I woke up the next morning with a loud sigh, sitting upright quickly and rubbing some tired crust from my eyes as I did so. I looked at my clock, and saw that it was eight in the morning. Somehow I had slept nearly twelve hours. Oh well, waking up at eight beats waking up at three and not being able to go back to sleep.
I kicked the blankets off of my body and got up, going downstairs. I didn’t feel like cooking today, with Scootaloo not being here, there wasn’t a whole lot of reason to do so. I just got some cereal, a bowl, some milk and had cereal with milk. At least it was good cereal, and the milk was fresh and delicious.
I sat there, thinking deeply over each and every bite I chewed and swallowed, some of the bites feelings like bricks landing in my stomach as I did so. I missed Scootaloo. Last night was incredibly lonely without her. She wasn’t even supposed to come home until tomorrow afternoon. What was I supposed to do until she came home?
I finished my bowl of cereal, and put the dishes into the sink, not even bothering to wash them. I didn’t feel like it right now. With a sigh, I went to the front door and grabbed my coat off of the rack next to the door. It was a chilly day today, a high of fifty five degrees. I slung my coat on and locked the door once I stepped outside.
Right on cue, I saw Derpy Hooves, flying towards me, wearing her mailbag. Unlike back home, post was delivered on weekends, and a lot of ponies worked weekends as well. Derpy smiled widely at me, with her expressive cocked-eyes.
“Heya there mister! I got a letter for ya, from Colgate!” Derpy said as she reached into her mailbag and pulled the letter out, handing it to me via her mouth. I grabbed it from her and smiled.
“Thank you Derpy, if it’s from Colgate it must be important.” I said as I waved her goodbye. I opened up the letter and began to read its contents. It read;
“Dear Jordan; hey. My other secretary had to call in sick today because they have the flu, and I need somepony to work for me today, I have appointments floor to ceiling today! I’ll pay you triple if you work nine-five. Help me out!” As I read the letter, I chuckled. Normally being asked to work a weekend shift would upset me but, with Scootaloo not in the house, working would be just the thing to distract me.
I walked all the way from home to Colgate’s dentistry practice, and when I walked inside, I hung my coat up on the rack, and shuddered a bit. I enjoyed working here but the sound of dental drills, the smell of paper and flouride and the sight of a full lobby put me on edge. I hurried to the counter and sat down in the chair.
I grabbed the clipboard, and swallowed. There were appointments almost nonstop from nine to noon! I looked to the top of the list where the first patient was and spoke up to the lobby.
“Sunblast? You’re up next, Colgate should be ready for you.” I said as I got to work organizing paperwork and such. Today might be a nightmare but at least it would be triple pay.
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Finally, after complete hell for four hours, it was at long last lunch time. The slew of patients had finally slowed down after the crazy morning rush and I was currently eating a sandwich I had gotten from the deli nearby, since I hadn’t gotten to pack myself a lunch before I came in today.
As I chewed on the veggie sandwich, Colgate came up to me. She had a shower installed inside the employees only area some time ago, and she used it often whenever there was a quiet time during the day so she didn’t smell like “dentist” all day.
I looked at Colgate, who smiled at me. “Thank you so much for coming in today, I wouldn’t have been able to get through it without you. I planned on keeping you till five, but the way today’s going now, I think you can go home when you’re done eating. I only have like three appointments left today, the morning rush was the real problem.” Colgate told me as she slapped a big bag of bits on the desk, smiling.
“This is your quarterly bonus. Don’t spend it all in one place.” Colgate told me as she walked away. I stared at the bag of bits in shock for a few long moments before putting it away into my bag.
I finished my sandwich, grabbed my things and left the building.
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I was on my way home, when suddenly a pony walked in front of me. It was Apple Bloom. She galloped up to me, breathing heavily. Did she sprint the entire way here from Rarity’s?!
“Jordan, y’all need to come to Rarity’s, there’s a situation!” Apple Bloom said, and I felt my back straighten as I realized there might be trouble. I didn’t even think, I just began running to Rarity’s house. In my mind, trouble plus Scootaloo equaled bad things. I wanted to get to her as soon as I could!
I opened the door to Rarity’s house, and there I saw Sweetie Belle being held by Rarity, the filly sniffling as Rarity embraced her. Rarity saw me and gave me a blank, yet somehow still angry expression.
“Jordan, darling, we’ve had a serious situation. Scootaloo hit my sister!” Rarity said. Sure enough, I saw Scootaloo in the opposite corner of the room, accompanied by Apple Bloom, who was holding her back as Scootaloo seethed.
“SCOOTALOO!” I shouted at the filly, not believing that she could do such a thing. “Why in the world would you do that to Sweetie?!” I asked her in shock, and Scootaloo led out a near growl.
“I only wish I hit her harder! She called you an alien!” Scootaloo said to me, her voice dripping with pure anger. I had never seen her this way.
“No I didn’t!” Sweetie Belle half croaked out, her voice shaky as she sniffled. “I…I only asked you if, because he wasn’t born here, if that MADE HIM an alien! I wasn’t trying to be mean to him!” Sweetie sniffled out, to which Rarity held her sister closer and “hmmph”’d.
“I’m afraid I have to ban Scootaloo from Sweetie and Apple Bloom’s sleepovers, Jordan, and I’ll have to ask Mrs. Cheerilee to keep them separated at school. I can’t forgive how hard Scootaloo hit Sweetie Belle.” Rarity said to me, her voice serious but containing a hint of remorse, as if she didn’t want to have to do so, but she did have to, to protect her sister. Right then, I could see that Sweetie Belle had a bandage on her right cheek. Did Scootaloo hit the filly that hard?!
Angry at this turn of events, I turned, and looked down at Scootaloo. My hands nearly clenching into fists, I spoke to her. “Scootaloo, tell Sweetie and Rarity that you’re sorry.” I said, my voice deep, strict and serious. I was upset, and I wasn’t fooling around.
Scootaloo looked at me in shock, as if she couldn’t believe I was mad at her. “But daddy, she called you an alien! I was just trying to defend yo-” I didn’t let her finish as I stomped my foot on the ground, cutting her sentence off there.
“Say. You’re. Sorry!” I said to her, even more angry than before now. “And MAYBE, if you mean it, Rarity will let you hang out with Sweetie again!” I shouted. The look of terror on Scootaloo’s face would come to haunt me later, but in the heat of the moment, I was doing what had to be done.
Scootaloo on shaky legs stood up, and walked towards the two sisters. She stayed silent for a very long minute, and I was concerned she wasn’t going to do it. But then, finally, she spoke.
“I’m…sorry for hitting you…” Scootaloo said very very quietly, but while it was softly spoken, I could tell from the tone that she was being genuine. I think Rarity could tell so as well.
“Thank you for apologizing, Scootaloo. Come Sweetie Belle, let’s draw you a warm bath.” Rarity said as she got up and ushered Sweetie up the stairs to I assume their bathroom.
Apple Bloom then looked up at me, her face sad as she hugged Scootaloo. “Mr. Jordan, Scootaloo didn’t mean it, she was just upset!” She tried to plead to me, but at the moment I wasn’t having any of it.
“Apple Bloom, go home, now. Tell your sister the sleepover had to be ended early.” I said to the filly strictly, and instead of arguing, the filly simply nodded and left Rarity’s house.
Not saying a word to Scootaloo, I turned towards the door and walked away. I was too upset to speak to Scootaloo right now. However, she followed me, her head hanging low to the ground from, I suppose, shame.
We walked in stone silence from Rarity’s house to mine, and I grabbed my keys to open up the front door. Once she and I were both inside, I pointed up the staircase.
“Scootaloo…go to your room, now. I’ll get you for dinner whenever it’s ready…” I said again strictly. Scootaloo looked up at me in shock once again.
“But daddy, I…I’m sorry! I was only trying to defend yo-” I once again cut her off, during the same part of her sentence.
“I don’t care Scootaloo. That’s no excuse to hit your best friend, ESPECIALLY not as hard as you hit her. You’re grounded tonight and tomorrow. Now go.” I told the filly, and she sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye.
“That’s not fair! You’re punishing me for caring about you! I…I hate you!” Scootaloo said to me as she galloped up the staircase, and I heard the door to her room slam hard.
The silence was deafening, and as I stood there I suddenly felt quite light headed at this turn of events. I stumbled to the nearest chair in the living room and plopped down there, taking a few moments to collect myself as I stared at the rug on the floor.
…Did she…really just say those three words to me? Did that really just happen? I felt numb all of a sudden, I felt like the world’s biggest screw up.
In that moment, everything came spiraling around my head. Her words, the hurt looks on her face, everything. I had royally screwed up. I had gone too far, I had let anger get the best of me, and now I had created the very wedge between Scootaloo and I that I’d been dreading would form. I never expected it to form so soon.
I was just so upset at Rarity’s. Scootaloo had hit Sweetie so hard, and at the time I had thought only how Scootaloo doing that reflected poorly on me as a parent. I didn’t stop to think about WHY Scootaloo did it. It was no excuse, but she did it because she loved me that much. She was upset at whatever Sweetie had said because Scootaloo thought it was meant to hurt me. Again, no excuse, and Scootaloo does still deserve to be punished, but I should have been much more levelheaded about this whole incident!
And now, Scootaloo had said she hated me, and I could hear her sobbing upstairs. Oh Celestia, how the hell do I even begin to repair this damage I’d just created?
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I sat there for about fifteen minutes, just thinking deeply about things before I finally stood up to go and cook dinner. I figured, if nothing else, making Scootaloo her favorite food for dinner would be a good way to start us back on the right path.
And so, I gathered all the ingredients to make hayburgers and fries. I formed the patties up and cooked them in a pan on the stovetop, cooking the fries in the oven to make them extra crispy. Whereas in the past, I cooked not with much passion, I was putting as much love and care into these as I could, wanting them to taste fantastic for my daughter.
I finished cooking the foods, and plated them up onto two separate plates. Satisfied, I walked upstairs to Scootaloo’s room and knocked three times before opening the door.
“Hey…dinner’s ready…come on down…” I said quietly, Scootaloo’s face down into a pillow. She moved her face to the side, seemingly staring at the wall.
“I’m not hungry…” Scootaloo said, and with a sigh I walked into her room and sat down on her bed. I began to pet her mane a bit, trying to comfort her and make her feel better.
“Scoots…I’m sorry. Really, I am. I overreacted, and I was mean, and I’m so, so sorry I did that…what you did was wrong, but you didn’t deserve that…” I said with a sigh.
“I’m still new to this parenting thing, Scootaloo, and I make mistakes…earlier was a big, very big, mistake, and all I can do is say I’m sorry, and that I love you…with all of my heart…” I said as I pet her mane a little more vigorously, and Scootaloo closed her eyes a bit.
“I love you too…I didn’t mean what I said earlier, I was just mad…I love you so much…” Scootaloo said to me, as she suddenly sat up and hugged me super tightly. I gladly returned the hug, relieved that we could repair the damage earlier’s events had caused.
“I love you more, Scoots. You’re my daughter, no matter what. But you have to promise me something. NEVER hit anypony, for any reason. I know you love me, but you can’t hit ponies who say those kinds of things, or ask those kinds of questions about me. Cause guess what? Nopony can say anything to you, or ask you any questions, that I haven’t already heard. I stopped letting those things get to me a while ago. And if they don’t bug me, don’t let them bug you. Ok?” I said as I gazed directly into her eyes, and Scootaloo gave me a silent nod as she processed what I had just said.
“Good. Now, c’mon, I got some hayburgers and fries that aren’t going to eat themselves!” I told her with a smile, and I got off her bed, beginning to walk downstairs. She followed me, slowly, and soon she and I were both seated down at the dinner table.
We ate mostly in silence, but her moans of happiness told me she loved the food and appreciated them greatly, which in turn made me happy and a bit prideful at my cooking skills. I wanted to ask her how the sleepover was, but I figured that would be a bad idea. It would just make her remember hitting Sweetie and that wasn’t a good idea.
Suddenly though, Scootaloo spoke up. “I screwed up…so badly. Sweetie Belle and Rarity hate me and I just forced the Crusaders to broke up…why am I such an idiot…” Scootaloo said as she stared downwards sadly. I sighed at her, trying to think of what to say to make her feel better.
“You’re not an idiot Scootaloo, you just need to think things through more in the future. You and I could both be better at that. For what it’s worth, I don’t think this is the end of the Crusaders. I think Sweetie and Rarity were just upset. Things will work out, even if it takes time.” I told her, and while this was not exactly what she wanted to hear, she nodded at me.
We finished dinner in relative silence, and after I finished up the dishes I sighed a bit. “It’s late, Scoots, and I had to work today. I’m heading to bed early.” I told her, and she nodded at me.
“I think…I’m gonna go to bed too. It’s…been a hard day…” Scootaloo told me, and I nodded back at her. I walked upstairs, and after telling each other good night, she and I each went into our respective bedrooms.
I nearly ripped all of my clothes off and plopped into bed, feeling exhausted. Today sucked, and that was all there was to it. I didn’t want to dwell on it any longer than I had to. I wanted to sleep and wake up fresh tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow would be immeasurably better than the crap shoot that today had been.
And so, I did just that, falling sleep quickly with a burning sense of remorse and sadness etching at the corners of my mind.