//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Spirit of Loyalty // by Matthew Penn //------------------------------// The lake shimmered like glass under the late-morning sun. The weather was mild with a slight breeze here and there, which was perfect perfect for a day at the swimming hole. Apple Bloom removed her backpack and opened it, pulling out a white and red checkerboard blanket, then spreading it over the sand. Scootaloo placed the basket she was holding on the center of the basket.         “Nice day for a picnic, isn’t it?” Apple Bloom said nonchalantly.         “Yeah, I guess. Too bad Sweetie Belle’s not here.”         “Well, there’s always next time,” Apple Bloom said.         A day at the lake was Apple Bloom’s idea. She thought the coolness and serenity will do herself and Scootaloo some good. With Sweetie and her family away on vacation, she held high hopes that this will be the opportunity to make a better connection with Scootaloo.         Scootaloo sat on the blanket facing the lake. The breeze collided with her body, sending chills through her, but she shrugged it off. Apple Bloom took out sandwiches and other snacks out of the basket. Apple Bloom gave her a peanut butter and banana sandwich, then Scootaloo nodded at her. She face the glowing lake with her sandwich in her hooves, taking small bites every few minutes.         “... Thanks for bringing me here,” Scootaloo said.         “No problem.”         Scootaloo took another bite of her sandwich and watched the lake glimmer under the sunlight. After the drastic events in her life she thought it was a good to get away, even for a short time. She wanted more quiet moments like this; sitting on the sand and watching the earth pass her without a fuss. She savored every moment before she and Apple Bloom returned to reality.         “It occurred to me that never hang out like this,” Apple Bloom said. “Days where we can just sit around and do nothing. We should do this more often, but with Sweetie next time.” Scootaloo nodded with a half-smile, taking another bite of her sandwich.         With the silence between them, many things ran through Apple Bloom’s mind. She wondered what the future had in store for Applejack and her friends. She often seen her wandering through the apple orchard, and she never came back until nightfall, or when it was almost bedtime. There was an old saying that time heals all wounds, but there was no amount of time that will heal the scars of Applejack and Scootaloo. However, Granny Smith’s words still rang true to her. Her friends, and possibly other ponies in time, will come to her for solutions to their problems.         “It’s nice out here,” Apple Bloom said. They had finished their sandwiches, then Apple Bloom sat up and walked to where the sand ends and the water began. The sweet freshwater scent of the lake entered her nostrils and the breeze made her red mane flow. She wanted to go for a swim, but she remembered what Applejack told her about swimming right after eating, so she let the water touch her hooves. She found stones buried under the sand, some of them flatter than the others. Apple Bloom took one stone with a flat surface and cast it into the lake, watching it bounce across until it sunk.         Scootaloo saw what happened to the stone and was amazed at how it was done. She stood and walked next to Apple Bloom, who just threw another stone into the lake. Scootaloo picked up a rock by her legs and threw it, but it splash and sunk on impact. She watched how Apple Bloom threw the rocks and tried to imitate her, but it was the same results. “How did you do that?” asked Scootaloo. “Do what?” “Make the rocks skip on the water?” “Big Mac taught me how to do it. You need a rock with a flat surface,” she said while holding a thin rock. “Then you gently toss it on the water and watch it bounce.” She tossed the thin rock on the lake and it bounced four times until it disappeared. “It’s all in the hooves.” Apple Bloom gave another flat rock she found. Although she tossed it as gentle as she could, Scootaloo groaned when the flat stone splashed. “It’s okay, it takes practice. I didn’t get it right the first time, or the second time.” Scootaloo threw another rock into the lake, then sat herself down on the sand. She watched Apple Bloom as she made another rock bounce on the surface of the lake. “It must be nice to have an older brother or sister to teach you things,” Scootaloo said. “What do you mean?” “You’re lucky, Apple Bloom. You have Big Mac and Applejack and they teach you cool things like apple bucking and skipping rocks. I never had anything like that.” She threw another rock into the lake. “I have nopony.” Apple Bloom sat next to her. “What about us? Me and Sweetie Belle? We’re kind of like your sisters, aren’t we?” Scootaloo sighed. She watched a flock of birds fly overhead in a V formation until they became small dots on the blue sky. “Scootaloo, you know that no matter what, me and Sweetie will always be there you. Especially Big Mac and Applejack.” Scootaloo wasn’t sure about that. She never wanted to admit, but she felt she was intruding in their home. The last Scootaloo wanted was to be extra mouth to feed, but she had nowhere else to go. “I know. It’s just that I wish I had a real family, you know? A mom, dad, some brothers and sisters.” Scootaloo slumped on the ground and gazed at the mirror image of the sun on the lake. “Whenever I see your family, I get a little jealous. You have big family… and I got nothing.”         “Why are you jealous at me for? I never knew my mom and dad,” said Apple Bloom.         “... You didn’t?”         “No. My mom and dad died when I was just a foal, and I can barely remember them. I still wish I got to know them better, and I’m sad that they’re not around, but there’s nothing I can do about it. They’re gone… and I’m still here. We are all.”         “I still wish I had a family of my own.”         “Scootaloo, do you remember what Princess Cadance said to you? She told you that you should never feel alone. You are surrounded by amazing ponies who love you and will do anything for you, whether if they’re your family or not. Even Granny Smith has taken a liking to you.”         “If that’s true, then how come I still feel bad?”         They saw a pair of pegasi flying over the clouds, a mare and filly slightly older than them. Scootaloo looked at her small wings, and then realized something truly disheartening. “I have nopony to teach me to fly.”         “Don’t say that,” Apple Bloom said.         “It’s true. I’ll never fly.”         “Scootaloo, you have to stop beating yourself up like this. Bad things happen in our lives, but they don’t last forever.”         “For me it has.”         “Maybe you’ll fly one day, maybe you won’t. But that’s no reason to stop trying. Even if you never fly, there’s a lot of stuff you’re good at. I know you can make it, you gotta have faith.”         “What else am I good at?” Scootaloo asked bitterly.         “I see you do cool tricks on your scooter. Maybe you’ll be a professional scooter rider. It can happen.”         “Yeah right, who would want to waste time watching somepony ride a stupid scooter?”         “... Me.”         Apple Bloom stood up and grabbed Scootaloo by the arm. “Come on, we’re going for a swim,” she said. “It’ll make you feel better.” She led Scootaloo to a tire swing that hung from a leafless tree. Apple Bloom leaped inside and swung herself, pacing for the plunge in the water. She silently counted to three, then threw herself out of the tire, positioned herself in a cannonball pose, and splashed like a rock. When she reappeared her red mane was extremely drenched and resembled a wet mop. “Come on, the water’s great!”         “No thanks,” said Scootaloo.         “You weenie!”         If there was one thing Scootaloo didn’t enjoy, it was being called “weenie.” Her face hardened, and she took several steps back. She crouched and drag her hooves on the sand. Then she charged with great speed. Once she was close to the edge she leaped into the air and dived into the water. It was not until she floated to the surface when she realized it was a bad idea.         “It’s freezing!” she screamed.         “Relax, it’s not that bad,” Apple Bloom said.         “Easy for you to say!”         Apple Bloom splashed water on Scootaloo’s face. Then Scootaloo threw into hers. Before the fillies knew it, a splash war ensued. There was no victor. Then something happened inside Scootaloo. While swimming and splashing she felt a pleasant sensation. It was a warm feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. The muscles on her face twitched and it were as though a heavy load has been lifted from her. Even Apple Bloom noticed it.         “Scootaloo, you’re smiling.”         “Yeah… you’re right.”         After letting themselves be submerged in the water, Apple Bloom decided it was time to go home. Scootaloo helped her fold the checkerboard blanket into a small square, then carried the remaining snacks in the basket. When all was packed they retreated from their temporary paradise and took the path to Sweet Apple Acres.         “Apple Bloom, thanks for bringing me here,” Scootaloo said.         “No problem. I’d do anything for you.”         As the drew closer to the farm Scootaloo realized how good it was to laugh and smile again, even though it will take a long time for the emotional wounds to completely heal. At least she has Apple Bloom to help her with that.         “One more thing,” Apple Bloom said. “Big Mac is taking the family camping. You can come if you like.”         “Camping? I don’t know. If it’s a family thing, then I don’t want to get in the way.”         “It doesn’t matter, you were already invited.”         “... I was?”         “Yep. You’re family, remember?”