//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - Coronation // Story: The Story Of Rainbow // by thedarktome //------------------------------// "GET UP, PRINCESS!" Rainbow yelped and jumped out the bed at hearing Twilight's voice yelling in her ear. She landed on the floor before groaning, throwing her hooves in the air. Still on the marble flooring, the princess levitated her blankets and pillow down to the floor before falling asleep again. "Seriously, Dash?" Applejack said, walking out of the bathroom. "You have...rubber ducks in the tub with you?" "Put those back, AJ," Rainbow muttered in her sleep. "Or I'll ban you from my castle for as long as you live." "Oh, stop getting such a crooked horn," Twilight said as she walked into the bathroom. "It's nice in here." Rainbow groaned as she reluctantly threw the blankets off and got up, walking into the bathroom. "Fine, I'm up! I'm up! Twilight, get out so I can take my shower." "You can ask nicely," she replied, looking to the right, sticking her nose in the air. Rainbow rolled her eyes and gave a smirk, lighting her horn. A second later, Twilight came flying out of the bathroom, landing and sliding along the floor by her chin before Rainbow shut the bathroom door to take her shower. "You still could've asked, your highness." After that was done, she opened her bathroom door, prepared to get dressed only to see...Rarity? "Ok," Rainbow said, placing her hooves on her face. "How exactly are you guys getting in?" "Your mother wants us to help," she replied, holding a shade of color by the Alicorn's head. She looked at it for a moment before shaking her head and walking back. "Why move your castle down from the air, darling? Too cold up there for ya'?" "It's actually too lonely for-OW! Too lonely for me." Rarity removed the needle from the dress and looked at her work. "Excellent! You look grandeur, darling! Your crown will top it all off today!" Rainbow started walking forward, feeling the white dress with a single rainbow pattern on the back trail along the floor behind her. "Looks great, feels great!" She commented over her shoulder. "Thanks, Rarity!" "You're welcome, darling!" At that moment, the front door opened up to reveal Fluttershy walking towards her with a clipboard. Rainbow smiled before she stopped beside her, showing her the agenda. "Ok, Rainbow. First there's going to be song that is sung by Songbird Serenade. Then there's going to be a speech by Princess Celestia, and then a....ummmm....uhhhh...." The timid pegasus trailed off as she felt a tongue glide repeatedly along her muzzle. She looked to the right to see her marefriend constantly licking her, making everyone watching confused. "Rainbow, we have guests," Fluttershy muttered, blushing. Rainbow dejectedly let go and put on her best pout that she knew Fluttershy just couldn't resist. The timid mare looked at her marefriend sadly before smiling and offering her muzzle back to her. The Alicorn grinned before going back to showing her affection towards the pegasus with her tongue. "Soooo....I guess they're in a relationship?" Twilight asked. "That would explain why Fluttershy stays over most of the time." Rainbow stopped her licking and stepped back, looking at her marefriend. "You should lick me now," Rainbow said as she sat down taking on a regal posture. Fluttershy giggled before she set the clipboard in her saddlebag and walked up to the loyal alicorn before she dtarted licking her muzzle. After awhile, Applejack got a little agitated. "Are you two lovebirds done yet?! The coronation starts in an hour!" Fluttershy giggled before she stopped licking her marefriend's face. "She's right. We'll finish this later on," she said, starting to laugh at Rainbow's cute pout. "Oh don't be like that. You're becoming a princess, Dashie! And your mother's presiding over it! Be happy!" Rainbow huffed before she started smiling again. "Fine. Let's go have breakfast. Is the castle on the groud?" "Yes, it is." She nodded before leading the group towards the bedroom doors where Rainbow Dash swung them open. "Let's please the masses." Scootaloo climbed into a nearby tree, watching all the colts, mares, and fillies make their way towards the outskirts of town by Sweet Apple Acres, where the Coronation is being made at the Princess' castle. "Princess Dash," she whispered, watching from a distance at the castle grounds, piling up with ponies. "Hey!" She looked below her to see those two fillies who were talking to her about her scooter looking up at her. "What are you doing up in the tree? Why not get a closer look like us?" "Yeah!" The one known as Sweetie Belle said. "Come down from there and come with us, we don't bite!" Scootaloo pulled in her lips before letting out a annoyed sigh. The Pegasus jumped down from the tree's tall height and belly flopped on the ground, giving out a loud grunt. "Are you ok?" Apple Bloom asked her. The orphan got up quickly, shaking off the pain. "I'm fine....I'm fine," she spat out hatefully. "Let's just go to the coronation." The fillies began to walk down the path with the other ponies in silence for awhile until Apple Bloom broke it. "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Apple Bloom!" "And I'm Sweetie Belle!" The fillies turned to the Pegasus to see her with a nonchalant look. "Scootaloo." "Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked, confusedly. "Scootaloo." "That's totally coincidental!" Sweetie Belle said, jumping up and down. "Because you have a scooter! And your name is Scootaloo! Your parents must be able to see into the future, huh?" Scootaloo gave off a grunt before responding. "Let's go see how we're going to get a closer look, ok? No more parent stuff." "Why no more-" "No. More. Parent. Stuff." The pegasus said through gritted teeth to Apple Bloom. The two friends looked from her then back to each other confusedly. Why is she so aggressive? Soon, they walked onto the huge cloudy grounds of the castle with the rest of the ponies, eager to see the new Princess of Equestria. The three of them crawled through the hooves of the ponies stationed there, looking at the stand setup there and the balcony of the housing mansion. "That's a really big building," Scootaloo muttered. The sound of fanfare sounded off, quieting the crowd before the announcer came on the microphone. "Introducing her royal majesties, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" The crowd started cheering as the pony sisters walked out of the balcony, smiling and waving their hooves at the huge audience down below. They took a seat on the left side of the doorway that led inside, waiting for the crowd to quiet down. "Introducing their majesties from Saddle Arabia, Delegates Haakim and Amira!" The crowd started cheering again as the two middle eastern royals made their way out onto the balcony, waving at the crowd below before taking a seat on the right side of the balcony doors. The crowd quieted down, waiting for the announcer's next introduction. "And introducing her royal majesty, the new Princess Of Nature, Princess Rainbow Dash!" The crowd down below cheered and stomped their hooves louder than before as tubes of water shot out of the door and over the crowd, before rising and changing into Rainbow's cutie mark, complete with color. "Whoa," Scootaloo muttered before focusing her attention back up to the balcony. Princess Dash was walking out and bowing towards the other delegates and the princesses, who returned the gesture before taking a seat in the middle. Scootaloo only stared as the Princess started waving at the crowd. "So many ponies," Rainbow muttered more to herself than to anyone. "Well they wanted to see the new Princess, Dash," Fluttershy said, walking out from the back and taking a seat beside her ornate chair. "Are the nobles here?" "Down and to the right." Fluttershy looked down in that direction to see a few Equestrian nobles seated in some chairs. "Let's get this thing started." "And now, to present her new song, Rainbow, it's Songbird Serenade!" Everyone cheered as the singer walked up and stood in the middle of the stage. She began to sing her song, impressing the royals and the ponies, and especially Rainbow Dash. "That's....that's actually really good, what song is this?" She asked her assistant. "Rainbow." "Seriously?" Rainbow turned around to face Fluttershy a smile on her face. "The name of this song is Rainbow?" The timid Pegasus nodded. "That is too sweet. Either that or ironic and coincidental." The two directed their attention back to the stage as the song came to a close, making everyone stomp their hooves and scream out as she walked off the stage. The announcer walked back onto the balcony, preparing another announcement. "And now....we will have words from the delegates and the Princesses about their thoughts on Rainbow Dash!" He stepped back away from the mic, letting the Saddle Arabians come up on the stage. "Thank you so much for inviting us here, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," Haakim said to the two Princesses on their right. "When we first heard their was a new Princess in Equestria we had absolutely no idea what they were talking about." The ponies down on the ground laughed, even the fillies except one. "But we had to come out here to see what all the big fuss was about." "Princess Dash," Amira said, turning around to face her. "We expect great things from you. Do whatever is necessary to help buildup Equestria." Rainbow Dash nodded before the crowd clapped and cheered some more while the delegates went back to their seats. Next up were the pony sisters, specifically Rainbow's mother, Celestia. "When I first heard Rainbow Dash was still alive after all this time, I was bewildered. I had lost contact with her years ago. It was a hard time for us back then and there will be more struggles up ahead. But now we can face them together, Rainbow Dash. Welcome to the family of Equestria." "My sister speaks the truth!" Luna yelled. "Rainbow Dash, Princess of Nature! I can see now that you will do great things! Make the rainbow happen!" The crowd cheered some more and stomped their hooves while Princess Luna went back to her seat. Celestia made her way over to the side towards a locked box, where she stuck in her horn, making it pop open. Inside was a golden crown, made up of several different colored gems. "Rainbow Dash. Please rise." The cerulean Alicorn rose to her feet and faced her mother. "Do you forever swear...to have Equestria, and only Equestria's...best intentions in mind....and to only do what is right for Equestria and it's citizens of this great land?" "I do." "Then by the power invested in me, Celestia, Princess of the Sun, you are now formally named Princess Rainbow Dash of Equestria, Princess of Nature." The princess of the sun placed the crown on Rainbow Dash's head, then secretly whispered: "I'm proud of you sweetheart." "Thanks, mom," she whispered back. Dash lifted her head and turned to the crowd grinning. The crowd started cheering and stomping their hooves more so than they already were. The princess of nature waved down to the ponies below, locking her eyes with a certain orange Pegasus with a magenta mane who was just staring at her nonchalantly. Rainbow smiled at her only to see her sigh and walk away, back into the crowd. The Princess raised an eyebrow before she redirected her attention back to the crowd, continuing to smile and wave. "Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom yelled as she and Sweetie caught up to her outside of Sweet Apple Acres. "Why are you leaving? Is everything alright?" "No," she replied coldly. "It's not but it's none of your concern. Just leave me alone." "But, we-" "Just....leave me alone. Please." The two fillies stopped and watched as the angry Pegasus walked back into town, leaving them confused. "So we're going on the parade and the party now," Sweetie Drops said as she accompanied the princess down the steps with everyone else. "We'll be providing deep protection. Most of your guards are wearing your custom armor too." "Wait, I didn't get to see the custom armor yet!" "Well....you see them now," Sweetie Drops replied, pointing in front of her. There was a guard standing there in golden armor, wearing a helmet with a rainbow mane on it, as well as Dash's cutie mark on the sides. "Oh, OK I like that. It is SO awesome!" The group chuckled before they made their way out the door of the housing building, where there were multiple lines of screaming and chanting ponies, watching as she waved. The princess got into her rainbow tinted chariot and continued to wave as she was pulled towards the loop of the castle grounds. The other princesses and delegates were right behind her, flanking her left and right as they made their way through the mass of the ponies, heading towards the square. They were followed by the rest of the town's citizens while passing Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity and Applejack spotted their sisters siting on the side underneath a tree, talking about something where Sweetie Belle had to jump up and down, intriguing their curiosity. "What ya' think they talkin' about?" Applejack asked Rarity who only shrugged in response. "Well let's go find out." The two ponies turned to the right heading towards the tree the fillies were under, raising an eyebrow at the over dramatic movements Sweetie Belle was making with her hooves. "Sweetie Belle?" Her sister called out, getting their attention. "What's going on? Why are you two over here?" "Well we were watching the coronation when somepony we tried to make our friend just up and left!" Apple Bloom said. "We asked her why she left and if everything was okay and she was like 'no, it's not,'" Sweetie belle continued, watching as the crowd walked by. "She must've been having a hard time because she was all dirty and had a scar on her right cheek. We're thinking that she could be doing something dangerous." "What did this filly look like?" Applejack asked a little concerned. "She was an orange Pegasus, with very small wings and deep purple hair," Sweetie Belle said, pointing to her mane. "She headed into town." "Okay, well hop on," Rarity as she kneeled, letting her little sister climb on her back. "We're going into town to talk to this filly." "You too, Applebloom," Applejack said, repeating the act. Once their sisters were situated the four of them caught up with the parade, heading towards the center of town. "Stupid ponies," the small-winged Pegasus muttered, kicking a rock out of the way. "All they do is eat and play while I'm out here on..." Scootaloo sighed before she sat down dejectedly in front of her padlocked home. She was able to get her stuff out, which was sitting by the door, including her scooter. But that wouldn't help her find a warm place to rest at for the upcoming winter. Her ears perked up at the sound of hooves walking by, making her dart her eyes to the right. The parade of soldiers, princesses, and ponies were starting to walk by, making her roll her eyes and get up. She grabbed her scooter and hopped on before buzzing her wings, making her fly straight past the succession and catching Rainbow Dash's eye in the process. "Who is that?" She muttered. Scootaloo rode into the square and gasped, nearly falling, at seeing all the unattended stands with plenty of food, clothing, and even blankets. She looked behind her, calculating how much time she had to get her hooves all over the goods. Thinking she had enough time, she jumped off her scooter before going up to the closest stand, grabbing two blankets, covering herself before going around with a bag that she retrieved, filling it up with goods that she could use, unaware of four ponies walking into the square. "She was orange huh?" Applejack asked. "How about her....hey!" Scootaloo turned her head around to see the four ponies staring at her. "That's not yours, put that down!" The Pegasus bared her teeth and got an angry look before going back to the basket, grabbing four more cabbages and throwing them into the bag with the other stuff. "Scootaloo, what are you doing? That's stealing!" Sweetie Belle yelled out, watching as she got one more item and then ran down an alleyway. "Oh, no you dont! Hold on Apple Bloom!" The farmer started running towards the alleyway, followed closely by Rarity and Sweetie Belle as they tried to catch the Pagasus with the dirty coat and mane. The filly ducked underneath a stand, coming out on the other side. Her pursuers darted around the stand and came out on the other side, not even wasting a second as she continued her running. The thief turned right, went on for a little while longer before passing in front of the library, where the party was to be held at. Applejack leaped over and landed in front of her, making her skid to a halt. "Drop the food!" She ordered with Apple Bloom sitting on her back with dizzy eyes. Scootaloo snarled angrily before she turned around spotting Rarity blocking her path. "Darling, just leave the food behind! Stealing is wrong!" "I have no choice!" Scootaloo yelled back. "Out of my way! Now!" Rarity lit her horn, trying to pull the bag of food out of her teeth. Scootaloo pulled the food back, struggling to keep the bag in her jaws. Applejack walked forward and grabbed the filly by the back and tried pulling her off, only to find her tough. "Oh my Celestia! She's a tough one!" Applejack said. The pegasus continued to pull the food, yanking it left and right like a dog as she tried to make them loosen their grasp. They fought for awhile until a voice made them stop. "What is going on here?" They all turned their heads to see Rainbow Dash staring at them chuckling, along with the rest of the princesses, guards, and the civilians. "AJ getting bested by a filly? Now THIS is a show! But seriously, what's happening?" "She's stealing food, Rainbow!" Rarity said. "We saw her going through the stands while everyone was coming this way!" Rainbow raised an eyebrow before turning to the aggressive child. Everyone else was crowding around, trying to figure out what was going on. "Why were you stealing food?" Rainbow asked. Applejack and Rarity let her go, before she responded back. "Because if I don't, I'm dead!" "Kid, I'm sure people around here will feed you," Rainbow said. "This is Ponyville! Nice is pretty much its nickname. Now where are your parents? And...you seem a little...rough." "Actually yeah," Apple Bloom said, jumping off of Applejack's back. "Where are your parents? You wouldn't talk about them when we asked you." Scootaloo wouldn't answer she just stared at the ground, silent tears coming down her face. "Are you a runaway?" Rarity asked. "That's more understandable if you are." Scootaloo slowly looked up at the princess before answering. "Dead." The ponies looked at her confused before she continued. "They're gone. These-" She lifted her fight hoof, showing the two necklaces wrapped around it. "-are my parents' last thing they gave to me before they DIED! TRYING TO PROTECT ME FROM A BUNCH OF TIMBERWOLVES! THEY'RE GONE!! GONE AND THERE'S NOTHING I COULD DO!!! I WATCHED AS THE WOLVES WENT BACK INTO THE WOODS TO FINISH MY PARENTS OFF! I HAVE NO HOME! NO FAMILY! I'M ALONE!" She dropped to the ground and buried her head into her hooves, yelling and crying. The four ponies who chased her stared on in shock, the rest of the crowd looking no better. Rainbow sighed before she raised a hoof and waved it forward without looking away from Scootaloo, making a guard come to her side. "Yes, your highness?" "Have a scout group go into the woods. Search for two ponies." The guard nodded before he went back to the others picking out a handful of guards who followed him towards the Everfree forest. "You're coming with me kid." Rainbow reached down and picked up the saddened filly, carrying her back towards the chariot. The crowd parted before she made it to the ride, softly placing her down on the carpeting there before hopping in herself. "ONWARD!" The guards searched through the wooded area, coming up with conversations on what they heard. "Do you really think two ponies got killed in here?" One guard asked the commander. "I know this forest is bad, but..." "I don't know. But there's a reason ponies don't like coming in here. If it's true, I hope this place becomes off-limits. It's already freaky enough without having pony-eating wolves in here." They continued talking, looking this way and that in the deep forest until a guard trotted up to the commander. "Sir, we found something." The leader nodded as they all followed the messenger towards a more brighter area in the woods. "We first noticed something when there were scratch marks on the bark of this trunk here." They all turned their heads towards the tree to see deep marks, three of them, on the trunk of the weird tree. "Then we found...this." The guard stepped aside to reveal...two limbless ponies. Their bodies were practically ate up, scratches and deep gashes all over them, their limbs gone. One a mare, another a stallion. "A magenta mare and an orange stallion," a guard said sadly. "The same colors of that filly." The soldiers all looked on in sadness at the scene. "Tell the princess we've found them," the commander ordered a guard. "A magenta mare and an orange stallion. Go" Back in ponyville, the ponies were dancing while the Princesses and delegates were converging with Princess Dash on leadership and other things that may have to come into play. Scootaloo was sitting in between her front hooves while they talked, listening every now and then about different situations. "What's your name, kid?" Rainbow asked looking down at the filly. "You have one right? If you don't I'll have to name you, and you really don't want that. I named Applejack because she started jacking my apples." "That is a lie!" The princesses laughed at Applejacks declaration before focusing their attention back on the filly. "Scootaloo," she said sadly. "So I take it that this-" she levitated a scooter in front of her. "-is yours?" "Well I found that in the Whitetail Woods." "Like I said, it's yours. It looks pretty old and beaten. Probably been in there for awhile. So you might as well claim it." She brought the scooter towards Scootaloo watching as she took it in her hooves. The princesses smiled when she looked up at Rainbow Dash, smiling until a guard came up to her, whispering in her ear. "We found two bodies, your highness. One a mare, colored magenta. Another, a stallion. Orange." Rainbow closed her eyes and glanced at the filly who was looking back down at the ground in sadness. "State?" she whispered. "Deceased." Rainbow sighed before nodding to the guard. "Retrieve the others, bring them back here to relax." The guard nodded and left before she turned to Scootaloo. "Hey, why not go out there and have fun with Applejack and Rarity's sisters? I'm pretty sure they wanted to have some fun with you! See if you can show them some tricks on your scooter. I, personally, would love to see that!" Scootaloo looked back up at the princess to see her smiling gleefully. She smiled back before grabbing her scooter and hopping on, buzzing off to see those two fillies. Once she was out of earshot, Rainbow dash turned back to the other royals. "They found two bodies in the woods. A magenta mare, and an orange colt." They all got a sad look before turning back to Scootaloo seeing her intermingle with the other two fillies. "So she is an orphan," Luna said. "Where was she living before?" "I believe near Sweet Apple Acres," the princess of nature answered. "When we were parading by, I saw her sitting in front of a padlocked home. It looked foreclosed. There were belongings by the door and she was just sitting there before she hopped on her scooter and...scooted off." They all looked back to see the fillies running around until Apple Bloom bumped into a crate, knocking out all of the apples. The three of them looked at the mess before Sweetie Belle shrugged, making them smile and go back to running around. "I have a feeling they're going to be trouble. BIG....trouble." "Especially if that glass is-" Luna was interrupted as the glass container was suddenly knocked over, falling off the stand, smashing apart on the ground. "If that glass WAS anything to go by. What are you going to do with Scootaloo, Dash?" Dash chuckled, watching as the fillies all crashed into a crate of cabbages, not watching where they were going. Scootaloo poked her head out first, looking around. Spotting Rainbow, she smiled and waved, making her wave back. "Well....I'll take her under my wing for awhile....literally. No filly deserves to be parentless. I'll have the food returned and have her stay with me at the castle until I find a permanent placement for her. For some odd reason, Equestria has never had a reason for adoption." "If the parents do not want to take care of their foal," Celestia explained, sitting beside her daughter. "They usually pass them off to a current family member. It is what has always happened in every case. But she...apparently has absolutely no family." The fillies came trotting back over to the princesses, Rainbow smiling down at them. "What's with all the smashing and crashing, squirt?" "I'm still trying to get the hang of this stupid scooter!" Scootaloo said, nudging the toy. "I can only ride it so far, not do tricks." "Eh, it's alright. It takes practice. It took a while for me to know how to fly. Like....a month. It usually takes a week to know how to fly for a normal Pegasus." Scootaloo got a sad look on her face before flinching from the noticeable scar on her cheek. Rainbow dash leaned forward, tilting up the filly's chin so she can look at the scar. "It's starting to bruise," she said. "Maybe Nurse Redheart has some cream for that. We'll see. Guess what?" "What?" "You're staying with me at the castle for awhile." Scootaloo gasped before buzzing her wings, grinning. "What?! Really?!" "Yep! Where are the rest of your things? I'll have someone get it for ya' and put it in the castle." "It's in front of the ONLY house here that's padlocked. This is SO AWESOME!" Celestia looked towards and smiled at her daughter. "She has your...speech and rebellious attitude, you know." "I do." "What about the nobles?" Haakim asked her. "They will try to see to it that the child does not stay with you. They will say it is in violation of 'customs.'" "And I will ask them to present those customs to me in front of a background checked group of historians. Just to make sure that they're telling the truth. And if it is? I'll tell them to clean out their ears before I yell at them to shove it! I'm smart, not an idiot." "Yeah right!" "SHUT UP, AJ!"