//------------------------------// // Earth Cutie Mark Crusaders? // Story: ECMC: Sour Marshmallow // by ChewyCard //------------------------------// Day Two The next day... “Wakey Wakey, Sweetie Belle!” Alos hadn’t noticed, but her sister had stuffed her into the large cupboard of her room while she slept. She was probably trying to prevent their parents from finding out. For someone so ditzy, she certainly had her moments of cunning. Suddenly, Alos had a thought that sent a jolt of panic through her stomach. “Kate… do you know what happened to your brother? What do your parents think?” “Oh, that? That’s nothing. I told them he had been sent to jail for breaking into some old man’s house, and that he wasted his one phone call on a… erm, a special hotline.” She blushed. It spoke volumes about the relationship with his parents that not only did they not question this, but they had made no attempt to bail him out. 'Is this really the life I’m trying to return to? I think maybe staying as Sweetie Belle might be preferable…' “Anyway, Sweetie, can you teleport? I’ve never seen you leave, so you must use some kind of trick to do it.” Alos considered her response. She needed to take care not to ruin the delicate relationship Eris had spent God-knows-how-long forging with her--especially if she wanted to meet up with the other crusaders. “Well, we played so much yesterday that I got kinda tired and, well, passed out. I didn’t have the magic to teleport away like usual.” “Anyway, Sweetie, can you teleport? I’ve never seen you leave, so you must use some kind of trick to do it.” Alos considered her response. She needed to take care not to ruin the delicate relationship Eris had spent God-knows-how-long forging with her--especially if she wanted to meet up with the other crusaders. “Well, we played so much yesterday that I got kinda tired and, well, passed out. I didn’t have the magic to teleport away like usual.” “You can ACTUALLY teleport?” she said, eyes wide. "I was just kidding, since I knew you weren't like, ‘real’ before now.” Alos’ smile became strained. 'Darn it Eris, what DID you tell her about me?' “Hah, I was joking too! Most grown up unicorns can’t use that kind of spell, it’s way too advanced!” Alos grinned. “So, what’s for breakfast?” “Eggs and bacon!” Alos stared down at the miserable pile of glop on her plate. She felt bad enough about the eggs, but she couldn’t even bring herself to touch the bacon. It stank of that same dead meat smell that the tuna sandwich had, only saltier. “Sorry, Kate, I can’t eat meat, y’know, being a pony and all.” Kate however was staring out the window. She seemed concerned. “Hey Kate, what’s the matter? I can’t see whatever you’re looking at!” Kate wordlessly lifted Alos to the level of the window, and then he saw her. Eris was dancing in the corner of his eyes, looking pleased with herself. “Kate, I’m going out there. Please don’t follow me, it isn’t safe, not for you.” Just after leaving the house, Alos could have sworn she heard her sister call her by her real name, the name she had been called before she had become Sweetie Belle. But she had no time to consider this, not now. “Yes? What is it that you’re after now, Eris?” "Oh, I’m just happy; your sister made a very interesting wish last night." Little Eris said, a wicked grin lighting up her face. "And since I basically took over the magic of this world, I decided to grant it." "What wish?" Alos asked, curious and more than a little scared. "Oh, she just wished to become friends with talking ponies like you, no matter what." “...What? Sis, you have no idea what you could have just done… Eris, please, don’t corrupt her wish. She’s an innocent in all this, and she’s your friend. I can’t believe you’d be that heartless, even you must care a little about what happens to this world!” "Well, you probably think I’m just like Discord, right? WRONG! Girls do things differently than boys, and my youthful appearance is not a disguise, I’m actually several eons younger than the Discord you saw in the show." “Then tell me, Eris, what plans do you have for this world? It is almost completely without magic, as I’m sure you’ve seen by now. We do things with technology here. The sun and moon rise by themselves--in fact, that’s not even scientifically accurate! We orbit the sun, and the moon orbits us! I don’t understand why a so-called ‘creature of-'" Eris snapped her claws and Alos’ mouth shut tight. "Bla bla bla, boring!" "Look, I know a lot about Earth already, and what plans I have for it? Let's just say it involves you and the rest of the Earth Cutie Mark Crusaders. And your sister, which basically means that she gets to travel with you in your adventure." Alos was struggling with her mouth, which simply refused to open no matter what. Suddenly she felt the fear and sadness that a real filly would feel at that point, and her eyes started to tear up. Eris sighed in disgust and undid the spell with another snap of her claws. “Eris, please. The location of the other crusaders, you promised.” "Well, Scootaloo has a Facebook account,as for Applebloom... you’ll meet her later." Eris smiled at Alos. "I also took the liberty to make Scootaloo’s facebook the start page of your web browser. Just take some pics, update your own Facebook, and answer his post." Alos rushed to her computer. She saw that she had a new email from her chatroom “chum” Spikezeezy. As for typing, Unicorn magic and a pencil solved her lack of hands problem for using her keyboard, but it also made things a tad slower. It wasn’t as convenient as using her tongue, but less ridiculous, and far less nauseating! Dear Princess Failestia, Sup Horselover, while you were getting hot and bothered over pics of Celestia some weirdo posted some really well done scootaloo pics on his facebook. He’s become sort of underground famous overnight. You know, with you freaks. I only heard about it because one of my contacts is into this stuff unironically (Not like me, I’m 100% all natural ironic, baby.) Anyway, look up ‘Chewie’ if you want to see some pretty decent Scootaloo pictures. Maybe you guys can add them to your creepy shrine for an underage horse. Your faithful servant, Spikezeezy (PS Get a life) Alos didn’t need telling twice. He reached Chewie’s page and sent him a message. It’s happened to me too. Where are you? We should meet up. I’ll post videos if you don’t believe me.-- Alos88 "You should probably use your other name, Sweetie Belle." Eris said then snapped her claws and got Alos dressed with a cute pony dress. -Uh… hold on, I will be right back, I need to find out where I live exactly. Alright, I live at 2940 Richardson Avenue; it is a big, ugly gray house, you can’t miss it-- Chewy_Card Alos was conflicted. Should he be glad he was finally wearing clothes, or angry that Eris has dressed him in the most embarrassing dress imaginable? It was a frilly pink number, the sort of thing little girls would play with. He felt like he belonged to a dollhouse wedding set. 'I’d change, but I get the feeling Eris would get mad if I tried going against her wishes. Probably wiser to just grin and bear it.' “Kate, I’m going to need you to do me a favor, okay? You put me in a box and tell mum and dad--your mum and dad, I mean--that you’re going to a surprise birthday party for a friend. Then you take a bus to this address, with me in the parcel. Okay?” “Why can’t you just pretend to be a stuffed toy? It’d be easier than lugging you around in a box everywhere.” 'What can I say? My sister may be a little crazy, but when she’s smart she’s smart!' After what felt like an eternity the two reached the house of Chewie, or “Scootaloo” as she had come to be called. Apparently her family had taken to her quite well, surprisingly. Alos knocked on the door, grateful that there were still some things his hooves could do as well as his hands. A friendly looking woman greeted him. “Ohhhhh, more little ponies! Scootaloo said she was expecting a friend, come in!" Scootaloo looked over the arm of the couch and stared at Sweetie Belle with big eyes, sparkling with happiness, “Sweetie Belle! Boy, am I glad to see you!” She leapt off of the couch and stood in front of Sweetie. “Have you seen Apple Bloom?” she asked as she looked around Sweetie to see if the third member of their group tagged along with her. “No, I’m afraid not. By the way, have you run into a trickster named Eris? I think she’s responsible for our current predicament, and she told me a bunch of things, like how we won’t meet Applebloom for a while yet.” “Oh,” Scootaloo said in a saddened tone, but quickly grew confused. “Who? I have not met this “Eris” before. Who is she and how ‘much’ does she know?” “Well you aren’t gonna believe this, but she’s an alternate-universe Discord who came to our earth to cause… well, chaos. She said something about getting the three of us to work together to go on an epic quest or something.” “What kind of quest? I bet it will be awesome!” Scootaloo’s wings began to flutter with excitement, suddenly, “Maybe we will get our cutie marks in adventuring!” Suddenly Alos became frustrated. “Our cutie marks? Have you forgotten that we aren’t the real Cutie Mark Crusaders? We’re not little fillies, we’re grown men, and we have to change back before we all start thinking like that!” “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, I just can’t help myself. I keep getting this weird feeling that we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders; I am just so confused!” Scootaloo sat down and put her head in her hooves. Alos sighed. This had been happening to him as well; memories that weren't his, feelings that a grown man wouldn’t feel (at least not as strongly), he had even referred to himself as Sweetie Belle in his head on a few occasions! But even so, he knew he had to resist. Though it was getting harder and harder to resist the call of the cutie mark… “So anyway, how have things been for you, Scootaloo? Oh, I’m sorry, do you prefer to be called Chewie?” “It’s fine, you can call me Scootaloo, and things have been… umm… great?” "Hahaha, looks like somepony likes being a Dodo way too much!" said a voice that Bittersweet found familiar. Then Eris appeared with a puff of smoke "So Scootaloo, do you enjoy being momma's little girl?" “Leave her alone you big bully!” Alos said angrily “You’ve done nothing but--” With a snap of her claws Eris silenced Alos again. “Quiet you, and don’t think I’ll undo it early if you start crying like last time, I’m here to speak to her.” “What do you want?” Scootaloo said confrontationally. “And I am not being ‘Momma’s little girl.’ She is just having way too much fun with having a little pony run around her house.” "Oh really? Then why you keep that ribbon on your neck?" Eris teased and came close to the pegasus, then started to rub her right ear. "You are such a cute little filly, maybe you should take ballet classes after all…" Scootaloo retreated and blushed with embarrassment, “I don’t like the ribbon being on me, I just don’t know how to take it off.” She tugged at the big bow with her teeth. “And there is ‘no way’ I am going to take ballet classes, ballet is so uncool and boring, not to mention girly. Rainbow Dash would laugh at me if she saw me wearing a small, pink, frilly tutu.” Little Eris snapped her claws and made Scootaloo wear the small, pink, frilly tutu she dreaded so much. "Dance my puppet, dance!" Scootaloo found herself dancing ballet against her will, what the hay? “Let me go, you monster! I need to get out of this thing before anypony sees me!” Did she really just say 'anypony’? She is further gone than she realized. Starlight entered the room and saw Scootaloo dancing in a cute little tutu, she couldn’t help but get a camera and take pictures, “Scootaloo, you are just so adorable in that outfit, maybe I should reconsider and enroll you for ballet lessons.” “Noooooooo! My life is ruined!” At that point Alos had had enough. Whilst the others were talking she had carefully snuck around the side, and suddenly charged headfirst at Eris. Smirking, she easily avoided the attack, and then casually flung her opponent at the wall with her telekinesis. “Sweetie Belle!!” Applebloom cried. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine in a few hours. I can’t promise the same if she ever tries that again, though.” Eris said with a sick grin. “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting that. Not that she’d have done much damage anyway, but I thought she’d be smarter than to actually charge a creature with the power to manipulate reality, especially when she still can’t speak. Hmm, maybe I should leave her like that for awhile? It might teach her to be less reckless in the future. As for you--” Eris said, turning. “I trust you’ll be a good little filly and not try anything like that. I was being gentle, though the headache she’ll have when she wakes up might make her think otherwise.” Little Eris then looked at Kate. "Sorry you had to see this. But don't worry, soon you will have another little pony to be friends with." After saying those words, Little Eris poofed away. Scootaloo stopped dancing but was still in the tutu, “Can somepony please get this off of me?” Kate looked on with a mixture of confusion and horror. She rushed to Alos’ side. “Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle?...Alos?” Alos slowly opened her eyes. She was bleeding slightly from her forehead, a sight that was far more unnerving given her current appearance. “Kate… you called me Alos… you knew?” Kate managed a weak laugh as she sobbed. “Of course I knew, silly! As if I couldn’t tell you were my brother, even looking like this I knew who you were right away!” Kate turned to Scootaloo, who was still struggling with removing the tutu. “Quickly, get him some cold towels and ice!” She started for the kitchen, but tripped over the tutu that still clung stubbornly to her lower right hoof. “I’m okay,” she said as she got back up and bolted into the kitchen. Alos smiled. “Kate… thanks for being my sister. I know I’ve treated you so poorly in the past, but I’m grateful for everything you’ve done. I just hope I can change back soon so I can be your big brother again.” “Even if you don’t, you’re still the best brother I could ask for.” Kate said, hugging him. Then she grinned, "But I gotta say, you are a better sister than brother. In fact, I prefer you like this." Alos knew the sweet moment they had was gone, sometimes Kate acted like a sweet kind sister, but most of the time… she was just too honest. And Kate was right. Alos was better with her sister as Sweetie Belle than she had ever been as a guy. Would she be happier if I stayed like this? Would my parents? It’s not like I’ve lived a good life up to this point, if anything I was terrible, a terrible brother and a terrible son. What should I do, stay like this for them, or change back for my own sake? Scootaloo returned with damp towels in her mouth, “Sorry it took so long, I didn’t know how to use the faucets with hooves, Star helped me though.” “...Star? Who is that?” Alos asked. “Star is my… er… my mother,” She struggled to get it out of her, “She made an OC that she named ‘Starlight,’ and she insists on me calling her that.” “Wait, if she’s here, how come I haven’t seen her?” Alos asked, concerned. “She was just in the kitchen with a camera, flashing pictures while I was dancing against my will.” She said, grumbling. “She won’t leave me alone for even a minute ever since I became Scootaloo. Speaking of, where is my scooter?” Scootaloo began to look around the living room, trying to find her precious scooter. Oh, of course! That overly friendly mother of hers must be Starlight! Alos didn’t have much energy but tried to speak as clearly as possible. “Scootaloo, for the last time, you aren’t actually Scootaloo! We’ve got to give you a different name so we don’t get confused in the future. Maybe ScootaChew?” As if to mock the new name, a box of cereal appeared out of thin air and felt over Chewy head. It had the image of a chicken and said "Scootachew, the best chew for your chicken!" “Real funny, Eris.” Alos muttered sarcastically. “Hey ScootaChew, you mind if I sleep here tonight? It’s getting kinda late and I’m sure your mom doesn’t mind, she seems to like having ponies around.” “I don’t mind if you sleep over, Sweetie Belle, and you have no idea about how much Starlight is loving this… trust me.” The girls stayed up late, laughing and talking about everything that had happened to them so far, and when they were finally too tired to continue Alos was grateful she wasn’t alone anymore. “G’night, Scoots,” Alos yawned. “Goodnight Sweetie Belle,” Scoots said as she laid on one of the couch’s cushions and quickly fell asleep. Day Three The next day Alos awoke to the sound of breakfast being cooked downstairs. Pancakes had always been her favorite breakfast, and to her pony nose the scent was pure heaven. If she had wings like ScootaChew she would have floated down the stairs like a cartoon character towards that wonderful smell. “Hey there Sweetie, Scootaloo is still sleeping. Are you planning on sticking around?” “Please, Mrs. Starlight, call me BitterSweet.” “BitterSweet? That’s not a very cute name at all! No dear, I’m sorry but you’re Sweetie Belle to me, now and forever.” Alos sighed. This was getting him now, and he needed a plan of action. “Sweetie, do you need new glasses? There’s a big crack in those, I don’t think it’s safe to wear them anymore.” Alos hadn’t noticed up to this point, but in the scuffle with Eris he can damaged the right lens of his glasses. Starlight was right, these weren’t safe to wear anymore. “Mrs. Starlight, I hate to be a bother but could you maybe take me to get these fixed? I don’t think they’ll let me on the bus and I can’t afford a cab.” At that suggestion, Starlight’s eyes lit up. She had clearly been waiting for this moment, a chance to have a shopping day with her very own little pony! “Of course dear, in fact let’s make a day of it! A shame Scootaloo is asleep, but she probably wouldn’t want to go anyway.” Alos scribbled a hastily drawn note on the refrigerator and left with Starlight. It became clear quite quickly that fixing her glasses was the last thing ScootaChew’s mom cared about. They stopped off at a the hair salon first, where Starlight insisted Alos get a haircut. She chose a mercifully dignified style considering the temptation to make her even more cute must have been overwhelming. “Strange, I thought I’d get a weird stare from the hairdresser at least.” “Nobody goes to Benni’s for a haircut, sweetheart. In this economy he’d probably shave a sheep’s butt if he was getting paid for it!” Starlight laughed. After that, Starlight ran into an old friend. She looked fascinated at the little filly in front of her. “Oh hello, darling, so good to see you, Marcy! And who is this adorable little creature you’ve got with you?” Alos smiled. Time for a little mischief. “Sweetie Belle!” she said proudly. Starlight’s friend suddenly turned pale and pulled a elaborate fainting act. Seconds later she was back on her feet. “It can TALK?” Starlight was wearing a strained grin and laughing uncomfortably. “Well yes, this is Sweetie Belle, a friend of my daughters.” “Pleased to meet you, ma'am!” Alos said, extending a hoof. The following conversation was almost entirely a one-sided string of questions; where she came from, what she ate, how old she was, why could she talk, and so on. By the end Alos was feeling exhausted. Starlight picked up on this and intervened. “Well Michelle, it’s been a pleasure but we’ve really got to run, be sure to say hi to David and the dogs for me!” Starlight left the woman standing there. It was clear she still had plenty of questions left to ask. “Don’t look back, Sweetie, and move a little faster. If you had been a talking Chihuahua I think that madwoman might actually have talked you to death!” Starlight whispered. "Now… Oh look at that!" Starlight pointed to a clothes store that said 'Clothes for cute ponies' this sure had to be Eris work! "I think I could get you a cute dress, it won't be as nice as the sort that your sister Rarity makes, but… they have 30 percent off today for ponies wearing glasses, aren't you a lucky filly?" Despite this clearly being something Eris had set up, Alos decided to make the best of the situation. Even if Starlight bought her something girly, at least she was being kind to her, and wearing anything was generally better than wearing nothing at all. “Wow Starlight, you’d buy me a dress? You’re the best!” Starlight smiled. She wished Scootaloo was this happy to be bought things. Clothes stores had always been huge to Alos, but now she was a little filly it seemed to stretch on forever. There were clothes of all shapes and sizes in the store, and Sweetie Belle suddenly felt very self conscious. A snooty looking man in a fancy suit took one look at Alos and turned his nose up in disgust and shock. “Mam, this is a professional establishment, we do NOT allow animals in here, especially not livestock, now take your horse and leave at once.” Eris must have put up that sign without the store owners realizing, Alos thought. All of a sudden the smile on Starlight’s face became a look of fury more dark and terrible than anything little Eris could manage. “How DARE you? You call this sweet, innocent creature livestock? She’s a thinking, feeling thing, and look how sad you’ve made her!” At this moment Alos tried her best to pull the saddest face imaginable. It was probably a little too effective, as the man changed tact immediately. “W-well, I’m terribly sorry mam, but rules are rules--” “I demand to see the manager!” After a extremely embarrassing half hour the scene was over. The store manager had apologized profusely and had given them a dress free of charge. Starlight turned to Sweetie Belle. “Oh my dear, don’t let them get to you. You’re not livestock any more than I am, you’re a lovely little filly and I won’t let anyone else say anything different.” Maybe going out with her wasn’t such a good idea, Alos thought. She thought that she would be the one causing a scene, not Starlight! Still, it was very strange, why they had made such a big deal if they had pony clothes that only fit her or one of the other CMC anyway? Eris had a weird sense of humour. "That was fun!" Little Eris said as the world froze and turned grayscale again, save for Sweetie Belle. "I was gonna change everyone in that store into ponies, but seeing Starlight here chewing them up was better! So, do you like your free dress?" Little Eris said and looked at BitterSweet all over “It’s actually kinda nice, it’s casual and not too cute.” Alos said. “So wait, you can turn humans into ponies? Can you turn ponies into humans then?” "What part of me being a female Discord you didn't understand? Or maybe you forgot it was me who changed you into a pony in the first place?" Little Eris snapped her claws, changing Starlight into a white unicorn, then snapped her claws and changed her back to a human. "I could change every human of the world into a pony, but that would be boring and stupid. The massive chaos caused by that event would cost millions of lives. Besides is way more funny to have three little fillies is a world made for humans than just, how your bronies call it, ponify the world?" “Wait, Eris, sorry for asking but… how do you know that that much chaos could destroy the world? I mean it’s not like you--” The look on Eris’ face said everything she needed to know. “Oh my gosh, Eris I am so sorry.” Eris ignored the question, quickly changing the subject. "No wonder you have so much trouble to write anypony in character, have you ever seen a disaster movie? What would be humanity reaction at suddenly finding themselves changed into a completely different species? Think about it." Alos thought hard about the question. She had never considered it until now. “Well, I guess it would be a lot like what happened when I first changed. I trashed my room, well… I tried to. Except they would be fully grown ponies, and capable of causing actual damage, and there would be billions of them… it would be the Ponocalypse!” Eris facepalmed. “Heh heh, sorry, I couldn’t help myself” Alos grinned sheepishly. "Well, yes that's what would probably happen. Anyway… MUSIC!" Little Eris snapped her claws, the world returned to normal and Sweetie Belle found herself singing. All I need is a palace by the sea, and a place we can dream, You’re so gentle and so kind, that I really wouldn’t mind Being wherever you want to be! Give my heart and head some space, name a time and a place, And I’ll meet you there and then! We can dance there by the moon And I hope I see you soon So our song can begin again! Alos put his hooves over her mouth. That singing wasn’t voluntary, in fact she didn’t even remember the lyrics after saying them! Starlight applauded her, "That was wonderful dear!" Little Eris was now nowhere to be seen. 'Darn it Eris, don’t make me sing in public! Even if my new voice isn’t bad at it…' A note seemed to fall out of the sky. Alos read it. (Bored. I’ll leave you two to have fun, maybe I’ll go bother Applebloom… I hope you enjoyed today, because tomorrow our training begins!) “Our ‘training’? That can’t be good…” Alos sighed. As the two walked Alos’ stomach rumbled. He blushed, forgetting that he hadn’t eaten much at breakfast. “Awwww, somepony’s little tummy is hungry!”Starlight laughed. Alos wasn’t sure what her new body could and couldn’t eat, so he drank an apple and wheatgrass smoothie. He imagined it would have tasted awful to his old self, but the flavors sparked and flashed on his new palette, and he greedily slurped down the drink in seconds. 'Wheatgrass smoothy? In the real world? It must be Eris again. Well, maybe she should be grateful Eris was giving her pony stuff, right?' “Oh my, somepony was a hungry little filly! Would you like a second smoothy?” “Yes please!” By the end of the meal Alos’ stomach was complaining for entirely different reasons. 'Urgh, why did I eat three of them? Even Starlight thought I was being greedy.' “Careful, Sweetie, we’ll have to start calling you “My Little Piggy” at this rate!” Starlight laughed. Bittersweet had to stop herself about singing an invented song called 'My Little Piggy,' since when she had so much inspiration? Meanwhile, with Chewy… also know as Scootachew… Scootaloo was exhausted. When she finally awoke it was four in the afternoon, not that she could tell. She walked to the fridge and groaned. Eris had filled it with the same "ScootaChew" brand cereal from before. “Hilarious.” She muttered, about to chuck it in the trash, when she suddenly noticed the writing on the back; ScootaChew is the tastiest, most nutritional cereal around! It’s the perfect start to your day, and is the number one breakfast of growing ponies everywh--DON’T YOU DARE CHUCK IT IN THE TRASH I MANIFESTED A WHOLE CEREAL OUT OF NOTHING AND YOU ARE GOING TO AT LEAST TRY IT! “...Wow. Okay, Eris, I guess I’ll do that much. If it’s full of broken glass or something though I’m gonna kick your ass.” The first mouthful was like eating deep fried rainbows, and the second was like a party in her mouth. This stuff was chaos, and chaos was delicious! ...And then the third bite tasted like earwax. Chaos was delicious only when it felt like it, apparently. Well, she at least tried it. What's next? Ah, right, that weird girl Kate, was around, maybe she should try to do some small talk? "Uh, hi?" Scootaloo looked at the eleven year old girl, the girl looked back. "What does it feels like?" Kate asked. "To be a pony, is it still you on inside, or Scootaloo is taking over?" Scootachew had to think hard about this. What was it like being a pony? “Well, the four legs thing is weird at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly. And having a muzzle is weird too, ‘cause it kinda obscures your vision for a little while, but you get over it quickly. Your taste buds change too, I can’t stand eating meat anymore, and what else… oh yeah, you can smell and hear things way better this way. Plus, if you’re lucky like me you get wings, but mine can’t do much on their own currently. I wish I had my scooter… do you have a scooter I could borrow?” "Sorry, no scooter. Maybe Eris will give you one later. She told me that you and the other CMC need to save the world from some great evil. It's weird, ya know, I've talked to imaginary creatures for years, like, I keep imagining a lot of things, and then it turns out… one of them was real. Last right I had a dream where I played chess with Eris in my mind. I know she used to pretend to be Sweetie Belle, and now my brother is a pony and my sister. It makes me feel… like I fit more? Because the world is going insane?" Kate looked at Scootaloo and then hugged her. "Can I brush your mane and tail?" “Okay, but only if you’re gentle, okay? I tried it before and maybe it was the comb I was using but it really hurt.” Kate was very, very careful with her brushing, and after a few minutes Scootachew relaxed. “So anyway, did I ever tell you about the time Rainbow and I raced around the whole of Ponyville? I was using my scooter, but Rainbow Dash was winning. She was always just a little ahead of me, and kept yelling words of encouragement. I knew she could go a lot faster. but she always let me think I could catch up if I tried just a little harder…” Scootachew’s expression became sad. “It wasn’t easy growing up an only child. If it wasn’t for Rainbow Dash I don’t know what I’d do. I really, really miss her…” Scootaloo began to cry. “I only get to see her in dreams now…” Kate hugged and petted the filly. "Eris told me something… she told me you guys only become as much like the CMC as you were comfortable with. Was your human life so bad you desperately wanted to be somepony else?" “Well, it’s weird but my human memories are like an old home movie now, they’re all fuzzy and I can’t remember half of it. I don’t think it’s gone, but I remember that it wasn’t very nice. I think I’ve just buried it under all this new stuff. I gotta be honest, I think I like Scootaloo’s memories a lot more. Is it wrong to wish you were somepony else sometimes? I mean, isn’t it important to be who you are, no matter how ugly the truth is?” "Well, the thing is, people and ponies can change. But… you should not forget who you really are. You should try to take the best of both human and pony, to make a new better you. For example, Scootaloo is a very impulsive pony, do you really want to jump into things without thinking? I get that your life as a human sucked, and that your mother likes you better as a pony but… this is Earth, not Equestria. If you completely repress your human memories, you will be lost. Balance is needed to keep the universe in order." Kate then ticked the pony's belly. "Now Smile, Smile!" “Heheheheheh! Why is everyone always ticklin’ me? I’m not that ticklish hehehehehehe!” Scootachew decided it was time for her to ask the questions. She knew very little about Bittersweet aside from her name, and what she remembered about her from her Equestria memories. “So Kate, what is your brother--er, I mean sister--like?” "When she was a human, she was kind of a jerk honesty. As a pony… she is a great sister. I like her much better this way." “Heh, well he said you were a little too honest for your own good, but he really likes you. I get the feeling you weren’t very close until this happened, huh? At least something good came out of all this.” "True, so, wanna tell me why did your human life suck so much?" “Well, to be honest that’s a long story, and like I said I’ve buried most of it, but I guess I never really got along with people. If it weren’t for the show I don’t think I’d have been very happy.” Scootaloo thought for a second. She seemed to be thinking of a rather difficult question. “Hey Kate, if you could become a pony like your sister, would you do it?” "No, I like being human, thank you. Besides I am traveling with you guys anyway. And I am just a side-kick, if I became a pony Eris would probably make me into Woona or something, and it would steal the spotlight of you guys." Scootaloo briefly imagined herself having moon adventures with Princess Woona, a grayscale and cute filly version of Princess Luna. She was more surprised at Kate’s indifference to being a pony than anything. She had seemed so fond of them, but then again Kate was probably right. Having hands made being human worthwhile all on it’s own, after all. “So what did Eris tell you? That you were going to save the world with us? I don’t think your brother would be very happy with the idea of you going on some journey, not if it was going to be dangerous. I mean, you’re no Daring Do, no offense.” "I could be if I wanted, but as I said, you are the heroes of this story. And it was my wish to be friends with talking cartoon horses anyway." Kate stared at Scootaloo. "Besides, you will need adult supervision. Plus, unlike somepony here, my ID and legal documents are still valid." Kate then stared Scootaloo down, as if daring the little pony to contradict her. “Wait a second, you’re like ten and you have an ID? How on earth did you get it?” Scootaloo was astonished, but decided to not push her luck after noticing Kate’s sudden intense stare. “I’m sorry Kate, I shouldn’t have asked…” Scootaloo put on her cutesy sad face, the one she had been practicing. "Eris got me all the legal documents, basically, if anypony asks, I am an emancipated child, legally considered an adult. Now missus, I will give you a bath!" Kate picked up Scootaloo and took her to the bathroom, she took out the pony’s bow then turned the shower on, once she made the water was warm, yet not scalding hot, she put the little pegasus under it. “Hey, I didn’t--” Scootaloo’s protest went unheard as she was dumped into the bathtub. She decided not to complain, as she had wanted a bath for awhile now and had been completely unable to reach the tub herself. She must be stronger than she looks to lift a whole pony like that, she thought. “Hey Kate, this water’s barely lukewarm, turn it up a little will ya? OUCH, not that hot!” Kate laughed. First she got to brush her mane, and now she was giving her a bath. This was better than playing with her toys could ever be. Grabbing a bottle of soap, she casually tossed the entire contents into the water. “No, Kate, there’s too many bubbles, what if it gets in my eyes?” “Oh stop struggling, I didn't even use the shampoo yet!” “Wait, is that stuff safe for ponies?” This went on for several minutes, and afterwards Scootaloo was more than a little annoyed. “I don’t know if that’s how you think you bathe a horse, but you were way too rough!” “So I was… roughhorsing?” They both laughed at that one, the mood lightening up somewhat. "Anyway… you are so cute I would ask you to sleep with me, but it would sound weird. And you are real, not a plushie." Kate then started to dry Scootaloo. "So… let's be honest, you where a guy before, how are you dealing with that?" Scootaloo blushed all of a sudden. She hadn’t really thought about the fact that she had switched genders very much until now. “W-well, I try not to worry too much about that. It’s weird enough changing species, y’know? But, you’re right, I’d feel weird sleeping in the same bed as you like a plush toy. I mean, do I really look like one of your pony plushies?” Kate went to fetch one, and came back with a large Rainbow Dash doll. It was huge, almost the same size as Scootaloo, and it had a proud soft mane which actually managed to impress the little filly. “Wow! She looks just like her! Well, as close as a plushy could get. Hey Kate, I need to ask you a favor; could I sleep with this plushie tonight? I’ve been kinda wishing I could talk to Dash again, and if I can’t do that then I want to at least pretend she’s still here with me.” "Sure, but if you damage it, I am putting a dog collar on you." Kate then tied the bow back in Scootaloo neck. "You look cute with the bow, is like saying 'hey world, I am cute, yet tomboyish', plus it makes you slightly different to the real Scootaloo." “Not the bow again! I don’t care how cute it makes me, I can’t stand it!” ScootaChew stormed off to her room. It was still a mess from last night, but it hardly mattered. She wondered where on earth her mother and Bittersweet were, and decided to give them a call, but gave up after she realized she couldn’t dial the phone with her teeth. She was far too tired to go on, and so she decided to get an early night. She had a bad feeling that Eris was going to make things even harder for her tomorrow, so she might as well conserve her strength. “It’s been a long day, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo said, nestling snuggly next to the plush toy.