A New Life

by Tomo-Domo

The First Lesson

As I approached Scootaloo's room, I could hear the fillies talking to each other. Not able to make out most of their conversation, I placed my ear against the door.
"Your mom's the best, Scootaloo, giving us all these nice gifts." I heard Sweetie Belle say.
"I know, she's awesome. She's even fast enough to compete with Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo answered.
"Scootaloo," Applebloom asked, "are Violet and Twilight your real parents?"
"What makes you ask that?" She asked her, dodging the question.
"It's just that you never mentioned your parents until now. I just wasn't sure about it."
Scootaloo let out a sigh, "It's alright, you both have the right to know. Do you remember the time when those crazy ponies were here?" She asked them.
"Yes." They both answered.
"Well, Violet and Twilight aren't my real parents."
"So they adopted you?" Sweetie Belle asked, surprised.
"Yes," she answered. "After the race between mom and Rainbow Dash, she and Twilight asked me if I would join their family, and, well, I did."
"Sorry, Scoot, we didnt know." The other two said.
"Don't worry, it's fine." She said back.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Knowing the conversation was over, I knocked on the door.
"Come in," Scootaloo responded.
I opened the door and walked in. The fillies were gathered in a circle, sitting awkwardly due to the previous conversation.
"Hello, girls. Would you like to start your first lesson?" I asked them, hoping to make things less awkward for them.
"Uh, sure, yeah were ready." Scootaloo answered, still down from the conversation.
"Well let's go, I've already got stuff set up in the back." I said, leading them down the stairs. They hesitated for a moment, but followed me.
Once we reached the backyard, the fillies gasped in surprise. In a line, there were four targets, one for me, three for the fillies.
"Okay, let's get started. The first thing you need to think about is how to hold the bow. You have to hold the bow in one hoof just below the center of the bow. Now you try."
The three fillies held the bows as instructed without a problem.
"Good, now, you have to know how to draw the bow, or pull back on the string. It may be difficult at first, as it takes a lot of muscle to pull on it. You have to grab the string at the center of it, about where your other hoof is. Then you have to pull it back with a bit of force." I said while demonstrating with my own bow. "Now you try."
This time they had trouble. None of them were able to pull the string further than a few inches. They all were disappointed when they couldn't do it.
"Don't worry, you will get it someday, but next, you need to know how to put an arrow on the bow to get ready to shoot it. Take a look at an arrow. What do you notice about it?" I asked them.
Seeing the notch on the back end of the arrow, Scootaloo replied, "There's a notch on the end of it."
"Exactly," I replied, "you have to set the notch over the string like so." I instructed, placing the arrow in the proper spot. "Now, try to do as I showed."
The fillies placed the arrows in the proper places on their bows without a problem.
"Good, good. Next, shooting the arrow. Once you have the arrow in the right place, you have to aim the arrow at the target, basically pointing the arrow where you want it to go. Then, you have to steady your breathing to very slow breaths. This helps steady the bow for maximum accuracy, like so." I simply drew my bow and launched an arrow into the target I had set up. It hit the target dead center of the bullseye. "See, once you can draw your bows, you can hit targets easier, but you still need lots of practice if you're going to be as accurate as me."
"How long did it take you to be this good, mom?" Scootaloo asked me, clearly in awe at my skill.
"Once I was able to draw a bow, it didn't take very long." I replied, smiling at their eagerness to learn. "Keep practicing, and one day, you can do it, I promise."
"Thanks for the lesson, Violet," Sweetie Belle said to me, " I can't wait until the next one."
"You're welcome girls, but be careful with those bows, don't try to shoot an arrow in the house. You can hurt somepony."
"We'll be careful, Violet." They said, running back inside.
I couldn't help but laugh, they were so enthusiastic. I walked up to the target, pulling my arrow from it. I put it back into my bag just when I heard rustling coming from the bushes. I drew another arrow, just in case something attacked.
"Is anypony there?" I said, approaching the noise. Just as I was about to shoot the arrow into the bushes, something tackled me from behind, pinning me to the ground. I looked up to see my brother, Orange Sherbert.
"What are you doing here, Sherbert?" I asked him, clearly surprised to see him.
"Just thought I'd stop by and see my big sis, since I haven't seen her in a long time." He answered, still standing over me.
"It's only been a month, now let me up," I said in a flat tone as he got off of me. I brushed myself off, "so where's Pinkie? Is she with you?" I asked, looking around for said mare.
As if in answer, I felt something else tackle me from behind, and again I was on the ground.
"Hi, Violet!" She said, standing above me.
"Hi, Pinkie, now, can you let me up?" I asked, getting tired of the same thing.
She stood up, letting me up, "Sorry, it was your brothers idea to pull a prank on you."
"Well if he didn't tackle me when he did, his marefriend would have an arrow in her by now." I said glancing at him.
"Oh, shoot, well, sorry about that." He said, clearly glad that Pinkie was safe.
"Well," I said heading back to the house. "It was nice of you and Pinkie to stop by, but I need to get back to my family, it can get pretty busy."
"Family?" Sherbert asked, "I thought Twilight was just your marefriend."
Oh dear, I never told them, "I guess I need to explain?"
"Indeed." He responded, trying to sound serious.
I let out a sigh, "Well, come inside, Twilight and I will explain."

Author's Note:

Well, Orange Sherbert and Pinkie Pie are back. New characters will return in later chapters. Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is accepted, so let me know if I messed up.