//------------------------------//
// Scootaloo's home. 
// Story: Pinkie's greatest Challenge. 
// by Lethrael 
//------------------------------//

Pinkie brushed over her mane for a long time, grinned widely and looked from Caring to Scootaloo and back again. Her grin was clearly forced and drops of sweat glided over her forehead, but neither Scootaloo, nor Caring paid attention to her. Pinkie opened her mouth, but the little filly was way faster and stammered something.
“I wanted to have a breakfast at Sugarcube Corner and you have said, that I should come to you and tell, that I go out. 
So I had come in, but you weren't here and I saw the letters from yesterday on your desk. 
And one of them was clearly from Cloudsdale and I thought...”
The filly stopped and shook her head. She raised her head and looked directly into Carings confused face. The mare sighed finally and pushed Scootaloo a step away.
She smiled friendly and wiped gently over her mane. Scootaloo brushed the mare's hoof away with one of her and bit her lips after that. 
Caring sighed again and glanced shortly to Pinkie. The younger mare took a deep breath and raised a hoof, but Caring shook her head quickly and whispered to the filly.
“So you have taken the letter and read it, right?”
First Scootaloo just nodded and avoided her look quickly, but she shook her head and put on a huffy frown as the mare asked the second part of the question.
“No, I've lost it in Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie has read it and didn't give it back to me.
But it has my name on it and...”

Caring raised a hoof and stopped the filly's niggling stammering. She looked to Pinkie both  disappointed and relived at the same time. The young mare stroke her mane and drew out the letter finally.
Scootaloo wanted to grab for it quickly, but Caring walked between them and shook her head. So Scootaloo put her hoof down and sighed.
“How did you know, that your name was in it?”
Caring sounded gently, but Scootaloo still drooped her head and drew circles on the ground. She hemmed and hawed for a few moments, but was able to answer at last.
“I have looked into the scroll and there was written Scootaloo on one point.”
The filly sounded really nervous and tried to grab the letter, but Caring was faster and took the letter for herself. She looked firmer to the little filly and cleared her throat.
“You still shouldn't take a letter, who isn't addressed to you, Scootaloo.”
This time the mare sounded like she wanted to scold Scootaloo for real and the filly blushed a little bit. She glanced quickly from Caring to Pinkie and bit her lips, as she blushed deeper. Pinkie's smile faded away, as the filly frowned again and looked back to Caring.

“But Pinkie shouldn't...”
Scootaloo stretched the but very long and tried to shift the blame partly to Pinkie. The mare licked her lips and raised her hoof again, but Caring didn't let her interrupt her scolding.
“I will talk with her after I'm finish with you, Scootaloo.
First you have to understand, that you shouldn't take a letter from my desk.
What would you do, if it's about you and White Lightning?”
The filly looked away from Pinkie Pie and down to the ground again, meanwhile her hooves drew lines on the ground. She stroke her mane and sighed again.
“Well...I would...I would bring it back and...”
Caring shook her head and laid a hoof around the stammering filly's shoulder. She took a deep breath and sounded more serious.
“But than you have known something from White Lightning and what if you and he are picked by a pair for an adoption. 
But they just want to adopt one of you? What would you do with that?”
Scootaloo raised her head hopefully, opened her mouth, shut it closed again and dropped her head.
“I...I...”
She turned her head back and forth and tried to look out for a good answer. But she didn't find one and lost her head more and more, finally she just moved quietly her lips and chewed on them. She even snuffled once and brushed over her eyes. Caring raised her hoof and put it on Scootaloo shoulders again. She bopped her gently and raised her head gently with it.
“So please don't take letters from my desk, okay?
I'm glad, that you have told me and I'm not mad at you.
But I think you should write me an apology letter and do the sink duty tomorrow.”
Scootaloo drooped her head further, pressed her ears against it and nodded finally. She looked to Pinkie again, blushed deeper and avoided her look. 
Pinkie looked back to the filly and cocked her head. She opened her mouth for the third time, but Caring stopped her again.

“Well now I should handle you, Pinkie.
How could you read a letter, who isn't for you?”
Scootaloo sighed low, as Caring started and skulked back to the door. But the elder mare laid a hoof on her back and hold her back. The filly looked confused to her.
“No Scootaloo, please wait.”
The filly opened her mouth really confused, but Caring smiled and told Pinkie further off.
“You should bring it immediately to me and shouldn't open it in the first place.
Where is the seal actually and why is the whole letter so crinkled?”
The mare's voice became more and more serious and Pinkie started to sweat again. Pinkie drooped her shoulders and tried to avoid the look of the mare. Scootaloo stared to both mares and couldn't help, but start to snicker, as Caring scolded the younger mare more and more. Pinkie drooped her head more and more and stammered an explanation.
“Well Gummy, he is my little alligator you know, had...”


The longer she explained, the more confused stared Caring and the more Scootaloo giggled at her constant grimacing.
“Well I thought, I simply could come to you and ask, if I could adopt Scootaloo, because nopony else would do this, even the one in Cloudsdale...”
Pinkie covered her mouth quickly with her hooves, as the snickering faded away and Scootaloo breathed in in shock. 
Pinkie gaped to Scootaloo, who stared to her shocked and simply stood there agape by either her offer or her last sentence. 
Caring hit her head with a hoof and this action waked up Scootaloo from her numbness. She turned around, galloped to the door, pushed it open and fled with a sudden sob.
“Scootaloo, please wait, I...”
Pinkie cried after her, but Caring hit her back, she took air with both front hooves and ran after the filly.
“Come on Pinkie, follow her.”
Caring yelled almost and Pinkie obeyed simply. The filly galloped through the playroom, elbowed her way through the cheerful fillies and colts and sped up even more.
“Hey, Scoots, we're trying to paint, do you...”
Bloo tried to welcome the older filly with a smile, but she was hustled out of the way by the bigger filly and almost fell over. Pinkie caught her quickly, waved over her mane, smiled gently and continued to gallop after Scootaloo. She followed her upstairs.


The first floor of the orphanage was fortunately empty right now. That was probably the reason why Scootaloo ran here. 
Pinkie followed the filly through a huge corridor and ran deeper into the criss cross of smaller corridors and small windows. She cried after her and tried to approach her closer.
“Scootaloo wait. I want to ask, what you think about it?
I mean, not about nopony want you, but rather what you think about me adopting you?”This question elicited an answer out of Scootaloo's sobbing, mouth, while she pushed a door open and slammed it after she ran through.
“I don't want. Leave me alone!”
Pinkie banged against the door, shook her aching head and glided down the door. She laid an ear on the keyhole and listened. A few more mumbled words escaped the little filly and Pinkie's mane flatted a little bit, as she could understand what Scootaloo said.
“I...I just wanted a family for real.
Why...why don't want me anypony?”
She sobbed again and fell silent with a mumbled tone. Pinkie's own eyes were tearing up, but she raised a trembling hoof and pushed the door open slowly. 
The door wasn't locked, so Pinkie took that as a sign, that she could come in. Scootaloo didn't seem to bother about it, since she laid just on her bed and nestled closely to a small stuffed animal. 
She sobbed quietly into the blue bear and nuzzled him closely. But her hind legs struggled around on the bed, as her front legs hugged the bear more and more.

Pinkie looked around in her room, found chaos and messiness, on the floor, on the little desk and even in the half open closet. 
Crumpled paper, toys, sticks and even a broken gramophone laid on the floor and added a feeling of lumber to the already mess of balls, a scooter with helmet on the handle bar and many other sport stuff. 
A very muddy tricot laid directly under the desk chair and spread the long dried mud on the floor around it. Pinkie's look followed the mud trail to the desk itself.
The chaos there was way worse. Books, papers, pens and curiously tools laid in a chaotic mess on the desk, in so many layers, that it was impossible for Pinkie to see the original desktop under them.
It was impossible to do homework on that desk, without to push away the mess and added it to the one on the floor. 
The only thing, what was strangely decent at best was the walls, but even there were hanging many things. 
First it seemed, that it was as messy, as the ground, but Pinkie found a strange way of organisation in the whole drawings and pictures.
Two corners of the room were clearly in thematically order. The one corner left to the desk was devoted to one mare Pinkie knew very well. Her grin shined down from a few drawings, photos and even one great poster. Under the poster stood a small cupboard, on it laid a small wig in the multicoloured colours of the mare's mane, a few banners and a small list. This corner of the room appeared to be almost as a shrine for Rainbow Dash and was the only place in the whole room, who wasn't so messy. In fact it was almost neat for the room.

The corner on the other side of the desk was devoted to another group of ponies. Under a small window, which was so dusty, that it was impossible for Pinkie to look through, stood the desk. A chair stood beside it, where a neat folded, but ripped red cape laid. Over the chair hung a list with crossed activities, beside of it hung drawings and pictures of three little fillies, who were standing grinning together, cleared up things or straight up disaster together with a disappointed frown on their faces, or were in the middle of one of the actions of the list.
Pinkie had heard from the wild adventures from the Cutie Mark Crusaders of course, or was directly involved in it. 
Respectively she had to clean up the kneader, after the fillies had used it and it was a very difficult task to clean up the colourful coat and the mane streaks. 
But Pinkie smiled nevertheless, as she spotted her own picture. The three fillies stuck together with the bonbon mass.
The rest of the walls were plastered with drawings, who were clearly drawn by Scootaloo.
Some showed a little Scootaloo among two adult ponies with changing mane styles and colours, a few were with pegasi, a few others were earthponies and one was even with a pair of unicorns. 
The pictures were clearly a try to imagine parents for Scootaloo. Pinkie's looked over dozens of pictures, who were showing in different styles, that Scootaloo had drawn them in different stage of ages. The earliest picture was a crayon drawing in a typical style of a little foal, the latest pictures were actually well drawn in scenery and anatomical order and seemed to be from a elder school filly. The mare had a big lump in her throat and swallowed it with a deep sigh.
She looked to the latest picture, the one with Scootaloo beside Rainbow Dash and with her talent show medal around her neck. The Scootaloo on the picture grinned widely and hugged the mare closely. The mare smiled proudly to her. Rainbow Dash had picked up Scootaloo after the talent show contest and strolled a little bit through Ponyville with her. But she hadn't done much more. Even though the filly was so happy, that she had drawn a picture from her and Rainbow?

Pinkie smiled gently, but a low sob attracted her attention back to the bed. She took a deep breath and approached the bed finally.
“Hey Scoots.”
Scootaloo snapped her head from the stuffed animal and glared to the mare. She even frowned in anger.
“You're not Rainbow Dash!”
This was all, what the filly could say, before she sobbed again and had to press her head back into her teddy. Pinkie's ears fell flat, she sighed and whispered finally.
“You're right, I'm really really sorry.
So Scootaloo.”
She stretched out the last O very long and took a deep breath,
“I...”
She stopped again and shook herself, as she remembered back for one moment. But she didn't want to and wished, that she was able to dug the memory back into herself.

Pinkie sat beside her Mummy and sobbed quietly, as she looked to the bed and saw the very old pony, who breathed just low and nestled her aged face onto a pillow.
Pinkie sobbed again and laid her own nose on the blanket. She sniffed involuntary and smelled the well loved scent of the old mare, her Granny Pie. It was enough to drove her over the edge and she started to weep finally. She pressed her eyes closer and closer into the blanket and sobbed full throated.
She stayed there for a while, unable to calm down, or even to see anything. But she sensed finally something.
Mummy's gentle voice sounded in her ears. Cloudy laid gently a hoof around her shoulders and pulled her away from the blanket. She snuggled the filly closer into her hug, laid her head on the straight mane and whispered low into her ears.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie, it's good to weep, when you feel sad.
It helps thou and you can let go the pain much easier after you get eased.”
Pinkie raised her head and looked firmly into the elder mares eyes, who were looking soft, but didn't be tearing up in the slightest. She wiped away her own tears more than once, sobbed and was able to ask a question finally.
“But why don't you weep at all?
She is your Mummy, isn't she?”
Cloudy shut her eyes close and sighed for a long time. In this sigh was so much pain, that Pinkie just cuddled against her Mummy's chest and had to wipe away more tears on her coat. Cloudy took a deep breath and cuddled the filly closer. She nuzzled her face and whispered.
“Do you know, why I don't weep right now?
Because I've to be strong for you and have to comfort thou.
I tell you, I'll weep, as soon as you fall asleep again, I promise.”
As strange as it sounded, it made the little Pinkie nod and she snuggled closer into her mother's hooves.


Pinkie shook away the rest of the memory, wiped furtive over her eyes and raised the hoof further. She laid it gently on Scootaloos neck and petted over her mane. 
The filly sobbed first almost surprised, trembled, but stayed finally. She turned her head to Pinkie and whispered one half of a sentence, before she pressed her face back on her stuffed animal.
“I...don't want to...”
Pinkie didn't listen, but let her hoof stayed on Scootaloo's head. The mare took another deep breath, leaned down to the filly's ears and whispered on her own.
“I'm really sorry, Scootaloo.
I didn't mean to make you sad, really I mean it.
I should really look out more about my dumb blabbering mouth and should...”
Pinkie sounded so calm and gentle, that Scootaloo couldn't do anything else, than cuddled closer to her teddy. Pinkie stopped finally and petted Scootaloo's mane very carefully. The filly raised one hoof, sobbed and interrupted Pinkie's fondling with a low question.
“Do you really want adopt me, Pinkie?”
Her voice crushed after the word adopt and Pinkie had to guess her name, but she nodded nevertheless. The filly breathed out with ease, raised her head and stared at Pinkie for a long time. 
Finally she sobbed once more and shut her eyes closed. A low question came out of her, before she had to snuggle against her stuffed animal and had to cover her face again.

“But why?”