Morning Errands
Scootaloo woke to a "hard" landing on the floor of her room.
"What was that about Rainbow Dash?" she asked, thoroughly confused and a little tweaked by her rude awakening.
"Time to get up. Spitfire should have breakfast ready shortly. Next time you should set your alarm when I tell you to get up at 8."
"I don't have an alarm anymore, remember? Electronics don't work well when they freeze over."
"Oh yeah. We'll have to get you one today. I gotta say that was a lot more fun though."
Although she wasn't about to admit it, that was a lot more enjoyable than her usual rise and shine ritual. However, the prospect of being thrown from her bed every morning was about as enjoyable as giving Gummy a set of dentures. The filly shuddered at the thought.
"Something wrong?" Rainbow asked.
"Just... bad picture in my head," Scootaloo answered.
"Errm... did you hear me an' Spitfire last night?" Rainbow asked, a little worried now.
"I don't even want to think about that," Scootaloo replied VERY quickly.
"Scoot, how does a filly your age know so much about adult matters?"
"What do you mean by 'adult matters'?" Scootaloo asked.
"In the time you've been here, you've explained a point by using the example of having Spitfire as a whore, cursed with a mouth rivaling that of Applejack when she's pissed off-on that note, clean up your speech a little-and you immediately knew what I meant when I asked about how much noise me and Spitfire made last night without ever actually saying that we-"
"I DON'T WANNA HEAR ABOUT THAT!" Scootaloo yelled, then with a sigh she continued. "I wasn't exactly sheltered growing up. My parents were always very straightforward. It was the one thing I liked about them. As for the swearing, sorry. I'm not used to filtering my speech unless I'm with the Crusaders, and I only filter around them because Applebloom and Sweetie Belle don't exactly tolerate it."
"Where did you even learn to talk like that?"
"My parents for one, but more from my music. Which reminds me, I wanted to thank you for getting that back intact. I knew I put it in the waterproof box for a reason."
"You're gonna have to show me this music. It sounds pretty good," Rainbow said with a wink.
"About time you two got here!" Spitfire exclaimed. "Breakfast is getting cold."
"This smells amazing!" Scootaloo said. "What are we eating?"
"The souls of little fillies from faraway lands," Rainbow said nonchalantly. "Enjoy!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Spitfire exclaimed. "You know as well as I do that I only use the souls for seasoning." With that, nopony tried to contain their laughter. Turns out that the two mares weren't stealing and eating souls, it was just a simple baked eggplant and seasoning salt. Still, Spitfire had a way with cooking that made even the simplest of meals something extraordinary.
After breakfast the three flew down to Ponyville.
"We'll meet at Sugarcube Corner in three hours?" Rainbow suggested.
"Sounds good," Spitfire agreed. "Alright Scoot, you're coming with me."
"Where are we going Spitfire?" Scootaloo asked. "And can we fly there? I hate walking through snow."
"Trust me kid, you don't hate it as much as Spitty over there," Rainbow teased.
Spitfire rolled her eyes.
"You know I hate that nickname."
"I wouldn't use it if you didn't," Rainbow Dash said with a wink and flew off to Twilight's library.
"Alright Scoot, let's get you to nurse Redheart," Spitfire said and took off towards town with Scootaloo on her back.
Twilight awoke to an obnoxious knocking on the window of her room.
"Wh-what? Who is it?" she asked.
"It's Rainbow Dash. Duh. How many other ponies in Ponyville would've gone straight to the window instead of the front door?"
"Good point," Twilight responded. "What do you need?"
"Actually, your therapy knowledge and possibly a book about childcare. It's a long story. Can I come in? It's really bucking cold out here."
"Knock on the front door and Spike will let you in," Twilight told her. She woke up immediately after Rainbow mentioned 'childcare.' What in Equestria did she need a book on childcare for?
A short chat later...
"You're adopting Scootaloo?!" Twilight screamed. "Are you NUTS?!"
"She's got nowhere to go," Rainbow explained. "Her parents up and left without her."
"I know you're trying to do a good thing, but you're not the patient-motherly type," Twilight said, apparently missing everything Rainbow had just said. "And Scootaloo is gonna take a LOT of patience."
"Not really, she's actually incredibly easy around the house. Energetic, but good at following rules."
"Rainbow, this is Scootaloo. The ringleader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rules aren't exactly her thing," Twilight said. "Spike is still finding refuse from their sleepover here from a month ago."
"Twilight, she needs-"
"A month ago Rainbow. A whole month."
"Twilight will yo-"
"A MONTH ago."
"Twi-" At this point Twilight seemed to be trembling at the memory of the sleepover at her treehouse.
"A mont-"
"TWILIGHT!!!!!" The unicorn shook her head.
"Yes Rainbow Dash?"
"Her father wasn't a good parent to her. All the energy she lets out with her friends is what she couldn't let out at home."
"What are you saying?"
"You know a little about therapy, right?"
"Yeah, but not enough to actually help someone. Is Scootaloo alright?"
"I guess I better get to story telling, huh?" Rainbow said before explaining, in detail, the events leading up to Scootaloo's new place of residence.
Meanwhile with Spitfire...
"Everything checks out. What we have here is a happy and healthy filly," Nurse Redheart said with a smile.
"Woohoo, can we get out of here now?" Scootaloo asked Spitfire.
"You run along to the waiting room Scootaloo. I want to have a talk with Spitfire," Nurse Redheart said before giving Scootaloo a lollypop.
"Woohoo, free candy! Can we come here more often?"
"Waiting room Scoot. I'll be right out there." Spitfire chuckled. Scootaloo gave a comical salute and bolted to the lobby.
"Full of energy that one," the nurse laughed. "But why are you taking her to get a physical? You're not her mother and, as far as I know, you're not a legal guardian either."
Spitfire sighed. "This is gonna take some explaining."
Rainbow was headed to Sugarcube Corner when she spotted a familiar orange earth pony trudging through the snow. She flew down and lifted her friend out of the snow.
"Where ya headed AJ?" she asked.
"Well Ah'll be, ya givin' me a lift Rainbow?"
"Hay yeah I am. Where you going?"
"Sugarcube Corner. Droppin' off some o' mah new Apple Syrup for Pinkie to add to th' menu."
"Perfect!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I'm meeting Spitfire and Scootaloo there."
"What'cha meeting that lil' filly for?" Applejack asked, clearly confused.
"How many times am I gonna have to explain this today?" she wondered aloud. "I'll tell you on the way."
A short chat later...
"So y'all are adoptin' lil' Scootaloo here?" Applejack asked, obviously not comfortable with the idea. "Y'all sure that's a good idea?"
"Why wouldn't it be? I'll be living with the coolest ponies in Ponyville!" Scootaloo said, the excitement almost flowing from her mouth.
"I reckon' y'all get along just fine, but y'all don't know a darn thing 'bout raisin' a filly," Applejack said flatly. It was when she said things like that that Rainbow wasn't a huge fan of her unwavering honesty.
"Oh, and you do?" Rainbow said angrily, knowing full well that her friend was a very capable parent.
"Y'all know Ah've been raisin' Applebloom since mah folks went off to Canterlot. Don't question mah ability ta raise a filly." It was Applejack's turn to be unhappy with Rainbow Dash.
"Sorry AJ. I guess I forgot about that."
"That's okay Rainbow, I know how defensive ya can be. I think y'all are doin' a mighty fine thing here fer Scootaloo, Ah'm just not sure y'all are the right ponies ta do it."
"Nopony else is gonna take her in. Her and her friends have done so much damage around town with their "Crusading" that everypony is scared of them," Spitfire chimed in. Scootaloo failed to suppress a chuckle at this, which led Rainbow Dash to burst into laughter.
"T'aint so funny when some o' that damage was done ta yer crop," Applejack said with a glare. "Did Ah ever give lil' Applebloom an earful fer that."
"Oh relax, you've got hundreds of trees on that farm of yours," Rainbow said. "Losing a tree or two won't hurt-"
Before she could finish her sentence, a pink blur shot out from nowhere, taking Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Spitfire to the floor with it.
DASHIE! SPITTY! SCOOTALOO? Spitty, you need a new nickname! Maybe... FIERY! Or, BURNY! Or, ooh I know! WILDFIRE!" At the mention of her bedroom name Spitfire's wings fluttered and her face flushed. It didn't take long for the three to figure out they weren't getting untangled until Pinkie was satisfied with her conversation.
"Pinkie, how did you manage to glomp all three of us by yourself?" Scootaloo moaned, attempting to twist herself free of her position under Spitfire. After a short struggle, she accepted the fact that she wasn't going anywhere.
"More like two and a half of you!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Ooh, that would be a great name for a television show! Two and a Half Mares! I like it!"
"That sounds awful Pinkie," Rainbow said flatly.
"Are you saying I'm only half a pony?" Scootaloo asked indignantly.
"You silly filly, how would that make sense? Just 'cause you're not a grown up doesn't mean you're not a whole pony! Unless of course you got chopped up! But if you were chopped up you'd probably have some trouble getting around town." Scootaloo wondered if the crazy party pony even had a brain in that head.
"Would you mind letting us get up? It's kinda uncomfortable down here," Spitfire asked Pinkie Pie.
"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie hopped off the pile and immediately turned to Applejack. The farmpony had been laughing so hard she didn't notice that Pinkie had left the pile until her face was millimeters from her own.
"You have the syrup?" Pinkie asked.
"Sure as sugar do," Applejack said, unphased be Pinkie's complete violation of personal space. She reached in her saddlebags and pulled out the bottles of golden syrup. Pinkie immediately grabbed the syrup and bolted to the kitchen of the bakery. Before any of the ponies could react, she was back out with four plates of fresh, hot pancakes, each one smothered with apple syrup.
"How'd ya do that?" Applejack asked.
"Don't be silly, I baked them!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Is she always this random?" Scootaloo asked.
"I think you've lived in Ponyville long enough to answer that question yourself," Rainbow answered with a laugh.
"Yeah. I guess I have," Scootaloo said. As strange as this little town was, it was home. She couldn't imagine a better place to be.