//------------------------------// // Family Moments // Story: The Truth About Scootaloo // by NintendoGal55 //------------------------------// The family soon arrived at Soarin' and Spitfire's apartment in Cloudsdale. Scootaloo felt pretty happy to be home, especially with her parents! The orange filly happily scampered across the floor, heading onto the couch as she relaxed. It was a very modest but still spacious apartment within Cloudsdale's family-friendly neighbourhood just outside the areas of the weather factory. There were large windows, a spacious open concept living room and kitchen, it was a great place for a family of three. "Ahh, this is the life!" Scootaloo giggled, laying on her back with her legs curled inward. "Home sweet home, right Scootiekins?" Spitfire giggled, trotting into the kitchen to prepare dinner for the family. Scootaloo nodded, rolling onto her stomach. "Yeah! It's like vacation or something!" With a chuckle, Soarin' ruffled her mane before he seated himself on the couch next to her. "I think you're right about that, kiddo! Coming home is like a vacation to us, and the best part is..." He cast a wink toward his wife in the kitchen. "We get to spend time with our favorite little filly, as the loving family we are and always have been~" Spitfire smiled from the doorway to the kitchen, winking back at her husband and blowing him a kiss. "But... I'm your only filly!" Scootaloo pouted. "All the more reason why you're our favourite!" Soarin' laughed, grinning widely. "It's great to be home!" "You bet it is!" Scootaloo snuggled up against her father happily. "Room for one more?" Spitfire emerged from the kitchen after putting their dinner into the oven to bake, smiling at her husband and daughter snuggled up together on the couch. "You know it, babe!" The light blue stallion winked again. The golden mare giggled and smiled, seating herself on the couch so the orange filly was in the middle. "Isn't this nice? All snuggled up together, nice and cozy, just the three of us~" "Moooooommm!!" Complained the young pegasus, trying to look annoyed. Soarin' laughed and nuzzled them both happily. "Oh come on now, you know you love it, Scootaloo!" Spitfire giggled again, nuzzling them both lovingly. "Now, Scootaloo, don't be that way. You know you love it when we do this~" "I get enough snuggles from Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo was unable to keep from smiling now. She felt so happy, it was hard not to feel the infectious family love they had. With a big grin, Soarin' ruffled the filly's mane, "Oh, is that so? Well good! You're going to need the extra snuggles until we come home, kiddo!" "Yeah, you always tell us in your letters about how much time you spend with them! So, they really are like your big sisters, or even your big sister and secondary mother, aren't they, sweetie?" The golden mare winked. Scootaloo giggled, nuzzling her mother. "I always thought Rainbow Dash was awesome! And eventually she took me on as her sister! It was great! Fluttershy's been our foalsitter for ages now, and she's like this other sister, since the three of us hang out a lot. It's pretty cool!" Spitfire smiled and nuzzled her daughter. "Well, that's just wonderful, honey. I'm glad you have another place to call home, when you're not with your aunt and uncle. Of course, I know my brother takes good care of you, too, doesn't he?" "At least he better be!" Soarin' joked, nudging Scootaloo. "Of course he does!" Scootaloo stuck her tongue out. "Good! Otherwise, I'd have a few choice words for him!" Spitfire smirked playfully, beating her hooves together. "I know you would, mom!" Laughing heartily, Spitfire relaxed herself, "Darn right! My brother better be taking care of my little girl, or else he'll have an angry little sister to deal with!" Soarin' snickered, leaning to his daughter's ear, as if telling her a secret. "And we sure don't want that, kiddo! You know how your mom gets!" "I know, dad!" Scootaloo giggled. Spitfire smirked at the two, crossing her forelegs, "And don't you forget it, either! Especially you there, Soar. I'm on to you, you know..." Both Soarin' and Scootaloo nudged each other before laughing. Even though her parents had been gone for quite a few weeks now, Scootaloo felt as if they'd never even left. She wasn't sure how it worked, not seeing her parents very often during a fair course of the year, but then suddenly feeling comfortable all over again when they were around. "So, Scootaloo." Spitfire spoke up again after a few moments, smiling and winking at her daughter. "It's been a while since we've all been together as a family. Why don't you pick our movie tonight?" "All right!!" Scootaloo trotted over to the cabinet holding their movie tapes, scanning them. After a minute or two of indecision, she finally selected one, bringing it back over to her parents in her mouth. "Here!" She placed it on the coffee table. "Let's watch this one!" "Twister, eh?" Soarin' observed, grinning. "So, you're in the mood for some storm-chasing excitement?" Spitfire grinned, ruffling her filly's mane. "Yeah! Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy love this movie! They played it for me one time, and it's awesome!" "Oh, did they, now? I'm kinda surprised! I wouldn't think Fluttershy would be into a movie like this..." Spitfire said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. Scootaloo shook her head. "Nope! She loves it! She used to be scared of it, but now she likes it!" This made Soarin' snicker a bit, but he decided against commenting. "Well then, looks like it'll be up to us to indulge you with that, too!" Spitfire, however, couldn't help giggling. "I would have to say that's most likely due to Rainbow Dash's influence! Wouldn't you agree, Soar?" "I think so!" Soarin' agreed, winking. The orange filly, knowing better, nodded. "Uh-huh!" "Well then, pop it in! We can start it while we wait for dinner to be ready!" Spitfire winked and smiled at her daughter, nudging her gently. Scootaloo did as she was told, bringing the tape over to player and inserting it. Then she picked up the remote off the coffee table, settled back onto the couch between her parents, holding it between her hooves. "Sweet! Time for some twisting action!" She said, grinning widely. "Fire away!" Later on, at the dinner table, Scootaloo was happily enjoying her favourite meal with her parents. Not much was being said while they ate, although Scootaloo had a ton of questions and stories she wanted to tell. Or rather, the stuff she didn't get to in her letters. Noticing her usually-chatty daughter's unusual silence, Spitfire paused from her meal to ask her about it. "Is there something on your mind that you'd like to talk to us about, sweetie?" "Well, I guess!" Scootaloo shrugged, drinking down some juice. Soarin' eyed her curiously, setting his utensils down. "So what's up, kiddo? You were pretty upset at school today, we'd sure like to know what's going on." Spitfire wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked at her intently. "Please tell us, honey." "Well..." The filly looked around, biting her lip, unsure where to start. Concerned, Soarin' reached over and patted her shoulder. "What's wrong, Scoot?" "...I just...well...Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon said some really mean things today. Not just about me, but about....well...my friends..." Scootaloo sighed, looking downward now. "What did they say?" Spitfire gently placed her hoof on her back. Sighing, Scootaloo explained what the two bully fillies had said, all the while looking more discouraged. They very memories of what they'd said were eating at her gut, bringing her happy mood into a more morose tone. She was so sick and tired of it all, she just wanted to scream! But all she could do at the moment was explain to her parents about what happened. The two Wonderbolts listened intently to what the filly told them, their expressions hardening with every word. They couldn't believe what these awful fillies had said and done to their daughter and her friends! Did their parents not bother to discipline them? "Well, sweetie, that was just horrible and uncalled-for." Spitfire said at last, shaking her head in disgust. "We'll really be having a talk with this Diamond Tiara's and Silver Spoon's parents, now. This can't go on, you've done absolutely nothing to deserve their mean-spirited teasing." "Your mother's right, Scootaloo." Soarin' said seriously, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "We're going to have a talk with their parents, just as soon as we can get a hold of them." Scootaloo sniffed a bit, despite that she wasn't crying. "O-Okay... I just...I'm scared they'll bug us even MORE...after being tattled on... They always do that." Although the filly wasn't crying, Spitfire passed her a napkin from the center of the table. "Well, we'll make sure that it doesn't happen anymore, all right?" "Okay..." Scootaloo blew her nose with the napkin, exhaling. "...I'm just scared of what everypony's gonna think...that my parents are two of the Wonderbolts..." "Hey, don't sweat it, kiddo." Soarin' smiled a little bit. "You know, your grandfather was one of the first Wonderbolts ever to be! He was one of the founding fathers, you might say. I'm his only son, and you think being a kid with that kind of family background is easy?" Looking to her father, the orange filly blinked. "Really? ...You had that too, with grandpa?" Grinning, he nodded. "Yup! It wasn't easy, being the son of the one founding Wonderbolts! I couldn't tell any of my friends about it!" "He didn't even tell me about it, until we started dating after graduating from the Wonderbolt Academy!" Spitfire giggled, shaking her head. "And hey, do you think your uncle Fly-By has it easy? Everypony in our family always asks him why he never became a Wonderbolt like I did! Truth is, my brother just isn't as into fast stunt-flying like I am!" Scootaloo wiped her eyes, looking from her mother to her father, and back again. "Yeah...I guess that makes sense... I never really thought of that..." "Well Scoots, the point is, we know how you feel!" The blue stallion nuzzled her in comfort. "And if your friends are your real friends, they'll accept that about you!" "Exactly right, sweetheart." The golden mare nuzzled her too, offering another napkin. "So you should have nothing to worry about it. ...Here's an idea. Have you had a turn for Family Appreciation Day at school, yet?" "Um...no..." Scootaloo shook her head. "I always said my parents were busy a lot and couldn't make it... Cheerilee said you guys could come in whenever you were ready." "Well, why don't we come on the next Family Appreciation Day, then?" Spitfire suggested with a smile, nodding to her husband. Soarin' nodded back, smiling at the thought. "Yeah! That'd be a great idea, kiddo! We'll be in town for quite a while, anyway!" "...They're usually on Mondays...so...maybe on Monday..." Scootaloo said, shifting her seat a bit. "Sounds good to me!" Spitfire hugged her daughter and kissed her snout. "Then on Monday, we'll come to your school!" Soarin' joined the hug, mussing the filly's hair. "Yep! We'll be there!" Nervous as she was, Scootaloo smiled slightly, giving a nod. "...Okay, mom, dad... I guess we can try that." "Good, then it's settled! Now, why don't we finish our dinner and get back to our movie?" Cheered up a bit more, the purple-maned pegasus filly nodded. "Sure, mom!" The golden mare smiled and mussed her filly's mane. "Atta girl. Dig in, before it gets cold!" "Okay!" Scootaloo did so, regaining her appetite in doing so. Rather quickly, no less. This of course amused both Wonderbolts. They could see that Scootaloo did indeed inherit her father's eating habits! "Slow down, Scootaloo!" Spitfire laughed, watching her daughter quickly clear her plate. "Nopony's going to steal your food from you! ...Well, your dad might." Here, she stuck her tongue out playfully at Soarin'. "Far be it from me to ever take food off my child's plate!" Soarin' snickered, shaking his head. "Phmine!" Scootaloo said with her mouth full, guarding her plate. "Scootaloo, don't talk with your mouth full." Spitfire chided amidst her giggles. Smiling sheepishly around her food, the orange filly swallowed. "Sorry, mom..." The gold mare shook her head, still giggling. "You are just like your dad in so many ways, sweetie. I know you certainly have his appetite!" "Taking after your old man, if I do say so myself!" Soarin' winked at them. Spitfire smirked at her husband, “Oh, really? You say it like that's supposed to be a good thing, Soar.” “What's that supposed to mean?” Soarin' said in playful defense. “I'm the best there is!” Scootaloo laughed. "Dad, you're too much!" The family shared in hearty laughter as they continued eating dinner. It was going to be a fun evening, to be sure. Scootaloo did still feel nervous about what was to come, but she knew she would have to face it eventually. Even if the thought of her closest friends and older sister figures knowing the truth still felt uneasy. Scootaloo continued eating her food, looking from her mother to her father, hoping she could manage to get through all of this. She just wondered how it would be pulled off.