//------------------------------//
// 04 - Rainbow Streak 
// Story: Do It For Her 
// by Cxcd 
//------------------------------//




It was the next day.
Today was different.
And she had no idea why.
Fluttershy had fed Angel Bunny, much to his delight. She had also bathed him, much to his dismay. She left extra pancake batter in the bowl for whenever Scootaloo decided to roll out of bed. Right now, due to her circumstance she wasn’t signed up for school yet, so getting her into a proper schedule wasn't top priority. Even so, she wasn't exactly sleeping in late or anything. School was definitely on the to-do list, but Fluttershy had decided to wait until she had become accustomed to living in Ponyville first.
She had cleaned the chicken pens, gathered the eggs, helped wrap a broken talon on a friendly owl, and fed the fish in the lake. Feed had been dispersed to the birds, and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon.
Her checklist was done. Done once, triple checked, and done again just in case she missed something. She felt like she was acting like a certain purple Unicorn she knew. But none of that helped resolve this terrible feeling in her gut.
She was missing something, and she had no idea what.







“Damn!” The Pegasus named Rainbow Dash peeked at the sun. She turned around, flying in the opposite direction. “Damn damn!” She checked the sun again, despite it practically not moving an inch in the blue sky. “Where the hay is Fluttershy?” She growled, landing on the grass with an extra give in her legs to prove to the green blades that yes, she was angry.
Rainbow Dash, by all accounts, wasn’t your average mare. She would boisterous, loud, and messy. Her mane screamed several different colors of the rainbow, and her coat was a bright cyan. Although, her cheeks were flushed a shade of red anger due to the absence of a certain yellow Pegasus.
“Maybe she just forgot.” A purple unicorn suggested, relaxing under the safe shade of a tree, face completely hidden by a massive book titled ‘Alternate Universes and You.’
“Forgot?” Rainbow shrieked, hopping back into the air with a powerful thrust of her wings. “Fluttershy doesn’t just forget! She never forgets!” She itched her chin with a hoof, slowly hovering back down. “Well… maybe something came up? She was going on those trips to Manehattan a little while ago… Do you think she’s modeling again?”
“After last time’s fiasco? No.”
“But she wouldn’t miss a practice session! I need my cheering team!”
“Practice?” The purple Unicorn put the book down, giving a raised eyebrow at Rainbow. “Dash, this isn’t practice. This is just showing off.”
“Well- I mean-” She itched her mane, slicking it back as she landed back onto the ground. “Well- I still miss her. And I still want to hang out with her.”
“That’s fair.” The book was shuffled back to position, hiding his entire face, before he pushed it back down again. “Just don’t push too hard.”
“Push too hard?” She cocked her head to the side. “What does that mean?”
“I mean- what if she’s going through something?” The purple Unicorn asked. “It might be personal.”
“When have I ever pushed too hard?” All that Rainbow got in response was a dead-pan stare. “Alright, alright. I’m gonna go find Flutters. If I’m not back in…” She glanced up at the sun, suddenly aware of the fact that it still hasn’t moved. “...twenty minutes. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, assume the worst.”
“Assume the worst? What’s the worst?”
“I died fighting a dragon while protecting Fluttershy.” She stated simply. The Unicorn blinked.
“Wait- twenty minutes?” Panic set in. “I-I’m gonna need five more books! This one is already halfway done!”
“Halfway?” Rainbow leaned in close, reading the title. “Alternate Universes and You? Dusk, you just started reading this book! You could kill somepony with how thick this book is! How are you halfway done?”
“It’s just really gripping!” Dusk flipped back a few pages. “Get this: When two particles are quantum-linked, stimuli on one particle will happen to the other particle, no matter it’s distance! Think of the potential, Dash!” He laughed. “Imagine a universe where I was a mare! There’s a chance that out there somewhere, that’s actually happen-” Dusk put down the book. “Dash?” He looked around at the empty field. He just let out a sigh, leaning back into the tree. “Right. Twenty minutes.”







The sound of knocking woke up Scootaloo.
The blankets were cool, covering her fur with a sensation akin to a light breeze. She, for the first time in ages, felt comfortable in her own skin. Especially after she had hugged Fluttershy yesterday. Something about that had seemed right. Blearily, she blinked, the entire room dimly lit a pale blue streaming through the drawn blinds. In the time she had been living with Fluttershy, her room had slowly transformed into a place- her kingdom palace- not too dissimilar from her humble abode back in the orphanage. Slowly, the walls were being draped in drawings. Perhaps there was less than two walls visible all together under the thick sheets of crayon.
Her ear twitched as she heard the downstairs door open, loud excited talking, and then the voices muted down to almost silence.
The silence was the scariest part. With a huff of hot air, Scootaloo decided ten-thirty was a good enough time to get out of bed. She slinked out, taking good care to remake her bed after. She slowly walked towards the door, trying to make as little noise as possible against the old wood floor boards. She nosed it open, walking into the open hallway, and then finally stopping at the top of the staircase.
“-never see you anymore!” A surprisingly raspy voice said. It was a new voice, and Scootaloo stood a little straighter.
“Oh, um- I-I’m sorry. I only forgot this one meeting, though…” Fluttershy said. She sounded genuinely apologetic, and that frightened Scootaloo. She put her weight slowly onto the top step, slowly drawing out it’s creak to an almost inaudible silence in order to not draw attention to herself.
“Do you even have time for your friends anymore?” Scootaloo leaned all the way around the banister railing, peering just the pupil of her eye out. There was a mare in the living room, standing by the door. She had a cyan coat with the most eccentric mane she had ever seen, being composed of every color of the rainbow. “Fluttershyy, what’s draggin’ ya down? I’m not the only one that’s noticed, either. Rarity’s acting all weird when I talk to her about you, Applejack’s been asking where you’ve been, Pinkie’s been on a bender for the past month, talking about some kind of cute-ceanera, and Dusk is… well, okay, Dusk didn’t notice. But that’s- never mind.”
	“W-Well- u-um- p-promise you won’t be mad?” Scootaloo leaned further in, having both her eyes peer.
“Mad? Why would I get- Flutters, I would never be mad at you.” The Pegasus lowered her voice, leaning in slightly. As did Scootaloo, as she leaned down on the next step.
“Okay…” Scootaloo could now see Fluttershy. She was dancing on the tips of her hooves, nervously hiding behind her mane. This was a new angle that Scootaloo hadn’t seen before. Fluttershy was strong. Strong enough to wrestle Harry the Bear. Strong enough to adopt Scootaloo. Not this mare hiding behind her mane. “I-I’ve had a new resident in my home… um… she’s very sweet, and-”
*Creeak*
Scootaloo’s eyes widened. She glanced down, glaring at the offending floorboard that had made the sound. When she looked back up, she was taken back by two violet orbs staring right back at her. Two piercing violet orbs being worn by a very confused mare.
“Flutters? Who’s that?” She asked. Scootaloo wilted on the stairs. Now or never… Taking a deep breath, she lowered her head and walked down to the bottom. She kept her head down, feeling the new mare’s eyes on her.
“W-Well- that’s- um- I’m like her guardian…”
“Guardian?” The rainbow creature asked, playing with the word in her mouth. “You’re her guardian?” Fluttershy put a reassuring wing over Scootaloo. She felt that same electric buzz she felt when Fluttershy hugged her- it was something that she felt like she was missing, and it made this confrontation feel less scary.
Rainbow went silent for a moment, tilting her head into the air and breathing deeply. Her eyes widened as a dopey smile was plastered onto her face. “Is that pancakes?” She asked dreamily. “Flutters- your mom used to make pancakes all the time- Flutters! You’re totally a mom!”
“What?” Fluttershy asked, her cheeks gaining a rosy tint. “W-Well, mom is… far-fetched.”
“Dude!” The cyan mare jumped excitedly, her wings helping her jump gain a little more height than usually possible. “Your moming her! Mothering- Dude, you’re mothering her! Oh, Sweet Celestia those pancakes!” The mystery mare had begun walking towards the kitchen when Fluttershy used her other wing to block her.
“Wait.” She commanded. The Pegasus looked confused, backing up and falling onto her flank as she eyed between Fluttershy and the kitchen where the pancakes were located. “Scootaloo, this is Rainbow Dash, my foal hood friend. She's like my sister.” She nodded, turning to look at Rainbow. “Rainbow, this is Scootaloo, my adoptive… daughter.” She let the word roll off her tongue, sounding unsure and forced.
“Nice ta meat’cha!” Rainbow said, standing out and holding her hoof. Scootaloo warily bumped it. “I’m like- the fastest flier ever! You know- pretty cool- and um- stuff!” She plastered the fakest smile Scootaloo had ever seen on a pony. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, she leaned over to Fluttershy in a sad attempt at a whisper. “Fluttershy, I’m terrible with foals.”
“I can tell.” Fluttershy whispered back. “We can break the ice over pancakes.” She began talking louder. “There is enough batter for everypony.” She declared. Rainbow excitedly tapped her hooves, standing up and darting in front of Fluttershy with a flap of her wings and into the kitchen. Fluttershy, for all her self-control, rolled her eyes. She shot the filly under her wing a comforting smile, and-
She was surprised to see another smile back at her.
Scootaloo didn’t like new ponies. She would usually shrink and hide, and to be fair, she hadn’t had a lot of new ponies in the recent months ever since Fluttershy had entered her life. But right now- actually, as Fluttershy thought of it, Scootaloo was the one to come out of her room. Scootaloo was the one to come down the staircase, and she was the one to then not run away.
Fluttershy flashed a genuine smile, tapping Scootaloo’s withers with her wing.
“Yo, Flutters! Why is the pancake mix turning black?” Rainbow called from the kitchen. Fluttershy raised her snout to the air, inhaling a healthy dose of burnt food coating the inside of her nostrils.
“Rainbow!” She shouted, suddenly darting into the kitchen. Scootaloo hovered for a moment. This was… too strange. She just shrugged, following Fluttershy in.







After this mishap with the burning pancakes, there not wasn’t as much batter left in the bowl. And, coincidentally, Fluttershy happened to run out of flour to make a second batch. So, for now, they all got one pancake each. It’s not like Scootaloo minded, and Fluttershy already had one earlier in the day for her own breakfast.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, looked sadly at her single pancake. She had offered to eat the one she had burnt due to impatience, but Fluttershy was adamant that she didn’t eat the thing that was harder than the brick from a house. The three ponies sat around the round table in the dining room, a bright window behind them, showing the table with light. Once Fluttershy sat down, Rainbow was the first one to start ripping her pancakes to shreds.
“Awh-” Rainbow Dash said through a mouth of food. “Jus’ like mum’ use’ to make’em.” She muffled. Scootaloo stifled a giggle as she watched Rainbow struggle to breathe though the pancake. She was practically choking. It’s like she hadn’t had food in weeks. Fluttershy merely glared as she cut into her own pancake politely with a knife and fork.
Scootaloo thought the pancakes were good. Pretty good, actually. But it did make her wonder whether Rainbow’s taste buds were cranked to eleven. Scootaloo observed the cyan Pegasus ascend to cloud nine because of a simple pancake, while her and Fluttershy were eating theirs quite politely.
“So.” Rainbow scooched her chair forwards, licking the pancake residue off of her teeth. “How’s school?” She asked, leaning in with her elbows crossed on the table. Scootaloo merely darted her eyes forwards in an embarrassed manner. Rainbow’s response was a light chuckle. “Yeah, I dropped out of flight-camp. School’s a total pain in the- Euph!” Rainbow recoiled as a yellow elbow was jammed into her ribs.
“What Dashie means to say is-” Fluttershy cut in. “School is very important, and all foals approach it differently.”
“Wh- I mean- yeah, that.” Dash nodded, rubbing her ribs. “Stay in school, kids.”
“Yeah.” Fluttershy ate another slice. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, then leaned towards Scootaloo.
“Is it just me, or is Flutters a slow eater?” Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof at the pony who gave a death-stare.
Silence and a blank stare was all Scootaloo gave her in return.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” Dash itched her mane, leaning back into her wooden chair. “Believe it or not, I wasn’t much of a talker, either!” She let out a little laugh. “Grew out of it, though. Now, I’m certifiably awesome!”
Silence reigned supreme. Scootaloo observed the Pegasus in front of her. The way she was conducting herself, constantly shuffling in the seat over. It was almost like she had a hard time staying still. Perhaps she had ADHD?
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat, leaning forwards again.
“I know all you Earth-ponies have their own special earth talents, but nothing beats flying.” She fluttered her wings excitedly, just the thought itself getting her riled up. Scootaloo noticed the movement. More ADHD? “I mean- the big open skies! The awesome stunts! Going as fast as ponily possible! It’s-”
“Earth-ponies?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow turned, blinking.
“Yeah. Earth-ponies.” She shrugged. “She’s an Earth-pony, so-”
“She’s a Pegasus?” Fluttershy responded, not angrily, but in a confused manner. Rainbow furrowed her brow, turning and looking at Scootaloo, leaning far enough to start to invade her personal space.
“Woah!” Rainbow exclaimed, leaning back again. She was surprised- taken off guard by the two little wings on her back. “Those things are tiny! I mean- how can you even fly like- Phuck!” For the second time, in the already bruising spot, Rainbow was punched in the ribs. This time much, much harder. Scootaloo cringed, feeling for the poor Pegasus. She mouthed the word ‘ow,’ as she rubbed the sore spot again.
“I think…” Fluttershy flashed Scootaloo a comforting smile, despite having just physically harmed another pony. “Your wings are fine they way they are.”
The fact was that Scootaloo herself never paid attention to her own wings. They weren’t even really a thing she thought about day-to-day. The most she thought about them was when she slept the wrong way, or had a feather growing painfully incorrect. She never really stopped to think what was wrong with her wings. They were small, and that was that.
Was she underdeveloped? Truth be told, she had no idea. She had no reason to wonder why they were the way they were. Did she have an accident? Born early? Trauma? Plain bad genes?
Scootaloo craned her neck, using the little muscle she had to push out one of her wings. They were small, limp, and useless. Just like Rainbow had said. Fluttershy observed her doing this, sucking in air through her teeth when Scootaloo looked.
“Aw, geez, kid.” Rainbow said, rubbing her mane uncomfortably. “I’m really sorry. Didn’t mean to insult you- oh, look.” She drummed her hooves on the table, suddenly becoming scared as Fluttershy slowly turned her head with an ‘I'll kill you’ look plain on her face. “Look- um- if you’d want, I could- um-” She drummed her hooves harder, stopping with one big thrust on the table. “I could take you flying with me?”
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy screeched, standing aggressively onto her hind legs. She stopped at the crescendo of her yell when she noticed Scootaloo look up at Rainbow with an affirmative smile. She instantly sat back down. “THInkthat’s a wonderful idea.”
“Flying?” Dash’s wings beat faster. “You wanna go flying?” Rainbow asked. Scootaloo let her smile escape as she nodded quickly. Fluttershy looked on in surprise. “Well- if mom is okay with it…” Rainbow swiveled her head over, smiling.
“You drop her, I’ll drop you.” Fluttershy stated with no emotion.
Both Scootaloo and Rainbow simultaneously blinked.
“Right. Okay.” Rainbow nodded, suddenly feeling nervous sweat dripping from her brow. “Well- it’s still early in the morning, and I have an important Stallion waiting in a field… somewhere.” She stood up, stretching like a cat. “C’mon, Scoots! We have a ride to catch!”
Scootaloo nodded, happily jumping down. Fluttershy shot a nervous smile as she walked by, but instantly faded when they were both clear of the kitchen. Suddenly, her half-eaten pancake didn’t seem nearly as appetizing as it did a few moments prior.







The ground was rumbling with snoring.
Rainbow landed on the grass, less forcefully than last time, and straightened up, giving a side-eyed glance at the stallion who was literally face-down in the book he was reading. Which was strange, seeing as Dusk very rarely fell asleep. Especially while reading.
A moment later, the sound of hooves filled her ears, and she turned to see the two ponies trotting up the hill. It was a strange feeling as she watched them approach the lone tree. They were a family. Fluttershy. Her Fluttershy had her own family. The one she had grown up with. She had grown up, and was now taking care of her own filly. When did they get old?
Rainbow shook her head. The sky had since grown into an overcast, darkening the mood significantly. The once bright sun had been all but hidden behind gray clouds. Everything had been given a unified shade of gray, and the warm weather had cooled.
She walked towards the stallion, stomping her hoof next to his head.
“Hu-Wuzzah?” The slurred speech of Dusk grumbled.
“Wakey wakey…” Rainbow whispered, poking Dusk in the side. “We’ve got company!”
“Uh-” Dusk yawned, swatting the hoof away as his entire side flinched. “Did- did you find Butterscotch- or- Fluttershy?” He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his muzzle. “Was I asleep?”
“Nope!” Rainbow giggled behind a hoof upon witnessing the matted fur of Dusk. “Not at all!” Dusk shot her a sleepy glare.
Scootaloo glanced around the area. It was a good walk away from Ponyville, the Everfree forest being a little more than a healthy distance away. From this angle, it was very apparent Ponyville was kind of built in a valley. The ground was hilly only around Ponyville, but this far out, the lands stretched into a barely bumpy flat surface. It was perhaps the perfect place to start practicing flying- which was great news for Rainbow and Scootaloo. The tree the Unicorn apparently named Dusk was laying under was the only tree for a good distance, at least until the Everfree.
Dusk grumbled, blinking blearily.
“Hey, Fluttershy.” He greeted. “Nice to finally see you again. It’s been a while- oh, who’s this?” Dusk’s eyes landed on the filly. “And who’s this?”
“This is Scootaloo.” Fluttershy hid a laugh behind a hoof, draping a wing over Scootaloo’s withers. Scootaloo was also trying not to giggle uncontrollably.
“Nice to meet you.” He lowered his head in a respectful bow. Fluttershy smiled, and especially after laughing, felt a little bit better. This introduction seemed to be going better than Rainbow’s disaster. “I’m Dusk Shine, the local librarian. Can’t say I’ve seen you around, though- okay, why is everypony laughing?”
Scootaloo couldn’t help but redirect her eyes away from the stallion. Rainbow rolled her eyes, also trying not to laugh.
“Just Dusk things…” Rainbow said, smile evident.
“What? What’s funny?” He looked around at himself, poking a hoof between his molars. “Do I have something in my teef?”
“No-no.” Fluttershy said, also now laughing even more than she was before. “Just- um- what did you have for breakfast?”
“Oh, a bowl of oats-”
“The dictionary?” Fluttershy finished. Rainbow finally fully lost it, starting to roll on the ground as she belted out laughter.
“What?” He asked, genuinely confused.
“Dude!” Rainbow shouted, stopping her rolling belly-up. “You literally have words on your face!”
“What?” Dusk looked down into his book, finally noticing the fact that the page was wet, and the letters on his current page was gone. “What?” He shouted a little louder. His horn lit up, and in an impressive display of magic, poofed a hand-held mirror from his bathroom back at the Golden-oaks. Dusk gasped, seeing as his drool from sleeping had transmutated the letters from the page onto his face. About two paragraphs of words relating to theoretical physics printed onto his muzzle, only flipped in reverse.
“No! The spell!” Dusk sighed angrily. “I was gonna use that to travel to an alternate dimension!”
“Oh- Oh my Celestia!” Rainbow took a deep breath in from laughing. “Maybe it’s a good thing that spell was ruined!”
“It’s not funny!” Dusk shot a glare, now using a handkerchief form the same bathroom, teleporting the mirror back. Fluttershy held Scootaloo close, the two of them laughing together. “I’m still gonna cast the spell- now I just have to translate it from my face!”
The laughter under the tree finally died down, leaving a bunch of heavy-breathing behind. Fluttershy felt a little better about the upcoming flight.
“Alright, kid. Hop on.”
And that worry came back twice as terrible.
“Wait- what’s happening?” Dusk asked. Rainbow leaned down, turning her wing into a passenger staircase. Fluttershy held her breath as Scootaloo happily dashed out from Fluttershy’s own protective wing, climbing onto Rainbow like she was an actual Wright Flyer.
“Takin’ Scoots for a test drive!” Rainbow said, doing a quick hop as Scootaloo figited, getting comfortable around the mare’s neck. “Wow- you’re lighter than Sweetie Belle, that’s for sure.” She stretched. Scootaloo’s ears perked up, looking towards Rainbow in surprise. Rainbow giggled. “What, you know Sweetie?”
“They’re best friends!” Fluttershy said, tapping her hooves in nervousness.
“Wait- this isn’t a very good idea!” Dusk raised his voice, interrupting them.
“It’s fine. We ought’a introduce her to Apple Bloom next.” Rainbow said, looking up and spreading her wings, feeling the air currents rippling through her feathers.
“Be careful!” Fluttershy said.
“Ready? Set?” Rainbow asked. Scootaloo hugged her neck tighter, nodding her head sharply. “Then let’s- Go!” With one powerful flap, Rainbow was dozens of hooves in the air.
Fluttershy felt lightheaded with anxiety, watching as the Rainbow dot became smaller and smaller in the atmosphere. Eventually, the two pierced the cloud layer…
And they were gone.
Dusk approached Fluttershy, stopping by her side. He was also watching, the big monotonous layer of clouds making it hard to focus on one spot for too long. Fluttershy just kept staring, her stomach twisting.
“Is she your sister?” Dusk asked after a moment. Fluttershy’s eyes darted towards Dusk for less than a second.
“No.”
“Huh.” Dusk levitated his book into his saddlebag, apparently done with reading it for the day. “She seemed awfully quiet.”
“Yeah.”
…
“What happened to her?”
The question caught Fluttershy off guard. She blinked, looking away from the formless clouds and at Dusk. She mentally kicked herself, realizing that she hadn’t even considered the fact that Dusk was smart. He took the empirical evidence, and probably in his head, was already drawing up a chalk-board worth of stuff he noticed about Scootaloo.
“Something bad.” She responded simply after a moment of silence.
“Right.” Dusk sighed. “Sorry- I was just curious.”
…
“You’re very brave for doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“I’m assuming… fostering her?” Dusk itched his fetlock. “I dunno, at least I think you are. You two are close- maybe closer than fostering.” Fluttershy’s eyes went unfocused as she stared up at the sky.
“Adopted.” She finally said. “I… adopted her.”
“Oh.” Dusk smiled. “That’s great news. But- I’m not lying. You are very brave for doing that. For her.”
“I did it for her.”
“I would hope so.” Dusk smiled, contently looking back up at the sky.







“Alright, Scoots!” Rainbow called over the wind. “This is called an ‘inside-loop’ by the eggheads!” She began turning in a large circle.  Scootaloo felt her stomach drop as the cloud layer began turning unnaturally towards her. “I like to call it the loop-de-loop!” Rainbow was leaning to one side, doing a large loop horizontally, and thankfully, not vertically.
She continued on in a straight line. Scootaloo hugged her neck tighter. “Okay- this next one is called a spiral! I think!” She began gently loosing altitude, doing huge loops in the sky. It was like the loop-de-loop, but consistently going down.
“Okay, let’s get back up!” She began flapping, gaining height once again. “Actually- let’s do a quick climb! Hold on!” Scootaloo felt her back legs suddenly become limp as gravity took over, and Rainbow Dash began flapping straight up.
This high up, the sky was no longer gray. The once familiar blue sky shone brightly, and the sun burned brilliantly. The sun looked like it was thinner, like being this high up changed it in some way. Scootaloo peeked over the edge of Rainbow, and for some reason, didn’t feel the same dropping sensation as earlier. Admittedly, it was actually really cool to be this high up.
A switch flipped.
It was just so high up! In the bright blue sky- brilliant colors- she started to stand up.
“Woah- champ!” Rainbow began experiencing turbulence as Scootaloo let go of her neck, knocking her off balance. “Uh- Excuse me, but please remain seated!” Rainbow stopped talking, putting all of her focus onto not spiraling out of control.
Scootaloo put her hooves onto Rainbow’s head, almost standing straight up. Rainbow cringed, feeling the hooves dig into her scalp. “Kid, can you please sit down?”
Scootaloo wasn’t listening. Her little wings spread all the way out. She could… feel it. The wind. Like a sixth sense she didn’t know she had. A whole new dimension. She could feel the structure of the wind blowing across her wings, flowing across Equestria like a blanket. A genuine smile crossed her face.
And then she jumped.