• Published 4th Apr 2012
  • 2,614 Views, 86 Comments

Ponyville Dashers - AimBot



An innocent tale involving "you" and Scootaloo, on the Ponyville Dashers hoof-ball team.

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Crusaders!

The three of you move down the street at a leisurely pace. Vinyl walks on your right, and Scootaloo on your left. Vinyl keeps glancing at you with an all too familiar smirk, and every time she does, you glare at her. It seems like an unending cycle, until Scootaloo nudges you with her elbow.

"Hey," She says quietly, "Everything alright?"

You stick your tongue out at Vinyl, and turn to Scootaloo. "Yeah." You glance at Vinyl from the corner of your eye. "It's just... I don't know."

Scootaloo opens her mouth to reply, but she's cut off as Vinyl jabs you with her hoof. You fidget, and stop dead in your tracks. Scootaloo follows just a moment after. Both of you stare up at Vinyl. She dips her shades down her snout, and glances between the two of you.

"Daisy's Place work?" She asks, nodding down the street towards a small cluster of tables outside a two-story building.

You cast a glance at Scootaloo. She shrugs. You shrug at Vinyl. Vinyl rolls her eyes at the two of you and grins. She motions with her hoof, and the two of you follow her towards the restaurant.

"Foals these days...." Vinyl mutters, "so indecisive..."

You roll your eyes and glance at Scootaloo. She shrugs. You return the shrug, and glance at Vinyl. She's looking right back at you, an eyebrow arched behind her shades. A small grin plays across her face. As you near the building, Vinyl motions towards an empty table with seats for four.

As you near the building, you can make out the small sign hung above the propped-open door that reads "Daisy's Place" in big, decorative letters. A local restaurant, visited by many of the ponies of Ponyville, owned by a friendly mare named Daisy. You remember coming here countless times with Vinyl and your mother, so often that Daisy has come to know your family by name.

You circle around the table Vinyl had pointed out, and sit. Vinyl rolls her eyes at you and jabs your shoulder with her hoof.

"Be a gentlecolt, young stallion!" Vinyl scoffs, "A gentlecolt doesn't sit until all the ladies at the table are seated!"

You blink, and awkwardly rise out of your seat, the chair scraping against the cobblestones. Vinyl smirks at you as she sits. Your face warms as you feel your cheeks flush, and you cast a glance at Scootaloo. She hurriedly sits, glancing between Vinyl and yourself. You sit and scoot your chair back in, before you stare at the table for a long moment.

"Oh, lighten up, squirt." Vinyl says. You look up at her, and see a familiar, encouraging smile. "I'm just messin' with ya, after all."

You smile slightly. You're about open your mouth to respond when a waitress, a young unicorn mare, trots over to your table. A small notebook and a pencil levitate before her, three menus tucked under her left foreleg, and she quickly glances between the three of you.

She smiles politely and inclines her head slightly. "Hey, how're you all doin' today?" Before waiting for an answer, she sets the menus down. You wait for Vinyl and Scootaloo to take theirs before you reach out and snatch one up. "What can I get you all to drink?"

Vinyl wastes no time. "Coffee, please."

The waitress scribbles on her notebook, and looks at you. You glance at Scootaloo from the corner of your eye, and see her face scrunched in contemplation. You inwardly shrug. "Water."

Once more, the waitress scribbles, and she looks at Scootaloo. Scootaloo continues to stare at the menu for a moment, before tearing her eyes away to look at the waitress. "Uh... Fruit punch."

The waitress inclines her head, and glances between the three of you again. "Alright.... I'll be back in a few minutes to take your orders." With that, she trots off, inside the building.

You glance up at Vinyl, then to Scootaloo, and your heart sinks somewhat when you find both of them with their noses buried in their menus. Attempting to rid yourself of the feeling, you dig into the menu yourself. It doesn't quite help, considering you already know what you're getting. But you're determined to not be the odd one out, so you do your best to pass the time by looking over the all-too-familiar menu.

After what seems to be an eternity, the waitress returns, a small tray hovering before her with two glasses, a mug, and a tiny white cup, her pencil tucked behind her ear and her notebook under her right foreleg. She stops at your table and flashes a polite smile. The mug and small white cup levitate up and off the tray, landing before Vinyl. The two glasses are set down before Scootaloo and yourself.

The waitress levitates the pencil from behind her ear and the notebook from under her foreleg. "Now, what can I get you all to eat?"

You cast a cursory glance around the table. Vinyl is preoccupied, pouring the milk from the cup into her coffee. Scootaloo's nose is once again buried in the menu. The waitress' eyes settle on you.

"Uh..." You pause awkwardly and scratch at your mane. "I'll have a HBLT."

The waitress nods and scribbles, turning to look at Vinyl. "Hay sandwich, extra cheese. Make the hay extra crispy, too, please." Nod and scribble. She turns to Scootaloo.

"Uh.... I'll have the..." Scootaloo begins, her voice trailing off for a moment as she goes back into the menu. "The Daisy Salad Special..."

Nod and scribble. "Alright, folks." She turns and goes back into the building.

You spare a glance around the table. Vinyl is fairly occupied with her coffee, and Scootaloo idly taps her hoof against the table, her cheek resting on her other hoof. She casts an idly glance in your direction, and you make eye contact for a short moment. She smiles nervously, and limply waves her hoof. You give a small wave in return, and you both break eye contact.

You start at the sound of Vinyl setting down her coffee mug. She glances between Scootaloo and yourself, and a small grin splits her face.

"So..." Vinyl begins, drawling out the word. "Swimming." She stares at you for a moment. You feel your cheeks grow hot, and you look to the side and bring a hoof up to cover your face. "You kids have fun?"

There's a long, awkward, pause. You glance around the table. Vinyl glances between the two of you, her grin growing slightly. "Yeah. If there's no talk for that long, you had fun." From behind her shades, you can feel her eyes bore into your very being. You can tell she wants to say more, but she seems to be biting her tongue for now.

You nod slowly. "Yeah. It was pretty fun."

Vinyl gives a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Good."

You and Vinyl lock eyes. Even from behind her shades, you can tell she's looking right back. From the corner of your eye, Scootaloo seems to shrink back in her chair slightly. You squint at Vinyl, and shake your head. Bored, you cast a glance at the building, idly glancing over the details you've seen a hundred times over. Your eyes catch on your waitress, a tray of food levitating before her.

Scootaloo and Vinyl both seem to take notice, too. The waitress moves quickly to your table, setting the proper dishes down before Scootaloo, Vinyl, and yourself. Your mouth waters as your plate hits the table. Toasted wheat bread, stacked high with fresh lettuce and tomatoes, and, the best feature.... A hearty amount of hay-bacon. Your heart soars as you scoop up the large sandwich and lift it to your mouth,


The waitress scoops up all the dishes, smiling politely as she does so. "Was everything good?"

"Wonderful." Vinyl says, sipping at her coffee. "Just wonderful." All you can do is nod in agreement.

The waitress gives a small nod, and levitates the bill onto the table. Vinyl scoops up the small slip of paper, and shrugs. She glances between Scootaloo and yourself, before giving you a sly grin and a wink behind her shades.

"You kids go ahead back home. I'm gonna pay the bill, then I'll be right behind you." Vinyl says, and without another word, she trots off into the building. You can vaguely hear her call Daisy! once she gets inside, but you shrug it off and stand.

You turn to Scootaloo, and motion down the street. The two of you start walking. You walk side by side in silence for just a few moments. Dozens of ponies hustle and bustle up and down the street. Some ponies stopped to examine items in store windows, while others made idle chitchat. Scootaloo and yourself move along at a leisurely pace.

"It was really nice of your sister to treat us to lunch like that." Scootaloo says, her gaze drifting to a shop window as she moves.

"Yeah, she's pretty cool." You reply, shrugging. "She's done a lot of cool stuff for a whole bunch of ponies."

"Yeah?" She asks, turning back to you. "What does she do for a living?"

"She's a DJ," You say, "you know, for parties and stuff."

Scootaloo's eyes brighten for a moment. "Really? That's cool. It must be exciting. Do you ever go to parties with her?"

You shake your head as the two of you round a corner. "No. I guess her job keeps her up really, really late, because Vinyl's usually asleep all day when she gets big jobs. My mom doesn't really want me going with her, either. Says that 'Vinyl's a great daughter, sister, and all-round mare, but her late-night lifestyle isn't healthy'."

"Hmm." Is all Scootaloo says. You just nod.

After another minute or two, you find yourself on your street. As you near your house, Scootaloo lightly taps your shoulder and gives you a somewhat worried look.

"Hey, we should probably get back to the clubhouse soon," She says, "the other initiations are going to end eventually."

You pause. "Oh, uh, okay. We just gotta wait for Vinyl to get back, then we can get going."

Scootaloo nods her agreement. You stop at your front door, and pause. On a hunch, you turn the doorknob. The door clicks open. Which is strange, since Vinyl locked the door as you left. You slowly open the door.

"Hello?" You call, half-hoping not to get a response.

You nearly jump out of your skin as Octavia pokes her head out from behind a cabinet. "Oh, hello, little ones. I was wondering when you'd get back."

Trying to settle your heart, which was now thudding in your chest, you lean against the door frame. "Oh, uh.... H-hey, Octavia..... H-how did you get in here?"

Octavia smiles knowingly. "Your sister provided me with a key, for emergencies."

You swallow hard and nod. "Oh."

Scootaloo steps inside, and looks at your. "Are you okay?"

You nod, doing your best to shake the feeling away. "Yeah, just.... A little surprised is all."

Octavia, done with whatever she happened to be doing in the kitchen, sets herself down on the large sofa, and shakes her head. "I'm sorry, little one. I didn't mean to scare you."

You shake your head quickly. "I wasn't scared! I was.... surprised..." Turning away from Octavia and Scootaloo, you reach out to close the door. You pull back with a start when your hoof is slapped away.

"There you are, squirt." Vinyl says, grinning from behind her shades. The door is already closed behind her.

You take a few short steps away from Vinyl, snorting at her. "Why's everypony tryin' to sneak up on me?"

Vinyl chuckles, and sets a steadying hoof on your shoulder. "Calm down, squirt."

You take a deep breath, and look up to Vinyl. "Is it alright if Scootaloo and I go back outside?"

Vinyl glances between you two. She seems hesitant for a moment. "Hmm.... No more swimming, alright? We don't have enough towels to keep drying you kids off."

You grin at Vinyl, and step past her to open the door. "Thanks!" With the door open, you move out onto the street, with Scootaloo following after. You glance over your shoulder just in time to see Vinyl lean out and close the door. She winks just as the door slams shut.

Scootaloo nudges you with her elbow, and motions for you to follow. "C'mon! We might be late!"


Everypony sits, gathered around the round table. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all exchange excited glances. Apple Bloom rises from her seat.

"Has every initiate completed their initiation?" She asks. "Pipsqueak has completed his."

"Dinky Doo has completed hers." Sweetie Belle chimes in.

Suddenly, all eyes settle on you. You shrink down in your seat slightly. Scootaloo grins, nearly jumping from her seat. "You bet he completed his!"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchange quick glances. They both nod. Sweetie Belle picks up a slip of paper from the table, and clears her throat.

"We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect these three ponies to join us as, uh..... Sister and.... brothers.... confidants and confidante, allies..." Sweetie Belle quickly hums what seems to be a few unnecessary words, "blah, blah, blah..."

Apple Bloom glares at Scootaloo. "Weren't you supposed to revise this?" She hisses in a conspiratorial whisper.

Scootaloo slaps her hoof against her forehead. "Crud."

Sweetie Belle continues on. "There it is.... Fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders! You are solemnly sworn in, this day, in witness of your fellow sisters, and, uh.... brothers.... Confidants and confidantes, buddies, pals..."

Apple Bloom rolls her eyes and makes a chopping motion towards Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle nods quickly, and sets the paper down. "Congratulations! You three are now full-fledged Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Dinky Doo, Pipsqueak, and yourself, all exchange unsure glances. "Um.... Thanks?"

"You're welcome," Apple Bloom says, genuinely smiling again. "Now, since y'all are Crusaders, you're gonna have ta show up to meetings when we have 'em. Speaking of which..." Apple Bloom glances around at the original Crusaders. They all nod. "Alright, we're scheduled to have a meetin' today! Why don't y'all just make yourselves comfortable, and we'll get this meeting started."

It takes several, long, boring, moments for the original Crusaders to decide what the meeting is about. They spoke at a conspiratorial whisper, huddled in the corner of the clubhouse. When they return, they all seem as confused as before.

"So, uh..." Apple Bloom begins, scratching the back of her head.

"We don't have anything to meet about. It's usually just us." Scootaloo finishes.

Dinky Doo raises her hoof. Apple Bloom points to her. "Yes, Dinky?"

"I say we adjourn the meeting." She says.

Pipsqueak's hoof shoots up, as does yours. "I second that!"

The three original Crusaders glance at each other, mildly confused and amused at the same time. Apple Bloom shrugs.

"Ah, what the heck? Meeting adjourned."

Comments ( 4 )

Well, that was an awkward chapter.

The awkwardness is flowing out of my screen, Its drowning me! HALP!

Hay-bacon?!? Blasphemer!!!!!! Lol good story keep it up!

Are you continuing this story?

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