Chapter 2
Moving Out Of The Past
It was late into the morning when Fluttershy finally awoke. She hadn’t slept this late since the rainstorm that trapped Rainbow Dash and herself inside her cottage for two days. She saw Scootaloo still sleeping soundly, including the pacifier that still remained in her mouth. Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel on top of the world. She could say she was a mother now. Or at least for awhile, as she couldn’t be certain what Scootaloo would do once this whole charade was over. But for now, she felt like she had been a good mother up until this point.
Scootaloo had finally woken up while Fluttershy had been observing her from across the room. She rose, completely forgetting where she had been from the previous day. The young filly half expected to wake up to her usual alleyway or the clubhouse if she was lucky. “Wha….” She looked around, confused to see Fluttershy staring back at her. “I’m sorry Fluttershy! I didn’t mean to take up your bed!” She instantly apologized for what she thought she had done.
Fluttershy thought it was cute to a degree, but she could tell Scootaloo wasn’t telling her the whole story. “Hush now Scootaloo. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Her voice was soft and gentle, as it had always been when she dealt with fillies and foals. “You slept with me the entire night; I didn’t hear a single sound from you. I think somepony enjoyed her pacifier a bit.” Fluttershy fluttered back over to her filly and picked her up. She looked at Scootaloo’s diaper, and saw the deep yellow hue where there should have been white. “Oh my Scootaloo, your diaper is soaked.”
Scootaloo looked down at her flank, and saw her wet diaper. She started to tear up a bit, since she had expected this. “Damn it…. I was hoping I’d stay dry for a night for once! I guess that was a bit too much to ask for.” She buried her face into her new mother’s chest and cried.
Fluttershy wasn’t a pony for that kind of language, and later she’d find out where Scootaloo had heard it, but for right now this little filly needed comfort. “Shhhh… Mama’s got you sweetie. We’ll get you a fresh diaper and then we can talk about it ok? That is if you want another diaper Scootaloo.” Fluttershy took a moment to make sure she wasn’t forcing anything on the young distraught filly. She’d obviously been through enough.
Scootaloo was a bit confused at the question. Did she want another diaper? Well she had obviously wet this one, though that was at night. “C-c-can I just stay in diapers for now please?” She asked, afraid of being a freak.
“Well if that’s what you want Scootaloo it doesn’t matter to me. I just saw a wet diaper and that usually means a diaper change. And since that’s what you want, I have no issues with it.” Fluttershy had always been a kind and caring pegasus. She wanted to make her filly feel comfortable as possible. “Do you want to talk after this Scootaloo? I think you’re not telling me a lot.” Scootaloo nodded her head in response. It would be nice to finally get all of her burdens off of her chest.
Fluttershy was more than happy to change her new little filly. She placed the orange filly on the changing table she had set up once she had woken up. Scootaloo didn’t fight back, choosing to remain still and content and suckle her pacifier. Fluttershy made quick work of Scootaloo’s old diaper and wiping her privates clean. Once again the foal powder came out. Scootaloo caught a whiff of the powder this time and didn’t sneeze. Instead it was rather calming to her.
“Mama, what’s that scent?” Scootaloo asked, finding it familiar. “I feel like I’ve been around this scent before…” She drifted into thought for a moment, but after remembering she HAD foalsit the twins with Pinkie, it could have very well have been that. But why was it so calming then?
Fluttershy didn’t answer Scootaloo’s question at first, though she was overjoyed to hear her call her mama. After the new diaper was securely in place, she spoke up. “The foal powder? That’s lavender. It’s mine and Rainbow Dash’s favorite scent.” She knew Scootaloo would feel better when Rainbow Dash was mentioned.
And indeed the mere mention of Rainbow Dash made Scootaloo feel better. It wasn’t a great improvement, but from where she had been since she’d arrived yesterday this was a definite improvement. “Rainbow Dash’s favorite scent? That’s awesome!” She almost shouted, but it hurt her throat a bit from crying yesterday. “Ow…my throat is killing me…” She commented softly.
“Oh I have just the thing for that sweetie!” Fluttershy was excited. She didn’t think she’d get to use something she’d gotten on a whim. She pulled out Scootaloo’s purple pacifier and replaced it with a pink one. “Suck on that for a few minutes and you should feel much better. It’s a magical medicinal pacifier. It should cure everything from stomach aches to sore throats to even helping you breathe if you get a cold.” Fluttershy picked up her filly and carried her back to the bed and sat her in front of her. “Now, I think we need to talk. I’m not mad or upset, but I think there’s a lot weighing you down. Let’s start with you being homeless. How long have you not had a home?”
Scootaloo sighed, as this was never an easy subject for her to talk about. In fact, Fluttershy was the first pony she’d ever mentioned not having a place to stay for more than a night. “I’ve…. I’ve been homeless for almost four years. I kinda got used to it. Sure it was hard but nopony really seemed to care enough to ask….” Scootaloo hung her head in shame.
Fluttershy wasn’t shocked or upset, simply bringing her into a hug. Scootaloo was greatly calmed from this, which gave her a bit more strength to talk about her past.
“I guess since you know more than anypony else I’ll tell you the truth. I wasn’t born in Ponyville, though I guess anypony could have figured that out. I don't remember much about my past, I kind of blocked it," Scootaloo confessed. "I remember only a little about what I think was my birth mom, but for the most part I lived in an orphange." She was going to say more, but she stopped herself, convinced there was no need to continue.
Fluttershy was absolutely astounded., this filly was stronger than she could have ever been. “Oh my, you’ve been through an awful lot Scootaloo. But you know what? You’re not going to have to worry anymore. You’re more than welcome to stay here if you want. In fact I insist you do. I can’t have a young filly like you out there all alone. I’ll be your mama for real if you want to sweetie.”
That was probably the best news she had heard all day. Or in the past four years. “A-a-are you sure? I’m not much of daughter….nopony wanted me at the orphanage.” Scootaloo didn’t want the pony that had done of all of this already to have a burden like her to take care of.
“Of course, I know another pony who’d be glad to hear about this. But that’ll have to wait.” Fluttershy commented.
Scootaloo wanted to think about it for a minute, though honestly there wasn’t much to think about. A warm bed, food, and a mother? This was almost too good to be true to her. “You’ll never leave me? I’ve been alone for so long…. I don’t want to be alone anymore. I don’t think I’d be able to handle it.”
“Why would I ever leave my little filly? A mother should never abandon her daughter. I’ll never leave you as long as you promise not to leave me. I’ll even get the papers to adopt you properly if you want. I never knew you’d been through this much.”
Scootaloo’s answer was nothing more than hugging her mother more than she’s ever hugged anypony before, even Rainbow Dash! “Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!” She cried happily, happy to have found a home.
Fluttershy responded with a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “Now let’s go get you some breakfast, I think I can cook up some yummy pancakes if you’d like.”
Breakfast sounded good to the young filly and held tight to her mother as they went downstairs.