It was on a warm day in mid spring that I learned the value of being punctual and the consequences of a failure to be so. It was the day that I met Scootaloo. I'd been late arriving for my weekly session with Cheerilee the day before and we'd run out of time before we had covered everything that she'd wanted to go over.

She had decided, and I had agreed, that we would meet the next day after her class and go over the few things we had missed; she didn't want me to be off schedule. Three weeks in with seven weeks left. Hopefully. If I did well and was lucky.

I heard the ringing of a bell when I arrived alone at the school house. Twilight had suggested that I start making trips alone, to get used to being self sufficient. I'd guessed she decided that there wasn't much chance that I would run away again. I had been successfully suppressing that urge.

The school doors burst open and I jumped back, startled by the loud noise of wood crashing into wood. I shook my head and forced down the urge to panic. 'It's just a door.' I told myself, but millions of years of instinct were not so easily content to give way to four weeks of upper brain. Twilight was rubbing off on me.

My ears swiveled towards the doors while I was momentarily lost in thought. 'Stampede?' I thought as I heard the thunderous sound of hooves stomping into wood and then dirt. Foals, at least a dozen of them, were pouring out of the schoolhouse. My breath caught in my throat.

I was unfamiliar with that feeling, like pain but not, and I wasn't even sure why. I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked around the stampede of tiny ponies and made my way for the still open door. I'd have to ask Cheerilee about it but first--

Orange. Purple. Wings! My thoughts went back to Pain and Blue and Rainbow. I still wasn't used to ponies with wings, it felt... wrong. Or I was projecting my fear of Rainbow Dash.

Maybe it was both. I stepped across the threshold anyway and looked over the little pegasus filly. No, she seemed harmless enough.

"Oh, Maggie!" Cheerliee said as she turned and looked over at me, "That's right I asked you to come today didn't I?"

I nodded, "Yes." Talking was getting easier, but I still found myself sticking to small simple words around ponies I didn't know. This little filly was no exception.

"Well... This is a little embarrassing, I'm actually going to be really busy all night and I don't have time to go over what I wanted to go over so we'll have to try again tomorrow," she explained with an expression on her face that I couldn't quite place.

My ears fell along with the corners of my mouth. I was going to have to do this for an extra week now. "I understand." I said dejectedly as I turned to walk back out of the schoolhouse. I sighed, perhaps I could go visit Applejack or Red. I'd have to ask what his name actually--

"Well, wait." Cheerliee said. I turned around and she was smiling strangely, "You haven't been in ponyville that long, why don't you let Scootaloo show you around?"

I blinked and looked between her and the filly in front of her. Blue eyes met purple. We both turned to look at Cheerilee, the same word on both of our lips.

"What."

The filly was... energetic. I didn't dislike that, to my great surprise. I had found that I generally preferred calmer environments but her enthusiasm was almost infectious. I smiled a little as she buzzed alongside me on her scooter.

"And then the parade float went over the cliff!" Scootaloo finished as she looked over at me, her eyes drifted to my flank. "Hey... You don't have a cutie mark."

"I don't." I replied with a nod, unsure of where she was going with it. Still, something in the back of my mind urged me to humor the little pegasus, wings or no.

"Well aren't you curious about your special talent?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Well..." I started, "Not really... but now that you mention it." I wondered why I hadn't thought of that before.

"Well, you're colored kind of like a cow... maybe your special talent is milk?" She suggested helpfully while looking me over with appraising eye.

I stopped walking and started at the little filly, "I... Don't think that's my special talent."

"You're probably right," Scootaloo admitted, "Hmm... Well what are you good at?"

I smiled, that was an easy simple answer, I turned to the filly with the grin plastered across my face, "Well... I'm pretty fast."

Scootaloo smirked, "Prove it."

She'd taken the bait; Hook, line, and sinker. "Try to keep up," I said simply.

And then I was off like a shot, rocks kicked up as I launched with my back legs. I felt the wind in my mane and I was immediately in my element. I could hear the buzzing of the filly's wings next to me. She was fast.

But I was faster. I leaned my head into the wind and pushed harder, cutting towards town as the buzzing fell further and further behind. I started to let up a little, last time I got carried away I ended up getting tackled by Rainbow Dash.

Not that I thought I was going to end up in that situation a second time, I still felt the need for moderation. If for no other reason, I supposed, than to give the little filly something to--

The buzzing was back, right above me? I looked up and my eyes widened. Scootaloo was flying through the air above me, still on her scooter. Had she jumped off of something? She was passing me at a speed I didn't think possible and then... she hit the ground in front of me.

I narrowed my eyes and pulled out all the stops. If she wanted to play hard ball, I'd play hard ball. We'd just hit the town square and suddenly the scooter started to wobble and she slowed down, the cobblestones were loose here for some reason.

And then it happened, the scooter went sideways and she jumped off and to the side.

"Oh no."

I wasn't so lucky, my front legs got caught up in the wooden contraption and I went down hard. End over end I tumbled through the make-shift market.

The world was spinning so fast that I couldn't make sense of anything I was seeing, I just knew that hitting the ground like that hurt, and I'd be lucky if I made it out of this without a broken leg. Or Four. I caught a flash of orange and I was peripherally aware of the scent of apples.

'Oh no, not that!' I thought, afraid that I was right in my fear of which stall I was about to crash into. I was fast, and fast took a lot of time to stop, time I didn't have. I hit the wooden planks and my world exploded into fresh new pain and the overpowering scent of apples and sugar.

"Maggie?! What in the world is goin on here?" the voice yelled in alarm.

I opened my eyes, unsure of when I'd closed them, and looked up while laying on my back in the middle of what used to be Applejack's applecart. I raised my hoof weakly and pointed in the direction I came, "Scootaloo happened."

She did not look amused, "You know, I think y'all are gonna clean this up... and I could use a little help in the orchards come ta think of it. Thanks for volunteerin'."

'Today I learned not to let small orange fillies goad you into acting irresponsibly,' I thought to myself as I kicked another tree. I was rewarded with the sound of falling apples. It was just as well that Applejack had me doing this; I needed to work off the aggression.

Aggression was definitely a new concept for me. I didn't remember ever being legitimately angry before. I wasn't even angry with Scootaloo, she was just being... a filly. And I wasn't any better, I was angry at myself.

"I'm real sorry about getting you in trouble like that Miss Maggie." The filly said as she picked up an apple and put it into the bag I was wearing. I'm not sure it would have been possible for her ears to go down any further. She was... cute.

And like that, the negative feelings evaporated. It wasn't like I had anything better going on anyway right? And for some reason I found myself drawn to the little filly, in an almost mo--

I stopped moving. "Miss Maggie, you alright?"

I looked down at the little filly and in her place an entirely different pony stood, just for a second, until I blinked her away. How could I have forgotten? I couldn't even remember her name but, that feeling... I didn't need to ask Cheerilee why anymore, I knew.

I knew what had bothered me and I suspected at why I found Scootaloo so appealing. I knew what I'd left behind. Left back in that other world... Left with the wolves and I could only hope that the other horses had been able to do what I didn't...

I'd had a foal... and I'd left her behind.

Author's Notes:

So this thing took a turn I wasn't entirely expecting it to take for sure, changed the tone a little bit but it's given me a direction to work for. I'd say expect semi-frequent updates but I don't want to write checks I can't cash.

While you're at it, give this a look.