==Start Day 9==

The clack-clack sound of tiny hoofsteps could be heard as a certain filly made her way up the steps of the porch outside the Apples' farmhouse.  Nervously, her high-pitched voice called out to anyone inside.

"Helllooooo?.....  Anypony home?......

Sweetie Belle tried in vain to stretch tall enough to see in the window.

"Applebloom? ... Applejack?... ... Granny Smith?...."

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped when Greenwood's tone and mood changed so dramatically... and swiftly. "I... what... huh." she blinked in disbelief a few times as the red unicorn trotted away.

Well whatever the motives of Greenwood, Rainbow Dash sure hoped she passed with flying colours. Of course she did! She's Rainbow Dash after all! As Applejack intercepted her, Dash darted forward with a quick kiss. She needed a little something sweet to take her mind off of it and Applejack did just the trick. That was until she requested for them to have a 'talk'.

She tried to act unconcerned about what was to be discussed, but her nervousness took over and her ears flattened a little. "Uh... okay. What'd... what'd you wanna talk about?"

Applejack blushed slightly as Rainbow stepped in and stole a kiss, a bashful turn of her head landing the kiss on her cheek. She nudged the pegasus with her head gently, then stepped alongside her, at a leisurely pace  toward the orchard - slow enough that she could step most cautiously, eliminating most of the strain on her hoof by careful placement. Her cheeks were still softly aglow.

Applejack leaned into her and sighed. "I tried ta' stay up for ya' last night, but ya' never turned up. Ah wanted ta' ask ya' about Scootaloo. Apple Bloom told me everythin' this mornin'... But I want you ta' tell me about it, too."

She let out a heavy sigh, and raised a hoof, brushing through her own mane. "Ah'll admit...  what she's goin' through ain't easy.  Ah'm thinkin' a' takin' her in here on the farm." She said, thoughtfully.

Dash blushed a little as Applejack turned her head at the last second. Since when was Applejack shy and timid? She sighed, not worrying about that for now.

"Yeah, sorry about that. The White Tail Woods is pretty far away. I couldn't exactly fly back to you either, though I wanted to." she smiled and then nodded at the mention of Scootaloo. "She's had a rough life, that kid. If anypony understands her, it might be us. My mom was never there for me and my dad was always out of the house. And you, well..." she trailed off, not wanting to get into that part of it. "I think she'd do well at the farm here, but... I... I also want to adopt her myself. I know it may sound selfish, but I think she should really have a Pegasus taking care of her, you know? I can teach her how to fly and... and she can come to the farm here as much as she wants too."

Applejack smiled at her  friend, and stepped just a little closer, leaning against her. "hehe... You 'an me are already thinkin' alike. Tell ya' what. Ah think that Scoots doesn't want ta' feel like she's bein' trapped. What about we have her stay down here, you move yer' cloud-house over this way, an' she stays down here until she learns ta' fly up to your place on her own? Ah think that Scoots doesn't wanna feel pitied... Make sense?" she suggested.

Applejack then leaned in and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "Ah'm just glad she's alright. And ah think that between the two of us, we can look after her. I don't want ya' to have to struggle through it alone, awright?"

Greenwood watched as Scootaloo dashed past for the kitchen, but didn't follow her.  Instead she lingered on the porch, taking a seat rather than heading on inside while she sipped away at her cooling tea.  She wasn't entirely certain she should stick around much longer... as nice as a home cooked breakfast sounded, the Poacher had the feeling she was wearing thin her welcome in a few regards.  Besides, she didn't want to get herself any more muddled up in the confusing lives of these Ponies than she already had.  She couldn't afford to go making any anchors now...

It was about then that Sweetie Belle showed up, so wrapped up in her own search for others that she didn't even notice Greenwood sitting there.  The Unicorn rolled her eyes a bit.  This town was just lousy with kids, wasn't it?  "They're all inside getting ready for breakfast.  Just go on in - they won't care." she called over to the little squeaker.

Rainbow nodded as Applejack laid her plan out for how to handle Scootaloo. "I was hoping she could stay here in the meantime." she smiled. "She's got a real friend in Applebloom, plus it's a great family environment, something I really can't provide." she admitted. "But I want to talk to her and see what she wants to do about where to live. Twilight's dating that tinkerer, right? Maybe he could make some sort of flying scooter for her until she can fly up on her own? And even then, she might really like that over flying anyway." she shrugged. "I'd like to move my house over the farm though. As long as it wouldn't block out too much sun for the crops or something."

"Err....  well, yer' welcome ta' relocate - ah'll find ya' a spot near the main house so yer' not in the way." Applejack grinned, and gestured he rhoof over toward the barn. "Maybe somewhere around there. As fer' the flyin' scooter idea - Ah don't want her usin' anythin' ... unsafe. So... let's just be careful about  promisin' her a flying scooter 'till we know what we can actually get her. Tha' last thing she needs right now is disappointment."

Sweetie Belle flinched a little as she heard Greenwood's voice come from behind her on the porch.  She hadn't been expecting a voice to come from behind.

"O-Oh... Ok... Thanks!"  She said, regaining her composure at the end before reaching up and pulling the front door open and disappearing into the house with a grin.

Sweetie continued into the house until she caught sight of Granny Smith in the kitchen from the other room.  She called out to the elderly mare as she approached the kitchen doorway.

"Good Morning, Granny Smith! ... Is Appleboom around?  I was hoping she could come help me look for-"  The filly's words suddenly cut off as she saw the very objective of their would-be search, seated at the table in the kitchen.

"*SCOOTALOO!!!*"

A blurry flash of white, pink, and purple suddenly flew through the air at Scootaloo as Sweetie dove at her long-lost friend headfirst in a half-hug, half-tackle.

Scoots ears perked up when she heard the other part of their trio speaking, her head raising just in time to see Sweetie launching herself at her. "SweeEEK!" She squeaked out, getting plowed over and off the chair she was sitting on. Tumbling to the ground she ended up flat on her back with Sweetie hugging her fiercely on top of her. She slowly started to smile, glad that Sweetie was so excited to see her. Her own forelegs came up and wrapped tightly around the small unicorn. "Hey Sweetie."

After a much overdue hug with her best friend, Sweetie let Scootaloo go ad helped her back upright again.  Her eyebrows furrowed and she raised her squeaky voice in a mild expression of rage.

"We were so *WORRIED* about you! ... Nopony's seen you in *DAYS*!"

She glared for just a moment longer before her expression softened again and she pulled Scootaloo in for one more quick hug before looking back at her in confusion.

"But I'm glad you're ok... ... Where *WERE* you, anyway?..."

Scoot's expression dropped when Sweetie started berating her, she knew she deserved it but had hoped the small unicorn wouldn't do it. She was therefore surprised when Sweetie pulled her back into a hug, though she was more than happy to return it. However, at the question of where she had been she suddenly found herself wishing for the anger and yelling. She hadn't actually told anypony yet where she had been living for the last four years. "Um, well, I was uh..." She stuttered before trailing off, looking everywhere but at Sweetie. It was so much harder to say in the daylight and when she didn't have her back pressed against the wall. "I was sick." Scoots said, dropping her head in shame. She couldn't help herself, she'd been lying for so long and to so many ponies that she couldn't bring herself to tell the truth when she wasn't forced to with no other option.

"Now don't y'start that again!"  Applebloom had come back along inside from running her chore to the barn just in time to find Scootaloo telling yet another lie to cover up for herself.  She was still mad at the Pegasus for what had happened and finding her going into bad habits didn't help her any... but Applebloom swallowed down her temper.  With her big sister's advice in mind and Sweetie Belle already there, Applebloom joined her two friends and caught them both in a tight hug.

"Ah think we've all got some talkin' t'do.  Y'all wanna step aside 'til breakfast is ready?" she nodded over to the hall where the three of them could have a bit of privacy while Granny and Xing occupied the kitchen.

She looked at where Applejack was pointing. "Over the barn? Are you kidding? The barn has a certain... odor about it that will just waft up into my airspace. How about down the road a little by the front gate?" she asked.

On the subject of the scooter she nodded quickly. "Don't worry, I'm not going to mention it until I get a chance to talk to Widget. It'll be pretty cool though if it can happen!" she grinned, imagining her daughter flying overhead fast as can be. Her daughter... her... daughter...

Rainbow Dash said those words a few times in her mind and it made her smile all the more. "Right, well breakfast was called a little while ago and I'm starving. Let's eat!" she trotted into the house.

Scoot's head whipped up when she heard Applebloom rip into her, eyes going wide and ears falling flat against her head. Talk about bad timing. She was surprised again when the little yellow earth pony pulled her and Sweetie into a hug, she quickly returned it, holding her two best friends against herself tightly. She reluctantly let go when Applebloom did, biting her lip when she said that they needed to talk. She didn't particularly want to step out and talk but knew that they needed to. So it was with a heavy sigh that she stood up and led the way out into the hallway, sitting down and leaning against the wall as she waited for the other two to join her.

Applebloom walked up and confronted Scootaloo just as Sweetie was about to respond to the pegasus's somewhat believable excuse.  The Earth Pony's reaction suggested that it might not have been the whole truth though.

Sweetie joined the little group hug, glad that their trio was whole again after so long.  When Applebloom suggested that they all step outside and talk, the little white filly agreed.

"Yeah... I wanna know..."

Even she had to notice something was amiss here now.

When the three friends were alone, Sweetie turned to Scootaloo with a look of concern rather than confusion this time.  "So... What's really going on here?...

Scootaloo looked up at Sweetie, a pained expression on her face. Way to go straight for the jugular. "Well, the thing is..." She trailed off, eyes darting around as she looked everywhere but at her two best friends. "See, it's like this..." She started again, biting at her lip as she stopped. Pushing herself onto her hooves she started to pace, wings fluttering anxiously as she tried to get the words out. "I uh, I haven't been......honest." She managed to get out, briefly making eye contact with Sweetie and AB before dropping her eyes once more. She shook her head, trying to get herself under control.

"With you girls or anypony." She reached up and rubbed her face, heaving a heavy sigh before continuing. _{"I'm a hrmhpharan."}
This message was last edited by the player at 02:50, Fri 22 Mar 2013.

Arty continued snuffling his way through Granny's cooking completely oblivious to everything going on around him.

Sweetie listened intently as Scootaloo tried to work up the courage to speak.  The unicorn filly showed remarkable patience as her friend stammered through phrase after phrase, apparently trying to work up the courage to say whatever she had to say.  But when Scootaloo finally said whatever it was she was trying to say, it came out as more of a mumble than actual words.

Sweetie blinked hard a couple times.  ”Sorry Scootloo, I didn’t catch that last part.  Say it again?”  She took a step and leaned closer to her friend with an ear cocked to hear better.

Applejack gave the other mare a warm smile, and nodded. "Awright, let's eat, sugar cube." She stepped close, and nudged her side gently, then slowly hobbled her way back toward the house. Once she got there, she stepped inside and along to the kitchen, taking up a place on one side, opposite her sister.

Scoots looked at Sweetie, silently begging and pleading with her to not make her say it again. She knew she would have to say it again, she had said it and she couldn't understand herself. But, why did they have to push her so? Couldn't they just keep everything the same? How it was before? Her mouth worked silently for a few seconds as she tried to gather the courage she needed to speak. "I.......I'm an..........an............_orpeadasf."

As Scootaloo continued to mumble and mutter over the situation, Applebloom first gave her a reassuring squeeze... then a soft jab in the ribs when she kept it up anyway.  "It's alright Scoots... g'wan." she urged her gently.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, breakfast had come along swimmingly with Xing Ming's help.  There was space at the table for everyone as Granny started setting plates and heaping portions of delicious apple-centric dishes, though she paused momentarily when she found one seat in particular unanswered for.

"Where'd that Greenwood filly get off to?" Granny Smith asked as she glanced about for any sign of the Unicorn.

Sweetie continued to stand there, sincerely interested in what her friends seemed to know that she did not, and that Scootaloo was having such a hard time sharing with her.   As Applebloom encouraged their uncharacteristically timid pegasus friend, Sweetie leaned closer still, practically putting her ear up to Scootaloo’s muzzle so as to hear a whisper.

Scoots closed her eyes, maybe it would be easier if she couldn't see them? She gave a little yelp of surprise when Applebloom jabbed her, shying away a bit. She anxiously danced about on her hooves, trying to screw up her courage enough to tell Sweetie her secret. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened before snapping closed. Taking a deep breath she finally spilled her secret. "I'M AN ORPHAN!" She said, well, yelled, maybe screamed, or perhaps bellowed at the top of her lungs.

To say that Sweetie was unprepared for Scootaloo’s outburst would be a gross understatement.

She was so hopelessly unprepared for the several-dozen-times-louder-than-expected announcement that she was quite literally blown away by it.  The filly was blasted down the hall with such force that when she came to the door at the end, she kept going.

A loud crash was heard, followed by a clamoring series of thuds and shrill little squeeks.

”EEEK!!.... OOF!... AHH!!!... OUCH!!!”  The exclamations were cut off by a second, even louder crash than before.

Upon investigation, Applebloom, Scootloo, and anypony else who came to look would find the perfect silhouette of a unicorn filly cut out of the door to the basement, and said filly lying in a heap at the base of the stairs, surrounded by the remnants of at least a half a dozen empty hickory barrels which *had* been stacked and ready to fill with cider when the time came.