A/N: My muse and I have been reunited! Prepare for some Scootasad.

---

Scootaloo cracked one eye open, then shut it up tight again against the bright light that instantly flooded her vision. Whatever time it was, it was far too early to wake up, that was for sure.

"Did you see that?" Rarity said. "I think she's coming around."

I'm staying right here where you can't hurt me. Scootaloo thought.

"Why should I care?" Sweetie Belle said.

Or maybe you can.

Scootaloo blinked her eyes then sat up. She was in a different hotel than the one they had stayed in. It wasn't nearly as fancy, consisting of just two beds and a couch. But the covers were warm and the bed was soft. She noticed that there was something different about Sweetie Belle, aside from the fact that she was slightly grey which probably meant that she hadn't washed the ashes off yet.

She had her cutie mark.

For some reason, Scootaloo didn't feel happy for her. Instead she felt sort of sad. Sweetie Belle probably wouldn't want to see her anymore now that she had found her cutie mark. She would be like one of the playground bullies. "You got your cutie mark," she said lamely.

"You did too, you dodo," Sweetie Belle said. "Look at your flank and see."

Scootaloo pulled back the covers with some trepidation. What if Sweetie Belle was lying and trying to make her look like a fool? But no, there it was, plain as day. But it was bizarre. In fact she wasn't sure it wasn't a cruel prank.

It looked kind of like a black circle with two points at either end. Maybe it was the letter Q? What could that mean?

Meanwhile, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were squabbling. That was fairly normal, but this argument seemed to go farther than their usual banter.

"Sweetie Belle, that wasn't very nice," Rarity said. "And since when did you start calling ponies names?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I dunno. But it's true. Anypony can see that she can't fly, and she isn't very smart either. I've seen her grades."

Scootaloo flinched at this barb. Sweetie Belle had never called her stupid before. Not seriously anyway.

"Sweetie Belle! That's none of your business. Were you snooping around again?"

"It's not snooping if she sits next to me and I happen to see it." Sweetie Belle argued.

"Sweetie Belle!"

"What?"

This continued for another ten minutes. Sweetie Belle regarded Rarity with utter disdain, which infuriated Rarity, and the sparks flew ever higher. Scootaloo sat back and watched. No sense in getting involved in this. It was something she wouldn't understand, being an only foal. She inspected her cutie mark, trying to decipher the meaning of it, but the best she could make of it was a nonsensical black shape. She sighed. Rainbow Dash's was so much cooler. She'd never want to hang out now.

She had often wanted an older sibling, specifically Rainbow Dash, but her parents had gotten a late start so to speak and she had neither older sibling nor younger. She wondered if this arguing was what being a sister was all about.

After a while the fight died down with Sweetie Belle appearing lethargic and Rarity's mane standing on end. Scootaloo rolled over and found Apple Bloom bed next to her, her foreleg in a cast. Memories of Discord came flooding back to Scootaloo and she shuddered. What a horrible nightmare.

Scootaloo was about to ask if Apple Bloom was alright, but then thought better of it. Probably the last thing they needed after squabbling like that was a question. They would probably just make fun of her. Anypony could see that her leg was broken. She decided to remain silent.

"Are you going to lay there all day?" Sweetie Belle demanded. "You're awake, get up already."

"Oh, uh, right." Scootaloo rolled out of bed.

"Ouch!" Apple Bloom yelped. "What'd you do that for, Scootaloo?" She glared at her friend.

"Sorry," Scootaloo avoided eye contact. "It was an accident. I didn't think it would wake you up."

"I've been awake for the last hour," Apple Bloom said. "Didn't feel like getting up." She rolled over to face the wall.

Scootaloo noticed something different about her. "Your bow's gone."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Got rid of it. That silly thing was too girly for me. Anyway, what do you care?"

"Oh, um, no reason." Apple Bloom had always worn that bow. In fact, Scootaloo didn't think she had seen her without it. Without it she looked like a stranger. But she was right, why should she care? All caring could lead to was more heartache. Besides, it wasn't like anypony else cared.

"Well, girls, I've already packed your things," said Rarity. "We need to leave soon if we want to make the train back to Ponyville."

"Good. I'm tired of Canterlot." Sweetie Belle slung her saddlebags on her back. "It's just one big bore after another."

---

The train ride home was long and for the most part silent. None of the fillies wanted to talk to each other. Scootaloo sat slightly away from the others on their bench. This trip wouldn't be an overnight ride this time since it got started early in the day. In just a matter of hours she would be home. In the mean time the trip gave her plenty of time to think about her dream. It wasn't something she wanted to remember, but it wouldn't leave her alone.

The part about Rainbow Dash laughing at her was particularly painful. It replayed again and again, burning itself into her mind. She could hear her laughing, pushing her away, and shattering her dreams.

She knew she shouldn't let a bad dream get to her like this. But somepony had told her that a dream was just the mind trying to get what it could never have. Of course, she shouldn't trust Discord. He was more slippery than an eel. But she couldn't help it. She didn't have it in her to fight the curse any longer. She gave in, and turned just the slightest bit more grey. Nopony noticed. Nopony cared.

---

At home, Scootaloo walked straight to her room. She gave her parents vague answers about the trip and her cutie mark. They acted happy for her, but there was no way they could really mean it. Surely they were ashamed of a filly who had a meaningless cutie mark and couldn't fly. They wouldn't want her as a daughter.

She tossed her saddlebag carelessly onto her bed and flopped alongside it. Her walls were plastered with various posters of famous pegasi, mostly Rainbow Dash. On every wall of her room there was at least one picture, plush, or model of her idol.

Before, they had always inspired Scootaloo. Now the smiling pictures seemed empty, mocking, and cruel. Whenever she saw one she remembered Rainbow Dash laughing in her face. The dream came back to her more vivid than before.

"Why so sad? Did you expect me to teach you some tricks now that you can hop?"

She bit her lip. It hurt even more the second time.

"I'm glad I'm not your sister."

Hot tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't have meant it. There was no way. She stared at a painting of the Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow Dash was everything she was not. She was strong, fast, and had done the impossible. Scootaloo, on the other hand, could not even hover for a full minute.

"Around the town you're called names. Chicken. Dodo. Penguin. And what do they all have in common? None of them can fly."

Angrily, she tore the pictures from the wall and crumpled them into a trash can. She wanted nothing to do with them. She wanted to forget they ever existed.

What point was there in being a pegasus if she couldn't even fly? Even Featherweight was flying now. All the fillies and colts at school were chattering excitedly about Summer Flight Camp. She wanted desperately to go, but realistically, she was just in denial. There was something wrong keeping her on the ground.

She looked at her flank again. It still made no sense. Would it ever? Cutie marks were supposed to be symbolic, a sign that a pony had found their place in the world. A pony may have a mark of a reed, but that didn't necessarily mean that their talent was growing reeds. It could be that they were able to bend in the wind so to speak.

But if her cutie mark was a symbol of anything, it had to be something strange. Her mark wasn't special. It was just a shape. A circle with two triangles poking out. It meant nothing. Which meant that she was nothing. Just a small pegasus who couldn't get up to the clouds.