//------------------------------// // Chapter five // Story: Weak wings and a useless unicorn. // by Sugar Moon //------------------------------// As dawn broke over the now partied out Ponyville, one little filly was just beginning to wake. Blearily blinking out the sleep in her eyes, Scootaloo looked around. Where am I? she thought, still half asleep. Lazily moving her head, she did a quick scan around the room. It was a circular room with white walls and pastel shades all around. Scootaloo didn't think it was to her tastes, but there was something familiar about it. It kinda looks like.. A light snuffling sound emanated from beside her. Another little filly lay on her side, slightly snoring, even if she would never admit it. Sweetie Belle. That explained it. She was in Sweetie's room at the Carousel Boutique. Last night's party all flooded back to her. They had so much fun. Everypony did. They stayed up later than they ever had before, dancing and eating all the scrummy treats that Pinkie laid out for everypony. After everypony else left, Sweetie insisted that Applebloom should sleep over. Staying up telling ghost stories and pillow fighting was just so much better this time. In “her” home. Even the showdown with Diamond Tiara couldn't upset her. She had her friends. She had her family. Sure, it was a little dysfunctional, but she had them. She wasn't alone anymore. Carefully avoiding the snoozing crusaders beside her, Scootaloo managed not to jostle any of them awake and quietly stepped off the bed. She slowly tiphoofed over towards the door of Sweetie's room. Scoots didn't know why they didn't sleepover in “her” room. This was her new home now, she supposed. Shouldn't that be the way it was? Maybe she wasn't prepared for all this. The idea of having a home again was new, and honestly kind of frightening to her. Scared that it wasn't happening, that somehow it was not real. But mainly scared that it was. As if to backup her feelings of this not being real, she thought of Rarity at the party. Her new guardian. I'm not calling her ‘mom’. Scootaloo thought bitterly. She isn't my mother. Where was she last night when Diamond was bullying me? Actually, where was she after she disappeared with Pinkie? She stopped dead in her tracks at the door. Exactly. She wasn't there. She left. What kind of a parent does that? As she opened the door, Scootaloo's mental voice took on an almost smug tone. A bad one. See? I don't have to call her ‘mom’. I can look after myself as long as I have the crusaders. Stepping into the hall, her mind was made up. She'd stay here with Rarity, but that was it. If the government needed it to seem that Rarity was taking care of her, then fine. Didn't want her to be like my mom anyway. I can take care of myself. She didn't know why, but that thought saddened her. Lifting her head up slightly, Scootaloo noticed the door to “her” room. It was cyan blue now, instead of the uniform pastel shades of the rest of the doors. Walking towards it, her eyes lit up in wonder. It was her favourite colour. Resting one of her front hooves on it, she gently pushed the room open. It was beautiful. The room was cyan blue on three sides with one wall completely white. They were all adorned with posters of the wonderbolts and Scootaloo's favourite bands, except for the white wall which was completely bare. The blue walls all had a rainbow running right along the top. In one corner was a stack of toys. A ball, a hula-hoop, and other little toys that any filly would kill for. The wall on the right had a bed alongside it. That looks comfy, Scootaloo thought. “Surprise dear,” Rarity said. Scootaloo hadn't even noticed her standing there in the middle of the room. All around her there was open paint tins. Looking at her now she noticed that Rarity was covered in paint. Flecks of blue stained her coat and mane. It was the messiest Scootaloo had ever seen her. This was all a little much for her. She couldn't speak a word. Rarity took it upon herself to explain what was happening. “I decided that if you were going to live here, then your room should be exactly that. Somewhere where you feel comfortable, and is just for you.” Rarity walked closer towards her. “This is your room. These are your things. Everything here is for you to do as you wish.” “Rarity?” Scootaloo looked confused. “When did you find time to do this?” Rarity chuckled sheepishly. “Well, I may have skipped out on the party last night to do this, but it's quite all right. This is much more important. You are much more important.” She did this all for you, ya big dummy. Scootaloo's cheeks reddened a little at the thought.This was getting a little too emotional for her. She had enough of that last night. “I... uh... you missed a spot.” Scootaloo pointed with her hoof, embarrassed, trying to end the heart-warming scene. Rarity turned to where the filly was pointing. It was the big empty wall. “Hmm? Oh, the wall?” She turned back to face Scootaloo, slightly amused and proud of herself. “Well, do you see these paint tins?” Rarity lifted them in her magic aura to show Scootaloo. “These are for that wall. I left it blank. I thought you might want to paint it with me? I thought it would be a fun thing for us to do together.” Scootaloo smiled. She couldn't think of anything better. Waking up to a hangover was not something Applejack was used to. She could hold her liquor. The Apple family cider ain't for little fillies, that's for dang sure. But she wasn't one to drink too much. “Everything in moderation,” is what granny always said, and Applejack usually listened. Usually. However, last night was a cause for celebration. Her friend had become a momma, and if that didn't call for a drink, what did? It wasn't as if she was drinking a little bit more to blot out certain thoughts of a missing alabaster mare. Nope. And besides, one or two little drinks couldn't hurt, right? “Ooohhhhh...” Applejack winced as she gingerly rubbed a hoof over her hatless head. OK. Maybe it could hurt. Just a little. She may have overdone it a tad on the celebrating. She only had 3 drinks... or maybe 8. She wasn't very good at fancy mathematics. Her head stung like a swarm of hungry parasprites as she swung her hooves out of bed. As she reached over to the lamp where her hat lay, it hit her. She didn't have a lamp. Where in tarnation am I? Looking around the room, she noticed all the bolts of fabric and ponnequins. It had to belong to Rarity. So what the heck was she doing in Rarity's bed? Damn soft though, she thought absentmindedly. Oh, hush you, she scolded herself. She tried real hard to puzzle out what had happened last night. In fact, she couldn't remember ever seeing Rarity after she went to talk to Pinkie. The last thing she remembered was hunkering down on Rarity's sofa to watch over the girls. Everypony else had left; somepony had to look after them ‘til Rarity came back. Wait... there was something else. It was kinda hazy. She remembered drifting through the air like she was on a cloud. She felt safe and warm, more so than she had ever felt in a long time. During this “flight,” Applejack’s eyelids fluttered gently as she wakened ever so slightly. Moving her head to see this cloud, she noticed a light blue sparkly aura around her. Magic. I must be dreaming, she thought in awe. “It's ok darling,” a sultry voice said from behind her. “Go back to sleep. Everything is alright. I'm here.” Part of Applejack wanted to argue, wanted to turn around to that angelic voice and see just who it was that was saying everything was safe. But she could hear the truth in it. The familiar voice sounded so honest that she daren't argue with it, instead deciding to trust it. As she closed her eyes to go back to sleep, she felt herself being lowered into something so soft it could only belong to Rarity. “Heh, Rarity,” a sleepy Applejack chuckled. A goofy grin settled on her face with the mere thought of the mare. The “angel” tittered lightly beside Applejack. While she snuggled into the blankets, Applejack felt her hat being levitated off her head. With a sound of protest she tried to reach for it. “Hush now darling. You don't want to sleep with it on now, do you?” The angel made a lot of sense. She didn't want to damage her hat, but... she wanted it. It always made her feel better. Her hat was her constant companion. Even though she usually took it off to sleep, in her drunken sleepy state that didn't seem to matter much. She wanted the comfort of the familiar. She could hear the sounds of hooves gently walking away when she called out. “Stay angel. If I can't have my hat, can I at least have you?” A breath caught in the angel’s throat. The next thing Applejack could feel was a warm pressure beside her on the bed. Her angel had joined her. Spooning up against her angel she was again reminded of Rarity. So Applejack pulled the angel ever closer, wrapping her hooves around her with no intention of ever letting go. She had never felt as safe as she did in this moment. Finally, she couldn't take it any more. She had to look at her angel. Opening her eyes carefully, so as not to disturb the pony she had cuddled up to, she saw a white coat. All she had to do to know was shift her head upwards to find out who her dream angel was. But she didn't. She wanted the dream to last. Afraid that looking upon her angel would break the spell, Applejack just sighed acceptingly and snuggled even closer into the angels chest. “Ah wish this weren't a dream sugarcube. I think I need you.” The angel shifted slightly to bring her head closer to Applejack's. With the lightest touch she lay a small sweet kiss upon the mare's forehead. “I need you too. If only you knew how much.” In the throes of sleep, a single thought passed through Applejack's mind. She kissed me. And with that, Applejack fell into a happy slumber. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had all came back to her. Every word. Aw, ponyfeathers. Applejack began to panic. She realised now. That wasn’t a dream. And there was only one pony who could have been the angel. Rarity. Several nagging questions flew through the mind of the now panicking orange mare. Why did she have to do a foal-headed thing like that? Why did Rarity have to be all generous and kind like that, making sure she was safe and giving in to her drunken demands? And how dare she like her like that. Making her all confused with her fancy feelings. Sighing, Applejack decided. She would just have to face it. Truth be told, she already knew. Back at the hospital it had all spilled out. Sure, Applejack may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but she had figured out Rarity liked her. She just didn't know what to do about it. She wanted to bring up the subject sooner and let Rarity down easily, but things kept getting in the way. And now, with how she acted last night, she was beginning to think maybe rejecting her out of hoof wasn't the best idea. T'aint like she isn't easy on the eyes, a stray thought cropped up in Applejack's mind. Is that it? That's all you like about her? A voice with a Manehattanite tinged accent questioned Applejack. ‘Course it ain't. She's generous and proud. She may be as vain as a peacock, but she cares about her friends more than some dress, even if she doesn't always show it. And she’s tough to boot. The way she knocked those changlings around was dang impressive. Heck, even I had trouble fighting them, but she was still graceful and as purdy as a picture. Applejack smiled at the memory. Seems you like her a lot more than you're letting on. The voice in her head seemed to chuckle at how blind Applejack was being. And who asked you nosy nelly? Now go on, git. Before I get real mad atcha. With the taunting voice silenced for now, Applejack left Rarity's room only to hear more laughter. This time it was an innocent carefree laugh. She could tell it was Scootaloo, but that other voice... was that Rarity? Walking over to a bright blue door, Applejack nudged it open. Inside, Rarity had Scootaloo on her head to paint what appeared to be a giant Rainbow Dash on one of the walls. Scootaloo's paintbrush occasionally dripped down onto Rarity's coat, eliciting nothing more than a giggle rather than the sharp rebuke that one would associate with messing up Rarity's coat. “Higher, Rarity! I need to put the finishing touches in her mane.” Scootaloo happily mumbled around her paintbrush. Pushing her head upwards Rarity replied “Now you be careful dear.” “Annnnnnd done. The most awesome painting of the most awesome pony ever is finished.” Hopping off of Rarity’s head, Scootaloo spotted Applejack. “Hi Applejack! Like my painting? Rarity helped with the tail, but I did the rest all by myself. Isn't it awesome?” Looking up at the painting Applejack said “Darling, that there is the finest Rainbow’s ever looked.” The little filly beamed at the praise. “Do you want to help us then? We could use your help painting the rest.” Rarity nodded along as Scootaloo spoke before she managed to grasp the full weight of the filly's words. “Rest? What rest?” “Well, duh! The rest of the ponies I care about. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle...” Quickly looking away in embarrassment, she rushed under her breath “youandApplejack...” Turning back as if she never said a word, she carried on only a little bit louder. “And I thought, who best to help me paint them than their sisters?” Rarity and Applejack were taken aback. Applejack was the first to speak. “Sugarcube, I'd be only too happy to help.” Picking up a brush, Applejack went to painting where Scootaloo directed. For the next few hours from just after dawn, they painted and played together. When Sweetie Belle and Applebloom finally woke up, they joined in too. The hours seemed to fly by as they all painted together. They even forgot to have breakfast, but that didn't seem to matter much. It was the best morning Scootaloo had had in years. To her in this morning, she had what she wanted for so many years. A family.