Ponyville Dashers

by AimBot

Dealing With It

You're not sure how long it takes you to groggily rise up to an awkward sitting position. You can hear quite a few voices, though you only recognize a few of them. You eventually look around. The majority of your team is sitting down on the bleachers next to you, quite a few of them staring at you. Most of the crowd has dispersed, though a few seemed to stick around to watch something...

Then you notice three things. First off, Vinyl is having a one-sided argument with a stallion. A stallion who has a remarkably similar appearance to the colt who kicked the ball. You decide he's the colt's father. Next, Rainbow Dash is having a heated conversation with the Cloudy Kicker's coach, and the colt who kicked the ball is standing right beside her, looking at the ground. It seems that both coaches agree, because the most heated words were directed to scolding the colt.

The last thing, and arguably, the most significant, you see Scootaloo talking to her mother just a few paces down the bench. Of course, with all the buzz, you can't hear what they're talking about.

"Ow..." You finally groan, "My head..."

A moment later, Vinyl is right beside you, giving you a more thorough checkup than your doctor. She tilts your head upward, looks into your eyes, and even makes you say the alphabet. After that, she gives you a firm pat on the back.

"You got one mean shiner, squirt." Vinyl says, frowning at you.

You groan again. "Oh, yay... How long was I out? Where's Octavia?"

"You were out for five minutes, at least." Vinyl replies, "And Octi's off getting ice for your head. Relax, squirt, you're gonna make it worse."

Heeding Vinyl's advice, you lay back down, take a deep breath, and close your eyes. Time seems to fly while you do this. When you open your eyes a few moments later, you're surprised when all you see is orange and purple. Jumping, you roll off the bench and onto the foot-rest behind you.

"Oops," Scootaloo murmurs, bringing a hoof to her chin, "Sorry."

After gathering your bearings, you pull yourself back onto the bench and sit down. "Don't worry about it... At least I'm awake now."

By this time, the small crowd that had remained was beginning to scatter. Most of the team was leaving or already gone. The colt who had kicked the ball, his father, and the Cloudy Kicker's coach were out of sight. Scootaloo's mother paced over, and took a seat next to Vinyl.

"So..." Scootaloo begins, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "Are we, still... Y'know, friends?" She extends her hoof.

"Wha? I - of course!" You reply, tapping your hoof to hers. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"Well, uh, when you left my house..." Scootaloo says in a low voice, blushing, "I kinda thought that you didn't like me or something."

"No! Of course I like you!" You exclaim, not thinking straight. A moment later, you realize your mistake, and start to blush. You can hear Vinyl snicker, and Scootaloo blushes along with you. "But, uh... I'm not exactly used to having a friend who's a filly."

Scootaloo pauses for a moment, and the red disappears from her cheeks. "Why does it matter if I'm a filly?"

"Well, uh..." You begin, looking away and rubbing the back of your head nervously. You can tell you're blushing even more than a moment ago. "It's just kinda... Uh, weird."

Scootaloo doesn't say anything, but she raises an eyebrow at you. You can tell she doesn't get what you're trying to say. Luckily, Vinyl seems to notice that you're stuck in a rough spot. She gets up, and smiles at Scootaloo's mother.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, and we'd love to have you and your daughter over sometime." Vinyl says with the most polite smile you've ever seen her with. She trots over to you and winks behind her shades. "Say goodbye to your friend, squirt. There's Octi, it's time to go home and rest up."

You look back and notice Octavia walking at a quicker-than-usual pace towards the field with a small bag of what must be ice. You turn back to Scootaloo, still blushing slightly.

"Uh, I gotta, you know..." You begin awkwardly. Scootaloo raises a hoof and cuts you off.

"I know. Here - take this." Scootaloo says, outstretching her hoof. She hands you a small, folded note. "Bye!"

Scootaloo trots back to her mother, and they both wave as they walk in the opposite direction. You and Vinyl just wave back. Octavia is standing beside you a moment later, and you take the ice from her. At first, you're a bit reluctant to put the bag of ice directly on your eye, but Vinyl gives your a firm glare, and you cautiously hold the bag close to your face.

At first, the cold stings at the tender flesh around your eye, but a moment later, it feels five times better. You let out a content sigh, and close your open eye for a moment. Vinyl gives you a pat on the back, and you follow her and Octavia down the street, with Vinyl carrying your bag for you.

"Uh... Thanks for the save, 'sis." You say, looking up to Vinyl. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't pulled me out of there."

Vinyl chuckles, and looks back at you behind her sunglasses. "It's my sixth sense, squirt. Whenever my little bro is about to faint, I'm on the scene."

"I was not about to faint!" You argue, though you know it's no use. "I was just getting nervous!"

"Yeah, sure." Vinyl rolls her eyes at you. "And I'm a classy violinist who hangs out with a DJ."

"Hello!" Octavia interrupts, "I resemble that remark!"

Both Vinyl and Octavia burst into laughter. But not you - you don't get it. Isn't the saying 'I resent that remark'? You're half tempted to ask about it, but you decide it's easier to just ignore it. You'll figure it out eventually.

For the moment, your mind sets on that note Scootaloo gave you. You're tempted to read it here and now, but Vinyl and Octavia are too nosy. They'd definitely try to read it, then, of course, they'd start teasing you about it.... It's easier to just wait until you're in the sanctum that is your room.

Your mind wanders off after that. You can't even remember what you were thinking about. Before you know it, you're standing at the front door of your own home. A moment later, you're in the living room, looking around. Everything seems... Different. But that may just be because you're only looking at it through one eye.

You trot upstairs with your bag over your shoulder. You toss the bag inside your closet, set the bag of ice down on the nightstand, and find the note. You're just about to unfold it when you hear hooves on the stairs. Quickly, you stuff the note under your pillow and put on an innocent face. Vinyl emerges from the stairs a moment later.

"Squirt." she says, raising an eyebrow under her glasses. "Bath time. Go wash up. And stop smilin' like that - it's creepy."

You both share a laugh, and Vinyl trots back down the stairs. You roll your eyes, and walk to the bathroom.

---

After a refreshing shower, and fifteen minutes of a lecture about safety from Vinyl, you finally make it back to your room. You stop by the door, and listen for a moment. Vinyl and Octavia were in the middle of a discussion. Good. You pace over to the head of your bed, and pull the note out from under your pillow. You listen again, and when you're sure the coast is clear, you unfold the note.

Hey, I know this is kind of sudden, but.... Well, you'll see when you get there. Just go to the address I put at the bottom of this note tomorrow at 1 p.m. I'll meet you there! At the bottom of the note was an address... Sweet Apple Acres, it was called? You've seen it before, but never bothered paying attention to it.

---

You swallow a lump in your throat as you step towards the farm. Somehow, Vinyl knew about the note, which was the only reason she let you go out with a black eye. She didn't know what the note was about, but she must've at least guessed that it involved Scootaloo, because she had a smug grin on.

As you near the fence, you can see the shape of a filly moving along it. It's the earth filly Scootaloo hangs out with - Apple Bloom, her name was. She crawls under the fence, and meets you with a small grin.

"You're Scootaloo's friend, right? Number Eleven?" Apple Bloom asks.

"Yeah, that's me..." You answer, looking past the filly for a moment. "Uh, where is Scootaloo? She said to meet her here and-"

"I know." Apple Bloom interrupts, waving a hoof. "Follow me, she's waiting with Sweetie Belle and a few others in our tree-house."

You pause for a moment. Others? Scootaloo never said anything about other ponies... Then again, she barely said anything on the note. You follow Apple Bloom, eyeing her carefully. She seems to eye you back, but she's got a small grin. One that she doesn't even attempt to hide from you. And the worst part is - you can't even tell what she's grinning about.

Apple Bloom leads you to what is obviously the "Cutie Mark Crusader" tree-house. It didn't look half bad, to be honest. But of course, it looks like it's been fixed up. Fairly well, too. Apple Bloom trotted up the stairs, and into the tree-house. You cautiously followed a moment later.

To your dismay, there's a total of five other ponies, counting Apple Bloom, in the room. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, and Dinky Doo are all seated around a round table. Taking the only open seat left, you find yourself between Dinky Doo and Scootaloo. Dinky smiles at you.

"Hey! I didn't know you were gonna be here." Dinky says, still smiling.

"I didn't know I was going to be here until yesterday..." You reply with a chuckle.

Strange enough, Dinky was the only filly, besides Vinyl and Octavia, who you can talk to without getting tongue-tied or nervous. Of course, you barely ever hang out or play. She's always busy helping her mother or spending her time with her half-sister, or, so she says.

"Ponies..." Apple Bloom says calmly, looking around at the gathering. "None of you know why you've been called here."

Pipsqueak, and Dinky both nod. You just stare at the filly with a raised eyebrow.

"Well..." Scootaloo begins, nodding. "You've all been chosen."

"To be the newest Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Sweetie Belle finishes excitedly.

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glare at Sweetie belle for a moment, before Apple Bloom adds "Yes. But before we can officially welcome you... You've got to undergo 'Initiation".

You gasp, but Pipsqueak and Dinky don't. Of course, it's completely possible that they don't know exactly what you know. Vinyl has told you about these kinds of things. These supposedly 'secret societies' that make new members undergo some kind of initiation rite before they can get in. But then again, she also said that only the most secret of societies have the 'bad initiations' where they humiliate you, or something like that.

"Initiation?" Dinky asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. You each have to perform a specific task, given to you by the pony who invited you here..." Apple Bloom answers. "After you complete the task, you'll be a full-fledged Crusader."

Comments

[AimBot]

Holy crap, it feels good to finally be productive! I'm seriously friggin' sorry about making you wait like that. This story is off of its hiatus. Please, do enjoy.

[devman0080]

Yaaa an update now I can’t wait to see what Scootaloo will make him do for his Initiation into the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

[Neon Icy Wings]

I just know that 'my' initiation will involve Scootaloo somehow (maybe Dinky...). Also: UPDATE! How I've missed you! Can't wait for more!

[Shadowers1]

wiat...don't dinky and pipsqueak already have cutiemarks

[AimBot]

1014599 It's more of an honorary thing. Come to think of that, I should probably add that....

[AimBot]

1014599 Wait a sec, no... They're both blank-flanks.

[Stryker12324]

Scootaloo is going to make "me" do something?

I sense a kiss coming up...

[Shadowers1]

1014709 well, im not sure about pip, but i have seen dinky with a cutie nark

[Dark Colt Sabata]

Well, the pony me is fucked.

[AimBot]

1015978 I don't know, as a background pony, she constantly goes from having a mark to being a blank flank, doesn't she?

[Shadowers1]

1019003well, i actually re-watched nightmare-night and from the shots i saw, he doesn't unless cutie marks are suddenly indigenous to one flank and...oh well...just google imaged some pictures and screen shots of dinky...looks like you were right, she is a blank flank sorry for the mix up, your story was accurate, about her and pip not having cutie marks. coulda swore i saw a cutie mark on dinky in one episode though

[That-One-Brony]

I've always wondered about the other blank flanks in the class. Why haven't they joined the crusaders?
Anyway I really like this story! I can't wait to see more!

[Toilet Sprinkle]

Great story. Love me some 2nd person and this does not disappoint!

[Meow Mix]

Great story !