Derby Dilemma

by SuperPinkBrony12

Rainbow Dash: Dizzy And The Derby

"Come on, Rainbow Dash! Mom wants me home by sundown, and you know how much she worries about me." Scootaloo called to her honorary big sister, as she trotted along the road leading to the outskirts of Ponyville, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the recently wrapped up derby.

"I'm coming, squirt. Hold your horseshoes!" Rainbow Dash called, following close behind her number one fan. But although she was going to great lengths to hide it, the pegasus mare with a coat of cyan was dreading the walk to Scootaloo's house. For she knew there was a pony waiting for her there that would not be very pleased by what'd she seen. Scootaloo's mother, Dizzy Twister.

Rainbow Dash tried not to gulp, as she was already recalling how Dizzy Twister had approached her after the first derby had ended. All she had told Rainbow Dash at that point was "You and I will need to have a talk when you bring Scootaloo home. You have a lot to answer for.", before she had left to talk to her daughter.

"Man, I really messed up big time," Rainbow Dash thought to herself, shuddering at the thought of the stern lecture she was sure to be on the receiving end of. "Now her mom is super peeved with me, and who could blame her?"

"Rainbow Dash, are you coming or what?!" Scootaloo called, snapping the older mare out of her train of thought. "It's nearly sundown and If I'm not back home by then, Mom's sure to start panicking. I just wish she'd let her mane down a little, it's not like I can't take care of myself."

"Your Mom's just trying to make sure she knows where you are, and that you get to bed at a reasonable time," Rainbow Dash replied. "Trust me, it can be pretty hard to find your way around town at night."

Scootaloo shrugged her hooves. "Whatever, I guess it's just a motherly thing for her to worry about me the way she does. I'm just glad she lets me hang out with you all the time."

"Might wanna enjoy it while it still lasts, kid." Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked, stopping right in her tracks. "You were talking to yourself, but I couldn't make out what you were saying."

Rainbow Dash immediately said in response. "Oh, it's nothing. Just boring grown-up stuff like whether I left the stove on or not."

Suspecting nothing, Scootaloo smiled as she resumed her forward pace and said to Rainbow Dash. "Well, worry about that later. Right now, I just want to get home before sunset." And for the rest of the homeward journey, Rainbow Dash said nothing more. She just allowed for Scootaloo to lead her along the path.

---

"Alright, we made it!" Scootaloo said at last, as her home came into view. It was a moderate two story house that you usually saw in Ponyville, with the only distinguishing feature being the Cloudsdale like pillars in the front.

And standing right at the front door, was a pegasus mare who was instantly recognizable to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. Her amber coat, pink mane and tail (with a pale raspberry section in her tail), and rose colored eyes were unmistakeable, as was her cutie mark of three tornadoes. It was Scootaloo's mother, Dizzy Twister.

"Hi, Mom!" Scootaloo greeted, instantly running up to Dizzy Twister and giving her a hug.

Dizzy Twister returned the embrace whole heartedly. "Hello, Scootaloo," she greeted in a warm and motherly tone. "So how was your second derby? I'm sorry I couldn't stick around to see the whole thing, but I had some unfinished spring cleaning that I wanted to finish before you came home. Did you win any ribbons?"

Scootaloo eagerly nodded, as she ended the hug and dug into her saddlebag. With great fanfare, she presented a blueish-green colored ribbon with a tail of alternating black and yellow in a series of waves, and a silver circle with a white number 1 displayed in it. "This is the ribbon for 'Most Creative'!" she boasted, eagerly buzzing her wings in excitement. "Miss Cheerilee said she'd never see a bird based cart that looked so good! Apple Bloom won 'Fastest Cart', and Sweetie Belle easily won 'Most Traditional'. I had some tough competition for 'Most Creative' though."

Dizzy Twister beamed a bright smile. "I've very proud of you, Scootaloo. You earned that ribbon!"

"Thanks, Mom. I can't wait to show this to Dad when he gets home!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"I think he'll be just as proud as I am, Scootaloo," Dizzy Twister nodded, then she turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. She eyed the now official Wonderbolt for a moment, easily noticing the anxious look on her face. Then she looked at her daughter and instructed in a serious tone of voice. "Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and I have something that we need to discuss, alone. So would you mind heading inside for a bit?"

"Is Rainbow Dash in trouble?!" Scootaloo immediately asked.

Dizzy Twister tried her best to maintain a straight face. "That depends. But it's something for only us grown-ups to discuss. Do you understand?"

Scootaloo was going to speak up and say something, but Rainbow Dash silenced her. "When your mom wants to discuss things in private with you, I don't try to butt in. Just do as your mother says, okay? It won't take long, I promise."

"Alright," Scootaloo said, sighing in defeat. But just before she headed inside she said to her mom. "Please don't be too hard on Rainbow Dash, it was an honest mistake."

---

As soon as Dizzy Twister and Rainbow Dash were alone, an uncomfortable silence filled the air. For a moment or two neither mare dared to say a word, they just seemed content to stare each down, as if waiting for the other one to speak up first.

At last it was Rainbow Dash who broke the silence. "I know you're mad at me, Dizzy, and you have every right to be. I messed up, I admit it." she quickly spat out.

"I know you're sorry, Rainbow Dash," Dizzy Twister replied, still trying to maintain a straight face. "And I'm not really mad at you. But I am disappointed. Scootaloo practically idolizes you, and yet you betrayed that trust and worship, and almost ruined the derby for her and the other racers. Heck, you're lucky nopony got hurt in that collision, though I do wonder who's bright idea it was to have that many intersections on one race track."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too. It wasn't me though, that's for sure," Rainbow Dash nervously laughed, before she quickly changed the subject. "It was wrong of me to try and ram those other carts, just so I could win. I guess I just kind of got caught up in the moment, and all I could think about was winning the race."

"Scootaloo told me in no unclear details about how you even tried to push your cart across the finish line after the collision," Dizzy Twister scolded. "What if Scootaloo had been hurt, or worse?! Would you still have cared solely about winning that derby?!"

Rainbow Dash gulped. "I'd... rather not think about that possibility. I'm just glad it didn't happen. If Scootaloo got hurt because of me, I don't know if I'd ever forgive myself." she confessed.

"Yet in that moment you cared more about the cart then you did her wellbeing," Dizzy Twister frowned. "And of course, you weren't supposed to be the one driving the cart in the first place. You know how these derbies work, the younger ponies are the drivers, not the passengers!"

"I've actually been wondering why Cheerilee didn't try to report that to somepony. But I wasn't sure if Scootaloo would be comfortable at the wheel with all of the stuff I added to the cart," Rainbow Dash confessed. "I thought she might press the wrong button in a panic, and make us speed out of control. Otherwise, I would've asked her if she wanted to be the driver or the passenger."

"That's not the only thing you should've asked," Dizzy Twister added. "I know that Scootaloo never told you about her desires to win 'Most Creative' instead of 'Fastest Cart' and she definitely should've spoken up sooner about that. But you still should've asked her what she wanted while you were working on the first cart. Especially after she started trying to add all those chicken things to it."

"You're right, I should've asked her. I'm still kicking myself for not doing so," Rainbow Dash replied. "But I don't think a chicken themed cart would've helped her win 'Most Creative', it probably would've made her the laughing stock of the race track. But maybe we could've worked out a compromise of some sort, those wings actually suited the first cart pretty well."

"I've been meaning to ask Scootaloo about the whole chicken thing myself," Dizzy Twister commented to Rainbow Dash, all the while putting a hoof to her muzzle. "I find it odd that she used to hate being called 'chicken', or 'dodo', or any other nickname based on a flightless bird, yet she wanted to go ahead and build a chicken themed race cart. Her falcon themed cart looked much better."

"It helps that it matched her coat pretty well. And I'm glad she gave me a second chance after how horribly I messed up during the first derby," Rainbow Dash said to Dizzy Twister, as a small smile formed on her face. "But you saw it yourself, Cheerilee agreed to hold the derby again and this time all the grown-ups were left on the sidelines. I get the feeling that rule is going to be a permanent addition in every Applewood Derby from now on."

"Cheerilee definitely deserves praise for hosting that second derby, and arranging for a fresh supply of applewood so everypony who wanted a do-over on their cart could have one," Dizzy Twister nodded in agreement. "But what if she hadn't? How do you think Scootaloo and the other racers would've felt if you had cost them all the chance of enjoying the derby?"

Rainbow Dash immediately sighed, as a look of guilt came into her eyes. "Once again, I'd rather not have to think about that. Probably because I don't want to believe I could mess up the way I did. And yet, I did, and it nearly cost me something I held dearly."

"And what would that be?" Dizzy Twister asked, with a look that implied she already knew what Rainbow Dash was going to say next.

"My bond with Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash answered. "I was an only child growing up, so I never had any older or younger siblings to look up to or take care of. As a kid I was thrilled, that meant I got all the love and affection from my parents, but as an adult I can't help but feel like I missed out on something since so many of my other friends had siblings. It wasn't until I started hanging out with Scootaloo that I realized just how much I appreciated having somepony who looked up to me. It certainly helped that I found out you were her mother, after high school I thought we'd never see each other again."

Dizzy Twister fondly smiled. "So did I," then she began to reminisce. "We sure got into our fair share of trouble when we were growing up. I still remember the time I snuck out of my house so I could join you in toilet papering a few houses, being grounded for weeks sure took the fun out of that."

"You got off easy, I didn't think my parents would ever let me see the light of day when they caught me," Rainbow Dash recalled, chuckling quite a bit, then her happy mood faded. "But it seems you took the lesson to heart, whereas I ignored it. Maybe if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have messed up so badly today. I'll understand if you don't want me to be around Scootaloo anymore. After the way I acted today, I can't exactly call myself a good role model."

But Dizzy Twister quickly approached Rainbow Dash and put a hoof around her. "Hey, nopony's perfect. Trust me, even as a mother I've made mistakes," she said honestly. "It'd be wrong of me to expect you to be perfect, and thankfully that's not what I expect. Even though you've given me cause for concern lately, I'm not about to tell you to stop hanging out with Scootaloo. I can tell that you've learned your lesson, and I trust you won't make the same mistake again. You and Scootaloo can still be sisters."

"YES!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, shooting into the air. "Oh, you've made my day, Dizzy!"

"But I am going to start keeping a closer eye on the two of you," Dizzy Twister interrupted. "And my rules haven't changed. I still want her home by nightfall unless my husband and I won't be home, and I still want her permission before you take her on cloud rides."

"Don't worry, Dizzy, those conditions are fine with me," Rainbow Dash replied. "Thanks for giving me a second chance as well. It really means a lot to me."

Dizzy Twister smiled. "Anything for a good friend. Now, why don't you come inside? I was just about to start dinner."

"Sounds awesome, all that cart building has made me hungry!" Rainbow Dash said, eagerly licking her lips. In her mind, she was breathing a much needed sigh of relief. "I thought for sure I'd lost my big sister privileges! Next time, I'll make sure to listen to Scootaloo, no matter what she has to say."

Author's Note:

Well, I was hesitant about whether or not to write this, but I proposed the question to my followers and most of them said I should do it. So here it is, my first accusation fanfic.

My intent with this fic isn't to try and make the ponies my mouth pieces to address my grievances with the episode, but to try and give them some legitimate concerns that they feel the need to address. And for the ponies accused to show that they've learned their lesson.

If you've been following me for the past year, you should know that I have the headcanon of Dizzy Twister being Scootaloo's mother, and that it's inspired by Fimfiction user Matt11. Since Dizzy Twister appeared in the background during "The Cart Before The Ponies", I knew I would have to address that problem here.

The reason why Dizzy Twister didn't talk to Rainbow Dash between the first and second derby, is because she didn't want to air her griveances in public for what was an honest (albeit very harsh) mistake on Rainbow Dash's part. And she also knows that Scootaloo is partially at fault for not speaking up about her desire to try and win "Most Creative" (of the three CMC, she is the only one who never outright tells her big sister what she wants to win).

Hopefully, this chapter and the next two chapters won't be too unpleasant, and will do a legitimate job of addressing both sides of the issue with respect.

Comments

[ElJorro]

Yes! Finally this Scootorphan thing is being overturned.

[RNBW]

I hated that episode. What were the writers thinking on pushing the reset button for Rainbow, Rarity and AJ?

[superfun]

At first, I was kind of worried that this fic would do exactly what you were hoping it wouldn't, but after skimming through this first chapter, I can safely say that it doesn't.

I personally found the episode itself to be pretty enjoyable, and found RD, AJ, and Rarity to be pretty in character, but that doesn't mean problems wouldn't arise from their actions that the episode itself couldn't deal with due to the 22 minute limit.

[moonlit scribe]

This really is interesting. I know that the episode had an ending to it but this was how it should have ended, with the characters actually repenting. You might wanna look at the way you write it though. I noticed that once, you referred to Dash as "the newly official Wonderbolt", even though this has no actual use in this story. If you were trying to show where in the timeline this was, you already succeeded by mentioning the Applewood Derby, so, yeah, utterly useless. There were other things in this chapter, but all in all, nice concept, though the execution could use a little work.

[Blast]

In order for Rainbow Dash to work successfully with Apple Bloom, another factor had to be considered: Apple Bloom isn’t a Pegasus and thus wouldn’t be able to survive in Cloudsdale without a hot-air balloon. If, on the other hand, Starlight Glimmer’s and Rarity’s respective levitating activity is anything to go by, Sweetie Belle might have a shot at lasting up there a few hours.

[MJP]

i can tell that you've learned your lesson, and I trust you won't make the same mistake again

she won't she's rainbow dash

[StarzGecko]

This was a really great ending, I wish they did this for repentance for the episode because it would been nice to show how to forgive each other.

[Blast]

Sideswiping two other carts? Bad sport, Dash, bad sport.

ETA: Scootaloo needs to be talked to about that, too. Y'know, so that she's not inclined to cheat just because of a bad experience (also see the next chapter).