Rainbow Dash stood outside the seemingly innocent family home, her fearful hesitation beginning to take over as her anger began to subside. Was it really right for to meat Scootaloo’s parents? Was it even right to leave her with the kind of ponies that for, whatever reason, had not shown her the love she needed? It would’ve been so easy for Rainbow Dash to take her sister home with her, tuck her into a comfortable cloud bed and watch her remain peaceful and safe for the night. But that would’ve been for her. Not for Scootaloo. Rainbow knew what had to happen and thus managed to push her own desires aside as she finally brought herself to knock on the door.
“Here goes nothin’.” She thought to herself.
Rainbow waited approximately thirty seconds, before a yellow mare, with a thunder cloud for a cutie mark, answered the door. Electric Breeze, Scootaloo’s mother. Her coat was bright yellow, as her name suggested, with a short purple mane, similar to that of her daughter’s, giving off a perfect juxtaposition. Despite clearly being older than Rainbow, showing the beginnings of wrinkles on her face, she was considerably smaller than Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t dangerously thin, clearly being well fed, yet the noticeable difference in height and body mass between her and Rainbow was undeniable. Though Rainbow was an experienced athlete, pushing herself everyday to reach new speed, it was only natural that she had gained considerable muscle. But Rainbow couldn’t ignore just how run down the mare looked, with small wings that resembled those of the filly in her forelegs and a slanted posture that would’ve made Rarity cringed. Though Electric quickly composed herself to look seasonable when she realised who was at the door.
“Hi, em… You’re Scootaloo’s mom, right?”
“That I am… And you’re THE Rainbow Dash!” Electric said in a stallion like, raspy voice that sounded like a deepened version of Scootaloo’s own.
“The one and only! It’s nice to finally meet you… Em, what should I call ya?”
“Oh… I’m Electric Breeze. And it is GREAT to finally meet you! Scootaloo really appreciates what you’ve been doing for her lately, we all do, she’s seemed so much happier. In fact, I’ll go get her now, she’ll be thrilled to see you again!”
“Eh, hem.” Rainbow pronounced, pushing the sleeping filly into the light radiating from the house, yet still keeping a tight grasp on her.
“Wait… She wasn’t at home!”
“Uh! ‘fraid not, I’ve been with her all afternoon, we’ve both had a great day. But, ya really didn’t notice she wasn’t home.”
“Well… She wasn’t home when either me, or my husband got home… And, I guess the thought just never crossed our minds again. I’m sorry Rainbow. I know how this must make us look.”
“SERIOUSLLY! How could you just… Never mind, I’m not a parent so I wouldn’t know, I bet this kinda thing happens all the time. An’ hey, she’s home, safe now… And that’s what’s important.”
“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right.”
Noticing the anger Rainbow was beginning to show, Electric tried her best to change the topic of conversation.
“My Celestia, isn’t she just the cutest thing there in your forelegs.”
“Ha, I guess you’re right, even I can’t deny how cute she looks. You should ‘a seen her before, she was SO tired! She’s worked really hard today with her flying, it shouldn’t be long now until…”
Rainbow was interrupted as she felt Electric quickly hugging her, squeezing the tiny filly in-between them into a warm, yet uncomfortable position, Electric quickly realised this and pulled away.
“Thank you, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo’s always been so embarrassed about not being able to fly. We’re very happy that she has somepony like you, she really needs it right now.”
“Are you kiddin’, it’s my pleasure! Little Squirt here just keeps getting more awesome every time I see her. I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything!”
“You’re lucky, Dash.” Electric whispered under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing! Nothing. Ha, just sayin’ that I’d loved to ‘ve seen her today. I bet she was really awesome.”
“Ha, you’re not wrong there.” Rainbow said as she nuzzled Scootaloo. “But here, she needs a good rest now, so go and tuck her into bed, I’ll still be here in the mornin’. Just… Just promise me that you won’t forget that she’s not home again. Even a town as safe as Ponyville isn’t a nice place for little fillies all alone, especially at night. She could ‘ve been hurt or scared. She was with me today, but who knows what might happen in the future.”
“Thanks Rainbow Dash, I won’t forget again.”
“Ha, I know you won’t, you seem like a good enough mare, and we all make mistakes.”
“No, but seriously, Rainbow Dash, thank you for all you’ve done today.”
“Again, my pleasure… Say, do ya think we should meet up sometime. With you’re husband maybe, just so I can show you some tips in teaching Scoots about flying when I’m not around.”
“That sounds great… We’d love to.”
“Good, we’ll discuss the details later though, you look exhausted and this little one needs a soft bed.”
“Oh, I’ve just had a long day is all, no biggie. But I’ll get her to bed right away. I look forward to seeing you again, I bet she can’t either.”
The two shared an innocent laugh, before Rainbow handed Scootaloo over to Electric, feeling somewhat uneasy throughout the transaction, but quickly dismissing it as a dumb thought.
“Have a nice night!” Rainbow shouted as she began her short trip to her cloud home.
…
Rainbow pondered on her thoughts of Electric Breeze. Her interaction having not gone as she had expected. She had braced herself for Scootaloo’s parents to be the scum of Ponyville, being a disgrace to the pride all ponies took in love and friendship by neglecting their own foal and being all around unpleasant. Yet Electric Breeze had appeared as kind, caring and certainly showing a loving affection for Scootaloo. However, Rainbow knew that something was amiss, a parent wouldn’t have just forgotten that their filly wasn’t home. She knew from talking with her own parents, as well as her experience with Scootaloo on the mountain, two weeks prior, that any reasonable guardian would’ve mentally broken down at the mere thought of their precious foal being in danger, let alone being stranded in the cold of the night on their own. They would’ve quickly set out with furious determination to find their little darling, swiftly finding them, and taking them to the safety and warmth of home, never letting them out of their sight again! It simply didn’t make sense to her that a parent could just forget about their foal being alone in the night. Rainbow hoped that her parents were still awake, maybe they could have understood.
Rainbow quietly opened the door to her cloud home, not wanting to wake her parents, if they were asleep. However, she ultimately found them sharing a loving kiss on her sofa. Whilst Rainbow had always found her parent’s affection for each other embarrassing as a young filly, she couldn’t help but smile at it as a grown mare.
“He, should I just leave you two at it then?”
“Oh… Uh… Hi Dashy. Are you okay? Is Scootaloo safe at home?... What were her parents like?”
“Ha, I’m fine dad, and Scootaloo’s safe at her home. But about her parents… I only got ta meet her mom, and she definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“Oh, how so? Was she kind? Have we just been over exaggerating things?”
“Well… Ya see mom, her name’s Electric Breeze, an’ she was actually kinda nice, she was constantly complimenting me, an’ she clearly loved Scootaloo. But… at the same time… There was something a little wrong about her. I mean, she just FORGOT, that Scootaloo wasn’t home. Who does that! So now I don’t know what to think, whilst she’s clearly a good mare, I’m also glad that we’ve been tryin’ find out more about Scoot’s home life. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it be… But still.”
“Rainbow… Are you really telling us that this mother, just forgot that her daughter wasn’t safe at home?”
“Yeah, yeah I am dad. It doesn’t seem right, does it?”
“No, it isn’t right Dashy. It’s good to give foals a little leeway as they grow up, it helps them get more independent. But just… FORGETTING! Forgetting that your little filly isn’t at home, not caring that they might be in some serious trouble or alone and afraid in the dark. Especially with somepony as small and young as Scootaloo. I’m sorry Dashy, but I can’t forgive that kind of neglectful parenting!”
“Now calm down Bow. There’s got to be more to this than meets the eye. We’re only going off Rainbow’s first interaction with Scootaloo’s mother. We don’t know everything yet. You said it yourself Dashy that you didn’t meet Scootaloo’s father, maybe he was more concerned. And even then, you also said that… Electric, was that her name? Was otherwise a nice pony, that’s got to be worth something Bow.”
“Yeah, I can’t deny that there was clearly something wrong about her, and were gonna need to look into this more, but she was still nice, and I think we can trust her with Scootaloo.”
“Sorry Rainbow, I guess I did over react a little. It’s just… After spendin’ all day with her, I can’t help but want her to be safe with a family that’ll love her like we were. So, hearing that her mom just… Forgot about her. I just can’t stand it.
“Oh Bow, I’m not saying that we should just forgive Scootaloo’s mom for what she did. You’re right, that kind of parenting should not be excused. I’m just saying that we need to consider the reasons why she forgot, so we can understand her a little better. Anger isn’t going to help anypony… As tempting as it seems right now.”
“Sorry guys, I really lost myself there.”
“Don’t worry ‘bout it dad, we all get angry, especially at times like this. But I arranged to meet up with both of Scootaloo’s parents some time soon, so I can find out more about ‘em. So at least we’re moving forward with the investigation. I won’t lie though, I’m kinda angry myself at what she did… But we don’t know everything yet, so we’ve gotta stay calm.”
“Thanks, Dashy, I’m okay now. An’ it’s good to hear that you’re gonna be meeting with Scootaloo’s parents again, the more we can learn, the better. But… You said before that you think we can trust Scootaloo with her parents, are you really sure about that?”
Dash looked away from her parents upon hearing Bow’s comment, showing hesitation in responding. Though she quickly felt Windy’s hoof gently brushing through her mane, as she gave her daughter a concerned, yet welcoming smile, easing Rainbow’s mind and compelling her to speak.
“I… I don’t know dad. I mean, Electric just forgot about her daughter! I don’t care if she clearly cares about Scootaloo, no responsible parent should do that. And I don’t know if I like the idea of leaving Scoots with that kind of pony… Not until I know more.”
“Sorry Dashy… Forget I brought it up. We’ll continue our investigation in the mornin’, but for now, let’s get some rest. There’s nothin’ more we can do today.”
“No, I… I’m jut gonna go check on her real quick. I’ll look through her window to make sure that she’s safe and asleep, and then I’ll be right back here.”
“Are you sure you want to do this Dashy, it’s getting pretty late, and you look almost as tired as Scootaloo was.”
“Yeah, mom, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep right if I don’t know that she’s safe. I know it’s weird and mushy, but I gotta do this.”
“Okay then Rainbow, but get home quick! Scootaloo’s parents aren’t the only ponies who should be getting worried at the thought of their little filly being out alone at night.”
“Ha, okay mom, I’ll be back soon.”
Rainbow Dash hugged her parents before taking off to Scootaloo’s house. Part of her didn’t know what she was doing. She knew that Scootaloo was safe and asleep. Yet another part of her needed reassurance, needed to know that, despite Electric’s mistake, she could still provide proper hospitality for her Scootaloo.
That night had left her only with more questions than answers, though she did find comfort in the fact that at least the situation wasn’t as bad as she had thought. But now she couldn’t help but wonder why Electric had forgotten about her own daughter? And why had she looked so run down? Those questions could wait for the morning however. As Rainbow Dash only had one goal on her mind as she flew back to the small home.