CMC: Training is Magic

by Cold Spike

Chapter Two: Fake History

Scootaloo woke up feeling extremely groggy like she hadn’t slept for more than an hour. While it looked to be a bit earlier than she was used to, it certainly wasn’t the middle of the night. She flopped onto her back and tried her best to ignore the discomfort of the wood. Stupid dreams…

After several minutes of attempting to sleep in, she finally sighed and gave up. “Whelp, I’m up. Not like I should be sleeping in, anyway; Apple Bloom might be here any minute.” Figuring it was a bad idea to tempt fate, she quickly stretched. then got ready for her day. As she brushed her mane out, her brain caught up with her and she sighed in relief. “The weekend, sweet.” She instantly forgot about any notions of learning, homework, school or class time. It was time to have some fun. And hopefully find or earn some… bits.

She took a few moments to grab her scooter and quickly left the clubhouse as dirty was it was before. Lining up her scooter to a particular dirt road just outside the clubhouse, she sighed. I’m so tired of doing this… she thought bitterly. But she shrugged and pedaled her scooter ahead, away from the orchard and towards a lake. It was this lake where she would have to literally scoot all around to get back to the beginning of the orchard, in order to scoot back through the orchard to greet her friend. Maybe next week I can tell them I’m gonna meet Sweetie Belle first, she thought to herself, though, through sheer determination, she would never do it. Rainbow Dash, after all, was always training hard to be the best! I can’t be lazy, not now!

Instinctively, her wings began to flap, which reminded her that she even had wings. Why do I always forget when I’m on this thing? She shrugged and stretched them then flapped as hard as they would allow, making a constant buzzing noise. It felt very familiar, as it always had for longer than she could remember. While she didn’t exactly have enough raw power to cause gusts of wind like Rainbow Dash, she imagined she did, and that was enough. Scootaloo whizzed by the lake, imagining herself flying over it. Someday…

“Huh?” she murmured, and instantly slowed down upon seeing another pony on the road. It was a grey colored unicorn filly, and she recognized her as a younger student of her teacher. Don’t know her name though.

The filly studied her then looked away, seemingly at nothing.

“Uh, what’s up?” Scootaloo said after an awkward pause.

The filly looked up slowly with an unreadable expression on her face. Even slower, she shrugged. “Uh, not much. Just… thinking.”

Scootaloo nodded and had literally no response for that. Awkwardly, they stared at one another for a little while, neither wanting to move or blink. Eventually, Scootaloo grabbed her handlebars which caused the filly to jump in place. Scootaloo muttered an apology then sped off without warning. Okay… uh, yeah.

Trying to shake the thoughts of the depressed looking filly, she focused on the road ahead and aimed back for the orchard. This looks so familiar… she thought sarcastically.

As she got nearer, she recognized Apple Bloom, waiting impatiently at the entrance. She skidded to a halt in front of her causing a gust of wind to fly up. Scootaloo smirked. “Your bow fell--”

“Yeah, yeah, got it. Never gets old…” Apple Bloom muttered as she quickly re-tied her bow. “So, what’d you want to do today?”

Awkwardly, the two stood there, trying their best to come up with an idea. “I’m having trouble thinking of anything. Want to try the library again? Twilight usually has cookies for us anyway!” Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly.

Reluctantly, Apple Bloom nodded and joined her friend on her scooter. She held onto Scootaloo’s midsection with both hooves and donned a helmet that she had. “Alright… but she better not have homework for us, like that one time…”

“If that happens then I have a plan… probably,” Scootaloo yelled over the blowing wind.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and began clutching even harder as her friend sped up wildly. Quickly trees turned to ponies and ponies turned to blurs. “You should probably slow down!” Apple Bloom warned.

What’d she say? Scootaloo thought. “What did you say?” she tried to yell over the constant breeze. Scootaloo then swerved around several ponies, causing Apple Bloom to nearly topple over and hit the ground.

“Ah said, slow down!”

Scootaloo nodded then screeched to a halt, jamming one of her hooves into the dirt. Apple Bloom’s head then promptly smacked right into her friend’s chest.

“Ow…” they both said in unison.

Apple Bloom grumbled and looked up. “Scootaloo…”

“Heh, we’re here…” she replied and looked at her friend bashfully.

“What have Ah told you about doing that?!”

Doing her best to ignore her friend’s glare, Scootaloo looked away back at the tree. “Only sometimes--”

“Never. Ah told you to never stop like that! And to slow down when we’re on that thing!”

Scootaloo nodded and did her best to put aside her friend’s anger. She was focusing on their future, on cookies! She licked her lips and smiled at the tree in the distance. Then she nearly screamed when she felt two hooves on her head, which swiftly turned it backward. She was now staring directly at her friend, who did not look pleased.

“Scootaloo, were you even listenin’?”

The filly blinked a few times and shook her head. “No.”

Apple Bloom smiled and nodded. “Let me make this clear and simple. Do that thing with your brakes again while Ah’m on it and Ah will break your scooter in two! Got it?” Apple Bloom finished in a manner befitting a certain pink colored filly.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in fear and she began shaking slightly. “Uh.. g- got it.”

The apple filly smiled and nodded, this time being sincere. “Good.”

Scootaloo hugged her scooter and watched Apple Bloom canter away from her. The farm filly turned around and chuckled. “Ah would never break your scooter, Ah just wanted you to pay attention for once. Now C'mon! We’re burnin’ daylight!”

Note to self, don’t tick off Apple Bloom.

---

Being a public library the two fillies entered without knocking. Instead of finding the familiar librarian inside, though, all they found was their good friend Sweetie Belle. Who just happened to be munching on all of the cookies, to Scootaloo’s annoyance.

“Hi girls!” Sweetie Belle waved to them and seemed to shove another cookie into her mouth. “What’s up?”

The two fillies joined her on a couch that was set up for guests. Scootaloo tilted the bowl she had set near her and sighed. “I guess not cookies, they aren’t up…”

Sweetie blushed and started chewing slower. “Sorry… Rarity never lets me have any. A mare of refined tastes must never spoil her appetite,” she recited for them in a mocking tone. Then she thought about it and shrugged. “Or something like that.”

The other fillies giggled and ate what was left of the treats. Scootaloo then hopped onto the couch to relax. “So, where’s Twilight?”

Sweetie pointed up and they followed her hoof. Seated near the upper balcony was the mare in question. She appeared to be busy pouring over notes. Her horn was lit with a bright velvet color surrounding it, and several books that were floating around her.

“Ah. Busy, okay. So we wanted to-”

“Scootaloo? Are you down there?”

Both of her friends glanced at her with quirked brows. Scootaloo looked at them, then slowly looked up and nodded. “Uh, yeah, Hi… Twilight.” Why does she want to see me?

“Oh, splendid!” Twilight cheered and quickly set her books aside. “I’ll be down in a minute!” she called out and walked away from the balcony. Then she quickly leaned over again. “Don’t move a muscle!”

This can’t be good. Scootaloo thought in fear. She whispered to her friends while Twilight started walking down. “What if she wants me to do homework or something!”

Apple Bloom snorted. “You said you had a plan for that.”

“I said probably. You two need to back me up, though!”

“On what?” Sweetie said while munching on the final cookie.

“If I run, you two run. Got it?”

Sweetie’s eyes widened in shock at the very idea of running away from Twilight. “But… but… she might make more cookies!”

Scootaloo grabbed Sweetie just before Twilight reached the bottom step. She started shaking her like mad. “This is bigger than cookies!”

Twilight stopped at the bottom step and glanced at the three fillies curiously. “Um, what’s going on?”

Scootaloo quickly placed Sweetie Belle back and whipped around, smiling at the mare. “Nothing! So, what’s up?”

Twilight smiled at her, but only her. “Family history! Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find anything on yours, Scootaloo. I was hoping you could help me archive stories about the Firehens!”

For a single moment, Scootaloo’s world shattered and her brain simply wouldn’t respond. ...What?! “Uh…”

“Of course, I could also seek out your guardians or parents if you’re not up to it. Or, maybe, don’t know?” Twilight said while walking up to them and frowning at the lack of cookies.

I’m gonna kill Diamond Tiara. Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Uh, I guess I can help. Why the… sudden interest?”

“Well, I’ve actually been working on a huge research project that archives ponies throughout Equestrian history that have helped shape it. Diamond Tiara stopped by the other day and noticed what I was doing and told me about her project. It got me thinking and I realized I didn’t have very many pegasus ponies listed at all!” she exclaimed as if it were the most exciting thing in the world.

Scootaloo nodded and gulped. Both failed to notice the other two fillies had gotten up and were doing their best to sneak away from the potential homework they could sense.

Twilight continued. “I mean, it makes sense as typically it was the earth ponies and the unicorns who helped build things. Not that pegasus ponies aren’t important, of course; it’s just so few of them actually constructed buildings or bridges or other things. It’s just so rare for them! So, will you help me?” Twilight pleaded.

Breathe, just breathe. “W-well, how much did she tell you? Or show you? Or whatever?”

Twilight levitated out a single parchment that she had on her back and unfolded it for her. “Just a list of names and what they did. See for yourself, I want to make sure this is as accurate as I can get.”

Thank Luna she has names… I didn’t remember even half of the bull that Diamond said. She looked it over and recognized most of the list that was there. I’ll just have to make up some bull of my own and I can be done with this. Well, after having a chat with little miss wannabe princess. “I know about most of these guys… uh, my dad felt it was important I memorized my family history,” she said, lying directly to her face. She’ll buy that, right?

Twilight nodded. “That makes sense, my parents did the same thing! So, should we start now?!”

Scootaloo hesitated and looked around. “Well, we were… going to… where’d they go?”

Twilight looked around and then spotted that the door had been left open. “Oh, they must have gone out for some fresh air. This shouldn’t take too long. All I need is a few paragraphs for each pony on the list. Just to get a general idea of who they were and what they did for Equestria.”

The filly nodded, already starting to form made up ideas for the first few. Shouldn’t be too bad… but I’m still gonna kill her.

---

By the time Scootaloo had finished ‘recounting’ her family history, she was exhausted; but Twilight still wasn’t. She wasn’t just tired from making up lies, it was trying to remember them all that she was having trouble with. The very thought of not knowing every lie she had just told Twilight scared her to death. If this gets out, or if Twilight asks me again… and I don’t know… she’ll get suspicious! As Twilight copied down the notes, Scootaloo wondered how hard it would be to steal them when she wasn’t looking, copy them down, then put them back. I can’t ask for a copy; that would seem suspicious, too! I’m the one that’s supposed to know!

“Thank you so much for this, Scootaloo. If you’d like, I can drop off my final documents on this, a copy, to your parents’ house.”

Crud! Scootaloo chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, that won't be necessary. My dad has enough things to remind him of the past. Like I said earlier, he’s always telling our family stories. This will just encourage him…” she grumbled out the last part, hoping Twilight caught on.

Twilight chuckled and nodded. “Well, alright. But if your family ever wants a copy, just let me know!”

I’ll have to take her up on that in a few weeks… gonna kill Diamond! “Uh, cool. I will. I have to go work on some homework right now… so…”

Twilight nodded. She knew the value of homework. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Will you have enough time to finish it? I didn’t mean to--”

Scootaloo waved her down and stood up. “Yeah, yeah. It’ll be fine, but I should leave, now. Heh.”

“Right, well, I’ll see you around, Scootaloo Firehen!”

Scootaloo cringed on the inside but smiled and waved. She grabbed her scooter and couldn’t get out of the library quick enough. She began to scoot away into town, but quickly stopped and looked around. “Where’d they go?” All she spotted were various earth ponies heading toward the town’s marketplace. “Better check the clubhouse.”

She turned around and froze. There, seated on a bench, was Diamond Tiara. She was smiling and eating away on some ice cream, along with her partner in crime, Silver Spoon. The two talked and laughed, blissfully unaware of Scootaloo’s presence. There was something about the two, having the time of their lives, completely unworried. It unnerved Scootaloo. For a moment, only a single moment, the brat filly glanced at her. She winked then quickly looked away, not wanting to spoil her time by Scootaloo’s sight. The pegasus wanted to march up to her and give her a piece of her mind. She wanted to scream, to point out what she did, to make her feel bad. She didn’t move, however. She simply stood there, going over everything that had happened on the last day. I can’t… No matter how badly she wanted to, she knew it would only hurt her in the end. She knows I can’t… she has me…

Slowly, but surely, she left the area. Not bothering to even glance at the two ponies, but she could swear she heard a snicker come from the pink colored filly.
What am I going to do?

As she slowly trotted toward the clubhouse, she began to reflect on her friends. Every time she thought of them, it filled her heart and mind with nervous excitement. She wasn’t even sure why she had ended up with them of all ponies; they literally weren’t like her. Sweetie Belle was silly, bubbly and tried to be everything her sister was; she was quite possibly the opposite of Scootaloo. Apple Bloom was closer in personality but usually was different enough to raise an eyebrow or two. All in all, the three mixed together to form a chaotic group of destruction and mayhem. If she was being honest with herself, she was was shocked that she hadn’t been found out sooner.

We’re always getting in trouble, but nopony thinks to ask to see my parents?!

She shook her head to banish the stray thought and decided to focus on the problem at hand. Diamond Tiara, she decided, had forced her hoof. She needed either help or some very good advice. As much as she liked her friends, she knew whatever they came up with would only get them in trouble.

Again.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… I need an adult…” she muttered while rubbing the sides of her temples.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something peculiar. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t give most ponies her undivided attention, unless they had a rainbow-hued tail. What she noticed, however, was uncanny. It was a stallion, a pegasus pony, who was walking through the streets. What made the sight so curious was that she had never seen him before; after all, Ponyville was a close-knit town. Everypony basically knew everypony and they especially knew who the town was built for. Earth ponies. Not that other ponies weren’t welcome, you just didn’t see them as often. Still, it wasn’t any of that, it was how they looked.

Just like me… Holy hay! Scootaloo thought, as her eyes did their best to follow her- him, she wasn’t sure. Her eyes never left, even as the pony gently spread its wings and flew off. Crud, she thought bitterly, watching the one pony that could probably help, fly off in a hurry. Instinctively her wings fluttered, but she remained on the ground. “Stupid wings.”

The pony that had flown off had given her a small idea. Well, it was actually quite a large order, and she doubted it would ever work. Just thinking of Diamond Tiara and the information she probably knew about her, it seemed better than nothing. She considered it more and more, not bothering to think of anything else and then she sighed. Scootaloo propped her body up against a stone wall, just outside town and sighed. “I really do need an adult.”

Her ears began to swivel upon hearing somepony mumble something, followed by a rather loud sniffle. She placed one of her ears onto the wall in an attempt to see where it was coming from. After a few short moments, she was confident, whoever it was, they were crying and appeared to be right behind her. “Hello?” she called out, making the voice stop. It was followed by a loud sniffle, as the pony breathed in to calm themselves.

“H- hey,” the voice replied, a familiar sounding one.

Scootaloo climbed over the fence and spotted the filly from before. She looked like a mess, her mane was frazzled and her eyes appeared bloodshot. “Are you okay?”

The filly slowly nodded, not looking happy to be disturbed. All though, Scootaloo noted, she seemed more embarrassed than angry. “Well, it’s just, you were crying and all…”

The unicorn huffed and nodded. “Yeah…”

Scootaloo looked around, making sure nopony was in sight. Considering they were on the edge of town, she figured nopony would be. She took a seat next to the filly and looked away. Now what? she thought dumbly.

“It’s just… it’s not fair,” the unicorn said, huffing again.

Scootaloo nodded. “What’s not--?”

Suddenly, as if being hidden wasn’t important anymore, the filly loudly responded. “It was my ball, but she had to take it and I’ll never get it back and Mommy gave it to me and she’ll just keep taking my stuff and taking more and--”

Quickly Scootaloo brought out both of her front hooves and clamped the filly’s mouth shut, gently. “Whoa there. Okay, who took your ball?”

The filly dashed her hooves aside and huffed. “Rose Petal, she took it.”

Immediately Scootaloo started laughing, but then quickly covered it up upon noticing the filly’s glare. “Heh, okay. Where is she? I bet I can get it back for ya. Or at least help out some.” When Scootaloo finished speaking, she nearly grimaced. This isn’t my problem. I shouldn’t be ticking off bully fillies… she thought, wondering what she was risking.

The filly’s eyes widened in shock, but she quickly got over it, while nodding. “Yeah, okay, that could work.”

Scootaloo’s mouth dropped in amazement. She got over that fast… she noted, noticing no traces of the tears from before. “I’m Scootaloo, who are you?”

“Everypony just calls me Dinky, except my mom… she calls me Muffin or something. Uh, Dinky’s good,” she quickly exclaimed with a blush.

“Alright, Dinky. Take me to this bully of yours.”

Dinky shrugged, then pointed off in the distance. “She’s over by that tree.”

Sure enough, there were several small ponies all perched under a tree. Scootaloo blinked then slowly nodded. “How’d I miss them? Whatever.” Without waiting for a response, she quickly marched over to the group. It was fairly evident that the four ponies there were rather young, like Dinky. They seemed to enjoy playing with a bright purple ball, not paying any mind to Scootaloo. “Um, excuse me?”

Play quickly ceased, with four pairs of eyes homing on her. One in the group, a red-coated earth pony looked up and scowled. “What?”

“I want you to give that ball back to Dinky.”

“No.”

It was such a simple reply that Scootaloo could have sworn she felt her IQ dropping. “Uh huh, just give it back please.”

“No.”

Scootaloo rubbed the temples on her head for the second time that day. “It’s not your ball, just give it back.”

“No, no!”

“Oh, you’re gonna throw a tantrum now? I’ve seen Pumpkin Cake act more mature and she's a foal.”

The filly before her pounded her hooves in the grass, clutching the ball close to her body. “No!”

“Okay, how about I just pop the ball then! Then none of you get to play with it!”

The other fillies looked at each other in shock, would she do that? However, the tantrum-throwing filly looked up at her and laughed. “Okay!” She exclaimed, seeming ecstatic to see Dinky’s ball broken.

Scootaloo smiled and picked the ball out of her hooves. “Alright then!” She went to pop it, causing Dinky to look on in horror. Then Scootaloo chuckled and began to walk away with the ball in tow.

The brat bully filly looked on in confusion. “Wha...?”

Scootaloo smirked back at her, stopping for a moment. “Oh, don’t look so down; we all get bested sooner or later.” She patted the filly quickly on the head, and then promptly walked off.

Dinky looked on in shock but smiled when the ball was placed back in her possession.

“There ya go!” Scootaloo said brightly.

“Th-thanks,” was all the filly managed out. They both shared a smile and soon they had departed.

Scootaloo, for the most part, felt extremely happy with herself. She may not have fixed her issues, but there was something noble of fixing somepony else’s. I still need to fix mine, though! After walking away, the weight of her issues starting to push down on her. If she ignored it, she knew things would only get worse from there on out. Diamond Tiara was not the type of pony to just let things from her grasp. In fact, the bully filly often pushed things to their limits, causing things to spiral out of control. The spoiled bully would not only do these things, but she also didn’t care who she took down with her. Getting in trouble with her daddy was nothing for her, but Scootaloo getting in trouble with enough grownups could spell doom for herself.

She had been walking toward Sweet Apple Acres but slowed down when she reached the entrance. I still don’t know what to do. For a long while, she considered walking in and playing with her friends. She remained still on the edge of the orchard, unmoving. The sun had started to set and she was no close to fixing her worries than when she had started. “They’re probably in their homes by now,” she said solemnly. She considered Apple Bloom’s farm home and Sweetie Belle’s… whatever she had. She was never really sure where Sweetie lived, but she always thought she had at least two homes; one with her sister and one with her parents.

However, when Scootaloo thought of home, a literal home, she thought way back. It wasn’t out in some field or even in the clubhouse, where she currently resided. No. It was a far off place, something so alien from Ponyville that it nearly sickened her. I don’t have to go back, she told herself, hoping the memories would stay just that, memories. She looked back at her wings, then flexed them and sighed. Though, sometimes I wish I could…

After sulking for a good ten minutes, she began to shiver. She looked down the path that led into the orchard and nodded. “I better get back…” Her stomach began to rumble a moment later and she sighed. “Great, no food and probably out of bits. Good going, Scoots.” She considered her options and when it came down to it, she had apples. They weren’t the easiest fruit to pluck; their height off the ground being the biggest hurdle to jump through. Ponies often didn’t climb trees, even pegasus ponies tended to stay away from their branches. Scootaloo, however, often climbed trees. “Better than starvin’,” she said while eyeing the first tree of the night.

She set her scooter aside and ran at the tree as fast as she could. She jumped at the last moment and sunk her front hooves into the tree’s bark. They stuck, but only barely. Hesitantly she removed her right hoof and then quickly slapped it back onto the tree, just a few inches above. She repeated the gesture for her other hoof and soon she had clambered toward a branch. This branch held a few apples, but she was only after one. Foolishly, she tried to reach for it with her mouth, but that quickly failed when she found her muzzle nearly stuck into some leaves. She sneered at it, then swatted her right hoof right on the apple. It swiveled about but didn’t drop. She began to sweat while looking down, hoping not to fall. She prayed to Luna, Celestia and a bit of Cadence before removing both her front hooves and swiping at it. She was quick enough to get her hooves back on the trunk just as the apple dropped down below. As quickly as the apple dropped, so did she. Pony hooves were not designed to stick to trees, or indeed for many things. She groaned, feeling the dirt that her side had swiftly smacked into. “Ouch…”

Her apple had a bruise on it, but only on one side. She scarfed most of it down and quickly set off for another one. By the time she was finished, her belly was covered in tree sap with her muzzle frosted with sticky apple residue. “Raw apples bite,” she said. Looking up she shivered, the moon was fully out. She grabbed her scooter and walked off toward the clubhouse.

“C’mon… almost got it…” Scootaloo quickly dashed into some nearby bushes. She heard Sweetie Belle’s voice off in the distance and was not going to take any chances at being caught.

“Which one was it again? Upside down squiggle, then the moon looking thingy?”

What is she doing here? Scootaloo watched the filly canter by, constantly looking up at her horn and muttering things to herself. Occasionally it would spark to life, only to die down as quickly as the sparks flew off.

“I know what it is! Full moon, then the squiggle, then the half moon!” Sweetie announced to the world as if it were the most natural thing to say. She closed her eyes, stopped walking, then concentrated. Instead of sparks flying from her horn, a dull green glow slowly circled her horn. It looked to be a crude light spell and did a decent job of illuminating everything around her. “I did it! I did it! I did it!” Sweetie hopped around gleefully, unaware of her friend just inches from her, watching.

Woah… Scootaloo sat there dumbstruck. She had only ever seen Sweetie Belle blow sparks, never a full spell.

“I did it! I-- Hey, is that Scootaloo’s scooter?”

Crud…

With the spell still active, Sweetie walked over to it, illuminating the very bush Scootaloo resided in. Scootaloo didn’t dare move a muscle or breathe. Just walk away, it’s just my scooter. It will be fine here! she thought, her mind frantic with anxiety.

“Oh, hi, Scootaloo!” Sweetie quickly looked down and waved, an innocent smile on her face. “What you doing in the bushes?”

Thinking quickly, she stood up and stumbled through the leaves, then touched her scooter. She sighed in relief, mainly from being out of the thorny bushes, but actually for show. “Oh, phew! You found my scooter! I had, uh, lost it, yeah! Heh, don’t you sometimes get lost in the orchard?” She said, nervousness obvious in her voice.

Sweetie tilted her head in confusion and slowly shook it. “Nope! But I’m glad you found it!”

“Yeah, heh… By the way, that spell is awesome! I didn’t know you could do magic now!”

Sweetie blushed, having the attention switched back to her. “Heh, yeah. It’s a long story. Um, but I need to get back to Rarity’s place. It’s pretty late. Do you want me to walk ya home?” she said sweetly.

Stifling a yawn, Scootaloo moaned inwardly. No, I want you to walk away so I can go to sleep! she thought in a huff, but then she watched Sweetie’s innocent smile and sighed. “Uh, sure. My house is past Rarity’s, though,” she replied, thinking up a quick lie. She could never get angry with Sweetie Belle, she doubted if anypony could. Plus she knew her friend was just trying to be friendly.

“Okay, let’s go!”

Great… As they walked with each other, something nagged at the back of the pegasus’s mind. “Hey, Sweetie?” The unicorn hummed in response. “Where’d you two go, anyway?”

“Oh, well, we didn’t want to get caught in one of Twilight’s lectures on… not exciting things. So, we headed back to the clubhouse. But Applejack stopped us on the way and said Apple Bloom had chores to do. I went back to Rarity’s and, well, yeah.” She motioned to her still glowing horn, hinting that Rarity had something to do with it.

Scootaloo nodded. “Cool.”

“What did you and Twilight end up talking about?”

Scootaloo blushed and looked away. “Family stuff. She wanted to do a report on my family line. Something to do with her studies under the princess and something that’s important to her too. I don’t know. I told her what I knew and then I was out of there… like a million hours later.”

Sweetie smiled smugly. “And that’s why we left. Sorry, Scoots.”

She sighed, feeling as if her issues were a million miles away, for now. “Whatever, it’s… fine.”

They giggled together and talked for a while. If there was one thing that Ponyville reminded her of home, it was her close friends. Sweetie Belle was kind, honest, funny and sometimes brave. She would say awesome, but that word was reserved for Rainbow Dash. When they got nearer to the center of town, Sweetie spoke up nervously.

“Uh, are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home? My spell could help and it is pretty dark,” she noted, looking around.

She shook her head frantically. “Pfft, I’m fine! Really!” She waved her hoof lazily, indicating things were fine. I could use a warming spell, though.

Sweetie quirked a brow at her but nodded in agreement. “Okay.”

The two quickly split apart, with Scootaloo walking past the boutique, toward Twilight’s library in the general direction of where she claimed her house was. Sweetie waved, but couldn’t help thinking something was off as she knocked on Rarity’s front door. I don’t remember any houses being that way…

When Scootaloo was out of earshot, she kicked her scooter into high gear. She was aiming to scoot all around the half side of town, to get back to the one place where she could safely rest. She felt exhausted, as her wings buzzed slower than usual. “I just had to be nice and walk Sweetie home… ugh.”

She had been leaning on the handlebars for support. Out of nowhere, both front wheels broke off, sending her tumbling face first into the dirt. She didn’t even have a chance to scream before her head hit the ground and-

Author's Note:

I'm evil. I know.

Comments

[Frission]

[Cold Spike]

6530289 I miss the golfer.

[Emperor]

Ah, a Scootalone fic, though she doesn't appear to be exactly a Scootaorphan reading the subtext of her thoughts. Which makes me wonder how much of what DT said about her parents was true, and how much of that was just DT horseshitting.

Actually, I wonder if Firehen is something DT made up or Scootaloo's real last name or something Scootaloo made up and put false information in a database somewhere for ponies who took a second look at her. Because really, a firehen is probably a derogatory name for a phoenix

And Dinky makes an appearance here, twice even. Someday, I will write her as the daughter of Carrot Top and Written Script with sister Noi and big sister Amethyst Star, just as implied by The Last Roundup and Sisterhooves Social, with Muffins a godmother figure