> I Dream to Fly
>  by MrDynasty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo woke up from her deep sleep; she looked over from her bed at a picture in a frame. The picture was of her standing beside her idol, Rainbow Dash. There was no other pony like Rainbow; she was the greatest pony in the world to Scootaloo. She slowly got out of her bed and walked over to a mirror next to her window. “I wish I was like Rainbow Dash… she is amazing” Scootaloo stared at the mirror for several seconds, then flapped her wings. She didn’t fly, actually, she couldn’t fly. Scootaloo just stared at her wings for a short time before her ears flopped down and she lowered her head.


She wanted to fly.


Scootaloo trotted out of her bedroom and down the hard, wooden stairs that led down to the entrance of the house. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her stomach made a low grumbling sound. She was hungry.


Scootaloo walked into a small room. It was the kitchen; it had drawers, cabinets, a table and a fridge. She walked over to one of the cabinets and opened it, only to find there was nothing in it with the exception of some empty alcohol bottles.


She took a bottle out and sniffed the lid. It smelled of cider, but not Apple Family cider. No, this cider was much stronger than anything she had smelled before. The smell burned in her sinus, causing Scootaloo to gag slightly before placing the bottle on the table beside her. She then began rummaging through a few of the other cabinets, only to find a couple of empty cereal boxes and a few potatoes that were shriveled and blackened with age.


Scootaloo walked over to the fridge and opened it. Most of the things in the dingy fridge that could still be considered food was long out of date. She saw one sandwich that looked to have some sort of flower and grass in it. Scootaloo tried to reach it, but she was not tall enough. She furiously flapped her wings while trying as hard as she could to reach the sandwich. Scootaloo gave up and walked over to the table again, she started to pull a chair over to the fridge, when she slipped on some sort of liquid on the floor.


“Ow! My wing!” Scootaloo pulled herself up from the cold linoleum floor and held her wing, she took her hoof away to examine the damage.


Her wing was slightly bent, but nothing seemed broken. Scootaloo held her wing and walked over to the cabinet on the far side of the room. Behind the door that hung awkwardly on a single hinge was a medical box with all sorts of things to treat any type of minor injury. Once she found it, she opened it up and rummaged through the box to find some bandages and tape.


Scootaloo found a hypodermic needle, some medical sponges and bandages; however, the tape was missing from the box. She never wanted to touch anything she knew she couldn’t handle, so she just pulled out a sponge and the bandages. She never touched the needle, she never wanted to. Scootaloo started to walk over to the chair she had beside the fridge and stood on it.


She picked up the sandwich with her teeth and placed it in her left hoof. In her other hoof was the medical sponge and bandages. She got down from the chair and laid both, the medical supplies and the sandwich on the floor. 


Scootaloo then wandered across the room to the cabinet which held the plates and opened the door. Inside the cabinet were a couple broken plates and some dirty ones. She carefully inspected the contents of the cabinet and in the back, behind the mess of filthy and damaged plates, was a single clean dish. Scootaloo took the solitary, clean, bone white plate and placed it on the floor next to her, she then trotted back over to the food and supplies she put on the ground and picked them back up. Carefully, Scootaloo tried not to slip again while walking back over to the plate on the floor.


She placed the sandwich on the plate, let go of the bandages and sponge and trotted back over to the chair next to the fridge. She then pulled the chair over to the drawers above the cabinets. Once she got the chair next to the cabinets, she climbed back onto the chair and opened the drawer and began rummaging through it.


She found some forks and a couple spoons, but not what she was searching for. While digging through the drawer, she had not noticed where the knife was and slid her forearm across the blade, leaving behind a bleeding three inch slit in her arm.


“Ahh! Stupid knife!” Scootaloo picked up the knife and threw it across the room in anger.


Scootaloo held onto her forearm and pressed on it to try and stop the blood flow. Her arm was cut bad, it wasn’t deep, but it was quite a large wound. She continued to rummage through the drawer until she found what she was looking for. It was a roll of tape that she used to keep things together.


Scootaloo stepped down from the chair and trotted towards the plate with the sandwich on it. She picked up the small medical sponge and pushed the chair to the sink.


Climbing onto the chair once again, she reached across the sink to turn on the tap. Cold water started to come out of the faucet, flowing down through the small hole at the bottom of the sink. She held the sponge beneath the cascading water and soaked it. She turned off the tap, climbed off the chair and sat down beside the plate with the sandwich on it.


Scootaloo took a deep breath and placed the sponge over her injured arm, she held it down hard. It stung a lot, but Scootaloo knew that this was the only way to help her wound. After she had the sponge on her arm for several seconds, she dropped the sponge, then picked up one of the bandages and wrapped it around her forearm. She used her teeth to cut the bandage once it was wrapped several times around her arm; she then picked up the tape and circled it around her forearm like she did with the bandage.


When Scootaloo was finished with her arm she looked back to her wing that was still sore and throbbing slightly. She stretched her wing out, wincing at the dull throb of pain coursing through the appendage, and carefully soaked it with the dampened sponge. She dropped the sponge to the floor again and wrapped the rest of the bandages around her waist, keeping her one injured wing tied down and stopping it from moving. She finished by wrapping her waist with tape to keep the bandages in place.


Satisfied with the end result of her first-aid treatment, she climbed back up onto the chair and looked around for a cloth to wipe up the liquid that she slipped on. She found one towel on the sink. It was slightly damp, but it could be used. Scootaloo picked it up and jumped off the chair again.


She trotted over to the liquid and sniffed it to know what she slipped on. It smelled like liquor, or maybe some other form of alcohol. Scootaloo wiped it up by throwing the cloth on the floor and using her hooves to clean it up. The cloth didn’t really soak up the alcohol, it more pushed the putrid liquid around the floor; she had hoped it would be more like a sponge. Although the dampened corner of the cloth could be used.


Scootaloo soaked the floor with what water was contained in the cloth, and then wiped it up with the parts of the cloth that weren’t wet. Afterwards, she walked over to the entrance of the kitchen to try to find the knife she threw. It was lying on the ground with small amounts of blood along the edge of the blade beginning to dry and turn a dark maroon color. Scootaloo cleaned the blade with the cloth and wrapped it around the knife. She then trotted back over towards the chair and threw the cloth and the knife into the sink.


Scootaloo looked around her, only to see that everything was clean again. The only thing that was on the floor was the plate with the sandwich on it.


She trotted back over to the sandwich and sat down beside it, she picked it up with her hooves while leaning on the cabinet that was behind her. She took a couple bites from the sandwich and looked back around the room. She never felt so lonely in her life; this is what she had to do every day. Caring for herself became second nature to Scootaloo. She was still sad and depressed whenever she was here, but at least she knew someone cared. Someone to whom she felt loyal to the bottom of her heart; someone that would never let her down. Rainbow Dash.


“Is this my life?”


> Crusader Support
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo exited her house with her scooter dragging behind her. She slid her helmet over her head, buckling the strap, and got on the scooter. Her scooter was old, she knew she would need to get a new one soon; this one could break at any second.


This is going to take forever with only one wing, Scootaloo thought to herself. Her one good wing began buzzing as she flapped it with as much force as she could muster and began the short journey towards the middle of Ponyville.


The day was beautiful, it was warm and the colours of Ponyville appeared as though they were attempting to jump away from the objects holding them. The sun was bright and it also looked like Rainbow Dash had already cleared the clouds. Scootaloo was never really an admirer of nature, but she took this moment to enjoy the fresh air in the sky. Nothing felt better than letting the wind catch your coat and mane in the great heat of the sunlight.


Scootaloo drove around swiftly on her scooter. She may have had a bad morning, but the day has only just begun. Passing around all of Ponyville’s landmarks and amazing displays made Scootaloo happy. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, and the smell of fresh air and flowers floated on the breeze.


While passing around Carousel Boutique, she saw the door open with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom walking out. Scootaloo turned around and headed over to her two friends. She hopped off of her scooter and trotted up to them. “Hey Sweetie Belle! Hey Applebloom!”


“Scootaloo! Where have you been lately? We haven’t seen you for a couple days.” Scootaloo had been gone for a while, but she didn’t want to tell Sweetie Belle the reason why.


“What in the tarnation happened to you?” Applebloom interjected, pointing out the bandages around Scootaloo’s waist and forearm.


“I slipped and fell,” Scootaloo answered dejectedly. She then turned to the unicorn in the group to answer the previous inquiry. “I’ve been at home. You know, just… doing stuff.”


Sweetie Belle seemed to think nothing of the unusually vague answer and just smiled at both of the fillies standing with her. Scootaloo started to feel uncomfortable when she noticed the grin that crept over Sweetie Belle’s face. 


“I’ve shown Applebloom already, so I’d better show you too, Scootaloo,” Sweetie said, still wearing the strange smile.


Scootaloo looked slightly confused and glanced over at Applebloom, who was focused too much on Sweetie to notice. Sweetie Belle pointed at her horn and shut her eyes.


Sweetie’s horn began to glow, causing Applebloom to take a step back. A couple of rocks lifted slowly off the ground and floated in the air around Sweetie Belle. After several seconds, the glow that had enveloped her horn began to dim and flicker, eventually disappearing completely and the rocks fell back to the cold ground.


Sweetie looked back over to Scootaloo once her eyes opened. “I finally figured out how to use my magic, and it’s getting easier every time I try it!”


Scootaloo then looked to her flank and unfolded her uninjured wing; she flapped it quick and stared at it and the useless lump under the bandage for a while.


Sweetie Belle noticed Scootaloo’s discomfort and moved closer to her, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry Scootaloo, you’ll fly eventually, you just need to give your body time to grow.”


Sweetie’s smile was comforting to an extent, but Scootaloo was still upset about her inability to fly. She heard from Pinkie Pie that even Pound Cake was able to fly; that hit Scootaloo hard when she realised that she is almost at her teen years and she still hasn’t flown yet.


Scootaloo looked to her friend cynically. “You really think so?”


“I know it! Don’t get yourself down just because you can’t fly yet, you’re special for not being able to fly. It means you still have an experience yet to discover for yourself,” Sweetie Belle replied.


Scootaloo hugged Sweetie Belle and she hugged back. There was never a dull moment when Sweetie was there, she would always try to comfort everypony to the best of her ability.


Scootaloo came out from the hug and looked into Sweetie’s eyes. Her pale green eyes spoke of honesty, care and the loving kind soul that was shining inside of her. “Thanks Sweetie Belle, you’re the best.” She looked over to Applebloom afterwards. “No offence Applebloom.”


“None taken, ah understand. Y’all two are sharing an emotional moment… an’ I’m not the best at these sorta things, anyway.” Applebloom trotted over to them and joined them in a group hug. Above all else, the crusaders were loyal to each other; nothing could ever come between them.


“Scootaloo, if you ever need to talk about something, I’ll always be here okay?” Sweetie Belle cared about Scootaloo, along with every other pony, and she always tried her best to make Ponyville a better place.


“Thanks, Sweetie. You girls mean the world to me.” She paused for a moment. “I was actually going somewhere when I stopped here. I was on my way to see if I could find Rainbow or Twilight, I was thinking they could maybe help me with my… problem.” Scootaloo flapped her one operational wing twice, just in case her two friends had not recognised what she was referring to.


“No problem Scoots, ya go and head on off, don’ let us hold ya back” Applebloom tapped Scootaloo’s shoulder after talking.


Scootaloo got back onto her scooter and waved to her two friends, they both smiled and returned the gesture.


Scootaloo roamed around Ponyville on her scooter before coming towards the big tree that housed the library within. It was also where Twilight and Spike lived ever since they moved from Canterlot. Scootaloo got off her scooter and knocked on the door three times, she heard the clapping of feet coming closer to the door.


She stood there for several seconds before the door opened, only to see Spike standing there, motioning for her to come in. “Come on in Scootaloo, can I help you find something?”


Scootaloo stepped in and looked around the library; it was big and smelled faintly of wood. “Actually you can help me find something. I’m looking for Twilight… Where have you been Spike? I haven’t seen you in a while.”


Spike closed the door and walked over to a small desk with some papers on it. “I’ve been working in Canterlot for Princess Celestia lately; I just got back yesterday. Of course, as soon as I got here, Twilight wanted help moving everything around in the basement under the library. Let me tell you, that place was a wreck before we put in the new bed and cabinet. Anyways, I think Twilight’s upstairs, I’ll go get her.”


Spike started up the stairs at a leisurely pace.


Scootaloo never thought that Spike would get an important role with Celestia herself, but then remembered that Twilight was the Princess’s personal protégé and would obviously have been connected with her in the first place.


Scootaloo read over the papers that were lying out on the desk, not noticing Twilight trotting down the stairs and moving over to the little filly. “One week of work… Celestia herself… Events” She nodded her head after reading the small print on the paper that looked to be a report, probably for Twilight. 


“Hey there Scootaloo, what can I do you for?” Scootaloo turned around quickly, startled by the seemingly sudden presence of Twilight standing behind her. “Oh, I’m so sorry Scootaloo; I didn’t mean to frighten you.”


“No problem Twilight, it woke me up at least.” Scootaloo’s voice quickly lost its enthusiasm as she spoke the last few words. “I uh... well I was kinda wondering if you could maybe help me with something?”


Twilight floated the papers that were on the table back over to the desk that Spike picked them up from. “Sure, anything for you. What do you need help with?” 


Scootaloo turned to her side, opened her unbound wing and fluttered it a couple times, attempting to give off a signal. Twilight recognised what Scootaloo meant; she knew the filly couldn’t fly.


Twilight also recognised the bandage on Scootaloo’s wing. “What happened to your wing?”


“I slipped and fell on it. So... do you think you can help me with learning to fly?”


“I can try researching into this if you want me to. I don’t have any personal experience with flight, but I’m sure we can find some sort of information here on what may be causing your problems,” Twilight said as she began to float books from the library shelves, one of them was Flight Training and another one of them was Reversed Flight Patterns. 


“You might want to read this in the mean time, Scootaloo. It could help you with learning how to fly.” Twilight floated the book titled Flight Training over to Scootaloo, who grasped it in her mouth. Twilight walked over to her desk and continued to search through the books in order to find one that would be suited to the poor filly’s situation. 


“Thanks Twilight, I’m going to go find Rainbow Dash. I’ll remember to read this when I can.” Scootaloo walked over to the heavy wooden door at entrance of the library and Spike followed slowly behind.


Twilight quickly looked up from her books. “Scootaloo, remember the night a couple weeks ago when you were talking to Pinkie Pie? What was she talking to you about?”


Scootaloo placed a hoof on her chin trying to remember what night that was. “I’m pretty sure she was talking to me about Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake, when I asked her about a rumour I heard. It was about them flying or something.”


Twilight nodded and continued to delve deep into her books. Spike walked up to the door and opened it to let Scootaloo out.


“Bye Twilight, thanks again! Bye Spike,” Scootaloo said before walking through the doorway.

“Bye Scootaloo, good luck finding Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, looking up from the books just long enough to respond.


Spike smiled to her as she walked out the door and over to her scooter. He shut the door not long after he started waving to her.


“Now to find Rainbow Dash.”

> Rainbow on a Rainy Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Finding Rainbow Dash is hopeless! She’s probably in the clouds somewhere.”


Scootaloo stared at the clouds for a couple of seconds before looking back at her bandaged wing. She prodded the wing that she had fallen on earlier that morning; it seemed okay and possibly sturdy enough to come out of the bandages.


Scootaloo removed the bandage from her wing and stretched the feathered appendage as far to her side as possible. Both wings were sturdy and seemed to be in good condition. Scootaloo looked into the sky and scanned the area to see if she could find the cloud that was the closest to the ground.


She found one that was only about ten metres above the ground, unusually low for a cloud, but she couldn’t complain.


“I’ll never reach it from here… It’s still too high for my wings.”


Scootaloo looked around and found a tree that she could easily climb; it was the closest one to the cloud. She walked over to the tree and attempted to climb it. Climbing a tree was difficult for Scootaloo because of the bandage she had around her hoof; it hurt to try and grab onto things. Getting a good grip onto the tree, she hauled herself up, hanging onto the branches and wobbling constantly from the tree’s instability.


Five minutes after beginning her ascent into the tree, Scootaloo reached the top and was peeking out from the leaves at the top over to the cloud. She stretched out her wings and prepared to leap from the tree. Her concentration was completely focused on the cloud.


Getting ready to pounce, she flapped her wings frantically. “I can do this… I can do this! What would Rainbow Dash say?”


Scootaloo spent a minute trying to get a good balance on top of the tree; it was hard as the tree was really old, probably older than Ponyville in general. She was beginning to have second thoughts about trying this. Instead, she blocked those thoughts out and got back into position. 


“Ready…. Three, two, one… NOW!”


With a sudden tightening of her muscles, Scootaloo leapt from the tree and started to slowly ascend towards the cloud. A few seconds after leaving the relative safety of the tree, the muscles in her wings started to burn with the exertion.


“C’mon!”


Scootaloo reached out her hooves as far as she could, desperately flailing her forelegs in an attempt to grab the cloud. Her wings ached and stopped working, they tucked themselves back in and Scootaloo came crashing into the ground. 


She landed on her head and couldn’t move as she began to lose control of her body. She attempted to lift her hoof with limited success. She couldn’t concentrate and her body gave up on her, darkness started creeping over her eyesight, when suddenly a cyan pony’s head came out from above the cloud she was trying to reach.


Then… darkness.




Scootaloo felt her body being touched and moved around; it felt strange, like it wasn’t actually her body being touched. She could hear the faint sound of her name being called, as if somepony was yelling to her from a far distance. She then tried to open her eyes. Slowly, she regained her vision and saw that she was lying on the grass that she landed on, only to realise Rainbow Dash was there looking at her with a very worried expression.


“Scootaloo! Can you hear me?”


She tried to speak; instead, she breathed heavily producing only a sickening guttural sound. In order to respond to Rainbow Dash, she tried to nod her head. 


“Okay good. Now, can you talk? Can you tell me what happened?” Rainbow began to slowly and very carefully move Scootaloo’s head, inspecting it thoroughly.


Scootaloo lifted her hoof and reached for Rainbow Dash, trying to grab her.


“Listen Squirt, we need to see how badly you’re hurt. Just hang on and stay awake while I check the back of your head, okay?” 


Scootaloo replied with a nod and lowered her hoof. 


Rainbow Dash lifted Scootaloo into a sitting position; the grass that had been under her head was stained a glistening crimson. Rainbow was barely able to stifle the gasp as the back of Scootaloo’s head came into view. Oh no, this is bad... this is really, really bad, she thought to herself while forcing a small smile to try not to panic the bleeding, broken filly sitting on the ground.


“I-It... It really doesn’t look that bad,” Rainbow quickly stuttered. She was trying to convince herself of this more than Scootaloo, while doing the best she could to hold back the tears that had begun to cloud her vision.


“Say something if you can feel this.” Rainbow lightly touched the back of Scootaloo’s head where the blood was matting down her mane.


Scootaloo cringed and let out a small squeak.


Rainbow walked around to Scootaloo’s front and held onto her head, looking into her eyes. Eyes that normally sparkled with life were now glazed and dull, seemingly staring into the far distance at nothing.


“Listen to me Squirt, I’m going to tuck my head under your arm and I need you to wrap it around my neck, then I’m going to try and haul you onto my back. Can you do that for me?”


Scootaloo lifted her arm and nodded. Still disorientated, she wobbled slightly as Rainbow let the filly go and slid her head under Scootaloo’s arm.


“Hold on tight, but don’t choke me okay?”


Scootaloo wrapped her arm around Rainbow’s neck and squeezed as hard as she could.


Rainbow wrapped her arm around Scootaloo and pulled her up onto her back. “Good, now wrap both your arms around my neck and hold on tight.”


Scootaloo did as she was asked.


“Squirt, I need you to stay awake for me, try as hard as you can to keep yourself awake okay?”


Scootaloo hugged Rainbow’s neck tighter in response.


Rainbow started to jog towards Ponyville, then turning into a gallop, then a run. In no time, Rainbow was galloping through Ponyville with Scootaloo on her back, running as fast as she could towards the nearest place she knew she could get help. Everypony who was outside stopped what they were doing and watched as Rainbow went running past, nearly in a panic.


Only a couple seconds later, Rainbow ended up at Twilight’s front door. “Twilight, open the door now! Scootaloo needs help and the hospital is too far away!”


A large amount of loud taps were heard from inside the library, almost as if somepony was galloping. The door flew open with a purple magical aura around it, Rainbow ran in with Scootaloo slowly drifting away on her back.


“Twilight, I need you to get a pillow or something, fast!”


Twilight was standing to the side of the entrance door when she started to trot over to a wooden cabinet. She pulled out a pillow and placed it in front of Rainbow Dash.


“Okay, Squirt…” She noticed Scootaloo was paying no attention, her half-lidded violet eyes staring at nothing in particular. She looked as if she could let go any second now. “Scootaloo! Listen to me!” Rainbow yelled, causing the filly to jump slightly. “I’m going to lower you down onto this pillow and I need you to lay your head on it. Can you do this?”


Scootaloo nodded.


Rainbow lowered her front legs, extending her hind legs, Scootaloo was trying to come down onto the pillow when she accidentally slipped. She grabbed Rainbow’s mane and pulled it as she fell. Rainbow cringed and gritted her teeth. Rainbow then lowered her head further, allowing Scootaloo to let go while being flat on the ground. She held Scootaloo’s head up and moved the pillow under her, then letting go. There were some strands of Rainbow’s mane on the floor.


Twilight trotted up to Rainbow and quickly inspected limp orange filly that had just been placed on the floor. “Rainbow what happe-”


“There isn’t any time Twilight! Get some sort of medical stuff, I don’t know, anything! Is Spike here? If he is, I’m going to send a letter to the paramedics; if not, I’m going to gallop to the hospital.”


Twilight nodded and yelled towards the bedroom upstairs, “Spike! Get down here, we need your help!” Then she galloped down into the basement to find the first-aid supplies.


Rainbow looked back down at Scootaloo. “Listen to me Squirt, you’ll be fine, don’t go unconscious, we need you awake okay? Scootaloo? Scootaloo! Wake up!”


Scootaloo’s head was shaken slightly by Rainbow’s hooves. She was beginning to lose consciousness.


“Scootaloo!!” Rainbow yelled, as the tears she had tried so hard to keep at bay began flowing freely down her face, making dark blue trails through her bright cyan coat.


Everything started to fall away again. Sounds began to muffle and her peripheral vision disappeared, giving everything the appearance of looking through a telescope. Scootaloo could feel her muscles giving up and her brain failing to cooperate with her. As the searing pain at the back of her head began to quickly subside, everything disappeared and the darkness took hold once again.

> Multicoloured Care
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo opened her eyes and looked across the bed that she was on. The bed was placed in an unfamiliar room; the room was very institutional and functional in design. She looked to the side to see a metal stand holding two bags of clear liquid that were connected to her arm by a small tube. Is this the hospital? At the foot of the bed she saw two mares sitting on chairs, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.


“She’s waking up! Maybe you should talk to her first Rainbow.”


Rainbow got up from the chair and moved slowly towards Scootaloo. She placed her hoof on Scootaloo’s leg that was under the covers of the white bed sheets.


“Hey, how you doin’ Squirt? Long story short, you fell and landed on your head. But now you’re in the hospital, safe with us.”


Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head and cringed from the stinging pain that she felt. Rainbow quickly grabbed Scootaloo’s arm and placed it back down onto the bed.


“Don’t touch your head, it needs to heal. You touching it won’t make it better, may even make it worse,” she said.


Scootaloo was trying to talk, but the noises that came out of her mouth were far from being words. She could hardly think.


“Squirt, you okay? Do I need to get a doctor?” Rainbow said with her eyes full of care for the filly.


Scootaloo placed her hooves on her face and nodded slightly. Rainbow trotted over to the door to the hallway and stuck her head and arm out.


Twilight walked over to Scootaloo with a smile on her face. “You’re very lucky to have a friend like Rainbow, she did everything she could to help you. The doctors seem pretty confident that you will make a full recovery.”


Twilight placed a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder, it made her feel comfortable and yet she was still confused. She had many questions that had not been answered, but she could not ask them.


Rainbow trotted over and went to the other side of the bed, along side of her was a unicorn stallion with a light blue coat, a brown mane and tail and a white doctor jacket on.


“So it looks like you have finally woken my dear. You gave us all quite a scare when you arrived,” said the doctor.


He picked up the small clipboard that was at the end of the bed, on it were papers describing Scootaloo’s current condition and all of the information they had on her. “Let’s take a look here, now. You took quite the blow to the head, kiddo. I was the one who did the operation to patch you up. It was difficult, but I wouldn’t let a little filly like you down.”


The doctor’s care was comforting and made Scootaloo smile. She knew that this doctor tried his hardest to help her.


“So, Scootaloo is it?” the doctor continued. “You seem to have a serious concussion and a minor cerebral contusion that was caused by the hit to your head. It’s basically a bruise on your brain; this is what’s causing you some trouble with talking. Your brain has already begun the process of repairing the damage.”


Rainbow was holding Scootaloo’s hoof, trying to comfort her. Rainbow was more worried than she’d ever been before.


“Would you like me to go over what happened?” the doctor asked Scootaloo, trying to be calm and comforting.


Scootaloo thought for a moment; she couldn’t recall anything about her accident. In fact, the last thing she remembered was leaving her house with her scooter. She nodded her head and stared over to the doctor as he gathered his thoughts and read over the clipboard. It only took him a couple of seconds to begin talking again.


“From what I’ve heard, you fell nearly ten metres and landed head first onto the ground. Judging by the extent of the injury I believe that you probably landed on a rock or some other hard ground material. Afterwards, Miss Dash found you and tried to give you as much support as she could before contacting the paramedics.”


The doctor paused and placed a hoof on his chin before continuing. “You were then rushed to the hospital and were given immediate treatment to address your blood loss and fractured skull.”


After the doctor said that, Scootaloo reached for the back of her head before being stopped by Rainbow, who pulled her hoof down again.


“You were then taken to an operating room where my team carried out the operation and mended you back together. You were in a terrible state by the time you got here.”


The doctor gulped and looked over to the two mares that were beside Scootaloo. “I’m not going to lie to you; there was a very real chance that you weren’t going to make it. I never gave up though; I wasn’t going to let such a small filly with so much potential fade in front of me. We got your head sewn up and you were put into an induced coma so you wouldn’t have to deal with the pain and to give your brain a chance to begin repairing itself. That was about three days ago.”


Scootaloo looked over to Rainbow’s arm and noticed a patch on it. Rainbow noticed Scootaloo looking down at her arm and smiled at the small pegasus.


The doctor began talking again. “You needed blood and quickly. We were looking for some, but we didn’t have enough on-hoof to fully fill your body. That’s where Miss Dash came in; she offered to donate some of her blood for you.”


Rainbow smiled at Scootaloo and pointed to the patch on her arm. Scootaloo stared at the patch before looking back up to Rainbow, after that, she weakly leaned towards Rainbow and hugged her tightly. Rainbow hugged her back and nuzzled her softly.


“I’d do anything for you Squirt. I’d even risk my own life for you. When I heard that you needed blood, with no doubt in my mind, I offered to give you some of mine.”


Scootaloo’s eyes welled with tears as she hugged Rainbow Dash. The doctor and Twilight watched as the two shared a moment in their life that they would never forget.


The doctor looked back down to the clipboard and examined it one last time before placing it back on the end of the bed. “You will make a full recovery, you just need bed rest and also to be kept healthy and active.”


Scootaloo looked up to Rainbow and smiled as hard as she could. Rainbow just hugged her harder, trying not to squeeze her too tight.


“I tried my best squirt; I did as much as I could for you. I did everything to try and help you; I was so scared that it wouldn’t be enough.” She barely choked out the last bit as tears began rolling down her face.


The doctor smiled at Rainbow and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Scootaloo is lucky to have a… sister?”


Rainbow shook her head and whispered, “Friend.”


The doctor raised an eyebrow at her and switched between the two, looking at them. “You two seem awfully close to being related you know? But anyway, Scootaloo, you are very lucky to have her as a friend. I’d say that you could never get someone as caring as her.”


Rainbow looked over to the doctor and smiled. “Thanks, I’d do anything for this little filly.”


The doctor nodded and began to trot out of the room.  “I’ll be back a little later to check on you, Scootaloo.”


Rainbow gazed over to Twilight, who was standing at the other side of the bed. “You seem awfully quiet Twilight, what’s up?” 


“Nothing, I’m just happy to see Scoots well and okay,” she said, before turning to Scootaloo. “You were in a pretty bad shape when Rainbow barged into the library, but I can assure you, she was doing everything she could to help you. She was by you the entire time, in fact, she has been since the accident.”


Scootaloo smiled, laid her head back and slipped deeper into the covers of the hospital bed.


She still couldn’t speak, and her head was beginning to get sore. She reached for her head again and she was again stopped by Rainbow Dash. “Squirt, you can’t touch your head, it will only make it worse, and it’s already in a pretty bad shape.”


Scootaloo smiled and moved back down into a laying position.


Scootaloo looked back over to Rainbow and eyed her mane; it was torn slightly and looked like some of it was pulled out. She remembered she couldn’t talk, so she just pointed towards Rainbow’s mane, hoping that Rainbow would get what she was pointing to.


“Oh, this? Don’t worry about it squirt, when I was laying you down, you slipped and grabbed onto my mane. My mane tore and some of it came out, but I didn’t care, having you safe was the most important thing to me.” Rainbow nuzzled Scootaloo and hugged her.


She then trotted over to the chair she was on when Scootaloo first woke up, dragged it over to the side of the bed and sat on it when it was right next to Scootaloo. “I’ll be here for your entire recovery, well, I’ll try. They probably won’t let me stay overnight; after all, this is a hospital.”


Twilight did the same as Rainbow and moved a chair over to the bed using a telekenesis spell then sat on it when it was next to Scootaloo.


“Also Squirt, the rest of us are coming either today, or tomorrow. I think Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and your friends are coming over.”


Twilight didn’t talk at all, she seemed quite content to just stare at Scootaloo and occasionally, over at Rainbow Dash. Nothing was happening, so Scootaloo tried to talk. She was only letting out small groans and puffs before she became frustrated and gave up. She looked over to the table at the other side of the room; on it was a pencil along with some paper.


Scootaloo pointed towards the items on the table. Twilight noticed what she was pointing at and floated both items over to Scootaloo, who grasped the pencil in her mouth and the paper in-between her hooves. She started writing on it, it seemed much more difficult than usual and took a lot longer than normal. Eventually she lifted the note up to Twilight. On the paper were the words ‘Thank you.’


“Don’t mention it Scoots, in fact, I brought it from the library for you. The doctors told us that it may be a while before you regained your speech.”


Scootaloo smiled and looked over to Rainbow. Only now, she noticed that Rainbow had bags under her eyes and she looked exhausted. Scootaloo started to write onto the paper again.


She wrote ‘Have you slept?’ onto the paper and handed it over to Rainbow Dash.


“Nope!” Rainbow exclaimed with her normal prideful exuberance showing. She quickly deflated and quietly continued, “I’ve been awake for three days straight, by your side; I’ve been here since they brought you in. The only reason they let me stay overnight those days was to give the doctors information about you. You know, let them know if you’re allergic to anything, stuff like that.”


Scootaloo was handed the paper back and started to write onto it again.


She then handed the paper back to Rainbow, this time it said ‘You go sleep, I’m fine.’


Rainbow thought for a moment before handing it back to Scootaloo. “I’ll wait and see if I can sleep here overnight. I’ll stay awake until you doze off; I don’t want to leave you here alone.”


Scootaloo looked over to the clock on the wall. The time was late, she couldn’t fully make it out, but it looked as if it was close to 9PM. She prodded Rainbow and pointed to the clock on the wall. 


“The visiting hours last until 8:30 Squirt, the time’s 8:12. I’m going to talk to the doctor to see if I can stay here with you overnight, I want to be here for you.”


Rainbow placed a hoof on her chin and rubbed it slightly. “I think I should go ask now before they kick me out. I’ll be right back Squirt; you can talk to Twilight while I go talk to a doctor or receptionist.” Rainbow got up from the chair she was sitting on and trotted out the door.


Twilight was looking over at Scootaloo with a smile on her face. “So, how are you Scoots? You took a pretty hard fall… or so I’ve heard.”


Scootaloo reached over the bed to the paper and pencil and started writing on it again. Not long after, she handed the paper over to Twilight. On the paper said ‘I’m okay, still dizzy.’


Twilight handed the paper back to Scootaloo. “Dizzy? Hmm, that’s a symptom of the concussion, but I’m sure whatever they gave you to make you sleep isn’t helping the dizziness go away any faster. It will pass soon enough, no need to worry Scoots.” 


Scootaloo smiled and placed the paper on the table beside the bed. She lifted her hoof up to her head, only to find that she had no mane.


Twilight did not attempt to pull Scootaloo’s hoof down as Rainbow Dash had and hesitated somewhat to tell her what had happened to her mane. “Yeah, they had to shave you in order for your skull to be repaired. Don’t worry about it; your mane will grow back in no time.”


Scootaloo was still feeling the prickly stubble on her forehead where her purple mane once resided until she stopped and put on an awkward smile for Twilight.


Rainbow Dash trotted in with a smile. “Good news Squirt! I talked to the doctor and he said that he could let me stay for you. He says that you need as much support as you can get.”


Rainbow trotted over to her chair and sat back on it. She was looking at Scootaloo’s smile and then looked over at Twilight.


“She just found out her mane is gone,” Twilight said.


Rainbow patted Scootaloo’s forehead and smiled at her. It was beginning to get dark outside, when suddenly, a bell rang and a nurse trotted trough the door.


“Visiting time is over, come back tomorrow.”


Twilight and Rainbow got off their chairs and trotted towards the door. Rainbow let Twilight pass, they both waved to each other and Rainbow started to walk back over to her chair, when she was stopped by the nurse.


“Visiting time is over,” said the nurse, reinforcing her previous statement.


Rainbow turned around to face the nurse. “I’m aloud to stay here tonight; I’ve asked one of the doctors and explained to him why I need to stay. This filly needs me by her, she needs as much support as she can get.”


The nurse shook her head and pointed towards the door.


Rainbow pulled her outside the door rather forcefully and whispered to her, “I’m her idol okay? Her idol being here for her is the most important thing she needs right now. If I’m here, I can help her...” Rainbow began to plead to the nurse, “Please? Look, I’ll pay you if that’s what you want.”


The nurse rolled her eyes and sighed. “Okay, you can stay, just don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to have my flank on the line for doing this.”


Rainbow smiled and gave her an awkward hug, she then trotted quietly back into the room. Scootaloo was lying under the covers, looking over at Rainbow as she sat back down on her chair next to the bed.


“The nurse said I can stay, not sure for how long, but I’m guessing over night. You should try and get some rest; I’ll sleep once you’re asleep.” She patted Scootaloo’s forehead and started to stare out through the window. Not long after, Scootaloo began to grow tired and shut her eyes.


She fell asleep shortly after shutting her eyes, knowing that Rainbow Dash would be there made her comfortable. 


Rainbow noticed that Scootaloo was sleeping and decided to try and drift off herself. After a couple minutes of trying to sleep, she opened her eyes and looked back at the hospital bed. She saw Scootaloo, sound asleep. Rainbow got off her chair and leaned over to the bed, she then kissed Scootaloo’s forehead and stood there for a moment.


“Good night. Love you kid” 

> In Search of Answers  
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo woke up from her slumber. She closed and opened her eyes a couple of times before sitting up on the bed she was in, and looked around. Around her was nothing, silence, emptiness. She looked over to the clock on the wall; it said 6:40AM. She looked around again, only to see Rainbow Dash in a deep sleep in the chair she was in yesterday. Scootaloo decided it would be best not to disturb her; after being awake for three days she needed sleep more than Scootaloo did.


Scootaloo wiggled her legs slightly, making the bed rustle and overlap. She leaned up and placed her front hooves on the cover, and then pulled her hind legs out from under the covers. She was standing on all four hooves on the bed. She felt the back of her mane, some of it had grown back, but she was still effectively bald. My hair grew a lot over one night, I’ll have my mane back in no time, she thought. The only thing that kept her from being embarrassed about the lack of hair was the fact that bandages were covering most of her head.


Scootaloo was unstable on her hooves, but she was trying to trot over to Rainbow Dash, who was still sleeping. Not long after, she leapt over to the chair Rainbow was on, landing on her as softly as she could. Scootaloo wrapped her hooves around Rainbow’s stomach, gripping it happily. Rainbow Dash was still in her deep sleep that Scootaloo hoped she wouldn’t wake up from. Instead, Scootaloo fell asleep again, hugging Rainbow Dash.




There were trotting sounds coming from outside the room when Scootaloo woke up for the second time that morning. She opened her eyes, only to find that she was back in her bed, except Rainbow Dash was sleeping with her outside the covers.


A doctor came through the door with a clipboard. He trotted over to the side of the bed and prodded Rainbow Dash; she moved slightly and turned around to glare at the pony that interrupted her sleep.


“Good morning. Sorry, but I have to wake you up Miss Dash. I need access to Scootaloo,” the doctor said, smiling warmly.”


Rainbow groggily rolled off the bed and trotted back over to the chair she was sleeping in before.


“This will only take a minute. I just need to do a quick check up on her,” said the doctor as Rainbow Dash fell back to sleep.


He placed a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder and shook her gently; Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes and sat up to face the doctor.


“Sorry to be bothersome, but I need to see how well you are doing. Shall we begin?”


Scootaloo nodded her head slightly and scanned the room, looking for Rainbow Dash.


“Okay, Scootaloo. Can you try to talk for me?”


Scootaloo’s focus snapped back to doctor and she nodded.


She coughed and cleared her throat, readying herself for the attempt. She was trying her best to say something to the doctor. “I… I… ca…” Scootaloo tried to speak, forcing the sounds out. She then took a moment to get her breath back, as she was using all of it to try and talk. She looked back up to the doctor, who smiled kindly and patted her head.


“That’s alright; it sounds like your speech is starting to come back. You don’t need to pass these next two tests, because you already did before I came in.”


Scootaloo’s ears perked up as she raised an eye brow.


“Standing and trotting,” the doctor said without hesitation.


She blushed slightly and her ears flopped down. The doctor knew she had leapt over to Rainbow Dash that morning.


The doctor was checking over the papers on the clipboard, he smiled and placed the clipboard on the bed. “Good news Scootaloo, I think we’re going to try to get you out of here today, you just need someone to care for you.” 


Scootaloo smiled and pointed to somewhere behind the doctor. He looked around to see Rainbow Dash staring at the ceiling with lidded eyes.


“We would have to send you back to your parents, I’m afraid. Miss Dash can’t care for you because you have parents for that and I’m sure they wouldn’t like their filly missing for too long.”


Scootaloo’s smile quickly turned into a frown and her ears flopped down flat against her bald head.


“What’s the matter? Don’t you want to be with your parents?”


Scootaloo looked away; she took her arm up and looked at the bandage that was on it. Scootaloo thought it strange that it was obviously not the bandage that she had put on her foreleg before her accident.


“The cut?” The doctor’s eyes widened as though he had come to a sudden, terrifying revelation. “D… Did your parents do that to you?” 


Scootaloo’s ears came back up and she shook her head swiftly. The doctor had seen this before, a filly that had her parents do something to the poor filly and black mailed her to not tell.


“Scootaloo, are you sure? No one can hurt you here; no one besides me can hear you. Tell me the truth please. Did your parents do anything to you?”


Scootaloo shook her head again and looked around the room, she pointed at the paper and pencil that was on the table right next to her. The doctor enveloped the items in a light blue aura and floated them over to her.


Scootaloo started to quickly scrawl on the paper. Not long after, she handed the paper over to the doctor, it said: ‘My parents never did anything to me. I did this myself by accident when trying to get something to eat.’ The doctor looked back to the filly; he knew that a smart filly like her wouldn’t lie to him.


He handed back the paper and looked over to Rainbow Dash. He poked her gently in the side with his hoof, startling her enough that she leapt off the chair.


The doctor took a quick step back. “Oh, sorry, Miss Dash. I just needed to ask you a couple of questions, okay?”


Rainbow Dash nodded and sat back on the chair. 


“Do you know anything about Scootaloo’s parents? She is reluctant to tell me and I’m worried that they may have harmed her.” 


Rainbow shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t know anything either. She never tells anypony anything about her parents.”


Rainbow got up from the chair and trotted over to Scootaloo’s bed.


“Squirt, please tell us about your parents. I know it’s hard, but for your own safety, we really need to know. Please? For me?” Rainbow said, trying to be as calming as she could.


Scootaloo didn’t respond and looked over to Rainbow Dash; she showed care, honesty and loyalty. Scootaloo knew she cared, but this was something that could not be talked about, not yet. Rainbow placed a hoof on Scootaloo’s head and patted her.


“May I please take her home?” Rainbow asked. She wanted to be with Scootaloo as much as she could.


The doctor looked down at his papers and floated a pencil over to Rainbow Dash, who grasped it in her mouth. Two pieces of paper were now floating in front of her as well.


“I need you to sign these, Miss Dash.”


Rainbow happily signed the forms and the doctor placed them back on his clipboard.


“And, Miss Dash. You must contact me if anything happens. I’ll give you my address just in case; I don’t want this filly to get any worse than she already is.” The doctor wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to Rainbow Dash, it had his address and his mail box number on it.


Rainbow nodded.


“I want you to take this form, too. I need Scootaloo’s mother or father to sign it,” the doctor told her.


Rainbow took the form from him and tucked it in her saddlebag, along with the doctor’s information.


“What if her parents can’t? May I take care of her?” she asked.


The doctor placed a hoof on his chin and thought for a moment before answering back, he would have to take as much care as he could with bending the hospitals rules.


“You may, but I want you to contact me first, there will be some... technicalities to deal with.” He looked over to Scootaloo, who was listening intently to the conversation. He put a hoof on her shoulder and smiled. “I’d do anything for a little filly like you, even if it meant losing my job.”


Scootaloo then realised that it was the same doctor from yesterday, the one who told her what happened. Scootaloo came out from under the covers and hugged the doctor and the doctor hugged her back.


“Miss Dash, please do take care of this filly as best you can, even if it means monitoring her and her parents regularly.”


Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled at the doctor, who let go of Scootaloo and began to surround her in a glowing light blue aura.


“Can you carry her? Please be careful,” the doctor said, with a little worry in his voice.


Rainbow nodded and pointed to her back as she opened her wings for Scootaloo to be set down easily. The doctor lifted Scootaloo with his magic and set her onto Rainbow Dash and once the filly had a grip around Rainbow’s neck the glowing aura dissipated.


“I’ll take good care of her. I’ll contact you soon, I’m going to need as much help as I can get.”


Scootaloo pointed to the paper and pencil on the bed, the doctor levitated it over to her.


Once she finished writing, she held it in front of Rainbow Dash for her to read. ‘I thought you and Twilight said that the others were coming?’


Rainbow hesitated before answering Scootaloo. She moved the paper away from her face and pointed towards a calendar. On the calendar was the current date, it said that today was the 26th.


Scootaloo shrugged and kept a grasp around Rainbow’s neck.


“Squirt, your friends did come to visit. You’ve been unconscious since you went to sleep. That was three days ago and I’ve been with you the whole time,” Rainbow told her.


Scootaloo perked up and raised an eyebrow. She decided she would wait to ask about it, as she was already confused and puzzled about what was going on.


“So, doc, do we go now?” Rainbow asked, turning to the doctor.


The doctor nodded and smiled over to Scootaloo, only to see her smile back at him. Rainbow started to carefully walk out of the room slowly, trying to keep Scootaloo steadily on her back. On the way out of the hospital, Rainbow began to talk to Scootaloo to explain what had happened the last three days.


“So, I bet you’re wondering how a filly with severe head trauma is allowed out of a hospital being carried by a pegasus?” inquired Rainbow Dash.


Scootaloo nodded slightly as Rainbow continued to walk down the corridor.


“Well… they did another operation on your head and fixed you up a lot more, you became stable enough to leave the hopital after that. You’re a lot more healed up than you think.”


Rainbow slowly approached the precipice of a flight of stairs that headed down to the reception floor. “Squirt, hold on tight, I don’t want to be responsible for dropping the filly that I love the most.”


She smiled at Scootaloo. The small pegasus returned the gesture by digging her face into Rainbow Dash’s back and tightening her grip around the mare’s neck.


Rainbow started to slowly step down the stairs, being as careful as she could. Not long after, they made it to the reception floor. They walked over to the receptionist near the entrance and rang the bell to get her attention. She spun around in her seat and smiled.


“Can I help you?” the receptionist said


“Yes, you can. Can you sign out Scootaloo? She’s heading home today.” Rainbow smiled nervously, knowing that the receptionist wouldn’t believe that she was getting to take home a brain damaged filly.


The receptionist held a hoof up and pressed a button in the desk that caused a microphone to turn on. “Could someone come down to reception and confirm something for me?”


She pressed the button again and started to talk to Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry, I just can’t let you go out of here with that filly, she may be stable, but she needs care.”


Rainbow’s smile grew a bit larger as she nodded. Although it was expected, she was visibly shaken by this delay.


“I understand, it does seem a bit hard to believe doesn’t it?” said Rainbow with an uneasy chuckle.


The receptionist raised an eyebrow and returned to examining some paperwork she had on her desk. A doctor came up to the receptionist and stared at the two pegasi in front of the desk. The nurse whispered something into his ear and he nodded slightly.


“If I am correct, you are Rainbow Dash?” asked the doctor.


Rainbow nodded with the same nervous smile. The doctor placed a hoof on his chin and nodded slightly.


“Yes, she has been permitted to take this filly home, but with one condition. She must monitor this filly as much as possible and if I’m not mistaken, you have agreed to do so?” he asked.


Rainbow nodded again, the nervous energy now making way for overwhelming relief.


The receptionist took a pen and crossed Scootaloo’s name out on the list, along with writing down some notes down on a paper. “Alright, Miss Dash, you are free to go with Scootaloo. Just be very careful with her, I think you know we can trust you with her, but we don’t want to be proven wrong.”


Rainbow nodded and smiled at Scootaloo. “Don’t worry… Nurse Redheart?”


Redheart nodded and let out a dejected sigh.


“You’re a receptionist now? I thought you were a nurse.”


Miss Redheart weakly smiled and pointed over to a sign on the wall that said, ‘Temporary reception exchange, all available nurses fill in when they can.’ Rainbow raised an eyebrow and looked at Miss Redheart.


“I’m only here for a short time… I’m still a nurse. It’s just that the hospital is going through some problems lately that require some of us to fill in for our original receptionist.”

Rainbow nodded and placed a hoof on her chin, contemplating what sort of problem would require such a thing.


“Don’t worry; it’s nothing serious, just some small management issues. You should get that filly home; she’s going to need plenty of rest.”


Rainbow nodded a final time before trotting out the entrance door.


Scootaloo was trying to talk again, slowly regaining some syllables and sounds needed to string together words. After five minutes of walking, Scootaloo took a deep breath and tried as hard as she could to say something to Rainbow Dash.


“I… I… lo…ve... you… Dashie.”

> Guide me Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash blushed and looked back to Scootaloo.


“I love you too, Squirt,” she said.


Rainbow craned her neck to kiss Scootaloo’s nose. Scootaloo wrapped her arms around Rainbow and hugged her tightly, not letting go. She looked away and gave out some small coughs before turning back to Rainbow.


“It sounds like your voice is coming back squirt, it’s been too long since I heard that sweet voice of yours,” Rainbow Dash said with a slight smirk.


Scootaloo blushed and continued to hug Rainbow Dash. Rainbow started walking again, slowly towards Scootaloo’s house. During the trek across the small village she admired everything that Ponyville had to offer. Rainbow had never had the time to admire Ponyville, but now she had the time to gaze around. It was magnificent. It was a drastic change from her usual rushing about to and fro, but she couldn’t do that now; she had the sweetest, kindest filly in Equestria nuzzling her neck. Rushing could startle Scootaloo, or maybe even hurt her.


Rainbow looked all around her. “Wow, Ponyville is beautiful… I’ve never realised that before.”


Scootaloo pulled her face away from Rainbow’s neck and continued to hug her while Rainbow trotted along the stone path through town. Not long after, Scootaloo remembered that Rainbow Dash was taking her over to her own terrestrial house and not to Rainbow’s home of clouds floating lazily above Ponyville.


“Ca…n’t I just… stay… with… you?” asked Scootaloo, forcing the words out.


Rainbow looked over to Scootaloo and smiled at her. “I would love to squirt, but… couple things there. You have a family to take care of you and also… I’m not exactly mother material myself.”


Scootaloo frowned and her eyes looked towards the ground.


Rainbow wondered why Scootaloo was so reluctant to tell anypony about her parents. “C’mon squirt, why can’t you tell us about your parents?”


Scootaloo looked away and shook her head.


Rainbow was going to have to find out, for Scootaloo’s safety. She decided that she would not only walk over to her house, but also talk with Scootaloo’s parents. Rainbow continued to trot over to the house, with Scootaloo still being unusually apprehensive.


Eventually, they reached Scootaloo’s house. Scootaloo was about to get down to let herself in to the dilapidated house when suddenly Rainbow Dash opened her wings to stop Scootaloo.


Scootaloo looked quizzically at Dash.


She smiled and replied, “Sorry squirt, I need to check up on your parents, I need to know okay? Also, I don’t feel comfortable letting a sweet filly like you down on your feet yet.”


Scootaloo just stared at her uncomfortably, leaving her arms around Rainbow’s neck.


Rainbow knocked on the door a couple times. There was no answer, not even any noise. Rainbow looked back at Scootaloo to see how she was reacting, she was still in the same position that she was before Rainbow started knocking. Rainbow turned around and tried to open the door, it was stiff and old so opening it was tougher than she thought it would be.


After some pushing and pulling, the door creaked open as Rainbow pulled it. She started to trot inside the house, examining everything she could. Scootaloo was trying to get down as she walked in, Rainbow noticed and bent down, allowing Scootaloo to get down safely. Then Rainbow wrapped one of her wings around Scootaloo and looked over to her.


“Don’t go anywhere, okay? I don’t want to lose the filly I love the most. Just stay close to me,” Rainbow said.


Scootaloo nodded her head and looked around. Rainbow tucked her wing in and started moving further into the house and went into one of the rooms.


Inside was what looked to be a living room, it had a couch, a table, some chairs and a cabinet in the corner. It seemed pretty casual, although, it looked like the furniture had not been touched for a long time.


Rainbow looked over the Scootaloo. “Hey squirt, when was the last time someone sat in here?”


Scootaloo replied by shaking her head, and then looked away.


Rainbow was still bothered Scootaloo’s hesitation to answer any questions. She decided it would be best to not push the issue at this point. Rainbow redirected her gaze to the nearby doorway and trotted out of the living room, continuing to the room across the hallway. It was a kitchen by the looks of it.


“Why is your house so quiet and empty?” asked Rainbow, more to herself than to the orange filly by her side.


Scootaloo didn’t reply and made her way over to the fridge.


Rainbow didn’t want to leave Scootaloo’s side, but she knew the filly wouldn’t do anything to hurt herself. So Rainbow left the room and started up the stairs that were next to it while Scootaloo remained in the kitchen.


“Hello? Anypony home?” she yelled.


Once she reached the top of the stairs, she looked around. There were three rooms, one at each side of the corridor. The one at the end appeared to be the bathroom.


Rainbow entered the room to her left. It was empty and had a double bed; no one was in it and, like the furniture in the living room, appeared as though it had not been touched for quite some time. She began to search through the room to see if there was anything that would offer a clue about Scootaloo’s parents, as this was obviously where they had slept before.


She opened a drawer and found a small picture. It was a picture of Scootaloo as a foal. Rainbow picked it up to get a closer look. She smiled at the picture and placed it back in the drawer; she then turned around and looked at the bed. She decided to lay on it for a second to get an idea of how long ago it was used. She climbed onto the bed and sat down. She then rolled onto her back, instantly realising that the bed felt equally as uncomfortable as it had looked. 


“Huh… seems like it hasn’t been used in ages. It’s very cold and rough. I don’t like it. I don’t see how anypony could,” mused Rainbow.


She rolled off of the bed and lifted her hoof to her chin, wondering how long it must have been since Scootaloo’s parents had last been there. By the condition of the house it seemed like it could have been months, maybe longer.


No, that can't be right, she thought to herself.


Rainbow Dash shuddered at the thought of Scootaloo living like this by herself, and she trotted out of the room and into the next room across the hall. It looked to be Scootaloo’s room; the walls were blue and light poured through a small window over the bed across from the door. 


Rainbow trotted over to Scootaloo’s bed and felt it. It was much softer and more plump than the double bed in the other room. She looked around and saw a desk beside the bed, on it, was a picture frame and an alarm clock. Rainbow trotted over to the desk and picked up the picture. It was a picture of her and Scootaloo together. Rainbow placed the picture back on the desk and continued to look around the room.


Nothing seemed out of place, nothing seemed wrong with the room. In fact, besides the obvious lack of Scootaloo’s parents, nothing seemed particularly wrong with the house in general. Rainbow decided that she would leave the room and check on Scootaloo. She turned to move away from the bed, when she suddenly tripped on something


“Ah! What the hay was that?” she yelled as she hit the floor.


She looked back to where her hoof had struck the object. There was a small lockbox on the floor, partially under the bed.


It had a keyed lock on it that hadn’t been secured. She didn’t really want to snoop through Scootaloo’s stuff, but she had to try and find evidence of her parents. She pulled the box out from under the bed and slowly opened it. Inside were pictures, a feather and a small book that looked to be a diary. Rainbow picked up the feather and stared at it for a couple seconds.


She carefully inspected the blue feather. “This… is one of my feathers.”


She held the feather close to her wings and compared the colours. It was the same cyan hue as her other feathers. She then placed it back in the box and took out some of the pictures. Most of them were of Rainbow Dash, other subjects involved her house and other specific things to do with Rainbow. She stared at the photos for a moment before placing them back into the box.


She was hesitant to pick up the diary, as that would be Scootaloo’s private place for her to write. Although this was the most likely place to find the answers she was searching for, Rainbow resisted the urge and slid the box back under the bed. She stood up and started to turn away from the bed, when she noticed that there was a small bump in the bed that appeared to be something under the blanket.


Rainbow pulled the covers off of whatever was underneath. It was a small hoof-knitted doll. Rainbow picked it up and stared at it for a couple seconds. Rainbow’s vision blurred as she looked at the doll. The doll was blue with a recognisable prismatic mane and tail and had a carefully hoof-embroidered cutie mark of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt.


She wiped her eyes and looked at her hooves, they had tears on them. “A doll of... me?”


Rainbow placed the doll down on the bed again and covered it up. She turned around to make her way out of the room, when she saw Scootaloo standing at the door.


“Squirt... look, I’m sorry that I was sneaking around your room,” Rainbow said.


Scootaloo looked behind Rainbow to her bed. She then looked back at Rainbow Dash who was nervously shifting her weight from hoof to hoof.


Scootaloo trotted through her room and pulled the box out from under her bed. She opened it and pulled out her diary. With the diary held in her mouth, she trotted back over to Rainbow Dash and held it to her.


“I can’t just take your diary squirt… it has your private thoughts and matters… I can’t invade your privacy like that,” Rainbow said with a shake of her head. 


Scootaloo placed the book on the floor at Rainbow’s hooves. “This…. should explain… some… things Dash.”


She trotted around Rainbow Dash and jumped up onto her bed. She pulled the covers out and grasped the Rainbow Dash doll in her mouth. She then hopped off the bed and left the room.


Rainbow looked around the room, puzzled about the events that had just transpired. She looked down to her hooves to see the book lying there. The book had Scootaloo’s name on it and also a small signature. The signature was Rainbow Dash’s own form of writing style.


“I don’t want to invade her privacy… but is she… asking me to?” she thought.


Rainbow grasped the book in her mouth and sat on the bed. She opened it to a random page. It looked to be dated to about two weeks ago and it was a pretty short entry.


Today was one of the worst days of my life, not only did I fall out with Applebloom, but I also fell out with Applejack. I don’t know how I’m going to make it up to them, but I must somehow. I would ask Rainbow Dash for help, but I’m not too comfortable with showing my face around Ponyville today. What if Rainbow hates me now? What if she never wants to see me again? I’m just going to let this blow off and keep low for a while, hopefully Applebloom will forgive me after not seeing me for a week or two. Ponies may wonder where I am, but they won’t care too much. No pony ever does. The only pony who I know that cares about me is Rainbow Dash, she is so kind and caring. She may be a super duper awesome daredevil flyer, but deep down, I know she is like us all. I wish Rainbow would realise how much she meant to me… she is the only pony I can call… my mother. She means the world to me and if she hated me, I’d have nothing left. I love Rainbow Dash like she is my own mother. Something that I wish was true.


I love Rainbow Dash more than anypony in the world… I wish she knew.


Rainbow was staring at the last sentence, it broke her heart. She had tears in her eyes and her heart was beating slower than ever before. She felt her chest and gulped.


“Squirt… why didn’t you tell me?” Rainbow said to herself.


She wiped her eyes and continued to re-read the passage over and over again.


I love Rainbow Dash…


I love Rainbow Dash…


Rainbow then closed the book slowly and placed it to the side of the bed. She then looked over to the desk beside Scootaloo’s bed and picked up the picture frame. She stared at it for a while as her vision became clouded with tears once again.


“I love you too… Scootaloo.”

> Sleep is a Virtue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo was downstairs sitting on the hard floor in the living room.


She was facing a mirror, watching her mouth move. “App…les, Rain…bow, Canterlot”


Scootaloo smiled. She was quickly regaining her speech. She continued to try and get her pronunciations right.


She squinted at the small orange pegasus in the mirror. “Pony, Celes…tia, Prin…cess. I’ve just… about got it.”


Scootaloo got up and looked around the room she was in. The sun had long passed overhead, the east facing window was dimly lit in the late afternoon, giving the living room a dark, cold feel. 


Scootaloo’s Rainbow Dash doll was propped up against the mirror. The doll had been silently observing Scootaloo’s speaking progress through lifeless button eyes. She picked it up in her mouth and walked towards the door to the hallway. She rounded the corner and started to slowly make her way up the stairs, trying her best not to fall or slip. She was still slightly dizzy due to her head injury. When she reached the top of the stairs she trotted over to her room.


As Scootaloo entered the doorway to her room, she saw Rainbow Dash sitting on the bed with tears in her eyes. Rainbow had not noticed Scootaloo’s quiet appearance at the door. Scootaloo trotted over to Rainbow and stared at her for a couple seconds. Rainbow looked up and saw Scootaloo standing there with the doll in her mouth.


Time seemed to slow as the two pegasi looked at each other. The sun was shining into the room, a light breeze slowly meandered through the window as the two stood there, basking in the beautiful, everlasting day. Scootaloo moved closer to Rainbow Dash and held out her hooves. Rainbow stared for a moment before the tears began streaming down her face. She got off the bed and wrapped her hooves around Scootaloo.


Scootaloo was startled for a moment, but then started to sob slightly onto Rainbow’s shoulder and Rainbow did the same. It was perfect; everything Scootaloo ever dreamed of. Rainbow knew how much this meant to Scootaloo. They both kept hold of each other and continued to share this moment in their lives that could only ever happen once.


Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Rainbow… you’re more than an idol to me.”


Rainbow pulled back to look at Scootaloo and smiled, she knew what Scootaloo meant. Scootaloo continued to hug Rainbow as tight as she could. Eventually, she yawned and nuzzled Rainbow’s coat. Scootaloo began to drift away. Having the warmth of Rainbow Dash’s coat and arms surrounding her was enough to comfort her.


Rainbow noticed Scootaloo quickly becoming tired. Her injury had made her weak, tired and very insecure. Rainbow never wanted to leave Scootaloo in her house, even if she had found her parents. She decided she would ask questions later, but at the moment, her top priority was getting Scootaloo someplace safe.


Rainbow got into a standing position and used her wings to lift the half asleep orange filly to her perch on Rainbow’s back.


“I’m not leaving you here squirt, you deserve better than this,” she whispered to the filly on her back. 


Rainbow trotted out the room and down the stairs, trying to be as careful as she could. At the bottom of the stairs, she took one last look around the house before going outside, back to Ponyville.


It looked to be getting late, but outside it was still bright. Rainbow trotted out the door and pulled it until she heard the latch click. The sunset was gleaming with the same bright orange hue of Scootaloo’s coat, it was beautiful. Rainbow stopped a moment to revel in the quickly disappearing sunlight before starting to move. She began trotting in the direction of Twilight’s library.


Nopony was outside this evening, aside from the occasional gardener. It was a casual day in Ponyville. Rainbow was still carrying the weight of a small filly on her back, but she couldn’t just leave Scootaloo in that house. She still wondered about Scootaloo’s parents, who were they? Where were they? But those answers were still locked away. Scootaloo wouldn’t tell anypony, not even her idol.


It wasn’t long after that Rainbow reached Twilight’s library, but the windows were dark and it looked like nopony was inside, not even Spike. Rainbow opened the door and trotted in slowly. It was empty, nopony was here, nothing seemed out of place and books weren’t scattered over the floor.


“Huh, this is odd. I wonder where Twilight and Spike are,” she mused to herself. Scootaloo yawned, causing Rainbow to look behind her.


Scootaloo looked to be sleeping peacefully; Rainbow didn’t want to disturb her. Rainbow shut the door behind her, slowly and carefully, trying not to wake Scootaloo in the process.


Trotting over to Twilight’s desk, Rainbow noticed several books opened on the table. Once Rainbow reached Twilight’s desk, she started to read the books that were open.


“motion sickness... hallucinations... memory loss…” she read.


Rainbow’s brain snapped at those last two words, she then glanced up to the title of the article that she was reading. “Signs of Brain Damage and Specific Causes.”


Rainbow stared at the page, reading it over and over again. “What if… no, that couldn’t be.”


Rainbow looked back at Scootaloo, who was still sound asleep on her back. She focused her attention to some of the other books on the desk. Others were about cures for brain damage, specific remedies. One book that seemed to have been read the most was on the subject of memory loss. Rainbow pulled the book over and started to read it.


“Some of the main causes of psychologically induced memory loss are traumatic pasts, horrific scenes and specific other reasons for the patient to consciously or subconsciously want to lose memory. These are only reasons to why memory loss may occur, however, significant memory loss requires a ‘jump start’, typically some traumatic event, before it manifests fully.”


Rainbow looked back at Scootaloo; she then started thinking about her house, the strange lack of parents, the untouched furniture, everything. Nothing about it felt quite right.


Rainbow continued reading the book. There was a specific passage that had been highlighted. “Memory loss may also occur due to specific social distress. A very common example of social distress that may cause a patient (particularly prepubescent individuals) to lose memory is the loss of loved ones, such as siblings or parents.”


Rainbow’s heart stopped and froze in place.


She looked back to Scootaloo and stared at her for a long time. Rainbow couldn’t feel her own heart. The only thing that kept her from thinking she was dead was the fact that she could still feel her emotions.


“Squirt…” Rainbow couldn’t speak; instead, she quietly closed the book and left it where it was.


Rainbow stared out the window in front of the desk. It was the perfect night, Princess Luna had just raised the moon, and the night was shining and gleaming. The light of the full moon shone across Rainbow Dash, and over Scootaloo. Rainbow looked back for the final time, Scootaloo was completely bathed in the moonlight and she looked…beautiful.


Rainbow looked back to the book and put a hoof over the cover.


“I need Twilight.”
 

> When the Bell Rings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight walked into the library with Spike following behind her. “See Spike, this is what Rainbow was looking for. She needed to find out why Scootaloo was so defiant with any questions about her parents.”


Twilight turned her head away from Spike and looked over to her desk. It was covered in books; a lot more than usual. There were books scattered haphazardly all across the floor on the main level of the library as well, everything seemed out of place and disorganised.


“Spike… did we leave the library in this mess?” Twilight asked.


Spike looked around the room, scanning everything. He eventually looked up towards Twilight’s bedroom. In addition to trashing the library, it looked like somepony had gone up there too. Spike pointed towards Twilight’s bedroom.


“Twilight, you should check up there, whoever did this might still be here,” Spike said.


Twilight placed a hoof on her chin and thought for a moment before slowly making her way up the stairs leading to her bedroom with Spike close behind her. Twilight knew no pony would do this without a good reason. No one really hated her, so it couldn’t have been out of hate.


The pair reached the top of the stairs. Twilight listened closely and heard quiet breathing coming from inside the bedroom; somepony was obviously in there.


“Spike, can you start tidying this place up? I’ve got this,” Twilight whispered to Spike.


The baby dragon lifted his arm up in an obedient salute and quickly ran back down the stairs to begin picking up all of the books on the floor. Twilight tensed herself up, ready to leap into the bedroom full force.


She shook her flank slightly to get a better grip on the wood stairs, moving her hooves ever so slightly. After getting a good, solid footing she held her breath, ready to face whatever was inside her bedroom. She sprang into the bedroom and used her horn to illuminate the small room. Her room was now bathed in a bright white light, but after a fast inspection it appeared there was nopony in the room. Twilight made a second, more thorough search with her eyes. She looked closely at the bed and noticed that there was obviously something under the covers. The blanket was rising and falling with each breath of the intruder.


Twilight slowly and quietly stalked to the side of the bed, trying not to wake whatever or whoever was sleeping in her bed. It was a small lump; it couldn’t have been a pony unless it was a young filly or colt. Twilight gripped the corner of her bed sheet with her magic and hesitated before lifting it up to reveal what was in her bed. She quickly hauled the sheet off with a forceful tug and looked down.


All she saw was a small orange filly sleeping quite peacefully. Scootaloo? she thought to herself, halfway between amusement and anger. Where in Equestria is Dash if Scootaloo is here by herself.


Twilight looked around Scootaloo to see if she could find anything, nothing seemed to stick out except for the thing she was holding in her hooves, wrapped in her arms tightly. It looked to be some sort of doll, something close to the shape of a pony.


Twilight placed a hoof on Scootaloo and prodded her slightly. “Scootaloo?” She asked quietly. Twilight then shook Scootaloo slightly, not too hard, trying to wake her up gently. “Scootaloo, you awake?”


Scootaloo yawned. She rubbed one of her eyes with her hoof, opened the other eye and looked up at Twilight.


Scootaloo sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes before looking back over to Twilight. Twilight looked around her room for a third time to see if she could see anything else, but nothing seemed out of place. With the exception of the filly in her bed, everything was perfect in her bedroom, just the way she liked it.


Twilight’s eyes darted back to Scootaloo as though the unicorn had momentarily forgotten about the intruder in her bed. She bombarded the filly with questions. “Scootaloo, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at home? Where is Rainbow Dash?”


Scootaloo looked around the room before answering. “I… I don’t know. Rainbow Dash came to my house, we talked, I showed her some stuff and she decided it would be best if I came and lived with her instead of living in my own house. Now I don’t know where she is, I fell asleep… I’m not even really sure where I am.”


“You’re in my bedroom at the library. Spike and I just got back from running errands and you were here in my bed.” Twilight began to turn towards the window, but a small bright blue form near Scootaloo held her gaze.


Scootaloo glanced over to where Twilight was looking and saw the small doll on the bed. Scootaloo looked over to Twilight again, waiting to see what she was going to do. Twilight used her magic to lift the doll up to her face in order to get a clearer look at the doll. It was a small cyan knitted doll with wings and a multicoloured mane. “Where did you get this?” Twilight asked.


Scootaloo shrugged. “I don’t know who… made it for me.” Her voice was still unstable and stingy. “I just… got it somewhere, I know that it was made specifically for me, but I don’t know… anything besides that.”


Twilight hesitated before talking to Scootaloo again, but she knew she had to ask, even if she would just get a blank stare. “Your… parents?”


Scootaloo just looked away and shook her head. Twilight turned Scootaloo’s head around and looked into her eyes. “Scootaloo, please, you need to tell us something about your parents for your own safety. Me and Dash love you, we can’t just let you wander off without any information.” Twilight paused before continuing. “Do you know anything about your parents at all?” she asked.


Scootaloo just stood still, trying to avoid the question.


Twilight looked over to the doll she was floating; it looked to be in good condition. “Where has this doll been? It’s in perfect condition.”


Scootaloo stood up on the bed and grasped the floating doll in her mouth. She then pulled it down and laid it on the bed. “It’s only been in my house, it never went outside. It’s never moved, really. I just kept it in my house.”


Twilight then thought to herself. ‘It’s only been in her house…’ it seemed to be something that could provide Twilight with some indication of Scootaloo’s parents. Twilight placed a hoof on her chin for a several seconds, thinking about this possibility.


Twilight pulled her hoof away from her chin and gazed over to the doll that was still lying idly on the bed. “May I borrow your doll? I just want to have a look at it, I promise I won’t do anything to it that may damage or ruin it.” 


Scootaloo grasped the doll in her mouth and hesitated for a second. She then leaned over to Twilight with the doll in her mouth, slowly letting her grip out, allowing Twilight to lift it with her magic. 


“Thank you Scootaloo, I promise I won’t do anything to it, I swear.” Scootaloo sat back down on the bed and glared around the room, slowly analysing everything around her. Nothing seemed to catch her eye until she looked to a desk at the side of the bed. On it was what seemed to be Twilight’s diary. Scootaloo never touched it as she knew it contained private matters that may involve quarries that she couldn’t understand herself, let alone read.


Twilight looked over to Scootaloo, who was still scanning the majority of the books on the shelves. “Would you like a book to read? I can give you Daring Do, if you would like.”


Scootaloo nodded slightly.


Suddenly, Twilight had placed a book in front of Scootaloo. It was the one she asked for. She remembered Rainbow Dash liked it and told her about it.


“Have you read any Daring Do before?” Twilight asked.


Scootaloo once again used her recently standard response and shook her head silently.


“Oh, well, you’ll probably like it. It’s a really good book series and I’d be happy to lend you some of them to read if you want.” Twilight said.


Just then Twilight placed another book on top of the first. Scootaloo picked it up and read the title out loud. “Daring Do and the Sa…phire Stone.” 


Scootaloo looked over to Twilight with a confused look on her face. She didn’t really know much about Daring Do aside from all of the information she had picked up from Rainbow Dash’s constant babbling. But Dash had only been obsessed with it for a couple of days, so it wasn’t a big deal or anything. Rainbow Dash read almost all of them in one sitting, which was probably the reason for her outbursts about it.


“How many books are there in the series Twilight?” Scootaloo inquired.


Twilight placed a hoof on her chin and thought for a moment before answering. “I don’t really know, about twenty I think.  Each one is about the same length, around… two hundred to four hundred pages. It’s a popular book series.”


The interested filly opened the book and started reading it to herself.


“I’ll be downstairs if you need me Scootaloo, I have to go and see if I can find Rainbow,” Twilight said.


Scootaloo nodded and continued reading.


Twilight trotted down the stairs, letting the sounds of her hooves tap against the hardwood flooring that made up the warmth and feel of the library’s interior. The floor still had some books on it, some of which looked to have been dropped.


“Spike?” Twilight called out as she worked her way down the stairs.


Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around for her assistant. “How’s it going Spike? How much do you think you’ll have to clean?”


Spike came out from under a table in the middle of the room with a hand full of books. He placed them on the table and started arranging them by the specific categories that they belonged to, knowing how organised Twilight liked her library.


“It’s going fine, it was a bunch of scattered books and some moved furniture. It’ll take me roughly… thirty minutes to get this place clean from top to bottom,” Spike said, obviously annoyed that he was tidying up by himself once again.


Twilight, oblivious to her assistant’s perturbed tone, continued speaking as though he hadn’t said anything. “I have an idea. Scootaloo is reluctant to willingly offer any information about her parents, let alone her relatives. She may have forgotten about them due to memory loss, or she may just be avoiding the situation entirely. Either way, I have a theory that may give us a chance at discovering at least a little about who they are.”


Spike turned away from the stack of books on the table and walked over to Twilight.


Twilight placed the Rainbow Dash doll on her desk carefully and pointed to it. Spike gave Twilight a weird look before attempting to respond, he opened his mouth just as he was cut off by Twilight. “I know it looks stupid, but I think this may work. Scootaloo said that this doll has only been in her house, nowhere else. Which leads me to believe that her parents must have made it, or some sort of close relative. Nothing seems out of place and, as far as I know, Scootaloo can’t knit herself, so it’s almost one hundred percent confirmed that this was made in her house by somepony that isn’t her.”


Spike smiled and picked up the doll. “You could be right Twilight, but it’s still a long shot. We have no leads. We have no proof, only assumed thoughts that seem logical enough to be true. I still doubt we’ll get any possible sign of Scootaloo’s parents, so I guess our only shot is to do what seems best. If we’re gonna research the doll, we need to break it down. Not literally…of course.” Twilight nodded and took the doll back, placing it on the desk.


“But something that bothers me, Spike, is the fact that Rainbow Dash just… abandoned Scootaloo for no reason. I hope she has an explanation for this, but what I really want to know is where she is right now.” Twilight squinted at the doll to get a closer, more precise look at it.


“Rainbow Dash, where are you?”

> Past Mistakes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four hours earlier:




Rainbow Dash was inside the library, holding Scootaloo in her arms like a baby as the filly slept quietly. Nothing seemed to have changed; it was just the same as when she walked in. Rainbow looked down to Scootaloo and stared at the filly for a short time before looking back around the deserted library.


Rainbow’s eyes were dreary, dry and focused. Everything looked dry to her, everything looked vivid and salty. The filly slept quietly and peacefully in Rainbow’s arms. Rainbow looked down to Scootaloo and stared at her before looking back over to the door. “… I’ll be back Scootaloo, I need to do something… don’t worry about me. Don’t call for me. I…. I love you squirt.” Rainbow lifted herself up with her wings, flying up to Twilight’s bedroom with Scootaloo in her arms.


Once they got into Twilight’s bedroom, Rainbow pulled away the covers and laid Scootaloo down on the bed gently. Before fully letting her go, Rainbow hugged Scootaloo tight and kisses her on the forehead. “I’ll be back, I promise.” Rainbow then let go of Scootaloo and covered her up with the bed sheets. Everything was quiet. 


The sounds of Rainbow Dash trotting echoed through the library as she came down the hard wooden stairs. She had a determined look on her. Rainbow leapt off the stairs and started to flap her wings to start flying. She immediately flew towards the library’s entrance door. She pulled it open and slowly flew out the door, holding onto the handle on the way out so the door would close after she left.


Rainbow Dash then flew over to a small cloud in the sky and landed on it. She then looked all around Ponyville for something. “Where is the general direction? ...where is it?” Rainbow squinted her eyes and looked around, her eyes stopped when she saw the train station that was next to a sign that said ‘Canterlot Trains’. Rainbow Dash leapt off the cloud and flew over to the train station.


She looked at a map that showed all of Equestria’s landmarks, such as Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehatton, Las Pegasus and Fillydelphia. She placed her hoof on Ponyville and dragged it across the map till she met Canterlot. “I can’t afford a ticket… I’ll haft to fly to Canterlot. I hope Scootaloo will be okay, I don’t want her…” Rainbow Dash shook her head to get rid of the bad thoughts that roamed her mind; it was horrifying to her that she even thought of anything bad that could happen to Scootaloo. It was just her instinct kicking in. “No, I gotta keep on track. I need to go to Canterlot.” Rainbow launched herself upwards, opening her wings and flying up as high as she could.


She looked around the train station and spotted a train leaving for Canterlot. She flew down towards the train and landed on top of it, the sound of her landing on the train echoed though the metal frame. Rainbow looked in the direction that the train was going to try and spot Canterlot, it was forty or fifty miles away from Ponyville. The sky was getting darker and night was approaching quickly as the stars began to shine in the sky. Rainbow leapt off the train and started to fly in the direction leading to Canterlot as the train began pulling away from her. It was true that Rainbow Dash was the fastest flier in all Equestria, but she only had the endurance to fly at those speeds for very short distances. It would take some time before she came close to her destination.





Scootaloo was sleeping peacefully throughout the time that Rainbow Dash was galloping off to Canterlot with no mention at all. The night was perfect; everything was lit in a blue hue and was gleaming with sparkles. The only thing that was making the night even more perfect was the ambient sound of silence, it was peaceful and calming. The occasional sound of hoof steps never ruined the silent glaze of the night, instead, provoked it to be even more calming.


The night would not suffer from any sound that edged itself through the open window in Twilight’s bedroom. Scootaloo slept through everything that sounded, but the only thing that was different from the ambient silence, was the sound of an opening door…

> Dragon Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight trotted around her library in a circular motion, leaving small, echoed clopping sounds. Spike was walking down the stairs with a handful of history books that look to be thousands of years old. All was silent except from Twilight’s eerie hoof steps. As Spike reached the bottom of the stairs, he let go of all the books, leaving them slightly scattered on the ground. 


“Twilight, why would you want old history books? We’re searching for some sort of evidence that Scootaloo has living, existing parents. Not catching up on the least recent form of pony history and mythology.” Spike raised his hand up to his chin and thought for a moment before slowly walking over to Twilight’s desk.


On it was a quill, a piece of paper and her diary. Spike didn’t dare opening her diary, nor did he even think about it as it was her private matters. Twilight trotted over to the books and pulled each one out slowly and carefully, reading the title as they came up. “I’m looking for history books because I know I saw this style of knitting before. If I found out who’s style it is, I can possibly gather more evidence of Scootaloo’s parents, if not her entire family tree.” 


Spike looked back around to the books on the dusty floor, knowing he’d have to clean it up. “You do have a solid point Twilight, but there is one thing off… how can knitting have a style? I mean, it’s all done the same.” Spike picked up the doll that was edges away from Twilight’s desk, lying lazily on a wooden table.


Twilight proceeded to read through book titles as she talked. “Everything has a style; reading, filming, jumping and even knitting. It’s a way of signifying who or what has done that specific thing that they do.” She stopped at a book titled, Art Crafts of Pony History. On the book cover was a painting of Old Equestria. 


She opened the book and started looking through the pages, some of them were torn and dirty. Twilight stopped at the page marked as ‘pony magic crafts’. It seemed that the page had many crafts done by famous unicorns. “You think it was done by a unicorn?” Spike said.


“Well, it had to be done by a unicorn as they are the only ponies that can even attempt to do something this articulate. A pegasus is almost the same as a normal earth pony in this situation as I have only heard a couple pegasi that can even attempt knitting.” Twilight was positive on her assumption.


Spike walked back up the stairs and into Twilight’s bedroom. Sitting on Twilight’s bed was Scootaloo, whom was reading some books of Daring Doo. “Scootaloo, are you sure you don’t know where Rainbow Dash went? I mean, she could be in danger, so you haft to tell us if you do know.” Scootaloo placed a hoof on her chin and thought for a moment.


“Sorry Spike, I honestly don’t know where she went… but I hope she’s okay.” Scootaloo looked out the window of Twilight’s bedroom, hoping to see her rainbow-maned idol to fly past her. Spike picked up some of the books that were scattered over the bed. Most of them were Daring Doo novels, which Spike expected. Some of them were text and maths books.


“What do you need these for?” Spike asked as he opened one of the maths books, reading over the titles and some bookmarked pages. Scootaloo pushed some of the novels out of the way, allowing a couple more education books to be shown. 


“I have a test to do at school, Cheerilee caught me drawing again and I hafta do extra credit if I’m going to pass. I hate reading educational books, but if I want to pass, I’ll haft to read them. Hmm… maybe I could get my cutie mark in education? Maybe I could be a teacher?” Spike smiled while continuing to read over the educational books.


Spike looked over to Scootaloo, who was staring out the window again. He placed down the book and examined Scootaloo’s mane. It was still pretty short from the operations she had to get from her head injuries. “Does your head hurt? If I remember straight, you were gushing blood for a while as Rainbow and Twilight aided you.”


Scootaloo felt the back of her head and rubbed her mane. “It doesn’t hurt as much as it did…” She looked over to the door way of Twilight’s bedroom, admiring the glow of the wooden tree that was the library. “Rainbow Dash sure helped me a lot... without her I’d most likely be dead… a long time ago.” Using his claws, Spike picked up another book from the floor.


“…Do you wish she was your mother?” Spike said with a cringe in his voice, trying to be gentle. He knew how defensive Scootaloo was of her parents or even anything to do with the subject. Scootaloo’s mouth started to curve and she bit her bottom lip. Her eyes got teary and she shook a little. 


“I wish…” Her voice was dry and cracked. Spike placed the book he was holding down on the ground and climbed up onto Twilight’s bed. He went over to Scootaloo and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a gentle hug. The filly placed her arms slowly around Spike, then proceeded to slightly sob onto his shoulder. Spike rubbed her back with his claw.


He never felt so close to her in his life…

> Knowing you Care...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight finished reading through some of the old history books that were scattered over the library floor, none of them currently held any evidence of Scootaloo’s parents, nor did it have any form of knitting styles. She placed some of the books on the table and looked up towards her bedroom. Everything was quiet again, all silent. 


Twilight was eager to find out where Spike had gone, so she trotted up her wooden stairs leading to her bedroom that was only lit by the blue tint of the open window. Once she got to the top of the stairs, she stuck her head slowly through the doorway and looked over to her bed. 


On her bed, were the little orange filly and her dragon assistant. They were hugging each other tightly while the air brushed through the room, leaving a small, cold draft. Twilight smiled as she looked at the two who were in a warm embrace of arms.


Twilight slowly pulled her head out of the bedroom and looked back down the stairs and to the wooden, crisp library floor that had books scattered in specific corners of the room. She trotted down the stairs with small, quiet taps. On her way to her desk, she stopped and looked into a mirror that was hanging on the library’s wall.


Her mane was slightly dusty; it had small curved hair pieces that were un-combed and hanging out the top and side of her manes fringe. “Maybe I’m working too hard, maybe the answer is simple… maybe it’s too complicated for me to know…” She lifted her hoof to the bottom of her eye and pulled on her skin slightly. “I need to find out, for Scootaloo’s sake.” She then let go of her skin and looked over to her desk.


She started trotting and picked up a quill using her magic as she reached her desk. Her diary was perfectly angled on her desk, right in the middle. It was opened by the glowing, purple aurora that was Twilight’s magic. She started writing in it, taking her time to document notes and allow her brain to think of possible solutions and theories concerning the filly’s parents. She started whispering to herself as she wrote.


“The doll seems to be made by an unknown maker and seems to have no connection to the artistic side of pony history. It is still unclear who or what Scootaloo’s parents are; I plan on examining Scootaloo around specific questions, noting her motions and feelings… Rainbow Dash is still gone off to somewhere to which none of us know. I have assumptions to where she went and I am thinking about asking those whom which she last interacted with, starting with the doctor who was looking over Scootaloo in the infirmary.

Twilight Sparkle. Time: One thirty four at morning.” 


She marked the last sentence with her signature and placed the quill down on the side of her desk, closing the diary in the process. After she was done with her diary, she opened her drawer under her desk and floated the diary slowly into the corner of the wooden drawer and closed it quietly. Checking if the drawer was secure, she put her head under the desk to have a look. “You won’t be able to talk to the doctor until tomorrow morning Twilight.” Spike appeared behind Twilight, causing her to bump her head on the desk as she lifted herself out after being startled.


Twilight rubbed her forehead and horn slowly; making sure nothing was badly hurt. Afterwards, she turned around and looked at Spike, who was standing there rubbing his arm while looking down. He was about to open his mouth before being cut off by Twilight. “It’s okay Spike, it’s just a small… bump. Anyway, were you listening in to my diary writing? That’s rude!” 


Spike blushed slightly and put his hand up. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t talk out loud next time you write out a private diary passage.” Spike lowered his hand and looked around and scanned the library, seeing what a mess it was in. It was still a big floor load of books and it was also showered with dust that snuck in between books and shelves. Spike turned around towards Twilight and took his other hand from behind his back, showing him holding a comb that came from Twilight’s bedroom. “I think you should maybe clean your mane up a little.” 


Twilight lifted the comb and combed her mane, making it neat and tidy. She placed it down on the table that had the small Rainbow Dash doll on it. Spike started walking over towards the books on the floor when he was stopped by Twilight’s hoof. “Thanks Spike, but you can sleep now. I’ll clean this up.” Twilight smiled over to Spike and he turned around then hugged her. Twilight nuzzled him back and watched him as he let go of her and went upstairs towards his small bed. 


The library would take forever to clean with a tired baby dragon, so Twilight thought it would be a nice idea to let him sleep while she cleaned up the large mess that the library was in. “I’ll just have to work extra hard to clean this up… I guess I shouldn’t have been so focused on finding Scootaloo’s parents from such a ridiculous source. Well, I learned my lesson!” She smiled and started to use her magic to clean up the library. Placing books into their home shelves, dusting everything before placing it all back where it belonged.


Spike lifted himself into his small basket bed, covering himself up with the tiny bed sheet that was also inside it. Scootaloo was laying her head down on the pillow that was on Twilight’s bed. All the books that were on the bed, now back in their original places on the bookshelf. All the lights went out, everything was dark and dim and the only sounds that were barely auditable were the small hums of the eerie wind outside the tree that served as the Ponyville Library.


Shortly after all the lights went out, Twilight slowly trotted up the wooden stairs, trying not to make any noise. She came into her bedroom and looked over to her bed; on it was Scootaloo, who was buried under the covers. Twilight went to the other side of her bed and climbed in slowly, she noticed that Scootaloo was still slightly awake as she got in. Twilight whispered. “Oh sorry Scootaloo, I hope you’re all right with me sleeping in my bed.” She giggled slightly.


Scootaloo edged over to Twilight and hugged her arm slightly. “I’m fine with it.” She muttered while she laid her head on the pillow. Twilight used her magic to close the window that was next to her bed, stopping the cold air from getting inside the library’s interior.


Twilight closed her eyes and lay back on her bed with Scootaloo hugging her arm. “I don’t mind you sleeping here Scoots. You can sleep here as long as you want,” Twilight said, pulling the covers over both her and Scootaloo. 


The air outside started to gain warmth and texture as the sun slowly came up from the rim of Equestria. The blue night sky still gave off a blue tint through the small window at the corner of the bedroom. It shone over the two in the bed, who by now, were sound asleep. 


It was a peaceful, gleaming sleep. One which was as rare as gold…

> Fresh Air
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight woke up after a long nights rest, still having the small filly hugging her arm tight. Twilight looked around her bedroom from her laying position, trying not to disturb Scootaloo’s deep sleep. Everything was the same as it was the night before, nothing moved, nothing was gone. 


She rubbed her forehead with her hoof and slowly sat up in her bed. She looked over to her arm that Scootaloo was hugging; the filly seemed to still be sleeping, peacefully. Twilight used her other hoof to slowly push off Scootaloo’s arms around her one, allowing Twilight to move without disturbing the filly’s sleep.


Once Scootaloo’s arms lost their grip on Twilight, she moved into a hunching position, hugging the covers of the bed instead. Twilight proceeded to get out of her bed and slowly trot over to her mirror that was on the wooden table. Her mane was back to the ragged messy state it normally was after a good night sleep, all curly and out of place. She used her magic to grab the brush from the edge of the table and went on to brushing her mane until it was back to its clean, sharp position.


She stared at the mirror for several seconds before moving away and towards her bedroom entrance. She perked her head through the frame and scanned the library. It was clean, crisp and shiny. Spike was sitting downstairs reading some books that were on the table next to him. Twilight trotted down the stairs, leaving small taps as her hooves hit the floor.


Spike looked around to see Twilight trotting down the stairs while looking around the library. He sat up and walked over to Twilight. “You seem curious about something, what is it?” Spike proclaimed. Twilight just placed a hoof on her chin and stared at her desk for a short time. 


“It’s nothing Spike, I’m just thinking…” She sighed and looked over towards the library’s wooden entrance door. “I’m thinking about Rainbow Dash, she just… disappeared. She has been gone almost two days now and I just can’t stand to see any of my friends get hurt or go missing.” Spike placed his claw on his cheek and started thinking about the possibility of Rainbow Dash hurt. 


Spike then looked towards Twilight’s desk, it had a saddle bag on it and a couple books. He walked over to her desk, picking up one of the books and opening it. It was immediately closed by Twilight’s magic aura. “That’s my diary Spike, leave it alone!” Spike gulped and placed it back on the desk, exactly where it was before. “Because of this… thing that happened. I’ve decided that we are going to go on a search for Rainbow Dash, first visiting the people she last talked to.”


Spike thought for a moment before replying. “But Twilight, we don’t know who she last talked to! She could have talked to anyone during the time we’ve spent trying to figure out the history of Scootaloo’s parents. We have no leads, nor do we have no clue on who to talk to.” He then walked back over to the books he was reading before. 


Twilight used her magic to lift her saddle bag onto her back and placing her diary in the bag. “We went overboard with re-searching Spike, I shouldn’t have chosen pony history to search for two possibly dead people. I did have an idea, but it never worked. I couldn’t find any knitting traces. To be honest, we may be going overboard with Rainbow Dash too, who knows, she may just be resting in her home or talking to the doctor that Scootaloo was so tame with…” Twilight then remembered about the doctor. She thought to herself. ‘Maybe that’s where she did go…’ 


Spike picked up some of the books that were on the table and placed them back where they were taken from. “Twilight… your idea of finding Scootaloo’s parents through history was brilliant, it just never swung well. Maybe you need to go simpler, you know? Maybe you’re too smart to figure it out.” Twilight gave Spike a funny look, lowering her eyebrows at him. “What? It’s a possibility!”


Twilight sighed again and placed a hoof on her forehead. “Maybe you’re right Spike. I guess we should get simpler and go with something obvious, I mean, it’s Rainbow we’re talking about here… I’m still going with my plan to talk with the recent people who she has been in contact with.” She trotted over towards the library door and as she was about to open it, she heard a voice come from the top of the stairs.


“Can I come with?” Twilight turned around and saw Scootaloo standing at the top of the library stairs. Spike walked over to Twilight’s desk, picked up a quill and a piece of paper. He started writing on it.


He finished writing and wrapped the paper up in the form of a letter. Twilight thought for a moment. “… I don’t think it’s a good idea for a heavily injured filly to walk around Equestria, sorry Scoots, but I just think you’ll be safer here than anywhere else.” She looked back over to Spike, who was about to send the letter through his fire breath. “Spike!” He stopped and looked over to Twilight. “What are you doing? Don’t send letters without my permission! What is the letter?”


He lowered the letter from his mouth and started talking. “It’s a letter to Princess Celestia. I was going to send it to see if she could help us to see if she saw Rainbow Dash. Let me read it out to you.” He cleared his throat and opened the letter back up. “Dear Princess Celestia. Me and Twilight have been worried about one of the other elements of harmony, Rainbow Dash. She disappeared off to somewhere after leaving a filly named Scootaloo at the library. We have no clue to where she went and we would much appreciate your help to find her. We mainly want to know where she is and know that she is safe.

Signed, Spike.” 


Twilight nodded her head slightly. “Hmm, you may send the letter Spike, who knows, Celestia may be a bigger help than anyone.” Spike proceeded to re-seal the letter and flame it, sending it to the Princess. He walked over to Twilight and stood by her side.


The filly was still standing up at the top of the library’s wooden stairs. She was just blindly staring at Twilight. “… Spike, can you take care of Scootaloo for me? I don’t want her coming with me just in case she gets hurt again; I want her safe and sound.” Spike nodded and started walking over to Scootaloo who started to trot down the stairs slowly. Spike stopped and turned around to Twilight.


“Wouldn’t it be safer for Scootaloo to come with us? I mean, if she needs any form of medical help, you can give it to her. I wouldn’t know what to do in any situation like that. Plus, it would be nice for her to get some fresh air once and a while.” Spike claimed. 


Twilight thought for several seconds, moving her vision back and forth between Spike and Scootaloo. “I guess you’re right Spike, it would be safer to do that I guess. Alright, I’m going to bring some medical items with me just in case. I want Scootaloo staying close to me so I can see her at all times.” Spike saluted Twilight and ran towards her desk, opening the small hinge to an inside compartment. He started rummaging through and pulled out some medical supplies that Twilight had stashed in there.


He ran back over to Twilight with a hand full of medical cloths, plasters and some painkillers. Twilight used her magic to open her saddle bag then floated the items into her bag. “Alright, we’re ready. Scootaloo, stay close to us.” Scootaloo saluted like Spike did, smiled and trotted over to Twilight. “Spike, make a list on the way of Rainbow’s recent contacts. “We may be over hyping this as she may be just fine… but hopefully she’s okay and saf-” Just then, Spike burped out a letter that hit Twilight. 

“Sorry Twilight, let me get that for you” Twilight picked it up with her magic and slowly opened the letter. She read it over silently in her head. A sudden gasp from Twilight made Scootaloo and Spike jump. Twilight’s ears flipped back and she kept re-reading the letter. “What Twilight?! What does it say?!” 


Twilight placed the letter down and glanced at Spike and Scootaloo. “The letter says… Your friend is safe here in Canterlot and is in need of seeing you. She is currently being held inside… Canterlot’s jail cells…” Scootaloo and Spike froze in shock. 


Scootaloo’s eyes began to get wet and she opened her mouth to speak, but barely could.


“B-but… she isn’t… a bad pony…” 





> Secluded Thoughts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight, Spike and Scootaloo decided to visit Rainbow Dash, who was currently being held inside of  the Canterlot Castle holding cells. The three were escorted by a guard who brought them inside the castle. Scootaloo was shaking in fear of what her idol had done to be given such a punishment as imprisonment. She began to imagine the possibilities to why she had been captured. She shook her head in distrust of her imaginings.


“You alright Scootaloo?” Spike said, walking over by her side. Twilight was escorted farther ahead, being talked to by a guard. Scootaloo looked over to spike with a saddened expression.


“Rainbow Dash couldn’t have done anything bad, why is she in jail?” Scootaloo said with a lump in her throat. Spike placed his arm around her neck and hugged her lightly.



“Try not to worry Scootaloo, maybe she just knocked over a statue or something. I’m sure Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do anything beyond an accident.” Spike encouraged Scootaloo, trying to make her more comfortable. Twilight looked behind her, noticing Scootaloo shaking nervously.


Twilight looked back over to the armoured guard who wasn’t showing any expression. “Excuse me for a moment will you.” Twilight informed. 


The guard nodded, still with a blank face. “But of course.” He said with a soft voice, looking back at the stressed filly. Twilight turned back and headed towards Scootaloo. Spike noticed and took his arm off her, moving away to give room for Twilight.


Twilight approached Scootaloo, with a soft smile, trying to comfort her more. She began to walk aside the filly, who was still shaking slightly. “It’s okay Scoots, Rainbow Dash hasn’t done anything serious and is currently fine.” Said Twilight with a smiling expression. Scootaloo began to calm down, her shaking almost all but ceased as her expression turned into a slight relieved smile. 


They all came across a large door that had many locks on them, there was also a sign above the door that informed it was the prison they had approached to. Aside the doors were two guards with sharpened spears, supposedly to keep the prisoners from escaping. One guard came over to Twilight, sheathing his spear to his side. “Are you permitted to be here?” He asked toward Twilight. 


Twilight looked around her to see that the guards who were escorting them had left their sides. “Uhm… yes?” Twilight said with nervous smile. The guard’s expression changed to one of distrust. He began to un-sheath his weapon, before it got forced into it’s holder again by a blue magic aura that came from no where. “She’s with me.” Said a voice from behind Twilight. 


The guard brought up his hoof in salute towards the captain of the guards. “I am sorry sir; I never knew they were here with permission.” Shining nodded lightly, saluting the guard. Twilight turned her head to see her brother, who was smiling back at her.


The doors to the prison began to unlock and open. The door slowly creaked open with a loud crunching sound coming from the hinges. Once opened, the prison revealed a long corridor with closed cells. Most were empty, just as if they had never been used. Twilight examined all the cells she could see, wondering how many were in the prison exactly. “Brother, how many cells are in this prison?” She asked in curiosity.


Shining went in front of them and looked around. “Right now, you can only see about fifteen, but there are about a hundred cells in total. Each of them is symmetrically the same, from floor to roof.” He said taking his helmet off. Twilight placed her hoof on her chin and thought for a moment.


“Wouldn’t there be more cells? I mean, isn’t this a high security prison?” She inquired. 


Shining shook his head. “This is a dungeon, and having a dungeon under the castle would be unsafe. Holding big time offenders and serious law breakers in here would be endangering the safety of Canterlot Castle. Also, it’s not really a high security dungeon either. To put it simple, this dungeon is only for people like shop lifters and one time assaulters.” Spike started running across all the cells, examining each one for Rainbow Dash. 


“She’s in cell forty three.” Shining shouted to Spike. The dragon nodded to the captain and ran across the dungeon, looking for the cell. Spike quickly disappeared around a corner. As Spike searched, Twilight again put on a confused expression towards her brother. 


“Why not put her in any of these cells?” Twilight said, swinging her hoof across the cells she could see. “Wouldn’t it be better to put her in one that wasn’t so far away from the entrance?” 


Shining shook his head again. “It’s safer for us and the prisoner to be kept far from the entrance for a magnitude of reasons. The most important reason would be so that if one of the prisoners escapes, we would know about it before they had the chance to.” Shining stated, pointing at some of the cameras in the room.


“I would have expected you to know this sis, since you are the pupil of the princess.” Shining proclaimed, smiling at Twilight.


Twilight went to open her mouth to talk before she was cut off by Spike, who was leaning around the corner to them. “I found cell forty three!” He shouted, motioning his arm for them to come over.


Scootaloo was just sitting on the ground. She was listening to Twilight and Shining talk about the dungeon, continuing to worry about why her idol was in it in the first place. Twilight crouched down to Scootaloo and looked at her with a smile. “You want to come with us, we’ll get her out, I promise.” Twilight said with hope in her voice. 


The filly stood up and smiled, slowly trotting over to Spike, who was still leaning around the corner. They both ran around the corner and out of sight, leaving Twilight and Shining Armour alone. “You’re welcome.” Shining said, leaning over to Twilight. She looked slightly confused to what he meant. 


Shining laughed lightly. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d most likely be in one of these cells. Considering how those guards back there didn’t seem too happy to see you.” Twilight then leaned over to her brother, giving him a hug. 


“I’m so lucky to have a brother like you; I wish we could hang out more.” Twilight let go of him and started walking over to where Scootaloo and Spike went. She looked back at Shining. “Are you coming?” She said, standing still waiting for her brother to follow behind.


“Nah, you go ahead. I’ll give the guards an all clear to let you through though.” He said, waving to Twilight as he started to trot back to the entrance. Twilight waved back and continued trotting over to where Rainbow Dash’s cell was.


It wasn’t long before Twilight reached Spike, who had his claws on some bars around a cell. He was looking into the cell with a smile. “Where’s Scootaloo?” Twilight questioned as she looked around the large dungeon. Spike pointed to inside the cell he was looking in.


Twilight trotted over and looked inside the cell, seeing Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo hugging each other in a warm embrace. They were both smiling happily. “Scootaloo found out that she could fit through the bars of the cells. I’m guessing these weren’t made for fillies.” Spike proclaimed.


Twilight’s smile wiped away though, wanting to ask Rainbow questions. Rainbow let go of Scootaloo and looked over to the cell bars. “Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Good, you can get me out of here.” She started whispering. “And between you and me, the food is horrible.” 


Twilight giggled and looked back over to Scootaloo, who was still clinging on to Rainbow’s arm. “I’ll get you out, you need to answer me this though. How in Celestia did you get in Canterlot’s dungeon?” Rainbow’s ears flopped back as she looked away from Twilight and down to Scootaloo. She gave a deep sigh and took her arm away from Scootaloo, instead using them to cover the filly’s ears.


“I… uh… may have done a little breaking and entering...” 

> Royal Conversations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight gave Rainbow Dash a slightly concerned look, thinking in what she meant by breaking and entering. “Into… My library?” Twilight asked, tilting her head slightly. Rainbow shook her head and her ears flopped back in shame. 


“They’d never put me in this place if I broke into your library, your library is also in another town completely, they would have put me to the Ponyville jail.” Rainbow Dash looks around to the filly, who is still sitting patiently with Rainbow’s hooves over her ears. Rainbow sighs and pulls her hooves away, allowing Scootaloo to hear. “I was thrown in here because I broke into Canterlot Castle.”


Scootaloo just sat there quietly, thinking. Twilight scrunched her face and began questioning further. “What do you mean? How did you break into Canterlot Castle? The castle is a public attraction.” Twilight slowly sat down on the cold, hard floor.


“To be more specific Twilight, I broke into the castles library. The one I’m not supposed to be in.” Rainbow lifted her hoof in motion, making gestures with it. “I was looking for information, anything that could give me leads. I spent about an hour in the library before they got me; they then immediately threw me in the dungeon. They never even allowed me to explain myself.” She pulled her hoof down and gave a deep sigh.


“I thought ponies would be sent to Celestia and not thrown straight in the dungeon, maybe I’m an exception. They told me Celestia would be with me soon… it’s been about two or three days. Telling the time here is like trying to say when the next snow will start, except that’s easier.” She crossed her arms, expecting a lecture from Twilight.


Twilight had her hoof on her chin, trying to play out things in her head. “No, you’re right Rainbow. Ponies are normally sent to Celestia before thrown in a dungeon, but maybe breaking into the castle is a bigger crime than stealing would be.” Her hoof lowered from her chin as she looked along the long, grey corridors that contained a plethora of cells, almost all empty. She looked back over to the cyan pony. “What were you trying to find?”


Rainbow’s eyes shot up to Twilight as she uncrossed her hooves. “I was trying to find specific information, but I was probably being too specific. I was looking for leads on something; I searched through medical records, history books and even craft books. I didn't find anything too interesting; none of it was of much use… aside from this. 


Rainbow pulled out a small piece of paper from her mane, handed it to Twilight through the bars and proceeded to cover Scootaloo’s ears. Twilight used her horn to levitate the paper up to her. “B-but there is nothing on the paper, it’s just blank.” Twilight proclaimed. 


She kept looking at the paper, trying to see what it was she was meant to be looking at. Rainbow nodded at her and began to explain. “I would have taken the book, but I managed to rip that small part out before I got dragged away.” Her emotion turned to a serious manner. “That was part of a book that contained all pony names recorded. That’s part of the page of names beginning with ‘Sco’.”


Twilight’s mouth dropped, thinking in what it meant. She proceeded to stutter her words as she spoke. “But… her name wasn’t in the book? It should be.” Twilight gave the paper back to Rainbow. She grabbed it with her mouth, dropping it on the ground seconds later. 


Rainbow began talking again. “It technically means a couple things. Scootaloo may not have had her name recorded at birth. Either that or her name wasn't Scootaloo at the time. I was trying to look for her last name, her full name; it would have been easier to find her parents if we had their sure-name.” 


Spike was looking around the corner towards the entrance when he whispered towards Twilight. “There’s a guard coming!” Spike began to run over to Twilight, going behind her. The guard came around the corner and stood for a second, looking at Twilight. 


“Visiting times are over; you’ve been in here long enough.” The guard said, waiting patiently for them to say their goodbyes to Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo came out from the cell and trotted alongside Twilight as they were escorted outside the dungeon and back to the entrance of the castle. 


Twilight paused before going out the castle entrance.  “Umm, excuse me royal guard, but may I talk to Princess Celestia?” The guard stood still for a minute, looking at Twilight. “…It’s of an important matter.” Twilight continued with. The guard then motioned his hoof for Twilight to go forward to see the Princess.


“Also, could you stay with those two back there? I don’t want them left alone.” The guard nodded and stood aside Scootaloo and Spike. Twilight slowly headed up towards the throne Celestia was usually perched on, thinking of what to say and how to word it.


Twilight sat down on the floor near the throne, waiting for Celestia to appear. “I can assume you have questions on Rainbow Dash?” Celestia said, walking up from behind Twilight. 


Twilight stood up, nodding her head at Celestia. “Sorry if I’m interrupting anything Princess, I just wanted to ask you some things if that’s alright with you?”


Celestia nodded. “Of course Twilight.”


“When do you think Rainbow Dash could be released?” Twilight asked, tilting her head slightly.


“I can get her out by tonight; I’ll even get her back in Ponyville around moon rise if I can.” Celestia stated, smiling at Twilight. 

Twilight smiled back before talking. "Umm... Rainbow Dash found a book that recorded the names of ponies from when they were born. She ripped a part of the book out just as she got taken to the dungeon. The page she ripped was apparently about ponies with names beginning with the letters s, c and o. There was nothing on the page, so Rainbow Dash assumes that Scootaloo's name may not have been recorded at birth or wasn't Scootaloo when she was born."


Celestia nodded to Twilight slightly. "Well, if I'm not mistaken, the book she ripped it out of could have easily been outdated. I'm not sure we keep records anymore, the hospitals do though. But if I'm honest, Luna knows more about Scootaloo than I do, so you may want to consult her instead of me." She proceeded to sit down on her throne, looking down at Twilight. "Luna should be upstairs if I'm not mistaken."


Twilight stood up and bowed her head to Celestia. "Thank you Princess." Not long after, Twilight walked up the stairs and into a small bedroom. It was dark and had wallpaper in the colour of the moonlight. The room had a balcony at the side in which Luna was standing there, looking up at the red sky. Twilight coughed before asking. "Excuse me Princess, do you have a moment?" Twilight asked.


Luna looked around to Twilight, turning around as she spoke. "Of course Twilight, how may I assist?" She walked back from the balcony and into the main interior of the bedroom.


"I was hoping you would be able to help me to know more about Scootaloo, Celestia tells me you know more than her." Twilight says, walking closer to Luna.


Luna smiled lightly. "What I know about Scootaloo is almost just as much as you do Twilight. She is a brave, young filly who looks to have a lot of potential. Her parents are something that only time will be able to answer for you, for I do not know the answer myself. Scootaloo may be brave, but she is also shy, a lock you can't pick into. But if you want my answer, not even she may know the truth." She proceeded to walk back to the balcony, motioning Twilight to come with her. 


Twilight followed Luna to the balcony and looked up to the sky; it was a deep maroon and was getting darker every second. "I understand, Luna. I just wish I could help her more than I already can, I'm pretty sure Rainbow Dash wishes this too." 


Luna paused before looking back around to Twilight again. She lifted her hoof slightly. "The only way you can help her, is if you help her now. Every mystery unravels itself Twilight, and until it does, you should make sure that her future matters more than her past." Luna smiles before her horn starts glowing, creating small sparks around her. The moon begins to lift up as Luna pulls it above the sky, creating a dark but colourful atmosphere. The blue tint echoes inside of the room, making it all shade and blend together. 


Luna's horn dulls as the moon slows its ascent. "I hope my words help you Twilight. I'm afraid it's all I can share with you, as it's as much on the subject I know." Twilight smiles and nods to Luna.


"Thank you Princess, you were a big help. I'll make sure to do what's right for Scootaloo." Twilight bows her head lightly at Luna before walking back through the bedroom and down the stairs, back to the entrance of the castle. Scootaloo and Spike were standing there. Spike was talking with the guard while Scootaloo sat and played with her still-short mane. As Twilight approached the two, they both stood up and slowly walked outside of the castle.


Twilight stopped at the guard and thanked him for accompanying the two while she was busy talking to the Princesses. The guard only nodded and saluted her.


Scootaloo jumped up in excitement at Twilight. “Is Rainbow Dash getting released? What time? Where? Will I get to see her soon?!” Twilight giggled and smiled to her.


“Of course she’s getting released, and you will get to see her soon, I promise.” Scootaloo stopped bouncing up and down and just smiled as they all walked over to the train station and back to Ponyville. 


Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was getting released from the cell. She gave the torn page she grabbed over to one of the guards; she nervously smiled as she was then guided outside the castle and out into the main area of Canterlot. After the guards who guided her went away, she galloped over to the train station in hopes her friends would still be there, waiting for her.

The night was beautiful, a blistering light shone from the moon itself. The stars were an echoing bright light in the midst of the dark purple night sky. There couldn't have been a more perfect night than this.


> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ready or not here I come!" Spoke Rainbow Dash, who had just uncovered her eyes. She looked around at the lush fields of grass that went on for miles, accompanied by plentiful hiding spots a pony would have been able to sit in. There were a few small trees every now and then, bridging the gap between Fluttershy's cottage and Applejack's barn. 

Rainbow zipped around the grass, inspecting every potential hiding spot she could think of. Her searches came up blank, not being able to spot anypony in the time it took her to circle the area. Eventually she dropped back down to the ground, trotting over to the shade of a small tree, most likely attempting to get a better look around her without the burning hot sunlight in her eyes.

She sat down and gazed over the grass again, trying to see any clues to finding the other pony she was playing hide and seek with. Suddenly the leaves shuffled slightly above her head as the branch seemed to have been moving by it's own. Intrigued by the sound, Rainbow lifted herself up with her wings and flew up to the branch before shouting. "Boo!"

Scootaloo yelped and jumped from Rainbow's sudden appearance and slipped off the branch. Rainbow dashed down to the falling Scootaloo and caught her in the air, having a happy smile on her face.

"Whoops, I didn't mean to scare you like that." Rainbow said, getting a better grip on Scootaloo.
Scootaloo just rolled her eyes jokingly, not believing that Rainbow Dash wouldn't have done such a thing if she didn't want to scare her. "You caught me."

Rainbow Dash hovered back down to the ground, dropping Scootaloo on her four legs. "I did catch you, figuratively and literally. Both at the same time." She scruffed Scootaloo's now fully grown back mane a little with her hoof. "I'll try to be more subtle next time around, don't want you falling off of anything high again."

They both sat down beside each other, Scootaloo taking no time in hugging Rainbow Dash from the side. Rainbow slid her arm around Scootaloo and pulled her in more, rubbing her shoulder softly. The wind moved through the grass and leaves, making a relaxing sounding breeze, causing the already beautiful sunny day to become that much sunnier.

"I love you, Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo said in a soft voice, rubbing her cheek against Rainbow's cyan fur. Rainbow Dash herself just smiled down to Scootaloo softly. "And I love you too, Squirt." Rainbow said, looking to the direction of Ponyville before pulling her gaze back down to Scootaloo, who was still just hugging her tight. 

While Rainbow Dash and many others had questions about Scootaloo's life, specifically of her family, there wasn't much of a way to get those questions answered. At least not yet. But it didn't matter in that moment, there was no point in worrying about questions to do with Scootaloo's past, when what trully mattered was her bright and special future. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were happy, now both living in Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion in the sky, away from the dirty run down home that Scootaloo had once lived in. Her entire room had been emptied of all valuables and was placed in a room Rainbow Dash had given her inside her mansion. 

Under the affectionate love and care of Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo was beginning to fly. Maybe even physically.


The End.