//------------------------------//
// Scootaloo's home. 
// Story: A loving Family 
// by Lethrael 
//------------------------------//

Scootaloo's home.

Shining walked slowly on the streets of Ponyville. His face was expressionless and he ignored   everypony else who crossed his path. After they greeted him and asked a few unanswered questions, they shrugged and didn't try to talk more with him. Shining's eyes were scanning every house he passed by, compared they with each other and shook his head finally.
“Two pillars and a bunch of flowers on a balcony.”
He recalled the description of the house, who Cheerilee had given and sighed. Shining looked around and shook his head again. Neither of the houses looked like it in the slightest.

“What are you looking for?”
A raspy voice let him winch and he looked around. Down on the ground was nopony, so he looked up into the sky. There hovered head first and grinning a blue mare. He recognised her of course, Rainbow Dash. He just didn't know her because of the afore mention by Slight, or from the stories about her Sonic Rainboom. He had met her actually in Canterlot. He shook away the memory of her first encounter and a hint of a smile returned to his face again.
“I'm looking for Scootaloos ho...”
The mare stopped him mid sentence and flew quickly direct for his face. Shining flinched a few steps away and his smile faded quickly.
“Why?
What's up with her?
Have you got a problem with her?”
Rainbow spoke up first, but as she came to the last sentence, she changed her tone into a much cooler one. Shining raised both front hooves very appeasing and shied one step more away.
“No, really I don't. It's just...what have you to do with her?
I thought her foster parents are...”
The mare landed in front of him and blocked his way with her body. The stallion shied away again and stayed away from her. Rainbow cracked her tail once and frowned. But this didn't change the stone expression on Shining's face in the slightest.
“I'm her honorary sister.”
She almost whispered the word honorary, as she saw the inquiring look on Shining's face. But it changed quickly into another expression. The stallion approached her and a hint of anger appeared on his face.
“Do you know thereof?”
Rainbow stood still in front of Shining, cocked her head and squinted her eyes to slits. She raised a hoof and wanted to lay it against the stallions chest, but he flinched away one step more.
“Thereof? Whereof exactly?”
Shining looked directly in her eyes and tried to rumble her and after a few moments of voiceless starring he sighed. He stepped aside and walked pass her.
“When she didn't tell you already, I have no rights to tell you otherwise.
Uhm actually, I can tell you one thing. The short stuff had gone through a very tough time and it effected her even now.”
Rainbow took a hissing breath between her compressed lips and blocked his path again. She snapped at him and put a hoof on his chest.
“What do you mean?
That she can't fly?
What do you care?”
Shining laid his own hoof on Rainbow's and tried to push it down. But she didn't let him and opened her mouth again.
“Why should a unicorn, I don't know, be so...”
Shining snapped back and flinched one step away. He rubbed slowly over his chest and kept back from the mare.
“I would prefer, if you...”
Rainbow leaped after him and came way to close for his taste. She raised her hoof again and spat at him.
“You know it's funny.
A strange stallion tells me such crap and...”
She prodded him with the hoof and opened her wings halfway to cow him, but the stallion stood his ground this time. Shining slapped her hoof away and gave her a glance, that could easily describe as angry, but there was a hint of fear in his voice, as he answered.
“I would prefer, if you don't touch me like you did.”
There was a squeak in his voice, who sounded nearly panic fuelled and Rainbow cocked her head. The stallion breathed in and out very stressed and shied away one more step. This time Rainbow stayed where she was and looked at the stallion very carefully. 
“I...I...okay...”
Finally he was easing up so he could speak.
“I just know, that the filly had slept in our home this night.
And I have to tell her foster...”
Rainbow raised her hoof and cleared her throat. She took a deep breath and tried to speak, without to shout.
“What do you mean foster parents?”
She sounded much calmer and seemed to pick up her courage again. Shining on the other hoof get louder after her question and glanced at her.
“She hadn't told you?”
“I've never asked.	The squirt is a little bit well quiet about her family, you know?”
The mare avoided his glance and her hooves drew lines on the ground. This calmed down the stallion and he sighed. He nodded and a guarded smile returned on his face again.

Shining stepped aside the mare and whispered.
“Maybe we can lift the fog a little bit more.”
Rainbow grimaced and looked surprised to Shining. She didn't seem to expect a weather allegory from him. She took a smile back on her face, but it faded away quickly.
“I think it would be...not a bad idea, but her uhm foster parents didn't know me.”
The mare sighed and turned around. She jogged slowly and musing on the way and mumbled inaudible word scraps now and then. Shining nodded and followed her lead. His gaze stayed on the mare and he spotted her shivering wings. This was something he know from Slight, it was a sign for fear, or other suppressed feelings.
“Do you think, I should have seen it?”
This question was finally able to leave Rainbow's mouth and the stallion caught up with her quickly. He thought for a while and saw, the longer he thought it threw, the more Rainbow dropped her head and slowed down.
“I don't think so. She seemed to look out for somepony and my coltfriend is what she found as a pony she trusts. How long are you her honorary sister?”
Rainbow sighed and pondered. She stopped walking and lifted a wing.
“It's six weeks ago, since we were on a field trip to Winsome Falls. There I had told here, that I will take her under my wing. Right after that, I uhm, well...”
She cleared her throat and turned her head away. She sighed and grinned weakly.
“I was accepted b the Wonderbolts and had to train in the academy and was way too...
Let's put it that way, I have asked her just three weeks ago, what she would like to do with me.”
Shining nodded and cleared his throat too. He just whispered.
“And she hadn't told you, because she didn't want to be the party pooper, I think.”
The mare looked at him and nodded. She looked away again and pointed to a house in front of them. It matched the description from Cheerilee and Shining nodded.
“I was here once, but her foster parents weren't and I had no clue.”
As she spoke the word foster, she almost sounded angry. Her anger didn't stay for long, but was replaced by a very long sigh.
“It's not your fault, okay? Fillies could be very good in hiding something, especially when they love or admire  the pony they hide it for. I dare say, that Scootaloo didn't want, that you find out what she has to deal with.”
The mare snorted and flapped her wings twice to take off. But she stopped mid air and flew back to him.
“What should I do now?
I mean, you have heard from Scootaloo's problems, but...”
The stallion shook his head very quickly and looked directly in Rainbow's eyes. He sounded way lower then before and a very hesitant smile returned on his face.
“You know her. What would she expect you to do?”
Rainbow hovered in the air for while and thought. Shining saw in her face, that she pondered many options, one after the other and became more and more displeased in the process.
“Ugh, I'm not an egghead! I don't know what she wants. She wanted, that I took her under my wing, but didn't tell me that she has foster parents?
That's confusing. Dammit.	I...should ask Twilight, what to do, eventually she...”
She flew away right now, without even bother to say goodbye and the stallion sighed. Now another pony would be pulled into this affair and it was a princess of all ponies. But he simply couldn't call the mare off it, or could he?

He shook his head and approached the house. He glanced over the clean windows, the well groomed flower boxes and to the curtains, who were blocking every insight of the house, before he knocked on the door. First nopony answered, but as he knocked for the second time, he heard noises behind the door and at first a low, but becoming quickly louder voice answered.
“Yes...yes...I'm coming.”
Hooves galloped to the door and opened it quickly. Shining stood face to face with an earthpony mare, who either woke up right now, or had the messiest and stringiest mane he had ever seen. The mint green tips stood in the air like a hedgehog. Her orange coat wasn't in its best shape either, partly messed up with milk and other things he didn't want to know more about. A pacifier firmly tucked behind his ears and her green eyes looked like she hadn't slept in days, or just for a few minutes every night. Multiple dark circles around the eyes were greeting him, but her smile was almost a genuine.
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
Shining listened and caught a quiet laughter from the back of the mare. A dark red baby foal crawled around on her back and looked shyly to him, but shied away, as he spotted her. He smiled and waved friendly at her and get a shyly wave as an answer. His smile softened and he bowed his head.
“I'm Shining Star.”
He stopped after this introduction and grinned again, as the foal babbled and the mare gently fondled over her mane.
“Sch...Red Beet, we want to chat a little bit.
So, my name is Tangleweed and what can I do for you?”
The foal answered with more babbling and giggled again, as the mare fondled over her head and put the pacifier in her mouth. The foal smacked pleased and Shining couldn't stop smiling. He took a deep breath and focused on the mare again.
“I have to talk about Scootaloo.”
The mention of the filly put back a serious expression on the face of the mare and she sighed. Her voice sounded very bugged and she frowned.
“What had she done?
I swear she is making...”
Shining stopped her and shook his head. He spoke low and calm.
“Actually I wanted to tell you, that she had stayed the night in our home and, well.
She had told us, that she had nopony who cares about her.”
The mare breathed in disgusted  and stomped her hoof on the ground. Her voice fastened up and the foal on her back startled. Tears were gathering in her great eyes and she tried to nestle against the neck of her mum to calm herself down.
“So, filly-close-lip and pout-never-tell has told you this?”
The stallion raised both hooves and tried to be pacifying, but the mare shook her head and started to sob. Tears were gathering in her eyes and she galloped into the house. The baby foal sensed her discomposure and joined into the crying too. Shining looked after the mare and followed her, as she didn't close the door. He closed it by himself and looked around. The corridor was a little bit messy, but not quite as much, as he would feel uncomfortable about it. Yes the many diaper packages and a few dirty towels were odd, but he could easily step over them. He walked closer into the house and tried to hear, where the mare had run. He heard her loud yelling coming out of one room and he winced slightly.

“This filly is just...just a hoofful.	She hadn't told us anything about her problems in the whole time she stayed here. We have tried to speak with her, before Red was born and assure her, that she would stay anyway...but she...”
A sob stopped her stammering and the baby foal cried even louder. Shining followed the louder and than lower crying of the foal into a kitchen who had seen better days. Everywhere were dirty plates, at the table in the centre stood dirty bowls, bottles of milk and juice, bred and a plate with tanned apple slices. The smaller chair in front of it was Scootaloos ones and the breakfast didn't look cheap. A bottle full of orange juice, the apples and a bowl of cereals were standing there. But with the mess on the table it didn't look like it was very homelike and one thing made it even worse. 

A wall of diaper packages and baby food looked like a border in the middle of the table and separated a group of two grown up and one baby chair from Scootaloo's seat. Whether aware or unaware, this set a harsh statement. Shining looked to the sink, full with dirty dishes and spotted a dozen empty delivering boxes of pizza on the stove. Considering one thing was clear. The mare had problems. The stallion sighed and opened his mouth, but Tangleweed hadn't finished. She rocked her baby in her hooves very carefully.
“And the filly didn't do anything...anything to thank our efforts.
Well she didn't mess up her own room, so...”
Her voice died away, as she made just more accusations. The mare leaned her sobbing face against her filly and took a deep breath. The foal laid her tiny hooves around her head and nestled closely into her cheek. Both calmed down slowly, while Shining looked around in the kitchen again. He approached the mare and smiled understanding. This calmed the mare finally down completely and she raised her head.
“I'm sorry. I haven't slept well for days.
I...”
Shining nodded and laid gently a hoof on her side. He pushed her gently to a chair and she sighed as she sat down.
“I can understand.
Just why did you house Scootaloo in the first place, when it looks like that?”
The mare looked to the stallion and rubbed away tears from her face. She whispered and rocked the babbling foal in her hooves again.
“We wanted a foal, badly, but it never worked.
So we tried to adopt one, but we have to take her in as foster parents first, to see, if we are able to handle one.
Scootaloo was our first foster child ever, but my stallion had thought it would be easier. So he worked overtime now to avoid her. And after Red was born and surprised us all, well. She wasn't home quite often and we hadn't...asked her about... But I couldn't say her, that she should leave and send her back where she had come from. She isn't a pet!”
The mare sounded harried and sobbed at her last sentence. She shut her eyes closed and fondled over the giggling foal.
“I really wanted to take care of her. Really!”
She averred the last word and sighed. She glanced over the mess in the kitchen and looked than back to the foal.
“But Red needed me more and...I...”

She sat the foal into the baby chair aside her and looked to Scootaloo's chair. Shining nodded and looked around again. He glanced over the mess of plates, over the not eaten breakfast and saw a brown paper back beside it. He nodded again and his eyes softened. Shining took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
“Maybe...it would be the best, when Scootaloo stayed at our place for a while.”
The mare raised her head and for a short moment was a thankful expression on her face, but it changed quickly into a worried one.
“But I didn't know you. I'm responsible for her and who says, that you and your mare would be able...”
Shining took a deep breath and sighed again.
“My coltfriend.”
Tangleweed took a deep breath and her frowned for a second. But as she spoke again, she sounded quite normal.
“This isn't much better, you know. Scootaloo isn't here quite often, but one thing I do know about her. 
She is afraid of stallions and this tend to make Thornapple uhm...He is disappointed, because he couldn't bring Scootaloo...”
The mare stopped and looked to Scootaloo's seat again. In her face were shortly a pitying expression and had to close her eyes to suppress more tears.
“Well who can blame him, when she didn't do anything to thank us. First we thought it would become better soon. But as she didn't come out of her shell and she even didn't return for nights and didn't say where she was. Well first he yelled at her, then he grounded her, but this made it worse. She became just more contumaciously and she get way more quieter...”
She mare spoke faster and harsher, but as the foal started to wail again, she put both hoof in front of her mouth and nuzzled the foal to calm her down. Shining nodded and smiled apologetic. He stroke his mane with one hoof and cleared his throat. Again he looked around in the room and sighed.

“How about, we speak with her and try to...”
Tnagleweed frowned and forced a smile back on her face. Her voice sounded much more harsher than before and stomped her hoof on the ground again.
“Of course she wanted to be with Rainbow Dash instead!
But this mare has just air between her ears.”
The voice sounded angrier and Shining his head inquiring. The mare didn't disappoint him.
“She is just a bad influence, you know.
She had encourage her to do dangerous tricks on her scooter.”
There was worry, who made her voice very thin. Shining smiled gently, as the mare looked again to the small chair and the worry glimmered shortly in her eyes. He nodded and licked his lips.
“Alright, I get it. You don't think, that Rainbow Dash would be a good foster parent.
But how about, when we take care of her in a daily bases and you can come visit us anytime you want. You're responsible for her, as long as you want to but you get some time to pick up your courage and we could see, if Scootaloo wants to stay with us instead. She doesn't move in totally now, we are just...”
“A lifeline for a mare, who couldn't handle the simple task of getting her home clean?”
She snorted, but Shinings disarming smile, calmed her angry tone. He shook his head.
“No way. We're just friends, who are willing to help, when we see, that a mare would need some rest.”
The mare opened her mouth, but closed it again. She nodded and answered much more friendly, than ever before and even smiled.
“Well, okay. But we have to speak with her officer, so...”
Shining nodded, smiled and chocked his head. The mare sighed relieved and galloped out of the room. She seemed to search for something in another room and made such noises. Shining looked to the baby foal, who gazed at him for a long time and started to babble. The stallion smiled gently and cooed to her.
“You're keeping your Mummy very busy, don't you?
Well we'll relive a little burden from her...”
He stopped and looked to Scootaloo's chair again. He frowned a little bit and sighed.
“Slight, well he might be displeased with this.
Now he has to share Gentle with another filly...”
He stopped again, as the mare returned with a baby sling in front of her chest and smiled shyly to the stallion.
“Now, we should go.”
Shining sighed and raised his shoulders. He cleared his throat and took  on a firm expression.
“We should pick up my coltfriend and Scootaloo as well.
It would be unfair, if she just has to deal with our decision and can't say what she wants to do.”
The mare looked to Scootaloo's seat one last time, grappled the paper back with her mouth and nodded.