//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Spark of Meeting // Story: Unseen, Unheard // by Nocturnal Reverie //------------------------------// “How’s this?” Rainbow Dash asked, staying as still as possible in her hover, holding the corner of the colorful banner in place. “Hmm…” Pinkie Pie hummed in thought, rubbing her chin. “Just a teensy, weensy, eeeeeennnssssy bit higher.” Rainbow Dash blinked, discreetly rolling her eyes from behind the banner and rising an inch. “Perfect!” Pinkie shouted, and Rainbow Dash pinned the corner in place over the double-doored entrance. Rainbow Dash brushed out the hanging tail, and looked around. A week ago, Pinkie Pie had asked Rainbow Dash to help her set up her annual party for the Baltimare Orphanage. She put one on for every orphanage in each major city in Equestria. Today was Baltimare’s turn. The event was held to give the foals a day of fun and grab the attention of any potential foster or adoptive parents. This party was no different than any other of Pinkie’s—she planned it carefully and precisely, down to the letter. The courtyard was littered with tables of cake and snacks, all ordered a month in advance. Games took up the corners of the fenced-in area, placed precisely so passers-by could see the foals in their play. The spokes of the cast-iron fence were decked out in Pinkie’s best: streamers dipping and swirling and weaving between each other, balloons clustered together every meter or so. The banner Rainbow Dash had tacked into place held no special message, but depicted foals playing together amidst twirling colors as bright as their smiles. “I think we’re ready, Pinkie,” observed Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie was almost vibrating with excitement. “I think we are, too. Go ahead and open the door.” She gave an excited shout. “OOH! I’m so excited! Are you excited? I’ve never been so excited! Okay, except for maybe the time when–” Rainbow Dash put a hoof to Pinkie’s mouth before she could continue, raising an eyebrow at the overhyped mare. Pinkie Pie chuckled. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “Go ahead.” Rainbow Dash gave a chuckle of her own, floating up the steps and cracking open the door. “Come on out, everypony!” A trigger had been pulled, and there was no going back. With a chorus of cheers, a little over two dozen foals stampeded through the doors, and Rainbow Dash was thankful she was already hovering, wholly convinced they would have trampled her had she landed. Foals grouped up with their friends, running to their favorite games or chatting at the snacks, or forming a line in front of Pinkie–who had somehow, in the five seconds Rainbow had her back turned to her, donned her “balloon making” outfit, her fetlocks and head now sporting twisted balloon bracelets and headbands. At once, she began taking requests for her unparalleled balloon creations, and providing the foals with a spectacle that could only be provided by the party pony of Ponyville. “Excuse me?” Rainbow Dash heard from the front gate. She looked, and beamed at the couple that had found themselves at the gate of the orphanage. In a flash, she was there. “Hi,” she greeted. “Hello,” the mare returned with a chuckle, looking around at the organized chaos going on on the other side of the gate. “Eh, would you mind telling us what’s going on here?” “Yeah, no prob,” Rainbow answered. “We’re throwing a party for the foals here. We wanted to give them some fun and hopefully grab the attention of possible families.” “Well, you’ve certainly succeeded in the latter,” the stallion complimented. Rainbow’s heart thundered in excitement. “Really? Sweet! Here, let me take you to the mare that runs this place.” She opened the gate, letting the couple in. “I, uh…I don’t remember her name,” she admitted as they walked, “I’m mostly just here to help the party planner.” The couple chuckled good-naturedly. “Well, you two have done an amazing job,” the mare smiled. “We’ve been wanting to come here for a while to begin fostering,” the stallion confessed. “We just…didn’t know when the best time would be, and we wanted to meet with multiple foals at a time.” The mare picked up. “We want to offer a potential home for a foal or two, but we know what we can offer won’t mean a thing if the foal or foals don’t want to accept us.” “I gotcha,” Rainbow Dash sympathized. She looked around as they made it up the stairs. “But I think you’ve got a pretty good chance at finding a foal that’ll want you as much as you want them.” The couple smiled at the encouragement, and allowed Rainbow to walk them into the orphanage. “Just on the right,” she instructed, to which the couple nodded their thanks and entered the office foyer. Rainbow Dash let the door close, and sighed contently, heading back into the fray. She could see why Pinkie loved these kinds of parties so much. She, herself, liked foals every bit as much as the next pony; and she–like almost every filly(though she would never admit it)–had at one point fantasized about her own little foals once she would settle down with her potential partner. But, with her on track to achieve her dream career, and with no stallion in her sights…the fantasy was slowly but surely turning into nothing more than that. She shook herself out of her thoughts, and grinned at the foals running around, giggling and calling out to each other. Her eyes scanned the crowd, a small cluster of foals running past her and nearly knocking her over. She chuckled, brushed herself off, and looked up to find a little pegasus filly sitting by herself next to the stairs, a unicorn mare sitting quietly beside her as she played with a bit of cloud in her hooves. She frowned to herself, trotting away from the hyperactive group and pulling on a smile as she approached the lonely filly. “Hey, there,” she greeted the orange pegasus. “You wanna come play with your friends?” She got no response from the filly, who continued to play with her bit of cloud, moving it around and pulling at its curls while she wore a tiny smile on her face. Rainbow’s face fell, and she looked up at the mare beside the filly in confusion. The teal and charcoal mare smiled patiently at Rainbow Dash. “She can’t hear you,” she explained. “Oh,” Rainbow Dash shuffled, realizing her mistake. “I’m sorry, I…” “It’s alright,” the mare assured. She put a gentle hoof on the filly’s shoulder, and she stopped playing with her cloud, looking up with unfocused lavender eyes. The mare moved her hoof in a series of twists and taps on the filly’s shoulder, and after a moment, the foal’s face lit up as she reached out a hoof. “Take her hoof,” the mare instructed. “She wants to meet you.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop her eyes from watering as she moved directly in front of the filly, her clouded eyes hovering somewhere at Rainbow’s chin. Rainbow Dash took the filly’s hoof, and the little pegasus smiled brighter, a little giggle escaping her throat as she grabbed the larger hoof with both of her own, happily shaking it. “What’s her name?” Rainbow Dash asked the mare, eyes unable to leave the pure joy on the little filly’s face. “Scootaloo,” the mare responded. Once the filly’s hoof-shaking died down, the mare added, “I’m her shadow. I help her get around and communicate with the world.” “That’s so cool,” Rainbow Dash complimented, letting Scootaloo move her hoof around in a similar fashion to the cloud. The mare smiled shyly. “Thank you. I’m Foggy Day, by the way.” “Rainbow Dash,” the cyan mare responded, offering the mare her unoccupied hoof to shake. They exchanged niceties as Scootaloo pulled herself up, following Rainbow’s foreleg to her side. “What’s she doing?” “She wants to see what you look like,” Foggy Day explained. Scootaloo reached Rainbow’s shoulder, and used it as leverage as she pulled herself up to her hind legs, reaching up and finding Rainbow Dash’s mane with her tender hooves. She felt Rainbow’s wispy mane, following its flow from her ear to her forehead—where she carefully felt the shape of her face—then down her neck. Scootaloo’s hoof continued down Rainbow’s back, the tiny limb finding Rainbow Dash’s wings. Scootaloo pulled in an airy, excited gasp before backing up a step and fluttering her own wings. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help her chuckle. “Yeah, that’s right, kiddo. We’re both pegasi.” Foggy reached for Scootaloo, tapping the filly’s leg before once again tapping her in an unreadable pattern, her hoof moving in various positions as she did so. As she went, Scootaloo’s smile got wider and wider, and she nodded excitedly. As Foggy’s hoof left, Scootaloo grabbed it, her hoof bobbing in the same way as the unicorn’s had earlier. Foggy Day smiled. “She’s asking for your name.” Rainbow Dash smiled as the shadow responded to the filly’s question. Scootaloo’s eyes rose, moving back and forth as she appeared to be thinking. “What’s she doing now?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “She’s thinking up a quicker way for her to say your name,” Foggy explained. “It’s a little difficult for her to have to spell out everypony’s name every time, so she likes to make a name-sign for each pony she meets specifically.” “Huh,” Rainbow Dash smiled, impressed. “That’s pretty neat. What’s hers for you?” Foggy Day replied with a raised hoof, moving it side to side as if running her hoof along a wall. Once she finished demonstrating, Scootaloo gave a happy little hum, the two mares giving the sightless filly their attention. Scootaloo bounced happily, sitting back. She raised her hoof, sending it in a small arch before cutting it quickly back across her body. Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop her face from splitting in a wide grin. “That’s perfect,” she praised. Foggy Day translated, and Scootaloo giggled joyfully, her little wings fluttering in her excitement. “What’s her name-sign?” Rainbow Dash asked. “She doesn’t have one,” Foggy explained. “She never gave herself one.” “Oh, um…” Rainbow Dash trailed off, eyes falling to the little filly, who was reaching out again. She didn’t need a translation, reaching for the filly’s hooves and giving her her own. Scootaloo grinned at the now-familiar contact, and brought Rainbow’s hoof to her forehead, nuzzling it softly. Rainbow Dash felt something in her heart melt. The little filly before her had unknowingly stolen a part of her soul, and Rainbow Dash smiled at the sudden idea that came to her. “Would it be alright if I took her for a flight?” Foggy Day’s eyes widened in shock at the question. “Um…well, I…” her eyes fell to the filly, thinking for a moment. Finally, she sighed through her nose. “If she wants to, sure. But will she be alright?” “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash assured. “I’ll go slow, and we’ll only be gone a few minutes.” Foggy seemed to relax a bit at the promise, and smiled a bit as she reached for Scootaloo. After another series of taps, Scootaloo’s eyes widened in surprise, pulling in a sharp gasp. After a moment of contemplation, the little filly gave a nervous, excited nod. Rainbow Dash chuckled, the hoof Scootaloo was holding moving to the filly’s short purple mane, tussling it as Scootaloo gave a giggle. Foggy Day stood with Rainbow Dash, lightly rubbing Scootaloo’s shoulder before picking the filly up in her magic. The filly’s eyes looked about instinctively as she was placed on Rainbow’s back, and Scootaloo settled down in between Rainbow’s wings, her hooves moving around the mare’s neck and her face nuzzling her mane. “Tell her to close her eyes,” Rainbow Dash said, and Foggy relayed the request, tapping Scootaloo on the shoulder. Foggy gave a smile and a nod once the filly had complied. “We’ll be right back,” Rainbow Dash promised. Gently, Rainbow Dash began to flap her wings, rising from the ground. She felt Scootaloo take in a quick breath, her grip tightening. Rainbow Dash placed her hooves over the filly’s forelegs, holding her secure against her, before rising into the sky, picking up a bit of speed as she did so. Scootaloo’s chest shook as she giggled uncontrollably, feeling the foreign, wonderful feeling of the wind running through her fur and feathers, the breeze flooding through her mane. She pressed her face into the mare’s neck, her face beginning to hurt from how hard she was smiling. As she began to come down from her initial excitement, an idea formed in her head. Rainbow Dash felt Scootaloo’s hoof move, finding her shoulder before it began to move across her fur. Curious, she strained her neck to try and see, unable to move her eyes enough to spy what the filly was doing. She instead looked back to where she was going and focused on simply feeling the area the filly was tracing, feeling her little hoof move forward a bit before moving up in a circular motion. The cyan mare’s eyes lit up as understanding rushed through her. She pulled Scootaloo’s hoof back around her neck, holding the filly’s hooves as tight as the filly was holding on to her. With a snap of her wings, she picked up speed, Scootaloo letting out more giggles as she sensed the increase in velocity. Rainbow Dash angled herself upward, curving herself around as she brought her body into a wide loop. Scootaloo pressed into her neck at the sensation of gravity switching directions, holding on tight as they completed the loop and continued on right-side up again. She grinned at the filly’s laughter, her own heart soaring with the excitement that now seemed contagious. Scootaloo’s little hoof wiggled out of Rainbow’s grip, and the filly traced another pattern onto her shoulder. This time, her hoof traced downward in two tight circles. Rainbow grinned, taking Scootaloo’s hoof and tilting herself to the side, expertly corkscrewing through the air. Scootaloo let out a delighted squeal, feeling her body twist with the mare, gravity and the wind moving around her in a way she couldn’t describe, but found exhilarating nonetheless. Rainbow Dash righted herself again, letting go of Scootaloo’s hoof as the filly breathlessly moved to her shoulder again. This time, the filly traced a straight line downward, before cutting back into an upward angle. The mare understood immediately, and took the filly’s hoof once more. With a flap of her wings, she dove toward the ground. Scootaloo felt as though the very breath had left her lungs as she felt her belly rise from Rainbow Dash’s back. She pulled herself tighter to Rainbow Dash, feeling her throat vibrate as she let out an excited scream. Rainbow Dash angled herself a bit better, letting the ecstatic filly come back down onto her back. Though they were nowhere near the ground, she gave a hard downstroke of her wings, quickly cutting off their descent and jerking them back into an upward direction. Scootaloo felt herself shaking, unable to stop. But she wasn’t afraid. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this excited, the mare having given her a gift she was unable to express. The wind slid over her fur, almost stinging her as Rainbow Dash tilted a bit to the right, and Scootaloo felt herself press harder into the fellow pegasus’s back, the filly having the thought that they were turning. Foggy Day grinned up at the descending pegasus as she circled back down to the ground. She could hear Scootaloo’s elated laughter, Rainbow Dash smiling just as hard at the filly’s joyful giggling. Rainbow landed gently, Scootaloo apparently not even realizing she was back on the ground, her hooves still gripping Rainbow Dash’s neck. The cyan pegasus eased the orange hooves out of there grip, and Scootaloo shakily let go, tremors of leftover giggles rising and falling from her throat. Foggy Day traced her name-sign on Scootaloo’s shoulder before taking the filly’s hoof and helping her back to the ground on unsteady legs. “Did you have fun?” Foggy asked as she tapped out the same question on Scootaloo’s withers. The filly’s head bobbed quickly in an adrenaline-induced nod. She tapped out something with a trembling hoof, and Foggy chuckled. “She said ‘That was so awesome!’” Rainbow Dash’s giggle was only rivaled by Scootaloo’s own. “Glad you enjoyed yourself, kiddo.” Foggy Day translated Rainbow’s words for Scootaloo, and the filly gave an elated laugh, falling to her haunches. Her head swayed, and Foggy giggled as she tapped out something on Scootaloo’s shoulder. At Scootaloo’s sheepish nod, Foggy asked aloud, throwing a wry grin at Rainbow Dash, “Why don’t you do something a bit calmer?” Rainbow gave a nervous chuckle. “Sorry. Did I overdo it?” “No,” Foggy replied, her smile gaining warmth. “She’s just not used to flying, is all.” Scootaloo reached for Foggy, tapping something on her hoof. “She wants to know if you want to play a little longer,” Foggy said. “Sure, kid. We’ve got a couple hours.” Foggy translated, and Scootaloo beamed, giggling. She tapped something on Foggy’s hoof, and Foggy responded before reaching out with her magic and pulling the little bit of cloud over in her aura, passing it to Scootaloo. The pegasus filly beamed as Foggy helped her aim her hooves to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus mare sat ready as Scootaloo shot her hooves forward, sending the cloud toward Rainbow. It fell a little short, grazing the grass and rolling a bit before gliding back up and into Rainbow’s waiting hooves. Foggy smiled and stepped away as Rainbow carefully aimed and sent it back, the little piece of cloud floating straight and true into Scootaloo’s hooves. The filly giggled, shoving the cloud back, veering wide to Rainbow’s right. Startled, the mare jumped up, catching it. She looked back at Scootaloo, the filly’s smile holding a small spark of mischief. “You little stinker,” Rainbow Dash smirked, passing the cloud back. Scootaloo smiled, nibbling her lip and passing it back, not even trying to hide—or not knowing Rainbow could see—that she purposefully aimed too far to Rainbow’s left this time. Chuckling to herself, Rainbow trotted over to catch the cloud, and aimed a bit higher. She sent the cloud over a bit gentler, and it completely bypassed Scootaloo’s hooves before ‘pomf’ing right in between the filly’s eyes. Giving a little squeal that was quickly followed by a peal of giggles, Scootaloo pulled the cloud from her face and sent it back again. While the two passed the cloud back and forth, Foggy Day kept her eyes trained on Rainbow Dash. The mare was giving Scootaloo her undivided attention, and seemed to be genuinely enjoying her time with the filly. Scootaloo, like every other time she met somepony new, was exuding the excitement of a foal on Hearth’s Warming. She chuckled when Scootaloo giggled, the cloud brushing her hooves again before she grabbed at it and sent it back in the direction she pretended to perceive it came from. Rainbow Dash stretched for the cloud that was well on its way to flying off over her head, and grinned as she sent it back. Foggy knew better than to put all her chips on blind optimism–especially when it came to a foal like Scootaloo. But, that didn’t mean she was entirely opposed to letting herself hope. Foggy glanced up at the clock situated high on the outside wall, smiling to herself. ‘Twenty-seven minutes and counting,’ she thought. Scootaloo let out a little squeal, pulling Foggy Day’s attention. The filly had thrown the cloud so hard she’d knocked herself over, and Rainbow Dash was already helping her back up, laughing all the while. The unicorn let out a chuckle, Scootaloo taking the cloud again with a giggle. ‘Only time will tell,’ she told herself, letting out a soft sigh. A couple hours later, and the party was officially over. The foals, worn out from the excitement of the day, merely gave a collective whine when Pinkie Pie announced it was time for her and Rainbow Dash to head home. When Foggy told Scootaloo such, the filly hummed her own whine, but beamed up in Rainbow Dash’s direction, spelling something out on Foggy’s fetlock. “She said, ‘Thank you so much for playing with me today. I had a lot of fun.’” “Same here, squirt,” Rainbow Dash replied, Foggy translating. As she did, Rainbow Dash trotted over, tussling the filly’s mane once the sentence was over. Scootaloo let out a laugh, hooves flying to her head and finding Rainbow’s. She pulled the bigger hoof to her face, nuzzling it with her forehead once again. Rainbow Dash found herself physically fighting to return the gesture with her own head, and instead gave the filly a sideways hug. “It was really nice to meet you, Scootaloo,” Rainbow grinned. Foggy tapped the sentence on Scootaloo’s foreleg, and Scootaloo tapped Foggy’s hoof in return. “‘You, too, Rainbow,’” Foggy spoke for the little filly. “I gotta help Pinkie pack this party up. Glad you had a good time.” Scootaloo grinned, nodding happily. “‘Okay, thank you again. Bye!’” Scootaloo returned Rainbow’s hug, the mare looking up at Foggy. “Thanks for talking for us today.” “Not a problem,” Foggy smiled. “All part of the job description.” Rainbow chuckled before she let Scootaloo go, lightly bumping the filly’s hoof before joining Pinkie in the middle of the courtyard. “Whatcha need me to do, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked. “Hmm,” Pinkie Pie thought. “You can start by grabbing the banner you helped me hang earlier.” “Alright,” Rainbow replied. She zipped up to the banner, pulling out the tack and keeping an eye on the foals heading back inside as she crossed and yanked out the other side. She folded the banner as neatly as possible in mid-air, turned back around, and looked up to ask Pinkie what to— The courtyard was bare, empty of every decoration. There wasn’t even a pile of streamers, nor a box that could have potentially held all the games. Gawking, Rainbow asked, “Uh…Pinkie?” “Yyyyeeeeeesssss?” Pinkie asked, smiling brightly and blinking rapidly at Rainbow Dash as the pegasus landed softly. “Where did all the decorations go?” “Pfft! I took those down, like, ten seconds ago,” Pinkie waved dismissively. “Come on, Dashie, keep up!” The party pony giggled nonchalantly, the speedster shaking her head before the twists of logic could break it, sighing softly as she handed the banner over to her friend. “So, did you have fun with your new friend?” Pinkie chirped. “Yeah,” Rainbow smiled, looking over her shoulder, hoping to see Foggy Day and Scootaloo still in the corner. To her unexpected surprise, her heart sank when she saw they weren’t, and the front doors ‘clunk’ed closed. Her smile fell for only a second before she tugged a smaller one back on. “Yeah…I did.” Foggy hugged Scootaloo tight, the filly settling down to sleep. She gave the filly’s mane one more pass with her hoof, and stepped out of her room. Mentally checking off a few things, she pushed open the office door and pulled open the bottomost drawer, reaching with her magic and tugging out a single sheet of paper. She hesitated, knowing she technically wasn’t supposed to do this. But…her intuition was telling her otherwise. ‘If she doesn’t come back,’ she nodded to herself, ‘I’ll shred it.’ Having decided, she plucked up a quill, smoothing down the sheet. On the top line, she wrote a single name: Rainbow Dash She jotted down the date, noting the two and a half hours Rainbow Dash spent with Scootaloo that day. Smiling softly to herself, she sent up a silent prayer before picking up the sheet again and moving to a different filing cabinet. Pulling it open, she nudged the files until she reached Scootaloo’s. She pulled out the filly’s file, flipped the other twenty-two pages aside, and placed Rainbow Dash’s page at the back of the file. With a flash of hurt, she let out a sigh through her nose and closed the folder, replacing it before flipping off her light and leaving the office. ‘Please,’ she begged internally. ‘Please let her be the one.’ Rainbow Dash was flying. The wind whipped through her mane, and she breathed in the scent of freedom as she soared. She smiled to herself, ducking, weaving, and twirling around the clouds and smirking as she narrowly avoided a flock of birds. From their passing squawks came another noise, one that almost made her wings freeze in shock and surprise. A little filly’s laughter filled her ears, and she suddenly became aware of a small, comfortable weight on her back. She craned her neck, feeling little forelegs holding onto her. A little orange filly rested on her back, and Rainbow could just make out the purple mane flipping about in the breeze. “What the—?” she asked herself, landing on the closest cloud. At once, the filly hopped up, bouncing off Rainbow Dash’s back and landing on the cloud, giggling all the while. Rainbow Dash looked down at Scootaloo, now sitting and beaming up at her, eyes closed. “Kid, what were you doing on my back? How’d you even get there?!” Scootaloo just giggled, and Rainbow Dash remembered she couldn’t hear her. Rainbow sat dumbly, not knowing how to tell her what she’d just asked. As she watched the filly laughing, she said, more to herself, “I didn’t even know you were on me.” Brow creasing, she wondered aloud, “What are you laughing about, anyway?” At this, Scootaloo’s giggling died down. The filly’s smile faltered as she seemed to be thinking, before she broke out in a wide grin. Scootaloo opened her eyes, her opaque pupils staring at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, in turn, stared right back, unsure of what to do. The filly before her broke out in laughter once more, and Rainbow Dash startled as the cloudiness in her eyes began moving, warping and swirling about. The intermingling shades of white swam together, fading and revealing Scootaloo’s lavender eyes in all their clarity. Rainbow Dash gasped as Scootaloo seemed to be gazing directly into her soul, her cleared eyes shimmering in the light of the sun. The filly opened her mouth to speak. Rainbow Dash gasped awake, trembling in a cold sweat. She sat up, tiny giggles ringing in her ears as she looked about wildly. She flipped on her light, her tired eyes half expecting to see Scootaloo sitting right in front of her. When she found nothing but her own disturbed bedspread, she groaned, rubbing her eyes and pulling herself out of bed. “What a dream…” she murmured to herself. She stretched her legs, walking off her shock and trying to calm her pounding heart. She went downstairs, through the second floor of her house, to the first floor, and into the kitchen. She sat down on the kitchen floor and downed a glass of water, rubbing her forehead. A small headache was coming on. “Where did that even come from?” she asked aloud. She normally didn’t dream. When she did, it was mostly just her flying through the sky. Usually, those ended with her violently waking up as she face-planted into her wall or floor—and they most certainly did not include little hitchhikers. Groaning to herself, she climbed back up the stairs, stopping at her second floor. She was too wired to go back to sleep. With a sigh, her eyes panned to the guest bedroom, a stack of boxes lining the corner of the adjacent wall. She’d never furnished the smaller room, and had ended up using it as a storage closet ever since she’d moved in. She stretched out her neck, not wanting to deal with the bulky things, but not wanting to go back to sleep, either. A flash of Scootaloo’s eyes lit up her mind, and suddenly the boxes won her attention. Rainbow bumped the door open, twisting on the singular lamp in the opposite corner of the boxes. She huffed another sigh, reading the label on the first box. Blankets She lugged the box down, pushing it against the opposite wall. The next one read the same thing, and she mindlessly shoved it next to the first. The third box, a longer one, held a picture of an old shelf, one with square bars at all four corners holding up five shelves meant to fit floor to ceiling. Rainbow Dash grumbled to herself. These things were either given to her by her parents, like the blankets; or they were leftover things from her old bedroom her parents wanted her to take when she moved, like the shelves. Either way, she hadn’t had space for them in her own room, and now every single item was in a junk pile in an empty bedroom. She shoved the shelf box in front of the other two, away from the wall. She scanned the boxes for other bedroom-esque labels, spying one labeled Table. She rolled her eyes. Her parents had insisted she take both her old bedside tables (having only a twin bed when she was younger). Now that she had a full bed, she simply didn't have room for both. Another low grumble to herself, and the box was shoved in front of the shelf box. She raised an eyebrow at the impromptu platform she’d made, jutting out like some weirdly-shaped stage. She chuckled to herself. “A bed could fit there.” She blinked, shocked at what had just come out of her mouth. Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the boxes still in the back corner. She found herself staring at their collective size, and another sleepy smile crept up her face. “A dresser could go there. Maybe a corner one? It’d be a cool shape.” She smiled in thought, before she snapped out of her stupor again, furiously shaking her head. “Come on, Rainbow Dash, snap out of it!” She demanded herself, pacing the room. “You can’t…you…you can’t…” she grit her teeth, forcing herself to say the word that seemed lodged in her throat. “You can’t adopt her.” Silence answered her declaration, and a pain tapped her heart. Another voice rose in her head, and she allowed it to speak out loud: “Why not?” She shook her head again. “Because you’re a very busy pony.” “Doing what?” “Y—You’re part of the weather team! You have a job!” “…That pays well and doesn’t challenge you.” “But…but still!” “You take naps in the middle of the day. You can do things so fast—the most you do is during Winter Wrap Up, and that’s only because you fly back and forth constantly to clear the snow clouds and help the birds migrate.” Silence met the voice, Rainbow Dash unable to find a retort for a moment. “But…I don't know how to talk to her.” “You can learn.” “Ugh, I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a foal!” “…You can learn that, too.” Rainbow Dash finally fell silent, head swimming with the back-and-forth thoughts. “I can’t just…jump into this,” she said quietly, defeated. “This isn’t some trick or grand gesture or anything…this is a little filly.” “…Then take it slow. Take your time, let it play out… see what happens…” Silence. “Maybe…I can start by just…going to see her again?” Rainbow Dash’s heart swelled, her mind already racing through whatever tricks she could fly Scootaloo through. Or, maybe she should just let her decide. “I’m off tomorrow,” she thought out loud. “My friends haven’t made any plans with me…yeah, I’ll go see her again tomorrow.” A small smile found her face, and Rainbow Dash trotted back up the stairs to her own room, nearly too excited to sleep.