Scootaloo was angry. She was angry with Rainbow Dash for throwing away what could have been a perfectly good relationship and trading it for that unicorn DJ. If they wanted to be friends, then that was fine; Vinyl Scratch was pretty cool, for a unicorn. But the honor of sharing a kiss with the greatest, most incredible pegasus in all Equestria was something Scootaloo had been aspiring to for a long time. She’d finally worked up the courage and the guts to go through with it, only to have Vinyl beat her to the punch. It was awful. Rainbow had betrayed her completely.

But as she thought about it more, she became gradually more and more angry at herself, as well. Rainbow was fully grown, a bit older than Vinyl, even. She’d inspired six other ponies to earn their cutie marks before Scootaloo was even born. She was way out of Scootaloo’s league, and Scootaloo cursed herself for not seeing it sooner. All that obsession, all that idol worship…she never had a chance the whole time. It was always Vinyl who was destined to get her, from the very beginning.

Still, she had come too far now. Rainbow Dash was just ahead, lazing on the branch of a tree, as usual. Part of her wanted to turn back and give up, to let things go and try again to be civil, but she couldn’t let herself do that. She’d been through too much.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” she yelled up to the sky.

“Scootaloo?” Rainbow’s face looked down questioningly. “You change your mind about flying today?”

“No,” Scootaloo responded. “I wanted to tell you I saw you and Vinyl Scratch that night I stayed over. I came to ask what that was all about.”

“Oh,” Rainbow said, embarrassed. “How much did you see?”

“You know what, just forget it,” Scootaloo retracted. “It doesn’t even matter anymore anyway.”

Rainbow heard the slight catch in her voice, as if she was fighting to keep back tears. Then the pieces fell together, and Rainbow felt like an absolute idiot.

“Wait, Scootaloo,” she called, taking off from the cloud and landing beside the filly before she could leave. “Tell me what’s wrong.” She already knew; Scootaloo had feelings for her. Truly, she should have seen it coming all along. Scootaloo was young and a bit naïve, not fully understanding how her body was reacting to normal biological changes. Age and gender meant nothing to her at this stage—Rainbow actually envied her innocence.

Scootaloo took a deep breath, thinking it best to just go ahead and lay her cards on the table. “I love you, Rainbow Dash,” she confessed, her ears immediately hearing the words spoken aloud and sending a rush of tears to her eyes. “I thought we could be together. You know, like, together. But then you and Vinyl Scratch were…” she trailed off, not knowing the words to describe what she had seen.

Rainbow put a hoof on her orange shoulder to comfort her. “Look, kid, it’s really complicated how all these things work. It means a lot that you think so highly of me. I’m flattered. But if we got together, it would be wrong. I know it sounds like it would be awesome, but you’re still in school. It just isn’t right. Why don’t you find some nice colt in your class—”

“No!” she refused. “I want you, Rainbow Dash. Or I used to. I don’t even know anymore.”

“Well then, maybe that’s another sign we weren’t meant for each other. I’m sorry you had to be let down like this, but it’s for the best. We can still be friends, and I can still teach you to fly.”

Scootaloo sat down on the hard ground, thinking hard about that. “I guess that could work…” she nearly whispered.

“Good thing. I hate having to turn you down like this, knowing how hard it must have been for you to work up the courage to approach me about it, but I’m positive you’ll thank me in the end.”

“There ya are!” Apple Bloom rushed over from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “What in tarnation has gotten into ya? It’s bad enough how moody you’ve been the past coupla weeks, but now ya made Sweetie Belle cry with that little tantrum back there.”

“Oh, no, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t mean to…I was just…sorry Rainbow Dash but I have to go.” She jumped onto her scooter and buzzed off toward the clubhouse at full tilt. Apple Bloom turned to follow, but Rainbow grabbed her tail in her teeth and halted her.

“Oh no you don’t,” Rainbow preempted any protest. “This is something they need to work out just between them.”

The blue scooter screeched to a stop outside the Crusaders’ clubhouse, and Scootaloo rushed up the ramp to where Sweetie Belle lay curled up in the corner.

“Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said as she entered, trying to think of how she could best apologize.

“Don’t bother,” Sweetie Belle stopped her. “It’s my own fault. I thought you might be interested in me, but you were always chasing Rainbow Dash. I guess I hoped I would be worth your attention anyway, but I should have known better.”

“No, Sweetie Belle! You’re my friend. I know I got carried away with her, but…that’s not even a problem anymore. I talked to her about it, and I know I was taking things a bit too far. I’m sorry. I’ll be a better friend from now on, I promise.”

“That sort of is the problem, though,” Sweetie said sheepishly. “What you felt for Rainbow Dash…I felt the same for you.”

“What?” Scootaloo was stunned—she certainly hadn’t expected that.

“You stood up for me when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were making fun of me. You’re the reason we even have the Cutie Mark Crusaders! I…I think I love you, Scootaloo.”

“Sweetie Belle...” Scootaloo simply didn’t have the words to respond. Her eyes were welling up again with new tears. She lay down beside the unicorn, leaning close against her. “I really like you, too.”

“But you have Rainbow Dash now, right? You stopped talking about how much you wanted to be with her that we assumed you two were actually…together.”

“No, that was just a fantasy of mine that got a bit out of hand,” Scootaloo explained. “I still really respect her. She’s a hero! But she’s with Vinyl Scratch now, and there was never any hope for us anyway. I’m sorry. I wish I’d seen it sooner so none of us would have had to go through this.”

Sweetie nuzzled affectionately at Scootaloo’s neck. “It’s okay. I forgive you. After all, I was kind of obsessed with you for a long time.”

Scootaloo blinked in surprise. “All this time I was chasing an impossible dream, and I never even realized I had somepony who already loved me right here. I can’t believe how blind I was.”

“So you’re not upset with me?”

“With you? Sweetie Belle, the only pony I’m upset with right now is myself. I should have given up on my Rainbow Dash fantasies long ago. Then I’d have seen the way you looked at me. And I’d have been able to do this a long time ago…”

Scootaloo kissed her, pressing Sweetie’s surprised lips with her own. She tasted…sweet. Like sugar.

Sweetie pulled away after a minute. “So…that means…you and me?”

Scootaloo smiled hopefully, thinking of a future when she could have her own house in the clouds, where she could hold up Sweetie Belle as they shared a bed, just like Rainbow and Vinyl had done. Or maybe they’d live on the ground where it was safer. Either way, Scootaloo’s future fantasies had completely rewritten themselves to include that little white unicorn instead of the rainbow-maned pegasus that had populated them for so long. Scootaloo was hopeful for the future, whatever it had to bring. Things hadn’t turned out the way she wanted, but it was for the best.

“Well,” she said, “Rainbow Dash did say one thing that made me think: we’re pretty young yet, so chances are it probably won’t work out in the end. But you’re the most awesome unicorn I know, and I’m willing to give it a try.”

[Blank]