Well, it looks like I've finally gotten around to updating! HOORAY! Also, I'm really sorry for my inactivity lately, school and writer's block keep me from updating quickly.

Flutter Night: Aw, that makes me smile. Thank you so much!

mooneyboys: Indeed.

Favit: Thank you! And yes, they are a perfect couple. xD

TS and Double-T Forever Strong: Yay! Thanks.

Pikachu913: Ah, young love.

Storm the ninja: xD Yup.

Biggmomma46: Haha, your questions shall be answered soon enough.

ShiningShadow1965: Read above. ^

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TeaFromAnon89: *smiles and nods*

Chapter 17: Fine or Not?

"Scootaloo...Scootaloooo..."

Scootaloo fidgeted in her sleep, trying to block out the voice of the pony chanting her name. "Shut up," she murmured sleepily.

"SCOOTALOO!"

"AH!"

Scootaloo leaped up out of her sleeping bag, her ears ringing with the shrill voice that had awoken her. She blinked open her eyes and saw Sunny Shine gazing at her, her eyes narrowed to signify frustration.

"Finally, you're awake," she grumbled. Then, without another word, she whipped around and trotted away, slipping behind the ajar door. Scootaloo stared after her in surprise, her mouth slightly agape.

"What's her problem?" she muttered to herself as she heaved herself to her hooves and went downstairs for breakfast. She entered the dining room, where Fluttershy and Sunny were seated already. Sunny stared at her as she pulled up a chair and sat down. Scootaloo glanced at her, raising her eyebrows questioningly. She turned away quickly, now gazing at her food.

Scootaloo blinked, confused for a second before shrugging it off. Probably just grumpy, she thought, dismissing Sunny quickly.

"Hello Scootaloo." Scootaloo jumped, then relaxed as she looked up to see the kind face of Fluttershy.

"Oh, hello Fluttershy..." Scootaloo glanced down again and started to eat.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" she mumbled through a mouthful of hay.

"It's just that you're looking a little sweaty..." she said worriedly.

"I'm fine." she said again, feeling slightly annoyed. Why won't Fluttershy stop worrying about me? I can take care of myself! I'm not a little filly anymore. Scootaloo demolished the last remains of her food and without another glance at Fluttershy or Sunny, she got up and left for school.

Scootaloo entered the classroom to hear the normal noises of excited chatter from her classmates. She walked quickly to her seat, trying hard to ignore the burning glare she knew Diamond Tiara was giving her.

"Why are you here?" she said rudely, casting her a disgusted look.

"I could ask you the same thing," replied the irritated young filly.

The pink pony scoffed, then turned around and started whispering to Silver Spoon.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and looked around the classroom, her eyes occasionally darting to Dark Chocolate who was talking quietly to his friends. She caught his eye and smiled. He returned the gesture gratefully.

"...Psst! Scootaloo!" somepony whispered behind her.

"Huh?" She turned around and saw out of all ponies Sweetie Belle beckoning her to lean closer so she could whisper to her. Scootaloo leaned forward a bit, then asked, "What?"

"Can I borrow your notes from yesterday? I forgot mine," she said.

"Um, sure." Scootaloo passed Sweetie her notes, unwilling to ask why she had asked her and not Apple Bloom, whom she was closer with nowadays.

"Thanks, Scoots," she said, then turned without another word.

Scootaloo turned around too, feeling slightly puzzled. Scoots? I thought she only used that name when we were still friends. Huh. Weird.

However, the filly shrugged it off, as she already had enough things to be worrying about at the moment.

At that moment, her teacher finally rushed into the classroom. The chatter died down and everypony looked curiously at Cheerilee as she started writing up a problem on the chalkboard. She must have noticed the students staring, as she paused, dropping the chalk. "I apologize for my lateness, everypony. I had to rush to get here. And now that you've had so much time to chat, you can start working on this math problem."

A few "aww's" sounded from the ponies, but nonetheless the room was filled with the sound of pencils scratching on paper. Scootaloo settled back and got to work.

The bell rang and everypony ran outside for recess. The sound of ponies chatting and laughing filled the air and the atmosphere was evidently cheerful. Scootaloo walked out of the classroom more slowly, not really eager for recess. Usually she just spent recess watching all the other ponies play and sometimes had a polite conversation with Dark Chocolate, who didn't seem to hate her as much as the other ponies. Besides, Scootaloo had already decided that the colt was okay, and so was Indigo, since he was nice and didn't seem to dislike her as well.

She sighed. She longed for the days when she would go out Crusading with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The days of fun and laughter. But those days were long gone...

"Hey, Scoots!"

Dark Chocolate appeared beside her, smiling. Scootaloo raised her head and a light smile appeared on her lips.

"Hey, Chocolate," she greeted. "What's up?"

"Oh...nothing much. Hey look, there's Indigo! Want to go play with him?" said Dark Chocolate, grinning and waving a hoof to his friend who was lying down and reading a book in the grass.

"Uh..." Scootaloo hesitated. Indigo was nice, but he was a little serious and boring at times.

The young pony seemed to have sensed her hesitance, as he frowned. "It's okay if you don't want to, Scootaloo...we can do something else."

"Nah, it's cool," she responded, waving a hoof dismissively. "Let's go!" She trotted to the young blue colt, Dark Chocolate flanking her side.

"Hi, Indigo," Scootaloo said as soon as she reached the dark-colored colt.

"Oh, hello," said Indigo, looking up. "Dark Chocolate! Great to see you. And...Scootaloo, right?"

"That's me." She chuckled a little. Indigo smiled politely.

"Well, may I help you two?"

"We were just wondering if you wanted to play, Indigo," Dark Chocolate offered. "You can't spend every recess reading books."

"Who says I can't?" he objected. Both Scootaloo and Dark Chocolate exchanged a look, and Indigo laughed.

"I'm just kidding; I'll play with you," he said, rising up from the cool grass.

"That's great!" Scootaloo started, then she stopped, her mouth hanging open. Behind Indigo, near the bushes, was Sunny Shine, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They were talking, though they were too far away for Scootaloo to make out their facial expressions and what they were saying, though she could swear she saw Diamond Tiara smirking. For a while, she stared, her mind blank.

"Um, Scoots?"

Scootaloo blinked and shook her head. Dark Chocolate was looking at her with some concern in his chocolate-brown eyes. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah...I'm fine," she stammered, glancing toward the three fillies who were still talking.

"Sure?" he said, still looking worried at her.

"I told you, I'm fine," she replied.

But she wasn't.