“But that’s impossible!”

Scootaloo buzzed her wings as hard as she could. The familiar road around the outskirts of Ponyville flew by, she was going way faster than any time past, during which she had crashed. Scootaloo didn’t care, much to the chagrin of her two passengers.

“Do you know what this means?” Sweetie Belle cried.

She held on to Apple Bloom for her dear life, and Apple Bloom clambered onto Scootaloo in turn. Good for them that Scootaloo was so small, or they would have never all managed to fit on the scooter at the same time.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom commented, “It means we finally know why we haven’t seen Scootaloo in weeks.”

“But, just look at it!” Sweetie Belle said.

She held the document in front. It was a stately affair, over twenty pages stapled together. The cover page held the typical decorations, the official title of the state exam, Scootaloo’s name, the signatures of Miss Cheerilee and the commissioner. And the final score in big, red lettering.

One hundred percent.

“Nopony was supposed to ever get such a score!” Sweetie Belle said.

“Yeah, well, they weren’t expecting me then,” Scootaloo said, “besides, i think they just copied the exercises from the books anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Not big of a deal!” Sweetie Belle hollered, “Not big of a deal! Try telling that to Miss Cheerilee, or the commissioner!”

“I don’t think she got the chance,” Apple Bloom said, “Did you see their faces? Scootaloo was out of the school building before they even got a word in.”

“I don’t care about the school building,” Scootaloo said.

Promptly, she beat her wings in the other direction. After years of practice, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle curled up, and held onto Scootaloo in a protective curl, expecting to crash. But the box under the scooter clacked repeatedly, and the vehicle gently rolled to a standstill, no harm done. They had arrived at Ponyville’s botanical marvel, the overgrown burough. Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Does that mean you’re gonna leave us?” Sweetie Belle said.

“No way,” Scootaloo said, “why would I leave you?”

“Because you’re going to study in that fancy sky city of yours,” Apple Bloom said.

“I never said I’m going to study there,” Scootaloo said, “I just said I’m going to visit there again. I wouldn’t even know how to pay the tuition.”

“Can’t you take a job, or something?” Apple Bloom said.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, “No. I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it now. Besides, we can go there together, can’t we? Anyway, I need to go say thanks to Fluttershy real quick, because she was the one who encouraged me to do this.”

Birds and critters suspiciously glowered at her from the trees and shrubbery, as Scootaloo ran up the path, crossed the neat little bridge over the stream, and arrived at Fluttershy’s front door. She rapped at the door, and Fluttershy opened up way too quickly. She had been waiting for her.

“Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said, and Scootaloo practically shoved the papers into her face.

“I did it!” Scootaloo whooped excitedly.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said, leafing through the pages of the test, and seeing nothing but red check marks indicating correctness, her eyes growing bigger by the moment.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said, “Scootaloo that is wonderful! You did perfectly on this test. That is really impressive!”

“And I did it, all thanks to you,” Scootaloo said, “Thank you so much, Fluttershy!”

“Oh, I am very happy to help,” Fluttershy said, “but this was your doing, really.”

Suddenly, the test didn’t seem so important anymore, as they stepped closer and crossed necks, nothing but amicable warmth between them, and Scootaloo could have been no prouder in front of Fluttershy.

“Here, I have a little something for you,” Fluttershy said. She went into the cottage and came back holding a little gift bag, way too quickly. She had been expecting this too.

“Sorry I didn’t make a gift basket out of it,” Fluttershy said, “but I thought a bag would be more appropriate in this case.”

It was a cloth bag with a cover. Inside, there were a bunch of pretty flowers, a few juicy leaves, a neat little congratulations card, the typical fare. But beyond that, a bit of perfect white plastic shone through. It was the remaining diapers, neatly stacked against each other so as to fit into the bag. And on the other side, there was a bottle of baby powder, and a pack of foal wipes. And her pretty purple glitter pacifier!

“Do you have someplace in your room where you can hide them?” Fluttershy said.

“Yes,” Scootaloo said, “Oh, thank you, Fluttershy!”

“You are very welcome,” Fluttershy said, “I thought you deserved to have a bit of fun, after all this.”

Scootaloo shouldered the bag, and went in for another hug. Fluttershy graciously embraced her, and held her for a few, very tender, moments.

But Scootaloo remained, fidgeting.

“Yes?” Fluttershy said.

“Um,” Scootaloo said, “You said that we could go back, to Skyview? Together?”

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh boy,” she said, “You only just finished the test, and are already on your way to the next adventure. Listen, we can’t go right now, since I can’t just up and leave my cottage. I’ve got work to do, and ponies depend on me being here. How about this, why don’t you just take the next couple of weeks off, and enjoy the rest of summer vacation? I believe that you really should have a break.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said.

“And, in the meantime, I’ll make preparations for the journey,” Fluttershy winked.

Scootaloo cheered, and hugged Fluttershy one more time, thanking her over and over.

“It’s okay, Scoots,” Fluttershy giggled, “now, go and show your test to your foster parents. I’m sure they will be excited.”

“I will,” Scootaloo said, already on her way back to her scooter, and the waiting Crusaders, “see you soon, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy waved her goodbye, and watched the little pony rejoin her friends, and drive her scooter back into Ponyville.

She remained for a bit, just standing in the doorway, delighting in the very nice time she had spent together with Scootaloo. What a strange pony she was, but also pretty cute. Fluttershy didn’t quite understand everything that was going on in Scootaloo’s head, but she felt like exploring their relationship a bit further.

“You’re almost grown up, Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said into the wind. She giggled. “And I hope you will always stay that way.”