The kitchen was silent but for a light 'tap, tap' as the blue pegasus drummed her hoof on the counter. Rainbow Dash stood in front of the open window, allowing the evening breeze to tease her mane. She was quite alone, having sent the filly to her bedroom a few hours previously. Scootaloo had most definitely earned a lockdown until bedtime. But was there a need to take this further?
The pegasus sighed. What a lame predicament! Ever since she had adopted Scootaloo, Dash had wondered if a day like this would ever come along. She wasn't really sure how to handle this. It was so strange, being on the opposite end of such a familiar situation. She certainly had no trouble placing herself in the filly's horseshoes; Rainbow Dash had certainly gotten herself into worse when she was a kid back in Cloudsdale.
'This sucks...' Dash thought bitterly. 'I'm not Scoot's real sister. Hell, it ain't my place to do anything. Maybe I'm being childish? I thought having responsibility for her would be easy... screwed that one up, didn't ya, Rainbow Dash?'
Rainbow dragged a hoof down her face, giving a groan. She didn't really want to have to do this, but what alternative was there? Dash was the only family Scootaloo had. She would have to take the bad with the good that had come out of this new relationship.
Dash stood up straight and slammed the window closed, turning to face the rest of the kitchen. Immediately, her eyes fell upon the open doorway into the hall. Falling back to all fours, she was halfway across the tiled floor before she stopped herself. Dash hung her head and sighed heavily.
For someone who had always told her friend Fluttershy to be assertive, Dash certainly didn't feel that way tonight. Dash reached over and dragged a chair away from the table, plopping down on it. Resting her elbow against one of her knees, she laid her head on her hoof, staring at the ceiling. Should she go up? Instead, Rainbow's eyes wandered aimlessly around the room.
It was a nice kitchen. She was impressed with the entire house, really. It was pretty awesome. The kitchen was open with a lot of cupboard space and a large window over the sink. The living room of the house was as spacious as the basement below. Rainbow Dash had transformed said basement into a makeshift gym for wing strength training. Upstairs, there were two bedrooms and, of course, the bathroom.
When Dash had rescued Scootaloo from the orphanage where she had lived since she was four, she had dumped some bits on a down payment for this place, as her own cloud house above Ponyville was not a suitable home for a handicapped pegasus. Dash's mind flooded with happy memories of the events that had lead to her ultimate decision of adopting the seven-year-old as a daughter.
Applejack and her little sister, Apple Bloom, had gone on a camping trip. Apple Bloom had invited along both of her best friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo herself. Sweetie Belle had convinced her sister Rarity to come along as well. Rainbow Dash had been asked along to pair up with Scoot, making it like three sets of sisters. Agreeing to come along was, in Rainbow's mind, the greatest decision she had ever made in her life. Over the course of the trip, she bonded with Scootaloo.
Scootaloo had tried to act brave after Dash had told some spooky campfire stories, but she was secretly mortified by them. Her fear had eventually placed her in danger. Dash gave a deep breath, remembering how thankful she was that she had woken up that night. Scootaloo had fled the cave they had all been sleeping in, thinking the phantom from one of her nightmares was after her. She had ventured alone into the woods on her scooter in the dead of night while the rest of them had slept on.
Dash herself had had a strange dream where she had seen Princess Luna from a distance. The alicorn had shot a beam of light at her and Dash's eyes had snapped awake. It was then that she had realized that Scoot was missing. Rainbow Dash had gone out into the woods to look for her, flying as fast as her wings could carry her. For a filly who couldn't fly, Scootaloo had a knack for getting herself into danger, as evident by the fact she was making her way off of a waterfall when Dash was able to finally locate and catch her.
Landing a safe distance away, she had chastised the filly, who had broken down and confessed her fears. Scoot wanted a big sister figure but was afraid Dash wouldn't want to hang out with her if Dash thought Scootaloo was afraid of anything. Touched by this, Rainbow had agreed to take the filly 'under her wing'. Three weeks later, and here she sat on the chair in the middle of the kitchen of a brand new house.
A clock on the wall chimed 9:00 PM. Dash looked up at it, frowning. Scoot's bedtime was 9:30. Dash pushed the memories of the camping trip out of her head. If she was going to do anything, she'd better do it soon. Dash's mind flooded with memories again, this time of the events of that very day. She was feeling more and more convinced that a timeout from dinner until bedtime was not going to cut it.
It was another 'brilliant' scheme of the Cutie Mark Crusaders that had caused all of this. Although their attempts at skydiving and taming a baby timberwolf were dangerous, this was something much, MUCH worse. Dash rolled her eyes for a moment, thinking about the timberwolf scheme. That was pretty stupid. Adorable, but incredibly dumb.
No, the fillies had gone above and beyond the danger zone this time. They had decided to try for 'firefighter' cutie marks. And to be a firefighter, they needed a fire. The girls had went to their clubhouse, their WOODEN clubhouse, for the attempt. Armed with nothing but watering cans, it was a miracle none of them had died.
The damage to the clubhouse was pretty severe, but by an amazing stroke of luck, it had not burned down completely and set the entire woods ablaze. Derpy Hooves had been nearby and had seen the smoke. Despite being a little slow, the grey pegasus knew to fly off to the best weather pony in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had put the fire out with a fresh raincloud. The siding and roof of the clubhouse had been charred black, but it was still structurally sound.
Dash remembered the furious face on Rarity when she had grabbed Sweetie Belle with a levitation spell and hauled her home. Applejack was not quite as angry, but she had made it quite clear to Apple Bloom that she was very disappointed in her. Scootaloo confessed that the cutie mark idea had been hers, but it had been Bloom who suggested using the clubhouse. Sweetie Belle had evidently saw nothing wrong with the plan. All three of them had been foolish.
Dash hadn't spoken to either of her friends since they took their little sisters home. What had they done? Dash sighed, figuring it didn't really matter at this point. She stood again and pushed the chair back under the table. Giving a stretch and a yawn, she made her way into the hallway after flipping the kitchen light switch. She had made up her mind: she was going to do it after all. The Crusaders had gone way too far in their schemes for cutie marks this time. Scoot would need to pay the pied piper for her actions.
Dash went around the house, ensuring that everything from the television to the lights were all off. It HAD been a pretty horrible day, so Dash was quite keen on getting to bed herself. But first, she had to deal with the matter of Scootaloo.
Rainbow Dash climbed the stairs and approached Scoot's bedroom door. She paused for the briefest moment, smiling to herself as she imitated Fluttershy's faintest little squeak. She mumbled something about being brave and assertive and gave a soft snort of laughter. Shaking her head at her own childishness, she took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
The filly was sitting on her bed, ears drooped. Scootaloo was stroking the mane of one of her dolls and was dressed in her purple pajamas. Clearly, she did not expect to be leaving this room before the morning. The room itself was dimly lit by the small lamp on Scootaloo's bedside desk where she liked to do her homework. The filly had not noticed or heard Dash enter.
Dash closed the door behind her and walked across the room. Scootaloo looked up, fixing her new 'big sister' with glazed eyes. Had she been crying? That wasn't going to make this any easier, Dash thought. She sat down on the edge of Scootaloo's bed.
"You okay, kiddo?" Dash asked in a soft voice, her own ears a little drooped.
Scootaloo did not answer immediately. She turned her face away and put the doll down on her pillow, rubbing her arm across her nose. Judging by the rather unpleasant snorting noise, it had been running recently.
"Rainbow Dash, I'm so sorry!" Scoot blurted out suddenly, turning back to look Dash full in the face and scrambling across the bedsheets toward her. "I was really dumb, don't be mad at me! I'm so happy you're my sister now, I don't want you to leave me or throw me out! Please!"
"Wait, what?" Dash asked, completely taken aback by the fear on the child's face and Scoot's renewed tears. "Who said I was gonna ditch ya? Who said I was gonna toss ya out? Stop that, Scoots!"
Scootaloo moved to sit on the edge of the bed herself, on Rainbow's right side. She looked at her knees, sniffling softly. "I'm sorry I made you mad..."
Dash frowned. "First off, I ain't mad! Only losers get mad. Remember when I told you that?" She gave Scoot a little smile. "Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo sure aren't losers, are we?"
Scoot returned the smile weakly, chuckling softly and wiping her eyes. "No... we're not! Well... I might be..."
"No sister of mine is a loser!" Dash said sharply. "You acted very, VERY foolish today. That doesn't make you a loser, though. I would never think that of you. Look, I was mad earlier. You can't expect me not to be. I care about you very much, Scootaloo. Why do you think I adopted you? When Derpy told me what was going on... it felt like my heart had stopped. You three could have died. You fillies were dumb, I shouldn't need to say that."
Scootaloo frowned at her own knees. "No, you shouldn't..." she mumbled softly, "I'm sorry, Sis... I'm not grounded, am I?"
"Not grounded, no..." Dash said evasively, watching the filly closely. "And don't worry about your clubhouse, either! I'm sure it'll be fine once Applejack gets her hooves on it. Coat of paint and some replacement boards and it should be lookin' good as new, eh?" she gave Scootaloo a little tap on the arm. "You girls could try for, I dunno, painter cutie marks?"
Scootaloo giggled again, looking up into Dash's cerise eyes. "That falls into the loser category! Besides, we already tried for that cutie mark. Trying for the same mark twice? That's super lame!"
Dash smiled warmly at her. "Guess so!"
The pair of them fell into silence once more. Dash noticed Scoot's gaze return to her knees. Dash stretched out a wing and pulled the filly close to her. She felt Scootaloo wrap her arms around her waist in a quick hug. Did Dash really want to go through with this?
"So..." Rainbow Dash said, trying to stall for time. "Didja... brush your teeth?"
Scootaloo shook her head and Dash frowned. Well, she couldn't exactly blame Scoot, could she? Dash had told her very sternly not to leave this bedroom.
"You don't have to tonight if you don't want to..." Rainbow said in a half-yawn. Scootaloo nodded. Dash was starting to feel tired; it was time to stop delaying.
"Do you want me in bed now?" Scoot asked, looking up at Rainbow Dash again.
"Soon... I'll tuck you in... in a little bit. I haven't done that in a few days." Dash gave a heavy sigh and turned to face Scootaloo more fully. "Anyways, Scoots, I came up here for a very... specific reason."
Scootaloo tilted her head to one side, looking confused. "Why?"
Dash retracted her wing, frowning at the filly. "What happened today, Scoot... I've got to make sure you never do something so dangerous again."
Scootaloo nodded her head, looking down at the floor. "Alright... I promise I won't do anything so stupid again. I'll be more careful from now on, Sis."
"Scootaloo..." Dash said, placing a hoof under the filly's chin so that she could look into Scoot's dull, greyish purple eyes. "Dashie's gotta know that she can trust that you really are going to be more careful. I think you're a wonderful little sister, I really do, but I've gotta make sure I can trust the words you tell me."
The filly looked a little confused. "What do you mean? You can trust me..."
"After today, I can't be so sure anymore. But I know a way to fix this... listen..." Dash said, still frowning as she steeled herself to do what she felt she had to do. "When I was a filly, I got myself into a lot of trouble, just like you. Actually, I got myself into way more trouble. You can probably imagine! My dad was pretty tolerant with me... for the most part. I mean, he knew I usually had stuff under control!" Dash smiled briefly and Scootaloo returned it, but still looked confused and a little worried. "But there were times... when I took things too far. And today, you took things too far, Scootaloo."
Scootaloo continued to look her confusion. Dash gave another sigh, looking deeply into the eyes of the filly she cared so much about. It was now or never.
"Whenever I stepped too far over that line... Dad had to... tan my hide," she said bluntly, noticing Scootaloo's mouth fall open and her little wings perking up with a sudden fear.
"Rainbow Dash...?" Scootaloo said in a low and apprehensive voice. "P-please..."
"Daddy had to spank his awesome little athlete... preeetty often," Dash continued, closing her eyes a moment and taking a steadying breath. "I'm sorry, but you stepped too far over that line today, just like I used to do." Dash pat the mattress softly on her left side as if gesturing Scootaloo to crawl over.
"Nooo!" Scootaloo cried, scrambling away as far as she could go, bumping into her headboard. "I'm sorry! I won't do something like that ever again! I promise!"
"Scoots, this isn't a choice..." Dash sighed, feeling a pain in her stomach as she watched the filly's terror mount. "Crawl your flank back over here, pronto. I don't want to have to drag you over here myself! A timeout alone isn't going to cut it as a punishment for this, Scoots. If you ever find yourself in a position to put yourself into real danger again, I want this memory to cross your mind."
Scootaloo shook her head, blinking back tears and quivering. "N-no! Please don't s-spank me, Rainbow Dash! I've never been s-spanked before... I'll be a good girl from now on, I swear! I won't worry you ever again, I'll be a good little s-sister!"
"I told you I wouldn't ground you for this, Scoot! This isn't going to take very long. You've earned a warmed up flank tonight and I'm giving you three seconds to crawl back over here," Dash warned her, hating this but determined to follow through with her decision. "This won't take long!" she repeated.
The little orange pegasus made no attempt to move. "N-no... please, Rain-b-bow Dash!"
Dash half-rose off of the bed, reaching over and catching a firm hold of the filly's left ear with her right hoof. Scootaloo tried to squirm away but had no where to go. Increasing the pressure on the ear, Dash was able to prevent Scootaloo struggling long enough to tug and pull at the string-tie of Scoot's pajama bottoms, undoing the knot. She tugged at the waist band of the pajamas and they loosened.
"You're gonna take this spanking like a big girl, Scootaloo," Dash said in a stern voice, reaching up to grip Scootaloo's right arm with her left hoof and pulling the filly toward her. "I really don't wanna have to do this, but it's gotta be done. Struggling is just going to make this harder. C'mere, over my lap."
Scootaloo gave a whimper and struggled even harder. She was not going without a fight. She writhed and whined but her strength was no match for Rainbow Dash. Twisting to face forward as she sat on the edge of the bed again, Rainbow Dash effortlessly dragged the filly across to her left. Dash shuffled her own rump back on the bed a little, ensuring she had plenty of room to keep the filly in place. Scootaloo twisted in Dash''s lap, looking up tearfully at the rainbow-maned pegasus.
"Please..." Scootaloo begged, giving another whimper and a shiver as Dash reached down to tug at her waist band once more. "Ground me instead-d! I won't leave my b-bedroom and I'll do everyth-thing you tell me to d-do!"
"Scootaloo, you're not even obeying me right now!" Dash sighed, giving the pajamas a firm pull and slipping them down around the filly's knees. Scootaloo's tail immediately flipped up to try and protect her. "Move it, Scoots!" Dash warned her, just wanting to get this over with quickly. "I'm only going to ask you once! Move your tail, or I'm gonna grab your wooden hairbrush off of the dresser. It'll be way worse with that, so unless you want to have trouble sitting at your desk in school for a week, move that tail, young lady."
Scoot was shaking silently, breathing rapidly and sniffling. After a very pregnant pause, she allowed her tail to fall limply to the side. The moment it was out of the way, Dash brought her right hoof down with a sharp smack, causing the filly to give out a loud cry of shock. A second smack followed the first and Dash wrapped her left arm around Scootaloo's back, across her wings which were jerking in protest. The pain seemed to have taken the filly by surprise, as it wasn't until the third and forth landed that the orange pegasus gave a yelp of discomfort. Scoot started to squirm again, struggling for release, sobbing softly.
"There's no getting out of this, Scootaloo, so just save your energy," Dash explained, pausing briefly in the punishment as the filly's tail twitched, threatening to swish over again. Rainbow resumed, feeling a creeping feeling down her spine. "I don't think Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle were able to avoid something similar, so you can be grateful that it isn't just you. But you've had this coming for a long time. I should have spanked you after that camping trip, given that you were in just as much danger then as you were today."
Dash had found it easier to keep going by drilling Scootaloo about the justification, bringing the hoof down with a slap with every few words she spoke. If the little pegasus fully understood why this was happening, Rainbow Dash would feel a lot better about being the one to put the girl through this. Scootaloo, meanwhile, said nothing in response. She merely continued to write fruitlessly. As Dash turned her head to the left to study what she could see of Scoot's face, she saw that her mouth was agape as Scoot let out little squeaks of pain. Tears were streaming down the filly's cheeks as Scoot buried her face into the sheets she had scrunched up between her own hooves.
Dash was gradually increasing the force of each smack as they fell, never in the same spot twice in a row. She hated, hated having to do this, but Dash was well aware that her own discomfort and pain was nothing compared to Scootaloo's. The filly was starting to bawl and wail as a pinkish tinge grew steadily darker on her rump. The fight, however, seemed to have gone out of her. She merely laid there, sobbing and choking in misery. As Rainbow Dash realized that Scootaloo was accepting her fate, she reached out a wing and stroked Scoot's mane gently.
"I might be your new big sister, but I'm also the parent who is going to watch over you and teach you right from wrong, Scoots!" Dash said in a loud, but calm, voice as Scootaloo's crying grew louder. "Whenever you cross too far over that line, you'll be getting the same spankings that raised me into the awesome mare that you look up to. A spanked flank is gonna help you; I want you to be a good filly and grow up to be a great pony."
"I... I aaam!" Scootaloo choked, jerking her legs in a few uncontrollable kicks as her breath sounded like it was catching in her chest. "I a-am a good fiiilly! P-p-plea-ease! I'm g-g-gonna be a good-d g-girl!"
"I know, Scootaloo," Rainbow agreed, the smacks coming harder and faster still.
The filly was howling loudly by this point, choking and shaking violently. Scoot's mouth was wide with misery, eyes clenched tightly as streams of tears continued to leak and flood from under her eyelids. Scootaloo continued to squirm and yelp with each firm smack to her now reddened rear.
"Dashie hopes she's made her point very clear, Scoots," Rainbow finished, giving a hard smack with every word and finally letting her arm rest by her side after one final swat. "I really hope I don't have to do that again any time soon."
Rainbow pulled Scootaloo carefully to her back hooves and looked into her anguished face. Reaching down, she pulled up the pajamas Scootaloo had nearly kicked off and placed a hoof to the side of Scoot's face. Scootaloo's cheeks were a rosy red and her mouth was still agape as she let out muffled whimpers. Scootaloo's left hoof was rubbing one of her streaming eyes. Dash ran her own hoof across the other and pulled the filly in close in an embrace.
Scootaloo buried her face into Dash's chest, still bawling softly. Rainbow lifted the filly into her arms and laid back down on the bed, cuddling and cooing her. She was careful to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on the flank as she squeezed the girl tight.
"Sshhh..." Dash whispered, stroking Scoot's hair and mane softly as she wrapped her wings around the child as well. "It's all over, Scootaloo. Dashie forgives you and she's very proud of how well you took that. I'm glad I get to be the big sister of such a strong little filly... I hope you understand why I had to do that."
"'C-cause... I was a bad girl..." Scootaloo whimpered softly. Rainbow could feel the warm tears and runoff from Scoot's nose on her fur.
"You are not a bad girl, Scootaloo. You just made a very bad decision," Dash corrected her in a soft voice, feeling the unease on her stomach slowly lift as Scoot's crying subsided more and more. "No more playing with fire and I think everything should work out just fine, huh?"
"It was... so s-scary today... I thought I was gonna die... the fire was by the door so we were afraid to try and run out of the clubhouse..." Scootaloo's hoarse voice croaked, her body beginning to shake again as her body tried to find more tears to cry.
"I know, Scoots. I know... Dashie was scared too when I thought I had lost you forever. But you're safe in my arms, baby. And I'm never gonna let anything bad happen to you ever again, you're gonna grow up by my side. Maybe you'll even get to be a great flier, too!
I'm sorry I had to give you a spanking tonight on top of everything you've been through, Scootaloo. I know now that I can trust you completely. You've learned your lesson and I'm very proud of you," Rainbow Dash explained, cuddling the filly tightly in her arms until the crying had again subsided. Tears continued to drip gently from Scootaloo's nose, but her breathing had become normal again.
Dash raised herself off of the bed by pushing her wings against the mattress. With one arm held tightly around her child, Dash quickly adjusted the bed sheets and pulled them away from the headboard. She gently lowered Scoot on to her back and pressed her lips to the girl's forehead. Scootaloo gave a little wince as her bottom took the weight of her middle, but she did not squirm or moan in pain. Pulling the covers up to Scoot's armpits, Dash prodded her hooves around the outline of the little orange pegasus, making sure she was snugly wrapped.
"Well, you've got a clean slate again. So why don't you dream about all of the trouble you and your friends will get yourselves into tomorrow?" Dash smiled warmly at her, reaching over to click off the lamp on the desk. "I don't wanna hear about anything dangerous for at least a week, mind!" she joked, hearing Scoot give a watery giggle.
Dash leaned down and draped her wings briefly over Scoot's body. She kissed her on the cheek and stood up again, beaming with affection down at the shadowy figure of the filly she was so happy she had met.
"Your big sister loves you, Scootaloo. Goodnight, baby," Dash said, tickling Scoot's chin with the tip of a feather for a moment before folding her wings again.
"I'm sorry... love you, Sis..." Scoot whispered softly into the darkness.
Dash walked over to the bedroom door and opened it to leave. She took a glance over her shoulder at Scootaloo, who had closed her eyes as the faintest beam of light fell into the room from the hallway light. Rainbow exited the room and closed the door softly behind her.