//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Why Should We Be Friends? // Story: The Sky Is Big Enough For Both of Us // by Seether00 //------------------------------// The dreaded stings-like-heck hydrogen peroxide bottle cleared the opening of Rainbow’s flight bag, and Scootaloo was off like a shot. “Scoots, get back here! You know you can’t outrun me!” True, but Scootaloo sprinted for her scooter and freedom anyways. She was gonna make Rainbow work for it. A spirited attempt, but she only made it halfway down the slope before being scooped up and flown back to the top of the grass-covered hill. “Nooo! Let go!” An antiseptic soaked cloth came down. “Ack! That stings so bad!” Scootaloo wriggled against Rainbow’s hold. “It’s gonna smart more if you don’t quit fidgeting!” It was a chore holding her down, but Rainbow Dash kept at it. Usually, she’d have flown Scootaloo straight to her home and let the kid’s parents deal with this. But, nope. Like any good ‘Big Sis in training,’ Rainbow Dash had agreed to let Scootaloo crash (figuratively) at her place while her parents went off on their second honeymoon. Sure, it was fun at first: playing games, eating pizza, watching movies. Real sister bonding time. And, like a sponge on an ego trip, Dash sopped up her little protegée’s endless stream of praise. Dash muttered under her breath. Now, she was getting a taste of what her own mother must have put up with, and it tasted rotten. Whatever craziness the squirt got into, now Dash had to be the one responsible for taking care of her. Next Mothers’ Day, her mom was getting an apology letter. And flowers. Lots of flowers. The squirming filly was a disheveled mess, like a ripped tapestry, crisscrossed with scratches weaving the story of an epic fight. One she’d obviously lost. Thankfully, none of the cuts were too deep. Scootaloo hissed through clenched teeth each time the damp cloth made contact with a bright red laceration.         Rainbow Dash grabbed her firmly around the barrel and flipped Scootaloo onto her back before starting to dab the cuts on her undercarriage. “I said, hold still, Scoots.” Another dab, another cut treated, and an orange hoof to the face for her trouble. “Someone wanna tell me why Scoots looks like she went five rounds with a lawnmower and lost?” Sweetie Belle looked up from the box of adhesive bandages, levitating a hoofful. She'd tried manipulating them manually, but they were so sticky they seemed to guarantee taking at least a square inch of hair along with them when they were removed. “Scootaloo got in a fight with the new kid.” “It’s not my fault,” Scootaloo grunted. “He started it!” “That ain’t true, and you know it,” Apple Bloom rebuked her with a shake of her head. “Sven didn’t do nothing.” “Wait, wait. What new kid—ow! Scoot, if you slug me one more time, you can kiss the sleepover goodbye.” Scootaloo stopped her flailing, grumbled under her breath and settled for squirming instead. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and went back to work. “Okay, you two. Start from the beginning.” Apple Bloom started to explain. “So, it’s like this: we got a new kid in class today, Sven.” “Sven’s a griffon!” Sweetie Belle chirped. “Right, what she said. A griffon. Anyway, Miss Cheerilee has Sven say the usual introductory stuff you’d expect. Bit of an accent. His folks moved here from the Griffon Kingdom cuz his dad’s working with Diamond Tiara’s dad on some business. Kid sits down and is real quiet for the rest of class. I figured he was shy. Didn’t say or do nothing. Then, at lunch Scootaloo tells us she doesn’t like him. She didn’t even give a reason.” “I’m telling you guys. He’s a weirdo!” Apple Bloom threw up her hooves. “What exactly did he do that was weird?” “He kept looking at me.” Scootaloo’s answer got a tepid eyebrow raise from Apple Bloom. “I’m telling you! It was strange, okay?” “That’s it? He was just looking at you funny?” Sweetie Belle took a break from helping Rainbow wrap bandages and suggested, “Maybe he was just lonely and wanted to make friends. It must be really hard leaving all your friends behind to move all the way across the ocean to a place you don’t know anypony, and then to have your new classmates call you weird.” Apple Bloom continued, “Anyways, the three of us agreed to meet here at the park after school. Me and Sweetie were a little slow packing our stuff and Scootaloo said she would go on ahead. So we showed up just in time to watch Scootaloo attack Sven.” “She punched him right in the beak!” said Sweetie Belle. “Looked like it hurt. By the time we got to them, the fight was over and Sven had flown away.” Upon pulling the last bandage tight, Rainbow scanned over her work. It was a decent enough patch job, but the filly’s wings were a mess of broken feathers. She let out another sigh. That meant preening, and preening Scootaloo was always a struggle. Her wings were ticklish and just catching her required a chase all over the house. She wasn’t a fan of bathtime either, as Rainbow’s flooded bathroom proved frequently. Thank Celestia clouds were super-absorbent. Rainbow narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo. “Squirt, you better have a good explanation for all this. Sucker punching someone is not cool.” Scootaloo straightened up and fired a glare right back her sister. “I was on my scooter. Just practicing some tricks, you know? Nothing major. A few ramp jumps, a couple flips over some branches, 360 degrees backwards somersault with a twist. My standard brand of awesome. When I felt like I was being watched. Turn around and BAM! There he is again. Just staring at me. So, the brave filly I am, and totally not scared, I walk over and ask the guy nicely what his deal is.” “‘Nicely,’ nothing. You were in his face,” Apple Bloom said. “And then you punched him.” “I couldn’t help it!” Scootaloo shouted, throwing up her hooves. “I don’t know why. It’s just the way he was acting made me mad or something. He didn’t even talk back. Just kept chirping, puffing up his chest, bobbing his head. The weirdo.” Rainbow brought a hoof up to massage her temple. “Scoots, you’re not making this fun for me. You know I’m gonna have to ground you for…Wait…You said he puffed up his chest. Did he spread his wings too?” “...Yeah.” Scootaloo nodded, then scowled. “I bet he was making fun of my wings. The jerk!” “Ugh!” Rainbow thumped her forehead. “Did he stand like this?” Chest puffed, wings unfurled, Dash strutted, heading bobbing in a pecking motion. Scootaloo punched her in the nose. Rainbow dropped like one of Sweetie Belle’s homemade buttermilk-and-concrete biscuits. “What the hay, Scootaloo?!” Apple Bloom ran over to the downed pegasus. Sweetie followed, levitating some tissues to stuff up Rainbow’s bleeding nose before turning to Scootaloo. “What were you thinking? I think you broke her nose!” Scootaloo’s eyes went wide, looking between her outstretched hoof, with a quick glance to her flank—no boxing glove cutie mark—and the older pegasus on the ground who was clutching her snout. “I don’t know! I just felt scared! Scared and kinda mad actually, and I just felt this sudden urge… like I needed to punch her.” “That’d be those old pegasus instincts kicking in,” Rainbow explained as she staggered back to her feet, a wad of tissue stuffed up one nostril. “You felt threatened and you lashed out.” “So I’m not in trouble?” “Depends. Did you let him go after you socked him?” “Heck no!” Scootaloo hopped onto her back legs and throwing some punches. “I needed to teach him not to mess with me so I pulled out those cool karate moves you taught me.” Sweetie Belle cocked her head to one side. "Karate? Is that what that was? Looked more like you were screaming and waving your hooves around while he was beating on you." “I was totally winning!” Apple Bloom nodded in a supportive fashion. “Sure you were. I think you may have even hit him once or twice.” Rainbow shook her head. “Squirt, I taught, or at least tried to teach you, karate to defend yourself, not attack innocent ponies… err… griffons. Besides, puffing up is just the way griffons try to impress someone. He was making himself seem bigger so you’d want to be… friends with him.” “See!” declared Sweetie Belle. “I told you so. He’s just lonely and only wants to make friends.” “Hmph…” Scootaloo sat down, crossing her arms. “Whatever. Like I want to make friends with a griffon. We’re better off without him. Ow!” She rubbed where Rainbow’s wing had flicked the back of her head. “Scootaloo, you're this close to getting grounded ’til your folks come back and can ground you some more. I can’t believe what I’m hearing! You don’t want to give the kid a chance just because he’s a griffon? Didn’t you learn anything from what happened with Zecora? Don’t make the same mistake me and the girls made.” Shooting back to her hooves, Scoots pointed an accusing hoof. “This is totally different. You guys never met a zebra before, but you have met griffons. You told me Gilda was a Grade-A bit—” A hoof jammed her mouth shut. “Geez!” Rainbow looked around nervously and whispered, “Don’t ever use that word, squirt. Your mom will pluck me bald if she hears that come out of your mouth.” The hoof pulled away. “I said Gilda was a jerk. Not all griffons.” Scootaloo just shrugged. “Whatever. Still don’t see what’s the big deal about being friends with him. On the playground, he was hanging out with the colts. He’s fine.” “I still want to be friends with him,” piped in Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo waved her off. “You just like his accent.” Sweetie pouted while Apple Bloom frowned. “T’ain’t fair making fun of the way he talks, Scootaloo.” Rainbow tsked and started packing first-aid supplies back into her bags. “Sorry Scoots, but we’re gonna march right on over to that kid’s house, and you’re gonna apologize aaannnd now I sound like my mom. Great. Thank you for that, squirt. Now I feel old.” “I don’t know why we need to be friends with griffons at all,” Scootaloo muttered. Rainbow spun around and snapped curtly, “What? How can you say that? Scootaloo, it’s your duty as a pegasus to at least try and get to know him. The bond between the pegasi and the griffons is one of the oldest and most sacred in pony history. Didn’t Cheerilee teach you kids you that?” “I don’t think we’re up to that chapter yet,” Apple Bloom informed her. “We're still on The Pre-Unification Period.” Another tsk. “No wonder you're acting this way. Welp! Change of plans. Crusading’s canceled, girls. You’re coming with me to Twilight’s so we can make you understand just why you need to apologize first. Then we’ll go over to this new kid’s house.” “Fine. I’ll go get my scooter,” Scootaloo started to trudge down the hill, but Rainbow tapped her shoulder, shaking her head. “Not with those wings you’re not. No flapping until I’ve had a chance to preen you. Again. I’ll drive.” Once she was sure the Crusaders were secure in their wagon (well, as secure as an open-air cart with no seat belts can be), Rainbow Dash hopped on the filly-sized scooter. And proceeded to tip it over. “Wait. Hold on. I got this.” She brushed herself off and tried again. “Just got to get my balance.” A slight wobble. Wings spread. “Here we go!” If by “go” she meant kick off and roll a few feet before tipping over again. “How do you make this stupid thing go?” she cried, righting the offending transport, examining where the steering pole poked through the baseboard. “And how do you even steer this thing? The handle’s not even connected to anything!”