//------------------------------// // Pandora's Box // Story: Thicker than Water // by DemonBrightSpirit //------------------------------// Racing out of Cloudsdale, Dash headed straight for Twilight’s castle. Zipping in through the nearest window, she searched the corridors for her. “Twilight! Twilight!” Finally, she found Twilight in the main entrance hall along with a mountain of books. “Twilight, there you are!” Twilight looked up from a tattered book. “Hey, Rainbow Dash,” she said before turning her attention back to the book. “Spike and I were just trying to restore the books recovered from the library. I’m hoping to dedicate a wing of the castle to be the town’s new library.” “Nevermind that. I have a huge, huge problem!” Dash said as she landed next to Twilight. “What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash looked over at Spike a moment before turning back to Twilight. “Uh, can we talk in private?” Both ponies looked over to Spike, causing him to abandon working on a charred tome. “Fine,” he said, rolling his eyes. As he walked out, he stretched his arms up over his head. “I could use a nap anyways.” “What’s bothering you?” Twilight asked. “What’s got you so worked up?” “I… I found out something I was not supposed to know. I don’t know what to do. You gotta help me!” “A secret? Well, usually the best thing is just to be honest,” Twilight said, holding up a hoof. “How bad could it possibly be?” The look on Rainbow’s face crushed what remained of Twilight’s optimism. “Th-that bad, huh?” Rainbow pawed at the floor. “I think… I might’ve—by accident—broken the law. A little.” Twilight facehoofed. “What did you do?” “I-I found Scootaloo’s birth certificate.” “What? That’s supposed to be confidential!” Twilight glared at Dash. “What did you do: break into the orphanage’s files? How is that an accident?” “No! I, well, I crashed into the filing cabinets and the papers went all over the place,” Rainbow said. “I was just trying to help clean it up, honest!” Twilight sighed, a small smile gracing her lips. “That I can imagine.” She reached out, putting a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Just forget about it. Everything will be okay.” Dash hung her head. “It-it’s not that simple, Twilight.” Looking up, she found Twilight giving her a reassuring smile. “Scootaloo is my sister.” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wh-what?” She shook her head. “How is that even possible?” “I thought I was an only child, too, but I just talked to my dad. He said that… Look, Scootaloo is my sister—the flesh and blood kind. My folks gave her up for adoption when she was born.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure?” “Her birth certificate had my parents’ names on it! My dad just told me that they had a foal and gave it up for adoption!” Dash shouted back at her. She breathed a deep breath out through her nose, reigning in her emotions. “I’m sure.” Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth a moment, before focusing on Dash again. “I guess that complicates things.” “I don’t know what to do, Twilight,” Dash said, turning around and stepping away. “Dad says they won’t let him adopt her, that he isn’t even supposed to know where or who she is. He thinks she’s in a happy family.” Her wings twitched, rubbing against her sides as she turned back around to look at Twilight. “You should’ve seen his face. He looked so…” Dash shook her head. “He was so sure that he did the right thing and that Scootaloo was happy.” Twilight tilted her head a bit. “Isn’t she happy? You know, I see her every week, and she’s never so much as mentioned her… home situation.” She offered Rainbow Dash a reassuring smile. “Her biggest concerns are flying and getting her cutie mark, just like any other filly. Doesn’t that mean that she is doing well?” “That’s not the point!” said Dash, shaking her head. “She deserves better.” Twilight sighed, rubbing her temple a moment. “What do you want me to tell you?” “I don’t know. Just something that will make this all better!” Dash replied, her voice almost begging. “I can’t make them let your dad adopt her, and I’m not sure she would like to be taken away from Ponyville, either. I hate to say it, but isn’t the status quo the best in this situation?” Twilight asked, staring Rainbow down. “That’s not—what am I supposed to tell my dad? He misses her, but if he knew that she never got adopted, he’d never forgive himself. And doesn’t Scootaloo deserve to know who her real family is?” Twilight’s ears folded back, and she looked away, her gaze finding anything other than Rainbow Dash to be absolutely enthralling. “Those aren’t answers I can give you. Scootaloo is happy where she is, and she already thinks of you as her sister. I don’t even know if Scootaloo wants to know who her real family is.” “Whatever.” Dash gave her wings a powerful flap, sending a few damaged books flying as she took to the air. Blowing off steam by soaring in the skies above Ponyville quickly proved counterproductive. Almost as soon as she left the castle, she spied Scootaloo and her scooter. They were both on the ground amidst a cloud of dust. “Hey! Are you okay?” Dash asked as she landed. Scootaloo sat up, her head and eyes spinning. A vigorous shake of her head cleared it right up. “F-fine,” she said, holding her helmeted head. “I just wrecked, that’s all. Is the scooter okay?” Dash picked it up off the ground, pushing it towards Scootaloo. “Looks to be about as sturdy as you are.” Scootaloo put her front hooves up on the handlebars, leaning on her trusty scooter. She didn’t move to get on the thing, she just stared at it. “Are you… mad at me?” Dash’s eyes widened before she tilted her head. “What? No. Why would I be mad at you?” “Well, I mean, I got you in trouble and you took off like that, so I just thought—” “No.” Rainbow shook her head. “I’m not mad, I just…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh, hey, you wanna talk?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “Talk?” Rainbow Dash glanced about, finding a whole lot of nothing. She then looked up to find a cloud overhead. “Come on,” she said, picking Scootaloo up and hoisting her up to it. The diminutive cloud didn’t offer much room, so Scootaloo ended up lying against Rainbow Dash. She cast a few wary glances over the edge. She gulped. “Uh, is this about flying?” “No, I just wanted to talk to you,” Rainbow said. She unfurled a wing, hovering it over Scootaloo for but a moment before snapping back to her side. She cleared her throat. “Do you, uh, do you ever wonder about your family? Y-your parents, I mean.” Scootaloo looked down at the cloud between her forelegs. “Uh, well, yeah. Sometimes,” she said, shifting uncomfortably. “Nopony will ever tell me anything. I don’t even know how they died or anything.” Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “Do you know why I got in trouble earlier? I—accidently—found your birth certificate. I read it.” Scootaloo’s attention immediately snapped over to Rainbow Dash. “Y-you know who my parents were?” Rainbow nodded. “I’m really not supposed to tell you anything, but if you want to know, I can tell you.” “I want to know!” Dash sighed. “You…” She shook her head. “H-how do I say this?” “Is it bad?” Scootaloo asked, looking up at Rainbow Dash. “It won’t… just don’t get your hopes up, okay?” Rainbow waited for Scootaloo to nod before continuing, “You know, I couldn’t believe it when I read it. That was why I took off like I did.” “Who are my parents?” Dash gave her an uneasy smile. “Hey, you know how you used to wish you had a big sister like Sweetie and Apple bloom? Well, turns out, you do.” Scootaloo sprung up, nearly tumbling from the precariously small cloud. “Who?” “Me.” Scootaloo scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I know that. You took me under your wing months ago.” Rainbow shook her head. “No, I mean you’re my sister. My real sister. Your birth certificate had my parents’ names on it.” Scootaloo’s eyes widened as she gasped. “Really?” Just as quickly as her smile appeared, it washed away. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t know that your parents were, uh…” “They’re not,” Dash said. “Uh, I mean, not both of them.” She sighed, closing her eyes and hanging her head. “Listen, I just found out about this today. I never knew I had a sister!” Scootaloo furrowed her brow. “If they’re not… gone, then h-how can I be an orphan?” “Mom—our mom—was really sick for a really long time. When she had you she was… she was already dying. She only made it a couple of months after you were foaled,” Rainbow said, keeping her eyes locked on the cloud. “She knew that she wouldn’t make it much longer, and Dad was already struggling with just me. So they gave you up for adoption.” “They… abandoned me?” “H-hey!” Rainbow draped her wing around Scootaloo. “They thought they were doing what was best for you. Dad was falling apart and Mom was just so sick. They knew they couldn’t take care of another filly. They thought that you would be adopted right away.” She looked up at Dash, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “Didn’t they want me?” Rainbow pulled Scootaloo into a hug, wrapping her forelegs and wings around the little filly. “Come on, who wouldn’t want an awesome filly like you?” Scootaloo wrapped her hooves around Dash’s neck. “Just about everypony,” she mumbled. Dash rubbed Scootaloo’s back. “You should’ve seen dad when he talked about you. He really misses you.” Scootaloo shuddered as she failed to suppress her sobs. “Then why did he throw me away?” “Scoots, Dad loves you. You gotta believe that.” She pushed herself away from Dash, a single hoof slipping from the edge of the cloud before she got her balance. “He’s never even met me!” Tears dripped down her cheeks, and she glared at Rainbow Dash. “Did you really not know I was your sister?” Rainbow shook her head. “I had no idea, not until a little bit ago.” Clenching her jaw tight, Scootaloo looked away from Dash, focusing instead on the edge of the cloud. She drew a hoof across her face as she sniffled. “I always thought I was an orphan because my parents had passed away. I never thought it was because… nopony wanted me.” “Scoot—” “Let me down!” Scootaloo said, struggling to maintain what little composure she had. “I want down!” “Hey, listen to me,” Rainbow said, reaching a hoof towards Scootaloo. As she did, the filly jumped! She leapt after her, barely catching Scootaloo before she hit the ground. After gently setting her down and making sure she was all right, she glared at the filly. “Don’t go jumping off of clouds like that! You could’ve gotten hurt!” “Just… leave me alone!” Scootaloo shouted back at her as she jumped on her scooter. Not bothering to look back, she fired up her wings and took off, kicking up a cloud of dust. Rainbow Dash extended a hoof after the retreating filly. She opened her mouth to protest, but no words came. She just sighed as she set her hoof down. She angrily kicked the dirt for lack of the ability to actually kick herself. “Idiot.” Deciding that Scootaloo could use some time to cool off, Dash took to the air. There was at least one pony that might know how to fix this. I just hope she doesn’t say that she told me so… “I warned you that something like this might happen!” Twilight said, stomping a hoof. “I know,” Dash replied, hanging her head low. “I need to fix it, but I don’t know how.” Twilight facehoofed. “Rainbow, this kind of thing takes serious therapy to fix. We’re talking months, maybe years! You should have just waited until she was older to tell her.” Rainbow’s ears folded down. “There has to be something I can do.” “Urgh!” Twilight grunted, pacing in front of Dash. “I can’t believe you thought this would be a good idea!” Rainbow raised her head, her ears flicking up. “She’s my sister! She deserved to know.” Shaking her head, Twilight glared at Dash. “Deserving to know and being mature enough to handle the reality of the situation are two very different things. Why do you think they don’t let these kinds of kids see their own birth certificates until they are older?” “I don’t know!” Twilight let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, I’m not sure how to ‘fix’ this. You just changed the way she sees herself and her situation, and not for the better, either. You’ve opened pandora’s box, and the evil you let out can’t be stuffed back in.” Dash stared at the ground a moment before looking back up. “Wait, wasn’t there still hope left in the box?” Against her best efforts, a small smile touched Twilight’s lips. “Yes, I suppose there was.” She shook her head. “While there is always hope, I just don’t know what you can do to try to rectify the situation.” Rainbow stamped a hoof. “I have to try!” Her wings flared out, and she took off, a rainbow trail following after her.