//------------------------------// // Graduation // Story: Moving Forward // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// "Scootaloo," principal Swift Rise said as she held up a diploma and Scootaloo walked across the stage in the park at the high school and took the diploma with a smile. "Congratulations Scootaloo, I knew you could do it." "Thank you," The Pegasus said with a smile as she took her diploma and headed back to her seat next to her fiance Sweetie Belle who gave her a smile before she was called up to the stage next. Scootaloo smiled a little as she watched Sweetie take her diploma. It had been a crazy time at high school given that she had become pregnant just three years prior. She looked back behind her towards the crowd where Rainbow Dash was sitting along with a small light blue filly with a two toned purple and light blue mane. It hadn't been easy to figure things out ever since Storm Chaser had been born but she had managed so far with her family and friends. Just that past Hearth's Warming she had proposed to Sweetie Belle and they were set to be married in just a few months. Scootaloo smiled a little and put her hoof on Sweetie's as the white unicorn sat down next to her. "How do I look?" Sweetie asked softly as she brushed her mane back under her hat. She had been the valedictorian for the class and was still a little nervous after having given her speech. "Did I do okay?" "You did fine Sweetie, and you look beautiful," Scootaloo answered as she leaned over and kissed her fiance gently on the lips. "I love you Sweetie Belle, more than anything else in Equestria." Sweetie smiled and kissed her back as she nuzzled the Pegasus gently. She had loved Scootaloo ever since their Freshman year in High School and with everything that was going on she had been unsure if she would ever even get a chance with the Pegasus, but here she was, getting ready to marry her in just a few months. As the graduation ceremony came to a close they headed back towards the crowd to meet up with Apple Bloom, Rarity, Applejack, and Scootaloo's moms and daughter. "You looked great up there Sweetie," Rarity said as she hugged her little sister. "Yeah, yah did great," Apple Bloom said as Scootaloo gently picked up Storm Chaser who hugged her. "So how does it feel to have graduated finally?" Rainbow asked with a grin as she ruffled Scootaloo's mane. "I knew you could do it, I'm so very proud of you." "Thanks," Scootaloo said as she hugged Storm Chaser back gently. "Its hard to believe that we made it out of this crazy past few years though." "Yeah, but I wouldn't trade it for anything," Sweetie said as she kissed Scootaloo gently on the cheek. "And I wouldn't trade you and Stormy for anything, I love you both more than anything." "Mama Sweetie," Stormy said with a giggle as she looked between Sweetie and Scootaloo. "Yep, that's right," Scootaloo said with a giggle as she nuzzled her daughter gently. "I know everything's been hard for the last two years, but I have the best family in Equestria right now. I love you both and I'm glad that I have you, all of you." "We're glad to have you part of the family too darling," Rarity said with a smile as she put her foreleg around Applejack gently. "We all consider you part of the family even though you haven't married Sweetie yet, right Applejack?" "Right," Applejack said with a nod. Scootaloo smiled a little, Applejack and Rarity had gotten married to one another the year before at around the same time Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had gotten married. "Which means ya'll should came ta tha Family Reunion this year." "Oh, I've got a fantastic idea, why don't you two get married on the Summer Sun Celebration?" Rarity suggested and looked between the couple. "I mean that's when the Family Reunion too, so it could welcome you into the family as well. What do you think?" Scootaloo thought for a long moment, she hadn't really thought about the possibility of getting married on that day. That would only be the next month and they had done a lot to prepare already but they hadn't settled on a day. "What do you think Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked as she looked over at her fiance. "I wouldn't mind doing that, do you think we'll be ready for the wedding that soon?" "Well, we're getting pretty close to ready," Sweetie said with a nod as she looked down at Stormy. "And I'm pretty sure Pinkie has been planning this for even longer knowing her." "That's right!" Pinkie said as she bounced by. "How did she... never mind, I don't want to know," Scootaloo said with a groan and shook her head at the strange pony as they headed out of the park and off towards Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo's house. 00000 Scootaloo sighed a little, there was a party going on downstairs to celebrate graduation and honestly she wasn't sure if she wanted to be down there right now. She smiled as she tucked Storm Chaser in for her nap and looked down at her, she was sleeping so peacefully. "Is she okay?" Sweetie Belle asked softly as she came in and looked down at the sleeping foal. "Yeah, she went to sleep without much problem," Scootaloo said as she put her wing gently over Sweetie Belle. "She's a good filly when she wants to be at least." Sweetie giggled a little as she kissed Scootaloo a kiss on the cheek. "You're a really good mom Scootaloo, I couldn't be happier to have you as my fiance." Scootaloo smiled as she pulled Sweetie in closer. "I try my best, and it helps that I have one of the most amazing ponies in Equestria as my fiance. I don't know what I'd do without you or Rainbow Dash." "Probably go crazy," Sweetie said with a quiet giggle before the two of them headed downstairs towards the living room where the party was. "I think Pinkie's still disappointed that she's not going to be able to use her party cannon again." "Well, she'll live and I'd rather not have to put her back down to bed," Scootaloo said with a chuckle as they headed into the living room. "Hey, there's the happy couple," Rainbow said with a smile as the two entered the living room. "How's Stormy doing?" "She's doing pretty well," Scootaloo said with a nod as she looked at the other ponies. She smiled a little, her friends and family including her moms, aunts, and her little cousins had all come for the party and she smiled a little as Hazel and Wintergreen came over and hugged her. "Hey you two, how's it going?" She asked with a smile as she hugged the fillies back. "Are you still being good for your moms?" "Maaaaybe," Hazel said with a giggle. "We're so glad to see you again, congratulations on graduating, you too Sweetie!" Scootaloo smiled a little as she looked over at Holiday and Lofty who gave her a smile and a nod. Everything was going pretty well all things considered, she had a family, friends, and she was happy that she had a chance to do this. "Thank you both," Sweetie said with a smile as she looked down at the two. "So, have you two figured out anything more about your wedding?" Holiday asked as she looked at us curiously. "I mean you've been planning it for awhile, right?" "Yeah, we're thinking about maybe next month on the Summer Sun Celebration," Sweetie said as she looked over at Scootaloo with a nod. "I just hope that we'll be able to get everything together in time." "Don't worry , you'll do fine and we'll make sure everything is ready!" Pinkie said happily. "In the meantime lets all just have fun okay?" Scootaloo smiled as she went to mingle with the guests. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon waved to her before they headed over to meet up with her. She smiled a little, the two had become closer to the crusaders while Scootaloo had been pregnant and had become more or less members of the group themselves. "Hey Scootaloo," Diamond said with a smile. "How does it feel to be a High School Graduate finally?" "Pretty good," Scootaloo said with a shrug, the two earth ponies had graduated the year before. "So, what about you two, anything new going on?" "Well, I came out to my parents a little while ago," Diamond said as she placed her hoof on Silver Spoon's. "Dad was pretty much okay with it and Mom is slowly coming around to it, at least I hope she is." "Well, I'm glad everything seems to be working out for the two of you," Scootaloo said as she looked back at her own mom who were talking with Rarity and Applejack. She smiled a little, while she had spent most of her life in orphanages she had come to live with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy when she later moved in. "So, what are you and Sweetie Belle going to do after the wedding? Do you have a place you're going to move in yet?" Silver Spoon asked. "Well, we've been looking into a few places but there's not much we can afford right this moment," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "Now that we're out of school though we should be able to work on that." "Well, you could always move in with us," Diamond suggested. "We've been talking about it and all you'd have to do is pay part of the rent and we'd be glad to have you three move in, if you want." Scootaloo was a bit surprised by the offer. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shared a fairly large house outside of town and it actually would be the perfect place for them to live. She hadn't ever expected them to offer that. "I'll talk with Sweetie Belle, if nothing else comes up we might take you up on your offer," she said with a nod. "So, where's Blueberry Milkshake?" Silver Spoon asked as she looked around for the orphanage's matron that had raised Scootaloo. "I thought she'd be here by now." "Oh, she'll be here soon, she just had to..." Scootaloo started to say when there was a knock on the door. Everypony else was here already so she figured that was probably Blueberry. "That should be her now, I'll go answer the door." "Okay," Diamond said as she went back to talking with Silver Spoon as Scootaloo headed off to answer the door. "Hey, we were wondering when you were..." Scootaloo started to say as she opened the door and stopped in mid-sentence when she saw who was on the other side. Standing there was an Earth pony stallion with a light orange coat and light blue eyes that was dressed in the armor of a member of the Royal Guard. "Uh, can I help you?" "Yeah, I'm looking for Rainbow Dash," the royal guard pony said as he looked at Scootaloo curiously for a moment. "Is she home?" "Uh, yeah," Scootaloo said as she looked back behind her. "Mom, there's a Royal Guard here who wants to talk to you about something." "A Royal Guard?" Rainbow asked as she walked into the foyer and stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing here?" "Hello Rainbow," the stallion said with a soft sigh and looked towards Rainbow Dash with a sigh. "Holiday talked to me about what's going on and I wanted to try and talk to you again. I know what I did wasn't something that can be easily forgiven, but I want to at least try and talk to you, can you at least give me that?" Rainbow looked between the stallion and Scootaloo before she sighed a little. "Okay, we can talk upstairs in my room. Scootaloo, if you want to go check on Stormy I would do it now." Scootaloo just blinked and looked at her mom as she tried to figure out what was going on as she headed upstairs with the strange stallion. "What's going on?" She asked as she looked at Fluttershy. "Who was that pony?" "Umm... that's something for you to ask Rainbow," Fluttershy said nervously. "She'll tell you when she's ready, okay?" Scootaloo sighed a little and nodded before she headed upstairs to check on Stormy. The 2 year old filly's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at her mom with a smile. "What wrong mama?" She asked as Scootaloo gently picked her up. "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just kind of wondering about something that's going on," Scootaloo said as she nuzzled her daughter gently. "Come on, lets go downstairs so that everypony can see you." Scootaloo placed the filly gently on her back before they headed downstairs together. She took one last look back towards the door to Rainbow and Fluttershy's room as she wondered what might be going on. 00000 Rainbow sighed and looked back at the stallion who had removed his helmet at this point revealing a short light purple mane. She hadn't ever expected to see this stallion again, especially given what he had done to her, but here he was in her house. "Look, Rainbow, I know that..." the stallion started to say before he got a glare from Rainbow Dash. "Traveler, I know what you're going to say but I don't want to hear it right now," Rainbow said with a sigh as she brushed her mane back. "You ran out on me after you found out I was pregnant, you could've stayed here and helped me out. What explanation do you have for your actions?" "I... admit I don't have one," he said with a shake of his head. "When I found out you were pregnant I was terrified of the idea of being a father. I didn't think I was going to be a good father and my family was moving out so I wound up leaving. I'm sorry Rainbow, I shouldn't have left you behind like I did." "You're right you shouldn't have," Rainbow said with a sigh as she looked at Traveler and shook her head. "That mare who greeted me at the door, she called you mom, is she..." Traveler started to say and shook his head a little. "Our daughter?" "Yeah, she is," Rainbow said with a sigh. "After you left I couldn't handle being a single mom so I put her up for adoption. I adopted her a few years ago because... well that's a long story in itself. Her name is Scootaloo and I'm very proud of her for everything she's done, but sometimes I'm worried about her." "Well Rainbow, I'm glad she turned out okay at least," Traveler said with a shake of his head. "I'm just came here to apologize and try and do what I can to make up for everything I did." Rainbow sighed a little and looked at him. Should she actually give him a second chance after everything that had happened? "What brought this on?" She asked as she looked at him for a long moment. "This seems kind of random for you to suddenly decide to come in now." "Well, Holiday mentioned that she reconnected with you and our daughter," Traveler said with a shake of his head. "She also mentioned that she was getting married and..." "You wanted to try and connect with her right?" Rainbow asked and he nodded a little. "Okay, I guess that's understandable but I still kind of wish you had given me more of a notice." "Well, I'm on leave for a little while from the Guard," he said with a nod. "Princess Luna seemed a bit worried about what had been going on here for some reason so Celestia gave me leave for as long as I needed or as long as she didn't need me." Rainbow sighed and looked down at her hooves. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, while she had certainly hoped that Scootaloo would forgive her for having given her up, but could Rainbow forgive somepony for something similar? She sighed a little and looked back out the window for a moment and closed her eyes as she thought over her options before nodding. "Okay, I'll give you a chance but I'm happily married so if you want to..." "Oh, no I understand that you've moved on with your life," he said with a nod. "I just, want to get to know my daughter if she wants it." "Okay, I'll tell her and we'll see what she wants to do," Rainbow said with a sigh as she brushed her mane back. "There's something else you should know though... we have a granddaughter." Traveler blinked a little and looked at her in surprise. "What happened?" "Scootaloo was in a relationship with a colt a few years ago and she got pregnant," Rainbow said with a sigh. "Its why I wound up adopting her and I've been helping take care of the filly. "Where's the father? I'm guessing he's not the one she's marrying," Traveler said as he narrowed his eyes. "We don't really know..." Rainbow said with a shake of her head. "Right now she's just trying to manage the best she can. And no, she's marrying her childhood friend that she started dating around the same time." Traveler sighed and nodded. "I'd like to meet her, if that's okay." Rainbow sighed and nodded. "Okay, lets go downstairs," she said and the two headed downstairs to join the party.