Chapter One: The Plan

It was a nice sunny day in Ponyville. The birds were chirping, the ponies were working, and the young ones were at school. Smiles were shared all around and laughter could be heard. Pinkie Pie was busy at the bakery, Applejack was bucking trees at Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight was out studying under the sun, Rarity was creating new dresses in her boutique, Fluttershy was caring for the animals and Rainbow Dash was busy trying to break her new record on her flying speed. A typical Thursday evening here in Ponyville.

However, not everypony was as happy as the others...

"Now everypony, it's Thursday evening which means tomorrow is..." Miss Cheerilee chimed as she sat before her class. The sun was shining through the windows of the classroom, causing everything to seem happier and brighter.

"Family Appreciation Day!" The class chorused in. Family Appreciation Day was a day in which the class had each week, mostly Fridays. On this day, one pupil from the class must bring a family member in to show everypony. They must tell everypony details of the family member, and what makes them special. Everypony looked forward to this day each week... well, almost everyone. Scootaloo wasn't quite fond of it.

Scootaloo was an orphan. She never knew her real parents. She can't remember anything that might refresh her memories of her parents, anything that happened before she was put in the orphanage seemed to be blanked out of her mind. Whenever she asked anypony about her parents, they seemed to frown a little and tell Scoot that 'they'd be very proud of her' or 'they were great ponies.' Those two seemed to be all anypony told Scootaloo, unfortunately.

Scootaloo didn't like to talk about her parents. As far as she knew, she has no brothers or sisters. This is always tough, as Scoot's two best friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both have sisters that care and love them to bits. Seeing her friends with their family made Scootaloo upset, and empty. Sometimes Scootaloo thought too much; "What if my parents didn't love me enough, and left me?" she once thought. This thought made her terribly upset, so she shook the idea out of her head.
Scootaloo didn't tell anypony in school about being an orphan, not even Miss Cheerilee. She thought everypony would treat her differently if they found out. No, she didn't think, she KNEW. Especially Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Those two would make fun of you at the littlest thing!

"Let's see... who's next?" Miss Cheerilee said to herself as she checked the list.

Scootaloo never thought about what she'd do when her turn comes around for Family Appreciation Day. It completely slipped her mind.

"Scootaloo!" Miss Cheerilee said cheerfully. "It's your turn this week for Family Appreciation Day, we look forward to seeing your family member here tomorrow."

Scootaloo looked up from the desk in which she had fallen asleep on, holding her head in her hooves. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth went dry.
What'll I do now? She thought. Oh heck Scootaloo! Why didn't you think about this earlier?!
Scootaloo lifted her head to look at Miss Cheerilee and struggled to speak. After a few seconds, she licked her lips and began. "Um.. Miss Cheeri-"

Scootaloo was interuppted by the school bell ringing. Everypony jumped from their seats and galloped out the school door. Scootaloo sighed and slowly rose from her seat, and began to trot out the door. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom trotted after her.

"Scoot! Wait!" Apple Bloom called after the orange filly. Scootaloo stopped in her spot and waited for her friends. When they caught up, Sweetie Belle looked worriedly at Scoot.
"What're you going to do, Scootaloo? About Family Appreciation Day?" She said quickly. Scootaloo looked lazily at her. "Hello to you too Sweetie Belle."

Apple Bloom giggled at this, and then decided to speak up. "She's gotta' point, Scoot. Didn't ya' think this through earlier?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly. Scootaloo shook her head. "You guys know that I never talk about things like that. I can't, I just don't like it. Whenever it came to my mind, I just let it slip because it made me upset. Especially when I saw you two..." Scootaloo muttered sadly.

Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Bloom, and then back to Scoot, who was hanging her head down sadly. "Us two?" She questioned confusedly.

Scootaloo sighed. "When I see you two with your families, I can't help it. I get so sad. You've got people who look after you, and care for you! I've got no one..." Scoot sniffed. "Apple Bloom. You have a big brother and a big sister, and a Granny! All living in the same house! You must never be lonely. And you Sweetie Belle, you and Rarity fight a lot, but you always settle them after a while. You both love each other no matter what happens." Scootaloo began to walk off sadly. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked to each other quickly. Apple Bloom then smiled, she had got an idea. "Scootaloo! Wha' don't ya' ask someponies if they'd go tomorrow? They could be jus' friends!And you could tell everyone tomorrow that they're family!" Apple Bloom said, causing Sweetie Belle to jump up and down excitedly.

Scootaloo smiled and turned to face the two fillies. "Wow! Thanks Apple Bloom! That's a great idea! Heh, this Family Appreciation Day mightn't be so bad! I'll go ask my friends now!" Scootaloo said running off hurriedly.

Wow, I can't believe it! I figured something out! I won't be all that upset tomorrow, and I'll have somepony to bring in. I can't wait! She said to herself.

Scootaloo smiled as she opened up the front door to Sugarcube Corner. . .
"Pinkie? I've a favour to ask. . ."

There you have it! Chapter one of Family Appreciation Day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, although it was a little short. I promise the next ones will be longer. Please tell me what you think in comments, and don't be afraid to follow my story or whatever. c:

See you in the next chapter everypony!