“Hey, squirt,” Rainbow greeted, landing on the ground beside the little orange pegasus and trotting impressively along with her wings flared up and out. “I’ve got an hour free. Want to try flying again?”

Scootaloo stared straight at the ground. It had been two full weeks since she’d spent the night at Rainbow’s house, and the memory of that night was still fresh in her mind. “Not now, Rainbow Dash,” she said harshly through gritted teeth.

Rainbow stopped in her tracks at the utterly unexpected rejection, her wings sagging down and tucking into her sides. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Scootaloo answered flatly, not changing expression. “Everything is fine. I just don’t want to try flying right now.”

“Are you still upset because it didn’t work right away last time?”

“No. I just don’t want to fly today.”

“Okay then…” Rainbow gave up. “I guess I’ll try some other time.”

“I guess,” Scootaloo shrugged. Rainbow took off and flew away, and Scootaloo sat down in the grass. She had once loved Rainbow Dash, worshipped the very mention of her name, but now…there was nopony in Equestria she hated more. How could she ruin everything they could have had together by running off with her? The very thought of it brought her blood to a boil. She hadn’t even unclenched her teeth in hours.

“Hi Scootaloo! Ready to get started?” Sweetie Belle’s voice was shrill, piercing, annoying.

“Yeah,” she said. “What are we doing today?”

“Now what kinda question is that?” Apple Bloom cheerily chimed in. “We’re gettin’ our cutie marks, of course!”

Scootaloo snorted with derision.

“What’s the matter, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Nothing.”

“You’ve been really sad-looking lately,” she commented. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”

“Everything’s fine, Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo shook off her pack into the corner of the clubhouse and took a seat. “Is there anything specific we have planned?”

“Ah don’t think so, other than going on down the list of activities we haven’t tried yet,” Apple Bloom produced the stack of papers the Crusaders used for recordkeeping and making sure they proceeded in a logical fashion and didn’t attempt the same thing twice. It was all very efficient and precise.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Jazz Bassoonists it is!” Sweetie Belle cheered. “I’ve been looking forward to this one.”

“Ugh…” Scootaloo sighed. “Sounds booooring.”

“It’s at least safer than Cutie Mark Crusaders Cliff-Divers.”

“Not nearly awesome enough,” Scootaloo stood up, putting her pack back on as the Crusaders prepared to depart on another adventure. The strap was being stubborn, though, and wouldn’t fasten properly. Scootaloo tugged harder, but it wasn’t enough. She gave up, kicking off the pack and bucking it into the corner in a frustrated rage. “Stupid bag!” she yelled.

“Scootaloo…” Sweetie approached timidly. “Come on, tell me what’s wrong. You can tell me. I care about you.”

“Well I don’t!” Scootaloo snapped, storming out of the clubhouse. “Sheesh, you think you foals would get the idea when I said I just wanted to be left alone.”

Sweetie Belle sat down, her heart crushed. She’d always liked Scootaloo, maybe even loved her. And Scootaloo had always been distant, her mind stuck in Rainbow Dash’s shadow. Sweetie knew they would probably never really have the kind of relationship she wanted, but as long as they could stay friends…that would be good enough. Scootaloo’s harsh and unprovoked attack was totally uncalled for—Sweetie didn’t know why her orange idol had suddenly changed attitudes so drastically, but she didn’t like it. She was bitter and caustic now, not tolerating anypony prying into her business. It was maddening, especially since there was clearly something wrong in her life to make her act this way.

“Ah’ll go after her,” Apple Bloom promised, rushing out of the clubhouse in pursuit, even though Scootaloo had already taken off on her scooter towards town.

Sweetie was grateful for the effort, but she wondered if she even cared anymore. She wanted to be a designer, but she’d been shown on more than one occasion that that was not her lot in life. Years of childhood dreams had been stripped in the blink of an eye. But then there was Scootaloo, her savior from the bullies of the school, the pony that had helped her push past their hate. She wanted more than anything to be close to her, to make something impressive of herself so that Scootaloo would actually take more than a passing friendly interest in her. But that had all been for nought, too. Scootaloo had somehow become one of the bullies herself.

It was enough to break Sweetie Belle’s heart.

Next Chapter: Chapter 11 Estimated time remaining: 6 Minutes