Scootaloo woke up with a quiet yawn and sighed. Guilty feelings flooded her over what she’d done, she never understood why. Maybe because she violated the trust of her parents, maybe it was the thoughts she’d had, she didn’t know, but she didn’t like it.

She grumbled and dragged her hoof from her cheek to her neck, then down to her chest and shook her head vigorously, shaking the sleep away.

“Why’d I fall asleep? Sheesh, I’m not an old pony,” she mumbled as she took the conical shaped item from beneath the pillow in her teeth and trotted to her mothers’ room, replacing it and grumbling.

“It smells grossly sweet…”

She frowned and turned away, leaving the room and descending the stairs. She wandered the lower floor aimlessly as she tried to collect her mind over what to do before she decided to meet Apple Bloom, maybe even on the way to her house.

Scootaloo galloped around the house once for fun before she went to the door and began to get dresses for the chilly day. She made sure to put on a knit cap Granny Smith had made her before she left.

Opening the door she inhaled the chilly air and jumped out of the threshold before landing and closing the door behind her. She looked at the fenced property and the snow piled along the path that she had cleared with Apple Bloom the day prior for a couple bits.

“A good job and good pay,” she chirped as she fluttered her wings and took a coasting speed toward the open gate at the end of the cleared walkway.

“H-hello.”

“Grah!” Scootaloo shouted in surprise as she twisted in midair and landed in a small snow drift across the short street with a puff.

“Let me help you, S-Scootaloo,” a familiar voice said. With a couple tugs and grunts Scootaloo was free and shaking her head clean of snow.

“Oh no, my hat,” she said turning and digging through the snow.

“I have it, r-right here.”

Scootaloo turned to look at the speaker and gasped. “D-Diamond Tiara? Wh-what happened to you?”

Diamond smiled with several false teeth apparently in place, a small row of stitches on her muzzle, and her trademark tiara were what caught Scootaloo’s eye.

Diamond sighed and poked the ground with her hoof, digging a small hole as she mumbled. “I-I was mean, and wrong to treat you the way I did. I, got into another fight when I went to visit my family in Canterlot… It,” she sniffled and looked to Scootaloo, “it hurts to be teased.”

“Y-yeah, it does. Um, a-are you okay? Do you wanna talk about it?”

Diamond stood tall and stuck her nose in the air for a second before lunging at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo took a fighting stance and swung, too slow. She was embraced into a tight hug by Diamond, who began to sniffle into her winter coat.

“Y-you’re so, so, much stronger than I could have imagined. I…” she leaned back and wiped her nose across her boot and turned away, jumping back to where she was and tossing the hat back to Scootaloo. “I-I’ll see you later, Scootaloo.”

Catching the hat as it soared a little too high with a wing assisted jump she hovered in the air, slowly descending, watching as Diamond Tiara galloped away.

“...What just happened?” Scootaloo asked aloud as she fit her hat to her head and turned the other way. “I have to talk to sis about that… maybe she knows if there’s something in the water,” she snickered as she began to trot, “or maybe that’s why we don’t eat yellow snow.”

---

“Heya, sis,” Apple Bloom called as she trotted gaily along the paved path from the farmhouse to the main road from Sweet Apple Acres, “I’m sorry Ah was late… Ah had ta get some chores done quick and ya know how Big Mac is when he can’t do anything with his marefriend.”

“Oh? How’s Berry Punch treating him?” Scootaloo asked as she turned and led Apple Bloom in the direction of the town.

“Well enough, Ah guess. He ain’t complainin’, ‘cept for when she gets busy at work and can’t spend time over here or with him.”

“Yeah, well, she’s a busy mare and your brother-”

“Our brother,” Apple Bloom chirped happily as she bumped into Scootaloo with a grin.

“-Big Mac, he’s a farmer and so’s Mama, so, like, they don’t have anything to do during winter except be all, bored and stuff.”

“Well, yeah, but Big Mac’s got a lotta stuff ta do, like, uhm…”

“Isn’t he doin’ the math for the farm?”

Apple Bloom cleared her throat. “Yeah, but it’s almost all done. Winter’s all here, so there’s not much ta do. We could harvest zap apples again, but what’s the point when, well, you know what happened last time.”

Scootaloo giggled. “Yeah, Rainbow Dash made an avalanche on a buncha hills and even down Canterlot Mountain. It was so cool! I can’t believe she’s actually my mom!”

“Yeah, she’s mah sis now,” she replied rolling her eyes slightly, “Ah’m so excited, I just don’t know what to say.”

“Oh, hey! You’ll never guess what happened,” Scootaloo said jumping ahead of Apple Bloom and walking backwards as they began to enter the town, “I saw Diamond Tiara.”

“Wow,” Apple Bloom droned as she motioned with her head for Scootaloo to move over, “Ah can hardly contain mah excitement… was she in the teeth of a timberwolf?” She asked looking from the corner of her eye as Scootaloo took a slightly faster trot.

“No, but she was beat up pretty good.”

Apple Bloom stopped and raised an eyebrow as Scootaloo turned around to look at her. “Ya, beat her up again?”

Scootaloo blurted a laugh and shook her head, sending her mane waving. She turned and began to trot by houses and businesses with a chuckle as Apple Bloom gallopped to her side again.

“So, what happened with DT?”

“She was acting really weird, but not mean. She said she got into a fight and gave me a hug, saying sorry for how we treated me, and us, I guess. I dunno, it was pretty weird if ya ask me… I miss my scooter.”

“Woah, don’t cha go changin’ the topic, now. What’d you do?! What’d she do?”

“Ugh, I told ya, that was it. She met me on the path to the farm, hugged me, said sorry, then left. Nothin’ else to it; she’s gone crazy from being hit in the head too hard,” she said with a smile as she reared and made the sound of a motor.

“Yeah, you might wanna calm down, Scootaloo, ya don’t wanna make a fool of yourself in front’a Rumble.”

“Rumble?! Where? How’s my mane? Are my boots…” she looked to Apple Bloom who was biting her lips and snorting.

Apple Bloom snorted loudly before falling to her side and kicking her legs, laughing whole heartedly at the blushing filly beside her. “Ah, Ah gotcha! I knew it!”

“Shut up, Apple Bloom, I was just… practicing for Rarity; so she doesn’t have to fuss over me.”

Apple Bloom rolled to her hooves with a huge grin and punched Scootaloo in the shoulder, sending the orange filly to the ground with an oof.

“Ya can’t lie ta me, Ah thought ya liked him, and now I know.”

Scootaloo flapped her wings and took to her hooves herself with a scowl. “So, what’re you gonna do about it?”

“Nothin’, Ah just wanted to make sure which way yer barn door swings,” Apple Bloom said trotting ahead.

“Wh-what? I, wait,” Scootaloo said trotting to catch up, “I don’t get it, I don’t have a barn, you do at the farm. Do you mean the shed? Cuz it swings out.”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes with a smile and leaned over to whisper into Scootaloo’s ear.

“...”

Scootaloo stopped in shock as she watched Apple Bloom trot ahead before she galloped to catch up.

“Hey! I totally like colts! Just cuz that one time we all, umgph-” she grunted as Applebloom tackled her into a pile of snow near Sugarcube Corner.

“We said we’d never talk about that, so keep it to yerself,” Apple Bloom said bopping Scootaloo on the nose, “boop.”

Scootaloo wiggled her nose and frowned. “Don’t do that! Get offa me,” she huffed as she was tugged back to a standing position.

“Sorry, sis. Let’s get that cupcake and talk about our plans today,” Apple Bloom said as she climbed the steps and opened the door. “Oh, hi Rumble!”

Scootaloo gasped and felt herself blushing as she trotted in, inspecting the floorboards intently before she bumped into somepony.

“Oh, there she is,” a colt’s voice said, sending chills through Scootaloo’s body and her mind reeling.

She looked up to see the gray cold looking at her with a big smile. “Hiya, Scootaloo. Wanna sit with us?”

“Gup, pluh, aff… Guh… Uh,” she stammered and began to giggle as she blushed fiercely and backed away from him.

“Heck yeah, we’d love to sit with ya, Rumble,” Apple Bloom teased and pulled the shocked filly with her to a seat in the corner with another colt. “Hi, uh, Gallop, somethin’.”

“The name’s Gallop J. Fry,” he introduced himself.

“Hi, so you’re Gallop J. Fry? Interesting name.”

“Yeah, so’s your bow. Like, who wears a bow that big?” He asked her.

Apple Bloom picked Scootaloo up and placed her in the chair opposite Rumble with a smirk as she took a seat opposite the new colt. “Ah do… so where’s a colt like you from?”

“Manehattan, mostly… what’s up with your friend?”

Scootaloo was sitting still and grinning foolishly at Rumble as he ordered several items for their table from Mrs. Cake.

“Oh, she’s a little… hungry. Sweets make her silly.”

“Oh, I can get behind that,” Gallop said looking at Scootaloo then shrugging, “so, what’s with the accent?”

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