//------------------------------// // Chapter 67; Dining With Dash And Scootaloo // Story: Working Towards The Future // by Dasponi //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo made their way off the train and towards the restaurant that Star Shine had booked. Rainbow Dash had made enough visits to Canterlot to get a good feeling for the place and learn where everything was. Even if she hadn’t, it wasn’t hard to see where Canterlot Cuisine was. It was a fairly large building that stood out amongst the other nearby buildings. As they were walking, Rainbow Dash noticed Scootaloo looked a little uncomfortable. “Hey kid, you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked, draping a wing over Scootaloo. Scootaloo was definitely nervous about something but she couldn’t place what it was. She just had a very uncomfortable feeling. There was still something on her mind she could voice, so she elected to. “Is Star Shine really gonna be mad at me? You told Cheerilee he’d punish me properly…” Scootaloo replied nervously. She had been too happy that the dinner was still going on to really think about how Star Shine might react to what had happened. “We have to tell him right?” she added. “He might be better at handling kids than me but he’s still a sweet guy. I don’t think he’ll be harsh with you or anything. I told Cheerilee that so she didn’t think you’d just get away with it.” Rainbow Dash replied. “If he shouts at you, then he won’t get away with that.” she added with a giggle. Scootaloo smiled too and pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind. Star Shine had been nothing but gentle, even to Diamond Tiara herself. He didn’t even get that angry over the Gabby Gums column. He seemed practically incapable of getting angry. There was no way that he would get angry with her. Any other worrying thoughts could wait because right now she was about to go through one of the best things she’d ever gone through. Now was not a time for worry, but for smiles. Smiling was exactly what she did as she saw Star Shine waiting outside the restaurant for them. Rainbow Dash smiled as she watched Scootaloo run up to him. “Hey Star Shine!” Scootaloo called as she huddled up against Star Shine’s foreleg. He held her close with his other foreleg and watched Rainbow Dash come up to him. She smiled as she saw his mane and what he had done to it. It was washed and brushed back as it had been at Rarity’s and he had added a little touch of his own. He had tied it back and because his mane wasn’t as long as Rainbow Dash’s it formed a small but, in Rainbow Dash’s opinion, cute and smart looking ponytail. “Hey girls, you have a nice trip?” Star Shine asked. Nothing about the way the girls were acting indicated something had gone wrong. “I love your manes. Rarity really outdid herself. You look absolutely beautiful.” he added, blushing as he took in all of Rainbow Dash. “I’ll tell you all about it in a minute. Now close your eyes because I’ve got something for you.” Rainbow Dash replied, blushing herself at the compliment. Star Shine looked down at Scootaloo who was still smiling up at him. He closed his eyes and smiled, mentally preparing himself for what Rainbow Dash might give him. Or maybe even do to him. He bristled as he felt something touch his head and his ears poke through something. Rainbow Dash poked him on the chest to indicate he could open his eyes. He saw that Scootaloo was now stood next to Rainbow Dash and looking up at him. She had a large smile on her face that was matched by the one on Rainbow Dash’s face. “He does look pretty good in it.” Scootaloo commented. Rainbow Dash giggled. She didn’t trust herself to speak and was just way too excited to. Star Shine tried to look above his brow but couldn’t make out what was on his head. He settled for lowering his head and taking off whatever Rainbow Dash had put on him. He let out a squeal of his own as he saw not just the hat, but the feathers attached to it. “I love it. It’s awesome…” Star Shine said quietly. His breath had been taken away. “Are they your feathers?” he asked, looking up at Rainbow Dash. “Sure are.” Rainbow Dash replied with a nod. “You said you wanted something to remember us by.” she explained. “Well..ummm...thank you.” Star Shine said nervously. He put a foreleg around each of them and pulled them close in a group hug. “I have something for you two too, but for now let’s get inside okay?” He felt Rainbow Dash nod as she was nuzzled against him. He released the hug and the three of them made their way into the restaurant. Star Shine’s friend had done his part well and there were no problems with the reservations. The trio were shown to their table and looked through the menu. Star Shine ordered a little conservatively knowing Rainbow Dash would be paying. Scootaloo had no such qualms and neither did Rainbow Dash. With their food ordered they had a little time before the food actually showed up. Star Shine poked his head under his wing and pulled a small brown bag out from underneath it. “Ooh, what’s in there?” Scootaloo asked as Star Shine placed the bag on the table. “Why don’t you open it up and find out? They’ve been sat in my saddlebags for a long time actually. It’s long past time you get them.” Star Shine replied. He pushed the bag over to Scootaloo. She tipped it upside down and gasped as two small figures fell out of it and on to the table. At first they looked like two Wonderbolts figures which left Scootaloo a little confused. She had already had a Wonderbolts figure from Star Shine and didn’t see what made these ones so special. Then she saw what had been done to them. They were Wonderbolts figures but they had been painted on. Specifically the manes and tails. One of them was painted to look like Rainbow Dash and the other one was painted to look like Scootaloo. Scootaloo hopped off of her seat and wrapped her forelegs around Star Shine in a massive hug. He laughed and nuzzled up to her. Rainbow Dash was far more conservative and settled for nuzzling up to him. “They’re great. How’d you do it?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking them over and smiling at the detail and how much hers did look like her. One day actual Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash figures would be a thing. For now this would definitely do. “It was when I bought that figure for Scootaloo. I bought a few more and sent them off to a friend”- Star Shine began. “Seriously how many friends do you have?” Rainbow Dash interrupted under her breath. “Who painted them for me and sent them back.” Star Shine finished explaining. Scootaloo didn’t really care where they came from, she was happy just to have one. Star Shine realised he was still holding Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo and let them go, laughing nervously. Scootaloo sat down at her seat again and held her figure close to her chest. Even if Star Shine left all she’d need to do to think of him and smile would be to look at that. She giggled just thinking about it. “So...how was the trip? Anything interesting happen at school?” Star Shine asked. “Or work?” he added, looking at Rainbow Dash. He regretted his question when he saw both Rainbow Dash’s and Scootaloo’s faces drop. “What is it?” he asked worriedly. “Something really bad happened at school.” Scootaloo said quietly. She couldn’t avoid the subject now that he had asked about it. “And the train journey could have been better…” Rainbow Dash added, referring to telling Scootaloo Star Shine would be leaving. “What happened at school?” Star Shine asked. He rested his head on his forelegs. He felt it was better to take care of things in the order that they happened. Scootaloo let out a sigh. Rainbow Dash had taken it well and she had faith Star Shine would. Niggling doubts were hard to get rid of. “I kinda get into a fight...with Diamond Tiara.” Scootaloo admitted. Star Shine went a little wide eyed but for the most part his expression didn’t change much. It was unexpected news for sure though. When he got serious also happened to be when he became his most unresponsive. He dealt in fact and left emotion out of the conversation and with that came a lack of facial features. That he raised his eyebrows was a testament to how shocking he found the news. “What caused it?” Star Shine asked, motioning with a foreleg for Scootaloo to continue. “She said some things and kept provoking me…” Scootaloo explained, recounting what Diamond Tiara had said to her about her dad, about how her and Rainbow Dash and Star Shine were nothing like family and never would be, and how Star Shine was going to leave because he didn’t really care. “That’s why the train kinda sucked, I had to explain that you were going.” Rainbow Dash added when Scootaloo was done explaining. “When I went to pick Scoots up from school I had a word with Cheerilee. She’s suspended Scoots for a week and seemed kinda unhappy that Scootaloo wasn’t being punished by me so I told her that you’d decide Scoot’s punishment. So that’s how it is. What you do is in your hooves but so help me, if you shout at her your face will be in MY hooves.” she threatened. Scootaloo looked nervous as Star Shine mulled over everything he’d been told. Scootaloo wasn’t totally to blame. It’s not like he’d actually never lost his temper either. It was something that happened and he had come to see Scootaloo as somepony who could get emotional but not violent. It was an isolated incident and not one that needed strict discipline to be corrected. “Relax Dashie.” Star Shine said at last. “I’m not about to shout at her.” he added. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s true that I’m gonna be leaving yes, and that is going to play into your punishment.” Star Shine said. “Huh?” Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo said in unison. “I’m not letting you stay home alone for a week, so every day next week Rainbow Dash will put you on a train in the morning, and I’ll send you back to her on one in the afternoon when she gets back from work. I’ll pay for all the tickets of course.” Star Shine explained. “That good with you Dash?” Star Shine asked. Rainbow Dash looked across to Scootaloo and saw that she was smiling. “It sounds good to me, but it still doesn’t seem like much of a punishment.” Rainbow Dash replied. Scootaloo looked far too happy for it to be a punishment. “Oh nooooo, it’s definitely a punishment. She’ll be with me all the time, and I’ll be keeping an eye on her a lot.” Star Shine said, his voice slightly raised. He was keen to make it sound like an actual punishment. “Suuuuureeee it is…” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. Scootaloo giggled. She didn’t think it was much of a punishment either. If anything it sounded like Diamond Tiara had done her a huge favour by getting her suspended. It was a shame she’d have to wait a week to thank her. She was so upset that she wouldn’t get to see Star Shine for a month or so but now she was going to get a whole week with him. Maybe she’d even get to visit him sometimes when he was gone and she was back in school. Her happy thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of their dinner and the three of them ate together. It didn’t matter what Diamond Tiara said, to Scootaloo they really were like family.