My Little Pony Friendship is Magic; Watch Over Me
"I really thought we'd nailed it with triathlon cutie marks." Sweetie Belle said dejectedly as she rubbed her aching hooves. Beside her Applebloom wriggled back into her cutie mark crusaders cape and nodded, her face equally disappointed. From a distance away Scootaloo watched her two friends as they made plans about what they were going to try next. Sweetie Belle suggested snorkelling while Applebloom countered with spelunking. They came to a decision on snorkelling. Scootaloo didn't offer any opinions of her own and instead remained quiet. When they came to their agreement she nodded her approval and when they high hooved each other to end the Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting she did so with enthusiasm, but there was something missing in their friend. They could both see that. When they all headed home she walked with Applebloom through the park, listening to her friend chatter about all things cutie mark only speaking to offer the words "yeah" or "maybe". When Applebloom left her in the park to head back to Sweet Apple Acres she stood staring at her own reflection in the pond until the sun disappeared behind the horizon. When rain began to fall heavily she ran to a small group of trees and bushes and lay under them for shelter. When she felt the tears begin to form in her eyes she let them slide freely down her face, mixing with the rain water. When sleep finally came to her it didn't bring with it dreams of candy and parties but rather the empty lying promise of happiness for her.
Rainbow Dash knocked on the door to the long building that housed Ponyville's new library. It had taken her nearly five minutes to find the place, even with her wings, even though it had been nearly a month since the rebuilding of Ponyville had been finished. The door swung open revealing a very tired looking Spike.
"Morning!" She greeted him warmly and he grunted what she assumed was a similar greeting.
"Is Twilight around?" She asked and he pointed to the back of the building to where the living area was. She thanked him and trotted to the back room to where Twilight was making notes on a sheet of paper while pouring over a large book filled with pictures of clouds. Rainbow cleared her throat and Twilight looked up from her work and smiled warmly at her.
"Rainbow! What are you doing here?" She asked as she hugged her friend. Rainbow started to grin from ear to ear like a foal who has just been told she can have a new toy.
"I got a letter from Spitfire and the Wonderbolts asking me to join them on tour and perform alongside them. So I just came to say goodbye and that I will be back in about three weeks." Now Twilight was grinning too and she hugged her friend again.
"Rainbow that's fantastic!" Rainbow nodded and looked around the room.
"Where's Scotty by the way?" She asked and Twilight glanced at a picture of her and her husband on their wedding day.
"He and Ratty are away on a mission in Stalliongrad. They left yesterday afternoon." Rainbow nodded in understanding.
"So, when do you leave?" Twilight asked subtly changing the subject which Rainbow noticed but didn't bring up.
Instead she said. "At about three today so I've not got all that much time." Twilight nodded.
"In that case I won't keep you any longer, wouldn't want Spitfire to be disappointed now would we?" Rainbow's smile spread back across her face as she hugged her friend once more.
"Definitely not. I'll see ya then Twi'!" She turned and walked back out of the door, hugging Spike on her way past. Back in the house Twilight levitated the picture of her and Scotty up to her muzzle and sighed sadly. For some reason she had a feeling that somewhere across Equestria, her husband was getting beaten up.
Again.
The wind rushed through her mane as she darted around, between and through clouds. As she flew she began to slalom between trees and glide close to the ground. Cloudsdale was a long way from Ponyville; three days by sky carriage, but Rainbow Dash was no sky carriage. On a good day with favourable winds she could make the flight in two days with ease. And today the winds were very favourable. She slept in a tree and woke early to fly on once more. The sun had just begun to set, turning the sky a burning shade of orange when she came in sight of the cloud city. She landed in a square near the city's performance stadium which was all decorated with banner bearing the lightning bolt with wings emblem of the Wonderbolts. She trotted up to a dark green pegasus in a shirt that bore the word "staff" across the front.
"Can I go in please?" She asked him.
"Can I see some ID?"
"No, I um, don't have any. Sorry."
"Then no you can't come in."
"Hey come on, I'm Rainbow Dash, Spitfire asked me to come here and perform with the Wonderbolts on the tour." But the stallion shook his head.
"You have absolutely no idea how many ponies come here claiming to be part of the Wonderbolts tour. Miss, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises." Rainbow began to protest but a silky smooth voice interrupted her.
"Not so fast buddy. This one happens to be telling the truth." Rainbow turned to the source of the voice to find a yellow mare with spiked hair stood behind her. Spitfire.
"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am." Said the stallion and he backed away.
"Miss Rainbow Dash," Spitfire said smiling warmly. "As captain of the Wonderbolts it is my personal honour to welcome you to the Wonderbolts twelfth anniversary tour."
The three girls met in the park just after lunch while Rarity and Applejack met for a visit to the spa with their friends. Sweetie Belle's face broke into a large grin as she looked at her two best friends.
"My mom and dad have promised to take us to the beach next weekend so we can try for our snorkelling cutie marks." At the mention of her parents Scootaloo seemed to shrink away from Sweetie Belle.
"Your… your… parents?" She asked her voice shaking badly.
"Yeah…" Sweetie Belle said her voice suspicious. Scootaloo turned her head away from her friends and clamped her eyes shut to keep the tears from flowing down her cheeks like a river.
"Scoot… are you okay?" Applebloom asked her voice shrill with concern.
"Ye… yeah, I… well no, not really." And then her body was racked with sobs and she turned tail and ran away from her friends, ignoring their frantic cries of her name as she disappeared into the undergrowth.
"… Don't think they're helping some lost animals find their homes in Stalliongrad Fluttershy, darling." Rarity was saying. That was one of the five girls' great topics of speculation: what Scotty and Ratty had been called away from Ponyville to do. Another was what Rainbow Dash was doing for the Wonderbolts' show, although that one had been quickly and almost unanimously rectified: sonic rainboom. Twilight and Applejack simply chipped in that their husbands certainly weren't happy with having to leave and the rest had been left to the imagination of the other three who all seemed to have forgotten one basic fact about the two stallions: they worked for the Equestria Secret Service. It was this that their conversation had turned towards when Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had barged down the spa doors and called their sisters' names frantically. The entire room reacted quickly. Applejack and Rarity both pushed aside the ponies giving them hooficures and dashed to their sisters' sides. Fluttershy quickly rose from the water of her hot bath and darted straight to the two fillies. Pinkie Pie sprung up, pushed the cucumber from her eyes and bounced over still wearing her green face mask. Twilight simply teleported from where she had been having her mane washed to where the girls were stood.
"Applebloom, Sweetie Belle. What's wrong?" Applejack asked her voice shrill with concern.
"It's,"
"Scootaloo"
"She ran off crying"
"And we can't find her!" The girls told them, finishing each other's sentences.
"What? Where? Why? When?" Twilight grabbed Pinkie Pie's muzzle before she could say "how?"
"We were in the park. I was saying about mom and dad taking us to the beach and she got upset about something, she wouldn't say what was wrong and when we asked her she ran away crying." Sweetie Belle told Rarity before collapsing into uncontrollable sobs and hugging her sister's legs tightly. Her tears infected Applebloom and soon she too was crying at her sister's hooves. Twilight nodded to Applejack and Rarity.
"Calm them down and take them to Spike at the library. He'll look after them. Once you've done that head to the park. We need to find her quickly before this gets too far out of hoof." The two mares nodded and knelt to comfort their little sisters. Fluttershy turned to Twilight.
"Oh, this is just terrible. What do you think upset Scootaloo so much?" Twilight turned to look back at Sweetie Belle cradled in Rarity's hooves and ran her story through her head one more time. She grimaced.
"I don't know for definite. But I have a pretty strong suspicion that I know what's going on here."
Scootaloo was hiding in a tree on the edge of the park closest to the Everfree forest. She had climbed to a height just above the head of a normal mare and had then sunk into the green arms of the tree, completely disappearing from sight. She heard Twilight Sparkle run right past her hiding place calling her name over and over and shrank back even further. Being found by her fellow cutie mark crusaders was bad but being found by their sisters and their friends was even worse. She sobbed silently into the tree trunk tensing up in its spiny embrace. Her purple mane and tail curled around her and she covered herself with her wings. That was when a voice made her jump almost completely out of the tree.
"Hey!" Pinkie Pie called out before raising her head to the sky and calling out.
"Twilight, I've found her. She's over here!" Then Pinkie leant down to the filly at her hooves and hugged her. Scootaloo began to sob uncontrollably into her shoulder.
"Shhh, it's okay. It's all gonna be okay." Pinkie told her soothingly, stroking a hoof through the filly's mane gently. Twilight ran up from the path and slid to a stop next to the two of them.
"Scootaloo! What happened? What's wrong?" Scootaloo turned to her, meaning to tell her the truth but instead her sobs broke her voice and she fell into Twilight's hooves.
"She's freezing." Twilight noted and Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement.
"We need to take her to the library and get her warm and safe." Twilight said and she gently wrapped the crying filly in her magenta magical glow and lifted her gently onto Pinkie's back. Scootaloo's vision was beginning to fade when Twilight leaned in close to her.
"It's okay Scootaloo. You're safe now. We'll look after you." And then Scootaloo's vision faded to black.
When she came around again she was lying on heaped up cushions in the library near to a warm orange fire and a steaming cup of cocoa. She rolled over and saw eight concerned faces watching her like hawks. They broke into kind smiles when she turned to them with her eyes open.
"Hey, look who's finally awake." Rarity said kindly while the other two crusaders leapt forward and embraced Scootaloo tightly. She returned their hugs weakly before trying to stand finding her legs shook under her and she collapsed onto the pillows once again.
"Woah! Not so fast kiddo! You've been through a lot and you're too tired to even stand, just rest." Twilight told her. Scootaloo thought about trying again but then relented and sat back into the cushions. Applejack leant forward.
"Now then Sugarcube, why don't ya tell us all what's wrong." She said and Scootaloo considered it.
"I won't tell all of you. Just two of you." She said after a long and careful thought process. Applejack nodded in understanding.
"Whatever you want Sugarcube. Now who do you want to stay?" Scootaloo's eyes searched the crowd but she couldn't find who she was looking for.
"Can you stay please Applejack?" She asked and the cowpony nodded kindly.
"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked next.
"She's away in Cloudsdale for a little while." Twilight told her.
"Then can you stay please Pinkie Pie?" Scootaloo asked the pink pony and she nodded. Spike ushered everypony else out of the room and into the main area of the library where they sat with books and waited. Back in the room Pinkie and Applejack stepped forward as Scootaloo took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"When Shadow attacked old Ponyville his zebras set fire to my old house. My dad tried to put out the fire but my mom got cut off from him and me and told us to run. She didn't make it out of the house before it burned down…" Tears began to run silently down the orange filly's cheeks and she rolled into Pinkie Pie's embrace. She lay there for a moment, crying silently before returning to her story.
"My dad and I, we… made it to the street but we got captured before we could go anywhere. They took us to Canterlot and put me in with the other crusaders, separate from my dad. Every day they would come down and take somepony away. We never saw those ponies again…" Applejack and Pinkie exchanged quick glances, they had heard these stories before.
"When you found us in our cell I thought I would be able to see my dad again but I never saw him when Scotty and Ratty rounded us all up. I thought I would find him after the battle but I couldn't find him or anypony he had been in a cell with… I knew then that he was gone but I didn't want to because then it would become too real. So I pushed it aside, I helped with Scotty and Twilight's wedding, I helped rebuild Ponyville. But when the time came for everypony to be assigned houses there was no home for me to go to. Then I knew it was real. That my parents were dead and that I was all alone." Pinkie Pie hugged her again and this time her choked tears were audible. Applejack stepped close to embrace her as well but Pinkie Pie shook her head and silently mouthed the words. "No, I'll look after her you go tell Twilight."
"Spike, take a letter." Twilight commanded and the little dragon pulled out a page and a quill.
"Dear Rainbow Dash, I hope you are doing well with the Wonderbolts in Cloudsdale. Pinkie Pie is anxious to know exactly what you are doing at the performance. However the real reason for my writing has to do with Scootaloo. It turns out that her parents were killed during Shadow's rise and she has been living on her own since. Applejack is taking her to the town orphanage later today and they are hoping to find foster parents for her quite quickly. I thought you would be interested to know this because of how fond you are of her. Hope that this letter finds you well. With love from your friend Twilight Sparkle."
Spike finished the letter and made to belch on it with fire before remembering that anything he set on fire went to Princess Celestia so he wrapped it in a ribbon, went outside and placed it in the nearby post box. When he returned inside he found Twilight staring out of the window in her bedroom.
"So you were right about what was wrong with Scootaloo then." He said and she turned to him.
"Yes, I was. But that really doesn't help Scootaloo does it." It wasn't a question. He sighed.
"Do you want to write to Scotty? That usually cheers you up." At this she smiled and nodded and he grabbed another piece of paper and sat, quill at the ready.
"My dearest Scotty…"
Meanwhile across town Applejack was helping Scootaloo get settled into her new bunk in Ponyville's orphanage. She had a whole room to herself but the bed was like sleeping on a hundred sharpened stones and it felt like winter even though it was autumn. Scootaloo really had very few possessions of her own left. She had traded most of them for food. The only thing that had survived was her little scooter and her crash helmet to go with it. She didn't even have anything for winter and it would soon be upon them all. She seemed happy when Applejack left her to get settled into her room although she asked the older mare to hang around until dinner. Applejack agreed and smiled as the orange filly ate a bowl of carrot and corn stew as fast as Rainbow Dash can clear the skies above Ponyville. She then played a game of hoofball with some of the other orphans before a supper of cocoa and biscuits was served and the children were all sent to their beds. Applejack watched, silhouetted in the doorway by the light from the hall as Scootaloo curled up into a ball under the covers and began to drift away. Before she closed her eyes she looked up at Applejack one more time.
"Applejack…"
"Yes Sugarcube?"
"I… thank you."
"Anytime sweetheart, anytime." Then Applejack closed the door gently behind her as Scootaloo, for the first time in weeks, drifted into a happy gentle sleep that was no longer plagued by nightmares. In the hallway Applejack turned to Sassaflash, the blonde maned, cyan coated mare that ran the orphanage. Sassaflash smiled at her encouragingly.
"Don't worry Applejack, I've seen a few cases like this since the war and most of them have happy endings."
"Most?"
"A few are still here, still waiting for their happy ending but it'll come." She repeated the little mantra to herself, as if trying to remind herself of it. Applejack looked sceptical.
"Well if y'all find yourself in difficulty with her, y'all know where to find me. Or Pinkie Pie. She seems to trust Pinkie Pie." Sassaflash nodded and smiled again. That wide trustful smile that was responsible for letting so many little fillies and colts know that the world hadn't ended.
"You did the right thing bringing her here. My resources are stretched thin but I'll take her on. I'm sure we'll find foster parents for little Scootaloo before long."
"Before long" turned out to be about three days. Twilight received a reply from Rainbow Dash on the same day. Spike read it aloud.
"Hey Twi, Sorry to hear about Scootaloo. She's had it real rough. Tell her from me that I'm thinking of her and not to worry, she's tough, she can pull through. Tell her I'll see her as soon as I get back. It's great out here. Spitfire's been really nice. I've got my own Wonderbolts flight suit and everything. Tell Pinkie that I'm opening and closing each performance with a rainboom and that I'm doing some stunts with Soarin during the performance. Hope it's all good in Ponyville, give Scootaloo my love. Love from your friend Rainbow Dash."
Twilight nodded.
"She seems really concerned about Scootaloo." The flickering holographic image of Scotty Sparkle commented. This was the first time he had been in contact since he left. His golden and brown mane was slightly more unkempt than usual and his red coat had dark brown mud stains patching it.
"She feels like Scootaloo is like her younger sister I think." Spike told him.
"It makes no difference." Twilight said as she paced back and forward through the room. "We all know that Sassaflash has said that if she is unable to find somepony to adopt Scootaloo in Ponyville by the end of the week then she is getting sent to be with a foster family in Baltimare."
"Baltimare is nice enough," Scotty said not unkindly. "A little warm, even in winter, but we can't hold that against them. Who knows, she might be happy there."
"Five thousand miles from her friends here?" Twilight argued and Scotty seemed to shrink slightly.
"I know it's far from ideal. But we know that this family is interested in looking after Scootaloo which is more than can be said for anypony in Ponyville."
"Anypony in Ponyville at the moment." Twilight said.
Scotty opened his mouth to reply but only static came out and his image slowly flickered and died leaving the room empty. Spike looked from the spot where his hologram had stood to Twilight and back again.
"Do you want me to try and regain contact with him?" He asked but Twilight shook her head.
"Not just yet. Right now I need you to take a letter."
Puzzled the little dragon nodded and grabbed a quill and paper from the nearby storage room. When Twilight saw that he was ready and waiting she began.
"Dear Rainbow Dash, Just bringing you an update to the situation with Scootaloo…"
"… And due to her resources being stretched thin with the amount of children she already has to look after Sassaflash has decided to send Scootaloo to live with the family in Baltimare if no one in Ponyville will adopt her by Friday." Rainbow Dash recoiled from the letter.
"Friday…" She whispered quietly. That was a day and a half away, the same day that she and the Wonderbolts were due to leave Cloudsdale.
"What do you want to do?" Spitfire asked kindly. They had been going over the travel arrangements when the letter had been delivered.
"I'm needed here." Rainbow stated simply.
"That's not what I asked you." Spitfire said. "I asked you what you want to do." Rainbow turned and looked out of a window and a tear rolled silently down her face.
"I made her a promise once." She said after a while. "That I would be like a sister to her. That I would always look after her, always be there for her when she needed me…" A sob broke her voice suddenly as she turned back to face the Wonderbolts. "I guess I failed in that didn't I?" She wept as a tidal wave of tears rolled down her cheeks. Fleetfoot stood and began to run to her and hug her but Spitfire held out a hoof, stopping him dead. She stepped close to Rainbow Dash's muzzle and put on the same drill sergeant voice she used to scare young cadets at the Wonderbolt Academy.
"Rainbow Dash! Are you or are you not the many time self-proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria!?" Rainbow nodded meekly. "I can't hear you!"
"Yes ma'am!"
"And do you or do you not love this girl as you do your own family!?" Rainbow looked her dead in the eye this time.
"Yes ma'am!"
"Then go to her! We can manage without you." Then in a much quieter and gentler voice. "If I were you I know I wouldn't let that girl get sent away." Rainbow Dash straightened up and wiped the tears from around her eyes.
"Yes ma'am!" Spitfire smiled as Rainbow Dash raised her hoof to her forehead in a salute, her eyes gushing thanks that she would never allow her lips to form. The three Wonderbolts returned her salute and as Rainbow moved to run from Spitfire whispered into her ear.
"Just go. The wind and weather look as if they're going to be against you so it'll be an extremely tough flight to make in a day and a half. We'll mail your belongings back to Ponyville." Rainbow nodded her thanks and disappeared from the room. A few seconds later a sonic rainboom was heard above them. Fleetfoot turned back to Spitfire.
"Against the weather, exhausted from almost a week training with us and needing to get from Cloudsdale to Ponyville by midday tomorrow. Call me pessimistic boss but I doubt anypony in Equestria could beat those odds." Spitfire turned and watched as a Rainbow trail shot out of sight behind the cloud layer.
"I agree the odds are horribly stacked against her. But we have to understand what's at stake if she fails." Spitfire turned back to look at Fleetfoot. "You said nopony could beat those odds. Well believe me. She can."
Friday dawned clear and crystal blue above Ponyville although there were ominous storm clouds on the horizon. Applejack was underneath an apple cart, fixing its rear axle in the barn of Sweet Apple Acres when Ratty Apple staggered in. His choppy golden mane was sticking out at odd angles and he walked with a slight limp on his right foreleg but his smile was wide and his emerald eyes were aglow. Applejack snapped the axle into place but there must still have been an imperfection somewhere along it because it broke through the planks at the bottom of the cart with a loud crack.
"Ponyfeathers!" She cursed loudly. Ratty, still unnoticed by her, crouched down at the side of the cart.
"Having trouble?" He asked innocently. There was a loud clang as Applejack jerked in fright at the sudden voice and whacked her head off of the metal axle.
"Ponyfeathers!" She cursed again as she rolled out from beneath the cart. She rolled onto her back and her lips were instantly captured by her husband as he pulled her into a long, deep, wonderful kiss. When they parted he pushed her hat back slightly to get a better look at where she had hit her head.
"Get some ice on that." He told her. "You'll be okay and you'll probably just have a bruise."
"Guess ah'm jist hard-headed." She laughed before giving him a playful shove. "Not unlike somepony else ah know."
He laughed and kissed her again. At this point Applebloom and Big Macintosh decided to come to the barn and join them. When they caught sight of their brother-in-law they raced each other to get to him. Applebloom won and Ratty staggered as she wrapped around his left foreleg, then he flew end over end backwards into a haystack as Big Mac hit him like a freight train. He came up laughing and hugged his two sibling-in-laws.
They ate brunch on the hill that overlooked Ponyville and Applebloom eagerly asked Ratty what he had been doing in Stalliongrad.
"Most of it was classified," He began giving a sidelong glance to Applejack which she caught the meaning of almost immediately. It wasn't really classified but he was sparing Applebloom from the more gruesome, in-depth details. "But what I can tell you is that my team got a couple of new agents and that we helped the guards in Stalliongrad to catch a very evil pony." Applebloom nodded, her hunger for information seemingly satisfied by this rather vague explanation and she moved on to more pressing matters. She took a bite out of her cress and apple slice sandwich.
Applejack was just gathering up the last of the plates to take back to the farm when the Ponyville clock tower sounded out half past eleven. Applebloom, who had been playing Frisbee with Ratty and Winona, turned to her older sister, her eyes brimming with tears and her ears pressed flat to her head. Big Mac stepped forward and took the picnic basket from his sister and looked at both of his sisters with sympathy.
"Ah'll take this back to the farm. Y'all best be headin' down to the station now." Applejack nodded sadly and she and Applebloom slowly began to walk down the hill towards the town. Behind them the entire world became gloomy and sad. The storm closed in above them, blocking out the sunlight as the wind began to pick up and rain began to drop slowly from the heavens, as if the sky itself was weeping. Ratty stood with his ears hanging limply and his mouth slightly open as the ghost of his smile faded. Even Winona seemed affected, she lay whining at Ratty's hooves. He absent mindedly began to scratch her behind the ears.
"What's going on? What's wrong?" He asked Big Mag as the red pony plodded back towards the farm.
"It's half past eleven." Mac said simply. "The Baltimare train leaves at noon. It's time for everypony to say goodbye to Scootaloo."
Goodbye. Scootaloo had never really understood why some ponies called it the most horrible word in the dictionary. Until now. The rain had begun to fall in earnest as Sassaflash bustled around her making sure she had everything. The blonde pegasus would be accompanying her to Baltimare and making sure that she settled in well with the family there. Scootaloo was only allowed one suitcase of belongings with her which she had packed with what little clothing she owned and a photo album that held photos of all of her Ponyville friends and her parents. Her scooter and helmet had been donated to the other two cutie mark crusaders who were stood off to one side in the bustling station. Also present to see her off were the Sparkles; Twilight and Scotty, a contingent of the Apples; Applejack and Ratty, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, but the one face that Scootaloo had prayed to see wasn't among them. Rainbow Dash was far away in Cloudsdale and wouldn't be back until Scootaloo was long gone. I'm sure it won't be too bad she told herself again and once again that argument burst into flames and became nothing more than ash when the next thought entered her head, I'll just probably never see anypony here today ever again. The conductor blew his whistle for boarding and Sassaflash began to urge Scootaloo to "hurry up and say goodbye." Scootaloo turned to the crowd before her and tried to muster up the words but they caught in her throat and stuck there like glue. Scotty was the first pony to react. He stepped forward and gently hugged the girl with his wing before turning and walking to lean against one of the supports that held up the station's awning. A chorus of hugs soon followed as one by one Scootaloo was smothered by ponies who then turned away from her so that she couldn't see their tears. Before long she was left facing only Sweetie Belle and Applebloom who ran forward and hugged her together.
"Goodbye." Scootaloo whispered softly into their shoulders and they hugged her even tighter before slowly releasing her. She looked at her two best friends and a sad smile played across her lips.
"One more for the road?" She asked and they smiled and nodded. And for the last time in what looked to be forever, the three cutie mark crusaders shared a high five. Her goodbyes finished, Scootaloo turned back to Sassaflash who began to bustle her towards the train hurriedly. And then as she began to clamber in to the dark and gloomy carriage, Scootaloo heard the most wonderful word in Equestria. "WAIT!" Scootaloo and Sassaflash turned as a pegasine figure dashed from the station towards the train. Scootaloo's heart grew wings and began to soar through clear blue skies. And then she stopped, the figure became clearer now through the steam from the train and the dark rain, and it was wearing a train conductor's outfit. The conductor ran up to them and dropped the item he was carrying with a loud thump. It was Scootaloo's suitcase. Her heart's wings burned up and it plummeted into the deep chasm her chest had become.
"Sorry, you left this behind." He said, gesturing to the offending luggage.
"Oh dear, you must have forgotten it in the rush Scootaloo." Sassaflash said as she picked up the case. "Thank you." She said to the stallion, smiling gratefully.
"My pleasure." He told her and he tipped his hat by way of farewell. Sassaflash turned back to Scootaloo.
"Well come on then sweetie, let's not hold everypony up." Scootaloo sighed in disappointment and she nodded but suddenly her left ear twitched, it might have been nothing but she could have sworn she heard…
"Scootaloo!" The voice carried over the heads of the crowd and Scootaloo's eyes began to desperately scan the area. There! A rapidly bobbing rainbow mane and a frantically waving cyan hoof. "Scootaloo!" Scootaloo recognised the voice now and she leapt off of the train, clean over Sassaflash's bemused head and onto the platform. She began sprinting towards the voice as ahead of her the crowd parted and there she stood in all her glory. Rainbow Dash. Her mane was plastered to her head, her fur soaked and her chest heaving. She had twigs snagged in her mane and tail and there was a scratch along her cheek where a branch had tried to slow her. Scootaloo didn't care. She kept sprinting towards Rainbow and made a flying leap into her hooves as the older mare hugged her tightly.
"Hey kiddo, sorry I'm late. Had to run the last ten miles 'cause my wings got too wet to fly. Hope I didn't have you too worried that I wouldn't come." Scootaloo wasn't really listening, she was concentrated wholly on hugging Dash and never letting go. Sassaflash ran up and took in the scene.
"What's going on here?" She demanded and Rainbow lightly pushed Scootaloo to one side before she turned to face her.
"I'll tell you what's going on." She told Sassaflash. "You're not sending Scootaloo here to Baltimare anymore!"
"And why not?" Sassaflash asked as Scootaloo turned to face Dash in puzzled, yet pleasant, shock.
"Because you've found a parent for her in Ponyville. I'll adopt her!" Scootaloo's heart felt like it had leapt clean out of her mouth, done a somersault, and plopped back in.
"What!?"
It took about half an hour to make Scootaloo recover from her pleasant shock during which time Sassaflash wrote a letter to the Baltimare family expressing her apologies but a foster had been found in Ponyville. When Scootaloo was eventually calmed down she was flown to Rainbow Dash's cloud home on the cyan coated mare's back as behind them Scotty and Sassaflash struggled through the air, one carrying Scootaloo's luggage and the other her scooter and helmet. They arrived to find the house unlocked and the magical heating system booted up, Rainbow had sent Fluttershy out ahead of them to make the house more welcoming. Then she had helped clear out a spare room to become Scootaloo's bedroom. She apologised to Scootaloo for the lack of furniture but she hadn't really had time to buy any, what with the day and a half race from Cloudsdale to Ponyville. Scootaloo had laughed and told her it was okay and that she could sleep on the couch and Rainbow had scoffed.
"You will not sleep on the couch." She had laughed. "You will sleep in the master bedroom until we have set your room up properly." They had left Scootaloo's stuff in her new room and then Rainbow had sent her out to play with the other cutie mark crusaders while she finalised things with Sassaflash. She didn't manage. Almost as soon as the door closed behind Scootaloo a day and a half's worth of exhaustion caught up with Rainbow and she had fallen asleep on the sofa leaving the duties of finalising the adoption with Scotty who had almost immediately began arguing with Sassaflash.
"I just need to make sure that Rainbow can be a dedicated enough parent to look after Scootaloo." Sassaflash had tried to explain and Scotty had exploded.
"Dedication? That's what you need to check? Try giving up on one of your life's biggest dreams before making a three day flight in one and a half days! You want to check Rainbow's dedication? I think it's already been tested quite enough!" Sassaflash had thought better of arguing further and had left some papers on the coffee table.
"Ask her to sign these when she wakes up and bring them down to the orphanage as soon as she can please. Now I'd best be getting back to work." And with that she had left the house.
Rainbow awoke before long and signed the papers without a moment's hesitation. Then she took them straight down to the orphanage and handed them to Sassaflash who signed a form that gave Rainbow Dash official custody of Scootaloo. Rainbow had walked back through the town happily, grabbing a takeaway dinner for two from a restaurant and some cupcakes from Pinkie Pie. Tomorrow she vowed as she flew to where the cutie mark crusaders were plating in the park tomorrow I'll take Scoot over to the furniture shop and we'll pick out the stuff for her room. She picked her adoptive daughter up as the sun began to dip low over the horizon and she'd carried her back to their home on her back. They ate their takeaway dinner on the balcony of the master bedroom and talked well into the night, learning more about each other. Eventually Scootaloo's eyelids became heavy and she yawned loudly. Rainbow smiled and gently scooped her up onto her shoulders. She carried Scootaloo to the bed and helped her slide in under the covers. Then, as she made to go the little orange filly darted up and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow's neck.
"Thank you." She whispered quietly and Rainbow smiled. She gently pushed Scootaloo down into the bed again and leaned in to kiss her daughter's forehead. Then she gathered up the plates from their dinner and trotted over to the door.
"Goodnight kiddo." She said gently as she flicked out the light. Then she trotted downstairs and washed the dishes, humming as she did so. When she'd finished she pulled a blanket over the sofa before heading back upstairs to check on Scootaloo. She pushed open the door so that a tiny sliver of light illuminated one of the most beautiful sights Rainbow had ever seen. For the first time in weeks, Scootaloo was smiling gently in her sleep.