Tomorrow had arrived, following not long after the awkward events from yesterday. It was early in the afternoon when Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Scootaloo had vacated the cottage to venture up to Cloudsdale, Scootaloo hitching a ride on Dash’s back.

All three of them were inside of Rainbow’s cloud palace, and it felt wonderful to Dash to be stepping back into her homeland, back amongst the clouds and the rest of her kind. It’s been far too long since she’s been back into her house, and she had forgotten how tranquil and gentle the touch of a cloud was beneath her hooves, much unlike the cold, hard ground of the surface.

The best thing about living in a house made entirely out of water vapour is that I don’t have to worry about dusting or cleaning anything, Rainbow Dash thought as she headed through the large, tall wooden doors of her royal home, entering the main lobby area.

Her home was grand and extravagant, fit for royalty, and the scale of her home for just one mare was titanic compared to any regular housing accommodation. One of the perks of living in Cloudsdale was that residents could buy out specific air space, such as with landlords down on the surface, and they were granted free reign to design their own homes however tall, wide, simple or complex they desired it to be. As a matter of fact, that was where that term, ‘’The sky’s the limit’’ came from.

Rainbow Dash had designed this house with her own two hooves, and it had taken her years to complete it entirely. She wanted something that screamed her name, something to display clearly to all that ‘This is Rainbow Dash’s home!’ As they view it around the greatest city in the sky. If she was going to live anywhere, she was going to make it live up to her standards, to be as awesome and as cool as she is, and she was sure that everypony in the city and on the ground knew it, able to see her home for miles.

She had bought grand and somewhat ridiculously large statues and statuettes of The Wonderbolts and their team memorabilia. In front of her two doors that served as the entrance, the lobby had a giant statue of a proudly-standing Wonderbolt in their flight suit, giving a firm salute with their head facing up to the skies. There were also variants of the same statue in small pair of alcoves in both the left and right walls of the lobby, illuminated with a presentation light that was built into the ceiling. One was of a Wonderbolt in a flying position and the other one was saluting.

Ah, yes, she had missed coming back to this house where all of her prized trophies, personal possessions, memorabilia and Wonderbolt history trinkets were. It brought endless amounts of joy to her face everytime that she trotted on by and saw them, and she knew that Scootaloo was sure to enjoy them, too.

One day, that kid’s gonna take over the skies as a Wonderbolt! I just know it! Dash thought.

‘’This place is lovely, Dash,’’ Fluttershy complimented, in awe of the grand decor and layout. ‘’It must have taken forever to build.’’

‘’Yeah, but when you’re the best, you’ve also got to have a house that lets others know you’re the best,’’ She said, tufting her mane and flicking it behind her ear. ‘’But I have to admit, although I built this house to be big and to live up to my name, it feels a little too big for just me sometimes,’’ She added sadly.

‘’Oh, it must get awfully lonely,’’ Fluttershy sympathised.

‘’Yeah, but I think I don’t have to worry so much about that now, do I?’’ Dash gave her friend a flank bump, and they both shared a giggle. ‘’So, why don’t I give you the grand tour? I know you prefer to live on the ground and all, but let me show you that sky life is just as cozy! A few days with me will make you wonder how you ever moved down to the ground!’’

‘’Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash!’’ Scootaloo came running up to them with a beaming grin on her face. She was riding on her Cloud Buster, her helmet strapped around her small head. ‘’Can you take me out to look around Cloudsdale later? I’ve never been able to look around before!’’ She asked with large, puppy eyes, and both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash giggled.

‘’Sure we can, squirt. We’ll all go out someplace later on. Right now, I’m going to show Fluttershy around.’’

‘’This is gonna be so cool! Thanks, Dash!’’ Scootaloo then swerved around on the spot, bolting down the hallway on her scooter, gliding her way through the long, vast corridors of the home.

‘’I think she’ll be fine on her own for a while. Let the kid enjoy herself while we head into the kitchen for a drink. I think I have some tea, if you’d like some?’’

‘’That sounds nice, Dashie.’’

‘’Fluttershy! Fluttershy, we’ve got them!’’ Rainbow Dash called as she came dashing into the living room, holding something in her hooves. ‘’They’re finally here!’’

‘’What’s here?’’ Fluttershy asked, sitting on one of the many cloud recliners around the wide, open living area of the house, located directly next to the kitchen.

‘’The adoption papers! Twilight actually managed to get in contact with a pony from The Canterlot Orphanage and she talked them into sending her some forms! Can you believe it?!’’ Dash asked, practically shoving the documents into Fluttershy’s snout.

Fluttershy wrinkled her nose and she blinked, feeling an itch where it had contacted with her muzzle. She gave the documents a curious glance and she focused her eyes to read the writing on it.

‘’’Child legal guardianship form’,’’ Fluttershy read the header. She had a gander at the rest of the documentation, noticing all kinds of blank boxes, information boxes, national insurance, child support, everything that a potential parent might need. At the bottom, there were a few text boxes reading ‘’Signature of parent / parents’’ and ‘’Witness signature’’.

‘’See, what did I tell ya?! Twilight would come through for us! Now all we have to do is to fill it in and have somepony notarise it to make us Scootaloo’s legal guardians! Won’t that be awesome?’’ Dash said energetically, pumped that this plan was destined to see fruition, but Fluttershy sighed and caused Dash’s features to drop. ‘’What’s wrong?’’

‘’Rainbow, it’s wonderful that Twilight was able to come through for us, but…don’t you think this is all a little too easy? It seems like there’s more to this that we’re not realising, Dashie.’’

‘’Like what, exactly? Twilight told me that having somepony sign that letter would legally put Scootaloo into our custody, and, the last time that I checked, Twilight never gets anything wrong!’’ Rainbow said, throwing her hooves forward.

‘’No, I’m not saying that Twilight is wrong, Twilight is great at what she does, but what I’m saying is that it’s not going to be as simple as signing a piece of paper and then the decision is final,’’ Fluttershy explained delicately. ‘’Rainbow Dash, have you ever done any research into how adoption and custody of a child works?’’

‘’I…no, I haven’t,’’ Dash admitted. ‘’But there’s an orphanage here in Cloudsdale, so maybe somepony there could help us?’’ She offered, hoping to find more than empty answers. ‘’No matter what, we’ve got to try, right? For Scootaloo.’’

‘’If you think that’s what’s best, Rainbow. Somepony must have information to help us, and maybe they can see if we’re eligible.’’

‘’Eligible?’’ Rainbow scoffed at that word. ‘’Come on, Fluttershy, of course we’re eligible! We’re representatives of The Elements of Harmony, and we’ve literally saved the world from Nightmare Moon, so, yeah, I don’t think ‘being eligible’ will be something we have to worry about!’’

Fluttershy stared at her with a disapproving but understanding look. She knew that Dash had a history of being bull-headed, and she had more experience than any other their friends to know it. She was a hard mare to talk down, and it made Fluttershy learn not to engage at times, but now wasn’t one of said times.

‘’Rainbow…don’t you remember what I told you?’’ She began. ‘’You know, about thinking about Scootaloo’s well-being? About not getting ahead of yourself and setting yourself up for disappointment?’’

Rainbow was confused. What was she getting at?

‘’Yeah, why?’’

‘’I’ve already told you that you shouldn’t get yourself too caught up in the moment, and that you should be prepared for not hearing what you want to hear. If you go down that path, you’ll always be beating yourself up for no reason, and it’s not good for you, Rainbow,’’ Fluttershy reminded her, giving her a sympathetic smile.

‘’Are you still going on about that?’’ Dash asked with a grimace. ‘’I thought I said that I heard you? Look, I’ll listen to what you have to say, but I’m still not going to give up on doing what’s right for Scootaloo.’’

With that, Rainbow Dash took her leave and Fluttershy heard her head outside of the front door, off on her way to the Cloudsdale orphanage. Fluttershy, now that she was alone, allowed herself to sag down in her seat, covering her face with her hooves in a deadpan mood.

‘’Celestia, so help me…’’

‘’And what can I do for you, Miss Dash?’’ The mare in front of Rainbow Dash asked, sitting behind a desk in a poorly lit office. It wasn’t very big or very furnished, but it was clean and adequate enough to give it a sense of profession and etiquette.

The mare that ran this office was the owner of the orphanage, Miss Harshflow, and, despite her misleading name, she seemed to be a pleasant and well-rehearsed mare. She was significantly older than Rainbow by at least ten years, putting her about mid-aged, and she showed signs of it.

Miss Harshflow had a rounded but firm chin, pronounced cheekbones and a dark, royal blue coloured coat, contrasting with her diamond-coloured eyes. Her mane was a silver shade that held a twinkle in the light coming in through the window behind her, facing out into the streets of Cloudsdale. To add to her sense of authority and sophistication, she wore a black custom-tailored suit, clearly stating her place within the building.

Rainbow Dash, as her eyes looked over her shoulder to view the wall behind the mare, noticed that multiple pictures hung from the magically-enhanced and stabilised concrete walls supported by the clouds. They were all depicting of young fillies and colts, no older than Scootaloo, and Dash assumed that they were children that were housed at the orphanage, and some of the photos included pictures of the children with mares and stallions, their adoptive parents.

The photographs were crowding the entire wall space around the owner’s desk, completely invading the wall to the point where it made Dash wonder how all of them managed to fit there. It was enough to tell her that Miss Harshflow was a very passionate and committed mare to her trade, and she took great pride in finding her children the most appropriate families that will treat them right and bring them the happiness they could only dream of.

‘’Are you looking to adopt a child? If so, we have some excellent and well-behaved children that will love to see you—-‘’

‘’N-No, I’m not here to adopt,’’ Dash stopped her, waving a hoof as she was seated in front of her desk on a cushioned and backed chair. The mare in front of her blinked and waited for her to continue. ‘’I’m actually here because I want to ask you some questions about a friend,’’ She said.

‘’A friend? Does she work here, you mean?’’ Miss Harshflow asked curiously, pursing her lips and leaning in on her desk, resting her chin on her hoof.

‘’Not exactly, no, I was more or less referring to a young filly that I’m taking care of at the moment named Scootaloo. I’m trying to find out what my options are if, say, I wanted to gain legal custody of her?’’ Dash asked, and Miss Harshflow’s face suddenly went blank, her eyes becoming calculating.

‘’You mean that you want to try and gain legal guardianship of her?’’ She asked. ‘’Miss Dash, if you don’t mind me asking, what makes you think that I can help out with your problem? I would have assumed that her parents would be the ones to—-‘’

‘’Her parents abandoned her,’’ Dash said flatly, and Miss Harshflow became still, frozen. She looked like somepony had slapped her clean across the face.

‘’I…beg your pardon?’’

‘’Scootaloo’s parents, they abandoned her and left her for dead,’’ Rainbow Dash stated again. ‘’I only just found out a little over two months ago. I found her all alone in the hospital with a broken leg and she told me what had happened. She’s been on her own for two years,’’ Dash explained, and each word that she uttered seemed to drive a knife further into Miss Harshflow’s heart.

Miss Harshflow, having worked in social care in the past and after switching her role to the leader of the Cloudsdale Orphanage, had heard some pretty disturbing and often heartbreaking family stories where the child is normally the worst victim, but this was beyond words! Most of the stories she’s heard in cases of child abuse and abandonment related to either relationship troubles between the mother and father, stress induced by tough, demanding work placements or sometimes substance abuse.

She had taken in some of the children from those cases and placed them in her care, and she had even tutored some of them herself to give them a proper education. She never liked to poke her nose into rough situations, but when it came down to children, she had to take action out of concern for their well-being and their mental health. It was why she felt the need to establish the orphanage and offer her guidance to those that needed it the most.

‘’Oh, my! That’s awful! Hopefully, you do realise the seriousness of this situation, and I must ask that you be truthful about all that you know in order for me to help you, Miss Dash,’’ Miss Harshflow then pulled open one of the massive drawers on her desk and she pulled out a scroll, quill and ink well. ‘’So, if you wouldn’t mind, and no matter how difficult it might be to divulge in details, I need you to tell me everything so far,’’ She requested.

And Rainbow Dash obliged, starting her side of the story from the very beginning and to the present day. She discussed finding Scootaloo at the hospital unsupervised, taking her home, about some of the diary entires detailing from Scootaloo’s own mind how her parents treated her, how she’s been living in secret inside of The Crusader clubhouse, absolutely everything.

Miss Harshflow jotted down everything exactly as Dash had described them, adding all of the minor and major details for future reference, and Dash watched her face while she scribed her words. She constantly gave pained looks, a twinge here and there, especially when Dash told her about the state of Scootaloo’s house. That had hit her worse than anything else she had been told, and her face contorted into one of disgust and sadness.

‘’And, as I’m meant to understand it, young Scootaloo is currently in the care of yourself and one Miss Fluttershy?’’ Miss Harshflow asked as she finished scribing, looking up from the hefty amount of writing she had written down to face Rainbow Dash.

‘’Yeah, Fluttershy knows everything that’s going on, too, and she’s been a great help with taking care of Scootaloo,’’ Dash confirmed.

‘’And what relationship does she share with you, Miss Dash? Are you two…?’’ She asked, hinting at the obvious, to which Dash suddenly blushed and she rubbed the back of her neck.

‘’Are we…? Oh! No, no, it’s not like that. We’re both just really close friends, and we’ve known each other since we were kids.’’

‘’Oh, that’s alright, I had to make sure, in the event of a future case whereupon I need to clarify your relationship,’’ She told her, but her lips gave a smile at her reaction, a somewhat cheeky one. ‘’Miss Dash, from what I’ve heard, I hope you know that this is a very serious and troubling case that can’t go on being ignored any longer. From what you’ve told me, the actions of Scootaloo’s parents could have very well lead to her death, and that is a very serious crime with dire consequences, one of which is a lifetime imprisonment,’’ She explained, features grim.

‘’I understand, Miss Harshflow, and I want to make them pay for what they did as much as anypony does, but nopony has seen them since they left Scootaloo on her own. They could literally be anywhere right now!’’ Dash stressed, lightly banging her hooves against Miss Harshflow’s desk.

‘’Hmm, you’re right,’’ She began to say thoughtfully. ‘’But don’t you worry, there are ponies out there that are incredibly thorough and professional at running an investigation to pick up any trace they might have left behind. You wouldn’t think it, but child abuse in Equestria is a very repetitive occurrence and crime that mostly goes unpaid for and unnoticed in some areas, and it’s ponies like you that can help to bring justice for helpless and defenceless children that need protection,’’ Miss Harshflow said gratefully, happy that Dash came to see her.

The appreciation glowed behind the old mare’s age-dimmed eyes, making them appear vibrant and radiant once again, and it became very apparent how deeply Rainbow Dash’s story had affected her. She was a very caring pony, and Dash was able to see it in her body language, all of the emotions she had felt herself shortly after finding out the truth, and it was nice to see that they both were on the exact same wavelength.

‘’Thank you, Miss Harshflow,’’ Rainbow Dash said gratefully. ‘’So, what’d happen to her parents if they get found?’’ The mare in front of the cyan mare cupped her hooves together and she gave her a stern expression.

‘’Considering that they’re willing to be compliant, they will sit trial and their fate will be decided in a court of law through a jury of their peers. From what you’ve told me, the evidence won’t work in their favour, I’m afraid, so their chances of getting off spending time in prison for their crimes are slim,’’ She said, pleased by the idea, as was Rainbow Dash. ‘’Now, Miss Rainbow Dash, with your consent, I’d be willing to hand over all that you’ve told me towards a friend of mine in social services, a mare by the name of Violet Snowdrop, and she’ll get back in touch with me within a few days to let me know what she can do for us.’’

Rainbow Dash thought carefully about this. She had only just met this mare, and, as nice and as inviting as she was, this was some very serious and personal information regarding her little sister, and she instantly felt cautious about sharing it so openly. Then again, if social services got involved on the matter, then the chances of getting what she wanted for the young girl who’s life was in shambles would increase dramatically!

At this point and at this stage, what was there to lose? Eventually, Rainbow Dash sighed and she reached over a hoof to Miss Harshflow, and they shared a firm hoofshake.

‘’Alright, you have my permission to send it,’’ Dash said, hoping that this was the first step in achieving justice.

‘’Thank you, Miss Dash,’’ The older mare thanked her. ‘’I’ll be sure to keep in touch with you as soon as Violet Snowdrop gets back to me. And don’t worry about Scootaloo, because, if she has ponies like you looking out for her, then she’s in good hooves.’’

‘’Sweet! I’ll go and let Fluttershy know right now! Thank you!’’ Rainbow Dash leaned over and gave Miss Harshflow a brief hug before she exited the office.