“Hey girls, I’ve been thinking…” Applebloom began.
“I thought I smelled smoke.” Replied Scootaloo.
“Zing!” Giggled Sweetie Belle.
“No really, I think we should do something nice for Sandow.” Applebloom said. “He’s had a rough go at things.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo waited, attentive, Scootaloo’s wings buzzing slightly.
“Have you noticed how Flickershine looks at Sandow? I think she kinda likes him. We should try and bring them together.” Applebloom said, looking thoughtful.
“Because that worked out so well the last time.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Well, now we know what not to do.” Applebloom said.
Silence fell upon the treehouse.
“It could get us some free dance lessons.” Applebloom said after a few moments.
“I’m listening.” Sweetie Belle said, suddenly gaining interest.
“Sandow is a bit shy. We need to bring those two together somehow so they can talk. So Flickershine can see how sweet Sandow is.” Applebloom said. “Sandow has lost everything. We need to give him something back.”
“He has us.” Sweetie Belle said, feeling a sudden streak of maturity. “But a few more dance lessons might be nice.” The streak of maturity vanished without a trace, never to be seen again for a very long time.
“I dunno, I kinda wanna see him pick a fight again.” Scootaloo said, rubbing her hooves together.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom practiced their synchronised eye rolling, something they were becoming quite good at, having spent so much time with Scootaloo.
“You know, the last time didn’t turn out so bad. Cheerilee and Big Mac spend a lot of time together.” Applebloom said. “We just need to leave the love poison out this time.”
Sweetie Belle nodded.
“We should get a cutie mark for learning from our past mistakes.” Scootaloo said, suddenly feeling very wise. “Which reminds me, this meeting was called together today to discuss what to do next for cutie mark crusading. I think we should try dragon egg sitting.”
The wisdom almost made an audible sound as it fled out the window of the treehouse, never to return, dragging good sense along with it, eloping to Las Pegasus.
“That’s a good idea Scootaloo.” Applebloom agreed.
“So where do we find a dragon with eggs we can egg sit?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo shrugged.
“Maybe we can check the Everfree?” Applebloom said excitedly.
Scootaloo clapped her hooves excitedly. “If we do that and we’re lucky, we can watch Sandow pick a fight again. And maybe Rainbow Dash will get involved. And there’ll be a big fight and lots of punching and kicking…”
“Shush Scoots.” Applebloom said, cutting Scootaloo off. “I don’t want Sandow getting hurt again. Or Rainbow Dash.”
Scootaloo fell silent, looking dejected.
“You know girls,” Sweetie Belle said, trying to cheer up Scootaloo, “one day soon we really should try base jumping from Canterhorn Peak.”
Scootaloo nodded enthusiastically as Applebloom nodded, grinning with excitement.
Elsewhere, in the Apple family farmhouse, Sandow sat at the kitchen table with Cheerilee and Applejack, struggling to learn how to read and write. He sat, scowling, rubbing his head with his hoof. Cheerilee gently pushed a paper in front of him, and then pointed to a group of objects.
“I want you to write down what these objects are.” Cheerilee said, smiling.
“I know what the objects are, I can tell you what the objects are, why should I write it down?” Sandow asked.
“What if I wasn’t here and I needed a list from you? You’d have to mail me a letter.” Cheerilee said.
“Or just fly to wherever you went off to and tell you my self.” Sandow said, causing Cheerilee to snort in mild frustration.
“Sandow.” Applejack said, her voice firm. “You are goin' to learn how to read or write, or I am goin' to drag you outside and thump the fire outta you, and afterwards, I’ll leave you tied up and hangin' from a tree for a few hours so you can have yerself a good think about bein' an example for Applebloom.”
Sandow cringed and Cheerilee’s mouth fell open in shock.
“You wouldn’t.” Cheerilee said.
“Oh, I would. Honest.” Applejack said.
Sandow picked up a pencil in his lips and scribbled something on a sheet of paper. Cheerilee watched his efforts curiously, her brow furrowing, her ears perked forward.
After a long time of scratching, Sandow sat up straight and dropped the pencil.
Cheerilee looked at the paper. She saw a lot of scratched out false starts, a few scribbles, and, near the middle, some words.
“Tings I doo fur famly.”
Cheerilee nodded, seeing progress, smiling. “Very good. I am impressed.”
“Hah!” Sandow said, causing Cheerilee to look at his curiously. “I intentionally spelled ‘do’ wrong just to see how you’d respond. I suspect I’m being led on.”
Cheerilee tittered and Applejack chuckled.
“So you do know how to spell.” Cheerilee said. “I’ll keep that in mind. No more going easy on you.”
Sandow frowned. “That didn’t work out as planned.”
Cheerilee smiled and nodded. “I’ve been teaching for a long time. I’ve had students of every stripe.”
Sandow picked up his pencil and began to scribble again, a look of intense concentration upon his face. He sat there for several minutes, scratching away, his ears wiggling from focus, his eyes crossing several times as he struggled to see what he was doing. After a good while of effort, he set his pencil down. He shoved the paper back towards Cheerilee. “I went with things I know, like you told me.” He said, smiling faintly.
Cheerilee and Applejack looked at the paper.
“Bluebel” was scrawled carefully, followed by “Azala.” There were a few rough scratches where mistakes were made, and then the word “Hawly” was carefully written out in loopy script. Beneath those were two more words. “Thud” and “Baaly Swete.”
“Did I make any mistakes?” Sandow asked, looking concerned.
“Only a few.” Cheerilee said. “But I don’t care about those right now. I’m proud of you. You’ve been paying attention.”
“I’ll be durned.” Applejack said, looking at the paper. “I don’t remember you learning these words.
“I figured them out on my own.” Sandow said, looking sheepish. “I sat up the other night, in my room, almost till dawn trying to figure out how to spell them. I tried to spell Applebloom’s name, but it was too long and complicated. I’ve been trying to write down the things most important to me.”
“I ain’t on that list Sandow?” Applejack said in a clipped tone.
Sandow cringed.
“Aw nuts, I was having a go at ya.” Applejack said. “And it is almost time for you to take Applebloom and her friends to their dance lesson.”
“You’re getting better Sandow.” Cheerilee said with encouragement. “Tomorrow we will sit down and I will show you how to spell all of those names properly. And then I am going to quiz you on them. With and without paper. All of the Apple family names. Then and now.”
Sandow groaned.