Scootaloo hopped towards the schoolhouse with ever-increasing excitement. She couldn't wait to talk to Pupa again! She wondered if he remembered their secret hoofshake, or if his friends would be there today, or if -
She was sent tumbling back to reality when she crashed face-first into another filly, sending books and feathers flying in every direction.
“Sorry!” Scootaloo cried out in shock, as she scrambled to clean up the books, “I didn't mean t-”
“OH MY GOSH!” the filly squeaked with joy. “Are you Rainbow Dash's sister?”
“Um... yeah?” Scootaloo answered cautiously.
“That's awesome! We're, like, so gonna be besties!”
Scootaloo suddenly recognised the filly – one of the well-to-do unicorns up the front of her class. She had bright pink fur and several accessories – she was pretty much what you'd get if you multiplied Diamond Tiara by ten. The unicorn began investigating Scootaloo's bag without permission.
“You know we barely know each other, right?” Scootaloo asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
“Well, we can at least be friends, right Flutealoo?”
“It's Scootaloo.”
“Right, Scootaloo?”
“Well, sure, I guess” Scootaloo answered with a smile.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, girls, you'll never believe what just happened,” Diamond Tiara 2.0 squealed as she practically dragged Scootaloo towards her friends.
Scootaloo dusted the grass off her hooves. That was weird... but she could get used to it.
--✈--
Scootaloo was almost late again by the time she finally made it to class, surrounded by what was now effectively a mob of tiny fangirls. They were chattering about fashion lines, pop music singers and pretty much anything else Scoots couldn't care less about – but she still felt included, even if she didn't follow a word of it.
“Hey, you should come sit with us,” one of the fangirls suggested as they walked through the door.
“Seriously?” one of the pegasi called out – a fairly small colt with a fake tattoo on his leg and a pair of sunglasses. “We're way cooler.”
“Yeah,” the much larger colt sitting next to him added, “I once flew all the way from my house to school, and back, in five seconds!”
“That is pretty cool” Scootaloo admitted.
“Isn't your house right next to the school?” the first pegasus whispered.
“Shh, Scootablue doesn't know that.”
“Scootaloo,” the pony in question interrupted. “Know what?”
“Uh... that... anyone who sits with us gets to learn our special secret hoofshake!”
The other pegasus nodded.
Suddenly, Scootaloo's eyes widened, as if she remembered something.
“That sounds cool and all, but I think I should sit up the back for now” Scootaloo answered, briefly glancing at Pupa, who was sitting alone again, drawing something in a notebook.
“With the changeling? Eww!” one of the girls called out.
“Nopony cool sits with him” the pegasus added.
“Yeah, I thought you were cool!”
Scootaloo stared at the ground for a moment before walking over and sitting next to the pegasi. She turned towards Pupa and whispered the word 'sorry'. Pupa nodded understandingly, before scribbling out the picture he was drawing in frustration as soon as his friend looked away.
--✈--
“So you must be pretty much the coolest foal in Ponyville, huh?” the 'tattooed' pony from earlier asked as he guided Scootaloo to the far edge of the gardens, filled with thorny plants and vines.
“Well, I don't know about tha-”
“You don't have to lie to us Scootaloo, modesty is for babies. We know you're totally the coolest!”
“I bet you know some sick flying moves” the larger pegasus added.
“Yeah! Why don't you show us?” the smaller one agreed. “You could try out our awesome aerial obstacle course we made out of the garden!”
Scootaloo looked up above her to see a tangle of thorny vines, forming a series of ramps, hoops and walls, reaching almost as high as the schoolhouse itself.
“Well, I don't wanna make you feel bad” Scootaloo explained nervously, “since I'm so...great at flying and all. But I could try doing it on my scooter!”
“Dude, that's impossible! It's an aerial obstacle course! You'll end up with your wings broken or something!”
It was too late – Scootaloo was already zooming towards the first ramp.
Her friends looked up in terror. Rainbow Dash's sister was about to get splattered on a thorn bush, and it was all their fault. They covered their eyes as Scootaloo went flying into the sky, only to see her zooming through the hoops in mid-air, completely un-harmed.
Scootaloo smiled widely as she jumped from one wall of vines to another, sparks flying from the wheels of the scooter and entire chunks of the obstacle course collapsing behind her. She made one final jump into the air, then came spiralling down towards the ground, spreading her wings like a parachute and lifting the front of her scooter ready for impact.
She skidded to a halt as her scooter hit the ground, stirring up a massive cloud of dust behind her. She turned to see the pegasi cheering and applauding in awe.
“That was so awesome!” one of them called out.
“You're the coolest filly ever!” added another.
“Yeah, you're way better than the dweeb factory over there” a third added, pointing to the unicorns from earlier. They were gathered in another corner of the garden, surrounded by flowers, seemingly making some crazy plan.
Scootaloo smiled again. “Thanks.”
“Hey, wanna learn our secret hoofshake?” the tattooed pegasus offered. “Since you've proven your awesomeness?”
“Alright!” Scootaloo answered eagerly.
Scootaloo watched as the pegasus in front of her hoof-bumped her up high, then down low, then backwards, before flailing his hooves like a jellyfish.
Pupa watched from behind the bushes as Scootaloo repeated the gesture. He practised the hoofshake Scootaloo taught him with himself, before walking away, his head hanging down sadly.