The morning sun rose from the clouds over the horizon signaling a new day, the crying of a rooster could be heard from a mile away. The streams of light danced on the clouds’ surface, where many pegasi resided. A groaning Scootaloo opened her eyes lazily as she raised her body from the soft bed she was sleeping in, rubbing her eyes of the dust that gathered there during sleep.
As she yawned, she looked around the room again and was still amazed by where she was now. She was in a home in the clouds, in her own room made of clouds and on a cloud bed that was so soft like marshmallows anytime she would lie upon she was threatened with drowsiness. Though the one thing that made this new home of hers so wonderful was that it was also the home of Rainbow Dash, her mother.
Just as Scootaloo was thinking of her, the door of her room opened up and the head of her idol and mother popped in before the rest of Rainbow’s body followed. Rainbow walked up to her daughter’s bed, smiling softly with half-opened eyes. “Morning sleepyhead, ready for an awesome day with me?” she asked the little filly as she nuzzled her gently.
Scootaloo floated in the air and beamed at Rainbow excitedly, “You betcha! So wanna learn all your awesome moves!” she told Rainbow as she zoomed around her.
Rainbow just chuckled as she shook her head, “Hold your jets there,” she said as she reached for Scootaloo and scooped her in a hug, “Remember what I told you about the stunts I do, hey?” she reminded her daughter.
Scootaloo looked down with her eyes as she stuck out her lower lips, “I know, ‘Never try these stunts until you have mastered the basics’...” she quoted Rainbow’s advice.
Rainbow then ruffled her hair playfully, “Now’s not the time to be all grumpy, now the time to be happy,” she said she ruffled the hair more, eliciting a few giggles from the filly. “Let’s go and get some breakfast hay; I’m making,” she said as she let go of Scootaloo.
Scootaloo just raised her eyebrow, “You cook?” she asked
“Yes.”
Scootaloo looked dubiously at Rainbow for a second before shrugging, “Ok, what you making, mom?” she asked playfully, but stopped when she said Rainbow’s eyes becoming slightly misty. “Something wrong?”
Rainbow perked up and shook her head, “No-Nothing-Everything is awesome!” she said hastily, and then kissed Scootaloo’s forehead. “C’mon, let’s go.”
Scootaloo’s face elevated in happiness as she flew down to the kitchen, where Tank was already waiting for the two of them.
“Morning, Tank,” she smiled, patting the tortoise on the head. He reached over and gave her little mistress a playful lick in return. She then sat at the table while her mother began cooking up her breakfast.
“Are you really going to take me flying? Teach me everything you know?”
“Are you doubting me?” the older pegasus said playfully, looking up from her cooking. “You’ll be the second best flyer in Equestria... after me, of course.” The grin on her face was obvious.
“Ha! I’ll be the best one day!”
“Well, if anyone can, it’s you,” she nodded. “And that’s not all we’re doing. We have something very important to attend.”
“What’s that?”
Rainbow Dash just gave her a grin. “You’ll see,” she laughed.
“Can’t you tell me now?”
“Can’t you tell me what you asked Celestia?”
“...Fine,” the filly muttered, crossing her forearms in a huff.
She brightened when her mother placed her meal in front of her, eggy in the basket. “Eat up, kiddo, we have a long day ahead of us.”
Once breakfast was done, Rainbow and Scootaloo got ready for the rest of the day and headed outside. Rainbow made sure Tank had everything with him until their return at the end of the day, and she flew up to her daughter who was waiting.
“So, you ready for some flying lessons, squirt?” she asked Scootaloo
Scootaloo smiled widely at Rainbow, “You have no idea!” she exclaimed as she hovered in front of Rainbow.
Rainbow cleared her throat and got Scootaloo’s attention, “Alright, first of all... let’s do some laps, shall we?” she instructed Scootaloo as she floated to her daughter’s side.
“Alrighty, how many?”
“Since you new to this, try ten today, ok?” Rainbow told her
Scootaloo breathed in and out slowly, building up energy. “Where to and back?” she asked
“Hmmmm...” Rainbow tapped her chin and looked around her, and spotted a big cloud just ahead of her. “Around that big one, and remember... ten times.”
“Right!”
Rainbow smirked and floated ahead of Scootaloo, raising her one hoof, “On your mark...” she said, and saw Scootaloo’s body tensing up to the moment. “Get set...” Scootaloo was ruffling her feathers in the air. “Go!”
Scootaloo zoomed as fast as she could and raced around the cloud. Her eyes began to water, seeing as she was not accustomed to the wind pressing against her eyes. She lost track of how many times she went around the cloud after her fifth time, and in a moment of pure adrenaline she pushed her wing beats even faster to increase her speed. Her vision became a blur thanks to the tears of the wind pressure to her eyes, and she was starting to lose her breath.
Suddenly, she felt two hooves grab her torso and she looked to her bottom to see Rainbow, smiling proudly at her. “Did I do ok?” she asked her mother sheepishly as her wings slowly stopped flapping and she landed in Rainbow’s embrace.
“Fifteen laps is a new record, even for me when I started.”
Scootaloo’s eyes nearly popped out of her tiny skull, and she let out a cheer as she flew around her mother. “Wow! That’s so awesome!” she shouted as she reclined on a cloud looking at the sky above.
Rainbow joined her and sat next to her, “Well, you should know that training gets more intense after this hey,” she told Scootaloo as she rolled back to see the clouds above.
Scootaloo just giggled at this, “I know that,” she told Rainbow and then scooted up closer to her Rainbow, nuzzling her neck. “But I also know that I have the most awesome mom ever to train me.”
Rainbow’s eyes started to tear up, and she folded her wing to wrap it around Scootaloo’s body. “and I have the most awesome daughter ever who’s also my number one fan.”
Scootaloo smiled. A few moments later, she was asleep, her exhaustion having gotten to her. Chuckling, her mother gave her a kiss on the forehead. “And you’ve learned another lesson, kid. Champions work hard, and they nap hard.”
“Alright, everypony,” Twilight called, levitating her checklist in front of her, “we have a lot to do to get ready for the party. Pinkie, are you getting Sugarcube Corner decorated?”
“You got it,” the earth pony saluted happily.
“Applejack, we need a buffet full of treats. Rainbow Dash says apple pie is Scootaloo’s favorite.”
“You got it.”
“Rarity, I need you to prepare some drinks.”
“Of course, dearie.”
“And Fluttershy... I’m afraid I’m sticking you with the worst assignment of all.”
The yellow pegasus gulped. “Wh-what?”
“You need to watch the foals while we’re busy getting the party ready,” she noted, gesturing over to where Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were standing, along with Spike and Light, now wearing their official Cutie Mark Crusader capes, though the filly symbol was changed to a colt symbol for both of them. Pound and Pumpkin were sitting to their side, currently pulling on Angel’s ears and tail, despite the poor critter’s protests.
“We’re gonna have extra fun,” Apple Bloom beamed. “We got an idea to try for our rock climbin’ cutie marks!”
Fluttershy gulped. It was going to be a long day.
“Wow! That’s awesome!”
Scootaloo was sitting on a hill looking up at the sky above her, cheering for the stunts Rainbow Dash performed for her.
“Now watch this!” Rainbow shouted out as she flew higher and higher, when suddenly she flew downwards at incredible speeds. ‘C’mon, please... just for today,’ she thought to herself, as she pushed herself to go faster. As she flew faster she could feel the air around her stretch, before a large booming sound echoed across the field. She flew faster and a streak of rainbow was left in the air behind her, as she performed her signature stunt: The Sonic Rainboom.
‘Not yet!’
She then flew upwards even faster and did a few loops and turns, flying up and down when she needed to. She then flew to the ground were Scootaloo was and landed right next to her. “What do you think?” she asked her daughter.
Scootaloo was in awe, as he mouth hung open. In the air floated words, drawn with the rainbow as though it were ink to paper. Scootaloo mouth slowly formed into a smile, as her eyes became moist from the feeling that was coursing through her as she read the words:
To My Daughter Scootaloo
“Hey, squirt?”
Scootaloo turned to Rainbow and she immediately jumped right into her forelegs, with both of them laughing at the moment. As Scootaloo was caught in Rainbow’s embrace, both pegasi rolled down the hill.
As they reached the bottom, Rainbow decided to tickle Scootaloo as ‘revenge’ for being pounced like that. Scootaloo squirmed and bucked, but it only caused her mother to tickle harder. “I’m gonna get you!” she said as she brought down her mouth onto her stomach and blew, causing a particularly high pitched squeal to come from the child.
“Who’s the greatest pegasus in Equestria?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Ha ha! You are!”
“Wrong,” she laughed, blowing another raspberry on her stomach.
“Aah! Then who?”
She stopped and hugged her tightly. “You are.”
Scootaloo hugged her mother back... and then started tickling her again.
“Ah!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Oh, you want to play it that way, huh?” she said, pushing her back on her back and tickling her again. Both she and her daughter laughed at the happy moment they were experiencing, with nothing in the world that could ruin this day for them.
“Well that was fun, wasn’t it?” Rainbow asked Scootaloo as the tickling ceased.
Scootaloo giggled, “Sure was. Hey! I didn’t know you could write words with the Sonic Rainboom?!”
Rainbow just shrugged, “Neither did I, I just thought I try it out... for my little girl,” she added with a wink.
Scootaloo beamed widely, until her stomach rumbled. She then giggled nervously, as she rubbed her one hoof at the back of her head.
Rainbow smirked, “You hungry, eh?” she asked Scootaloo, who nodded her head. “I got something just for that, be back in a flash!” she added as she zoomed off to fetch whatever it was.
Sugarcube Corner was a bustle of activity, with ponies around hanging up banners, streamers, and balloons. As Twilight checked the next item off, Blaze walked up to her, a magical collar still around his neck.
“Hey, Twi? You’re sure the Princess is okay with this? I’m still technically under arrest...”
“Don’t worry, I double-checked with the Princess... through the mail,” she groaned irritably. Spike becoming a pony cost her one feature she sorely missed. “I’m more worried about what the foals are going to do to Fluttershy than about you. I’ll bet she’s already strung out.”
“More tea, Miss Fluttershy?” Sweetie asked happily as she poured her herbal liquid into her foalsitter’s cup.
This tea party was only fun for the two of them. Light, Spike, and Apple Bloom all sat with deadpan expression while Pumpkin and Pound were seeing how much of Angel’s ears they could get into their mouths.
“I’ve sat through thousands of my mom’s lectures...” Spike began, but the Stare from Fluttershy silenced him once more.
Light leaned in on Spike’s ear, “I’d rather be here than be the rabbit over there,” he whispered to Spike as both were chuckling at Angel’s misfortune but were silenced yet again.
Angel broke free and swatted at Pound. Pound responded by bringing his hoof down on the rabbit, knocking him to the ground. As Angel recovered, Pumpkin put her hoof in the rabbit’s mouth.
Scootaloo was now enjoying her hay sandwich Dash made for her, that was packed in a picnic basket she brought down from her house. Once she was done with her meal, she took one of the firmly ripe apples that were packed in also and took a generous bite from it. Scootaloo savoured the taste of it, seeing as it was her favourite fruit.
“You like apples?” Rainbow commented as she saw her daughter’s appreciation.
“Like nothing... try love ‘em!” she said once she swallowed the pieces she had in her mouth, before consuming the rest of it. “Kinda fortunate that we live near an apple orchard, and one of the best I’d say.”
“What do you mean ‘one of the best’? Try ‘the best’.” Rainbow laughed as she boasted for Applejack’s orchard. Rainbow looked at Scootaloo, and saw the a look of sadness crawling on Scootaloo’s face. “Hey squirt? What’s wrong?”
Scootaloo turned to Rainbow, still looking crestfallen. “Can I tell you a secret?” she asked her mother, who nodded and leaned her closer to her daughter’s. “Back before all this, when I was staying alone... I was short on food, save for when I went to sleep overs... and I got so hungry at times, that I... I...”
Rainbow held onto her, “You can tell me, squirt.” she assured her as she held onto Scootaloo’s small frame.
“I stole apples from the trees at night, like five at most every night... I didn’t want to but I-”
She could not finish her sentence as she was close to sobbing and Rainbow started to stroke her hair gently. “It wasn’t your fault, Scoots, and I’m sure Applejack won’t hate you for it,” she said softly.
Scootaloo raised her head up to look into her mother’s eyes, “You really think so?” she asked Rainbow
“Kid, I’m willing to bet if the Apples knew you were living alone, they’d have tried to adopt you first. Of course, they would have had to fight me for you,” she added affectionately, rubbing her mane. “Tell you what? Why don’t we tell her together, ok?” she asked Scootaloo as she smiled down on the filly.
“O-Ok.”
“Good, now enough of the sad stuff, this is suppose to be a happy day!”
Angel gaped in the mirror, nearly sobbing at the new color job he had been given. Watercolor paint covered him, an accomplishment seeing as how Fluttershy had no watercolor in the house. Luckily, Fluttershy had rescued him from the twins before they could move on to anything more serious.
“Okay, kids, it’s time we got back to Scootaloo’s birthday party.”
“Finally,” Spike muttered, careful not to say it out loud.
“You’ve all been such fun... I can’t wait to have foals of my own.”
Angel fell to the ground, curled into a ball, and sobbed.
“I’ll bet you’ll be a great mom, Fluttershy,” Apple Bloom said. “Ooh, maybe we can find you a nice stallion and...”
“Oh, no, no, no,” Fluttershy said quickly, knowing all too well the trio’s Hearts and Hooves Day antics. The thought of waking up in a ditch with some random stallion... or worse, some random mare... didn’t appeal to her. “Why don’t we just move onto the party?”
“Alright, the balloons are hung,” Blaze mumbled. As Twilight scanned her checklist for his next assignment, he spoke. “By the way... has the Princess told you where I’ll be working?”
Twilight shook her head. “That’s been kept secret. The only thing I know is that I’ll be serving as your supervisor. Princess Celestia will... Derpy, watch where you’re carrying that... Princess Celestia will tell me when she arrives tonight.”
At this, Blaze paled a little. “She’s actually coming? Here?”
Twilight nodded. “Why? Are you afraid of her?”
“No, but... I didn’t think she’d come all the way out here for a filly’s birthday party.”
She giggled. “Then you don’t know the Princess. Now, I think Pinkie needs help decorating the cupcakes. Why don’t you help her next?”
With the sun setting on the horizon, Rainbow and Scootaloo made their way through Ponyville. Scootaloo looked around, as she could not see anypony in sight. ‘Why does this feel so familiar?’ she asked herself as she was in a moment of thought, only to shrug it off and walk up to her mother’s side. “You know where everypony is?”
Rainbow just shook her head with closed eyes, “Nah, no idea,” she said dismissively as she she cantered onwards.
“You know something, don’t you?” Scootaloo asked Rainbow
“We’re here,” Rainbow said, ignoring her daughter’s protests of withheld knowledge. They stood in front of the Sugarcube Corner, though it was quiet... too quiet. Rainbow opened the door and gestured for Scootaloo to go in first.
“Thanks.”
Once they were both inside, the door slammed closed behind them and both of them were in complete darkness, until...
“SURPRISE!!!”
Scootaloo nearly jumped in the air as the words boomed in the room with the lights flicked on. Surrounding her were nearly all of Ponyville, ranging from acquaintances to close friends. Balloons of all colours were scattered around the room, adorned with party streamers and confetti littering the floor. A large banner hanged above the room, with the words written brightly in orange and purple:
HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY SCOOTALOO
Scootaloo smiled widely as she saw all this, simply moved by all the effort it must have took the others to set this up for her. She then saw her friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom rush towards her and give her a tight hug as they wished her a happy birthday.
“Congratulations Scoots!” Both of them exclaimed in unison as they let go of their friends and each gave a present to her.
Before she could say anything, Spike trotted next up to her and gave her a birthday present also, “Happy Birthday Scootaloo,” he said with a smile of his own. Scootaloo bumped her hoof with his before facing the three of her friends with a build up of joyous tears.
“Thank you, all of you... really this is-”
“Happy Birthday!”
Scootaloo turned around to see Light standing behind her, with his hooves outstretched for to give his own gift to her. He placed it on the stack of presents and smiled with his eyes closed, but felt himself being brought into a tight hug. He opened his eyes to see Scootaloo hugging him firmly, with his only reaction returning the hug.
Scootaloo opened her eyes though and quickly let go of Light, blushing profoundly at what she just did. She then saw her friends suppressing a laugh with their hooves to their mouths. Scootaloo pursed her lips as blood continue to rush to her cheeks. “A-anyway! Let’s go and get some cake, shall we?” she hastily suggested, making her way to the table.
Light just stared for a few seconds at Scootaloo, “Did I do something wrong?” he asked Apple Bloom in whisper.
Apple Bloom started giggling, closing her eyes to control the humour of it all. “Nah, she’s just being herself is all,” she said dismissively
“Oh... ok,” Light responded to the answer, deciding not to pursue the matter any further. He joined his newfound friends at the table where a giant cake was held.
It was rather large, nearly three layers, Pinkie had clearly had some fun with it. The sides were decorated with the text “Happy Birthday Scootaloo”, and ten candles were placed on its top. The candles were lit, all at once thanks to a spell from Twilight, as the crowd gathered around. “Okay, everypony, one, two, three...”
A chorus of “Happy Birthday” rang out among the ponies, sounding reasonably well. Afterward, Scootaloo flew up and blew out the flames, to everypony’s pleasure.
“Alright, Scootaloo, you get first piece,” Twilight smiled. “Which one would you like?”
“The piece with the H on it,” she answered happily.
Twilight nodded and cut the cake. To Scootaloo’s great happiness, it was chocolate. She was handed her piece, then the other Cutie Mark Crusaders, before finally the adults began getting their share.
As the five foals sat around their own table and began eating, Scootaloo was the one who spoke. “So... Light...” she said, in between mouthfuls of cake, “do you know what your brother’s going to be doing?”
The young pegasus just shook his head. “Uh-uh. Celestia just told him he’d get his assignment soon.”
“It can’t be too bad,” Spike muttered, trying to levitate a fork up to his mouth. After he lost his grip and it clattered on the plate, he sighed and bit into his share the same as his friends.
“Don’t feel bad, Spike,” Sweetie said sympathetically, “I haven’t been able to get my magic to work either. It’s no big deal.”
“Easy for you to say,” Spike muttered, “You’ve never had hands before.” He sighed, looking at his forehooves. “I miss having hands...”
“Okay, you’re starting to sound like Lyra,” Scootaloo arched an eyebrow.
“Am not!” Spike retorted back, rolling his eyes and taking another generous bite out of his slice.
“Well, look at it this way, you’re able to use magic now,” Light commented to Spike as he took a bite out of his cake too. “And your mom is like the most powerful unicorn ever.”
Spike just smirked at this, “Guess you're right...” he said as he finished his cake and tried to use his magic to cut him another slice, though the knife shook a bit in his hold. Just as it stopped shaking, it shot into the roof fast, becoming stuck in place. Spike just laughed inwardly as the others looked at him. “Heh, sorry,” he and the others snorted slightly before laughing off the misfortune.
On the other side of the room, Twilight approached Rainbow as she was speaking to Applejack with a mug of cider in her hoof. “It seems you’ve given Scootaloo quite a day...” she said as she reached her friends.
Rainbow turned to Twilight and grinned, “Well yeah, since it’s my girl’s birthday I had to go all out. I even wrote words with a Sonic Rainboom today and-”
“Really!?” Twilight interrupted as her curiosity peaked high from the information she was given.
“Hay yeh!” she replied as she punched her hoof to her chest proudly, though her expression softened slightly as she looked at the foals having a blast at their tables. “I guess I know how you felt a few months ago with Spike, hey Twilight?” she asked her friend who was also looking at the foals.
Twilight nodded her head as she looked at the foals too, with her eyelids half-open. “Absolutely,” she said, as her gaze fell onto a fuschia earth pony. Twilight’s eyes opened slightly as determination crawled onto her face. “Excuse me, I just need to do something,” she said she went to Cheerilee’s side. “Sorry, Cheerilee?”
Cheerilee turned happily to Twilight, as she was enjoying her cake slice given to her by Big Macintosh. “Hello there Twilight, how may I help you?” she asked innocently.
“I just wanted to ask a little favour...”
Rainbow and Applejack looked at Twilight and Cheerilee talking, though the words were not heard from them. Applejack turned her attention to Blaze, who was sitting on chair the wrong way as he observed the party before him. Applejack saw a smile on his face, and saw him taking a few swings of cider too. “Enjoying yerself there, pardner?” she asked the red pegasus as she walked up to him, with Rainbow next to her.
“Yo! Nah all is good now, thanks,” Blaze answered as he finished his cider and placed the mug on a nearby table before returning to his seat, still sitting the wrong way.
“You know, for a pony that’s under arrest, you seem pretty calm about the whole thing,” Rainbow Dash noted.
Blaze was silent for a moment, then shrugged. “After all that time with Bloodwing, regular jail would have been heaven,” he admitted. Both mares thought better than to press him for details. “Besides, as long as Light’s okay, I really don’t care about me, I can take it.”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash looked less impressed, though approval still showed on her face, in spite of herself.
“Anyway, house arrest isn’t that bad,” Blaze noted, taking a sip of his cider. “And the Princesses didn’t gentle me like they did to Black...”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “I remember when Discord took Rarity and Twilight’s horns. They said it was horrible... like it was for my wings,” she admitted, touching them to assure herself they were there. “I can’t imagine it would be easy to lose your abilities.”
He nodded. “I was amazed Scoots wanted to give hers up... guess she just didn’t have ‘em long enough.” He took another gulp of his drink. He stared into his cup. “I really missed having good food like this.”
“Bloodwing didn’t feed ya?” Applejack asked.
“Not the best,” he muttered. “I got a few treats now and then, but we were kind of on a budget. Stealing food could have attracted attention, and most money went to research...”
“That reminds me, how the hay did Bloodwing get money fer everythin’?”
“Money saved up, the occasional robbery, a few aliases...” he listed. Then he frowned and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Black and Blue told me that as soon as you saw their fake IDs, you thought they were real. Why is that?”
Rainbow got quiet and looked down. Blaze and Applejack looked at each other. “Hey, you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay...”
“I was an orphan too,” she admitted sadly.
Both of her listeners perked up. “Well... not really. My dad and I... we had a big fight... I ran away, never went back. Ended up in an orphanage until I was eighteen.”
“That why you wanted to adopt Scoots so fast?” Applejack asked.
The mare nodded. “The first time I saw her, I saw a part of myself in her... only now do I know that she did carry a part of myself in her, her being my daughter after all...” Rainbow was silent for a few moments. She lowered her head and looked to the ground sullenly, and felt a hoof on her back patting her.
“It’s alright, sugarcube, the important thing is that Scoots’s safe with ya now,” Applejack told her with a pleasant smile, trying to liven her friend’s mood.
Rainbow pulled herself together and grinned at the two ponies, “Yeah! And nothing’s gonna take my girl away from me again,” she told the others proudly, and then she decided to go for another mug of cider on the table.
Twilight walked over to Applejack and Blaze, after her talk with Cheerilee. She carried with her a plate of cake using magic and a fork as well, effortlessly eating the cake with small bites from the tiny fork. “Is everything ok here?” she asked Applejack, as she saw Rainbow’s moment of weakness from afar.
“All’s well Twi, though Rainbow might have somethin’ to tell ye when she’s ready,” Applejack remarked to her friend, as she saw Rainbow talking with a few other ponies who she recognized were from the Wonderbolt Academy.
“Oh... I see,” Twilight responded, and took another bite of her cake.
Blaze looked impressed with Twilight’s usage of magic, “To use magic as easy as that, I’m impressed,” he said to her as he looked on.
Twilight’s face became flushed for a second, “W-well, it’s really not that difficult if you must know!” she retorted with a sudden increase of volume, which lowered as she gasped softly. “I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me there.”
Blaze just chuckled, “It’s cool...” His gaze fell on the group of foals, specifically Spike who was struggling using his magic. “I guess you’re gonna have to teach your boy how to use his properly.”
Twilight shook her head a bit. “The poor thing’s been trying to use magic ever since he transformed... it’s so frustrating for him not having any hands...”
“I can imagine,” he muttered, taking another sip. “Did you double-check Light’s application?”
The unicorn nodded. “Cheerilee signed him up for classes at the start of the semester. It’s in about three weeks.” She was silent for a moment. “That’s one of the few things you can leave your house for, by the way.”
He held up a hoof dismissively. “Yeah, I know, anything involving my job or Light. Trust me, I’m not going to screw this up...”
He looked over at Light, who was chatting with Scootaloo. “Who knows, maybe he’ll get his cutie mark soon too...”
Applejack sighed, pulling her hat over her eyes. “With him and Spike becoming crusaders... I don’t think Ponyville’s gonna stay in one piece very long...”
Blaze was just about to ask what that meant when Scootaloo came walking up to Applejack, wearing a slightly depressed look on her face.
Applejack was slightly surprised by this, “Now why is the birthday gal all sad?” she asked her curiosity.
Scootaloo gulped slightly, “Applejack, please don’t be mad at me... but before this all happened... I...”
“Speak up, sugarcube.”
“I took a few of your apples each night, ‘cause I was hungry and had no food!” she blurted out and then lowered her head and shutting her eyes tight, fearing for retribution for theft of the farmpony's apples. What she got however was a simple pat on the head.
“Ain’t nothing to be sorry about, Scoots, ya were starving and ya needed some food. Heck if we knew, we’d have made you a part of the Apple Family by now,” Applejack told her, smiling at Scootaloo’s happy face returning.
“That’s what Mom told me!”
“Heh, no surprise,” Applejack said, just as the front door to Sugarcube Corner came open. Two members of the Royal Guard entered, stepping to either side to salute the new arrivals.
Princess Celestia came in first, ducking in to fit an entranceway not meant for her. Luna followed from behind, fitting in easier.
As the ponies bowed to their new arrivals, Twilight beamed at Celestia before running up to her and nuzzling her neck. “Princess! I’m so glad you made it,” she told her mentor as she looked up to the towering figure.
Celestia smiled gently at her student, nuzzling her head before raising hers. “It’s wonderful to see you again, Twilight,” she told her faithful student with a mother’s tone.
Luna approached Twilight, and she was greeted in the same manner as Celestia was greeted. “Verily, tis good to see you again, Twilight,” she told her friend as she hugged her.
As Twilight let go Luna, Celestia turned her attention to Blaze, who was bowing in respect to the princesses before her. “Please rise for us, Blaze Stream,” she said to him in an authoritative voice. As Blaze rose from his bow, his eyes met that of the princess and he dared not look away from her gaze. “I have come to give you news on the matter of your work place during your ‘arrest’,” she said happily to him, though a hint of glee could be seen in the princess’s smile.
Blaze’s eyebrow rose slightly, “And where will I be working your highness?” he asked her curiously, seeing the mirth in not only Celestia but in Luna too. He dared to look at Twilight for a moment, who seemed rather confused at the princesses’.
Celestia turned to her sister, “I believe Luna should tell you.” she replied and stepped back for the princess of the night.
“Thank you, dear sister,” she told Celestia, before her eyes fell on Blaze. “Blaze Stream, as for your terms of incarceration, you are required to work in a designated workplace for the remainder of your sentence. We the Princesses of Equestria have deemed you to work as...” Luna paused for the moment, seeing the anxiety of everypony in the room who was listening in on the terms of sentence. “The assistant of Twilight Sparkle.”
For what seemed to be a few minutes, a deafening silence was met from everypony in the room.
Blaze and Twilight’s jaws were ajar as only one word escaped from their mouths simultaneously.
“What?!”
Luna, whose own voice had rendered her immune to the outburst, calmly went into an explanation. “You’ll be shorthooved now that your son is a pony. More specifically, you’ll be without someone to transport messages. My sister should be able to teach him to duplicate the same spell quite easily. As well, this position will allow you to more accurately judge his progress.”
Twilight sighed. “I guess that makes sense.”
“I’m glad you approve, Twilight,” Celestia said happily. She then turned her attention to Blaze. “Come here, and I’ll show you how to send messages.”
Blaze started walking, even as his mouth questioned. “Is the spell hard?”
“Not really. Spike learned it when he was five. I’m sure I can teach a full grown pony it in a matter of minutes,” she then leaned her head towards Blaze’s ear, whispering a few words only she and Blaze could hear. She then pulled away and saw the nervous smile on the pegasus’ face.
"Hey, wait!" Spike protested, trotting to the front. “What about me? I’m Mom’s assistant!”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Twilight assured. “With everything that’s going to happen in the next few months, you’re not really going to have a lot of time to be an assistant anyway.”
The former dragon blinked. “Huh? What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell you when we get home,” Twilight assured. “For now, we have a party to enjoy.”
“But-” he started but Twilight just smiled knowingly at him, and he sighed in defeat. “Ok.”
When the clock showed midnight, the party properly ended. When the last guests left the Sugarcube Corner, Twilight and her friends stood outside with Blaze next to Twilight. Each of the ponies, save for Fluttershy and Pinkie, held a foal on their back. The foals were fast asleep on their respectable guardian’s back.
Twilight turned her head to Spike, sighing with a smile. “Well, it sure has been a great party, wouldn’t you say?” she remarked as she turned to the others who nodded in agreement.
Applejack looked behind to see Applebloom snoring lightly, “Guess when a pony gets as tuckered out as this, it’s proof that there was lotsa fun.”
Blaze laughed softly, “Well, glad to see Light finally having a bit of joy in his life,” he said as he also looked back at the white colt’s sleeping form, that was smiling as though he was dreaming. He then looked at the mares before him, “Thank you,” he said to them with a grateful smile.
“You’re most welcome,” Twilight told Blaze with a gentle smile. “So, you will start work with me in three days time,” she told him in a stern voice.
Blaze just smirked, “You got it.”
Rarity decided to step forward to Blaze, though she moved slowly in fear of having Sweetie Belle fall of her back. “I should warn you, Twilight tends to overwork herself to the brink,” she whispered softly, with a mild fear of Twilight’s retaliation looming in her head.
“Heh, well then I’ll just get paid for overtime.”
Rainbow coughed slightly, gaining the attention of the others. “I hate to end this so soon, but I need to get back to get Scootaloo in bed and make sure Tank’s ok. If you don’t mind?”
Twilight smiled sheepishly, with her cheeks becoming slightly pink. “O-of course Rainbow,” she then yawned softly out of instinct, “Everypony, I think it’s time to go home now.”
“Darn right, Ah’ll see ya’ll tomorrow again. Gotta get ready for Apple Cider Season.” Applejack said, “Ya getting the first mug, Rainbow,” she added in with a wink.
“Really!” she perked up. “Because... you know... if you’re teasing me about that...”
“Relax, I mean it,” Applejack assured. “We all better just get some sleep.”
“Aah!” Scootaloo yelled, rising from her bed.
Her breath came in heavy pants. Her heart raced to keep up. Her ears were ringing with terrifying noises.
She threw her covers off herself and jumped out of bed, her hooves racing across the clouded floor. In a flash, she was out of her room, and soon after she was right in front of her mother’s door.
Carefully, she pushed the door open and peered inside. Rainbow Dash was sound asleep, Tank at the foot of her bed, tucked in his shell.
“Mom?” she whispered.
“Uh...” the older mare moaned, opening her eyes. “Wha... what’s wrong, squirt?”
“I... I had a nightmare...” she admitted, feeling her face heat.
“About Bloodwing?” she asked, already knowing the answer. “Alright, come here, pipsqueak,” she said lifting a wing.
Scootaloo shot into the opening, nuzzling up next to her mother. The wing wrapped tightly around her, keeping her warm. She felt her mother’s mouth right up next to her ear.
“He’s gone, Scootaloo... gone for good. He’s not going to get you... nopony will ever get you, ever again. I’m here to protect you. I promise.” she assured Scootaloo and kissed her forehead affectionately and nuzzled Scootaloo’s tiny head against hers.
Scootaloo felt her eyes water as she nuzzled up against her mother. Bloodwing was gone forever, along with the nightmare with it. She had a mother. She had a warm bed and good food. She lifted her head to face Rainbow’s, and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, mom.” she said, as she was drifting off to peaceful slumber.
Rainbow stared for a few moments at her daughter, not noticing the waterfall that was released from her eyes. She sniffed slightly, but the tears would not stop. She formed a wide smile as she brought her muzzle to her forehead, kissing it softly. “I love you too, my Scootaloo.” she whispered to her daughter, before she too fell asleep.
A lone pony walked towards the entrance of the town, wearing a tarnished cloak covering the pony's head and stopped in front of the sign ‘Welcome to Ponyville’. The night was dead silent, with none of the citizens realizing the arrival of an outsider. The pony looked up to the sign, lifting the cloak to reveal tears cascading from the pony’s crestfallen eyes.
“Finally...” the pony mumbled, before collapsing to the ground, emitting a thud sound from impact. The pony’s eyes slowly closed as unconsciousness took over.