Who Do You Love?

by Dreamscape

Chapter 5

The end of the weekend as well as the first half of the week seemed to pass by at a sluggish pace, but oddly blurred together in a haze for Scootaloo. She tried her hardest to speak with both of her fellow crusaders, but they simply avoided her, and succeeded.

Her newly created morning routine seemed to proceed just like the previous days of the week. She arrived at the schoolhouse somewhat early and attempted to catch Apple Bloom in the yard before she passed into the classroom. She, as with the previous days, was greeted with a scowl and huff which was followed by silence.

The pegasus sighed in frustration and plopped down near the edge of the building. She gently bounced her head against the structure’s wooden sideboards, the red paint upon them faded and chipped. Something which would have to be fixed when summer finally rolled around. Upon the thought of summer, Scootaloo realized that the morning did in fact seem like one which would fit into such a season. The day was already warm, the skies cloudless, and the sun’s rays which reached over the hills had an intense feel about them. Normally, she’d be restless and already awaiting the end of the school day, so she could play or perhaps test new professions for cutie marks with her friends. She, of course, had nothing planned for the afternoon, except actually finishing her homework for once and retiring to bed early. That is, unless she somehow managed to get her thoughts across to Sweetie and Apple Bloom.

“Hi, Scootaloo!” exclaimed a misleadingly enthusiastic voice, causing the addressed filly to literally jump from her thoughts. Her wings flicked wildly in panic as she clambered up onto her hooves. Her eyes then met with the familiar ice blue stare of Diamond Tiara. The light pink filly along with her gray compatriot burst out into a fit of laughter, their combined voices even more annoying in the form of snickers and snorts. “Anyways…what are you doing out here all alone, Scootaloo? Not even good enough for your little friends anymore?” she asked with an amused smirk.

“No! I…well…I…just back off, alright!” Scootaloo grumbled in defense, although Diamond Tiara’s statement was, in fact, somewhat accurate.

“Oh, somepony’s feisty today,” Silver Spoon teased before turning to her friend and giving a wink. Luckily, the loud ring of the bell signified it was time for class to start before they could ask any further questions.

“Hmm, we’ll talk more later, okay? Oh, and I know you’re probably going through some kind of tough time or something, but you look absolutely horrible. At least take care of yourself,” the pink filly said with a huff before trotting inside.

Scootaloo sighed, wondering if she indeed looked so bad. The stress did seem to be weighing down on her after all. It felt strange and even depressing knowing that she did not have the support she normally would when arguing with her nemeses. There was nopony to tell her she looked fine or nopony to develop a smart comeback in her defense.

Her heartbeat quickened slightly as she saw a familiar white unicorn rushing towards her through the school yard. A sudden sensation of hope slowly trickled through her veins as the Sweetie Belle neared. Her mind exploded with possibilities of the filly’s reaction. Perhaps she would tackle her to the ground in an embrace and apologize, so that she too could do the same; or maybe she would come to a halt before her and shyly await an apology before she too gave her own. “Sweetie Belle!” she exclaimed with a loving grin. Her joyous thoughts easily disappeared as the unicorn simply lifted her head ignorantly, and walked past.

The second bell rang as the pegasus trudged through the entrance in defeat. “Scootaloo, you’re cutting it close. You need to be here before the second bell rings, not coming in while it’s ringing,” Cheerilee scorned, tapping a hoof against her desk. The class predictably burst out into a small series of laughs and taunts.

Great, just great! That’s exactly what I needed, Scootaloo thought as a scowl appeared on her face and her cheeks reddened with anger rather than embarrassment. She crawled hopelessly into her chair, and then blinked in confusion as she noticed that the two seats next to her were occupied by colts rather than Sweetie and Apple Bloom. After confirming that she was in the correct seat, she peered around the classroom and realized that the two fillies had exchanged seats so they were not only away from her, but away from each other as well, each on opposite sides of the room. Her hopes that the situation would be forgotten or at least calm down slightly, quickly dissipated.

The pegasus pushed out an inaudible groan, as the teacher’s droning voice set forth another dismal day, even if the sun shone brightly through the windows. There was nopony to exchange notes with or even whisper to in an attempt to pass the time more quickly. There were no smiles or silly faces to be made. There were no thoughts and ideas on recess to be planned ahead; and there was nopony to complain to about the pointless homework which was given.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were truly her only friends, or at least once were. Now she was alone, and felt alone at that. She wondered if the two fillies were having the same thoughts and emotions. She never saw them with anypony else either. She knew she must talk to them and somehow re-establish their previous friendship, although she had no idea how. Every attempt on her part was either ignored or scoffed at, and the other two seemed as if they didn’t care about the situation at all.

***

The end of the day finally came after what seemed like ages to Scootaloo; but rather than jumping up from her seat with renewed vigor, the filly instead slowly and methodically packed her school things into her side satchel before situating it upon her back. Oddly enough, she noticed Sweetie Belle doing just the same. A thought crossed her mind that perhaps this meant, she indeed was affected by the situation.

She quickly picked herself up and gave a smile as the filly’s green eyes connected with her own. A look of sadness fell upon the unicorn’s face before she quickly returned her gaze to the floor as walked away, nearly forgetting her bags completely. Scootaloo was unsure if the frown did exist or was just a hopeful hallucination. “Sweetie?” she asked, but of course the pony did not listen. Instead her pace quickened as she reached the exit, then disappeared.

Scootaloo gave a halfhearted shrug as she gazed back at Cheerilee, who busily went about correcting papers. “See ya, Miss Cheerilee,” she said with a wave before turning.

“…Hm? Oh, goodbye, Scootaloo,” the teacher mumbled in response, giving a quick glance to watch as the filly made her way outside.

Riding her scooter was one of Scootaloo’s favorite ways to escape her thoughts. She quickly strapped on her helmet and pushed off, using both her wings and a hoof to propel herself forward. Her thoughts dulled and eventually came to a halt as she turned around the corner towards home. She now concentrated on the path ahead and the warm wind which pushed at her face and whistled through the holes upon her blue helmet.

Strangely, as she pushed herself up over a small incline in the path and readied herself to speed downward from it’s top, she noticed a bouncing pink bow in the distance. The thoughts she had finally accomplished forgetting just moments before quickly rushed back into her mind. Apple Bloom, why is heading the wrong way? …Is she going to town to…talk to me me? She shook the amusing thought from her mind, knowing that it surely wasn’t the case. That did not mean she couldn’t attempt to speak with her though.

With a gentle push of her hoof, the front of the scooter lurched forward and then easily glided down the hill. Scootaloo’s wings buzzed furiously as she leaned forward to make her body more aerodynamic. The wind howled furiously against and around her face as she plummeted downward. A slight smile appeared upon her face once she realized that she would effortlessly reach the filly, if not speed past her without even kicking her hoof against the ground once more.

“Hey, Apple Bloom, can we talk?” she asked confidently as she dragged a hoof against the path for a break and pulled up upon the handlebars.

Apple Bloom looked rather surprised to see the pegasus screech to halt directly in front of her, and rather angered at being confronted. “No, we can’t. Now can ya please get outta my way,” she grumbled, giving the filly who blocked her path a fierce and stubborn glare.

“…Just curious what you’re going into town for is all,” Scootaloo replied, crossing her front hooves and resting them against the scooter’s handlebar.

“Just pickin’ up some things for Apple Jack. Ah really gotta go,” she muttered unhappily in response before quickly skirting around the pegasus.

“Hey wait, I wasn’t finished,” Scootaloo said, fumbling to turn around on her scooter.

“Please just back off, please,” the filly growled, stamping her hooves in frustration as she trotted away.

To her own reluctance as well as Apple Bloom’s surprise, Scootaloo pushed off and glided past the filly, giving her a friendly wave goodbye, but not letting even the shortest of words escape her mouth. She knew pushing the pony too far would only cause the situation to worsen more than it already had.

Instead of letting the gentle breeze and the trodden path ahead invade her thoughts as she did previously, she instead let it fill with feelings of hope. It was perhaps the most realistic hope she had felt all week. Though it seemed close to nothing, she realized she had in fact made leeway with both of the fillies, although the two showed it rather differently. Sweetie Belle had actually given her the slightest of acknowledgements and even seemed saddened by her presence rather than angered. While Apple Bloom had seemed harsh in her manners, she was at least speaking to her, and even pleaded with her rather than commanded.

As the sides of the path began to grow thicker with homes once she drew nearer the town’s main thoroughfare, another thought crossed her mind. If the two fillies were slightly more forgiving with her, then they had to be even more so with one another. After all, she was the pony that caused the situation in the first place, and they had nearly nothing to be angered at one another about. Perhaps the only reason they had exchanged seats was because they were not quite ready to admit their merciful feelings towards one another.

She nearly lost her balance and collapsed to the hard earth below as the thought suddenly created a much greater one. Just the simple trail which her mind had followed had led her to an unexpected conclusion upon how exactly to fix the situation. Somehow, she knew it would work, and with a reinvigorated fury, regained her balance fully and sped towards home.

Comments

[Ashardu]

So, the plan is to gather them for a more easy apologize? Seems about right.