Twilight Sparkle walked after Pound and Pumpkin, following them to Sugarcube Corner. Since Shining Armor had been sent on a mission by the Princess, he had given the young filly a few bits so she could get a snack after school. Spike was still at the library if she wanted to go back, or if Shining finished soon enough, he would come pick her up from Sugarcube Corner. Plus now that she knew the Cakes were in the same class as her, Twilight could do her homework with them. Maybe she and Pound could even work on something together.

A high pitched buzzing sound reached the filly's ears, making her stop. She looked around, trying to find the source.

Coming down the road toward her was a form on some sort of wheeled vehicle. She froze as she watched it, eyes going wide. She had to move, had to get out of the way. Otherwise, the pony driving it would run her over. Twilight found herself frozen in place though. She could not get herself to move even though she wanted to. All she could do was watch as the rapidly moving pony got closer and closer.

The vehicle looked to be a scooter, made out of wood. The rider was a small orange filly who was crouched down close to the handlebars. Her purple eyes were narrowed as she drove, and there was a smirk on her face. Twilight could not make out the color of the mane because the rider was wearing a helmet. The two were so close, that Twilight would swear she could actually make out the driver's eyelashes.

Just before the two of them collided, the pony on the scooter tilted her body and jerked the handlebars. The scooter skidded sideways, circling around Twilight without even touching her. There was a cloud of dust as the wheels slid along the dirt road.

Once on the other side of Twilight, the driver turned the scooter around and continued down the road. Small pegasus wings continued to flap at a hummingbird speed, making the buzzing noise that the unicorn filly had heard. There was a flick of a violet tinted tail as it flapped in wind. Soon the scooter and the driver was gone in a cloud of dust.

"Twilight! Are you okay?"

Twilight felt a hoof on her shoulder. She blinked, still staring at the direction the scooter pegasus had gone, before slowly turning to look at the pony beside her. There was Pound Cake, looking at her with concern. Her face felt warm as she started to grin.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Ugh," Pumpkin groaned from behind her brother. "Why does she always have to be driving around like that?"

"You know who that was?" Twilight asked. She lunged forward as she spoke, pressing her chest against Pound as she looked past him at Pumpkin.

"...Yeah.." Pumpkin blinked at the excited Twilight. "Her name's Scootaloo. She tends to drive all over town on that thing like that."

"Any idea where she might be going?"

"Probably Sugarcube Corner just like-HEY! Wait up!" Pumpkin started chasing after Twilight, who had started running as soon as "Sugarcube Corner" had been said. Pound blinked in confusion and started chasing after them.

The three of them arrived, and sure enough, there was a blue wooden scooter just like the one they had seen earlier with a helmet hanging by the chin strap from one of the handlebars. The three of them continued their way into the shop. As soon as they entered, Pumpkin took off toward one of the tables.

"What's the big idea, Scootaloo?!" Pumpkin yelled, pressing herself face to face with the the orange pegasus filly.

"What?" Scootaloo asked, blinking. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the very angry yellow unicorn pressing close to her.

"Don't 'what' me!" Pumpkin poked at Scootaloo in the chest with a hoof. "You nearly ran my friend over outside." She pointed her free hoof to where Twilight and Pound stood. Twilight stood there, eyes wide. Pound was crouched low and blushing, embarrassed about the scene his sister was making.

"What?" Scootaloo said as he looked between Pumpkin and Twilight. "Her? She was never in any danger. I had plenty of time to avoid her."

There was a moment of quiet tension as the two ponies stared at each other, eye to eye. Pumpkin let out a snort, a blast of air escaping her nose and blowing into the face of Scootaloo.

"Well you just be careful you don't hit any pony I care about," Pumpkin growled, "or else."

Scootaloo's eyes narrowed as she returned the glare.

"Or else what?"

"Or else I'm going to take that scooter and shove the handlebars straight up your-"

"PUMPKIN CAKE!"

Pumpkin's ears dropped at the sound of her mother's voice. Taking a step away from the pegasus filly, Pumpkin turned around.

"You do not threaten other ponies like that," Mrs. Cake said.

" But Mom," Pumpkin whined, "she almost ran over Twilight."

"I heard." Mrs. Cake moved forward and placed a hoof on her daughter. "I understand you wanting to protect your friend, but threatening other ponies with bodily harm is still wrong. Now apologize."

Pumpkin groaned and rolled her eyes.

"I'm... sorry..." she said between clenched teeth. Not getting any more, she moved away from the orange filly.

"I'm sorry for my daughter threatening you," Mrs. Cake said to Scootaloo, "but you do need to be careful. Otherwise you or somepony else could get seriously hurt."

"Yes Mrs. Cake," Scootaloo replied.

Pumpkin walked back over to where Twilight and Pound were standing, watching her mom head back to the kitchen. All of a sudden, she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her neck as another pony pressed against her. To her surprise, the pony turned out to be Twilight.

"What is she doing?"

"It's called a hug," Pound answered with a grin.

"I know that!" Pumpkin responded, giving her brother a glare. "Why is she hugging me?" She looked down at Twilight. "Why are you hugging me?"

"You called me a friend."

"What?"

"When you were talking to Scootaloo just now," Twilight explained, "you called me your friend. I thought of you as a friend, but I never thought I would hear you call me one.

Pumpkin blinked, staring at Twilight as best she could.

"You're still weird."

"I know," Twilight answered before letting go and walking over to Scootaloo's table.

"Not one word," Pumpkin said to Pound, pointing a hoof and glaring at the grinning sibling.

"Hi," Twilight said as she came up to the table.

"Ooohhh." Scootaloo pointed at her. "You're the pony that was standing in the middle of the road earlier."

"Yeah," Twilight said with a nod. "That thing you did where you circled around me-"

"Drifting."

"Is that what it's called? Well, admittedly the whole thing was kind of scary, but it was also really neat. I've never seen anypony do something like that before."

"Thanks," Scootaloo replied with a grin. "I'm Scootaoo."

"I'm Twilight." The two shook hooves.

"Twilight," Pound called out from behind the counter. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you want to order?"

"Yeah," she called back before returning her attention to Scootaloo. "It was nice to meet you, and I promise I'll try to keep Pumpkin from actually causing any bodily harm."

Leaving the table, she headed toward the counter. The sight of all the baked goods made her stop. She had not actually decided what it was she had wanted yet. It was always tough too, everything was just so tasty. As always, she was torn. She wanted to try something new, but everything was so good she wanted to have it again.

Finally, she decided to try one of the "Cookies and Cream Kaboom Cupcakes (does not actually explode)." The fact that someone felt the need to include the fact it does not actually explode on the name card was odd. Does that mean there were ponies that actually worried that it would? Did they have goodies that actually would explode?

She took the cupcake and started for an empty table. As she did, she noticed a pony joining Scootaloo. It was a white unicorn, about the same age, with a purple and pink colored curly mane. Twilight stared at the other unicorn a moment, studying her. Her eyes went wide as it finally sank in.

"Hey," she called out. "I know you. You're Rarity's sister, right? Uh... Sweet... Sweet... Sweet Song? No..."

"Sweetie Belle," the white unicorn answered.

"Yeah."

"How do you know my sister?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm Twilight Sparkle." She took Sweetie Belle's hoof in hers and shook it. "My big brother is Shining Armor, who runs the library now. We met your sister when we came for the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Is your brother a white unicorn with a blue mane and tail?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

"Not really," Sweetie said with a shake of her head, "but Rarity's told me about him some."

"Okay. Well, I have homework to do, but it was nice to meet you. Maybe we can play together and get to know each other some time."

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle replied with a smile.

"Wait," Scootaloo jumped in. "You're going to do your homework? Now?"

"Yeah?" Twilight looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "When else would I do it?"

"Later?" Scootaloo said, seeming confused.

"Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said, "school just started. You nearly had a panic attack last year that you might not pass."

"I do better in a high pressure situations," Scootaloo stated, lifting her nose in the air. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes but said nothing.

Twilight looked at the two of them a moment, then went over to an empty table. She pulled out her homework and started to work. She was soon joined by both Pound and Pumpkin.