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President of the Fan Club2,143 words
Making Reservations1,458 words
Showing Up Empty-Hooved2,669 words

Showing Up Empty-Hooved

Sugarcube corner’s side room was filled with ponies, presents, and birthday decorations. Scootaloo’s birthday party was in anything but full swing. Rather, it had come to a standstill as the ruckus and excitement died down to be replaced by boredom. Nopony had said a word in several minutes.

Scootaloo sat with her friends at a round table. The centerpiece of the table was a large, intricately detailed sheet cake with smiling faces drawn in icing. Spaced carefully along the cake were thirteen unlit candles, which surrounded the message, ‘Happy Birthday Scootaloo’.

“Maybe we should do the candles and cut the cake…”

“No!” Scootaloo snapped at her friend. “She isn’t here yet, Sweetie Belle! We can’t cut the cake until she gets here!”

The pegasus gestured behind her toward the empty seat to her left, which was one of only two unoccupied spaces. At each other seat sat either one of Scootaloo’s classmates, an adult, or in one seat a small dragon. Both empty seats were among the group of adults. Pinkie Pie leaned across another empty seat to whisper loudly in a Twilight Sparkle’s ear. The unicorn rolled her eyes and dismissed whatever Pinkie had said.

One adult did not sit with the rest of the ponies her own age, but sat among the younger party guests. This dark raspberry-colored earth pony, known to the most of the school-aged ponies at the table as their teacher, glanced around the table before looking to the birthday girl with a comforting smile.

“Scootaloo… I hate to say this, but I’m worried Rainbow Dash isn’t going to show up. Sweetie Belle’s right. We shouldn’t be waiting on her like this.”

“No!” The pegasus insisted. “She promised she would come and I know she will!”

“Scootaloo,” the earth pony added, leaning forward to allow the pegasus to see her more clearly past Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “She was supposed to be here two hours ago. We’ve been waiting nearly twenty minutes in front of this cake.”

Scootaloo sat back and crossed her front legs in front of her chest. She grumbled and looked to Rainbow Dash’s vacant space at the table.

“Would you listen to Miss Cheerilee?” A chubby blue colt piped up from the opposite side of the table. “Just save her a piece! Heck, it’s a big cake, save half of it!”

The birthday girl glowered at her classmate and for a moment regretted inviting him. That same pony had been complaining about the wait for a while now. Then again, several of the ponies were complaining, but none of them seemed to be quite as up-front with their impatience. He even had the nerve earlier to ask Scootaloo why she invited their teacher. At this moment, however, the colt seemed to be happy with what Cheerilee was saying.

“There’s a chance,” the other pony continued. “Not one hundred percent, but a chance – a big chance, that she just blew you off. We should act like she isn’t going to show, because I bet you she won’t. If she suddenly appears, whoop-de-do, hip-hip hooray! Let’s just move on!”

The colt turned to the off-white pegasus next to him. “Am I right, Feathers?” When the pegasus didn’t respond, the pony tapped him, prompting a moment of brief confused panic.

“Wha?”

“Do you think Rainbow Dash is going to show up?”

“Um…” The lanky pegasus stumbled over his words.

The blue colt sighed and tried again. “Featherweight, let’s catch up. We’ve been waiting…” The colt turned around to ask Cheerilee but turned back when he remembered the amount of time the party had been at a standstill. “Oh, almost a half hour, for Scootaloo’s guest of honor. A few of us are trying to convince her to just let us carry on and have cake. Do you have anything to add?”

The pegasus looked around, wide-eyed. The mixed expression of embarrassment and confusion under his brown mane stated obviously to everypony that he had not noticed much of what was happening. A slight blush began to show on his cheeks but luck favored him by preventing the other colt from noticing it.

“Dude. You’re not usually like this. The boredom getting to you too?”

“Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom cut in, “did ya tell Rainbow Dash th’ party was gonna be here?”

The moment Rainbow Dash announced her intent to come flashed back to Scootaloo. She cursed herself for forgetting to mention that detail. Her eyes went wide as she realized Rainbow Dash might have gone somewhere else by mistake. She reassured herself with the fact that most parties in this town seemed to happen at this place. Still, she couldn’t believe she forgot to tell Rainbow Dash where to go.

“Um…” Before the pegasus could respond further, the chime on the door rang. The last eight chimes were normal customers picking up treats from the bakery. Despite this, Scootaloo craned her neck excitedly to get a view of the door just as she had done every time she heard the chime previously. Nearly falling over, she managed to see the door just as it shut, and her face lit up with joy.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo jumped up from her stool and ran around the table to greet the pony at the door, with her wings buzzing fruitlessly along the entire distance.

“Hey, kid.” Rainbow smiled sheepishly. “Sorry I’m late… I, um… overslept.” Waiting a beat, she added, “I told you it was a little early for me on a weekend.”

“That’s okay, Dash! You’re just in time for cake,” Scootaloo exclaimed as she hopped a few times. She guided Rainbow Dash hurriedly to her seat right next to her. Several ponies rolled their eyes at the implication that Rainbow Dash was not late at all.

As Rainbow Dash sat down, she noticed her friends to her left, with another empty space three seats away. One friend was missing, which she marked as strange since the friend’s little sister was there.

“Where’s Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked nopony in particular.

“Sis said she’d try ‘ta come, but not ‘ta wait on her since she might not make it,” Apple Bloom responded. “She has a lotta things back at th’ farm to catch up on. We got a big, las’ minute order that needs ‘ta be filled by Monday.”

“Ah. Makes sense.” Rainbow Dash sat down, subconsciously leaning slightly to the left as Scootaloo sat to her right. “So,” she said, pointing towards the center of the table. “Cake, right?”

“Yeah, of course!”

Several seats to the left of Rainbow Dash, Twilight turned to the dragon beside her. “Care to do the honors?”

The dragon stood on top of his seat to get a better angle at the cake. He inhaled, then slowly exhaled a flame over the tip of each candle expertly.

Rainbow grinned mockingly once the dragon finished. “Glad you didn’t send the cake to the princess again, Spike. I’m hungry.” The dragon blushed in response as he sat down, grumbling something about the last time not being his fault. Half the table chuckled at Rainbow’s quip, while the other half sat idly wondering whether the incident was something that they would have had to witness to appreciate.

Sweetie Belle stood and cleared her throat, just in time to stop Scootaloo from blowing out the candles. She looked around the table quickly, and then began to sing. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to y—”

“STOP!” Pinkie interrupted desperately. Sweetie Belle looked at her and her eyes started to water.

“I wasn’t that bad, was—”

“I heard that song was COPYRIGHTED!” Pinkie yelled as she shot around the table to warn the filly up-close. “We could get sued! Or worse, we could go to jail! I’m too young and pretty for the slammer!”

“Are you serious?” Twilight asked as confusion appeared on her face.

“Of course I’m serious, Twilight! Do you know what they do to cute pink ponies there? Because I don’t! I’ve never been there, and I don’t know about you but I never want to go there!” Pinkie interrupted her fast-forward outburst. Her pupils constricted, her mouth stretched into a caricature-like frown, and she began to sweat as if being interrogated under a bright, hot light. “What… What if WE’RE COPYRIGHTED?”

“Pinkie—”

“No, think about it! If WE'RE copyrighted, we might be crossing a line by being ourselves! But I don’t know how to be anypony else!”

“Pinkie, have you read any law books?” Twilight asked frankly.

Pinkie thought for a moment, wide-eyed, before shaking her head.

“Equestrian copyright doesn’t work that way. We’re fine.”

The pink pony, whom several ponies in the room currently suspected was some level of bonkers, seemed satisfied by that explanation. She hopped back around the table and retook her seat. The smile on her face contrasted drastically with her panic that had only seconds ago become part of the past. She paused with her blank smile, staring at the cake for a few moments as wax dripped down the sides of the candles.

Twilight puffed quietly, grateful that event was over. “By the way, Sweetie Belle,” she said as she turned towards the troubled unicorn. “You sang beautifully. Pinkie’s outburst was just… Something else.” Pinkie nodded.

After a moment of awkward silence, Scootaloo coughed and scanned the table. “Can I blow the candles out now?” she asked impatiently.

“Of course!” Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully. “Don’t forget to make a wish!”

Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash briefly, and then turned to the cake wearing a thin smile. Despite not being the overly superstitious type, she figured it couldn’t hurt having something in mind as she extinguished the tiny symbolic flames. She paused, closed her eyes gently, and inhaled slowly. She held onto her breath a moment longer as she double-checked that she was thinking of something she truly wanted. Finding no doubt in her mind, she opened her eyes and blew out all of the candles in one breath.

Apple Bloom reached behind Sweetie Belle to poke Scootaloo’s shoulder. “What’cha wish for?” Sweetie Belle’s expression pried for an answer as well.

Scootaloo chuckled. “You know I don’t believe in that stuff.”

“You didn’t make a wish? You only get one birthday wish a year!”

As the three young ponies argued about the validity of birthday wishes, Cheerilee sliced the cake, and plated the slices. The first slice revealed two chocolate layers under the cake’s white icing. Twilight levitated empty plates toward Cheerilee, and passed the cake slices to the party guests, moving counter-clockwise starting with Scootaloo.

“Besides, even if I had made a wish, I’m not supposed to tell anypony what it is! Even I know that!”

Scootaloo turned towards her slice of cake, ending the conversation with a smug look of victory. She then took the first bite of cake and the guests followed. The guests conversed as they ate, both with Scootaloo and amongst themselves. For the most part, Rainbow Dash only conversed with her friends of her own age, only speaking to Scootaloo in response to a question before turning back to her previous banter.

Eventually, everypony had finished their cake, and Cheerilee insisted on helping Pinkie take the leftover cake back to the kitchen. Rainbow wasn’t paying much attention, but her ears caught Cheerilee announcing that it would be time to open gifts when she got back.

Rainbow Dash froze, expecting Rarity to ask something soon. She didn’t count on her abrupt silence to bring Rarity to ask right away.

“You did bring a gift, right darling?” Rainbow stuttered in response. Rarity had the decency to ask quietly, but Rainbow managed to draw attention to herself regardless. “It just is not proper to arrive at a party empty-hooved,” she added with a whisper.

“Hey!” Pinkie interjected. “Cut her a break! She’s still getting over the break-up!”

Rarity and Rainbow both shot Pinkie a disapproving glance, although Rainbow’s scowl was much more pronounced. “Oh. You want me to keep quiet about that.” The two nodded. “Okie-dokie,” Pinkie added. “Low-key.”

Rolling her eyes, Rarity hushed her whisper further. “I think I have something at home that will work, but it’s not wrapped. If you pretend you left your gift at home—“

“It’s okay, Rainbow Dash!” The two ponies turned to look at Scootaloo smiling genuinely. “I’m just so glad you came!”

Rainbow Dash felt eyes watching her. Some of the fillies and colts here were fans of hers as well, and she knew any changes to her reputation would spread quickly. She chuckled uncomfortably, mentally grasping at straws trying to figure out what to do next. The last thing she wanted to do was look lame for not bringing a gift to a birthday party. She didn’t want to play forgetful by promising to bring a gift later either – that would be lame as well.

“Well, Scoot,” she spoke slowly. She had to come up with something now. Twilight had mentioned something called a ‘butterfly effect’ to her a while back, but Rainbow originally cast the thought aside. “It’s not like I could wrap your gift!” It was a start, or at least it would buy Rainbow a few seconds. The problem at this point was she had limited her own options. The idea of a butterfly flapping its wings, cascading into other events until causing some disaster seemed disproportionate, but she couldn’t help but imagine it. Wait… wings?

“I can’t wrap your gift ‘cuz I’m going to teach you how to fly!”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. It took Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash both a moment to process what just happened. Scootaloo, mouth agape, quickly turned to look back at the center of the table where the cake and its candles were just moments prior. She quickly turned back to her idol, sunny as the clearest sky. “R-really?”

I hope not, Rainbow thought. All she wanted to do at that moment was introduce her hoof to her own face. Instead, she put on the best smile she could manage. “Of course, kid. That is, as long as your folks are cool with it.”

Scootaloo buzzed her wings eagerly, gaining roughly a half an inch of clearance from the ground before returning.

“There,” Rainbow explained, “is your first problem. You’re a pegasus, not a hummingbird. Anyway, flying’s got risks to it, so ask your mom to see if it’s OK before I take you under my wing or anything.”

The young mare nodded and shot off towards the archway separating the party from the lobby of Sugarcube Corner just in time to catch Cheerilee and Pinkie Pie returning. Scootaloo and Cheerilee conversed as Pinkie made her way back to the table.

“Wow, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight praised her friend. “You made Scootaloo very happy! I wasn’t expecting you to do that.”

The pegasus coughed a laugh and crossed her feathers. She watched Scootaloo talking to Cheerilee and realized she had no idea who Scootaloo’s parents were, but she had a feeling she had just figured out part of the equation when Scootaloo started running back, still smiling.

“She thinks it’s a great idea! When can we start?”

Rainbow Dash looked around the room. Most of the ponies seemed to approve of her action, although a few appeared to be jealous that their gifts would not compare to hers. She was not looking forward to following through on her offer, especially since it would cut into her own practice. She offered the next Friday afternoon, stating she would meet Scootaloo outside the school, and endured the brief, uncomfortable squeeze that indicated Scootaloo’s agreement to the date.

Author's Note:

Sorry this one took so long. I've been working on working forward, so I have bits of future chapters typed out. Hopefully this will give me plenty of chances to find where I need to do re-writes on the chapters where it really counts, and also make the delays between chapters shorter as I get deeper into the story.

A few people have mentioned to me they don't understand why Rainbow Dash dislikes Scootaloo so much in the first chapter. I have already said this story will not include anything past the Season 2 finale, so based on that, the last time we saw any interaction between the two was Ponyville Confidential. Dash is still holding a bit of a grudge, but has other (petty) reasons. I have very specific reasons.

I do want to thank everyone who has read, upvoted, and favorited this story. I'm trying something ambitious by my standards, and support from others directly influences how much I want to write. The story's already inside my noggin, getting it into words is the tricky par. Each email from here and Fanfiction.net, as well as the notifications on DeviantArt, still makes me very happy and motivates me to write this the way I want to tell it.

Also, if you go by this publish date, Scootaloo's birthday is now March 4th. I swear I didn't plan it that way, but I think it's kinda funny that for my birthday I'm making Scootaloo happy.

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