It had been about a week since Scootaloo had jumped in to Ghastly Gorge after everything that had happened to her shattered her heart and mind. She had been desperate to fly, or to be free from the pain, and she had decided to end it all. She had left a note detailing everything in the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, which was where she had been living, and Rainbow Dash had found it in time to rush there to catch her.
Since that had all happened Scootaloo had been staying in Rainbow Dash's cloud manor. Rainbow had offered to fly her too and from school but Scootaloo wanted to stay away from there for a while. One of the reasons she had jumped was not just the bullying she suffered there at the hooves of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but also the gentle teasing of her friends, and fellow Crusaders, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Rainbow had taken a few days off of work to spend some time with her and make sure she was okay but after a few days she couldn't put going to work off any more. Scootaloo had been lonely, but she insisted it was better than going to school and having to deal with what happened.
Still, it had been a week, and Scootaloo could only hide away from the world for so long.
"Come on Scootaloo, you have to go back eventually." Rainbow Dash said. Her and Scootaloo were sat at the table in Rainbow's kitchen eating their dinner. Rainbow had been tired after work so they were just having simple daisy sandwiches and hay fries. Scootaloo wasn't really eating hers as she was still pretty depressed. The current topic of conversation wasn't helping with that matter.
"Do I really have to?" Scootaloo replied, toying with her fries. Rainbow Dash nodded and patted her foreleg.
"I know you don't want to but you have to. It's not good to hide away and your friends must be wondering where you are and getting worried."
"Yeah...right." Scootaloo replied, giving a derisive snort.
"I'm sure they didn't know what they were doing to you and they do want to be your friend. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom at least." Rainbow said. Scootaloo sighed and hit her head against the table before rubbing her forehead. She had hit it harder than she intended to. "It's not like much is going to change Scoots. I'll take you there, I'll pick you up too, and you'll still live here with me." Scootaloo perked up and practically beamed at Rainbow Dash.
"You mean it? I'll still get to stay here?" Scootaloo asked. Rainbow Dash nodded and Scootaloo jumped down to the floor and started doing a little happy dance.
"I can't have you staying in some place like a clubhouse in a field." Rainbow Dash said, though Scootaloo didn't stop dancing. "There's also something else." Rainbow added. This did cause Scootaloo to stop dancing and look at her questioningly. “I was thinking about giving you some flying lessons tomorrow. It is the weekend after all.” Scootaloo immediately continued her happy dance and added vibrant squeals of delight until Rainbow spoke up again. “There's a condition though.You have to go back to school next week. It's been a week Scoots. It's Friday now so you can take the weekend to get ready if you want. But I want you to go back to school." Scootaloo let out a large groan and buried her face in her hooves on the floor. After a few minutes of silent whining by Scootaloo and patient waiting by Rainbow Dash Scootaloo finally gave a resigned sigh.
"Fineeeeeeeee." Scootaloo said. Rainbow Dash hopped down next to her and wrapped a foreleg around her and pulled her in to a hug.
"It's for the best Scoots." Rainbow said as she ruffled scootaloo’s mane.
"Isn't that what all adults say?" Scootaloo said with another sigh.
"Am I an adult now?" Rainbow Dash replied with a giggle.
"To me you are." Scootaloo replied with a giggle of her own.
"Now are you going to eat your dinner?"
"Yes MOM." Scootaloo replied, stressing the word "mom" sardonically.
"You wish." Rainbow said with a smirk, too quietly for Scootaloo to hear. Rainbow joined her back at the table and they continued eating in mild silence. Occasionally Scootaloo asked her a question about work and they would have a small conversation.
When they were finished Scootaloo helped Rainbow Dash clean up and Rainbow had to admit it made things much easier to have an extra body around to help take care of the house. Because she couldn't fly, Scootaloo was confined to the house while Rainbow wasn't around to take her down to the ground and back. Scootaloo had started cleaning up the house while Rainbow was at work. It was partly out of boredom, and partly to be useful to Rainbow Dash. When they had finished cleaning up after themselves, and cleaning up a little of the house, they passed the time playing some games before it was time for Scootaloo to go to bed.
After a bit of mild coaxing due to Scootaloo not wanting to go to bed Rainbow Dash was sat next to Scootaloo's bed with a Daring Do book and was about to start reading. When Scootaloo had first arrived at the house she had a lot of trouble sleeping and Rainbow had started reading to her at bedtime to calm her down and help put her to sleep. She didn't really need to be calmed down like that at this point, but Scootaloo was enjoying the stories and Rainbow was enjoying reading to her. She liked seeing Scootaloo's face at certain points in the story and Rainbow knew, and made sure everypony else knew she knew, how to tell a story and really get people sucked into it.
By the time Rainbow Dash finished reading Scootaloo had fallen asleep and Rainbow Dash quietly put the book away and gave Scootaloo a soft kiss on the forehead. It had been awkward the first time she had done it but Scootaloo always gave a small smile when Rainbow did so she had continued to do it and was beginning to get used to it. She walked to the door, gave one last look at the sleeping little filly, and whispered a short goodnight to her before going back downstairs to read some more before she had to go to bed herself. She sometimes pulled even herself in to a good story.