Today was an emotionally and physically exhausting day for Twilight. Not only was she almost killed by a psycho, but now her mentor and surrogate mother figure had just learned about her having a marefriend, and introducing said marefriend to said mentor and mother figure.
Twilight knew that seeing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna up close and personal was a little overwhelming for other ponies, unlike her and her friends who have on multiple occasions met with her and talked to either Celestia or Luna face to face.
Still, this was different than introducing a friend. This was her marefriend the pony that held a special place in her heart, somepony that Twilight had shared intimate and private moments with.
A twinge of fear gripped her heart as she made her way down the stairwell to her basement laboratory. What if Celestia disapproved of her relationship with Cheerilee? Twilight didn’t know if she could take hearing that. This was her first real romantic relationship with anypony and she didn’t want to lose that.
The lilac mare sighed heavily, there would be time to worry about that later. Right now though, she had to meet with Scootaloo, hoping that Murmur might be able to shed some light on the matter, and to see if the young filly was alright.
When Twilight entered the basement she firmly shut the door behind her, locking it and placing several wards to keep anypony from entering it, via magic or other means. Once she was done, Twilight made her way to the center of the room and stood there. She closed her eyes and focused her magical energy onto the glyph symbol within her. The symbol took on an ethereal form as it floated before her.
The light in the room was suddenly drained away, replaced by darkness. It had taken a while for Twilight to get used to that, being placed in an abyssal darkness did tend to make a pony skittish and frightened. The only light now was that of her horn and the glyph.
The glyph shined brighter and released a radiant beam of light straight ahead of Twilight. The same symbol appeared and formed a doorway in the middle of the darkness. A stone pathway formed beneath her hooves, leading directly to the door of light.
Twilight casually walked the path as the glyph hovered before her. Once she made it to the doorway, she entered it. A blinding light enveloped her vision, but only for a brief moment. Soon the familiar scent of ink, paper, and old tomes wafted to her nostrils, easing her worry.
When next she opened her eyes she was inside the vast expanse of the Rock of Eternity’s library. Twilight marveled at that sight, no matter how many times she came back to this place, it always managed to evoke such elation from her. So many stories to read, books of magical theory, lost manuscripts and scrolls of civilizations, it was all here before her, waiting to be read in a dimension that knew not the bindings of time.
Twilight had to calm herself, she was an immortal alicorn, and this was a place that was free of time. She could spend all the time in the world in here, because she had all the time in the world. But right now, friends and young apprentices were of the highest priority. The Princess of Friendship walked down the rows of shelves, glancing about. Just then a flock of butterflies appeared before Twilight. The butterflies were pink and made of light, fluttering around her and tickling the alicorn mare.
The butterflies coalesced into a single entity, forming an equine body. With a flash of light, the form became that of the Rock of Eternity’s steward, Murmur the flutterpony. The young mare bowed to Twilight as she smiled happily. “Greetings Twilight.”
“Greetings Murmur, has Scootaloo appeared yet?”
“Oh yes she has, she’s awaiting you in your usual meeting spot. Would you like some refreshments?”
“Not at the moment, but I need to ask you. Do you know what transpired earlier?” Twilight asked.
Murmur’s smile faded a little as she nodded. “I saw the battle, and it was quite the oddity. Mistress Scootaloo was slightly injured by that magic the unicorn wielded, normally such magic would not affect her magical form.
The ancient magic, the power of the Living Lightning, is of the highest order magic. It imbues her very body, and protects her against spells that would otherwise harm a lesser pony. But the fact that it managed to pierce her armor was…strange.”
“Have you ever seen magic like that before? Or have any of the previous Champions gone up against something like that?”
Murmur shook her head. “Not to my knowledge, but I will search through the archives, there is seldom nothing that the Rock of Eternity’s library does not know. If this magic existed at one point, then it is likely documented here.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you Murmur, I wish you could come to our world. I feel bad that you’re stuck in here.”
The flutterpony chuckled appreciatively. “I thank you for your compassion Twilight, but to be honest, I’m a bit afraid to.”
The alicorn mare stopped in her tracks and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Why is that? I know things have changed since your time Murmur, but Scootaloo and I would help you readjust.”
“Oh no, nothing like that, I’m quite up to date on modern Equus. I’m afraid…if I tried to, or if there was a way, I would meet the same fate as Adamant Resolve.”
Twilight recalled what happened to the young stallion, how Scootaloo managed to call him out and make him change back into a mortal pony, and how rapidly Adamant aged within mere seconds until he was nothing but dust in the wind. Twilight shivered in horror at the thought of that happening to Murmur. She then placed her left wing over Murmur’s back in a comforting fashion.
“I understand Murmur, I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
“It’s alright. Mistress Scootaloo is just around the bend, I’ll start searching and notify you if something pops up.”
Twilight nodded and retracted her wing. Murmur transformed into a flock of pink butterflies and scattered about the library. She had to admit, Murmur did have impressive ways of using her astral form to look through multiple places at a time.
Twilight made her way around the bend and saw Scootaloo sitting on the plush rug that was their meeting area. The young filly looked deep in thought, no doubt pondering the events of today.
You’re really something, Scootaloo, thought Twilight.
“Scootaloo.” She called out.
The pegasus filly’s head shot up and glanced in the direction of Twilight’s voice. Her wings fluttered frantically as she propelled herself right at Twilight, hugging the mare’s leg tight and catching her off guard by the sudden embrace.
“Twilight I need your help with something?!”
“Wha-What’s wrong Scootaloo?! Did that unicorn’s magic do something to you?!” Twilight asked with dread.
“What? No, not about him! I need your advice!”
Twilight was now confused as to the sudden change in the topic they had planned to discuss, but she could see the desperation in Scootaloo’s eyes and Twilight just couldn’t have that.
Using her magic, Twilight gently removed Scootaloo from her foreleg and placed her in a sitting position on the carpet. She then took her place across from her and sat down, adopting the visage her mentor did with herself so long ago. Twilight will admit, it made her giddy being on this end of it.
“Of course Scootaloo, whatever it is I’ll help.”
“Okay…um…well…” Scootaloo was rubbing her right foreleg as a crimson blush fell upon her face. “T-Twilight…I know this is going to sound stupid…but, when did you realize that you…uh…liked mares?”
Twilight’s serene and stoic visage cracked right then and there, her eyes widened and her face tinted red. “OH! Um…Scootaloo that’s…why the sudden interest, sweetie?”
“I was just wondering is all? Like…was it hard? Did you have to think about it? Did you feel weird about it? Did other ponies…make fun of you?”
Twilight, after taking a moment to compose herself, thought hard about how to word her response. “Well Scootaloo…I can’t say it’s easy for every mare. I guess you can say I doubted myself a lot.”
“Why’s that?”
“It mostly stems from upbringing. I was told and taught that fillies are supposed to fall in love with colts, get married, and have foals. From a scientific point of view it serves the purpose of reproduction and increasing a civilization’s populace. At least that’s how I viewed it at first.”
Scootaloo blinked. “So what changed it?”
“Cadance.”
“Princess Cadance? Wasn’t she your foalsitter when you were my age or something?” Scootaloo asked.
“A little younger, but yes, she was. The best foalsitter I could ever hope for.” Twilight smiled as past memories of her younger years with Cadance came to the forefront of her mind.
“She changed how you viewed it…does that mean…she kissed you or did stuff with you…?” Scootaloo was really hoping that wasn’t the case.
Twilight took a moment to take in Scootaloo’s words, upon understanding the meaning, she quickly shook her head. “Nononononononononono! She didn’t do anything like that! It was…” Twilight sighed, “One time when the two of us were taking a stroll through Canterlot, I saw her use her magic to stop couples who loved each other from arguing over the smallest and trivial things. It amazed me the way she did that, and it’s only now that I understand why she did it.
Cadance’s power stems from love, and because of that, she must’ve known that sometimes, even the most stable and loving of relationships can be broken apart by something small and irrelevant at the time and make those ponies regret ever doing it.
There was this one couple, a unicorn mare and an earth pony mare. I didn’t understand why they were arguing, although to be fair I didn’t understand much about relationships at that age. But when I saw Cadance use her magic it caught me off guard since I knew her power reminded ponies of why they loved their special somepony.
I remember asking her: ‘Cadance, why did you use your magic on those mares?’
She looked at me and said, ‘Because they’re in love Twilight, I couldn’t let their love fall apart.’
As you can guess I was confused by that, so I asked, ‘But they’re mares, two girl ponies. Fillies can’t be with other fillies, right?’”
Scootaloo seemed on edge as she leaned forward. “And what did Cadance say?”
“She said ‘Love isn’t exclusive to one gender Twilight, ponies can fall in love with whomever they choose. It’s not up to other ponies to decide what another pony’s heart tells them who they’re meant to be with. Or who makes them happy.’”
Scootaloo lowered her head as she pondered those words. “So…it’s not a bad thing to like fillies…but you said Miss Cheerilee is the first marefriend you’ve ever had, did that mean you had coltfriends before?”
Twilight blushed and shook her head. “I never had any special someponies Scootaloo. You have to understand, I wasn’t interested in friendship and relationships, only magic and knowledge.
It wasn’t until I moved to Ponyville and met Rainbow Dash and the others that I started to realize what friendship meant, and subsequently, what love meant.”
“So did it feel weird, going out with Cheerilee? Were you scared about what other ponies would think?”
The alicorn mare chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. “I kinda was…I mean, my parents, and I’m sure my big brother, were probably thinking I’d find a stallion. I was mostly scared of what they’d think about me, although the social stigma of being a…fillyfooler, isn’t as bad as it used to be, there are still someponies who don’t think it’s…natural or right.
And sometimes I’m my own worst enemy, thinking that I’m not good enough for Cheerilee or that I might be dragging her into something that would only hurt her later on…” Twilight shook her head again. “Scootaloo, exactly what happened that prompted this line of questioning?”
Scootaloo had a pensive look on her face. “I…” she sighed, “you know what I’ve been through…what was done me.”
Twilight nodded solemnly.
“I just…I think I like somepony, and I think they like me the same way. Scratch that, I know they do. I’m afraid…afraid that what happened me has messed me up somehow…Twilight, I…I think I like fillies too! But I don’t know if it’s because of…of that or if it’s really what I want!”
Twilight could hear the anguish in Scootaloo’s voice. It only confirmed part of her fears about what Scootaloo suffered, because of that now she’s confused about how to feel towards another pony. The alicorn mare stretched out her right wing, Scootaloo saw this and scooted herself over until she was up against Twilight’s right side. Her purple wing wrapped around Scootaloo in a comforting embrace.
Twilight knew that Scootaloo wasn’t going to cry, it was already hard for her the first time when she broke down and told her, Mrs. Milano, and Cheerilee, but still, sometimes it was better to let it out. Now that that fear was confirmed, Twilight wondered who it was that Scootaloo knew liked her enough to make her question herself like this.
THE NEXT DAY…
Scootaloo couldn’t get to sleep at all last night. The fight with the assassin pony was one thing, but that wasn’t the thing that kept her up at night, oh no, it was something more important. And that something was Alula.
The young filly had tossed and turned multiple times in her bed, trying to figure out her own feelings about the vanilla colored pegasus filly. She didn’t dislike Alula, quite the contrary, she considered her a friend like Aura, but given the circumstances, it wouldn’t be the same way as she felt about Aura.
The young hero combed over every little memory about Alula, going back to Wayward House, trying to find something, anything that would’ve indicated that Alula like-liked her, or at the very least a subtle hint that she missed. Scootaloo wasn’t always good with subtle hints, which was why she was really thinking hard about this.
Despite her late night memory soul searching, Scootaloo could only remember vague little reactions, a smile, a long glance or two, talking to her. And there was that incident in the restroom of the orphanage when Scootaloo cut up her hoof because she smashed a mirror.
Alula had held her hoof so gently and delicately as she used her magic to heal her wounds, and then there was the more recent event of protecting Alula from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. That comment about her flank was starting to make more sense now, and the longer she thought about it, the redder her face got.
By morning, Scootaloo had bags under her eyes and looked like death warmed over. Cheerilee couldn’t help but look worried about the state her young charge was in, she seemed like a zombie all through breakfast, and now she seemed as if she was just moving along to the motions of the day while her mind wandered someplace else.
“Scootaloo, honey, are you alright?” Cheerilee asked.
The maroon mare’s voice snapped Scootaloo out of her reverie, she chuckled nervously at Cheerilee as she put on her best grin. “Y-Yeah, sorry, I just…have a lot on mind right now.”
“I don’t blame you, after what happened yesterday. Not to make it sound belittling, but Twilight said it was better for the foals to have something else to focus on rather than the events of yesterday. Which is why we’re heading to the school house.”
“No, I understand, and besides. Princess Twilight has a point, after going through crazy stuff, doing something fun can help.” I should know, I do crazy heroic stuff almost every day or every other week.
Cheerilee felt elated at hearing Scootaloo speak with such maturity. “Well, I was going to keep this a surprise, but we’re going to have a couple of special guests visiting our school today.”
“Really who?”
“Well met everypony, my name is Princess Konohana Sakuya. But you may call me Sakuya.”
“And I am Kagutsuchi, or just Chi for short.”
Practically every foal was staring at the two Neighponese ambassadors with mouths agape and eyes almost bulging from their skulls. Cheerilee wished her students would show better manners even if they were awestruck, but still, she found their reactions amusing. Scootaloo still looked surprised, she didn’t believe they would actually be there, but here they were, standing outside in the flesh.
“Now everypony, Princess Sakuya and Sir Kagutsuchi have come to spend the day with us as a form of cultural exchange. So what do say children?”
“Thank you Princess Sakuya and Mr.Kagit – Kuga – Mr. Chi!”
Sakuya giggled at how the foals struggled to say her fiancé’s name properly, while the white dragon sighed, but smiled nonetheless at their attempt at doing so.
“Now then, if it is alright with your teacher, how many of you would like to ride on a dragon’s back?” Sakuya asked.
The eyes of every foal brightened as they looked to their teacher with hope. Cheerilee didn’t know if this was a good idea, but when she glanced over to Kagutsuchi, the white dragon nodded to her.
“Oh very well, but you will all need to take turns!”
“Yes ma’am!” They said as one.
The white dragon summoned his magic and shot into the air, his body was then enveloped in a swirling sphere of gold mana. Within a matter of seconds the sphere grew bigger and bigger, shattering apart to reveal the full dragon form of Kagutsuchi.
The serpentine white dragon lowered himself to the ground, letting his hind legs touch down before his forelegs did, followed by his head, which he rested on the ground; the foals all jumped up on his snout and kept going till they were resting on the top of his head, grabbing hold of his tensile thick mane for support.
“Seven at a time young ones, now hold on tight!”
With that said, Kagutsuchi took off into the sky once again, along with seven foals screaming in sheer excitement. The white dragon kept his flight pattern around the area of the schoolhouse, keeping the ride interesting by doing some winding turns and creating rings of mana to fly and loop through.
On the ground, Sakuya decided to have her own fun with the children. She used her chi magic and summoned forth her cherry blossoms, Sakuya used the petals to create duplicates of herself, playing a bit of hide and seek with the foals as they tried to guess which one was the real one.
During all this fun, Cheerilee kept an eye on her students, but one of them wasn’t joining in the activities like she usually would. Scootaloo was sitting on the ground, her eyes roving about as if looking for someone. Cheerilee walked up to her young adoptee and sat next to her.
“Bit for your thoughts?” Cheerilee asked.
“I was just wondering…I haven’t seen Alula around, is she alright?”
“Oh, Mrs. Milano was taking Alula to the doctors for a checkup today. Apparently she wasn’t feeling too good yesterday and…well, let’s just say that they want to be safe.”
Now as if Scootaloo wasn’t worried enough about how she felt about Alula, and her secret being blown, now she was worried about her health. “Miss Cheerilee, is it okay if I ask you something personal?”
“Scootaloo, you can always come to me with anything, ask away.”
“When did you first realize you…liked mares?”
Cheerilee’s tail went rigid as her left eye twitched. “I-I’m sorry sweetie, could you repeat that?”
“I asked when did you realize you liked other mares.”
And there was that twitchy eye again. “That’s what I thought you said…” Cheerilee was conflicted now. She wasn’t sure if she should go into the whole “birds and the bees” talk, but then again, given what Scootaloo had gone through in her life, Cheerilee doubted she needed to touch base on that subject. “Well…Scootaloo, it wasn’t something I discovered right away…”
“How did you then?” Scootaloo asked innocently.
Cheerilee’s maroon face was turning red as memories of how indeed she found out were coming to the forefront of her mind. “Ahem…I-I guess you could say I never really stopped…the truth is Scootaloo, I’m what you call bisexual.”
“Bi what now?” Scootaloo asked in confusion.
“It means that I like both mares and stallions, that I can be attracted to one or the other.”
Scootaloo blinked. “That’s…you can?!”
“I know it might sound a bit confusing for you, but honestly it was confusing for me when I was young. It was around my teenage years, while I was studying to get my teaching license, I’d often let off some steam at…ahem…my sister’s bar.”
“You mean Aunt Berry?”
Cheerilee groaned. “Yes…anyway, I got a little inebriated and one thing led to another. By the way, don’t you ever drink until you’re old enough, and even then, know your limit!” Cheerilee had said that with such a stern tone that Scootaloo quickly nodded her a “yes”. “Anyway…I woke up the next morning…*sigh*…In the bed of another mare…At first I was mortified that I drank so much that I ended up like that, but at the same time, it didn’t feel wrong. The mare I spent the night with was very understanding and we even dated for a little while.”
“So…it took that to happen before you realized it?” Scootaloo asked with a bit of dread.
“Oh heavens no! I did…before that. I always found myself glancing at a mare in my class, or a filly when I was in kindergarten. But I never acted on it, I guess you could say I was a little afraid of what the other mare or filly would think of me after.”
Scootaloo could relate to that a little. Simply recalling what she went through gave her nightmares, somehow she’d figured something like that would label her, call her a fillyfooler for the rest of her life.
“Cheerilee…do you think…is it bad if I like other fillies too?” Scootaloo asked with trepidation.
The maroon mare looked down at the young pegasus with worry. “Of course it isn’t Scootaloo, there’s nothing saying you have to like just colts or just fillies. I know it may be hard to comprehend, but it’s not always about gender.
So long as you know in your heart that the pony you’re with cares about you and will be there for you, then that’s all that matters.” Cheerilee looked to the playing foals, spotting Sakuya next to Kagutsuchi as he readied himself for another flight. “Look at them Scootaloo.”
The pegasus filly looked up at the Princess and dragon. Sakuya was looking happily and loving into the big, green eyes of Kagutsuchi. She then got up beside his face and pecked him on the cheek, causing the fillies and colts to go “Ooooooooh!”
“Oh hush now, he’s my fiancé. I can kiss him if I want.”
“Sakuya-hime…” Kagutsuchi groaned.
“Chi-kun, you’re free to do the same too you know.” Sakuya huffed.
“If I did, I’d be afraid of you getting sucked into my mouth.”
The foals let out a combination of “ewws” and laughter at the prospect of the pegasus getting accidentally sucked into the dragon’s giant maw. Even Scootaloo and Cheerilee couldn’t help but join in.
“You see, even though Sir Kagutsuchi is a dragon, Sakuya loves him. He’s not even a pony, so do you understand, maybe a little?” Cheerilee asked.
Scootaloo believed she did. “I think so. Thanks Cheerilee.”
The older mare nodded, but then raised a curious eyebrow. “Scootaloo, what exactly made you ask me that?”
“Oh…well…can I tell you about it later? I’m not really sure myself, yet.”
Cheerilee didn’t want to press the matter, what they talked about was already embarrassing enough for herself, that and she didn’t want to have Scootaloo feel like she was being interrogated.
ELSEWHERE…
Alula sat patiently in the doctor’s office, with Mrs. Milano sitting next to the examination table. When word reached her of what happened to Alula during the fiasco yesterday she was worried, Milano had gone to wake her that day, but when she had checked on her she seemed under the weather and wouldn’t rouse from sleep no matter how many times she called out to her. Milano decided to let the young filly rest in bed, but she had no idea that Alula would later go out to where the delegates were arriving.
After Alula described the pain and symptoms leading up the attack, she almost broke down. But despite all that, Alula looked fine now. The two of them had been at the hospital for most of the morning, taking in a quick breakfast before getting there. They ran different tests on Alula and, much to her reluctance, drew blood from her. Now they awaited the results of those tests, and hopefully it wasn’t anything serious, they hoped.
“I wish you hadn’t gone out there if you were feeling bad Alula,” said Milano.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to see the Neighponese ponies and the Princess. I realized it was getting worse and was trying to find somepony to help, but most of ‘em were already at the castle so…”
Milano patted Alula’s head comfortingly. “I’m sorry Alula, I should’ve had one of the older kids stay with you – I should’ve stayed with you.”
Alula gave Milano an appreciative smile. “It’s okay Mrs. Milano. I’m fine now.”
Milano hoped she would be, she cared about all the foals at Wayward House as much as if they were her two boys, so it pained her to see one of her children ill or in pain. Just then the door opened and Nurse Red Heart entered the room, the white mare had a clipboard hanging around her neck as she made her way to them, her cheerful smile as prominent as always.
“Hello Alula, Mrs. Milano, we got your tests back and I’m happy to say that we didn’t find anything wrong.”
Milano and Alula released a breath neither of them knew they were holding. “Thank you Nurse Red Heart. But what could it have been?”
“Unfortunately that’s the downside to this. We might not have found anything wrong now, but illnesses are tricky. For now, the doctor is prescribing some pain medication in case you have another episode. It’s pretty strong so only give to her if she’s experiencing that same pain or worse and bring her back immediately.”
Milano nodded.
“Well I be alright?”
Nurse Red Heart ruffled the filly’s mane. “Don’t you worry, that’s why doctors and nurses are around, to help ponies feel better.”
With that, Milano and Alula left the hospital after getting Alula’s pain meds. The pegasus filly and earth pony mare walked along the road heading towards Wayward House.
Alula was a little disappointed that she wasn’t at the schoolhouse today, because she wanted to talk to Scootaloo. Her face heated up and tinted red when she thought back to what she did, kissing Scootaloo and hugging her like she did.
Oh…I can’t believe I went and did that! That was so stupid! I’m happy that I’m not the only pony who can switch between tribes, but there were a thousand different ways to say that other than kissing her and hugging her like that! Stupid Alula!
The pegasus filly face hoofed herself as a form of self-chastising.
Now she’s probably going to start avoiding me…I wasn’t even sure if she liked other fillies and I did that! I wanted to tell her I like-liked her, but not like that! I wouldn’t blame her if she hated me now…
“Alula, are you alright?” Milano asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because honey, you’re starting to hover above me now and you were walking not just a couple of minutes ago.”
Alula took a moment to look at her surroundings and found out that she was indeed hovering above Milano without her even realizing it. The vanilla filly quickly descended back to terra firma and chuckled nervously.
“Sorry Mrs. Milano.”
“It’s alright Alula, I just didn’t want you high in the sky before you realized that you were. But what’s on your mind sweetie, you looked deep in thought?” Milano asked.
Alula hesitated, she trusted and respected Mrs. Milano, but she wasn’t sure if the matron mare would take it well if she told her that she liked fillies, and that she kissed Scootaloo. But as it stood, Aura was the only other one she could confide in, but right now she needed some motherly advice.
“Mrs. Milano, would you be mad if I told you I…liked fillies?” Alula asked cautiously.
Milano considered the question. “How do you mean Alula? Because I like you, and you’re a filly.”
“I guess…” Alula sighed heavily. “I mean…sometimes, when I see another filly, I get a butterfly feeling in my stomach, and I get nervous around them.”
Milano’s eyes went wide with understanding. “Oh, I understand now, you mean…Oh. Alula why would you think I’d be mad about something like that? There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way. Did somepony say something to you?”
Alula could tell that Milano was about to enter “Momma Ursa” mode if she didn’t say something quickly. “No, no, it’s not like that! I…I think I messed up my friendship with Scootaloo.”
Alula had Milano’s attention, but now she had her full attention. “What would make you think that sweetie?”
The two of them stopped in the middle of the road as Alula sat on her haunches. “Yesterday…I saw Scootaloo at Sweet Apple Acres…I…” She couldn’t tell Milano about what she saw, not about the switching, and definitely not about Scootaloo being Shazam. “I told Scootaloo how I felt about her…I’ve kind of had a crush on her for a while now and I was scared of ever telling her. Then yesterday, it all came out and I…*gulp*…kissed Scootaloo!”
Milano’s brain just came to a grinding halt at that moment, her left eye twitched as she tried to process this. It’s not that she was disgusted, but it wasn’t something she was exactly prepared for. If Button had kissed that filly, Sweetie Belle, or Sweetie Belle kissed him, Milano was more than ready to explain such things to her son.
And by proxy, she was prepared to help the other foals in such a way as well, but this…this was slightly different. Because now, she didn’t know if there was damage control to be done, given Scootaloo’s past.
“Well…Alula, what happened after you…kissed her?” Milano asked tentatively.
“She just blushed and her wings flared out, I think she was too stunned to really say anything, because after that I kinda…kinda ran away back inside Apple Bloom’s house. I was just so scared that she was going to hate me. And I’m still scared that she hates me now! I don’t even know if she likes other fillies like I do, and I went and did that!”
Milano’s heart grew heavy as she saw the anguished look on Alula’s face. She really did care for Scootaloo, and was worried about messing up their friendship. In a way, Milano was hoping that Scootaloo would find somepony, although she was expecting that when she was older.
The abused filly was still in a fragile state deep down, and Milano knew that there might be troubles ahead of her if ever she found her special somepony. But maybe Alula would be good for Scootaloo?
Now came the question. Would Milano tell Alula that Scootaloo was abused, and that she might not want to be her fillyfriend because of the kind of abuse she suffered, or play it by ear and see how this develops? Either way it was a gamble.
“Alula, I need you to listen closely sweetie. What I’m about to tell you is secret, nopony other than Miss Cheerilee, myself, and Princess Twilight know this. I want you to promise me that you won’t tell a soul about this, because I need you to know that if Scootaloo says no to you, it might not be for the reasons you think,” said Milano and a serious voice.
Alula looked up at the orphanage matron with equal parts worry and anticipation. “Yes Mrs. Milano, I promise.”
Milano sighed heavily. “Scootaloo was hurt by somepony a while back, before she ever came to Wayward House. They did some very bad things to her, things that hurt her physically and emotionally. Do you remember Miss Cheerilee giving your class that talk about ‘Stranger Danger’ and how you should say ‘NO’ to somepony?”
Alula thought back to that day in class, now that she thought about it, Scootaloo looked really upset by that talk, despite her trying to hide it, Alula could see that she was uncomfortable about it all. The vanilla filly’s eyes went wide as she made the connection.
“S-Somepony did that stuff to Scootaloo?!” Alula cried.
“Yes, I’m sorry to say, somepony did Alula.”
The little filly began to cry, not for herself, but for Scootaloo. It all made sense now, why she seemed agitated that night in the bathroom when she ran away. Why she smashed the mirror, she must’ve remembered everything bad that happened to her and was venting.
Milano scooted closer to Alula and brought the filly into a hug against her side. “What’s worse, it was a mare who did those things to her.”
Alula looked back up at Milano. “A mare?! Why?!”
“I don’t know, and honestly I don’t care to know why. But know that the Royal Guard is looking for that mare and will find her and bring her to justice. But now you see why she may not feel the same way or find it hard to accept your feelings Alula.”
Alula did understand. “But I still really like her…and, I want to help her!”
Milano patted Alula on the head and smiled. “You have a big heart Alula, but be sure to not let Scootaloo know I told you these things. They’re personal, so let her be the one to tell you.”
“Okay.”
“And Alula, while I’m not a hundred percent sure on how a filly and another filly are supposed to feel towards each other, I do know that love comes in different forms. And if you do care about Scootaloo like you say, she’ll know you do too.”
Alula sniffled, wiping her face with her right foreleg before smiling up at the matron mare. “Thank you Mrs. Milano.”
A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER…
The air high up in the clouds was cool and brisk, despite the approaching summer heat, high altitudes were still the one place where a pegasus pony could really cool down. Scootaloo loved it up here, looking down at the ground below, feeling the freedom of the big blue sky.
She chuckled inwardly, realizing that a year ago, she wondered if she would ever be able to fly. And now, she was soaring up here with the best of them, and the best of the best was flying right beside her.
Rainbow Dash was staying in town again, since the Wonderbolts tour was over for the time being, she decided to spend more time with her surrogate little sister. It brought a smile to the brash pegasus’ heart, seeing that little filly so happy and excited to be up here in the air with her.
Rainbow Dash was glad when Scootaloo got her cutie mark, she didn’t know how, but whatever magic came with that mark gave her the boost she needed to fly like she always dreamed.
The pegasus mare and filly zoomed through air, weaving around cloud formations, sometimes busting right through them with a dramatic kick for fun. Rainbow Dash was going at nearly her top speed, it only impressed her when she looked to her left and saw Scootaloo keeping pace. Seeing this filled her with pride. Ever since that day when she could fly, the two of them had been practicing as often as they could, and now the young pegasus was almost at her level, and only at age twelve!
You can only get better from here Scootaloo, the older you get the stronger your body will be, for you Squirt, not even the sky’s a limit, thought Rainbow Dash.
The two pegasi decided to take a short break, finding a large enough cloud, the two of them flew over to it and settled down on it. Both of them panted a bit from their flying session, a little tired, but it was a good tired.
“You’re doing way better with each practice Squirt, pretty soon you might even be up to my level,” said Rainbow Dash.
Scootaloo blushed at the compliment. “Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll get to be that good. At least I can keep up with you a little better than before.”
Rainbow Dash lightly punched Scootaloo’s right foreleg. “Are you kidding me Scoots, at this rate, you’ll blow away all the rest. Hey, maybe you can enter the Best Young Flyers competition in Cloudsdale next year.”
“You really think I’m that good?!”
“Hay yeah I do! You’re turning thirteen next month, if we start now we can have a routine drawn up and start practicing early. I’d say you were good enough to go in now, it starts up around summer time, but I’d say we wait and really blow ‘em away when you’re at your best.”
Scootaloo was excited by this idea, she never even dreamed of entering the competition, due to the fact that she thought she’d never be able to fly. But now, after all this time, maybe it wasn’t such a farfetched idea. Winning the competition and getting a golden laurel-wreath just like Rainbow Dash’s. If it wouldn’t have made her look girly, Scootaloo would’ve fainted.
“That’s sounds awesome! Let’s do it!”
“That’s my Lil’ Sis.” Rainbow Dash got Scootaloo in a headlock and began mussing her mane up as the filly struggled to get out. “Pretty soon you’ll be beating off the colts with a stick.”
“Colts?” Scootaloo asked.
Rainbow released her. “Well yeah, I mean, when they see you out there they’ll be lining up to date you. Just sayin’.”
Scootaloo blushed. “Um…I don’t…um…Rainbow, can I ask you something?”
“Sure kid, what’s on your mind?”
“If uh…If you found out that somepony liked you…I mean, really liked you, a-and you weren’t sure how you felt about them…or if it was even alright to like them back…what would you do?”
Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped as her right eye twitched. Oh crap…Oh no…is…is she talking about me?! I…No, no, no, this isn’t happening! She can’t…I’m way too old for her – okay, maybe not that old, but still too old for her! Plus, it’s not…After what she went through…! Twilight will have my head, only after Cheerilee’s done cutting off my wings and beating me to within an edge of my life! Okay, just calm down Dash, just calm down, you can handle this.
“Oh…ahem, that sounds like a toughie…does that mean you, uh, like somepony like that?”
“That’s the thing. I feel like I want to…but, I don’t want to mess it up because she has the wrong impression of me. I guess the other thing of it is…what if…what if I’m like this because of the messed up things that happened to me?” Scootaloo asked as her gaze turned downcast.
Rainbow Dash felt her heart grow heavy. “Hey, Scootaloo, none of what happened to you is your fault. Neither does any of that stuff define who you are, you got that? So what if you like fillies instead of colts. I do too.”
“That’s what I’m scared of…what if I can’t feel like that with Alula?! What if –!”
“Wait, hold on, ‘Alula’, who’s Alula?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh…” Scootaloo looked away for a moment. “She’s…She’s a filly from Wayward House, an orphan like me. Alula…Alula kissed me and I liked it.”
Rainbow Dash wiped her brow, “Oh thank Celestia it’s another filly.”
Scootaloo quirked her eyebrow at that, “Yeah, who did you think I was talking about?”
“Nothing, no one! Definitely not me!”
“Wait wha –?”
“Anyway!” Rainbow interrupted. “I wouldn’t sweat it too much Scoots. Sometimes we tend to overthink stuff, it’s kinda like flying. You take too long in making a decision you end up crashing, if you overcompensate for another thing, you’ll also crash. Best thing to do is go with your gut, or in this case your heart.” Rainbow placed her hoof on the filly’s chest for emphasis. “Take a chance, and go with it.”
Scootaloo put her left hoof over Rainbow’s hoof. “Do you really think I can…y’know, have a fillyfriend? What if somepony says something?”
“Then you tell me, and I’ll put the fear of Faust into them.”
Scootaloo laughed, making Rainbow Dash join in. The young pegasus knew she couldn’t be fearful of these kinds of things, true her past would always haunt her, but it was the present, the memories she made here in this town, with the ponies around her, that would keep the ghosts at bay. A step forward into a new beginning was awaiting her, in the form of another filly who apparently like-liked her a lot.
“Thanks Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo moved forward and hugged her surrogate sister.
“Any time Squirt, that’s what big sisters are for.” The cyan mare hugged Scootaloo back.
Just then Scootaloo noticed something that she hadn’t earlier. “Hey, what’s this necklace?”
“Oh…that…um, it’s a –”
“Is that the lightning bolt of Shazam?”
“OKAY! Let’s do a few more laps around Ponyville and we’ll get a treat from Sugar Cube Corner! One! Two! Three! GO!”
Before Scootaloo could inquire further Rainbow Dash zoomed off into the sky, her rainbow streak the only indication of the direction she was going. Scootaloo shrugged and zoomed off to catch up to her. She wasn’t going to hesitate anymore, not if she wanted to move forward.