Scootaloo bounced excitedly down the sidewalk as she and Rainbow Dash made their way towards the town center. "Wow, the Rainbow Dash, here in Ponyville! I can't believe it!"

Rainbow laughed, shaking her head. "Relax, squirt, it's not that big a deal. I only lived here for, like, half my life. This is still my home, you know, even if I don't get to visit as often as I'd like."

"Yeah, but..still! You're, like, a Wonderbolt now, and not just a Wonderbolt, but, like, a super-awesome, super-famous one!"

Rainbow Dash grinned at the accolade. "True, true, but still. You think I'd miss out on a chance to drop in on my number one fan?" She reached over and tousled the littler pegasus's mane fondly. "Not a chance, kid."

Scootaloo beamed and leaned into the caress, her wings beating excitedly behind her. "Man, it's so great to see you...I can't wait to hear all about being a Wonderbolt!"

Rainbow smirked at her. "What, the weekly letters aren't enough?"

Scootaloo shook her head fervently, whipping her mane around her eyes. "No way, I wanna hear it directly from you. I bet it'll sound way cooler to hear you describe it."

"Probably," Rainbow agreed, nodding somberly. "Well, in return, you gotta tell me all about what's been going on with you, especially with the RACE academy. Still saddling up to go, I hope?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, I'm doing my best. It's not easy, you know."

"That's what I hear. A few Wonderbolts apparently tried to get into the academy first, and when they couldn't cut it, they decided to become 'Bolts instead. It was their fallback plan," she said, giving Scootaloo a meaningful look. "So that should tell you a bit about how big a deal that is."

Scootaloo's eyes widened. "I didn't know that...I thought the Wonderbolts are like...the best of the best."

"Best of the best fliers, sure, but...lemme just say that you're aiming real high, squirt." Rainbow smiled down at her. "But I know you, and I know you'll hit the mark."

Scootaloo blushed and giggled a little at the praise. In truth, it was nothing her parents hadn't said to her a thousand times before, but something about hearing it come from the Rainbow Dash, world's greatest flier, the best Wonderbolt recruit in centuries, bearer of the Element of Loyalty, and all-around badass...well, the thrill and the blush weren't entirely platonic in nature.

"So," Rainbow said as they reached the end of the neighborhood sidewalk and stood at the edge of the city center, looking in towards town hall and the bustling shopping area encircling it. "Any requests? My treat, obviously, but make sure you pick someplace awesome, because I am bucking starving. Been a long day of signing autographs, posing for pictures, turning down...heck, must've been something like fifteen dates." She gave Scootaloo a half-lidded smile. "Told 'em I already had plans for the evening."

Scootaloo blushed and smiled shyly. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, that's sweet of you to say, kid, but believe me, I did. Don't get me wrong, all that flattery and fawning is nice and all, but there's just nothing quite like getting to spend time with somepony who thought you were cool before anypony else even knew your name." She leaned over and nuzzled Scootaloo's ear fondly. "You've always been my biggest fan, Scoot. I'll never leave you hanging."

Scootaloo's cheeks burned as the blush intensified, and she returned the embrace with a silly grin on her muzzle. Her heart soared in her chest as Rainbow praised her. "Well," she said, casting an eye across the crowded mall from beneath Rainbow's colorful mane, "we could always go to The Sidesaddle. That's your favorite place, right?"

"Right you are, little sis," Rainbow said. The endearment sent a flutter of foalish joy through Scootaloo's midsection. "You read my mind. Looks crowded, though," she observed as they walked up to the front door. "Hope they've got some tables left." A crowd of ponies stood around the entrance, milling about as they waited for their tables to be ready.

Heads began to turn and conversations became hushed and excitable as they approached. Murmurings of Rainbow Dash's name fluttered through the crowd, and before they managed to reach the front door, the collected ponies had all turned to watch her and her smaller compatriot advance on them. Rainbow took the change in attitude in stride, still smiling serenely and walking with purpose, easily ignoring the smattering of flashbulbs now popping among the other ponies. Scootaloo shrank down next to her, walking close and blushing as she unintentionally shared in the limelight.

"Rainbow Dash!" somepony shouted as she approached, holding out a pencil and a discarded menu, apparently the only signable object they could find. "Rainbow Dash, can I get your autograph?"

"Rainbow!" another pony yelled at her from deeper in the crowd. "Can I get a picture with you?"

"Rainbow Dash! Come eat with us! We've got a spot for you at our table. Our treat!"

"Rainbow!"

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

"Dash!"

"Hey, Sonic Rainboom!"

The hails became louder and more insistent until Scootaloo and her escort found themselves surrounded by fawning sycophants, all pushing and vying with one another to get closer to her. Scootaloo pressed herself tightly to Rainbow's flank, utterly overwhelmed by the attention. Even though it was obviously not directed at her, the fervor and the ferocity of the crowd's insistent badgering was stifling, and she felt her head spin as the shouts and thrusting hooves intensified.

Rainbow nudged her with an elbow, bringing the world back into focus. "Hey, kid, you okay?"

Scootaloo nodded shakily. "Yeah, there's just...a lot of ponies here."

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed as she glanced at the crowd, coolly ignoring the multitude of items being thrust at her to sign. "Don't worry, though, they're mostly harmless. Still, you want me to get rid of them?"

Scootaloo blushed. "N-no...I mean, it's not that bad..."

Rainbow shook her head and smiled. "Yeah, sure it's not. Here, hang on." With a wave of her hoof, Rainbow Dash managed to summon the maitre d' of the restaurant, who hurried over as soon as he recognized somepony was hailing him.

"Yes, ma'am? What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Table for two, please. And can you make this crowd go away? My date's not big on all this attention." She winked down at Scootaloo, who blushed and looked away.

"I'm not really your date, Dash."

The older mare laughed. "Sure you are, kid. Who said a date had to be romantic, huh? We're just hanging out and having dinner together. That makes you my date." She looked back at the maitre d' while Scootaloo tried to decide if she preferred this new interpretation of the evening. "Well?"

The white stallion's narrow mustache twitched anxiously. "I...well, we are quite busy this evening, madam...there may be some wait..."

Rainbow Dash sighed theatrically. "Darn. That's too bad. And this used to be my favorite place. I was even thinking about doing a photo shoot and a commercial here." She shrugged. "Oh well. Come on, kid, let's see if the Brass Bridle has any--"

"Wait!" another pony suddenly shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd in front of the restaurant.

"Oh, hey there, Summer Truffle," Rainbow said, smiling pleasantly at the ecru unicorn mare as she managed to squeeze past her maitre d'. "Long time no see."

"Too...long," the unicorn panted, carefully primping her jet black mane, which was pulled back in a chignon. She cleared her throat and primly drew herself up, smiling pleasantly at Rainbow Dash. "To what do we owe the honor, Miss Dash?"

"Well, my friend and I were just looking for someplace to eat in peace, but I can see your restaurant is a little too busy to expect you to make an exception just for me. Don't worry, we'll--"

"Nonsense!" the mare exclaimed, hastily waving a hoof. "Savoir Fare," she said to the stallion standing behind her, a puzzled look on his face, "please find our guests a table in the lounge. And do make it quick, won't you?"

The stallion blinked. "But madam, the lounge is booked--" He trailed off as the unicorn turned a sizzling gaze on him.

"I shan't ask again, Savoir Fare," she said, her voice a touch too cheery to be pleasant. "Make room if you must, but Miss Dash and her guest will be eating in the lounge, and soon." The mustached stallion nodded anxiously and immediately disappeared into the restaurant. Summer Truffle turned back to Rainbow with a broad grin. "Terribly sorry about the mixup, Miss Dash. You are, of course, always welcome here."

"Glad to hear it," Rainbow said, smiling. "I hope we can get some privacy inside, at least," she said, looking around at the collected ponies, some of whom were still taking pictures and muttering to one another. "It's been a...trying day. We're just looking for somewhere to have a nice meal in peace and quiet."

"Oh, absolutely!" Truffle exclaimed, stepping aside and waving the pair into the restaurant. "I'm so sorry, if you had only let me know you were coming, I could have made better arrangements!" Another searing glare from the unicorn sent the ponies standing in front of the entrance scattering to the sides, opening a pathway for the group to enter. Scootaloo glanced up at Rainbow Dash, who smiled and winked down at her. The prim off-white mare led the pair deep into the restaurant, past tables full of ponies who stopped in the middle of their meals to gawk at the outlandish and instantly recognizable celebrity trotting by. Waitstaff stopped in their tracks to stare, and conversations died with the words still on the speakers' lips.

Scootaloo blushed deeply at the attention, even though it wasn't directed at her. She had always felt insignificant next to Rainbow Dash, but somehow the gulf had never felt quite so profound as it did this evening. Once upon a time, Dash had simply been a local hero, somepony who other ponies greeted on the street because they recognized her on sight, and not necessarily because she was famous. Now, though, with her highly anticipated and widely publicized recruitment to the Wonderbolts, not to mention her historically short stay as part of the Reserves Corps, and her meteoric rise to the Wonderbolts primary active duty roster had made her nothing short of a world-wide celebrity. Everypony who knew the Wonderbolts existed at all knew Rainbow Dash's name, and the reaction of the crowd outside the restaurant had only reinforced the transcendent scope of her fame.

Scootaloo felt a stab of guilt deep in her stomach. What was she doing here, with Rainbow Dash? What a massive waste of Rainbow's evening. She shouldn't be wasting her time buying dinner for some silly filly who couldn't appreciate fine wine or exclusive food like she was sure Rainbow was used to. She should be spending the night hanging out with the rich and famous of Ponyville, maybe chatting up some wealthy, handsome stallion and signing autographs, reveling in the fame she had worked so hard to earn while being catered to by servants on the level of Silver Spoon's estate.

Silver Spoon. The guilty knife cut deeper at the thought of the name. Scootaloo winced and flattened her ears against her skull as she realized she had absolutely abandoned her project partner--and new friend--back with her parents. Somehow, Rainbow Dash's unannounced visit had utterly focused her mind on her idol, and driven all other thoughts from her head. But then, of course it had, right? Surely Silver Spoon understood that Rainbow Dash came first. After all, Rainbow had been Scootaloo's idol and her friend since long before she and Silver Spoon had ever really deigned to talk to one another, let alone consider themselves anything less than enemies. A voice in the back of her mind suggested that this sounded like an excuse, and as she followed Rainbow deeper into the restaurant, the gnawing guilt made it clear she would have to apologize for this lapse as well, even if her folks were probably providing a perfectly pleasant experience.

The unicorn opened a heavy, secluded door to reveal a small room with only half a dozen or so tables inside. Five of the six tables had parties already sitting at them, quietly chatting and eating food that Scootaloo wasn't sure she could identify on sight. The room had a distinctly different, altogether calmer atmosphere than the main dining room had, and none of the ponies inside afforded Rainbow more than a passing glance and a nod of recognition as they passed.

If Scootaloo needed more proof that she didn't belong by Rainbow's side, being escorted into the lounge with her sealed the deal. These ponies were all impeccably styled, some with expensive accessories and carefully applied makeup, others wearing perfectly tailored clothing and somber, proper expressions on their faces. They spoke quietly to one another, and the waitstaff spoke quietly to them, offering supremely expensive wines and eagerly acquiescing to even the most outlandish of special requests. All of these ponies were rich and famous, and Scootaloo was the opposite of both of those things. The very atmosphere felt oppressive here, and she could feel her chest tightening further in anxiety.

As they passed, none of the other ponies' gazes paused for more than an instant on Rainbow Dash, instantly recognizing the celebrity among them, but more than one pair of eyes stopped short on Scootaloo's unkempt mane and tail, her plain, unadorned face, her suddenly out-of-place nudity. She knew what these hesitant gazes meant; she didn't belong here, among these ponies. Rainbow Dash did, obviously, even if she did look a little rough and tumble, because she was rich and famous and she carried herself with the confidence of a superstar.

Summer Truffle directed them towards a table in the back corner with two chairs and a fat, short candle with three wicks burning in the middle. "Here you are, Miss Dash, Miss..." she trailed off, looking expectantly at Scootaloo.

"Oh, uh...Scootaloo," she said quietly, wincing at how boring and unimpressive her name sounded.

"Of course, Miss Scootaloo," the unicorn said, smiling pleasantly. "Miss Dash, would you like to see the wine menu?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Nah, just bring me your favorite. You always did have good taste, Truff."

Summer Truffle gave Rainbow a look that indicated she was not amused by the nickname, but Rainbow simply smirked and pulled one of the chairs out, offering it to Scootaloo. "Have a seat, Scoot."

"Oh, thanks," Scootaloo said, her cheeks burning at the gesture. Who was she to have the Rainbow Dash pulling a chair out for her? She felt selfish and stupid as she took her seat and picked up the menu sitting on the table in front of her, holding it in front of her face to hide the deep blush creeping across her cheeks. As she read, she tried to decide what sort of food famous ponies ate. Surely Rainbow Dash ate expensive, exotic food now, right? Her mouth watered and her stomach twinged as she skimmed past pictures of heaping bowls of pasta with steaming piles of fresh vegetables on them, past tall sandwiches with ten different ingredients, and found her way to the foods with largely unpronounceable names and exceptionally unappealing pictures. She frowned at one of the pictures, trying to decide whether it was a grilled horseshoe or a boiled saddlehorn. "So, uh," she asked uneasily, "what...what were you thinking of getting?" She glanced over the top of the menu at Rainbow Dash.

The cyan pegasus hadn't even picked up her menu. She was simply sitting across the table from Scootaloo, her chin resting on one hoof and a small smile on her face as she watched the younger mare struggling to decide. Scootaloo swallowed hard and put the menu down. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought, furious at herself for her mistake. Of course Rainbow would order for them, right? Naturally she'd get something off the menu, because that's what famous ponies did. Rainbow Dash waved a nonchalant hoof. "The same thing I always get. Three pizzas, double jalapeños. I kinda figured you were going to do the same."

"You...you were?" Scootaloo asked, stunned.

Rainbow nodded. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I wasn't sure if...I mean, I thought maybe you...I dunno, ate more...interesting things, now," she said, her voice slowly trailing off.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her. "More interesting how?"

"You know, like, more expensive, more exclusive!" Scootaloo said, waving a hoof in frustration. "Like famous ponies do."

Rainbow smirked. "So what, you think that just because I'm famous now, I'm going to stop liking pizza?"

Scootaloo looked down at the pristine white silken tablecloth. "Well, I guess I just figured maybe you'd found something better than pizza. Something more interesting and impressive." An anxious knot tightened in the filly's stomach as she tried to ignore the heat of shameful tears collecting in her eyes. "'Cuz you deserve better than stupid old boring pizza."

There was a long silence. Rainbow Dash leaned over to look Scootaloo in the eye. "This isn't about pizza, is it?"

Scootaloo looked away angrily, blinking back the tears threatening to make her look even more pathetic than she already was. "Of course it's about pizza. What else would it be about?"

The rainbow-maned mare sighed and sat back. "Alright, then. What if I told you that stupid old boring pizza is my favorite? What if I said it's always been my favorite, and that just because I haven't seen--I mean had pizza in over a year, I still thought about it all the time during camp, and missed it a heck of a lot when I couldn't have it?"

"I'd say that sounds silly," Scootaloo sulked, the tears subsiding now. "I'm sure you've met...eaten stuff way better than pizza since last year."

Rainbow Dash reached across the table and gently touched her shoulder, drawing Scootaloo's gaze back up to her eyes. The older mare was smiling kindly, a softness in her eyes that only intensified the guilt in Scootaloo's stomach. "Come on, kid," she said, "drop the act. What's really going on?"

Scootaloo gritted her teeth for a moment before sighing and saying, "I dunno, Rainbow, I just...I guess I just feel weird, that's all. Like...it's been over a year since we last saw each other, and I just...a lot's changed since then. I mean, you went off and got super famous, and every time I see you in pictures and read about you in the papers, I keep seeing how happy and popular you are, and I just...I feel like I shouldn't be bothering you anymore, like you don't have time to read my stupid, boring letters, like you should be out having fun with other rich, famous ponies, and not sitting here at a table in a secret room in a really nice restaurant and listening to some boring, plain, pathetic filly talk about how awesome you are, and how unawesome I am, and..." The tears were back, threatening to break down her cheeks. She closed her eyes to stop them, her voice shaking as she said, "...I guess I'm just...scared that you're only here with me because you think you have to be."

There was a pause, and then Rainbow said, "Is that all?"

Scootaloo blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, I know you wanted to hang out and just have fun and relax while you were here in town, and I'm ruining that. I shouldn't have come out with you tonight."

The older mare laughed. "Alright, two things. First of all, squirt, it's been like thirteen months since we last saw each other, not to mention how we last saw each other, right?" Scootaloo's face burned at this, but Rainbow continued, "So yeah, it's gonna be a little weird at first. You're right, a lot has changed, but not just for me. I mean, you're growing up, you're at that age...a lot's changing for you, too, and that's totally normal. I was there once; I get it." She smiled. "But that's cool, you know? That's what makes these visits so special to me. I love hearing about what's going on in your life in your letters, but it's nothing like getting to see you again and hear about it from you personally. Isn't that what you said about me telling you all about being a Wonderbolt?"

Scootaloo nodded miserably. "But why would you even want to hear about my life? It's so...boring." She tapped her hooves together in front of her nose dejectedly. "It's nothing like being a Wonderbolt, getting to go all over Equestria, performing all over the place and meeting all kinds of other famous ponies..."

Rainbow sighed and shook her head, a shallow smile on her face. "Scootaloo, why do you think I'm here in Ponyville?"

The orange pegasus shrugged. "Because of the publicity tour, right?"

"Right, now, let's be honest for a second. Do you really think Ponyville needs to be informed that the Wonderbolts exist, and that I'm their new recruit?"

"Well..."

Rainbow Dash snorted derisively. "Kid, I spent my entire adult life here. I did all of my training here. I competed against the Wonderbolts at the Equestria Games on Ponyville's team, I broke half a dozen records at the Wonderbolt Academy, I won Best Young Flier...heck, I even saved the Wonderbolts' lives a couple times. Ponyville doesn't need a stop on a publicity tour for us to get our message out here."

"Then why--?"

Rainbow Dash leaned across the table, looking Scootaloo in the eye. "I'm here because of you, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo blinked. "Me?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. In fact, I even told them I'd only do the tour if our first stop could be Ponyville, and if we could spend the night here."

"But, but...why?" Scootaloo asked, flummoxed. "Don't you have...more important things to do? More important ponies to see?"

"More important than you?" Rainbow laughed again, louder this time, enough to draw the attention of some of the other ponies in the room. "Kid, you don't get it, do you? Nothing is more important to me than you are."

Scootaloo swallowed hard, her throat tightening and her face burning with a deeper blush than she'd felt so far this evening. "You don't really mean that..."

Rainbow put a hoof to her heart, raising the other. "Honest to Luna."

"But why?" Scootaloo asked again.

The other mare smiled broadly. "It's like I said earlier. You've been my biggest fan since forever. You were always telling me how awesome you thought I was, how cool and tough and everything...you even started a fan club for me long before I'd ever done anything worth having fans for." She smirked. "At first, it was no big deal, really. It was cool, having a little filly who was convinced I was the best thing since hay fries, but it didn't mean a whole lot.

"Then, when I started really having to work hard and train hard and make some tough decisions, there you were, still cheering me on and gushing about me to anypony who would listen...and you know what? I started to believe you." Rainbow smiled, her eyes shining. "I figured that if I could be half as awesome as you thought I was, I could do anything. So I doubled my training plan, doubled my strength training, flew twice as far, twice as fast, and absolutely killed myself trying to be everything that little orange filly with the rainbow-colored wig on the ground thought I was." She reached across the table, taking one of Scootaloo's hooves in hers and holding it tight. "I owe everything I've done, everything I've earned, everything I am to you, Scootaloo." The smile broadened, and the glint in her eyes became a sheen. Her voice shook very slightly as she said, "That's why I'm here. There's nopony in Equestria I'd rather spend my night off with than you."

Scootaloo blushed and smiled through the tears clinging to her eyelids at this. "You know, I remember when I met you for the first time. I was just a tiny filly, riding my scooter around town...I hadn't even met anypony else except Sweetie Belle yet. No other adult had even bothered to look twice at me, but there you were, all wild colors and crazy confidence...I remember thinking that you looked so cool, and all you were doing was flying around town." She looked down at the table cloth, the day still fresh in her memory, despite the years gone by. "You didn't say a lot...you just stopped for a second, took one look at me, and say 'Hey kid, nice scooter.' And then you were gone in a whirlwind of dust and wake turbulence."

Scootaloo sighed, shaking her head. "It was...amazing. I had to ask Sweetie Belle who you were, and when I found out, everything else just fell into place. I figured that anypony who could look at a dirty, scrawny, scruffy little runaway like me and actually greet me like I was just another pony in town had to be the coolest, nicest, most awesome pony in Equestria by her very nature. I promised myself I was gonna be just like you, no matter what it took."

Rainbow Dash smiled, the glint and the waver still present. "Yeah...I remember that day, too. You weren't much to look at, squirt, I'll tell you that much...but you looked so...determined. Driven. Like no matter what happened to get you to where you were, all you cared about was hopping on that scooter and riding. I had to say something. I wanted to ask your name, but all I could really think to say to break the ice was to compliment your scooter. You looked so nervous, so antsy that I was afraid to say any more, in case I accidentally scared you off."

Scootaloo smirked. "You might have. I mean, to have somepony as awesome as you fly down and talk to me, a grounded pegasus pony who no one wanted...well, I don't think I could've handled it. I probably would have run away." She sighed and continued. "Anyway, after I found out my...disability was permanent, and there was nothing anypony could do for me, it was like losing everything again. I would never be like you, because I couldn't be like you. You were the fastest, the best flyer in all of Equestria, and I couldn't even get my hooves off the ground." She felt the tears building again, but this time she let them come, knowing that they showed the importance of what she was about to say. "But even then you were there for me. You told me you thought I was 'all kinds of awesome anyway,' and that it didn't matter if I could fly. You sounded like you meant it, and I believed you.

"I told myself if I couldn't be just like you as a flyer, then I'd be just like you as a pony. Cool, brave, ambitious...it's why I decided to become an engineer in the first place. Like you, I figured out what I was good at, and I practiced it. I practiced hard and long, and even when it got tough and I felt like giving in, I remembered how often you had crashed while training to be a Wonderbolt." Both ponies giggled at this. "So I just dusted myself off and tried again...just like you."

There was a short pause before Scootaloo finished her reminiscing while she gathered herself and swallowed, struggling to speak around the lump rising in the back of her throat. "Rainbow, all my life ponies have told me I was going to be limited, handicapped, and that I would need help with the most basic of pegasus-specific tasks. Everypony except you." She looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes. The other mare was losing the battle against her own tears as well, letting the drops slide down her face and leave dark blue tracks in her fur. "You never let me lean on my weaknesses or my failures as an excuse. Rainbow Dash, you might think I'm your biggest fan, but in truth, it's just the opposite. You are--and have always been--my biggest fan." She reached out and touched Rainbow's hoof lightly. "And I will never forget it."

The other pegasus shook her head in wonder. "Kid, you really are something else, you know that? I mean, I always knew you were special, but...yeah, you're right," she said, smiling through the tears as she wiped them out of her eyes. "I am a huge fan of yours. Even in the 'Bolts, I've never met anypony with as much heart as you. After all, you're the toughest little pony in town, remember?" She grinned.

Scootaloo smirked. "Yeah, yeah..."

"So." Rainbow grinned, the sheen fading as she recovered her trademark bravado. "Let's try this again. You forget that you ever thought you were less than worthy of having dinner with me, and I'll continue to count myself lucky to be able to have it with you."

Scootaloo shook her head, smiling. "That might be a little over the top, Dash."

The cyan mare shrugged. "If you say so. Anyway, I'm getting my usual. How about you?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Definitely. Two pizzas with everything--"

"--except jalapeños," the two mares said in unison. Then they burst out in laughter, ignoring the annoyed stares of the other ponies in the lounge and enjoying the simple pleasure of sharing a moment together.

"That's three large double jalapeño pizzas for madam," the forest green unicorn waiter said as he slowly lowered the three-tiered serving platter onto the table next to Rainbow Dash, "and two large super supreme pizzas--"

"Without jalapeños," Scootaloo interrupted him.

The waiter gave her a scathing look before continuing. "Yes, without jalapeños, for the young miss." He stepped back and nodded his head shallowly. "Bon appetit."

"So," Rainbow Dash said, picking up a slice of her topmost pizza, "my life is totally boring, because all I've been doing is training and sleeping. What about you?" She winked across the table at Scootaloo. "I heard you got first place in the RACE academy's 'Building the Future' competition."

Scootaloo stopped short of sticking a thickly topped slice into her mouth and said, "Wait, you did? How? I hadn't gotten a chance to write to you about it yet."

Rainbow smiled as she repositioned a string of cheese on top of the slice in her hoof. "I have my ways. And your mother couldn't wait to gush about it to me." She grinned. "Scared the hell out of me and Spitfire 'cuz she just had to magic the scroll right into my ear at three in the morning."

Scootaloo giggled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like Mama Vy. Well, it was a pretty big deal. There were like five thousand entries. I submitted that modular tail cone I designed when I was helping you practice your sprints."

Rainbow nodded her recollection. "Nice. I remember that thing. It was freaking awesome. Took like two seconds off my best time."

"Yeah, well," Scootaloo said, smirking as she struggled to keep the toppings from scattering as she took a bite. "You were a good test subject," she mumbled through a mouthful. "Nopony's tail picks up as much drag as yours does, especially at those speeds."

The blue pegasus rolled her eyes, picking a jalapeño off of her pizza slice and popping it into her mouth. "Tell me about it. You'd think sprinters would just shave their tails if they wanted to boost their times, but..."

"Why don't they?" Scootaloo asked, collecting all the vegetables that had escaped and piling them on top of the slice again.

"Well, for one thing, it's against the rules. Sprinters can't do anything to their tail except gel it. Something about 'preserving the dignity of the racers' or some such." The mare made air quotes with her hooves as she spoke. "We're lucky they let us wear helmets, or we'd all have the greaser look on race day."

Scootaloo giggled. "Maybe they'll adopt the tail cone instead."

Rainbow Dash smiled at her. "We can only hope. It sure looks a lot cooler than everypony just slicking their tail back to a point." She winked. "Plus, if it gets the endorsement of a record-breaking sprinter, maybe the committee will take notice."

"Record-breaking, huh?" Scootaloo asked. Rainbow Dash nodded. "What records have you been breaking?"

Rainbow held out a hoof and tapped on it as she counted off the records from memory. "50 meter sprint, 100 meter sprint, 200 meter sprint, 500 meter long sprint, 1000 meter relay sprint, 2000 meter relay sprint, 5000 meter marathon, and 10K."

"Wow," Scootaloo breathed. "All that in just one year?"

Rainbow nodded. "Less than a year, actually. I broke the 50 meter on my first attempt. Faster than the record by like almost a full second."

The orange mare's mouth fell open. "You're bucking kidding me." Rainbow Dash shook her head, picking up a slice of pizza and then stacking another one on top. "Damn, Rainbow, I knew you were quick, but..."

The Wonderbolt shrugged, stacking a third slice on the other two. "Well, it is my special talent, after all. I'll be honest, it's the marathons that really kill me. Those long races, filly...they'll mess you up bad if you don't warm up and train first." She stacked a fourth slice on the pile as she shook her head somberly. "The first time I tried the 10K, I dropped out after 2000 meters with the nastiest oblique strain I've ever had. Couldn't fly for a week." She opened her mouth wide and stuck the pizza tower into it, taking an enormous bite.

"Ouch." Scootaloo winced sympathetically, rolling a slice of her pizza up from the tip and taking a bite out of the resulting cylinder. "Don't they like, teach you not to do that, though?"

It took a few moments for Rainbow to swallow the comically large mouthful she was chewing. "Yeah, they do. I was being stupid, though, and I took off without stretching properly, pushed myself way too hard way too soon, and got hurt bad as a result. Never made that mistake again," she said, shaking her head. "The medics weren't even surprised. They knew I was gonna hurt myself; they just let me do it because they knew I'd remember next time if I actually suffered the result of my own stupidity."

Scootaloo sighed. "I wish I had a reason to worry about hurting my flight muscles."

"Don't you still have your scooter? You know, the one Apple Bloom made you when you got your cutie mark?"

"Yeah, I have it, I just haven't had a whole lot of opportunity to ride it recently. I don't take it with me to school or out on errands, 'cuz I don't want it to get damaged or stolen, and we've had so much schoolwork recently that I haven't really gotten a chance to just go cruising."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "I guess it's getting close to the end of the year, isn't it? You'll be graduating this summer, won't you?" Scootaloo nodded. "How're you doing in your classes, anyway? Every time you write, you just say 'School's going good,' which I know you do on purpose, because we both know it's 'School's going well'."

Scootaloo giggled. "Well, there's never really anything to talk about. It's kind of like your training regimen, probably. Get up, go to school, sleep through a lesson, ace a test, go home, breeze through the homework, go to bed, wake up and do it again." She paused for a moment while she contemplated whether she should expand on the topic. "Actually, there is one thing that's different this season..." she said tentatively.

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow said, folding her second pizza twice and attacking the corner of the monstrosity, ignoring the mortified glances of the ponies sitting at the nearest tables.

Scootaloo nodded, finishing her first pizza and starting in on the second. "Yeah, Miss Cheerilee gave us all a big project thing to work on in pairs. Supposed to take all season long to finish, and apparently it's worth a ton of our grade. More for me, actually, since she decided it's going to be pass/fail for me, and that failing the project means failing the season."

Rainbow's eyes widened in shock. "Whoa, really? That's...really serious. Why's she doing that?"

"Well, it turns out it was at least partly my parents' fault. Miss Cheerilee talked to them because she was, um...concerned that I was...'antagonizing' other foals in class," Scootaloo said, laying her ears back on her head.

"Were you?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at her sideways as she continued her assault on the quartered pizza.

"No more than I ever have," Scootaloo muttered. "But yeah, a little I guess. You know Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara?"

Rainbow Dash chewed thoughtfully for a moment. Swallowing, she shook her head. "Not really. I never met too many of your classmates, honestly, other than you and your friends. Well, and the other pegasi, obviously."

"They were one of the teams vying to carry the flag at the games."

Rainbow shrugged. "Honestly, squirt, after all the drama around that competition, I don't remember anything except you being really bummed that you couldn't fly, and somehow getting it in your head that you had to."

Scootaloo smiled wanly. "Yeah, they were the ones who got it in my head."

"Gotcha."

"Anyway, they've pretty much been the Crusaders' nemeses since we all met at Diamond Tiara's Cuteceañera, and we just...never patched things up. So yeah, I kind of got on their case a lot, but they always gave as good as they got, so it seemed fair."

Rainbow replaced the empty round crust of her second pizza back on the platter and retrieved a slice from the third. "Fair, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Scootaloo said. "I mean, we were just fighting back, just trying to defend ourselves against a couple of bullies." She hesitated for a moment before adding, "Doesn't that sound fair?"

Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno. Is it possible to make being mean to another pony fair, even if they're being mean to you first?"

"I guess...I guess not..." Scootaloo said.

Rainbow shook her head, picking jalapeños off the slice in her hoof and piling them on her plate. "Don't get me wrong, kid, I totally get it. Being bullied sucks, and it's hard not to rise to the bait, but...let's just say that I spent a lot of time raising the stakes with my bullies, and it never got me anywhere."

Scootaloo sighed. "Yeah, I know, I...I just never really wanted them to...'win', I guess."

"Nopony wins, Scootaloo. Not when the whole point is to drag each other down."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that," Scootaloo said, poking at the slice on her plate guiltily. "Mama Tavi actually told Miss Cheerilee to set me up with somepony I didn't get along with, just to force me to prove I could."

"Interesting approach."

"Well, she said it was because when the Academy comes around to interview me for admission, they're gonna go and talk to everypony who knows me, and if they talk to Miss Cheerilee and find out I'm a bully..."

"Yeah, they'll basically burn your application. I get what they were going for." Rainbow Dash nodded, collecting the small stack of peppers together and dumping them all into her mouth at once. "Well, is it working?"

Scootaloo put her forehooves between her back legs and squeezed them together anxiously. "Sort of..."

"How so?"

"Well, Miss Cheerilee ended up pairing me with Silver Spoon. One of our mortal enemies," she clarified. Rainbow nodded her understanding. "Anyway, at first I figured we would fight the whole time, you know. I figured Spoon would constantly be sniping at me, and I wouldn't be able to resist sniping back, obviously, and we'd just argue all the time."

"Are you?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "Actually, no. In fact, after a couple arguments early on, we've actually..." She sighed in resignation. "Ah buck, we're totally friends now."

Rainbow burst out laughing at the expletive-laced admission. "Friends, huh? Hang on, how long have you been working together? Didn't you say Cheerilee assigned it this season?"

Scootaloo nodded grimly. "Yeah. We've only hung out like three or four times, but...I guess I never really talked to her before. Like, without anypony else around, just her and me, just having a conversation."

"I see. And after just a couple conversations, you're already friends? That was pretty quick."

"Yeah, it was." Scootaloo sighed. "Turns out she's actually pretty cool when she's not under Diamond Tiara's iron hoof."

"I wonder if she thinks something similar about you," Rainbow said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe she thinks you're pretty cool when you're not being backed up by your friends," Rainbow said. "You gotta admit, facing all three Crusaders at once is probably pretty intimidating."

Scootaloo pondered this for a moment. "I guess. I hadn't ever really thought about it like that. She does seem a lot more relaxed and open when it's just the two of us. I wonder if she's the same way with just Diamond Tiara around. Although," Scootaloo said, pressing her lips together, "she doesn't seem to really like Diamond Tiara that much."

"And Diamond Tiara is...?"

"Oh, her best friend since the first day of school, apparently. Or at least, she used to be. I'm not sure anymore, and I don't think she's too sure, either." She sighed. "Which is too bad, actually, because she doesn't seem to have any other friends."

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Well, she has at least one more now, right?"

Scootaloo smiled back and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." There was a long pause during which Scootaloo wrestled with herself over whether she should respond to the anxious prodding in her subconscious or not. Of all the ponies in her life, Scootaloo knew Rainbow Dash would be the most trustworthy and the most likely to keep a secret. Plus, Rainbow Dash was her surrogate sister, and a closer friend than even the other Crusaders.

Over the years, they had discussed many sensitive, embarrassing, and even genuinely upsetting topics in intense detail. Despite Scootaloo's absolute mortification to have to ask about such things, Rainbow Dash had never once flinched away from answering any of her questions, even voluntarily using her own experiences--and in certain excruciatingly awkward discussions, her own anatomy--to give Scootaloo as complete an answer as she needed. It had made her early adulthood immeasurably easier to have somepony who understood what she was going through who wasn't afraid to discuss it with her in detail and in confidence. She had even taken her newfound understanding of what was going on to her friends, who lacked the same resource.

Now, she knew, she was on the precipice of another such situation, and even though she desperately wanted to just spend the evening chatting, laughing, and generally having a good time with Rainbow Dash, she also knew opportunities like this were rare, and becoming moreso by the day. The thought that if she didn't ask Rainbow now, she wouldn't get another chance any time soon and would therefore have to resort to asking her parents for advice--a chilling prospect--spurred her the rest of the way to a decision. "Hey, Dash..." Scootaloo said, trying to keep the nervous, oddly fearful energy out of her voice, "can...can I get your advice on something?"

Rainbow Dash stopped licking pizza grease off her hoof and looked at Scootaloo with concern. "Sure, kid, what's up?"

"Um..." The words froze in her throat as Summer Truffle appeared at their table as if from thin air.

"I hope everything was to your satisfaction, Miss--"

"Hang on, Truff," Rainbow said, waving a hoof at the unicorn, who blinked and narrowed her eyes at the pegasus. Rainbow Dash ignored her. "Go ahead, Scoot."

"Actually," Scootaloo said, her face burning in embarrassment, "could we...talk back at your place? I...I don't really want to discuss it here..."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Sure thing. Hey Truff, can we get the check?"

Summer Truffle took a long, slow breath through her nose and then gave her a polite--albeit somewhat tense--smile. "Of course." She waved a hoof at the waiter standing behind her, and he disappeared back into the dining room. "I trust everything was to your satisfaction?" she asked.

Rainbow flashed the unicorn a winning smile. "Of course, Truff. It always is. Best pizza in Ponyville, as usual."

"Thank you, Miss Dash, although..." The smile faltered and her voice took on a slightly annoyed tone. "I do recommend you try some of our other offerings. We are, after all, a highly varied establishment. Perhaps some--"

Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof. "Nah. If I want something fancy and expensive I can't identify, I'll just ask Rarity to hunt down some gems for me to snack on."

Summer Truffle looked at the ceiling, a distinct sense of defeat and exasperation in her tone. "Yes, of course. Well, we do appreciate your patronage, no matter what you order. We look forward to seeing you again any time you're in the area."

"Definitely, Truff. And I wasn't just kicking clouds when I told your host I was thinking about doing an event or two here sometime." She smiled. "This really is my favorite restaurant, and I can't think of a better place to do some PR stuff. I'll have my people get in touch with you, and maybe we can iron out the details later?"

The forced smile on Summer Truffle's muzzle suddenly gained sincerity at Rainbow's offer. "Of course! We would love to host such a thing. By all means, send me a message any time, and I'll be sure to find time in our schedule for you."

"Awesome. Maybe I'll get some of the other 'Bolts to come with me. I know Spitfire would love this place."

Summer Truffle's expression melted into genuine glee. "Oh, how wonderful! Yes, yes, any time you would like, please do come back!" The grin faded a little as she said, "I...I'm sorry if I seemed a little...short earlier. I just wanted--"

Rainbow Dash cut her off with a wave of her hoof. "Don't worry about it, Truff. I know the deal," she said as the waiter returned, placing the check on the table in front of her. The pegasus barely glanced at the number at the bottom before extracting a small pouch from under one of her wings and dropping it on the table. "Half the change is yours, Truff, for making an exception for us."

"Oh, my," Summer Truffle said as one of the coins rolled out of the pouch, the brilliantly engraved face flashing a denomination Scootaloo had never actually seen stamped on a bit before. "Rainbow this is--"

"It's nothing. Thanks for a good time. Come on, squirt, let's head out," she said, waving at Scootaloo to follow her as she made her way out of the lounge. "See you later, Truff. Say hi to Béchamel for me, will you?"

"I absolutely will, Rainbow," the unicorn said, still smiling broadly as she waved at the departing ponies. "Thank you again!"

Rainbow Dash turned and flashed her trademark grin back over her shoulder. "Any time, Truff. Any time."