//------------------------------// // The Truth // Story: Guardian Angel // by Mayhem Darkshadow //------------------------------// Written by: Mayhem Darkshadow Edited by: psychohooves ******************** Chapter 1: The Truth "Ah don't know 'bout this Scootaloo," shouted Applebloom, clearly worried judging by her tone of voice. Scootaloo was standing on a branch near the top of a very large tree on the outskirts of the Everfree Forrest. She was holding onto a hang glider that she had gotten from her idol, Rainbow Dash. Dash's exact words had been "The wind is just right squirt; you should be able to glide for a long time." Scootaloo had taken these words literally and was now attempting to get her cutie mark in hang gliding. "Oh come on girls. This is going to be fun! By the end of it we're all going to have our cutie marks in hang gliding for sure," shouted Scootaloo, filled to the brim with adrenaline and excitement. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other nervously. "Well...if ya say so Scootaloo," replied Applebloom nervously. Scootaloo smiled at her friends and then looked out over the horizon, picking a trajectory path that was clear of obstacles or other ponies. Finally she got her sights on a good path and waited for the wind to pick up. When it finally did she jumped off the tree limb and closed her eyes. "Oh Celestia! She's actually doing it!" screamed Sweetie Belle, both excited and scared. Scootaloo opened her eyes, and she found herself soaring through the sky. Her friends were right below chasing after her. Scootaloo laughed and thought about how she couldn't wait till she told Rainbow Dash about her adventure. She honestly didn't even care about a cutie mark. Right now she was having way too much fun; unfortunately, that fun didn't last. A very powerful gust of wind hit the right side of the glider, and she started losing control. "Girls! Girls I'm losing it!!" yelled Scootaloo in a panic. She looked down and realized that her friends weren't below her. She was going so fast that they were far behind, trying desperately to catch up. Scootaloo tensed up and did her best to control the glider, but she couldn't regain control and proceeded to plummet to the ground rapidly. Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut and eventually felt the hard thud of the ground, which was followed by a sharp pain in her left wing. She opened her eyes back up and saw her friends sprinting towards her. "Scootaloo!!! Scootaloo!!!" they both screamed. Scootaloo tried to stand up but fell back to the ground and landed on her injured wing. She winced and yelled a bit. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle tried to help her stand, but the pain Scootaloo experienced was too severe. "I'll...I'll go get somepony," said Sweetie Belle nervously. Sweetie Belle ran off, and Applebloom stayed with her fallen friend. Scootaloo refused to cry even though she longed to. She was toughing out the pain just like Rainbow Dash would. It didn't take long before they saw two ponies running towards them in the distance. One of them was Sweetie Belle, and the other one was Twilight Sparkle. When the two finally made it, Twilight examined Scootaloo. "What happened?" asked Twilight calmly. Scootaloo spoke up. "Well we were trying to get our cutie marks in hang gliding and...well it was going well until I crashed.” Twilight frowned at them. "Let me guess... Rainbow Dash gave you the hang glider?” They all nodded. Twilight sighed and then tried to look at Scootaloo's injuries. When she touched Scootaloo's wing Scootaloo yelled in pain. "Well I don't know enough about medicine so let's get you to Nurse Redheart. Can you stand?" asked Twilight. Scootaloo tried to stand up, but her legs gave out again, causing her to fall right back down again. "No...I can't..." said Scootaloo as she tried to fight back tears. "That's okay. I can carry you," said Twilight softly. Twilight used a simple levitation spell and put Scootaloo on her back. Twilight then turned to the girls and instructed to them a simple task. "I need you two to go and find Rainbow Dash. Tell her I want to talk to her immediately," she commanded. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle nodded and ran off. Not wanting to cause anymore injuries to Scootaloo, Twilight trotted briskly instead of galloping. Scootaloo hung onto Twilight's neck. She now realized that maybe hang gliding was a bad idea after all. ********** It turned out that Scootaloo's injuries weren't severe. When Twilight finally got her to a hospital, Nurse Redheart took them to a room and looked over the little orange filly. Turns out that she only had a sprained wing as well some little bumps and bruises. She said that it could have been much worse and that Scootaloo was a very lucky filly. When the other girls finally arrived with Rainbow Dash Nurse Readheart was about halfway through patching up Scootaloo. "You wanted to see me Twi? The girls also said something about the pipsqueak getting hurt?" asked Rainbow Dash curiously. "Yes I need to ask you something," snapped Twilight with a slightly agitated voice, "Why did you think it was good idea to give three small fillies a hang glider?" Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Well I mean they asked Twi so I got it for them.” "But they’re just little girls Rainbow," said Twilight furiously, "What if they had all gotten hurt? You know Rarity and Applejack would be down here having a fit right now. I'm sure when Scootaloo's parents find out, they are going to want to talk to you about why you let their daughter go hang gliding without some supervision." Rainbow Dash's ears fell. "I'm sorry pipsqueak..." she said quietly. "It's okay Rainbow Dash. My parents are used to me doing stupid things. Don't be sad or anything. It's my fault I got injured," responded Scootaloo sweetly. Rainbow Dash smiled at Scootaloo and then looked back to Twilight. "Anything else Twilight?” "Well it's getting late so you could take Applebloom and Sweetie Belle home and tell their sister's about what happened. I'm sure they'll have some words for you as well," said Twilight. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something causing Twilight to assume that Rainbow Dash had a rebuttal, but Rainbow held her tongue. "Okay, I can do that. Come on girls," said Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash left with the other Cutie Mark Crusader just about the same time Nurse Redheart finished up with Scootaloo. "She needs to keep that wing bound tight and make sure she doesn't sleep on it," explained Nurse Redheart. Twilight said that she would be sure to inform her parents, and Nurse Redheart dismissed them. Twilight and Scootaloo walked out of the hospital and to the center of Ponyville together. Scootaloo told Twilight that she didn't need to come and talk with her parents and that she would take care of everything. Twilight tried to argue with her but in the end decided that it was pointless to try. They went their separate ways after Scootaloo thanked Twilight. However, Twilight waited for a moment to see where the little filly went so she could go talk to her parents tomorrow. The only problem was Scootaloo was heading out of town, towards Sweet Apple Acres. Where is she going? Twilight asked herself. ********** Scootaloo walked up the steps of the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. The wind had picked up, and it was a little bit chilly. She walked inside the dark, cold tree house and wished that there were actual windows to keep the wind out. She made her way over to the little box she kept her food in and looked inside it. Inside were a few apples, some of the sweets the Cakes had given her, and a few snacks she had taken from school. Her stomach growled, and she selected a few things to eat. They never satisfied her hunger, but if she ate everything at once, then she would starve tomorrow. She sat down at the little table in the middle of the room and was about to eat when the wind came through again. She shivered and went and grabbed her blanket. It was old and thin so it didn't really help much. She sat back down and was about to eat when she heard creaking. Someone or something was coming up the steps to the clubhouse. Scootaloo turned and faced the door. She was hoping it wasn't something scary that had wandered out of the Everfree forest. The creaking got closer and closer until she knew whatever it was had reached the entrance. It took a step forward, and Scootaloo saw the purple hoof of a pony. Twilight stepped to the top of the stairs and into the clubhouse. Scootaloo looked at her and didn't say a word. "You could have told me the truth," said Twilight quietly. Scootaloo fought back the tears that were building up in her eyes. "Were you following me?" she asked rudely. Twilight nodded. "I wanted to see were you lived so that I could talk to your parents in the morning. But I'm assuming that isn't going to happen right?" asked Twilight curiously, "How long have you been living here?" Scootaloo's head and ears fell in embarrassment. "A couple of months.” "And where...where are your parents?" asked Twilight nervously. "They...they didn't come home one day..." Scootaloo stammered. The dams that were holding back the tears finally broke, and Scootaloo started sobbing her eyes out. "I've been living on my own for years now. I've gone from Baltimare, to Fillydelphia, to Canterlot, and I finally ended up here. My parents never showed up, and nobody ever came looking for me. I've been fending for myself and living off the scraps of food that I can find," cried Scootaloo. She closed her eyes and let the tears flow through them. She then felt a pair of hooves wrap around her and squeeze her tightly. Twilight was comforting her. "Well you could have said something to somepony, and I'm sure they would have at the least taken you in so you didn't have to live in this place," cooed Twilight softly, "In fact, I'm not going to let you stay here for another night." Scootaloo looked up at Twilight. "Are you...are you saying I can come home with you?" she asked quietly. "Of course, and if you had told me earlier I would have said the same thing," said Twilight sweetly. Twilight's horn erupted with magic, and she levitated Scootaloo onto her back. Scootaloo once again held on tight, and they left the cold and miserable clubhouse. ********** Twilight opened the door to her house/library and walked inside. The wind was blowing fiercely outside, and the poor little filly clinging to her back was shivering. Luckily the house was warm thanks to the burning fireplace. Twilight set Scootaloo down right by the fire and wrapped her up in a blanket that was sitting on the couch. Scootaloo thanked Twilight and continued to shiver as she tried to warm herself up. Twilight hadn't noticed that Spike was sitting at his desk looking at them. "Should I ask?" he said with a confused look. Twilight looked over at him. "Come into the kitchen, and I'll explain. I don't think I need to ask if you're hungry Scootaloo.” Scootaloo opened her mouth to answer, but the sound of her rumbling stomach answered for her. She just giggled and moved closer to the fire. Twilight smiled at her and then walked into the kitchen followed closely by Spike. Twilight went into the fridge and pulled out everything she needed to make dandelion sandwiches. Twilight set Spike to work on making some hot soup and spent the time explaining why she had brought Scootaloo home. Spike told Twilight that this was a very generous thing she was doing. "But...what are you going to do about it in the long run?" asked Spike curiously. Twilight shrugged as she used magic to pick up the plates carrying some sandwiches and soup. "I don't know. I really didn't think ahead. She can at least stay with us until I can come up with something," Twilight responded. Twilight set the food down and then went into the main room to see how Scootaloo was doing. She was still sitting where Twilight had left her. The only change was that Owlowiscious and PeeWee were sitting on either side of her, staring at her curiously. Twilight giggled a little bit before calling Scootaloo to dinner. She was obviously starving because she ran to the table and started voraciously eating. She went through three helping of food before giving in. Twilight just laughed at her. She really was a cute little filly, and Twilight had a hard time believing that somepony could just leave her. "So did you get enough to eat?" Twilight asked her. Scootaloo rubbed her stomach and groaned a bit. Twilight chuckled. "Okay well I'm sure you're tired but there is one more thing we need to do before bed and that's give you a bath," said Twilight. Scootaloo frowned and her head fell. "Do I smell bad? I try to find ways to keep myself clean and hygienic," she said timidly. "You smell fine. You just look a little dirty. Probably from your crash today," said Twilight. Spike offered to clean up the kitchen so Twilight could take care of Scootaloo. They went upstairs to Twilight's bathroom and she started bath, making sure the water wasn't too hot. While the water was running Twilight very carefully unwrapped Scootaloo's wing and then gingerly levitated her into the tub. "Alright, I'll let you clean yourself up while I get ready for bed," Twilight told her. Scootaloo smiled at Twilight and began to clean herself off. Twilight walked to the sink and brushed and flossed her teeth thoroughly. She also grabbed a new toothbrush and container of floss for Scootaloo and set them on the counter. Twilight then spent some time trying to find some bandages to re-wrap Scootaloo wing. "Twilight, I'm done," called Scootaloo sweetly. Twilight pulled her head out of the cupboard she was looking in and glanced over at the tub. "Do you need help getting out?" she asked. Scootaloo's ears fell down in embarrassment, and she avoided eye contact. "Um...yes...if it's not too much trouble.” Twilight smiled and grabbed a clean towel for her. She carefully levitated Scootaloo out of the tub and wrapped the towel around her. "Okay now brush your teeth and floss for me while I keep trying to find some bandages to wrap up your wing," Twilight told Scootaloo. Scootaloo nodded and went to work on cleaning her teeth while Twilight continued her search. It wasn't until Scootaloo was done that she managed to find where she kept the bandages. She made sure Scootaloo was completely dried off before carefully wrapping the wing snugly against her side. "Is that too tight?" Twilight asked. Scootaloo shook her head and then let out a big yawn. "I think it might be bed time," Twilight said with a chuckle. Scootaloo giggled a bit and then followed Twilight to her bedroom. When they arrived Spike was just getting himself into bed. Scootaloo looked around to see where she was going to sleep but only saw one more bed. Before she could ask, Twilight answered her question for her. "I don't really have another place for you to sleep," stated Twilight, "So you can just crawl in bed with me for now and we can figure that out later." Twilight climbed into her bed and then left a spot right next to her for Scootaloo. Scootaloo smiled and carefully climbed right beside Twilight. She had to sleep on her stomach because of her wing but the bed was so comfortable it didn't matter. Twilight pulled the covers over them and the put her head down on the pillow next to Scootaloo's. "Twilight," said Scootaloo quietly. "Yes?" whispered Twilight. "Thanks for being so nice and bringing me into your home for the night," said Scootaloo softly. "Oh you're welcome sweetheart. But don't think that it's just for the night," replied Twilight. Scootaloo's ears perked up, and her eyes shot open. "You mean...you're not going to send me away tomorrow?" she asked. Twilight opened her eyes and looked at the little filly. "I don't know what we are going to do, but you can at the least stay with me until I come up with a solution.” Scootaloo had to resist jumping out of bed. "You mean that?" she asked. Twilight smiled at her and nodded her head. "We can talk about it in the morning," she said softly. "For now though it's time for some sleep." Twilight put her head down and was out within minutes. It took Scootaloo a bit longer because her head was swimming with different thoughts. Eventually though, out of pure exhaustion, she was able to close her eyes and finally fall asleep.