Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony; Friendship Is Magic
Title: Through The Shadow's Of Boredom The Past Can Emerge
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 raising a young filly. The past, however, has a way of creeping back in ways someone least expects it to.
Warnings: Nothing, really. Maybe a pony curse or two.
Author's Note: A pretty short chapter, not much plot thickening either, but it breaks the cliffhangers, right?
Chapter Title: Arguing, Not Fighting
...
decode9- Yup, definitely awkward. =) But it would be, all things considered.
Dr. Logic- Most of my chapter so far were cliffhangers in their own rights, so why break the habit now?
WhenInDoubt-RPG- -Pours water over the burns- Here you go, my friend. You might want to wrap those burns while you read.
...
Rainbow Dash, the master of all things subtle and thinking things through, was the first to break the moment of silence.
"What?"
The ex-Cutie Mark Crusaders flinched, but no one answered.
"Wait, wait, wait. One of you had a filly? Who?"
Awkward shuffling. Rainbow's stare didn't waver. "Well?"
Applebloom, who had come to stand next to Scootaloo during the moment of shock, nudged her shoulder. "You tell 'em."
Scootaloo nudged back. "No, you tell them."
"Uh-uh." A hoof-poke to the arm. "You tell 'em."
"What? No way! You tell them!"
"You!
"You!"
"You!"
Nudges and pokes turned to shoulder bumps which turned to hoof-slaps which turned to a slap fight that would've eventually escalated had Sweetie Belle not given them a harsh glare.
"Girls! Stop it, now."
They both flinched and sat down. "Sorry."
Sweetie sighed and shook her head, turning to face the shell-shocked mares. "She's my filly." She answered quietly.
"Mom?"
Sweetie walked over and crouched down beside Dawn with a frown. "We're not fighting, Dawn. We're arguing."
Dawn, only half-awake, blinked at her. "There's a difference?"
Sweetie flinched but nodded. "Arguing is words. Fighting is a full-on hoof-fight."
"Oh." She took a second to process this with a nod. "Okay, then why is everypony arguing?"
Sweetie Belle sighed, got to her hooves, and led Dawn over to the gaping white unicorn. "Dawn Flyer, meet your Aunt Rarity. Rarity, meet your niece, Dawn."
"Well, I, uh..." Rarity spluttered a moment, eyes wide, before regaining a semblance of her dignity. "Why, hello there, Dawn. It's, uh... It's a surprise to meet you."
"You too, I guess. I thought Ponyville was still a couple of days away?"
"It is." Her mother nodded. "My sister and her friends thought it'd be a good idea to surprise us with a little visit."
"Hey, now." Applejack stomped over with a frown. "That ain't no way to introduce 'er to her Aunts."
"Aunts?" Sweetie echoed. "I thought- I mean, Rarity's a blood relative, so- you don't have to-"
"Have to, scmaff to. Yer sister's an honorary Apple, and so are you. This one's just as much Applekin as anypony else in the family." She crouched down. "Howdy. I'm yer Aunt Applejack."
"You talk funny." Dawn answered bluntly. "Kinda like Aunt Applebloom."
"Dawn Flyer!"
Dawn winced, but Applejack shot her a reproachful look. "Hey, now. Ah'd be curious too." The orange mare glanced at the red-maned mare awkwardly hovering next to Scootaloo. "You see, Ah'm yer Aunt Applebloom's older sister, and since we come from the same area, we talk allota like."
"Oh, okay. Cool." Dawn reached over for an awkward hug. "I've never heard anypony else talk like Aunt Bloom before, that's all."
Applejack chuckled. "Wait'll you meet the rest of the family. They'll knock yer socks off."
"A little niece? Cool!" Rainbow Dash pulled her into an enthusiastic hug without so much as hesitating.
"Wait a second..." Dawn broke from her grip and took flight the few inches she needed to be eye-to-eye with the cyan mare. "You're Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash of the Wonderbolts!"
Rainbow puffed out her chest. "Yup."
"This is so cool!" She did an air-flip. "There's finally another pegasus pony in the family! And it's not me!"
"Ahem."
Dawn drifted over to her with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Aunt Scoots. I'm just excited. You know what I mean, though." She landed on her back with ease, poking a hoof towards her bad wing. "A pegasus pony that can fly."
"Hey, hey, hey." Rainbow was hovering beside them in an instant. "Your Aunt can fly just like any other pegasus, she's just a little slower, is all. Right Squirt?"
Scootaloo cleared her throat, awkwardly rubbing her shoulder. She didn't answer.
Applebloom broke into the awkward silence with a stern frown. "Come'on, you. It's time for bed."
"Aww." She grumbled as her aunt picked her up and set her on her back, heading for the stairs. She crossed her arms and pouted. "I wanna get to know my new aunts some more."
"Tomorrow. It's too late tonight to try and extract embarrassing stories of our fillyhood from them. 'Sides, things are awkward enough down there as it is."
The hotel door clicked shut. Rainbow landed next to the orange pegasus with a look of concern.
"Scootaloo?"
"Uh, about that..." She gingerly unfurled her wing and nodded at the small scar that went across the top of the appendage and down at a slightly crooked angle. "Uh, yeah. So, not flying. Not anymore."
"What happened?"
"Dragon raid." A pause. "What? I was in the guard. Didn't AJ tell you that?" Rainbow shot the earth mare a dirty look. "I'll, uh, I'll take that as a no. The medics healed it as best they could, but there's only so much wings like mine can take, you know?"
"Oh."
"Anyway." Sweetie Belle broke in with a grimace. "It's late, we're all tired, and this can wait until tomorrow, can't it?"
"Sweetie Belle, why I never-"
"Rarity, I haven't slept in almost three days now. I honestly don't care at this point. We can all settle our differences over an awkward breakfast, right? Right. Come'on, Scoots. It's past my bedtime."
The look on the older unicorn's face was priceless, but Scootaloo knew better than to get on the wrong side of an exhausted Sweetie Belle by laughing and trotted after her. "Uh, alright. Night, everypony."
"Goodnight." Sweetie grunted, opening and closing the door with her magic.
"Uh, Rarity?" Rainbow nudged her shoulder. "You alright?"
"Honestly, Rainbow?" Rarity's jaw snapped shut. She blinked. "I don't know."
"Uh, girls? Ah hate to break in here, but we still gotta reserve our rooms. And, uh, apologize for the noise."
"Oh, right. Let's get on that then, shall we?"
Author's Note: I should probably start by saying that Scoot's wound was from dragon fire during the raid. One managed to blow some fire at her while she was scootering the griffin eggs to safety, and it struck it's mark.
However, even with a burnt and bleeding wing, Scootaloo got back up and managed to scoot her way to the meeting point, where she then passed out and was hauled onto the back of the cart with the eggs and transferred to the medics waiting just outside the territory lines. It was her actions that saved the eggs, even if she only managed to go part of the way. That's why she was awarded the Princesses Golden Seal. She'll discuss it later, like, a lot later, but I thought it'd be best to explain the burn remark, even if it is mostly self-explanatory.
And Rarity and Sweetie'll have a talk sometime in the next few chapters. Dawn's gonna find out why everyone's acting so awkward around each other next chapter, from Applebloom, and Scootaloo and Rainbow are gonna be Scootaloo and Rainbow.
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