For four long days, Rainbow Dash waffled on what she should do. What Scootaloo was asking of her was a big step, and one she wasn’t sure she was ready to take. She felt herself pulled in two severely different directions. Of course she felt a sisterly bond with Scootaloo. She always had, she supposed. But did that really translate into maternal desire? She wasn’t entirely sure.
She tried to forget everything for a while by going for a fly, but the usual release that came with racing just wasn’t enough to make the thoughts dissipate. So instead she tried talking it out with any pony she could think of- Twilight, AJ, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and both of her parents. But they all seemed to say the same thing: That this was ultimately her decision. Their input could only go so far, and she knew it just as well as they did. Finally, on a Friday after work, she hunkered down in her cloudominium and vowed not to leave until she had reached a decision.
When she had nearly worked herself into a mad frenzy trying to steady her thoughts, her doorbell rang. Rainbow, grateful for the interruption, flew like a bullet to the door. There at her door stood her mother.
“Hey Mom!” She said, gratefully hugging the light blue pegasus.
“How are you, Dashie?” Asked Windy Whistles.
“I’m… I don’t even know anymore.”
“That bad, huh?” Asked Windy as she followed her daughter into the kitchen. Rainbow got out two mugs and poured them both apple cider from a pitcher.
“I just don’t know what to do, Mom.”
Windy was quiet for a long moment. Then: “Let me ask you something, sweetheart.”
“Okay.”
“Do you care about Scootaloo?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want what’s best for her?”
“Yes.”
“Can you imagine your life without her?”
“No. I can’t.”
“Would you give anything to keep her safe? Or help her achieve her dreams?”
Rainbow remembered the incident at Winsome Falls when the tiny pegasus pony had almost fallen over a waterfall, and the time when she helped her build a cart for the Applewood Derby. “Yes.”
“Do you love her?”
Rainbow paused. She had always thought of love as something for ponies like Rarity who believed in fairytale endings. She had always thought love was between a mare and a colt. She knew parental love existed, and had always known that it was present, but did she really love Scootaloo as a parent would?
Memories flashed through her mind, of the moments they had spent together, the times they had bonded. She hadn’t realized it until right then that maybe those moments of togetherness were really the beginnings of love.
In an instant, everything shifted. Her view of things changed. She said, confidently: “Yes.”
“Then what are you waiting for, Dashie? Go get her.”
Rainbow smiled, suddenly bursting with energy, and hugged her mother. “Thanks Mom.”
“Anytime, Dashie. Anytime.”