Derpy recoiled and stared up at Dash, who had heatedly flung the door open with a, "What?! I'm busy!"
"Oh, uhm… You didn't come to work, they sent me with a message, and I was worried. Is all…" Derpy would have looked downcast, if her eyes weren't intent on looking everywhere except where she wanted them to.
Dash took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Derpy, I just got a lot going on, okay? I can't come in to work today. I got wing cramps from Wonderbolt training this weekend."
Derpy tried her best to look concerned, which made Dash giggle inwardly a little. "Ow, that sounds horrible. Uhm, do you have enough food? I can pick something up."
"No, I'm good for now. I'm just going to take it easy for a bit." Dash scratched the back of her head, trying to shake off the foreignness of her own words. I got more important things to do, but let’s not go into that… she thought with a certain filly on her mind.
"Well, if you need anything, let me know. I’ll stop by later to check in on you." Derpy turned and flapped upwards, looking down with a wave and shooting off into the distance at a slightly lopsided gate.
Dash shut the door and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor. Her gaze slid across the room and up the stairs. Well, now she really is stuck here. She breathed in deep, and let out a quick burst of a sigh as she propelled herself up onto her hooves. Bravest mare in Ponyville my flank, she huffed mentally as she trotted for the stairs. I'd rather face off with a manticore than Scootaloo right now.
She clopped up the stairs swiftly and padded over to the door shielding her depressed protégé. "Hey, Scoot?" The door lock clicked and it cracked open. Wow, that was easy… Dash looked on perplexed.
Scootaloo leaned on the doorframe, refusing to make eye contact as she stared at the floor away from Dash. "Who's taking me?"
"Who's what?"
"Who's taking me down? I gotta prepare mentally, you know. They’re gonna see my tail and I'm a mess from crying and all." Scootaloo intoned dejectedly through intermittent sobs as she tried to wipe the tears away.
"Oh… Um, I uh…kinda sent them away…" Dash pawed at the floor and chewed at her lip. "Was that the wrong thing to do?"
"I don't know…" Scootaloo trailed off with a high pitched whine as she turned and face planted into Dash's chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Dash hesitated, a hoof halfway reaching around the filly. Her heart instinctively told her to hug Scootaloo, but her brain was doing somersaults trying to understand what was going on. Random. I don't get it. Why would she… Ugh, Scootaloo you're killing me over here…
"Hey, Scootaloo." Dash laid down on the floor at eye level with the filly, brushing a comforting hoof through her disheveled mane. "I… I'm sorry. Like really, really sorry." She hoofed around her ears, brushing bits of straggling hair back into line. "I'm used to being alone, and doing things for myself, and not answering to anybody. I get that I said some really insensitive things, but I don't understand what made you mad in the first place. I was thinking…you know…maybe if we talked it over…" Dash trailed off uncomfortably.
"Am I bothering you?" Scootaloo risked a glance out of the corner of her eye, afraid of getting hurt again. Her sobs curbed into little sniffles.
"No! Nununo, not at all. I just…you see…the problems with me, kiddo. I don't understand what’s wrong, so…I can't fix it. I don't have the answers to everything. You know…with your parents." Dash looked away, running a nervous hoof through her mane.
"Why does it need to be fixed? I never asked for advice…" Scootaloo turned to look at Dash head on. "I just wanted to be with you. I like being here with you. Yeah, I want to train really bad, but it hurt when it felt like…maybe you didn't want me around."
Dash sighed in relief, and ruffled Scootaloo's mane. "Silly filly, it's not that I didn't want you here. It's that I didn't understand what you needed. You went all moody on me all of a sudden. How am I supposed to deal with that? I didn't grow up with any siblings. I can't read your mind."
"I don't know. You just made me really mad. I don't remember what you said…" Scootaloo trailed off.
"I think it was around when I asked about your father?" Dash winced as Scootaloo slammed her face back into her chest.
"Yeah, that. I don't want to talk about it."
Dash sighed. Am I relieved? "Well, if you need to, I'm here for you, little sis."
Scootaloo sniffled. "Did it mean something that time?"
"Yeah, it means a lot to me. That's probably why it's so hard to say sometimes." Dash's jaw dropped, and an eyebrow shot up as Scootaloo wrapped her arms around her neck and began wailing. "What's wrong now?"
"I don't know! But I think you're an awesome sister!"
Wow. Dash sighed mentally, suddenly feeling like she definitely didn't get enough sleep this morning. "Alright kiddo, breakfast then nap. Got it?"
Scootaloo nodded into Dash's mane. "Got it…"
Dash picked her up and carried her awkwardly down the stairs. Then walking into the kitchen, she bit off a huge chunk of apple cinnamon cake. Her eyes widened. "You made these from scratch?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo intoned blandly.
"Where'd you learn to do that? Aren't you a little young to be cooking?" Dash craned her neck down to look into Scootaloo's eyes as she squirrel cheeked the bite.
Scootaloo dodged Dash's eyes as she sighed. "Yeah, it's lame, really don't want to talk about it."
Dash winced. It's gonna be a looong couple of days.
Dash awoke out of her fitful dreams, her lids lifting lazily to welcome the golden rays of the setting sun as they cascaded across the shadows of her bed sheets. Her gaze centered around a little lump underneath the sheets that was slowly rising and falling like a giant breathing marshmallow. She took in a deep breath filling her lungs to capacity, and let out a slow calculated sigh as she lifted the sheet gingerly to peer underneath. Scootaloo lay curled into a ball, snoring softly. Well, I have a good excuse for sleeping the day away out of exhaustion. What's yours, Scoot?
Dash's brow furrowed in thought. She chewed at the inside of her cheek ravenously trying to get her brain rolling. In the end, however, her best impression of Twilight fell flat and fruitless… Ding! Dash started at the sound of the doorbell, and gingerly crept around the sleeping Scootaloo. She leaped for the door and bounded down the stairs, fully welcoming the distraction.
Twilight jumped back as the door flung open and Dash popped out onto the porch. "Twilight!" She whispered loudly as she gingerly shut the door. "Wow, am I glad to see you!"
"Huh, yeah, it's good to see you too, Rainbow Dash. Derpy stopped by with a delivery earlier and mentioned you had wing cramps from training this weekend. She said to tell you she was sorry and couldn't stop by this evening." Twilight held up a small bag with the Sugarcube Corner symbol. "She sends her condolences."
"Condolesas?" Dash snagged the bag and looked inside. "Yeah, Derpy! That sounds delicious!"
Twilight shook her head. "No, no… It's pronounced cond—"
Dash held up a hoof to stop her. "Twilight, you're super smart and all, and I respect that, but don't ruin this for me. It's been a long day."
Twilight frowned. "That bad, huh?"
Dash shot her a deadpan gaze. "You have no idea…" Dash glanced down into the bag and barked out a laugh. "I knew it." She displayed the open bag to Twilight. "Muffins… Good old Derpy. Predictable as always. Sometimes, I think all she eats is muffins."
Twilight giggled behind a hoof. "You’re in an odd mood today. Is something other than a little pain bugging the amazing Rainbow Dash?" Twilight teased halfheartedly, but the smile played out on her lips swiftly and was replaced by a look of concern as Dash hesitated to answer.
Dash frowned, not sure she was comfortable just blurting it all out. After a moment of reflective thought she noticed Twilight had settled down into her immobile posture of patience. That look, that body language, the calm discerning gaze that took everything in, picked it apart, and analyzed it to death were all leveled directly at Dash. A little shiver ran up her spine. Something tells me I'm not getting out of this one…
With another deep sigh to add to the pile of sighs she was accumulating at an alarming rate today, Dash's mind prepared for a tactful dance of half truths and hypothetical situations. "So, uhm… Let’s say I got this friend, right?"
"Yeah?" Twilight coaxed with a nod and a smile, certain she knew from experience how to handle Dash's hypothetical conversations by now.
"And, uh…she is really, really, um…emotional, and I can't figure out why. But normally she's not, you see, she is usually really tough, and cool, so it's really wierd, and I'm not sure how to handle it. One moment she’s happy, then the next she’s crying and seems to hate me…and then she’s hugging me the next. I’m so confused." Uhm…okay, that was a little more straight than I wanted it to be… Dash facehoofed mentally.
"So, um, what you’re telling me is that this friend of yours is having some major emotional issues?" Twilight looked at Dash, concern etched into every feature. "Could it be from some type of trauma?" Twilight rested her hoof on Dash's shoulder. "You know you can always talk to me right? If something ever happened, I'm here for you."
"Oh, what? Nonono…" Dash waved her hands in front of her to wipe away the misunderstanding. "Not me, Twilight, not me. It’s, um…my little friend." The unspoken sisterly code of confidence bound Dash from speaking Scootaloo's name. I don't want to scar the poor filly. She would be crushed if I betrayed her like that.
"Come on, Dash, you don't have to hide behind…" Twilight was cut off by a high pitched squeal from above.
"Hi Princess Twilight Sparkle!!" Scootaloo had her head stuck out the upper floor window and was waving emphatically at the two below. Scootaloo leaped out of the window and slid down the fluffy side walls aiming for the overhang above the porch.
Twilight looked up. "Scootaloo!" She waved. "Just call me Twilight as always, please." Twilight's cheery smile suddenly faded as the situation dawned on her. Little filly feet padded onto the overhang above them. She looked at Dash with some serious pony and frowned. "Dash, how long has she been here?"
"Since last night." Dash backpedaled a step. "Why, what’s wrong?"
"Dash, the whole town has been looking for her. Her dad fell down some stairs yesterday morning. Applejack found him late last night and has been taking care of him since he can't walk right now."
"Oh my gosh, how bad—" Dash was interrupted by the sound of sobby sniffles coming from the porch overhang. "Hey, Twilight… Why don't you fly on ahead, huh? I'll get her down from here and walk her over, okay?" Dash spoke a little too loudly as she shoved Twilight towards the edge of her cloud home.
Twilight bristled and fought as she slid towards the edge. "OKAY! Okay! I get it, you don't have to… Aiieeeee!!" Twilight dropped over the edge in a frenzied flutter.
Dash looked down with her hooves cupped to her muzzle. "Don't forget to fly!"
"Rainbow Dash! That's not funny!" Twilight flapped indignantly away.
"Sorry, Twi." Dash whirled around to find Scootaloo hopping off the porch overhang.
She was visibly forcing back tears, and her voice was haltingly choked. "Dash, I need to get home, but you can't fly!"
"Like hay I can't." Dash leaned down, picked Scootaloo up and flung her onto her back. "Hold on, Squee!"
Dash stretched her wings out, recoiling for a split second from the pain, but then defiantly threw them out to their full extension. Head down, she launched off the edge of the cloud without a second thought. Scootaloo wrapped her forelegs around Dash's neck and hugged for dear life. Dash flapped—twinge—flapped again—twinge—one more—cramp. She grimaced and bit her tongue, willing with all her nerves to power through it. Flap. A shudder wracked through her. Flap. The other wing cramped squeezing little tears from the corner of her eyes. Dash shook them off, with another deep lung filled breath. FLAP. They propelled across the sky, covering the distance of Ponyville within a couple of minutes. She came to the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, Scootaloo guiding the way as she locked her wings into place and glided swiftly down. Dash flinched, her wings refused to move when she commanded them to flap forward to slow the descent. She leaned back, her wings taking the full brunt force of the turbulence. Pulling up, she flew straight, hovering just above the ground, with her hooves brushing through some of the taller grass.
"We're gonna crash!" Dash warned Scootaloo as she whipped around in midair and wrapped her limbs around the filly protectively. "Hang on, I got you!"
Dash impacted on her side, flying into the familiar roll as she went head over heels, tumbling and bouncing. Dirt, grass, and bushes passed along until she ricocheted off a tree.
"Squee!" Scootaloo involuntarily squished.
Despite their predicament and the pain, Dash laughed as they skidded to a stop. Dash unfurled, letting her precious cargo roll off to the side. And then she lost it. The laughs came in guffaws punctuated by intermittent 'ow's and 'oh, it hurts soo bad's.
Scootaloo cocked an ear to the side. "What’s so funny about nearly getting us killed?"
"HAH. Oh, Squee, how do you even make that sound?" Dash continued rolling in her mirth. "OW…uh, it hurts!" She laughed even harder, her face turning red from strain.
"What?" Scootaloo let out a sigh. "Is there something wrong with you? You've been acting weird lately." Scootaloo hopped up and turned to leave.
"Me?!" Dash suddenly found the mirth and the pain gone. "ME?! Acting weird? You have become the princess of weird lately. Hay?! Where are you going?"
"Home!" Scootaloo trotted off trying to salvage some of her dignity.
Dash hoofed off the dust from her back and coaxed her wings down into resting position, "You're welcome!" Twinge… "Ooh…you pain in my…" Dash trotted off after the filly, rubbing her aching flank.