//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Six // Story: Pattycakes: The Remake // by GlitchyProductions //------------------------------// Thirty Minutes Later... The school was now in sight, the streets were busy and the sounds of laughter, gossip and shouting can be heard from all directions. The sun was now rising towards the top of the sky and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Leftover patches of rainwater were slowly dripping off from the trees and slowly making their way down the drains found in the middle of the roads. All the shops were now open, the Sugarcube Corner had a line of customers waiting outside and people were sitting down by the chairs and tables on the outside. It looked packed in with so many people surrounding it. But on the pavement were Fluttershy, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash all walking together towards the school. They had nearly reached their destination and the crowd of small children inside the area on the playground were all visible. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were holding Scootaloo's hands, the child was in between them and they were on either side looking after her. They all crossed the final road over to where the school is, a mixture of family members and parents belonging to different children stood outside the school gates. Watching as their children played on the swings and the apparatus. But Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy moved through the crowd still holding Scootaloo's hands until they got inside the playground. The first thing Rainbow Dash did was to try and look out for Cheerilee in her usual thin purple sweater, her tied back hair but she was no where to be found. Instead, the school doors opened and there stood Lyra, wearing Cheerilee's usual sweater and was strangely wearing reading glasses. In her hands was a bell and she shook it up and down which quickly got the attention of the surrounding children who shielded their ears from the noise. "Alright kiddo's get inside! We got some work to do!" Lyra shuffled down the steps and moved out of the way, allowing the children to get inside. After a moment Lyra looked from side to side to check if anymore children were still hanging around the playground, she walked up to the play area and took a good look around. But no children to be found, she moved away and saw Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and a nervous looking Scootaloo standing in between them. "Oh hey! Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy... How ya' doing?" Lyra's smile grew as she got closer to both of them and gave them both a quick hug. "We're fine Lyra; we were just dropping Scootaloo off to school." Rainbow Dash stood out of the way to reveal for Lyra that Scootaloo had been hiding herself behind Fluttershy. "Oh cool, I'm just here looking after the kids 'cause Cheerilee couldn't get in. She's going to the Mayors office, something to do with you two." Lyra nodded and waved at Scootaloo, she turned back to face Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Both of them looked at each other in confusion for a moment and looked back at Lyra. "What for?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I dunno." Lyra shrugged." Cheerilee phoned me and Bon-Bon up and asked if we could watch her kids for a while, since we ain't got anything worth doin' today I said that we'll do it. Plus, I have to wear her geeky sweater and glasses to make me look smart!" Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle but placed her hands over her mouth right before she made any noise, she turned round and walked away from her friends for a moment and leaned against one of the school gates. Fluttershy blinked and then cleared her throat. "Y-Yes uh, hello Lyra... I was wondering if you could d-do something for me?" Fluttershy smiled a little and turned her head to look at her daughter standing behind her. "Sure Fluttershy, what's up?" Lyra smiled back and nodded. "Uh- Every playtime that the children have... Cheerilee would do this thing where she would help Scootaloo read some b-books to improve her r-reading. I was wondering if you c-could still help her even though Cheerilee isn't here." "You mean those baby books I found in Cheerilee's desk? Sure, I'll read 'em to Scootaloo." "Thank you Lyra." "No problem." Lyra nodded and leaned down to get a closer look at Scootaloo. Who was still hiding behind her mother’s legs. "Hey kiddo' we're gonna read some books together, don't worry. I wasn't that good with books either, didn't find 'em interestin' enough." Rainbow Dash came back with a smirk on her face; she wiped a tear from her eye and took another glance at Lyra. "Oh man, if only Berry Punch were here right now..." Rainbow sighed. "She'd be all over you in a millisecond." This caused Lyra to frown a little bit, she leaned back up and placed her hands on her hips and groaned. "Well, I gotta look after those kids now. Guess I'll see you all later. C'mon kid, time to learn stuff." Lyra looked behind Fluttershy and gave another smile over to Scootaloo, the child slowly let go of her mother and stood out in front of the three and blushed a little. She turned round and looked at her mother. "Bye mommy, I love you." Scootaloo blushed. "I love you too Scootaloo, please have a good day." Fluttershy kneeled down and rested herself on the playground floor; she placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her into a big hug. Rainbow Dash and Lyra looked at each other for a moment. "This is what it's all about, huh?" Lyra curiously nodded down to Scootaloo and Fluttershy. "Yeah. Just like you and Bon-Bon." "I can't wait until Tootsie Flute goes to school, two years old and nearly ready to go start daycare. It'd be a pain I imagine when they get to their teens." "Well just think of all the trouble we did as teenagers. Remember how many times we got grounded for sneaking outta' the house?" "Yeah." Lyra chuckled. "Wait until Scootaloo goes around asking what a playboy magazine is all about. Or how her training bra is gonna kill her back." "Give it six years." Rainbow Dash chuckled. Lyra took a moment to look behind her to see that she was needed inside of the school, the children inside were restless and their noise got louder. They needed controlling before anything bad was going to happen; this was her sigh to leave the conversation. "Scootaloo, when you're ready. Make your way into class. Cheerilee says that you still gotta finish on your maths work or something." Lyra nodded and smiled at both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and started to walk over to the school doors with Scootaloo slowly tagging behind. Always looking back to get a glimpse of her mommy and idol standing together watching her go in. Scootaloo went inside and Lyra closed the door, preventing any children from escaping. Now Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were alone in the playground, the sounds of children yelling and screaming had died down and now the wind could be heard. Slowly making its way through town. "Let's head to the town hall." The pace had quickly changed. The streets seemingly felt a little emptier now that all of the children were in school, the warm weather died down a little to let weak gusts of wind to burst through town. As Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash neared the Town Hall they noticed an increase in people as they passed from street to street. The Town Hall was in their sights, accompanied with the town fountain now turned on. Spouting streams of water into its base for all to see. Groups of people dressed in fancy clothing and business suits caught the eye making themselves look important. Rainbow Dash picked out one of the familiar faces in the crowd and noticed someone sitting down on a bench, with her hands gripped round Fluttershy's soft warm hand she had to take this slow. Her curiosity for Cheerilee had been peaking ever since of what Lyra said to her at the playground. Indeed it was the teacher herself, she was sitting down on a public table with her handbag out in the open. Resting on the top of the table. She was wearing her usual thin purple sweater with a white shirt underneath, a small purple bow in the shape of a flower was implanted into her hair which held everything back and kept her usual style. She looked around for a moment and noticed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy off in the distance without Scootaloo nearby, she quickly got up and took hold on her handbag and wrapped the handle around her shoulders and quickly walked over to her friends amidst the crowd and stood in front of them with a big smile across her face. "Today's the big day you two. I hope you have been getting enough sleep because this is the moment of truth!" Cheerilee raised her voice and happily yelled out. Fluttershy giggled while Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Oh man Cheerilee, calm down. This ain't the Wonderbolts." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You're right Rainbow Dash; it's just that I couldn't wait to meet up with both of you after I got a call from the Mayor saying that everything is in the green. I went to the office two hours prior to sort out the paperwork, filling my duties as a teacher, of course. I asked Lyra and Bon-Bon to watch over the school for me in this time of absence, but I guess you must have seen them when you dropped off Scootaloo, right?" "Oh yes Miss Cheerilee." Fluttershy nodded. "Scootaloo gave me a hug and we said goodbye... uh, I hope that you don't mind that I asked Lyra... to you know... read a few books to Scootaloo." "That's no problem Fluttershy, after this whole meeting is finished I have to give some money to Lyra and Bon-Bon and I shall continue where we left off." "That's another thing I'd like to ask... What do I have to do in the m-meeting?" "I don't actually know myself dear, adoptions aren't my strong-point in knowledge but all I can say is that I will be there to help out with the paperwork, direction, confidential child support and free education. Just listen to the Mayor and take in what she says, it isn't going to be that long." She took a step closer to Fluttershy and patted her on the shoulder and then gave her a quick hug. "Just stay calm and listen carefully." "Okay." Fluttershy nodded again. "Well I-I'm going to t-try my best..." "Well I'm gonna be there too." Rainbow Dash added in. "Ain't no way I'm gonna miss out on the action." Cheerilee chuckled at this for a moment, she placed her hand over her mouth and smiled for a moment and sighed. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the teacher’s quick change in emotions. "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, the Mayor told me about what you had been saying to her during the last meeting. About the whole diaper stuff and the Minister that she met in Canterbury who liked the exact same thing, I couldn't help but find it a little funny. Not horrible funny, just cute funny. As in other events the foster parents they are currently being unresponsive to phone calls and letters...” "What do you mean 'unresponsive'?" Rainbow Dash questioned. This changed the mood quickly; Fluttershy didn't understand what was going on. Had something happened to the foster parents while Scootaloo stayed at her house? She hoped that nothing wrong had happened to them whatsoever. But with Rainbow Dash on the other hand she tapped her foot and crossed her arms and glared at Cheerilee. "The Mayor tried to call the foster parents... They didn't respond to her phone calls or her letters about the adoption. They have to respond to take part in the adoption, the Mayor asked me to knock on the foster home and see if they are able to come into the meeting... They didn't answer... And it's by law that if they don't respond to Government figures or their calling by the office then they aren't able to make any choices in the adoption process." "I thought they had more of a say in this." Rainbow Dash smirked. "Well... Yes..." Cheerilee nodded. "And... Not exactly, they only have to come in to the office to give their approval that they are ready to lease Scootaloo to another family. That's what a foster family does; they look after Scootaloo until there is an opportunity for her to be adopted. But if they aren't able to comply or respond to what the Mayor asks of them, then by no choice or approval she is to take Scootaloo and put her in the adopting family. It might sound complicated but it's actually less confusing when you read up about it." "Boy, all this adoption stuff is pretty wack if you ask me." "Well it's hard to understand at first. But you'll get used to it." "Eugh." Rainbows head was now starting to hurt; she put her hands on her head and rubbed her skin in a circular motion to relieve the pain in her head. This was all getting too confusing for her, she just wanted a milkshake from the nearest bar and her worries would go away. "Can we just go into the Milky Way and just order some stuff? We got some time left before the meeting, so let’s relax and talk about stuff that normal people are s'posed to talk about?" Cheerilee rolled her eyes and frowned, gripping tighter onto her handbag and nodded. "Fine, I guess a chocolate milkshake with a little straw shouldn't hurt." "Okay... What about Spitfire?" Rainbow Dash stretched her arms up into the air, her bones cracked and her body fell back into her chair with a loud thump. Her knees collided with the bottom of the table causing the food and drink to slightly jolt which almost spilled over a milkshake. Fluttershy squeaked for a moment by being momentarily startled by the noise. Cheerilee thought for a moment about this and smirked, she took a sip of her chocolate milkshake by the straw and looked up to the ceiling for a moment. "Spitfire is a good singer, but she isn't as good as Soarin'." She took another sip from the plastic cup. "You serious girl?" Rainbow Dash leaned back down and rested her arms on the table. "She's the one that made the Wonderbolts, plus she's the only band member to do some hardcore death metal." "Yeah, and if I remember correctly she worked alongside with The Skullcrushers to make a death metal album. Too bad she only got the lead guitarist part down and not the vocals." "'Cause the Skullcrushers are just boys dressed in leather and flabby face paint, they all think they got some stuff against the Wonderbolts, they ain't ever gonna make an album as good as Flight of the Wonderbolts or March of the Fire Ants. I tell ya', so many people are tryin' to copy Spitfire and Soarin' its unbelievable!" "The Skullcrushers are death metal and The Wonderbolts are thrash metal, I don't really think you can compare them that easily. Lyrical style on the other hand, yes I think you can. Since Soarin' and Gepetto both do screamo." "Sure I can Skullcrushers suck and Wonderbolts rock. You used to like both of them, so don't give me that." "I used to like them before I got tired of rock, classical and opera is more of my type of thing. It's so beautiful to hear The Octavian Choir's chello player at the Canterbury Sound Dome." Rainbow Dash leaned back into her seat, albeit more slower than she usually would. She glared at the teacher for a moment and then turned to face Fluttershy who sat in the corner next to the window, looking outside to take a good look at the people walking by. "What about you Fluttershy? Wonderbolts or Skullcrushers?" This got her attention, she slowly turned round and looked at the table for a moment and thought of her answer. "I like the Wonderbolts... They're nice musicians..." Fluttershy moved her arms and put them on the table and nervously tapped her fingers on the wood waiting for what Cheerilee and Rainbow Dash had to say. "So what songs do you like that are made by the Wonderbolts?" Cheerilee added, she took another sip of her milkshake and put it back down on the table. "Uh... I like Running at the Speed of Light ... And I like Lunar Eclipse ..." "Aren't those songs from their latest album?" Cheerilee asked. "Yes." Fluttershy nodded. "I thought you were the type of person to like their early stuff more than their later albums." "I mean... I like the old albums... But the new ones I think are really good..." It took her a little courage but she looked over to the other side of the table to see Rainbow Dash resting her legs on top of the table itself. With her hands placed behind her head as if they were some sort of pillow, she had her pink pacifier in her mouth and was carelessly sucking on it. "Uh- Dashie, do you like the new albums?" Rainbow reached back up and grabbed the handle on her pacifier and pulled it out of her mouth, resulting in a loud pop. She smiled a little and nodded as if she were agreeing to something. "Yeah, the new albums are awesome.’Specially the poster of Soarin' and Spitfire dressed in those cool suits." "Oh... I got the poster too, but I put it back in the CD case... I didn't know where to put it..." Fluttershy across the table and grabbed the milkshake she had bought for herself and pointed the straw into the direction of her mouth and began to drink from it. "If you don't want the posters then give 'em to me, I'll put them on my wall instead. I got loads of posters and signed CD's in my bedroom." "You go to the live shows?" Cheerilee asked. "Yeah, if I get any money then I'll go to the nearest concert and rock out." Cheerilee smiled at what her friend said and then looked at her watch and her eyes widened, she looked up to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and stood up from the table. "Well, it's time to go. We've only got five minutes left until it starts." She announced to everyone. "Really? That long? Man, it felt really quick..." Rainbow Dash groaned. "Let’s finish out milkshakes and hurry up; we need to get to the office." To be Continued...