Twilight and Boltsinger walked through the castle halls on a calm winter morning. Twilight held Nova on her back, keeping him occupied with her wings while they walked past a door with a shield mark hanging from the front. Boltsinger chanced a look back at the door, unconsciously twitching his tail. “Her parents…”
Twilight looked back at her husband curiously. “What was that?”
Another twitch came from the stallion’s tail, bringing a groan out of his mouth. “Her parents… That’s all Scootaloo has talked about for the past two weeks!” His tail twitched again, cracking against the wall as his hoof came over his heart. “Wasn’t that supposed to be us?”
Twilight pulled Nova forward, bobbing him up and down with each step. “Well, not in any official capacity.”
“Yeah, yeah, we're ‘practically’ her parents like Rainbow is ‘practically’ her big sister…” He stated, waving his wing in a circular motion. “But since when does that matter?” He let out a sad sigh, looking back at the room with another twitch in his tail. “I bet they’re gonna have a great Hearth’s Warming… She’s certainly preparing enough.” Another twitch. “Haven’t seen her since Nova’s birthday…”
The Princess gave the Pegasus a warm smile, putting her wing around him and squeezing. “I know… But think of how happy she is! She doesn’t get this excited over just anything!”
Boltsinger smiled, returning the Princess’ gesture. “Yeah… I bet right now she's making a Crusader-style list of all of the things they're gonna do when they get here!”
Scootaloo sat in the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse, looking over a large piece of paper with a large number of images drawn on it. She was looking between them all with an excited smile, biting on her lower lip as Sweetie Belle peeked over her shoulder. “What’s that for?”
Scootaloo looked to her Unicorn friend, spreading out her smile to cover her entire muzzle. “This is a list of all the things I'm gonna do with my parents when they get here for Hearth's Warming!”
“That's great!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. She looked more closely at the crayon drawings, counting her eyes in an attempt to make sense of it. “So… What are they?”
Scootaloo pointed to the top left image, which displayed a rough image of a board with a stick poking out of the end. “First thing's first, we're gonna go scootering!”
“That’s a scooter?” The white filly asked, taking a second look at the image. “It looks more like a cracked board with a nail in it.”
Scootaloo waved her hoof between them. “It’s an abstract interpretation! I’ll get Apple Bloom to fix it up later.” She pointed to the next image, which showed something that looked like a high wall. “Anyway! Next is bungee jumping!” She pumped her foreleg, briefly buzzing her wings. “I just know they're gonna love the rush of falling at breakneck speeds!”
“Are you sure about that?” Sweetie Belle inquired, sitting on her rump and looking out the window. “Not everypony likes to fall like that. Rarity would just kick and scream the whole time!”
“Yeah, but that's Rarity!” Scootaloo argued. She motioned to an image of something that looked like a mutated cupcake. “Then we'll go to Sugar Cube Corner for lunch, and then…” She pointed to an image of a cloud. “... then we go flying! I can take them all the way to Cloudsdale! And we can take Rainbow Dash and Soarin with us! We can go to the weather factory, and then after that I can show them all the stunts I've been learning!”
“It sounds like you have a great day planned!” The white filly stated. She stood up, heading to the door. “I'm gonna go get Apple Bloom so we can start the meeting. You wanna come?”
The Pegasus waved a wing, sitting by her list again. “No thanks. I wanna iron out the kinks on this list! I’ve gotta get as much quality time out of it as possible!” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and trotted out the door, laughing to herself as her fellow Crusader resumed her drawing.
Boltsinger sat on a park bench with his nose buried in a book. His tail stuck out between the seat and the back, turning the patch of snow behind him into a sizable mound with its frantic twitching. The passing ponies looked upon the Pegasus with awe as the mass of blue hair began whipping at the mound, shaving away bits of snow until it took the shape of a small pony. He let out a low growl, causing his tail to pick up speed when the sound of wings came from above.
“That was awesome!” Rainbow Dash cheered, quickly coming into view with a spreading of her foreleg. “I can't believe you got a whole routine set up so quickly!” She came to a landing, joined soon after by her favorite filly.
“Thanks for helping me get it down.” Scootaloo replied, trotting ahead of the Wonderbolt. “I just know my parents are gonna love it!” She rose into the air again, waving to her honorary sister. “Well, I'm gonna go home! See you later, Rainbow Dash!”
“See ya later, Squirt!” Rainbow said, waving in kind as the Crusader made her exit. A particular one of Scootaloo's words echoed in Boltsinger's ears, causing him to clench his teeth to prevent himself from screaming. His tail made a powerful twitch, cracking like a bull whip against the snow pony to leave a patch of grass where it had been. The sound of the crack reverberated across the park, drawing rainbow-maned attention to the seated stallion. She walked up to him, reaching out and poking him with her hoof. “Bolt?”
The performance pony let out a high whinny, dropping his book and shooting into the air only to land on the ground behind the mare. “I'm fine! I'm fine! Really, I am!”
Rainbow turned to face him with a tilt of her head. “I… wasn't asking about that.” She examined her friend more closely. Wide, fake smile. Shivering from the cold, having clearly forgotten to dress for the cold. Twitching tail. “But now you've got me wondering… You sure you're okay?”
Boltsinger swung a stiff foreleg in front of him, one of his pupils shrinking dramatically. “Eeyup! Never better? And why wouldn't I be?” He looked in the direction Scootaloo had departed from, his features softening at the thought of the filly. “After all, my girl is seeing her parents soon…”
“Uh-huh, sure.” She deadpanned, turning to look at the fallen book. “Since when do you read…” She furrowed her brow, picking it up to better read the cover. “The Complete And Unabridged History Of Sticks?”
“Since… um… Well…” Boltsinger started, scratching his mane with his wing. “Well, you see, Mudbriar just made sticks sound so fascinating! And we just so happened to have this in the castle library, so I just… Well, you know!”
“Yeah… You just grabbed the closest book to the door without thinking, huh?”
“What?! What gives you that idea?”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow on her otherwise flat face. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
Boltsinger raised a hoof in a matter-of-fact manner. “I…” He paused a moment, attempting to find his next words. Finally, his hoof dropped to the ground. “No. No I don't. Can I just have my book back so I can go home?”
The cyan mare looked at the book in her wing, getting a devious smirk on her muzzle. “No way!” She threw the book into the air, taking flight and catching it in her forelegs. “Not until you tell me what's bugging you!”
“I told you, I'm fine!” Boltsinger stressed through gritted teeth. “Now, please, give me back my book!” He held out his wing, making a beckoning motion.
Rainbow Dash shot her fellow flyer her most determined glare. “Make me!” She made a buzzing motion with her wings, rocketing off into the distance in an instant.
Boltsinger gave off a loud growl, angrily flaring his wings and cracking his tail. “RAINBOW DASH! GET BACK HERE!!!” With a heavy flap of his large wings, he launched himself after her.
Rainbow lived up to her name, dashing through the sky like she was the embodiment of wind. She weaved between every cloud in a long trail, looking back at her pursuer. As always, he was significantly slower when flying under his own power. She snickered to herself, zipping over at a breakneck speed to fly next to him. He looked ever forward, gritting his teeth with determination. She reached over, lightly tapping him on the shoulder. “Hey, slowpoke! Where’re you looking?” He let his eye look towards her, widening a bit as his wings splayed out to the side. He came to a stop, letting Rainbow Dash take advantage of the momentum and shoot forward again. He gave a frustrated growl, sending himself forward at his top speed and barreling through the clouds. She flipped herself over, flying upside-down as she looked back at him. “So… Did you learn anything from me? There’s gotta be something wrong if your flying is this sloppy!”
“I just have to catch you, right?” He retorted, glaring back at her.
“Or you could tell me what’s up! Either way!” She sped ahead of him, whipping his nose with her tail as she left him in her clouds.
“There’s…” He started, increasing the speed of his flapping. “... nothing…” He reversed his direction for a moment, winding up dramatically. “... WRONG!!!” With one shout and a massive flap, all of the clouds around him burst apart. He jolted forward, becoming a blur of orange and blue.
Rainbow glanced back at the streak her former flight student had become, letting a little bit of pride out as she increased her velocity. “I guess you really did learn a thing or two!” She zipped about the skies of Ponyville, gathering a large number of clouds into a single point. She flew around them with precise movements, performing a common Wonderbolt cloud-shaping maneuver. If she was going to get him to fess up, she had to get under his skin, and based on recent events, she knew exactly what kind of shape this cloud needed to take. “You know, it’ll go a lot easier if you just tell me!”
One more growl erupted from the stallion, a small discharge beginning to spark from his wings. “I told you! There’s nothing to--” Rainbow’s cloud came into view, stopping his train of thought along with all forward motion. He took a long look at the cloud in front of him, all semblance of anger vanishing at the sight of Scootaloo in the sky. He took a staggered breath, gently ascending to land on top of the cloud. “I told you… There’s nothing to tell…” He fell to his belly, closing his eyes and letting his wings drop below him.
Rainbow came to a landing in front of him, sitting down and placing the book in front of him. “And why’s that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He looked up at her, pawing the cloud with his hooves. “I mean, you know what Twilight and I have been talking about! We've been planning it for moons!” He poked at the book, pushing it back toward her. “Now there's a chance it'll all just… fizzle out… All because they're showing up… I thought we had something special, but one mention of them and I barely get to see her anymore…” He stood up, turning around and flaring his wings. “You can keep the book. I’m going home…” He leaped into the air, performing an immelmann turn into the cloud, busting it into pieces that fell like snow. Rainbow scrambled to catch the falling book, lingering in the air with a sigh as she watched her friend speed away.
Scootaloo walked through Ponyville, clutching her rolled up list tightly in her wing. The day had arrived. She was going to see them for the first time in forever, and have the best Hearth’s Warming of her life! Ever since she got that letter, she had been cleaning up her whole house, making sure everything was ready. Everything was perfect. They were going to meet her friends, see how she’d been doing in school, and really spend some quality family time together. This holiday was going to be one to remember, no matter what.
At least, that was what she hoped.
Her nerves were shot. Excitement had reached its peak, but not without its fair share of concerns. It had been more than just a few moons since she had seen her parents. What if they didn't like Ponyville? What if they didn't like her friends? Worse still, what if they wanted her to leave Ponyville?! Her breathing began to pick up in speed, turning every step up to the platform into a veritable mountain. She was passed by several ponies along the way, spurring her into motion. The top step came into view, sending a jolt into her mind. This was it. Soon, they would arrive, and everything would change.
And then a wing draped over her back. “Hey, Squirt. You excited?”
Scootaloo looked up to see Rainbow Dash smiling down at her, sending a wave of relief through her. She gave her honorary sister an ecstatic smile. “You know it!”
“Good ta hear!” A mild drawl affirmed. Scootaloo looked onto the platform, finding Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle waiting with eager smiles. “But we wanted ta be here for ya, just in case.”
Scootaloo jumped forward, catching her best friends in a tight embrace. “Thanks for coming… I just know they're gonna love you!” she looked around past her fellow Crusaders, trying to spot more familiar faces. “So, are Bolt and Twilight gonna be here?”
“Twilight said she had some last-minute planning to do, but Bolt…” She looked towards the castle, where a thunderclap sounded. “He'll be along.” She held out a wing, holding up three feathers. She counted down with a smirk on her face, stepping aside as the last feather curled up.
Another thunderclap invaded the ears of everypony at the train station, drawing their attention to a dust cloud next to Rainbow Dash. “I'm here!” A baritone called from within. With a buzzing of bright orange wings, the dust cloud was cleared, revealing Boltsinger with a residual discharge in his feathers. “Did I miss anything?”
“Nope. Right on time!” Rainbow replied, giving him a hard slap to the back. He staggered for a moment, but held firm, sending a glare back at her. The tension between them broke in an instant, letting the two Pegasi share in a laugh. “Glad you could make it, Bolt.”
“Why wouldn’t I be here? I’m… very interested in meeting… them.” He stated, moving to sit by the main building. “So, when are they going to arrive?”
Scootaloo beamed, hovering over and sitting next to the stallion. “They’ll be here on the next train!” Rainbow Dash took a seat on the other side of the filly, pulling a book from her saddlebag while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took positions on either side of the adults. The orange filly pulled her list out from under her wing, unrolling it and looking at it with a measure of excitement. “I’ve got so much stuff I want to do with them! It’s gonna be amazing!” She looked between all of the activities, letting her excitement build up again. Finally, finally, she was going to have a family again. “They’re gonna love it here… I just…” All at once, Scootaloo's mood seemed to dissipate. She looked nervously at Boltsinger, voicing the greatest fear that plagued her mind. "Do you... Do you think they'll like me? I haven’t seen them in so long… What if they get here, and they don’t like what they find?"
The words struck Boltsinger in the heart as he realized how foolish he was being with his jealousy. This was about Scootaloo, not him. How could he let his own insecurities sour his mood on such an important day for her? He reached over and draped a wing across her back. "Are you kidding? What pony in their right mind wouldn't love an amazing filly like you?"
“Yeah! You’re one o’ the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Apple Bloom noted. “With as many ponies as you’ve helped with Sweetie Belle ‘n me, there’s no way they wouldn’t appreciate ya!”
The nerves in Scootaloo’s smile began to fade, letting out a relieved exhale. “You really think so?”
Rainbow put a hoof around her honorary little sister, pulling her close and messing up her mane. “We know so, kid!”
Scootaloo worked herself free of the mare’s grip, buzzing her wings excitedly. “Yeah! This is gonna be great!” She bobbed her head up and down, moving to a rhythm that made itself more present as the train they awaited pulled into the station. Scootaloo sprang up from her spot, hovering above the platform. “It’s here! It’s here!” The train doors opened, letting out a large number of ponies that quickly dispersed. The winged Crusader searched the crowd intently, the corners of her mouth falling lower with each pony she passed. “They’re… not here…” She landed in front of the group, her head hanging low. “How come they’re not here?”
Sweetie Belle stood up, trotting over to the purple-eyed filly and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Maybe they missed the train and got on the next one?”
Scootaloo gave her friend a weak smile. “Maybe… Let’s wait for the next train!”
And so they did. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle rejoined the lineup they had along the station wall, and they proceeded to wait for the next train to arrive. When it did, Scootaloo rose up to find the ponies she longed to see. Once again, though, they were absent.
“The next one! We’ll wait for the next one!” She affirmed, giving the most hopeful of smiles.
Another train came, yielding the same result.
“Maybe… the next one?”
And then another came. And another. Each one was more nerve-racking than the last. Hours and trains passed, each one bearing no relatives for the filly in waiting. Finally, the sky was dark, and the last train of the day pulled in.
“They have to be on this one!” Scootaloo declared. “They just have to!” She rushed over to the opening doors, standing eagerly on the edge of the platform. Slowly, the doors opened, an eternity seeming to pass as they slid into position to reveal…
Nopony.
The train was empty.
Scootaloo’s eyes went wider than she ever thought possible. Her ears and wings drooped, and she found herself slowly stepping away from the train. “Why…?” She closed her eyes, where pools of water had begun to form. “Why didn’t they show up...?” From under her wing, she pulled the list forward, once again unrolling it and looking down on it. All of the things she was going to do. All of the great times they were going to have. All of it was gone. A boiling heat welled up within her as tears streamed down her cheeks, falling onto the paper beneath her. She let out a shrill scream, tearing the list into pieces and stomping it into the floor beneath her. Finally, she turned to the ponies that had come to be with her, opening her eyes with a new flood of fresh teardrops. “Why don’t they want me…?”
At the sight of his favorite filly in such a state, something cracked inside of Boltsinger. He sprang forward, catching Scootaloo in an embrace that he wasn’t sure he would ever let go. She melted into his forelegs, putting her own around him as her sobs began. With staggered breaths, he squeezed only slightly tighter, stroking her mane with his hoof. “I don’t know, Scoot… I just don’t know…”