Keeping your Promises

by RaylanKrios


Promise Me

Rainbow tried to enjoy the rest of her day with Twilight, and truthfully she was glad to spend time with a friend and watch them enjoy themselves, but she could only sit through so many impromptu lectures about early Equestrian settlers before she had to call it a day.

When she got home, Scootaloo was apparently still out with her mom, so Rainbow took advantage of the rare peace and quiet to finish Scootaloo’s guardianship papers and generally unwind from the stress of the last few days.

Unfortunately for her plan, all around her cloud house were reminders that she now shared it with a little orange filly, which weirdly made her happier than she ever thought was possible. And that in turn reminded her that she had to have a very difficult conversation with said filly that could possibly lead to her not being there anymore.

And yes, not “being there anymore” was the closest Rainbow could come to thinking about Scootaloo dying without getting hysterical. As a result, Rainbow spent the afternoon oscillating between relaxed and out of her mind terrified, suffice it to say it was very nerve wracking.

As soon as she heard the welcome sound of Scootaloo closing the front door, she flew down to the first floor of her house only to be a little surprised at the sight that greeted her.

Rainbow Dash could never be accused of being the most observant pony, but luckily for her Scootaloo wore her emotions on her sleeve. When Scootaloo was happy she stood taller, her legs a little more than shoulder width apart, her wings flared out and her tail swishing. In contrast, when Scootaloo was nervous or scared she tended to make herself small, wings folded against her sides, tail held tight between her legs and her head permanently looking at the ground.

Twilight once tried to explain that this was subconscious desires manifesting themselves physically; when she was nervous or scared Scootaloo wanted to hide, and it was easier to hide if you were small. Rainbow didn’t really understand all the big words her friend had used, but she did understand the concept. And from the way Scootaloo stood in the door, it was plainly evident that if there had been even a hole to crawl into, then that’s where she would be.

“What’s wrong kid?” Rainbow asked gently, fervently hoping that Diamond Tiara wasn’t involved.

Scootaloo sniffled. “I miss my mommy. We spent the whole day together and I realized how much I miss her.”

Rainbow let out a sigh of relief. “Is that all?”

Scootaloo looked up bewildered. Had any other pony said that she would assume they were mocking her. But this was Rainbow Dash, the one pony she was certain would never belittle her feelings.

Rainbow scooted closer and softly nuzzled the top of Scootaloo’s head. “You’re not going anywhere kiddo, and your mom isn’t going anywhere either. If you want to see her more often I think that’s great. We can totally make that happen.”

“What about you?” Scootaloo asked in a very small voice.

“What about me?”

“I won’t get to see you as much, and I don’t want that either.”

Rainbow tried to smile reassuringly, and she’d be lying if she said that it didn’t warm her heart that Scootaloo was scared of not spending time with her. “I’m not going anywhere either, okay Scoots? Whatever it takes, you can see both of us as much as you want.”

That answer seemed to satisfy the orange filly, because her wings slowly unfurled, and she instantly seemed more relaxed.

“So what did you want to talk to my mom about?” Scootaloo asked, now that her present crisis had been averted.

And just like that, Rainbow came crashing back down to earth. But she also knew that there was no more avoiding the discussion she was about to have. “Remember when the doc came over and she ran all those tests?”

Scootaloo could only nod as her throat seized up. Whatever was coming was going to be life altering, for better or worse.

“It turns out, you’ve got some kind of lump near your wings, and that’s why you’re having trouble flying.”

Scootaloo blinked her eyes repeatedly as she processed the news.  “Oh, so I guess that’s it then,” she said, her dejection plainly evident on her face. The one thing she had always wanted, in some ways her birthright, was now officially denied to her.

Rainbow winced at Scootaloo’s pain. The thought that she might be able to alleviate it was the only thing that pushed her to continue. “Not exactly.” Scootaloo looked up, a glimmer of hope already back in her eyes. “The doc says you could have some surgery to remove the lump, but it’s really dangerous.”

“But if it works I’d be able to fly?” Scootaloo asked, her tone betraying her excitement.

As Scootaloo made her intentions known, Rainbow found herself increasingly ignoring her edict to let Scootaloo make this decision. “Maybe, but if it doesn’t you could end up dead. You need to say no to this, Scootaloo,” she said, almost pleading.

Scootaloo studied the mare in front of her carefully, her eyes moving up and down, trying to spot some clue as to why Rainbow wouldn’t want her to be able to fly. “Why don’t you want me to do this? I thought if anyone would understand you would.”

“Because I’m scared, Scoots! You happy now? I said it.” Rainbow realized that she had unintentionally yelled that last part and fought to keep her emotions in check. “I’m scared that I’m going to lose my little sister and I can’t handle that…I just can’t.” Rainbow slumped where she stood, the weight of what was happening, literally pressing down on her.  Her next words came out broken and rough. “When...there was a moment where I thought I had lost you, and it broke me, Scoots. I don’t think I could go through that again.”

Scootaloo wasn’t used to seeing Rainbow so willingly vulnerable. Rainbow Dash was the most awesome, fearless pegasus ever. She laughed in the face of danger. But despite her sister’s heartfelt plea, Scootaloo needed to do this, and she also needed her sister to be okay with it.

Her response came out as a whisper. “You do risky things all the time.  How d’you think I’d feel if I lost my big sister?”

“That’s different.”

“Why?” Scootaloo asked in earnest.

Rainbow found her voice rising again. “Because when I take a risk, I’m in control. You wouldn’t be. You’d be unconscious, lying on a table, hoping some other pony doesn’t make a mistake. And if they did, even if you didn’t die, your wings could end up paralyzed. That means no more scootering, no nothing. You’d end up an earth pony without their strength, and that's assuming you could even walk! ” Rainbow didn’t care how frightening and harsh her description sounded. If she needed to scare Scootaloo to keep her safe, then that’s what she was going to do.

But Scootaloo was Rainbow’s sister in every way that mattered, and that meant that she didn’t scare easy. Instead of being cowed she posed another question. “You want to be a Wonderbolt, right?”

“You know I do. What does that have to do with anything?” Rainbow replied curtly.

“Well, the Wonderbolts take risks all the time,” Scootaloo reasoned, “and they rely on each other to keep them safe.  So isn’t this kind of like that? I mean, you said that Dr. Feather was the Wonderbolts doctor. Doesn’t that make her kinda like a Wonderbolt?”

Damn Scootaloo and her stupid logic. Damn the stupid Wonderbolts, damn the stupid lump, damn the whole Celestia damned universe. Rainbow stared down at the little filly in front of her. She couldn’t deny that she knew just how much Scootaloo wanted to fly; it was the same desire that led her to practice for hours on end. She knew, deep in her heart of hearts, that there was nothing so scary as not being able to fly, and that meant that nothing she said could possibly change Scootaloo’s mind. Which meant there was only one hope she had left. “I want you to promise me that you’re going to be okay,” Rainbow said, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

“But-”

Rainbow shook her head vigorously. “No buts, kid. Promise me that, if you get this surgery, you’ll spend a day in the hospital, and then the very next day it’ll be me and you flying around like we own the sky.”

Scootaloo got the sense that this mattered to Rainbow. She was too young to fully comprehend all the emotions that she was feeling but she knew that the next words she said were important. “Okay, Rainbow. I promise.”

Rainbow tried to believe that Scootaloo’s promise meant something, and she almost succeeded. Regardless, she knew what she had to do next. She picked Scootaloo up and held her close, trying not to think about the fact that she might not have very many more of these moments left.

After a long moment, in which Scootaloo hugged her back, Rainbow set the orange filly down in front of her.  

“Well, I guess we’d better go see Dr. Feather tomorrow.”