The late afternoon was getting chilly, and Apple Bloom was starting to get antsy and cold. Wanting to go inside and warm up a bit, the youngest Apple looked at her friend, who remained sullen and angry with her sister. Not wanting a fight to break out between the two of them, Apple Bloom beamed a bright smile to Scootaloo, who simply scoffed back at her. Realizing how hurt Scootaloo was, Apple Bloom said, “Scootaloo, how 'bout we head inside fer a bit? Ah have somethin' really good to show ya.”

“I don’t see how we're gonna get Sunset out of our sisters' lives, Apple Bloom. I mean, we can’t just walk up to her and say, ‘Hey, we don’t want you to hang around our sisters any more.’ We'd just get laughed at or told off by all three of them, not to mention by Sunset herself.”

Apple Bloom led Scootaloo to the front door of her home. Opening the door, she turned to her friend and said, “Ah'll show ya what Ah have in mind.”

She led her over to the family's computer. Scootaloo had a slight look of confusion on her face as she approached the computer. Looking around, she took notice that Applejack wasn’t around.

“Where's your family, Applebloom? I don’t see your sister around.”

“Oh, they're all at the market sellin' pies 'n' other stuff. They should be home in about an hour. But enough about that. Why did you leave your sister today? You told me it was because you got kicked off the swim team. But I know yer on a special team for people with disabilities. So how come ya got kicked out?”

Sighing heavily, Scootaloo turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. She closed her eyes as she said, “It's because I have brittle bone disease. I can’t be in the water if I can’t move my legs. Swimming was my last chance at doing something great despite my disability. The doctors that I see twice a week all tell me that my bones are getting better, and for a while, I believed them. I made the swim team, and I was doing pretty well in practice. But this time, I don't know, I just had couldn't move my legs. I could only use my arms, and that didn't cut it. I don't believe my doctors anymore. I'll always be a freak. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Apple Bloom looked at her friend as she saw tears coming down the thirteen-year-old's face. Scootaloo sighed, then continued, “The coach said that she regretted having to kick me off the team, but she didn't exactly sound like she regretted it.” Her anger finally reaching a boiling point, Scootaloo kicked a nearby coffee table, screaming out, "This is all Sunset's fault!"

Not wanting her friend to hurt herself, Apple Bloom got up and laid a gentle hand onto Scootaloo’s shoulder as she said, “Scootaloo, you ain't no freak. Yer m’friend, and that means Ah'm gonna stick by ya no matter what. So, how 'bout ya help me with Sunset. Then, Ah'll help ya find something that yer good at and turn into somethin' really special for you. What do ya say?”

Sniffing hard, Scootaloo turned around her, eyes shining with joy as she reached out, grabbing onto the redhead and pulling her into a tight hug.

“Alright, Apple Bloom. I'll help you, but we can't let Rainbow or Applejack know about this.”

“Of course. You think I want them ta get mad at us. Ah've seen both of them when they're mad, and it ain't a pretty sight. So my lips're sealed.”

“Thanks, Apple Bloom.”

Once the hug was ended, the two went back to what they were doing. Turning the computer on, Apple Bloom got up out of the chair and offered it to Scootaloo, who sat down and looked at the screen. Not sure what she should do, Scootaloo looked back at her friend and said, “Uh, okay, so you turned your computer on. Now what?”

“Bring up the MyStable website,” replied Apple Bloom with a slight smirk on her face.

Scootaloo did so. On the screen in front her was a dark blue background which read, "Welcome to MyStable. Please sign in or create a new account." Scootaloo signed in with her username and password, earning her a slight scoff from Apple Bloom. Her friend reached over her and moved the mouse cursor over to the "sign out of MyStable" tab, then promptly clicked on the tab, signing Scootaloo out of MyStable. Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom, but before she could say anything, Apple Bloom said, “Click on the 'create new account' tab and leave it at that.”

Scootaloo moved the mouse cursor to the correct tab, clicked it, then looked back at Apple Bloom again. “Now what?” she asked.

“Now, scoot yer rear over so Ah can take over,” Apple Bloom replied.

Scootaloo moved over, and Apple Bloom knelt down, then began to type up in the "create screen name" box “A-n-o-n-a-M-i-s-s”. Once she finished, she looked to Scootaloo, who furled her eyebrows together. Apple Bloom saw the look on Scootaloo’s face and laughed lightly. She gestured back to the screen.

Scootaloo returned her gaze to the screen as she heard Apple Bloom say to her, “We can use this ta make Sunset leave our sisters alone.” Apple Bloom grinned widely. “Then, we'll get our sisters back and be a family again.”

“Uh, okay. That really doesn’t make much sense to me at all, Apple Bloom. How is a screen name going to do that?”

“Simple. We post our families' secrets on this website 'n' make it look like Sunset is the one doing it. With her past being what it is, she won’t have a leg to stand on, 'n' no one will be the wiser.”

“Alright, so what will you post, then? I’m sure that our sisters won’t just take this at face value. They'll need more than a screen name to turn on her.”

With a smile on her face, Apple Bloom began to type, “Hey, did you all know that when Applejack was little, she used to follow her grandmother around while doing chores. According to her, she got into the pigpen one day and played with the pigs for hours while her grandmother laughed herself sick. Her family now has called her ‘Piggly Wiggly’ ever since.”

Getting out of the chair and stepping aside so she could see the screen better, Scootaloo almost fell over laughing when she saw what was on the computer screen. Apple Bloom scowled at her as she nearly snarled out to her, “Hey, it’s true. M’sister really did do that, and Ah have a picture to prove it.”

Hearing this, Scootaloo stopped laughing and cleared her throat. “Has anyone else seen that photo other than your immediate family, Apple Bloom?” she choked out, trying not to laugh again.

“Well, no.” Apple Bloom looked down, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. “We sorta take it out of the photo album whenever someone stops by just to make sure that no knows about Applejack's nickname. And so it won’t embarrass my big sister. Or, at least, that's what Granny always says when she takes the photo out of the album.”

“Even if you have a picture,” Scootaloo started, standing up and looking at her with a clear deadpan look in her eyes, “you can’t post it.”

“And why in tarnation not!?” Apple Bloom shot back. “This is ta get rid of Sunset and get our sisters back, remember? So why can’t Ah post that photo?”

“Because we want Sunset to be the one that's blamed for this, not us, remember? Think about it. If you post that photo, your family will know right away it was you that posted it, right?” Scootaloo looked down as she continued, “Just like if I posted anything about my dad and his aff--” She swallowed hard, then slowly looked back up to her friend. "It doesn't matter. Rainbow would know right away it was me and not Sunset that posted that information.”

“Yer dad and his what?”

“None of your business, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo snapped back. Softening her voice a bit, she said, “Do you get why you can’t post that photo now?”

Looking back at the screen, Apple Bloom hung her head low, knowing her friend was right. “Well, yeah, I guess so,” she said softly while Scootaloo stood next to her.

Apple Bloom knew that photo had only ever been seen by her and her family. No one other than she and her family knew it existed. She also knew that posting it would completely ruin her plans to get rid of Sunset so she could have her sister to herself again. The youngest Apple let out a forced sigh as she pressed the ‘Enter’ button on the keyboard. The computer screen changed to a new background and a new tab popped up on the screen.

‘Input background photo,’ the new tab read. Looking at the screen, then over at a nearby photo of her sister with Sunset standing next to her, Apple Bloom got a wonderful idea. She reached over, picked up the photo, placed it into a scanner that sat next to the computer, and scanned the photo.

“Whatcha doing now?” inquired Scootaloo, who watched her friend closely.

“Ah’m scanning this here photo into Photoshop Express. Ah'll then use Sunset as a silhouette and add her hair color to the background to help make this seem as if she did this 'n' not us. That way, when our sisters see it, they'll think she did this 'n' all the blame'll be on her. Oh, before I finish this, what're ya gonna add to this website to help get Sunset out of our sisters' lives, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo thought for a few minutes, then smiled as she said, “Oh, don’t worry. I got something that might help. But I need to make sure I'm able to get it to you without my sister finding out about it, first.”

“Alright. Now that the account is all set up, all you hafta do is email me whatever ya want me to post. Ah'll even create an email account just for posting secrets so that everyone that hates Sunset can have some...fun with this.”

“Sounds good to me. But again, we need to make sure we don’t let anyone else--especially our sisters--know about this, other than maybe Sweetie Belle,” replied Scootaloo sternly.

Apple Bloom giggled slightly. Just as she pressed the ‘Enter’ button again after setting up the email account, both she and Scootaloo heard a car pulling into the driveway. Heading to the door, Apple Bloom saw Rainbow getting out of her mother's car. She didn’t look happy one bit. Rainbow headed for the front door, stopping when Apple Bloom came out to great her.

“Uh, hello Rainbow. What brings y’all here today?”

“Is Scootaloo here, Apple Bloom?” Rainbow snarled out. “I need to talk to her right now!”

“Y-Yes she is.” Apple Bloom had seen Rainbow mad, but not like this. This was scary mad, and she didn’t like it one bit for the blue-skinned athlete to come to her home this mad. Apple Bloom knew that Scootaloo must be in real trouble with her sister. “S-She's inside. Hang on w-while Ah go get her for ya.”

Apple Bloom headed back inside, returning a few moments later with Scootaloo in tow. The young girl looked upset to see her sister standing outside. Rainbow closed her eyes as she snarled out in anger, “You're damn lucky I know you well enough to know where you were heading, squirt! What would've happened if you had gotten hurt or lost or-or something terrible like that, Scootaloo!?”

“Rainbow, I--”

“Get your ass in the fucking car now!”

Looking down, her face clearly etched with shame, Scootaloo looked away from her sister. Rainbow shook her head grimly, her face showed pure anger as Scootaloo didn’t reply to her. Scootaloo headed to the car and got in slamming the door shut. “Scootaloo, seriously! Don’t slam the car door like that!” her mother yelled out angrily.

Rainbow who had remained on the front step of Apple Bloom's home, turned to face Apple Bloom, who simply grinned back to her with a very sheepish grin on her face as she said, “Well Ah, uh, gotta go get my homework done now. Ah’ll see you around, maybe.” Before Rainbow could say anything, Apple Bloom shut the door, locked it, and headed back upstairs to finish posting to her newly created Anon-a-Miss MyStable account.

Rainbow headed back to the car and got in, letting out a loud grunt. Scootaloo sank into the cushions of the car seat. As her mother pulled out of the driveway, Scootaloo looked out the window, thinking to herself, “Soon, Rainbow, you’ll be paying more attention to me than to Sunset, and we can be a family again.”

Her mother, though, wasn't content to let them drive in silence. Angrily, she said, "How could you just run off like that, Scootaloo? Honestly, what would your father have thought?"

That set Scootaloo off. Taking her eyes off the window, she yelled, "It doesn't matter what he'd think! He isn't here! He never will be!"

The car rounded a corner and Scootaloo was able to see Applejack and her brother's truck. They and Granny Smith were all standing by the curb of the road. The truck was puffing out grayish-blue smoke and Big McIntosh was clearly not happy. Slowing down and pulling over, Rainbow's mother said, "We'll finish this discussion when we get home." She got of out of the car and walked over to the group to offer help, while Rainbow and Scootaloo stayed in the car.

Rainbow lowered the visor in the car so she could look at her sister in the back without having to take her eyes off the front window. “Look, Scoots, I know it's hard and all, but you can’t just take off like that. That was totally not cool. I know it's hard being my--”

“Can we talk about something else, Rainbow!” Scootaloo snapped back with all the venom of a viper in her voice.

“Hey, there is no--”

The car door opened, and Rainbow quickly stopped talking as she raised the visor, angry. Her mother noticed this, yet said nothing to either of them, pulling away from the Apple family, she drove her daughters home. The rest of the night Scootaloo spent alone in her room as she cried herself to sleep, her thoughts dwelling on her father and on Rainbow's betrayal.

Next Chapter: The Next Day (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 21 Hours, 37 Minutes