"So where are we going, Dash?" Scootaloo asked, jumping happily in circles around the cyan pegasus as they walked the road to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had asked the filly to come along for some reason, though she would not say exactly why they were going there other than Rainbow had some 'business' to attend to.
Rainbow Dash shot the filly a heartwarming smile. The happiness Scootaloo had been beaming with all day was something genuine, something she had never thought she would see in the orange pegasus. Before today, every smile Scootaloo made seemed to have required a command from her. Like she had been unable to laugh out of reflex like most ponies would when they are happy. That this smile and excitement on the skipping filly's face seemed to be happening without her realizing it, made Rainbow feel both glad and proud. She was the one who made Scootaloo laugh.
"You'll see when we get there, Squirt," Rainbow Dash said with a teasing tone. "But really, it's not that exciting. It's just some boring business I have to attend to."
"If it's just business you wouldn't have asked me to come," Scootaloo replied without slowing down.
"Well, the business is about you. Applejack told me I had to do this, so I thought you might want to come along and see what will happen. It'll make it easier for me as well." The rainbow-maned pony beamed with a sense of duty, making her seem more grown up than she was used to herself. It was a nice feeling in a strange sort of way.
"Business about me, huh?" Scootaloo repeated, pondering what exactly Rainbow Dash could mean by these words. "So I'm guessing we're not going to the amusement park?"
"In Ponyville?" Dash laughed in a way that made it seem like she was ridiculing the idea. "No way, Squirt. Ponyville's amusement park sucks. It's nothing but rollercoasters and spook-houses. No, if you wanna see a real amusement park, it's gotta be the one in Cloudsdale. The "Rainbow Ride" and the "Thunderstream" will make your head explode with awesomeness!"
"Yeah, I've heard about them," Scootaloo said with her eyes to the ground. "But there's no way I can go to Cloudsdale."
"Well not as you are now, anyways," Dash said with a comforting tone, giving the filly a gentle nudge to cheer her up. "But when you become good enough to fly there, how about we celebrate by going? Just the two of us."
Nodding fast enough for her neck to almost snap, Scootaloo already seemed as excited as Rainbow did when she first did the sonic rainboom as a filly. She restarted her skipping, clopping her hooves everytime she set off the ground in excitement over Rainbow's promise. Rainbow Dash could hardly hold down her giggling when she looked at the happy filly.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
"Ah, here we are," the rainbow-maned pony said as she made a full stop outside of a specific building. Scootaloo stopped skipping and curiously looked up at the wooden letters above the building's door. She was not sure how to react when she read the words 'Adoption Agency' the letters spelled, and she looked to Dash with a sense of worry about what was going on.
Rainbow Dash did not seem to notice the filly's expression, though. She was busy smiling widely as if she was looking into the future while she was studying the sign. With a relaxed sigh, the rainbow-maned pony then proceeded towards the door, and beckoned the orange filly with a few nods of the head.
Scootaloo felt uncomfortable at this moment, nervous about what exactly would happen inside that place. She had not yet told Rainbow Dash about how she had run away from Dr. Heartfeld and that annoying blue mare from the orphanage in the past, so of course Rainbow would not know the risk of coming here. Still, the orange filly decided not to say anything, and followed Dash after mustering some courage and swallowing the lump in her throat. She would have to keep an eye out while in there, and stay as close to Dash as possible.
The inside of the agency was classic for a governmental institution: A big desk with a receptionist sitting patiently behind it, in this case a light-purple earth mare who was doing a crossword, and a clean, naked tile floor. A few chairs were lined up in the corner of the room, intended as a waiting area with a table full of magazines to read while you wait your turn. The magazines were all lying messily on the table's surface because nopony bothers to put them neatly back where they picked them up. Of course there were also a few ferns in the room, because Celestia forbid that ponies should feel unwelcome in a public institution.
"Can I help you?" the purplish mare said with a pencil in her mouth without ever looking up from the crossword.
"Yeah, I'd like to adopt a certain filly," Rainbow Dash replied. Scootaloo looked up at her, smiling widely as she finally realized why they had come here, and Rainbow Dash returned the smile and added a nuzzle with the hoof on top of the filly's head.
"Is that so?" the purplish mare said in an uninterested voice, though she seemed to realize that there was work to do, so this time she looked up from the crossword and spat out the pencil. "You do know you can't just adopt somepony, right? We need to go through both your and the one you wanna adopt's history first."
"I know, I know," Rainbow dash replied with a nod. "We're both ready, right Scoot?"
"Sure am, Rainbow Dash," the filly said in excitement, wagging her tail like a dog.
"All right," the mare said. She bent over behind the table to look for something, only her flank visible from where Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash stood. When she finally reappeared, she had a few pieces of paper in her hooves, which she divided and placed before herself on the table before she grabbed the pencil again. "I'll need both your names then."
"I'm Rainbow Dash," Rainbow said, pointing a hoof to herself. She then moved the same hoof over Scootaloo's shoulder, dragging the filly to her body as she presented her with a smile: "And this is the one I wanna adopt: Scootaloo."
For some reason, the mare behind the desk had an unusual reaction. She stopped writing their names and looked up at Rainbow through the top corners of her eyes, seemingly surprised by the name 'Scootaloo'. This reaction gave the orange filly another lump to swallow, though Rainbow Dash was still oblivious. It did not help lessen Scootaloo's worry that the mare leaned in over the desk and got a better look at her while rubbing her own chin in thought. The only way Scootaloo knew how to respond in this situation was to force a weak smile upon herself and wave shyly at the mare, who waved back with a short smile of her own before returning to her seat.
"Well, it doesn't seem like there'll be a problem here," the mare said with a sudden voice of interest. "Though I'm gonna have to ask you two to wait while I go fix some of the required papers."
"Wait?" Dash said with a bit of her classical impatience in her voice. "Well, if we have to. How long do we gotta wait?"
"Oh, it shouldn't take more than five to ten minutes," the mare responded with a smile. "If you'd like, there's free coffee and cocoa in the waiting area."
"Sweet," Rainbow replied with a huge grin. "We'll just wait here then."
With that said the purplish mare turned around and walked out a door behind the desk into some sort of backroom with tons of archives. Scootaloo followed the mare with nervous eyes until she was completely out of sight before she turned her attention to Rainbow Dash, who had already pressed the espresso button on the coffee maker. With a few steady steps, Scootaloo walked over to her idol while looking around the room with the feeling of being watched making her stomach twist. She poked the rainbow mare lightly on the side to revert her focus from her espresso back to her.
"What's up, Squirt?" Rainbow Dash said with a smile, not noticing the filly's behavior. "Want me to make you a cup of cocoa?"
Without responding to the offer, Scootaloo jumped straight to the request she wanted to make, all the while looking nervously at the door to the backroom. "Dash, can we go?"
Rainbow Dash seemed a little surprised at the filly's question and finally took notice of her nervous expression. She gulped the rest of the espresso down in one go and put the plastic cup down on the messy waiting room table. "Well, we can't just go now. I gotta get the papers done so we can finally be legally together."
"Who needs the law?" Scootaloo said with an unconvincing smile and an even more unconvincing giggle. "It's too much of a hassle, isn't it? Let's just go live together anyways. Who's gonna know?"
Rainbow Dash did a few thoughtful movements with her lips and looked at the door to the backroom. She saw the purplish mare return with a sweet smile on her face. A smile that seemed more genuine than a professional smile should seem, making her wonder if this was why Scootaloo suddenly seemed so nervous. The filly had not yet told Dash anything about her life, and seeing as she had been an orphan, it would not be strange if she had some sort of history with this place.
"Scootaloo," Rainbow asked in a low voice. "Is there something I should know about?"
The filly shook her head and lightly pulled the rainbow-maned pony's leg. "Nuh-uh. Can we go now?"
"Scootaloo." Dash sighed and gave the filly a look of disapproval, to which the filly responded by sinking into herself. "Seriously, what's going on here? You told me you'd let me know about your life, yet here you are, acting all strange, and not telling me anything. What is it you don't want me to know about?"
Scootaloo bit her bottom lip, saddened enough that she had disappointed Dash that she made a sad and apologetic face. "I'm sorry Dash... I honestly did mean to tell you, but just not… just not yet. Anyways, I just don't wanna be here right now."
While Dash was looking at the filly with a pair of sympathetic eyes, pondering how to respond to Scootaloo when she was so fragile, the door to the agency suddenly sprung open as an old stallion with a large, white mustache and a faded tan coat rushed in and headed straight to the desk. Dash immediately recognized the stallion as Dr. Heartfeld, one of the most renowned doctors in Ponyville, who had even helped her a few times before, whenever she had a training accident. She also noticed that Scootaloo seemed to know him as well: The filly's eyes opened wide in terror as she frantically searched for a place to hide and ended up using Rainbow's body to cover her.
"Where is she?" Rainbow heard Dr. Heartfeld say with a breathless, loud voice, giving away just how fast he must have run to get to the agency. The purplish mare raised a hoof before the old doctor to calm him down, and then pointed another hoof to Rainbow Dash, or probably more specifically to the filly behind her.
Heartfeld seemed to shine with delight at seeing the young filly, confirming Dash's suspicion that something had happened between the two of them, something Scootaloo probably wished had not happened. He trotted over to them, stopping only a few inches before Rainbow, who he seemed to ignore at the moment, and bent his upper body over so his eyes were at level with Scootaloo's.
"I'm so glad I finally found you Scootaloo," the stallion said with a sigh of relief escaping his mouth. "I was really worried about you. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if something-."
"-Happened to me?" Scootaloo coldly finished the doctor's sentence. She stayed behind Rainbow Dash with her back against the rainbow mare's leg, looking away from the doctor and crossing her hooves as she was sinking into herself in an attempt to repel him. "I'm surprised you even remember me. I'm just a piece of trash after all."
Another sigh came from Dr. Heartfeld, though not one of relief this time, but rather of sorrow. Dash gave him a look from the side that he did not notice either because of his focus on the little filly. He seemed different from his usual dignified appearance, eyes full of regret and confusion. There was little doubt that he had something to do with Scootaloo's painful past, and little doubt that his part was one of unhappiness for the filly, though Rainbow Dash had a difficult time imagining this gentlecolt hurt anypony.
"So you still hate me, huh?" the old stallion said as he sat back up. "Well, I guess I can't blame you. It was hardest for you after all. I'm just glad you are safe."
Dash looked to Scootaloo behind her to see how she would react to Heartfeld's, in her own opinion, kind words. But the filly did not seem the slightest bit moved, still giving the stallion a cold shoulder. She was definitely hurt; an inner wound that not even time seemed able to heal completely. Everything Heartfeld said slipped off her like oil in water. Still, Dash decided to stay quiet for the moment, seeing as she did not have any insight to the situation between these two.
"Scootaloo," the doctor continued slowly, picking his words carefully before speaking them. "I don't expect you to understand why I did like I did. But I really want you to know that I never intended to hurt you. Copperbolt wasn't just some patient. I don't think I'd be able to forget her even if I tried. And I wouldn't be able to forget you either, Scootaloo. Nothing in Equestria, if not the entire world could make me forget about you. But… I just couldn't take you in. Even if I did you wouldn't be able to be happy with me, since I'm always on the run and everything. There's a reason I'm single even though I'm as old as I am, you know? That's why I did it Scootaloo… I did it so you could get a chance at happiness…"
The room became silent enough for the wind outside to be audible. Only the occasional awkward cough from the uninvolved purplish mare behind the counter broke the intense atmosphere that hang in the air from time to time. Rainbow Dash had taken note of everything the doctor had said, and even though she was still only on the border of Scootaloo's world, she felt like she had a slightly better idea of what had happened to the filly. She even took note of the name that was mentioned: Copperbolt. Though she did not know exactly what the relationship between Scootaloo and this former Wonderbolt was, she did have some sort of idea. If what she thought was correct, Scootaloo's mother was an amazing pony.
"I don't care," Scootaloo finally said in a low, angry voice, breaking the silence in the room. All three adults gave her their full attention, eager to hear exactly what the filly had to say. "You still left me alone… No, you didn't leave me alone… You gave me away, like I was just some useless toy… It's a good thing that you don't expect me to understand you, because I don't. I won't. I don't wanna understand how you could just betray me like that."
The filly stood up and looked directly into the eyes of the old doctor, tears slowly rolling down her angry face and dripping to the floor from her trembling lips. She stood like this for a moment, looking ready to charge at the stallion, who looked ready to take the hits she would give him. But she never actually attacked him. Instead, she spun her little head around and looked sorrowfully at the rainbow mare at her side. Rainbow Dash took note of this look and invited the filly closer to seek comfort by her side, an offer which Scootaloo took without hesitation.
"But you're not sending me away now," the filly said, smiling weakly as she reached her hooves around her idols leg in a tight hug. "Rainbow Dash and me are gonna live happily together, no matter what you say."
The doctor finally took notice of Rainbow Dash, who offered him a smile as she stretched her wing to cover the filly hugging her leg. Though he looked surprised for a second, he ended up tilting his head a bit to the side and warmly smiled back, seeming genuinely happy that Scootaloo had found somepony to be with. "Is that so?" he said with a low tone of approval. "I'm glad."
Still, Dash did not feel completely right about this situation. Heartfeld was happy, Scootaloo was happy, she was even happy herself and the mare at the counter also seemed strangely happy, probably touched by their awkward display of emotions. But that Scootaloo hated the kind doctor this much proved that she still had demons to struggle with, even though Dash was right beside her. Therefore, the rainbow-maned pegasus finally thought that she had to butt in and figure out what was going on. This was the new role as Scootaloo's guardian she had agreed on taking.
"Say, Squirt," she said as she removed her wing from the young filly, making her look up at her in surprise. "How about you go outside for a bit? In fact, maybe it's best if you go home."
"Why?" Scootaloo asked in confussion.
"I need to talk with the doctor." The rainbow mare shot the filly a determined grin, telling her that she would take care of things from here. "I'll meet you at home in no time, ok?"
Scootaloo smiled widely and nodded in agreement, excited that Rainbow Dash would want to take up her fight for her. This is something she had always wanted an adult to do, but Copperbolt had never been physically capable of doing it, and she did not think anypony else would have ever done it. After letting go of Dash's leg, she stormed towards the door, waved at her idol before leaving and finally left the rest to Rainbow Dash.
"I never would have expected that she'd end up with you, Ms. Dash," the stallion began with a heartwarming smile. "But you do certainly resemble her mother in a number of ways."
"Yeah, Listen Doc," Rainbow began awkwardly, rubbing the back of her mane as she was thinking. "I really don't have anything against you, but you seem to have some sort of thing with Scoot, so I don't wanna get too friendly with you before we've talked."
"I see." The old doctor nodded, agreeing that it was for the better if Scootaloo was to trust Rainbow Dash. "Then what did you want to talk about?"
The rainbow pony looked to the ceiling with a pondering face, inhaling a few loads of air as she thought out exactly what she wanted to ask him. In the end, she walked a few steps closer so she stood right in front of him, breaking the wall of distance between the friendly-zone and the intimidation-zone. With a very serious and determined voice, she finally requested: "I want you to tell me everything."