//------------------------------// // Orange Memories // Story: Sisterly Bonds // by Secret_Shadows //------------------------------// Sisterly Bonds Part VII ‘Orange Memories’ Written By: Secret_Shadows Edited By: avorin Consulting Advisor: Enlistedpony Rainbow and Scootaloo were laying in Rainbow’s bed in their sisterly embrace. Rainbow yawned from exhaustion as she and Scootaloo sat together. “Thanks sis.” Rainbow said with another yawn as she stretched her forelegs a bit. “No problem big sis.” Scootaloo said, getting a bit restless still in their embrace. “Alright Scoots, as much as I want to continue this, I need some sleep, I am awfully tired.” Rainbow said as she yawned, again. Scootaloo nods and releases herself from the embrace and gets off the bed. “Are, are you going to be ok?” Scootaloo asked, still a bit concerned for Rainbow’s well being. “Yeah, yeah, I *Yawn* I’m Fine” Rainbow said as she started to doze off to dreamland. Scootaloo, content that Rainbow is finally going to be able to get some sleep, goes back to her bed and attempts to sleep herself. Just as she starts to fall asleep she speaks. “Night, sleep tight” She sighs as she closes her eyes. “You too sis.” “Dear, dear, it’s, its time!” Skylight said as she nudged Refraction. “What? Go back to sleep its still dark out.” Refraction said as he rolled over. “The foal is coming!” “Can’t you hold it in or something?” “The Foal, is coming!” She said again hitting him upside his head. “Oh, wait, what? now? Are you sure?” He said as his eyes snapped open. “Would I have just hit you upside your head if I was joking?” ‘Yes’ he thought to himself. “Ok, um, let me get Rainbow, then, then we can go, I guess” Refraction said as he got out of bed. ‘If this is another false alarm I am going to be so bucki-’ His thought was cut off as he entered Rainbow’s room. “Daddy? What’s going on?” “The hospital said your sister arrived, we have to hurry there, come on, get up” He said as he lifted his daugher out of her bed and placed her on the floor. Rainbow rubbed her eyes and yawned before laying down on her floor and falling asleep just as fast as she woke up. “Rainbow....” Refraction said as he picked up her and placed the sleeping filly on his back. Skylight was already waiting outside, just as Refraction and Rainbow exited the house, Rainbow spoke. “How did we get outside?” She said as she rubbed her eyes again. “Oh hi daddy” She just now realised she was on his back. “Come on, we have to hurry” Skylight said as she got into a  chariot shaped cloud. Refraction set Rainbow down next to Skylight, and she fell asleep, surprise surprise.... Refraction then started pushing the cloud along to the hospital, unknowing he was pushing himself and Skylight to an end. The Next morning... Rainbow woke to the sun shining in on her face, she never closed the windows last night. She stretched and gave a well earned yawn, then she noticed Scootaloo was still fast asleep. “Aw, Scootaloo looks so sweet sleeping, I wonder if Tank wants to play a prank on little sis.” She whispered to herself A very evil grin appeared on Rainbow’s face. She left the room quietly. “Hey Tank, want to play a prank on Scootaloo?” Rainbow asked. Tank slowly opened his eyes then closed them as he looked up at her tilting his head. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She said. Soon she returned with a half sleeping Tank the Tortoise. Rainbow slowly approached Scootaloo with Tank in her hoof. Rainbow slowly put Tank on Scootaloo’s back near her tail. “Ok champ, now go give Scootaloo a big wet kiss.” Rainbow whispered as she giggled to herself. Tank started to fall off of Scootaloo and grabbed her tail to prevent himself from falling off. Scootaloo’s eyes shot open as she felt the tug on her tail and her wings extended, she was blushing profusely. Rainbow knew exactly what was going on with Scootaloo’s wings, but she didn’t want to have ‘that’ conversation. Scootaloo shot Rainbow a mortifying confused glare. “Heh, he, uh, he was suppose to lick your face.” Rainbow said rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof. Scootaloo was walking through the common room of the Orphanage. Making her way over to a small table that had paper and crayons on it. She was planning on drawing a nice blue sky with a large orange sun. Scootaloo had an eye for a particular young pegasus colt on the other side of the room, she looked away and blushed when he caught her gaze. About halfway to the table the young pegasus colt who she was eyeing ran up behind her and locked her tail in his mouth and pulled it playfully. Scootaloo’s wings flared out and her eyes grew wide and she blushed profusely. Some of the older pegasi in the room chuckled to themselves, knowing exactly what was going on. Scootaloo felt extremely embarrassed and mortified, and she had no idea why she lost control of her wings. “Um, Scootaloo, do you know what just happened?” Rainbow asked, dreading the answer she was about to receive. “What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked as she walked into the bathroom and splashed her face with some water. “Well, uh, with um, with your wings there?” Rainbow said, she had no desire to have this conversation whatsoever with such a young filly. “No, why, I dunno why I lost control of my wings like that.” “Well, uh, what, what um, what were you thinking about just then?” Rainbow asked, so not ready to have this conversation. “I was remembering something, from a while ago, it’s nothing really.” Scootaloo looked away blushing a bit, it didn’t help Rainbow at all considering Scootaloo’s wings were still slightly flared out. “You, uh, you can tell me, right, we are sisters now, remember?” “H-have you ever had a crush on s-somepony?” Scootaloo said as she sat down on her bed. Rainbow sat down next to her. “Yeah, but I’d never admit it.” Rainbow said. “W-well, when I was at the orphanage, there was this colt you see, and...” Her wings started to tremble a bit as she trailed off. “What about him?” Rainbow asked, as much as she did not want to have the conversation, she wanted to know about this mystery colt. “W-well, h-he tugged on my tail, and, I,I felt all weird, and I lost control of my wings, and some of the older pegasi laughed at me, it was so embarrassing.” Scootaloo looked down a bit, her wings, now fully extended as they were a few moments ago. “Oh, uh, I, uh, I think it’s time you, I think I should probably...” Rainbow trailed off. “The Talk.” Scootaloo knew that ‘The Talk’ was suppose to be something to dread, but she didn’t exactly know what it was about. “You see, Scootaloo, when, when a, uh, when two ponies love each other very much, um, and, um, particularly a stallion and a mare, um, things happen, and um, things you can’t control, embarrassing things, like your wings, and, um, you see, if, um, well, it’s rather interesting, um, let me start over.” Rainbow paused a bit, she inhaled a deep breath and began to speak once again. “When a Mare and a Stallion love eachother very much, things like, um, yeah why don’t we go flying or something.” Rainbow said as she got up and started to walk out of the room. “But Rainbow, why did my wings flare up, what was that weird feeling, why did I blush?” “We can take the route around the mountain and then-” “But I can’t fly, my wings are all stiff and I can’t move them, how do I get them to move again?” “Uh, well, you can ride on a cloud or something, come on lets go.” “Rainbow! Why are you avoiding the subject?” Scootaloo moaned. “I’m not going to get out of this am I?” “Nope!” “Well, when you fancy a colt, your body, um, tells you stuff-” “What stuff?” Rainbow face hoofed. “Um, well, your wings flare up, and um, it, um, it lets you know, that um, you, like a colt, and, you get that um, that strange feeling, and, um-” ‘How am I going to distract Scootaloo now or get her wings down without having to say it.’ Rainbow thought to herself. “-And, um, Hey is that Spitfire?” Rainbow said pointing out a window. “What? Where!” Scootaloo said excitedly as she ran to the window, her wings however, were still flared. ‘Jeez this kid is persistent’ Rainbow thought to herself. “I don’t see her, well, lets get back to that conversation.” Again, Rainbow face hoofed. “Well, um, as I was saying, you um, when a mommy pony and a daddy pony want to have a foal, um, you do know where foals come from right?” “Of course, The stork!” Rainbow, again face hoofed. “Well, when a mommy pony and a daddy pony decide they want a foal, they, um, they, well, the daddy pony, no wait, thats not right, the mommy pony goes to the bed and, no, thats not right either, what did you do last time your wings were like this?” “Well, the orphanage ponies pushed my wings down and then tied them around my sides with a rope....kinda like what Applejack did to you when you did that race for the running of the leaves, my wings hurt for a few hours after that.” Rainbow looked back at her own wings and imagined how painful that would have to be. “Wow Scootaloo, I’m sorry they did that to you, that uh, that probably hurt really bad huh?” Scootaloo’s wings started to loose their flare as she got a bit depressed. “Yeah, it hurt a lot, and the older pegasi kept laughing at me, the mean mare even made me wear a sign, I don’t remember what it said though, I think it said dunce or something? They said I had to wear the sign because I didn’t know what was going on with my wings.” Scootaloo looked down at the ground, she started to sniffle a bit. ‘Poor Scootaloo, Those orphanage ponies must have really hurt her.’ Rainbow thought to herself. “Are you ok?” Rainbow asked, Scootaloo was starting to tear up, it was a bit depressing to see Scootaloo like that. “Y-yeah, I’m fine, I just, they were so mean, one of the older pegasus tripped me and called me stupid, and, and, the older colts s-started c-calling m-me n-names and s-stuf-ff, and I-It r-really hurt.” “Oh Scootaloo, I am so sorry, I won’t let anything happen to you ok? How about we go get breakfast, hm?” Rainbow asked as she hugged Scootaloo. “Yeah, that sounds nice, I am a bit hungry.” Scootaloo said as her stomach rumbled. They both giggled a bit at her loud stomach, then they left for the kitchen to have a nice breakfast. Shortly after breakfast the two pegasi were locked in a game of hide and seek because it was raining out. “Come out wherever you are!” Rainbow said as she opened a small cabinet, no Scootaloo. Rainbow then made her way from the kitchen into the living room, no sign of Scootaloo. She walked over to a small china cabinet, it had a small compartment on the bottom that would be enough to hide a small filly. ‘Now I have you’ Rainbow thought as she saw a small purple hair stuck between the door and its hinges. She opened it fast to find that it was just a purple hair.... She looked around the room, it was quiet, the only sound was that of the rain pelting the window at a soothing rate keeping pace with the grandfather clock that was ticking away. She slowly creeped her way into the bedroom and looked around, at first glance nothing seemed different, but then she noticed a small purple tail sticking out from under her bed. ‘Aha, Gotcha!’ Rainbow thought to herself. Rainbow slowly crept closer and then pulled Scootaloo out from under the bed and engaged her in a tickle war. “Gotcha!” “Search the forest, I want you to find her, and bring her back, she is injured, she can’t have gotten to far.” The mare said as several stallions ran into the Everfree. One of the Stallions noticed an orange leg pull itself into a small log. He ran over to the log and pulled Scootaloo out by the short stub of a tail she had remaining after they had cut it off not even an hour earlier. “Gotcha! You aren’t going to get away that easily.” He said as he carried her back to the orphanage. Just before they got out of the forest a timber wolf attacked, the Stallion dropped Scootaloo and ran out of the forest leaving her to fend for herself, alone, severely injured, and on the verge of passing out. Rainbow was about to place a hoof on Scootaloo’s belly to tickle her. “Oh, But I am very elusive! You’ll have to try harder!” Scootaloo said as she reached up and started to tickle Rainbow’s exposed tummy. She played it out like she was attacking a large cyan and rainbow beast trying its best to defeat her. ‘Nonononono!’ Rainbow thought to herself, fully knowing she was very ticklish. Rainbow tried to resist, pulling herself away from Scootaloo, but failed when a hoof came into contact with her belly. Wielding her hoof like it was a sword, Scootaloo started slashing through the beast in an attempt to stop its tirade. Rainbow instantly fell over from her fit of laughter and Scootaloo jumped on top of her standing tall claiming her prize, the pelt of a rainbow and cyan beast! Or atleast thats how it was in Scootaloo’s imagination. “I got you Rainbow!” Scootaloo said with a giggle as she started to tickle Rainbow again. “O-oh, ok, C-can’t b-breath” Rainbow said though her fit of laughter. “Ok sis, but, now I know what your weakness is!” Scootaloo said with a smile. “Yeah yeah, but I know what your weakness is, bed” Rainbow smiled as she paused to catch her breath as she stood back up. “That was really fun Scoots, but its still raining out, sorry, I guess we can’t go flying today.” ‘It’s really fun to bond with a sister, even if she isn’t really my sister, I hope we can keep doing this’ Rainbow thought to herself. As they started preparing for the next game, Scootaloo stopped when she swore she heard the howl of a timberwolf. “Scoots, are you ok?” Rainbow asked when she saw the terrified look on Scootaloo’s face. “W-was that a t-timber w-wolf?” She asked. “Nah, it was the wind, besides, even if it was a timberwolf, we are a few hundred feet up in the sky, they can’t get us up here.” Rainbow said. “Yeah, ok, sure.” Scootaloo said Scootaloo was cornered by the timberwolf, it howled causing Scootaloo to flinch. ‘How am I going to get out of this!’ Scootaloo thought. There was a snap from a tree branch and it distracted the timberwolf long enough for Scootaloo to slip past, it soon noticed however and gave chase. Scootaloo was running, however the pain in her wings was too severe, not only from her feathers being pulled out, but from landing on them from two stories up. “Owe!” Scootaloo screeched as she tripped and fell into a mud puddle. The timberwolf caught up to her. She backed away slowly on the ground, well, as fast as she could. The timberwolf reached its head down, its mouth open to snatch her up when a streak of pink and yellow flew past and snatched Scootaloo out from under the timberwolves maw. Scootaloo had fainted before the mystery savior showed up. “Why don’t we finish that puzzle, hm Scoots?” Rainbow asked as she walked into the living room. “Sure, but you cheat, you already did the puzzle before.” “Yes but you picked it.” “Hmph” As the two started working on the puzzle Scootaloo started to talk. “Rainbow, do, do you like to read?” “Well, there was this one time, I was in the hospital because my wings were all bandaged up, and Twilight left me a Daring Do book, which I said was undeniable, unquestionably, uncool, so eventually after-” The words of Rainbow’s story trailed off as Scootaloo gave her a blank stare. “Wings” Scootaloo whispered to herself. “What was that Scootaloo?” “Oh, uh, nothing, go on.” “Ok so anyway, and then the hospital ponies were all like, you have to leave-” Scootaloo awoke in a strange place, the room was oddly reminiscent of the nurse’s office at that orphanage. She tried to get up but she was restrained by the pain in her wings. “Hello?” She managed to say weakly. “Oh, why good morning! You gave me quite the scare when I found you with that timberwolf, but he won’t bother you anymore.” The yellow coated mare said smiling, she had a small bowl of warm soup with her. “Here, eat this, you’ must be hungry.” The pink maned pegasus started to move the bowl closer to Scootaloo. Scootaloo flinched and covered her face with her hooves, expecting the bowl of hot liquid to be thrown at her face. “Are you ok?” The pegasus asked. “Don’t hurt me I, I won’t run away again! Just don’t hurt me!” Scootaloo said in a frantic cry. “Oh, nopony is going to hurt you here, I just want to see you get all better.” The mare said, again she put on a weak smile. “Thats what they say to all of the runaways, please, please just d-don’t hurt me!” “Nopony here is going to hurt you, I, I just want you to get better.” Scootaloo slapped the bowl of soup out of the yellow mare’s hooves. The soup splashed onto the floor next to the mare. She flinched when the liquid spilled, some of it landed on her hooves and caused a slight burn. The yellow pegasus yelped when she was burnt by the soup. “I guess you don’t want soup, I’ll clean it up, I guess, you know, if you want.” “Whatever just don’t hurt me!” Scootaloo said now crying. “N-no, n-no use c-crying o-over s-spilled s-soup.” The mare said starting to tear up as she cleaned the soup. “I, I guess I-I’ll l-leave y-you alone” “P-please j-just d-don’t h-hurt me!” Scootaloo said, still in a panic, covering her head. The timid mare left the room, nearly in tears leaving Scootaloo alone. ‘Phew she left’ Scootaloo thought to herself. After a few hours, with the timid pony not returning to the room, Scootaloo decided it was time to make a break for it. She climbed out of the bed, her wings were wrapped in bandages and both of her hind legs were in splints. However, she managed to start walking to the door of the room, confronted with a challenge, stairs. DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!! “DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!! Daring Do was faced with Ghastly Gorge!” Rainbow said; she was starting to get all geeky as she leaped off the sofa flying around the room dodging pretend falling rocks saying ‘its time to DO something’ As she landed on the coffee table she flicked her mane like a bad actor would. “Another day, another canyon” she said standing on the table proudly with a very lame expression on her face. “Wait huh? Ghastly Gorge what?” Scootaloo said. Rainbow snapped out of her delusions of grandeur long enough to realise that she was embarrassing herself. “Oh, uh, I uh, I guess that was, um, yeah?” Rainbow said, she looked shocked and blushed in embarrassment as she stumbled. “And, just how did you avoid those rocks in ghastly gorge again Rainbow?” Scootaloo said with a devilish grin on her face. “I, I was fighting a parasprite, you probably just didn’t see it, it was, um, it was really fast!” Rainbow said trying to defend her actions. “You were what now? Rainbow I think you were being a bit childish living in that fantasy.” Scootaloo said as she raised an eyebrow. Rainbow started to sweat a bit. Her face went from being all lit up with a smile to being a very large frown. Her wings that were spread for her flying had now snapped themselves to her side. “Yeah well, you’re a filly anyway, so, it, It’s Ok To Pretend! sometimes...” “Rainbow, heh, were you just pretending to be Daring Do?” Scootaloo said, she was staring Rainbow down trying to break the answer out of her. “You-You Didn’t See That!” Rainbow said a bit franticly. ‘I can’t believe I just did that!’ Rainbow thought to herself. “Uh huh, well, now I know I can-” “If you say one word!” Rainbow looked away, blushing a bit. “Well, now I know what I can use if you try to send me to bed early.” “Try it and you will get another visit from the Tickle Dash!” Rainbow said as she tackled Scootaloo tickling her. “O-Ok, I, I give, I give!” Scootaloo said in her fit of laughter. “The only ransom is a pinkie promise!” “C-Cross my heart, h-hope to, f-fly, s-stick a c-cupcake i-in m-my e-eye!” Scootaloo said, still laughing hysterically. “Good, now, you didn’t hear anything.” Rainbow said as she stopped ticking Scootaloo. Scootaloo grinned a bit. Rainbow glared at Scootaloo as if to say ‘If you even try it’ She stumbled her way down the stairs trying to be as quiet as possible, not really managing to. When she got to the bottom of the steps, after nearly falling in the process, she found a sleeping yellow mare on the sofa. She made her way past the mare as quietly as she could, managing to get out through the rabbit door that was built into the front door. Later That Evening... “So, we have, dandelion sandwiches, um, grass soup, and um, that’s about it, uh, unless you want to go out and get something.” Rainbow said as she scanned her cabinets for anything, ANYTHING to eat. ‘I really need to go shopping.’ Rainbow thought to herself. Scootaloo’s stomach growled intensely. “Rainbow, my tummy hurts.” Scootaloo said whimpering, she wasn’t looking too good, it was probably to much excitement and not eating that much over the past few days. “Aw, what’s the matter Scoots?” Rainbow said as she floated down from her holding pattern near the open cabinets. She picked Scootaloo up, much like one would for a foal. “I, I don’t know, my tummy just really hurts.” She whined, she put her forehoof under her belly trying to hold it to make the pain stop. Rainbow put her hoof up to Scootaloo’s head. “You don’t feel warm, I think you’re just hungry.” She said as she set Scootaloo back down. “It hurts Rainbow.” She whined. Scootaloo wandered through the back alleys of Ponyville, looking for any kind of food, anything, even the smallest crumb, She was starving. “And Stay Out!” A grumpy pony yelled as he through Scootaloo out of his restaurant, she had no bits. Her stomach growled. ‘My tummy hurts’ She thought to herself as she found her way into another alley. It was raining and she needed to find shelter. A box in the alley provided such shelter. She got inside it and closed the flaps on the sideways box trying to keep herself dry. She was cold, wet, and hungry. “Miss?” An elegant waiter pony from the restaurant said in a seemingly french accent. He approached the box. “Miss, where did you go?” He asked, he was confused, it was a dead end, and she just dissapeared. Scootaloo peared out of her box to see the waiter standing there. “H-hello?” Scootaloo said, still afraid of other ponies after what happened at the orphanage. “My dear, what are you doing out here all alone, your parents must be worried sick.” He said as he picked her up in his forehooves. “What’s a parent?” She asked, then her stomach growled again. “My tummy hurts.” She said as she held her stomach with her hooves. “This is unacceptable, you are coming into my establishment, and we shall feed you.” The pony said as he carried Scootaloo into the restaurant. - “So my dear, you have read our menu, do you see anything to your liking?” He asked. “I, I can’t read, but, whatever this thing is, it looks good” She said pointing to a picture of a bowl of grass soup. “Chef Gustav! Grass Soup, On Le Double!” The waiter said. “C-can you make me some grass soup?” Scootaloo asked, still holding her belly. “Oh, you have the same taste in food as my mother, I will never understand how ponies eat it.” “Then why do you have some here?” “I’d rather not talk about it.” She said, remembering the time she thought her parents were going to magically come home. Rainbow masterfully started the soup in a pot on a small cloud stove. “My tummy hurts really bad now.” Scootaloo said, she was starting to feel lightheaded. “I’m sorry Scoots, you shoulda told me you were hungry.” Rainbow said as she finished the soup and poured it into a bowl. “There, eat up.” Rainbow said as she sat down opposite to Scootaloo at the table. Scootaloo devoured the soup faster than it took to make it. “Can I have some more please?” She asked as she slid the bowl over to Rainbow. Rainbow smiled a bit, “Sure Scoots.” She then poured another bowl of soup and put it on the table in front of Scootaloo who again, devours it. “Um, Rainbow, I-” “You want more?” Rainbow asked confused. “um, yes, please.” Rainbow, again got more soup and put the bowl in front of Scootaloo who ate it much slower this time. “Now that-” “Don’t tell me you want more.” “Nope! That hit the spot, I think I am good now.” She said as she rubbed her belly. “Well, do you feel bet-” Rainbow was cut off by the snoring sound of a content, full filly. She chuckled to herself. “Aw, your so cute when your sleeping, I guess I need carry you to bed huh?” Rainbow said in a hushed tone. Rainbow quietly put Scootaloo on her back and trotted to the bedroom. She placed Scootaloo in her bed and pulled the covers up over her. “Goodnight sis” Rainbow said as she climbed into her own bed. The only response was the calm sound of a sleeping filly. Scootaloo tossed and turned in bed that night. Eventually she woke, got out of bed and hobbled over to Rainbow’s bed in a sleepy way. “R-Rainbow, I, I can’t sleep.” “What’s that?” “I, I can’t sleep.” “Aw, did you have another nightmare?” “No, I, I just can’t sleep.” “Oh, ok, hop up.” Rainbow said as she patted a spot on her bed. Scootaloo jumped up onto the bed and laid down. Rainbow put her wing over Scootaloo. “Now what seems to be the problem.” She said as she yawned. “Well, I, I can’t sleep, I am tired, but I just can’t fall asleep.” “Maybe a lullaby can help you fall asleep, would you like that?” Rainbow asked, she wasn’t usually into lullabies, but anything to help her little sis. “If you think it will help...” Scootaloo trailed off. “Ok” Rainbow cleared her throat. “Hush now quiet now its time to lay your sleepy head, hush now quiet now its time to go to bed.” Rainbow sang in a wonderful singing voice, albeit a tired voice. Scootaloo yawned a bit as she rested her head down on the pillow. “Hush now quiet now its time to lay your sleepy head, hush now quiet now its time to go to bed, Drifting off to sleep, the exciting day behind you, drifting off to sleep, let the joy of dreamland find you.” Scootaloo started to close her eyes, Rainbow’s song started to echo in her ears as she drifted farther and farther away closer to dreamland. “Hush now........quiet now......its time.....lay.....sleepy..” Thats the last things Scootaloo heard as she drifted off to sleep wrapped in Rainbow’s wing. “Goodnight Scootaloo” Rainbow whispered as she kissed the top of Scootaloo’s head. Soon after Rainbow rested her head on her pillows and fell asleep herself, entering the joy of dreamland.