised she'd come by this evening. It's possible I won't be back by then. Dad's gone shopping.
Love,
mom."

He sighed and thought of how he'd spend the time. To his great relief, Storm had fetched some spare batteries for his joyboy. Enough to fill the entire day. Of course, he wouldn't do so. He didn't consider gaming the whole day as being healthy and he'd get bored quite quick. He decided to write in his diary first. One problem: His diary was upstairs. He limped into the hallway.He carefully placed a hoof on the first step. He slowly paced forward, making his way up the stairs. It was tricky to keep balance, but he managed. He was sweaty when he reached the top. He'd need to take a bath after this. He walked into his room.

"Dear Diary,
Yesterday was a great day. Scootaloo took me for a ride on her scooter. It was amazing. Almost like flying, I imagine. I'd really like to have my wings. I had to pass the first trial to become a cutie mark crusader. I accidentally broke a leg. Scootaloo didn't want to stop apologising. It wasn't her fault. Accidents happen. She even went home with me. We ate pancakes! My mom makes the best pancakes, Scootaloo clearly noticed that. We also played a few word games. We watched some movies and I dozed off. It was so much fun I forgot about my ankle! Can you believe it? Not that I haven't eaten pancakes before or watched a movie before. It's just so much fun to watch it together with a friend. Scootaloo sure is a great friend."

He picked up his to-do list. He didn't really have anything to add, although he knew he should, judging by how happy yesterday had made him. He sighed. He remembered how they had played chain reaction. A little word game. He laughed again as he remembered how Scootaloo had misspelled insubordinance. Not that it is so strange to misspell it, but it was funny how she had persisted it was correct, even after looking it up in the dictionary. Thinking deeply about the events of the evening before, he slowly dropped his head on the desk and fell in a deep sleep.





"Stride?" a voice said.
"Stride?" it repeated.
Stride opened his eyes. He had some saliva on his chin, probably from drooling in his sleep. His face was stuck to his to-do list. He lifted his head. Only after he had shaken his head thoroughly, the paper decided to let go. He turned around and saw an orange pegasus. Nah, still dreaming, he thought, she couldn't have passed the door. She was supposed to be at school, wasn't she?
"I was worried when nopony opened the door, so I searched for your mom. She gave me the house key and asked me to go in as quickly as possible, since Pinkie didn't want to let her go because she was showing her candy collection," Scootaloo rambled, "are you okay?"
Stride wiped his eyes. She was really here. How long had he been asleep?
"I'm fine. I fell asleep," Stride responded. He got up.
"Thanks for your concern. Shall we go downstairs then?"
"Sure."

They made their way down the stairs. Stride almost fell, but Scootaloo was quick enough to grab his tail. They finally reached the living room.
"Do you want something to drink?" Stride asked his friend.
"Water please."
Stride smiled. He trotted into the kitchen, his ankle was still in a cast, but he could walk on it now.
He came back with two glasses of water.
"Coming up," he said merrily as he slid them over the table.
Scootaloo caught her glass with a front hoof.
"So, how are things at school?" Stride asked. He sat down in the couch.
"Boring, like usual," his friend answered.
Scootaloo took a sip and put down her glass.
"Actually, there is some news. One of the main actors in the play is sick."
"Oh, is it cancelled?" Stride asked with a sad expression.
"No, we have a stand-in."
"Who is sick?"
"Rumble was going to play the role of Knight Noble. He got food poisoning."
"How?"
Scootaloo smiled.
"Sweetie Belle made cupcakes with Pinkie Pie to celebrate the last rehearsal. Rumble couldn't come, so she gave him some other cupcakes afterwards."

Stride frowned.
"Sweetie Belle poisoned him?"
"Not deadly. And not on purpose, I think. Anyhow, now Button Mash is taking the role of Knight Noble. I don't know how that'll play out, he hasn't attended a single rehearsal!"
Stride's ears flopped up.
"Button Mash? I know that guy! That's the gamer, right?"
"Yeah, you met him yesterday?"
"Yep. "
Scootaloo took another sip.
"So, how has your day been?"
"Mostly sleeping."
Storm walked in.
"Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Everything's fine, mom, I fell asleep."





Storm watched gladly as Scootaloo curled up in a ball again. Her silent snores clearly audible.
Stride had dozed off long before. Storm cleaned up their empty plates. It wasn't really good for them to sleep in the couch all the time, but these few evenings wouldn't hurt. She found it too cute to interfere anyway. She tilted her head as she saw the sleeping Scootaloo stretch out and reach in the air with her hooves. Then, the filly turned around and continued grasping in the air until she found Stride's non broken hind leg. She grabbed it as if it was a pillow. That was probably what Scootaloo thought too. Storm fetched a sheet and covered them. She didn't want them to get cold. 
Her son. Finally had friends. If only it had been sooner. If only Stride had more time. She started to feel dizzy. A painfull sting in her throat as she tried to suppress a cry. The pressure of the time taking its toll. Storm left the room after flicking the lights off again. She walked into the bathroom and sat down next to the bath tub. She grabbed some toilet paper to blow her nose. Her son was going to die. She knew it. It hadn't really hit her yet. Stride would be gone. He would never grow up. He would never get married, have a family of his own. She'd never have grandchildren. He'd maybe even never get a cutie mark. As she cried her lungs out, she could only hope nopony would notice. Her cheeks wet, her nose stuffy, she paced into the bedroom and dropped onto the bed, to descend into a deep sleep.





"I am bored!" lady Vanilla sighed, "everypony is out at war fighting, but father doesn't let me go with them."
Her grey unicorn maremaid helped her with her dress.
"It's for your own safety, my lady and you couldn't marry sir Noble if you get lost on the battlefield," she said.
Vanilla shook her head, "I don't want safety, I want glory."
"Oh, mademoiselle, you aren't thinking f disobeying your father, are you?"
"Of course not," the lady replied with glassy eyes.

That evening she sneaked out of the mansion. Her face hidden under a grey hood, one of the guards recognised their mistress. She chuckled as she passed the gates, only to be stopped by a stallion in iron armour.
"Where are you going, my lady?", the intimidating pony said.
"Off to war, I will not let you stop me!" Vanilla replied. She pushed the stallion aside, making him land on his buttocks as she ran past.
"Sweetie Belle, you aren't supposed to actually push me!" the knight yelled.
"Sorry!" Vanilla answered. The armoured stallion followed her. He was hot on her tail. She hopped over a branch and he tripped. Just when she thought she lost him, her leg got stuck in a pit.
"No, not now!" she screamed. The knight appeared behind her.
"I'll get you out if you promise me you won't run off," he said.
"I promise," the mare gave in disappointedly.
He pulled her out of the pit. He made a bow.
"Knight Noble, at your service, my lady."
A shocked expression painted her.
"You are sir Noble?"
"Well of course, lady Vanilla."
"Well, I don't want to marry you. I want to go out and fight. You get back there and tell my father I'm off."
"If you want to go out and fight, my lady, I would advice not taking the route through the Everfree forest. This place is way too dangerous, even for the most skilled combatants. It is impera... imperara...
impiraitif?"
"Imperative."
"It is imperative we leave this instant."
The two nodded at one another and left.





Knight Noble sat in his tent, inspecting the map of the area. Suddenly, a stunningly beautiful pegasus mare walked in. Of course, Knight Noble didn't notice her beauty, but Stride did. She was wearing combat gear. Her helmet coated in gold. It wasn't the gold though that caught Stride's attention. It was her firm, tough posture, like she could handle the world no matter what. It was the determinate look in her purple eyes, or were they lavender? When she took off her helmet, it revealed a purplish mane, pointing upward in a curl.
"We have a visitor, sir Noble," she said after a formal bow.
A fat unicorn. Bluish with an orange mane, walked in. He had two teeth sticking out of his mouth like bunnies have.
"Is it true you have sent my daughter into war?" the angry stallion exclaimed.
"I haven't sent her anywhere, my lord, it was all her choice."
"It was my choice, she's my daughter..."
"... and a grown mare. She has the right to choose or herself."
Knight Noble got up. If you want to talk to her, she is in the seventh regiment stationed near the Woodlands. But don't think you can convince her to come back. The orange battlemare tapped him on the shoulder.
"Yes, Captain Fireshield?" Knight Noble said.
"Actually, the seventh regiment was vanquished during a dragon attack. He only took four prisoners."
Lord dropped his chin.
"A dragon attack?"
Knight Noble frowned.
"Four prisoners? We must save them!"
"From the dragon?" the shocked father asked.
"Yes, from the dragon. Fireshield, gather the troops," Noble replied. He grabbed his sword with his mouth and stuck it in the air.
"For Equestria! For Vanilla!" he spoke, his mouth full.

When they spotted the dragon, the warriors hid behind a piece of debris. They found themselves in an old ruin. There was one tower still intact. Light inside. The prisoners were there for sure.
The group nodded at one another. Knight Noble grabbed his sword. He jumped out and charged the purple dragon with the green spikes.
"For Vanilla!" he screamed.
Behind the debris, Captain Fireshield ordered her warriors to raise their bows.
"Aim, hold, fire!" she yelled.
The brave warriors popped up and launched their arrows at their foe.
The dragon yawned as the arrows bounced off his scales.
Knight Noble thrusted his belly with his sword. Nothing happened. The dragon gave him an angry look. Fire spouted from his mouth. The green flame was just above Knight Noble.
"Aah! Nopony told me there'd be real fire in this!"
The dragon shook his head.
"I'll be careful, Button."
"Oh, okay."
Knight Noble continued bashing the creature with his weapon.
Captain Fireshield jumped on top of the debris.
"Knight Noble! His scales are to thick!" she shouted.
Knight Noble didn't stop attacking. He hadn't noticed Fireshield's shouts.
"How many hitpoints does he have?" he asked.
Fireshield facehoofed.
She jumped off of the debris.
"Stop forgetting your lines Button," she said as she flung an arrow at his helmet. It bounced off, but caught his attention.
She raised her sword, "we'll divert him so you can knock over those pillars."
She pointed at the unstable pillar wavering at the side of the tower. The other warriors jumped out of cover and repetitively fired arrows at the agitated monster. Knight Noble ran towards the pillar.
"For Vanilla!" he yelled. He bucked the pillar down, which landed on a particularly unhappy dragon's head. He fell and roared.
"No! I have been defeated!"

As Noble ran upstairs in the tower, the brave Captain of the third regiment inspected her troops.
Stride knew the things happening upstairs were more important to the story, but he was more interested in what Fireshield was doing. She walked back and forth between her troops, inspecting whether anypony got hurt. Her movements were elegant, but not over the top. It was natural elegance, not the kind of elegance consciously displayed. The way she gazed around her troops held both genuine concern and authoritative distance. Eventhough it was all acted, Stride felt like Scootaloo really was the mare displayed before him, only even more awesome.

Their attention was caught by a high pitched scream.
"What? Nopony told me there'd be kissing!" Knight Noble screamed.
"Then you should've come to the rehearsals, Button!" Fireshield yelled back.
In the top of the tower, Noble hesitantly came closer to lady Vanilla. The three other prisoners gazing expectantly. The crowd started cheering.
"Kiss, kiss, kiss!"
Vanilla blushed and drew circles on the floor.
The Knight gave her a kiss on the lips. Her eyes widened and her cheeks were now a flourishing red. The curtains closed.
Apple Bloom, who sat next to Stride, burst into laughter.
"Why are you laughing?" Stride asked curiously.
"The script said on the cheek," she sniggered as she wiped a tear from her eye.

Cheerilee walked up on stage.
"A great story, isn't it?" she smiled, "But don't forget about the actors!"
She pointed at the curtain.
"Dinky, as Vanilla's maid."
The grey unicorn popped up between the curtains. She walked out front and bowed.
"Snails and Feather Weight as the guards.
Snips as Vanilla's dad.
..." she cited the side roles, " and Scootaloo as Captain Fireshield!"
She turned back at the audience.
"Of course, we must also thank Spike the dragon!"
Spike walked out and waved at the audience.
"And not to forget, the two heroes of our story, an applause for Button Mash and Sweetie Belle!"
Button Mash' head showed in the gap between the curtains.
"I need some help here! Sweetie Belle fainted!"

"So, how was it?" Scootaloo asked. Button stood next to her, supporting the dreamy looking Sweetie Belle. She stared off into the distance.
"You were absolutastically amazing!" Stride replied.
"Yeah, it was great," Apple Bloom added, "Want to go celebrate at the clubhouse?"
"Sure!" they all answered, except for Sweetie, who was still staring off into nothingness. She looked overly happy, with the careless smile plastered on her muzzle.
Scootaloo turned around. They trotted in Sweet Apple Acres' direction. Stride slowed down a bit, walking a distance behind the group. He looked at Scootaloo. How glorious she was. He realised his heart was pounding at a rate beyond normal.
She turned around.
"You coming, Stride? Is your ankle okay?"
"Yeah, coming."

-Fall in love CHECK