It’s Just a Dream...
"Scootaloo! I told you last night we were leaving! Why aren't you ready!"
"I don't make a lot of friends, so it's nice to say goodbye to them before I leave!"
"Get your flank in your room and pack, or you're leaving empty hooved!"
"I'm going, I'm going! Don't get your panties in a wad, alright?"
"Don't you DARE talk to me like that!"
"What are you going to do about it?" With that, a hoof collided with Scootaloo's face.
"You have ten minutes. After that, whatever you don't have packed is staying behind." Scootaloo scurried off to her room and began frantically throwing her things in her saddlebags. She was used to this routine; pack the few things she had and rush off to a new home in a new place, leaving behind any friends she had made. When she made any friends that is. The ten minutes rolled around and she heard her father's voice.
"We're leaving."
"I'm missing something!" she yelled back.
"Then it stays behind. Let's go."
"NO! Not until I find it!"
"NOW SCOOTALOO!"
"NO." The door to her room burst open. He wrapped a hoof around her neck and dragged her out of the room."
"LET ME GO! I NEED TO FIND THAT NOTE!" A silly preteen love note. The fact that it meant so much to her irritated her father.
"You're not going to see him again. Deal with it," he said. She wrestled free of his grasp and tried to dart back to her room, but was met with a hoof to the back of her head.
The silence of the night was shattered by a scream from Scootaloo's room. Rainbow Dash got there first, shortly followed by Spitfire. Soarin had no idea what to do, so he stood in the doorway.
"Scootaloo, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked full of worry.
"Dad, Ice Breaker, LEMME GO!" Scootaloo was curled up in the corner of her bed. Rainbow went to put a foreleg around her, but she shrieked and backed farther away from the mare that was trying to comfort her. Tears flowed down Scootaloo's face.
"Scoot, it's us. It's Rainbow Dash and Spitfire. Everything's going to be okay," Spitfire told her.
"I, wait, where..." Scootaloo stopped crying for a second and looked around. Once she realized where she was, she calmed down. "Oh. Just a dream..."
"Are you alright? Rainbow asked as she sat on Scootaloo's bed. Scootaloo leaned in and rested her head on Rainbow's shoulder.
"Yeah. Just a bad memory."
"What was it about?" Spitfire asked.
"The last day my family was in Manehatten. Right before we moved to Ponyville. It was the hardest move for me."
"Why?"
"I... I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Alright. We'll let you get back to sleep then," Rainbow said calmly and nuzzled the filly.
"Want to sleep with us tonight?" Spitfire offered.
"No, I'll be okay. It was just a dream," Scootaloo responded.
"Alright. You know where our room is if you change your mind," Rainbow said. "Goodnight Scoot."
"Night Mom. Love you."
"Love you too Scoot." Spitfire nuzzled Scootaloo and walked out the door. Scootaloo laid down and tried to get back to sleep, but her racing mind was not about to let that happen. A silly preteen love note from a silly preteen romance. It meant the world to the filly. It was the only time anypony had showed her any real form of love in her before Rainbow and Spitfire took her in. Her thoughts drifted to Ice Breaker. Her only ever coltfriend, if one could call it that. Closest she had ever had to one anyway. Her heart broke as she remembered the look on his face when she told him her family was moving. Their last encounter rang in her mind...
One day before moving...
"When will you be coming back?" Ice Breaker asked with watery eyes.
"Knowing my family, we won't," Scootaloo answered with difficulty. Tears were beginning to roll down her cheeks.
"But, what about you and me Scoot? Are we just... done?"
"We still have one more day..." Scootaloo could barely get the words out.
"One day isn't enough!" Through the tears in his eyes, Scootaloo could see rage burning within. "Tell your parents you want to stay!"
"So I can deal with my dad?! I can't change him, and I definitely can't fight back if he hits me!"
"So run away!"
"I can't do that! Where will I go? How will I eat? How will I pay for school?"
"My parents will take you in!"
"We both know they can't afford that. They can barely afford to take care of you!"
"They'll... they'll find a way! Just please don't go!" He was sobbing now.
"I have to go," Scootaloo said. She wasn't able to stop crying any easier. "Neither of us can control that. We still have this last day together. Let's make the most of it."
"One day isn't enough." Before Scootaloo could react, Ice Breaker bolted away. Scootaloo could hear him sobbing. She tried to follow him, but she quickly gave up. She'd never catch him, he was too fast. She fell to the street, sobbing. The only pony she had who cared about her was gone from her life. She had nothing left...
Scootaloo snapped back into the present day with a tear rolling down her cheek. She shook her head.
"It was just a silly preteen romance. I'll never see him again. I need to move on." She cringed. She sounded just like her father. Then again, she always sounded like him when she rationalized her emotions. After moving to Ponyville, she completely blocked all ability to feel her emotions. For all intents and purposes, she was numb. It took the Crusaders to teach her how to smile again. Ever since she moved in with Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, she began to feel like she had never felt before. She had a loving family. For once in her life, she enjoyed every minute she was with her family. Feeling had flooded back to her head. All the emotional discharge made her feel weak, but she enjoyed it. It felt great knowing she could just tell somepony her burdens without being told how pathetic she was and that she needed to grow up. She decided that she would tell Rainbow Dash and Spitfire about Ice Breaker in the morning. They'd understand. She could count on them for anything.
Celestia's sun poked out over the horizon. Scootaloo never fell back asleep after her nightmare, and felt like now would be a good time to get up. Not because she had a good night's rest, but because her bladder was full and her stomach was empty. After she used the restroom and got some breakfast, she went out to the porch to watch the sunrise. To her surprise, it appeared Spitfire had the same idea.
"Morning Scoot. You get back to sleep alright?"
"No. Couldn't stop thinking about... well..." As much as she wanted to tell Spitfire, it was very uncomfortable for her.
"About what?" Spitfire asked.
"Umm... It's... a little embarrassing."
"You can tell me anything Scootaloo, you know that. I won't make you say anything you're not comfortable talking about."
"It's why the move from Manehatten was so hard. There was this... um... colt. We kinda... liked each other." Spitfire knew where this was going.
"He was your coltfriend, and you had to leave him behind."
"Yeah..."
"I remember my first coltfriend. He was charming at first. Turned out to be a total jerk after a while. So did the next one, and the next one... and now I'm married to a mare. I wonder if there's any correlation there..." Spitfire pretended to be lost in thought.
"Wait, you had a coltfriend?" Scootaloo asked.
"Of course, I had several. I didn't always like mares. Even Rainbow had a few coltfriends growing up. We just decided after a while that it didn't feel right. Now we couldn't be happier."
"Are you saying I should like mares?"Scootaloo asked uncomfortably.
"Oh, Celestia no! I mean, it's alright if you want to, but that's your choice. Rainbow and I will be happy with you either way."
"My dad hates fillyfoolers. When I asked my dad if I could go to your wedding, he lectured me for hours about what a sad world we live in if two mares can marry. As afraid as I was of my dad, I wasn't about to consider it an option."
"In the words of Rainbow Dash, haters gonna hate. You be whatever feels natural to you, alright? Rainbow and I will support you completely."
"Thanks Mom. That... means a lot." Scootaloo leaned into Spitfire.
"I just want you to be happy Scoot." Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around her.
"Scootch over you two." Rainbow pushed herself between her wife and daughter and draped her wings around them.
"You're up early today," Spitfire noted.
"Tank woke me up. Landed right on my face."
"He always does let you know when he's hungry," Spitfire laughed.
"That he does," Rainbow said. Just then, the family pet flew his way onto the porch and landed on Rainbow's head.
"You ponies always up this early?" Soarin asked with a yawn.
"We usually like to be up before three in the afternoon, if that's what you mean," Spitfire replied.
"But nothing cool ever happens before three in the afternoon."
"Applejack starts baking at around six in the morning on weekdays," Rainbow countered. "And judging by how much you enjoyed her pie at the gala, I'd love to see you eat a fresh and hot one, straight from the oven." Soarin's mouth watered at the memory of the delectable pie that he had ripped apart in seconds. The thought of a better pie almost made his mind explode.
"Where does she live? I'd love to get myself another of her delicious pies."
"You sure you don't want her muffin?" Scootaloo joked. The two mares next to her immediately fell over laughing.
"Wait, she makes muffins too?" Soarin's eyes lit up as he asked. The family in front of him about died. "What's so funny?" He was now more than a little confused.
"Soarin, Scoot here may be a little filly, but she has the mind of a sick mare," Rainbow said when she could finally draw breath.
"I don't..." Soarin's eyes shot open when he realized what she had been talking about. "Wait, no, how do you even... YOU ARE TOO YOUNG TO THINK LIKE THAT!" Soarin was dumbfounded.
"She fits right in here," Spitfire said with a tear streaming down her cheek.
"I'm shocked you let her talk like that," Soarin said dejectedly.
"We wouldn't if she wasn't so bucking funny," Rainbow Dash commented.
"And yet they still don't let me swear. How is that justice?" Scootaloo asked sarcastically.
"Normally we don't swear in front of fillies," Spitfire said while glaring at her wife. "It sets a bad example for them."
"Please Spitty, we set a bad example by letting her make jokes like she just did." Soarin opted to just watch them. As... odd as they were, they were a great family. It reminded him of his own family life growing up. Obviously these three were a little more... liberal, than his own family was, it was clear that they all loved each other. He allowed himself to smile. 'Maybe someday I'll have that,' he thought to himself. 'Maybe someday soon.'