Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony; Friendship Is Magic.

Summary: During their late teens, the Cutie Mark Crusaders fled from Ponyville in the middle of the night to escape their problems. Now adults, the trio rebuilt their lives in a deadbeat town, juggling work, their social lives (or lack thereof) and a young filly. The past, however, has a way of creeping back in ways someone least expects it to.

Warnings: Mentions of sexuality, teen pregnancy, etc. If these things bother you, don't ready any further! (please!)

Title: Through The Shadow's Of Boredom The Past Can Emerge

Chapter Title: The Reason

Setting: Their teen years, before Dawn was born and before they settled in the small town.

...

Sweetie Belle had been the catalyst.

As young teens, the trio were expected to become interested in dating. It was a coming of age, a right of passage, one that every young mare and colt went through. Having no interest in any form of copulation after their failed attempts at matchmaking from their filly years, they ignored the urge with a vigor rarely experienced by most teenager in school. Being the outcasts of the school (yet another consequence of their trouble-making, cutie mark crusading, filly years), no one ever dared flirt or show any interest in them another than contempt. However, they were still teen's, and they held the same amount of hormones as every other teen, so ignoring the urge to experiment wouldn't work forever.

So it was with a heavy heart and a good amount of paranoia that Scootaloo stepped into the dating world. No one asked her, and she didn't as them, but she finally allowed herself the right to look. Out of the corner of her eye she would watch the colts her friends had crushes on, trying to figure out what was so interesting while also trying to be subtle (something she wasn't very good at). After awhile, she stopped watching them all together, disinterest and boredom having long taken hold of her.

It were the mares in her class, however, that finally caught her attention. Not the ones like Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, but instead the all natural, true to themselves, beautiful young mares around her. Soft yet strong, kind but not callous, all the things she wanted were present in the few mares in her class she didn't detest. A year later, after much consideration, book reading (blech), and a few well hidden counselor visits, she finally came to her final decision about her sexuality. She liked mares, colts did nothing for her.

And that scared her.

She had no clue how to broach the topic with her friends, nor did she know how to come out of the closet. Granny Smith was an old-fashioned pony, and while she wasn't cruel or against same-sex love, she was very uncomfortable around them, so she knew that Applebloom would be as well. Applebloom would accept her no matter what, that much she knew, but she would still feel very uncomfortable around her for the longest time. She didn't want that. Sweetie Belle... she had no clue. Sweetie Belle, while kind and accepting, was still Rarity's sister, and Rarity had a flair for the dramatic. Even if she did accept her, Rarity was sure to make a big deal of everything and spread the word around the town while also embellishing the details. She didn't want that either.

So she drew away from her companions for a while and took the chance to explore her options. She poked around the nearby towns and found a few mares rumored to date other mares. One or two interested her enough to date, and she soon found herself in a steady relationship with a quiet earth pony from two towns over. It was refreshing to have someone to talk to, and she was quick to realize she was in love.

It wasn't until after they started getting into the physical aspects of their relationship that everything went downhill.

A few weeks after her first night, the entire town awoke to find an envelope in their doorways. Pictures of the more... intimate aspects of their relationship were shoved inside, as well as a few letters they'd sent to each other that had been lost with time. Her secret, the only secret she'd ever kept in her life, was forcibly bared for the entire town to see. And everypony was under the impression that she sent the envelopes.

Things were awkward between them, for a time. Applebloom wasn't sure how to broach the topic, and Sweetie Belle was mad at her for attempting to keep it a secret, but they both agreed that they knew that she would never have sent something like that, and tried to find just who did. They came up empty, but it was the thought that counted.

The next few years were hard. Most of the adults in the town avoided her, and her classmates created rumors about her, behind her back or too her face. She pushed through and refused to break under the pressure put on her.

Finding out Sweetie was pregnant was the breaking point. Sweetie was terrified of the town and her sister's reaction, to the point she honestly would rather run away then stay and confront the truth. They immediately began to plan and prepare to leave, packing bags and locking the clubhouse down to make sure no one got in to steal from it. After sending her ex-marefriend a quick goodbye note (they broke up a week after the envelope was sent out) she left Ponyville and didn't look back.

Sweetie Belle had been the catalyst.

Applebloom, after finding her cutie mark, worked hard to further her way in life with her cutie mark. Most of her days she spent in the clubhouse, building something or other. Scootaloo stayed with her as she learned her way around the inner mechanics of building a scooter (because while Scoots could fix a scooter, it was much harder to actually build one from scratch) and together they worked the nights away as they grew up. She loved what she did, and it showed. Applejack supported her all the way, and gave her a small allowance each month to go into her wood supply.

As she neared the end of high school, she immediately began sending out applications to the best engineering schools in Equestria. She traveled far and wide to get to her application exams in the elite schools, brining along Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle for moral support. Later on, both mares began pulling away, and she began to fear the end of their friendship. Sweetie Belle was hanging out with the popular crowd, and Scootaloo was always busy and troubled.

Then the envelope came, and she was thrown for a loop. The pictures, honestly, disgusted her. Not from the content, or even it being two mare, but because she recognized her friend immediately and she had never even wanted to think about her getting into positions like that. Seeing it was enough to set her gag reflex into motion. The letters were sweet and caring, the kind most ponies dreamed about receiving, and she swooned over them and teased her to the point of blushing over the content later. It took awhile, but eventually they were back to how they used to be, with both of them spending nights together in the clubhouse, talking over their problems.

The engineering collage in Canterlot was one of the most sought after school in all of Equestria. Getting in was amazing, especially if the pony in question was a small-time earth pony from a small-time town like Ponyville. It was the proudest day in her life, holding that letter in her shaking hooves before shoving it into her mouth and running back inside the house at a speed not even matched by Rainbow Dash. Squealing at a decibel she was rather sure bats could understand, she handed the paper to Applejack and explained the offer set before her.

Applejack refused.

The farm was going through a dry spell, she'd explained. It would need all the earth pony love it could get. Besides, Canterlot was a unicorn city, earth ponies like herself would be isolated, and she didn't want that to happen to her. She wasn't old enough to leave home anyway.

She rebelled. She argued, she yelled, she even had Big Mac add up just how much money she could earn if she went to Canterlot and became a master carpenter, but to no avail. Applejack wouldn't be shaken. Her dreams weren't as important as the farm, even if the farm could survive on it's own with just the two of them. Everything she'd ever worked for, the nights she'd squandered building things, all of it, for nothing. Seeing that nothing would sway her, she ran out the door without a second thought and escaped to the clubhouse.

Then Sweetie Belle told them the news. The thought of her best friend being pregnant at her age caused shivers of fear to run down her spine. The unicorn was terrified, and refused to stay if it meant telling the town or, even worse, telling Rarity. Escaping the town would wipe the slate clean for them all, give them a fresh start in life. She helped them plan and pack before the escaped the town.

The farm, she'd heard through the grape-vine, had grown just as bountiful as it usually did. They hadn't needed her helped after all, and she didn't need there's. She refused to look back, even if she wanted to.

She'd been the catalyst, in the end.

She'd gotten around in high school. A lot. Her looks had helped her become popular in school, and many colts tried to catch her attention, showering her with small gifts and affections. Shed returned the affections, and soon she was popular amongst both the mares and the colts, the colts especially.

In an attempt to go even higher up the ranks, she pushed her friends away. The glaring spotlight of popularity had blinded her to what was really important, and over time her ego demanded she get rid of those 'lesser' to her. So she did. She stopped hanging around the clubhouse, and denied any ties with her past friends. She didn't, however, scrutinize them with her new, more-popular friends. Scoot's sexuality wasn't brought up, nor was Applebloom's background. If it was, it was by others, and she quickly shot them down.

But then... she met him. A strong, dark-coated Pegasus with an ego that outclassed Rainbow Dash's and a strength that nearly matched the cyan mare. He took interest in her immediately, and he tagged along with her any chance he got. He didn't give her gifts or anything like the other colts, but instead romanced her with kind words and physical prowess. He was strong, he was handsome, and he was suave when he wanted to be, and he used it to his advantage.

They soon began to go steady. They met up every day, going on dates to the most exquisite of places. Beautiful gardens filled with colorful flowers, fancy restaurants with expensive and delicious food, places filled with class and beauty. He treated her well, and was careful to never hurt her in anyway.

Until she got pregnant.

Being with-foal reopened her eyes. She immediately went back to hanging with her true friends, to her real companions. Popularity meant nothing to her anymore. Would popularity help her get through pregnancy? No. Would it help her raise her foal? No. Scootaloo and Applebloom, however, would both help her if she truly needed it, no matter what the problem was.

She planned on telling them during a sleepover. Curled up together in the clubhouse, blankets draped over their backs, the familiar feeling of comfort around her, gave her all the courage she needed. That is, until a pounding came at the door.

Rumors had been spread, she found out later, about the gentle curve slowly forming on her stomach. Scootaloo and Applebloom had been deaf to the talk swirling around the school, but he hadn't been. He demanded the truth, his once caring, kind demeanor quickly falling apart to reveal his true self. A cold, heartless colt who would do anything to get out of taking responsibility.

She was cheating, he swore. He couldn't possibly be the father. She was a liar, he accused, he was just doing it for attention. He wanted her to get rid of it, he demanded, he refused to be a father.

No, she put her hoof down, she refused. It was a living creature to her (even if some may disagree), and she wouldn't kill it. He refused to take no for an answer, and reared back to strike-

Only for Scootaloo and Applebloom to come bursting through the door and knock him aside. While lacking the physical prowess of a bulky male, earth ponies were naturally strong, and Scootaloo's limbs were strong from the work she'd done over the years. And, for all that bravado and strength, he still ran like a coward once he realized he was no match for the mares in front of him that were looking for a fight.

The moment the door slammed closed she fell to her knees, the shock quickly catching up with her. The two held her close as she cried. After drying her tears, they quickly made plans. She couldn't bear to stay in Ponyville with her foal on the way, especially now that she was beginning to show. How could she tell Rarity, the epitome of perfection, an embellisher of drama, the sister she looked up to more than anything, that she had once degraded herself so low as to be easy enough to get pregnant at her age? Rarity would go ballistic, not to mention how her parents would take the news, or the town. It was just better for everyone if she left town.

Scootaloo and Applebloom followed her. They both had their reasons, and both were more than ready to get away from Ponyville. So they packed their bags and escaped before anyone noticed anything was off about them.

They built the house themselves. She didn't get to do much of the work due to her pregnancy, but they had a crude place to stay before she gave birth. While she recuperated (because she was sick for a long time after giving birth to Dawn) they cleaned their work up and brought the house to it's present comforting glory before Dawn's first birthday. They then set to building the scooter shop, which took a tad longer due to the fact it wasn't as necessary and they had to take care of Dawn, but they eventually had made their living in the small town. Ponyville became a distant memory, one they tended not to dwell on.

She rolled over and tugged the blankets further up. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shut her brain off as best she could. Ponyville was the past, she reminded herself. Focusing on the past wouldn't do herself any good. They would never go back to Ponyville, ever.

Even if they really wanted too.

No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!