//------------------------------// // chapter 6 - The truth // Story: You Will Never Be Alone // by Matt11 //------------------------------// When the two got back to Ponyville Scootaloo was still asleep, so Twilight ordered some of the royal guard to take her suitcases back to her castle. Though Scootaloo was sound asleep she herself hadn’t managed to get any rest on the train. Sure she had managed about a ten minutes nap on the ride back from Canterlot but the train kept making too much noise for her to get any real sleep. Twilight softly levitated the sleeping filly onto her back. She couldn’t help but find it cute the way she was sleeping, a tiny little snot bubble was coming out of Scootaloo’s nose. Twilight let out a giggle and started walking home. As she approached her house, she opened the door to find Spike on the floor suckling on his tail in his sleep. Twilight thought it was adorable and closed the door gently behind her. She put a blanket over Spike and went upstairs to take Scootaloo to her room. Scootaloo rolled over a little from her soft perch on her mother’s back, “I love you, mommy,” she said in her sleep, a little drool coming out of her mouth. Twilight picked Scootaloo up in her magic and placed her in the soft bed. She then lied down with her daughter. Since it was still pretty late she figured she would take Scootaloo to see Rainbow Dash after breakfast. Twilight let out a soft sigh and held her daughter close. “Soon you and your sister will be together, my little angel,” she said quietly as she rubbed the filly’s mane. Soon she fell asleep with Scootaloo nestled firmly in her grasp. The night went by fast for Twilight and Scootaloo. With Twilight next to her, Scootaloo was able to sleep nice and cozy without any nightmares. When morning came it had gotten foggy out so they were not really able to see clearly. Twilight’s eyes opened slowly and she looked down at her fun sunshine of a daughter, the little pony bringing joy to her heart. “Scootaloo,” she whispered as she poked her softly with a hoof. “Time to wake up, sweetie.” Scootaloo’s eyes didn’t even open, “Five more minutes, mom,” she said tiredly. Twilight smiled down at Scootaloo and patted her on the stomach. “Not this time. Wake up, we need to see Dash today and if you don’t get up now we may not have time for breakfast.” Opening her eyes she got up immediately and wrapped her hooves around Twilight. “Morning, mom,” she said and let go of the purple alicorn. Scootaloo got off the bed, ready to leave the room. That is, until Twilight tapped her on the shoulder. She turned her head to look at Twilight. “Scootaloo, you want to learn to fly, right? Well, lets start this morning with some basic wing ups. Give me ten wing ups. Take your time. I don’t care how long it takes. Time is practice,” Twilight said with a bright warm smile. Scootaloo smiled. She thought she would have to wait until her grades got better but maybe this was something Twilight thought she earned. Stretching her wings out and then back she repeated the process ten times. When she finished her wings weren’t really tired, but she just wanted to do what her mother told her. Twilight smiled and stretched a wing out and scooped Scootaloo close to her. “Very good, Scootaloo. You'll be flying in no time.” After the two finished their hug they went downstairs to eat their food. It was already ready thanks to Spike but while they ate their daisy sandwich Scootaloo wanted to ask them something. “Mom, why doesn’t Spike sleep in a bed? Why does he sleep in a basket?” she asked, wondering why her brother didn’t have a bed of his own. Twilight put a hoof on her chin and thought for a moment before coming up with a good answer. “Well, you see… dragons are different than us ponies. Right now his body is smaller, right?” Scootaloo nodded. Twilight continued, “Well, if he has a smaller body he needs a smaller bed. Besides he told me he loves that basket. It reminds him of his family,” she said as she draped a wing over Spike, smiling at him. “I think I understand, mom. That basket reminds him of when he was younger?” she asked. Even though she knew what the answer would be it was still interesting that Spike would choose to sleep in an old basket. Twilight nodded in agreement as they finished their meal. When they finished Spike offered to do the dishes since Twilight and Scootaloo had other things to do. Soon it was time to see Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo was a little frightened as they left. What if Dash had been avoiding her because she found a new pony to be her sister or worse? But after Twilight had reassured her, the two went on their way to Rainbow’s house. “Mom, why do you think Dash hasn’t been over to see me? D-does she hate my guts? Am I useless to her?” Scootaloo asked, her voice trembling. She was scared to find out the truth but she also needed to know why Rainbow Dash was avoiding her. Twilight draped one of her wings over Scootaloo. “Rainbow Dash is loyal and she’s always there for her friends. I know in my heart she doesn’t hate you, nor would she ever,” she said as the two got closer to Rainbow’s cloud home. “Bu-But what if-” was all she could say until she was hushed by a purple hoof pressed to her lips and brought into a warm loving embrace. “Scootaloo, all I can say is she would never do that. It’s not like her to just hate you without a good reason. Now, please relax for me” Twilight said trying her hardest to calm the little scared filly down. Scootaloo wanted to ask more but she was forced to admit that Twilight was right. They were going to find out one way or another. They stopped underneath Rainbow’s cloud mansion and Twilight bent down for Scootaloo so she could get on her back. Scootaloo got on her mothers back and wrapped her hooves around Twilight’s neck for safety. She knew Twilight would be careful when flying but thought it best not to take chances. “Hold on tight,” Twilight said giving her wings a few flaps as she went airborne, Scootaloo enjoying the view. Soon they landed on Rainbow’s doorstep and Twilight let Scootaloo climb down, “I could've teleported us here but I thought it be nice for you to feel what flight feels like,” she said smiling down at Scootaloo. Twilight reached her hoof at Rainbow’s door and gave it a hard knock to get Rainbow’s attention. They waited for several minutes but there was no answer. Twilight sighed “I bet she's just sleeping…” Twilight used her magic and unlocked the door, the two walked into Rainbow’s house. As usual the place was a mess. There was food everywhere, books thrown on the floor, but to make things strange there was writing on the wall that read “It’s my fault.” Scootaloo got confused by the strange writing. “Mom, lets just find Rainbow Dash…. I’m getting a little scared,” she said, walking about in the living room. “Hay,” came an angry voice, a blue blur zooming into the room, “who the buck broke my door?! When I get my hoofs on whoever did this I’m gonna-” She stopped as she landed in the living room, seeing Twilight. But the one thing that scared her above all else was the sight of Scootaloo, “Uh… well, look at the time. I got, uh, some flight training to do,” she lied, trying to get out of there. She gave an awkward laugh “Gotta keep in shape, ya know.” She went to fly away but Twilight used her magic and grabbed Rainbow Dash by the tail. “Rainbow Dash! Stop right there! You are going to face me and Scootaloo and tell us why you haven’t been by to see her for ponysake!” Scootaloo just sat and watched, a little bit of tears falling out of her eye lids. Twilight levitated Rainbow Dash and placed her on the cloud couch, looking her square in the eyes. “Please explain why you have been ignoring Scootaloo? She’s been worried about you, and so have I,” she said sitting down on the couch and levitating Scootaloo on her lap. Rainbow Dash wanted to leave. She’d rather not even tell her what she was hiding because if she did she might lose Scootaloo as a sister, “I… I can’t,” she said looking away. Scootaloo couldn’t take it anymore and jumped on Rainbow’s chest. “Why haven’t you come to see me? I… I thought we were sisters,” she said, tears falling down her face. Rainbow Dash hated to see Scootaloo this way. She did promise to be a sister and Scootaloo seemed really hurt “Ok, I’ll… I’ll tell you why.” Rainbow dash took a deep breath “The night your mother died I was on storm patrol like usual. One of the clouds wasn’t working properly I… I bounced on it, y’know to try to get it to work but every time I tried it didn’t. Since that wasn’t working I… I gave a big jump and slammed into it really hard. That unstuck it, but the intensity I hit it with caused all the pent up energy to come exploding out at once. Instead of just little bolts coming out at regular intervals it unleashed one gigantic bolt.” Rainbow shivered and broke down into tears. “Your... your mother just happened to be passing by and came underneath the cloud at the wrong time….” ‘ Scootaloo’s jaw dropped, an increasing look of horror on her face as her eyes shrunk until they were like tiny dots. Rainbow Dash wiped her tears away and continued. “I… I killed your mother.” She closed her eyes, her whole body clenching and tensing up. “It was my fault! It’s all my fault! I haven’t been seeing you because I don’t deserve to be your sister. I killed somepony you love. I’m worthless to you.” Her confession finished she put her hooves to her face and started to sob. Twilight was shocked as much as Scootaloo. That explained everything. Rainbow Dash felt ashamed. She killed my mother. A tear dropped from her eyes. I want to tell her I hate her, I really do. But I...I can’t. She’s hurt and she needs me. Smiling faintly Scootaloo wrapped her hooves around Rainbow’s neck without a speck of anger. “Rainbow Dash, it’s ok. I’m here for you,” she said softly to her big sister. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, “You… you’re not mad? I thought you'd want to hate me for the rest of my life because I’m a big fat loser.” Scootaloo kept Rainbow Dash in her embrace. “No, I don’t hate you. I… I forgive you. We’re sisters, and sisters are there for each other no matter what. I forgive you and I love you,” she said, snuggling into Rainbow’s soft chest fur. Rainbow Dash was more than a little shocked that Scootaloo would forgive her, but she embraced her little sister nonetheless. “I love you no matter what too, Scoots,” she said softly. The two sisters stayed embraced like that for along time, neither willing to let go. Twilight, couldn’t believe Rainbow was responsible for Dizzy’s death, but she was glad that Rainbow finally told the truth. She left the room letting the two sisters be alone…together. “Hmm... maybe you two can do the Sisterhooves Social tomorrow,” she said softly as she left the room, wanting to give the two some much needed alone time.