Rainbow Dash sighed and hung her head as the door slammed behind her distraught unicorn friend. She contemplated following her out onto the terrace, but decided that she probably needed some time alone to get her thoughts in order. Meanwhile, Rainbow mused, there was another angry young mare who had had enough alone time already. The cyan pegasus took back to the air and swiftly swooped down the hallways, tracking the sound of angry, bitter sobs until she came to rest outside of her guest bedroom. The door was closed, and Dash allowed her young compatriot the privilege of some privacy by rapping on the door with a hoof. "Hey, Scootaloo?"
"Go away!" The voice broke between words, and Rainbow winced in spite of herself.
"Scootaloo, we need to talk." Silence. "Kid, I can kick this door open, or you can open it for me, but one way or another--" She trailed off as the door cracked open, revealing a tear-stained, sunset-orange face with wide, sad eyes. She smiled gently at the filly. "Come on, kid, it's not that bad. Let's talk about it. You know, like adults."
Scootaloo's eyes widened a little at the last sentiment, and she stepped away, allowing Rainbow to enter the room. The older mare flew in a short circle around the ceiling before settling down on the edge of the bed, patting the spot next to her with a hoof. Scootaloo took the hint and climbed up onto the cloud-crafted mattress. Rainbow smiled at her. "That's more like it. Now, I couldn't help but overhear the two of you...discussing this afternoon out there." She looked down at her young friend with a slightly firm expression. "It didn't sound like you were taking my advice, you know."
Scootaloo looked down at her hooves, a faint blush of guilt tingeing her cheeks. "I know...I tried, though, I really did!" she said, looking up at her idol with wide, desperate eyes. "I wanted to believe her, but...I just thought..." She trailed off.
Rainbow sighed lightly. "I know what you thought, kid, you said it all out loud. I am a pegasus, after all; you know how good our hearing is." Scootaloo looked away, embarrassed. "Look," Dash continued after a moment's hesitation, "I'm gonna be straight with you for a minute, alright? I know you hate to be lied to, so I'm not going to. You know how you said we aren't friends, and that Rarity and the Apples don't want you around?" Scootaloo nodded shallowly. "Well, you're right. We aren't really friends." Scootaloo looked up at her with mild shock and tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Don't get me wrong," the blue pegasus soothed, "I think you're a great kid, real cool and fun to hang with once in a while, but you're...well, you're a kid. I don't really make friends with fillies. Someday, I think we can be pretty good pals, but not yet. And Rarity...well, Rarity doesn't really want anyone around her boutique, especially foals, and probably especially high-energy daredevils like you. It's not because she doesn't like you or anything, she just thinks you'll mess the place up, and she's probably right...right?" Scootaloo didn't respond. "Anyway, as far as the Apples go, they've got a business, and they probably are worried you're eating their crops. Even if you aren't, it's fair for them to be concerned, because that's how they survive. Now look," she continued, putting a hoof under Scootaloo's chin and forcing the filly to look up at her as tears started sliding down the little pegasus' cheeks, "I'm not saying all this to make you sad or hurt your feelings, I'm saying it because I want you to know I'm being honest with you, and that when I tell you that Vinyl was telling you the truth, and that she really does want you around, you know I'm not lying to save your feelings."
Scootaloo managed a faint, watery smile. "R-really?"
Rainbow held up a hoof and placed the other over her heart. "Honest to Luna. You should've heard how she was talking about you all the way over here." She rolled her eyes theatrically. "Constantly going on about how sweet and kind and fun and smart and polite you are, on and on..." She smiled as Scootaloo giggled through her tears, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink at the praise. "Take it from me, kid, that unicorn really cares about you. She and Octavia both. Heck, Vy was in tears, she was so mad at herself for missing out on picking you up today."
"Really?" The filly's face lit up.
"Really." Rainbow nodded. "I know you're scared to get too attached, and that you're worried you're just gonna get left behind or kicked out again, but believe me, kid, you've got something special here. Vinyl loves you, Scoot. Loves you so hard it hurts, and she's just dying knowing she disappointed you. Now, I know you're skeptical about this sort of thing, but there's a family there that's just aching to make you a part of it. You don't want to let that get away from you."
Scootaloo was silent for a minute, contemplating. "No," she finally said, "No, I don't!" She suddenly looked up at Rainbow, panic flashing in her eyes. "Oh, no, Dash, I told her to go away! What if she's mad at me? What if she doesn't want to talk to me at all? What if she doesn't care about me anymore?"
Rainbow smiled and ruffled the filly's mane. "Don't worry, kid, she's not mad at you. She even told me so herself."
"Well, could you fly me over to their house so I can apologize?"
Rainbow nodded, then suddenly burst out laughing. "You know what? I won't have to."
"Why?" Scootaloo asked.
"Because unicorns can't fly."
Vinyl had been staring at the edge of the cloud terrace for some minutes, contemplating whether death by falling was preferable to going back inside and asking Dash for a lift back to the ground after she had stormed out in a huff. Eventually she came down on the more painful but less lethal option and turned to knock on the door. Instead, it swung outward and knocked her, shoving her away from the house and back onto her back in the thick, pillowing clouds.
"Vinyl!" The unicorn's ears pricked and her embarrassment evaporated in an instant as Scootaloo's excited voice rang out and the filly was suddenly wrapped around her midsection in as tight a hug as the little pegasus could muster, her wings buzzing excitedly.
"Scootaloo?" she said, incredulous. "But I thought...aren't you still mad at me?"
Scootaloo leaned back far enough to smile up at her. "A little," she admitted, "but I don't want you to leave me alone anymore! I'm sorry I yelled at you..." She squeezed the unicorn more tightly.
"You...sorry...what?" Vinyl sputtered, confused. "Why? I'm the one who should be sorry--which I still am, by the way."
"I know," Scootaloo said, "but that's okay, because you still came for me."
Vinyl almost laughed. "Of course I did, you silly filly." She nuzzled the little pegasus affectionately as she returned the hug. "You're family, you know."
Scootaloo smiled into the unicorn's fur. "I know."
"Alright, so what's it going to take for you to not tell Tavi about our little...adventure today?" The two ponies were walking into the market on their way back to the house after Rainbow had ferried them down off of her cloud terrace.
Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin as though mulling it over. "I don't know...don't you think we should tell her? She'd want to know, after all."
"What Tavi would like to know and what Tavi should know are often very different things," Vinyl said grimly, "and usually dependent on how likely she is to kill me upon hearing about it. This is one of those things where if she found out about it, I might as well have jumped off Rainbow's porch."
Scootaloo giggled. "So, don't tell her, then?"
"If you want to have two mothers instead of just one, you probably shouldn't."
"Really?" The little pegasus smirked deviously. "What's it worth to ya?"
Vinyl cast a glance around the marketplace. "Um...how about a hot fudge sundae?"
"Don't like ice cream."
"Really?" Vinyl said, shocked. "What kind of foal are you?"
Scootaloo giggled again. "A weird one. I like muffins and pies, not cake and ice cream."
"You are weird," Vinyl agreed. "Alright then, how about a muffin?"
"How about a dozen muffins?"
"How about a half dozen?"
Scootaloo considered this offer. "Alright...but only if Pinkie made them!" She held out a hoof officiously.
"Deal." Vinyl shook the filly's hoof and they laughed as they walked into Sugar Cube Corner together.
As the only specialty bakery in Ponyville, Sugar Cube corner was always full of ponies patiently standing in line, waiting to purchase some of the delicacies that had made the little shop famous throughout Equestria. Today was no exception, and the moment Vinyl and Scootaloo walked into the building, they were inundated by a cacophony of shouted orders and the heady aroma of fresh-baked muffins and cookies hanging thick in the air. Despite the length of the queue, the Cakes were efficient business ponies, and a steady stream of happy customers trotted past the waiting customers, their recent purchases balanced on their backs, hanging in bags from their mouths, or hovering through the air in a cloud of magic in front of them. Vinyl and Scootaloo followed the steady flow of the line with salivating anticipation, the little pegasus extolling the virtues of Pinkie Pie’s muffin-making skills the whole time.
“And she always adds just a dash of vanilla and cinnamon to the mix and lets it rest for a few minutes to give the flavors time to spread out and fill the whole mix.” Scootaloo’s wings buzzed excitedly as they neared the front of the line.
“Hey!” A sudden shout cut through the general hubbub of business and Vinyl looked up to see one of the bakers—the lanky yellow stallion—staring directly in her direction with a distinctly incensed expression on his face. No, wait, she realized, he wasn’t staring at her after all, but instead at—
“I thought I told you never to show your thieving face around here again!” he continued raging, coming out from behind the counter and making a beeline for Scootaloo.
“I’m sorry, I forgot!” The little filly squeaked in fear and stepped behind Vinyl’s flank, pressing her suddenly trembling body against the unicorn’s leg.
“I’ll make sure you never forget again,” the baker growled as he grabbed a broom from the wall and started pressing through the crowd, which parted reluctantly in front of him with concerned murmurs.
“Whoa, hang on a second,” Vinyl said, trying to regain some control over the situation. “What’s going on here?” The yellow stallion didn’t respond, but instead continued his approach, drawing more frantic apologies and heavier shaking from the little orange pegasus behind Vinyl until the unicorn had had enough and stomped angrily on the floor, sliding intentionally between the angry earth pony and his target. “I said, what is going on?”
The baker paused only momentarily before trying to sidle around the obstructing mare, but Vinyl simply sidestepped him, putting herself in his path over and again until he finally swung the broom in frustration, barely managing to catch Scootaloo’s hiding flank. The filly squeaked, more from fear than actual pain, but the sound was more than Vinyl could take, and the unicorn suddenly saw red. With an instinctive burst of magic, she tore the broom out of the other pony’s mouth. A second surge sent a shudder through the implement, which vibrated and crackled ominously until it suddenly exploded in a shower of wooden splinters, eliciting shocked cries from the crowd below. Before the startled pony could protest, a third surge of magic lifted him bodily off the floor and threw him against the wall behind him with a sickening thud. She kept him suspended there as she stalked furiously across the now-silent bakery, putting her nose mere millimeters from his and snarling, “Don’t—you—EVER—hit—my—daughter—again.”
“Your daugh—” the pony started, but Vinyl cut him off with a surge of magic pressing against his throat and eliciting a strangled cough.
“Yes,” Vinyl said, “I’m her guardian now, you understand? I don’t care what sort of problems you’ve had in the past, but you will not take them out on her now.”
“Carrot!” Another voice cut through the heavy silence, and Vinyl spared only a momentary glance for the plump blue earth pony coming out from behind the counter. The unicorn sneered at her as she approached, and she stopped short a few feet away, alarm and fear in her eyes. “Carrot?” she said again, more tentatively now.
“Are you his wife?” Vinyl asked, her voice still simmering with anger. The other mare nodded shallowly, and Vinyl narrowed her eyes at her. “Your husband just hit my daughter with a bucking broom. Give me one reason I shouldn’t beat him senseless right here in front of you.”
“She—she…” the blue pony stammered, but she was almost immediately cut off by Scootaloo’s shrill voice.
“Vinyl, stop!” The little pegasus was at her heels now, her forelegs wrapped around Vinyl’s flank and her head resting against her cutie mark. “Please! It—it’s not their fault! I shouldn’t have come back.”
Vinyl glanced down at her, still upset. “That’s no excuse! He shouldn’t have hit you, and I’m not going to let him get away with it!”
“It didn’t hurt,” Scootaloo pleaded, “and he’s right, I—”
“Whoa, what’s going on out here?” Yet another pony’s voice joined the discussion, and Vinyl rolled her eyes as she glanced over to see a neon pink earth pony step out of the kitchen, a chef’s hat on her head and a veritable rainbow of icing and sprinkles in her mane and tail. Her bright blue eyes widened at the scene in front of her, but she didn’t react much beyond that as she bounced out from behind the counter and came over to Vinyl. “Hi there, Miss Grumpypants. What’cha doin’ with Mr. Cake there?”
“Miss…I…what?” Vinyl sputtered, all anger fading in an instant as she tried to register this new development.
“You know, that doesn’t look very comfortable to me,” the pink pony observed with a hoof to her chin. “Do you think you could put him down for a sec?”
“I…guess.” Vinyl slowly lowered the yellow stallion to the floor and released her magical hold on him. Carrot, as he was apparently called, immediately leaped to his hooves and went over to stand behind his wife, who was now trying to hide behind Pinkie.
"Thanks!" Pinkie chirruped, her demeanor still fully at odds with the situation at hoof. "Now, what's up? Why'd you have to go and pick Mr. Cake up like that?"
Vinyl was about to answer when Scootaloo interrupted again, her voice still painfully high-pitched. "It's my fault, Pinkie! I shouldn't have come back, but I did, and now Mr. Cake is mad, and Vinyl's in trouble, and--"
"Whoa, slow down a sec, Scootie. Come on, let's go up to my room and talk for a bit. You too, Vinyl." The pink pony didn't even pause for breath as she turned to the cowering Cakes. "I'm gonna be just a minute, alright?" The couple nodded vaguely, and Pinkie beamed as she shrugged out of her apron and hat, shaking the sprinkles out of her mane. "Come on," she repeated as she bounced over to the stairwell leading to the second floor. Scootaloo immediately followed the earth pony up the stairs, and Vinyl, left with no meaningful options, did likewise, ignoring the bewildered stares of the collected customers as they watched her depart.
The second floor was somewhat more urbane than the first, with less colorful decorations adorning the walls and more personal photos and inspirational artwork. A large frame containing several dozen pictures of two tiny foals hung from one wall, and several more photos of the same two ponies were taped haphazardly to the edges of the frame and the walls around. On the other wall were a few subdued photos of the Cakes alone together, and then a few less subdued pictures of the Cakes with Pinkie between, below, or behind them. In each picture the pink earth pony was defying gravity and had somehow managed to generate a cloud of confetti, a pair of sparklers, or a bunch of balloons just in time for the camera to catch it.
Vinyl smiled faintly at the pictures. They reminded her strongly of any photo she and Octavia took together. The demure silver musician took pictures very seriously, always making certain her bow was straight, her mane was properly flat and smooth, and that she smiled just enough to look happy without showing her teeth. Vinyl, on the other hoof, was a foal for the camera, and never passed up the opportunity to show up in a photo, even if the photographer wasn't necessarily aiming for her. She always wore a wide, silly grin, and more often than not took the opportunity to play with Octavia's sense of poise, either magically turning her bow sideways, making her mane stand on end or in some other wild arrangement, leaping on the other pony the moment the camera went off, eliciting a look of shock and rage, or even something as simple as surreptitiously slipping her own shades onto Octavia's head without the earth pony noticing until it was too late.
These pranks always guaranteed a predictable series of events, starting with Octavia's flustered outrage, followed by Vinyl cowering under her annoyed--but largely harmless--cuffing, grinning widely as Octavia sputtered admonitions and wondering aloud why she stayed with the irritating unicorn. When the attack stopped, though, Vinyl would invariably take the opportunity to smile up at the other pony, marveling at just how beautiful, sexy, and pure her mate looked when she let her guard down, something she very rarely did. The unicorn would say as much out loud, and follow the admission with a kiss on her mate's cheek. The combination would always result in a slightly flustered, slightly flushed, fully disarmed, and uniquely photogenic Octavia, and if they were lucky, the photographer would take the hint and capture an image that represented what their relationship truly looked like. There were very few of these pictures in their apartment, but they were Vinyl's favorites. To her, it was an opportunity for the rest of the world to see her beloved exactly as she always did--shyly smiling, mane slightly mussed, a faint tinge of pink on her cheeks, and none of her carefully crafted walls hiding who she was from the world.
The trio made their way to the end of the hallway and up to another set of stairs, this one curling around the upper floor of the shop and into an attic that had been repurposed into a small apartment. Even if she hadn't been leading the way, Vinyl would have immediately known the room was Pinkie's. The floor was littered with confetti and streamers, most of them clearly hoof-made. Balloons were strewn about the ceiling and floor, tied to the banister on the stairwell and to the corners of the bed under the window across the room. Under the bed sat a small basket, in which an indistinct green shape was curled, apparently alive and dozing. Under another window, closer to the staircase, was a table completely covered in construction paper, felt, and foam of a dozen different colors. Markers, paints and crayons filled a box on one side of the table, and shakers full of glitter, confetti, and sequins were lined up on the other. The walls were plastered with vibrant posters and stickers ranging from huge yellow stars and hearts to pictures of fireworks and masterfully decorated cakes. Dozens of photographs filled the rest of the walls, each one a picture of Pinkie with an arm around somepony. Vinyl recognized some of the subjects on sight, but even if she hadn't, the hoof-written names and dates scrawled in bright pink ink across the bottom of the pictures would have clued her in. To her surprise, Vinyl quickly found a picture of Pinkie with her arms around two ponies she recognized better than the rest. "Hey, when did you take this?" she asked, gesturing to the photo. "And how?"
Pinkie laughed, the lilting giggle sending an unexpected thrill of joy through Vinyl's chest. "Silly! I have cameras stashed all over Ponyville in case of New Friend emergencies!" She bounced over to the picture, grinning. "I took this when you and Octy first came to town, exactly two years, three months and eighteen days ago!"
Vinyl wasn't sure just how unnerved to be by this. "I don't remember seeing you when we moved here. When did you take it?"
"Oh, you looked pretty busy, so I didn't take too much of your time. I introduced myself, you introduced yourselves, and I just asked for a picture, you said 'okay', and that was that!" She beamed.
"Huh," was all Vinyl could think to say. She cast her memory back to when she and Octavia had first moved to Ponyville; surely she would remember being photographed by a neon pink pony whose smile constantly flirted with the line between 'exuberant' and 'disconcerting.'
Pinkie left the conversation as quickly as she'd joined it, bouncing back over to Scootaloo. "Okie dokie, first things first!" She suddenly scooped the filly up into a bone-crushing hug. "Scootie! I'm sooo glad to see you again! When Mr. Cake chased you away yesterday, I thought you were gonna run away forever!"
"Well," Scootaloo grunted through the vice-like embrace, "I kind of wanted to, but then I met Vinyl here, and she sort of...saved me."
Pinkie put the filly down. "Saved you how?"
"After I ran away, I got really lost, and I don't know how I would have ever gotten back if Vinyl hadn't found me." She smiled at the unicorn. "She took me back to her house for dinner and then let me spend the night. Her fillyfriend Octavia is really nice, too, and she made me breakfast and took me to school this morning. They're both really cool...and they want to adopt me!" she finished with a broad grin and a fluttering of wings.
Pinkie gasped theatrically, putting her hooves to her cheeks. "Really?" Vinyl smiled and nodded, then grunted as Pinkie suddenly applied her suffocating hug to the unsuspecting unicorn. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she gushed, shaking Vinyl back and forth in her exuberance. Having an earth pony for a mate had given the ivory mare plenty of experience with their unnatural strength and endurance--something that occasionally left her pleasantly breathless in the small hours of the night--but Pinkie's powerful embrace was in a league of its own. The unicorn struggled to loosen her grip enough to breathe while Pinkie obliviously said, "I'm sooo glad to hear that! Everypony needs a mommy, you know, and Scootaloo doesn't have one anymore. I wanted to do it myself, but the Cakes said no, and I can't afford to get my own house."
Vinyl finally managed to get a hoof free and used it to brace herself against Pinkie's arms, giving herself room to breathe. "Yes, well...we couldn't very well let her keep living in the clubhouse, and she really didn't want to go back to the orphanage, so--"
"No," Pinkie agreed, her cotton candy pink mane whipping around as she shook her head vigorously. "Nopony should have to live in an orphanage." Her voice darkened slightly and her eyes unfocused. "Nopony."
The room was silent for a few moments before Vinyl cleared her throat awkwardly and finally managed to struggle out of Pinkie's grasp. "Anyway...I'm...well, I'm not exactly sorry for what I did downstairs, but I am sorry it had to happen."
"Oh!" Pinkie suddenly rebounded, returning to the conversation. "What happened, exactly? I was so busy putting a fresh batch of muffins in the oven that I didn't really hear what was going on."
"Well," Vinyl said, her voice taking a hard edge, "your boss Mr. Cake took exception to Scootaloo coming back to his shop after he chased her away yesterday. He decided to show his displeasure by hitting her with a broom." She narrowed her eyes angrily. "I decided to show him that wasn't okay."
"Oooooooh," Pinkie cooed, her eyes widening. "Wow, I'm surprised! You were holding him up against the wall pretty easily; most unicorns can't muster that kind of magic power unless it's really, really important."
"Well..." Vinyl said, smiling down at Scootaloo. "It was really, really important." She sighed. "I think I probably went overboard, though..."
"Did he actually hit her?"
Vinyl nodded. "Not hard, but..."
"Well," Pinkie mused, "if you promise not to tell the mayor about that, he'll probably agree not to tell the mayor about what you did, either."
The unicorn smiled. "You think so?"
"Uh huh. He was mad, you were mad, you both did craaazy things you shouldn't'a done...best to just let it go, right?"
Vinyl nodded, relieved. "Yeah...I think so."
"So," Scootaloo suddenly spoke for the first time in several minutes, "no one's going to get in trouble because of me?"
Vinyl shook her head, ruffling the filly's mane. "It wasn't your fault, Scoot, even if I had gotten in trouble." She nuzzled the little pegasus. "I'd gladly get in trouble for you, you know."
Scootaloo giggled. "I hope you don't have to."
"That makes two of us." Vinyl smirked. "Now, Pinkie, I believe you said something about a fresh batch of muffins..."