//------------------------------// // Chapter 2(Un-edited) // Story: Loyalty at its Finest // by Twilight Best Pony //------------------------------// Luna’s moon sat high in the sky, full and as bright as ever. The light reflecting of the great white surface bathed all of Equestria in a blueish light. Ever so slowly, dark storm clouds began to gather, masking the miniscule light the moon gave off. The distant sound of rain could be heard in Ponyville, as the wind began to howl and lightning cracked nearby. A lone filly lay in her bed, dreaming deeply. Every so often she’d fidget or twitch as the world she dreamt of became real in her mind. ~~ Scootaloo sat beside her on the green grass of the towns park. The mother and daughter enjoyed each others company. A loving wing was wrapped around the small filly, as they both swayed softly as a warm breeze passed over them. Both of them were enjoying a quick meal in the park together, as they sat around and watched the clouds drift on by. Overhead, and rainbow maned pegasus zoomed to and fro. Pulling off death defying tricks at breakneck speeds. On the ground, Scootaloo watched with wide eyes and her mouth open in awe as she cheered on the speeding pegasus. Her mother looked on with a smile, amused by the awe struck filly as she cradled her close with a wing. Eventually, the rainbow maned pegasus came to rest on a cloud. She peered over the edge of the puffy collection of water vapor. “C’mon, Squirt, fly on up here and I’ll teach you some tricks!” Rainbow screamed from above with a wide smile. Turning quickly, the orange filly looked to her mother for approval before taking flight after her idol. Her mother chuckled with a smile and nodded to her. “Go on sweetie, I'll be up in a bit.” Her mother said, leaning down to nuzzle her mane. Before Scootaloo left, her mother gave one final squeeze of her wings before she took off.         “Thanks, Mom!” The smile on the little filly’s face nearly went from ear to ear as she spun around quickly, hugged her mother and nuzzled her.         Before Scootaloo left the ground, she spun around one more time and hugged her mother before whispering, “I love you Mom.”         In a heartbeat she was up, taking off in a full gallop as she spread her wings. As she continued to move forward, the air passing her by caught her wings and began lifting her. One mighty flap later propelled her up and forward into the sky as she continued to climb in altitude to her idle, who was now hiding on the cloud.         As she neared, Rainbow Dash couldn’t have been found anywhere on the cloud. Carefully she landed, surveying the short area of the cloud for her friend. While she looked, her vision shook, making her dizzy as she stepped off the cloud and hurtled towards the ground.         She nearly jumped upright off of the ground as she shook her head quickly. Scootaloo was still on the ground, and looked around in confusion. Maybe she had imagined that. Next to her still sat her mother, and above Rainbow still lingered on the cloud. Rainbow repeated her earlier words like in a weird case of deja vu.         Without waiting this time, Scootaloo tried to fly back up into the air. She galloped, her wings spread wide as the wind hit her wings and with a mighty flap, nothing happened. Much to her confusion she remained on the ground. As if trying to troubleshoot, she flapped her wings a few times with the same result.         Now growing concerned, she took off running once again with the same end results. She plopped down in the grass, confused and at a loss for words of what to do. Above, she heard Rainbow swoop down and scoff at her.         “What’s wrong, Squirt? Having troubles?” Rainbow asked in a sarcastic and hurtful tone.         “W-What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked, her voice wavering as she looked up at her idol.         “You can’t fly, Squirt, and you never will with those puny wings. Now I’m leaving, I’ve got better things to do than hang out with flightless ponies.” Rainbow spoke, her words dripped with resent towards the smaller pegasus.           Scootaloo took the insult like a sledgehammer to the chest. She tried her best to hold back the tears as her chest slowly began to heave with silent sobs. Looking over to her mother with watery eyes, the same look of contempt and disappointment was mirrored on her face.         “M-Mom…” Scootaloo croaked through her sobs.         Her mother turned away, her nose in the air as she refused to look down upon her own daughter.         “If you can’t fly, then don’t consider yourself to be any daughter of mine.” Her mother spoke harshly, before turning and trotting away.         The final insult hit her deep. She sobbed profusely as she slumped over in the dirt, rocking side to side as tears openly fell from her eyes.                                                 ~         With a start, Scootaloo jumped upright in bed. She awoke in a cold sweat, as the tears and sadness from her dream lingered. The dark thoughts of her nightmare plagued her mind as she slowly began to cry again, the mere thought of what happened enough to cause tears to flow freely. Slowly the door to her bedroom opened as Rainbow carefully peered in. The tears on Scootaloos cheeks sparkled in the moonlight that filtered through the nearby windows. Immediately Rainbow’s attention was caught as she rushed in to comfort the filly. Scootaloo all but jumped into Rainbow’s embrace. Hooves and wings surrounded the openly sobbing filly, who buried her face in the older mares shoulder. Tears dampened Rainbow’s fur as she softly rubbed Scootaloo’s back. All the while, Scootaloo tried to relay what had transpired in her nightmare, which only came out as more choked sobs. “Shh, it’s alright, Scoots.” Rainbow began comfortingly, “I’m here, it was only a dream.” --- The morning was silent high up in the troposphere. Clouds gently drifted by in the steady breeze of the higher altitude. Early morning rays of sunshine shone warmly through the window in Rainbow Dash’s room. The light illuminating the room, the warm beams came to rest on two pegasi occupying the lone bed in the room. Rainbow laid under the sheet that remained on her bed, cradled in her hooves and wings was Scootaloo. The small orange filly was bundled up in a blanket and held by her older sibling through the night, ever since her nightmare. Rainbow was the first to awake, tiredly blinking the sleep out of her eyes while trying to fall back asleep. She watched as the smaller ponies chest rose and fell. Her breathing was gentle and deep as her ear occasionally twitched. Scootaloo incoherently mumbled in her sleep, much to Rainbow’s tired amusement. With a tired sigh, Rainbow rose from her bed, doing her best to not wake the sleeping filly. Morning had arrived too soon for her. Already at the early hours of the morning, she was planning out naps for later in the day. She made a brief stop at the bathroom, freshening up before proceeding onto the kitchen. The house seemed deafly silent to her as she entered the little kitchenette of her house where she began scavenging for breakfast. Carefully, she used every little bit of cooking knowledge she had as she attempted to make pancakes for Scootaloo and herself. Only after a few tries did she finally get the hang of the hot griddle top, and produced a few pancakes each. Rainbow smiled at her culinary masterpieces she managed to make as she set them down on the table and waited. Her ears swiveled in the direction of her room as the sound of little pitter-pattering hooves emanated from down the hallway. The bathroom door down the hall suddenly closed and the sound of running water flowed throughout the house for awhile before the door reopened and Scootaloo reemerged. Scootaloo tiredly walked around the corner into the kitchen, the blanket she slept in still in-tow and wrapped around her as she sat down at her plate. Her face lit up at the sight of warm food. It only took moments for her to silently dig in to her breakfast like Rainbow. No words were uttered as they finished up their meal, before leaning back with a satisfied sigh.  Rainbow remained reclined in the chair with her eyes closed and a small smile on her face as she enjoyed the quiet morning. Only after the sound of clinking plates did she open her eyes again and gaze at Scootaloo. Blanketless, Scootaloo collected both of their plates and moved to the sink before drawing up the tap and began doing the dishes. Silently Rainbow watched on in slight awe, as Scootaloo dutifully cleaned the few utensils and bowls that were used to conjure up a meal. That was, until she dropped a half full bowl of batter. Not only did she get splattered nearly head to hoof, she managed to get most of the cabinets and floor around her. With an incredulous look, she turned back to her older sibling, who was looking on in awe. The mere sight of Scootaloo’s face was enough to send Rainbow into a serious fit of giggles. While Rainbow nearly tipped over her chair into the pool of pancake batter from laughing so hard, Scootaloo surveyed how much damage she’d caused with her minor slip of her hooves. Ever so slowly, soft little giggles began to build from Scootaloo, before she nearly fell from her small step stool as she joined Rainbow Dash in a furious fit of laughter. As Rainbow slowly began to recover from her laughter, she rose from her chair with tears in her eyes as she approached the smaller pegasus. A few giggles managed to escape before any words came out, “You made quite the mess, there, Squirt.” Scootaloo managed to take a break from her laughter to reply, “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash, bu-but-” She began to break into laughter again. Rainbow smiled, “Don’t worry about it, Scoots. Go on and use my shower to clean yourself, I’ve got everything out here.” In an attempt to be affectionate, Rainbow licked batter off of Scootaloo’s nose only to instantly regret it. She physically shuttered and made a face of sudden regret before she commented, “Bleh. That was a terrible idea.” Spurred on by her older siblings display, she took a little taste from her hoof and drew up the same conclusion, only to react more than she did. “Ge’ it’h o’th ma’ tongue!” Rainbow began to break down again, as she retrieved a vital drink for the filly. As soon as the glass touched her hooves, she downed it’s contents. Still giggling, Rainbow stated, “Seriously, let’s get you cleaned up.” After tracking through the batter, Rainbow simply scooped up the filly in a fit of giggles and carried her off towards the bathroom. All the while, batter hoofprints followed them down the hallway and was splattered everywhere. --- What started out as a simple idea of getting cleaned, turned into an all out ordeal, as they both managed to get even dirtier in the process. Finally giving in, the two siblings occupied the small shower stall in a poor attempt at cleaning the sticky batter out of their coats. It only resulted in the smaller one getting even dirtier. After more time than it should’ve taken, the both emerged clean and looking like orange and cyan puffballs once they dried off. From there, they took precautionary measures to preserve their coats as they set out on scrubbing every inch of the hallway and kitchen. Once the majority of the spill was cleaned up, both ponies took a few minutes as they looked around the spotless kitchen. The floor nearly sparkled as Rainbow Dash wiped sweat from her brow. Though she never knew cleaning was such hard work, or as fun as it was with Scootaloo, they both managed to kill a few hours as they began moving around the house. “I’m going to run out for a little bit to get some groceries,” Rainbow said, sitting up and giving her back a break, “You good to be here by yourself, Squirt?” “Totally!” Scootaloo responded, puffing out her chest and striking a pose. Rainbow smirked and giggled before ruffling the fillies mane, “Alright, if you say so. Just no wild parties or burn the place down, alright?” Scootaloo giggled, “Sure thing, Rainbow Dash!” After collecting a small bag of bits, Rainbow headed for the door and set out on her journey to town. With a sigh, Scootaloo looked around the house. The majority of the rooms were clean, except for the bathroom and bedroom. With a determined smile, she set out to finish up the house for Rainbow. ---         The door was flung wide open and bounced off the wall as Rainbow shuffled in, attempting to carry every bag in at once. Immediately Scootaloo ran passed Rainbow who was settling down the bags, to grab the few remaining out on the front stop.         The bags being just bigger than her made the task difficult, but she managed to scoop up two bags with her wings and began to walk inside. Until her hoof caught the lip of the cloud pad that rested outside of the door.         Instantly, she lost her balance. In an attempt to to regain balance, she moved backwards, only to begin stumbling towards the edge of the cloud the house sat on. A hardy thump shook the cloud house as Scootaloo tipped over and landing square on her back. Bags went flying as their contents departed in random trajectories.         A loaf of bread bounced softly against the springy cloud. A bag of chips crinkled against the hard pad in front of the door. Eggs had been spilled, but were saved by the soft texture of the cloud. A glass jar full of vegetables hit the cloud as well, but went sailing on through.         The jar experienced no resistance as it passed through the water vapor. A hole just bigger than the jar remained, which Scootaloo used to watch the plummeting produce. She thought she heard the jar whistling as it sailed through the air, increasing it’s speed exponentially. Rainbow Dash emerged from the house, and curious look on her face that turned into one of concern as she rushed out to the still prone form of Scootaloo. In the few seconds she was outside, Rainbow was able to put two and two together to figure out what had happened. Scootaloo looked up as Rainbow’s looming shadow blocked out the sun. Her face was one of sorrow and fear as she prepared for Rainbow’s reaction. Before any words could’ve been exchanged, the sound of a sickening thump and breaking glass both interrupted each ones thoughts. Scootaloo winced with the sound and looked down a final time. Bits and pieces of glass twinkled in the sunlight below as the colorful vegetables were scattered all around like colorful polkadots. Rainbow peered over as well and winced slightly at the carnage that lay below, but a small smile worked it’s way on to her lips. The orange filly was scared to open her eyes as she looked up at the older pegasus with a sheepish smile, “S-Sorry Rainbow, i-it was an accident, I swear!” Rainbow chuckled lightly, “It’s alright, Scoots, accidents happen.” Carefully Rainbow helped the younger pegasus up then moved on to repack the remaining goods back in the paper bag and brought them both inside. “We’ll just have to go down later and pick everything up, we don’t need somepony getting hurt or complaining.” Rainbow spoke in a calm and kind tone to help relax the nervous filly. “Y-Yeah.” Scootaloo acknowledged with a hint of nervousness, as she helped unpack everything, being extra careful to not drop anything through the floor. --- After the extremely minor incident with the groceries, the rest of the afternoon went by without a hitch. The two siblings spent the time bonding and hanging out as time slowly passed them by. As the sun began to dip Rainbow was able to whip up another meal for the two as the day started to draw to a close. They sat silently relaxing in the living room, enjoying the sunset and each others company. With a slightly dissapointed and lazy sigh, Rainbow sat up. “We should get the few chores done before we get too comfy.” She stated. “What do we have to do?” Scootaloo asked, slightly renewed with energy at the thought of helping Rainbow out. “Well, dishes have to get done again and the trash has to be taken out.” Rainbow spoke from a mental list. “We know what happened last time I tried to do the dishes.” Scootaloo commented with a giggle. Rainbow joined her with a giggle of her own as she ruffled the orange filly’s mane, “Alright, Squirt, think you can handle the garbage?” “Sure I can!” Scootaloo replied with a puffed out chest. Rainbow giggled, “Alright, let’s get everything done and maybe we can squeeze in a movie tonight.” Scootaloo sprung up from the couch and hit the floor trotting as she entered the kitchen, Rainbow Dash right behind her and giggling. The black garbage bag took the definition of full to a new level. The slightest puncture would’ve proved catastrophic and would have sent refuse all over the kitchen. The small filly dragged the back over her shoulder with a mighty huff, using all of her strength and her wings to her advantage. Eventually she managed to build up speed as she rapidly approached the open front door. As soon as she started moving, the momentum of bag began to overpower her as she neared the threshold of the door. The slight drop from the doorframe to the pad had caught her this time. As soon as she passed through the doorway and attempted to slow down, the bag kept pushing her. Scootaloo cleared the pad and landed chin first on the soft cloud, the bag bouncing off of her back and flipping through the air towards the edge of the cloud. Not wanting a recreation of early events, she scrambled towards the edge. She slide to a stop, one foreleg kept her from sliding off the edge, while the other reached out and just barely caught the plastic bag. With baited breath, she laid at the edge of the cloud, the weight and swinging momentum of the bag threatening to drag her off the side to the ground. The strain was taking it’s toll on her as she bag slowly started to slide out of her grip. Her eyes widened as she quietly prayed and hoped for the bag to stop as she tried to swing it back up and over the edge. That’s when it slipped from her grip. The force jolted her back slightly as she helplessly watched the black bag hurtled towards the surface of the planet. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a lone pony walking directly underneath her at a leisurely pace. She tried to scream out to him, but she choked on her words as the bag neared. Her heart dropped when she saw the bag hit him directly in the head. Immediately, the bag burst, spewing garbage all over the helpless stallion. He stood stock still, shocked from the impact. Slowly he looked down around him, then on to the thick layer of garbage that covered his fur. Ever so slowly, his gazed turned skywards and met Scootaloos. She desperately wished to run inside and hide, but his rage filled gaze froze her.   He was mad. Very, very, mad. The stallion began shouting obscenities skywards at the filly, who slowly began to curl up as moisture collected in her eyes from the hurtful words. His voice traveled far, as if he was right on top of her screaming. The sound of a dropped pan echoed from the house, as Rainbow Dash rocketed outside. As she peered over the edge over Scootaloo, she looked down and saw the disaster. She nearly broke down in hysterics if it weren’t for the tears coming down Scootaloo’s cheeks and what the stallion was saying. Immediately her hooves protectively covered the filly’s delicate ears before she started to lay into the stallion. “Oh yeah?-Up yours!” Rainbow screamed, the sound muffled to the sniffling filly. She could barely hear what the stallion yelled back. “I’ll shove my hoof so far up-” Rainbow’s voice came in and out as her hooves moved while she shouted. There was a pause before the stallion replied. “That’s right, walk away before I come down and open a can of-” Rainbow continued, while Scootaloo tried to curl up in a ball. With the stallion now gone, and Rainbow’s anger dropping, she focused on the trembling filly. Immediately Scootaloo was spun over and quickly inspected. “Did he hurt you?” Rainbow demanded with a little too much force in her voice, still riled up from her yelling. Scootaloo shook her head rapidly as she sobbed. “What’d he say? So help him if he-” Rainbow was cut off as Scootaloo’s sobs became louder. In a heartbeat the orange filly was wrapped up in hooves and wings and up to the older pegasus’ chest. Rainbow softly cooed to help calm down the shaken filly. “It’s alright, Scoots. That stallions gone, now.” Rainbow said softly, nuzzling her mane. “I-I j-just wanted to h-help and n-not be a burden to y-you.” Scootaloo sniffled. Rainbow gaped silently for a moment before replying, “You’re never a burden to me, Scootaloo.” She said comfortingly, tightening her grip on the filly and kissing her forehead. “Ever…” ---