//------------------------------// // New Daddy // Story: Daddy's Little Princess // by No Pony //------------------------------// Scootaloo weaved in and out of the legs of the larger, fully grown ponies as they made their ways home. The thought that so many ponies had shown up to celebrate the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally obtaining their Cutie Marks. Sure, a good number of them were probably happier that, with their Cutie Marks finally realized, the troublesome trio of fillies would finally calm down a bit and not cause as much havoc... or so they hoped. But Scootaloo didn't care, if the wide grin that took up the majority of her face was any indicator. She was just happy that she had finally succeeded, and best of all, that what she discovered to be her talent was something she could share with with her friends still. There were no other ponies that she'd rather have by her side than Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle. Yet, there was somepony else that she still had to share this momentous event with. The other Crusaders had their families their, and while Scootaloo was happy to have Rainbow Dash there, she wasn't the only member of her family she had to let know she had her Cutie Mark. Fast approaching her house, an orange walled hut with a purple roof that resembled her own coat and mane respectively, she barreled through the front door and found... darkness. Her smile shrinking slightly, Scootaloo ignored the lack of presence within her home and made her way through the dark living room, her eyes slowly adapting, but finding it unnecessary. She'd traversed her house in the dark numerous times on her own, rounding a corner flawlessly as she made her way to her room. Upon entering her own personal little sanctuary, Scootaloo's night vision had adjusted enough that she could make out the numerous trophies and memorabilia of her life. Knick knacks she picked up from her adventures with the Crusaders, autographed pictures of Rainbow Dash doing awesome stuff, posters of the Wonderbolts (mostly obtained from Rainbow Dash). They were all things she loved, but her true treasure remained hidden. Walking over to a side table by her bed, she pulled on the little drawer and revealed something wrapped in a powder blue cloth. Her smile growing a bit more as she saw it, she withdrew the cloth-covered object and bounded onto her bed, giggling as she bounced for a good minute, the excitement filling her body needing some way to be expressed to the outside world. Settling down, she lay on her stomach, holding the object before her, wonder in her eyes. Removing the cloth, she revealed none other than a horn. Not a musical instrument kind of horn, but a Unicorn's horn. But it was special compared to other horns. Whereas average ponies had what could be called short, plump looking horns with curved tips compared to an Alicorn's long, narrow horns that didn't have quite so much a curved tip as horns by animals generally did, this horn was different than both. It was larger than a Unicorn's horn, but not as big as an Alicorn's, and instead of being generally conical, it was uniquely curved and ended in a sharp tip that had drawn blood the first time Scootaloo had grabbed it incorrectly. The red horn seemed more like the fang of some terrible beast than a pony's horn, but she could tell for some reason or another that it was indeed a Unicorn's horn. But what made it special went beyond physical appearance. There was a... feeling that she got from it, something she couldn't explain. Like a heat that grew whenever she talked to it. She shared with it her emotions. Joy, sorrow, anger, fear, and so much more. Even though it never reacted, never did anything more than lie there, she couldn't help but feel like it was listening to her, and so she poured her heart out. She wasn't completely sure where it came from. She had found it in the Crystal Empire when the Equestria Games were taking place. It was a magnificent day already, but when it had grown dark and she was returning to the castle they were staying at for the night, she had gotten lost. Somewhere along the way, she had found it, just lying there in the streets. She was confused as to why it was there, why it wasn't attached to somepony. Miss Cheerilee had taught in class that some Unicorns could lose their horns through extreme physical or magical stress, and seeing as the Equestria Games would put many ponies through contests that would try them on both, it was possible somepony had lost it... but why didn't she turn it in? Surely somepony working for the games, or even the Crystal Empire, could find the Unicorn who had lost their horn and return it... yet... she didn't want to. From the moment she laid eyes on it, she felt unable to give it up. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't hoof it over to anypony, so she kept it a secret. She didn't regret that decision, especially since she felt something from it. Something she remembered feeling from her parents before, but they were... Shaking her head, she smiled at the horn once more, giving it her full attention as it gave her its every day. "You won't believe it, but I finally got my Cutie Mark today! Not just me, but Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle got theirs too!" Scootaloo exclaimed loudly, quickly rolling around on the bed to wave her flank at the horn to show off her Cutie Mark. She then proceeded to regale the horn with the story of how they obtained it. She stayed up late into the night, far past the bedtime of any filly her age. Somepony should have told her to go to sleep. Her parents should have been home to put her to bed. Her parents should have been there to congratulate her for getting her Cutie Mark... but she knew they wouldn't be. She knew fully why she had to go spilling her guts to this inanimate object. She knew why, despite the wide grin plastered on her face, the tears in her eyes had to flow down her cheeks. By the end of the night, she had finally given so much of her energy to letting the horn know about her life that she couldn't even be bothered to wrap the horn back up in its cloth and put it back in the drawer. Instead, she pulled it close as she crawled under the sheets adorning her bed, snuggling it up against her body as she felt the embrace of Luna's dream plane pulling her away from the waking world. She didn't even notice the pointed end of the horn pricking her foreleg or the tears from her face falling onto it, merely holding it for dear life. Scootaloo squirmed in her bed, her eyes squeezing shut tighter in rebellion against the rays of Celestia's sun that bore down on her face. She tossed and turned across her mattress, trying to get into some position that was comfy and capable of ignoring the sunlight peering through her window, but she couldn't fight it for much longer. Especially when she fell out of her bed. Hitting the floor flank first, she gave a slight yelp and jumped back to her hooves, hovering in air for a moment as her tiny wings flapped about furiously. Reaching back to rub her sore behind, she looked to it as well and saw it. She had forgotten for a moment that she had her Cutie Mark now, that some part of her thought maybe she just had another one of those dreams where she got it, or that time she had a nightmare about how badly having a Cutie Mark could go, but it was there. Unable to contain her reignited joy, she hopped around her room, off the walls, and over her bed... ... her bed! Remembering a bit more of last night's events, she registered that she never put away her prized Unicorn's horn. Scrambling over to it, she didn't find it there. Throwing the sheets off of it, she still found nothing. Feeling a tight lump of worry in her throat, she looked under her bed, around the table, inside her closet... nothing. The bitter sting of tears at the corner of her eyes returned at the thought of having lost her prized possession... no... her secret friend. She knew it was silly, stupid even, but it knew things about her that she wouldn't even tell Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Even though she wiped her foreleg over her eyes to try to keep the tears from rolling down her face, knowing it would only encourage her to break down in sorrow and frustration, they kept coming. All she succeeded in doing was make the bandages wrapped around her foreleg damp... ... wait, what? Blinking away the tears and wiping at her face with her other hoof, she looked down at the leg she had used initially and found that there were bandages wrapped around it, a slightly little dot of red at the center indicating that it was slightly bloodied from a wound. She... couldn't remember getting hurt recently. She didn't understand why she had a bandage on her or who had put it there. Before she could get too deeply into questioning the presence of the bandage around her leg, something else caught her attention. Something that seemed all too familiar to Scootaloo, but not something she smelt every day. It was something that burnt the inside of her nostrils. It was... smoke! Eyes widening at the realization, Scootaloo bolted out of her room, quickly trying to discern where the fire was coming from and if she could put it out before it got too bad. Seeing wisps of black smoke curling around the corner of the hall that led to her kitchen, she clenched her jaw and ran forth, ready to deal with whatever inferno had started in her house, not yet thinking about what had started it. When she rounded the corner though, she immediately collided with something large and firm, yet not necessarily hard. Rolling backwards from the collision, her eyes spun in her head a bit, trying to regain focus so she could get back to the task at hoof. "My apologies, it would seem I'm a bit out of practice when it comes to cooking. Rest assured, I have taken care of the flames." somepony suddenly announced, their voice deep, yet oddly smooth, containing power and demanding respect. When Scootaloo regained her sight, she looked up to find somepony she had never met before standing before her, a pan from which the smoke billowed out of levitating by their side, held by a red magic aura. The pony was a stallion, taller than most, perhaps even larger than Big Macintosh. His coat was a dark grey while his mane was a pure black, wild and flowing from his head like the smoke billowing from the pan. Adorning his body were pieces of armor at his hooves and neck that matched a steely crown on his head, coupled with a red cape ending in a white-fur trim that covered the entirety of his back and flank, leaving only his short tail to sway behind him. But most unusual was that he was a Unicorn. A Unicorn with a rather familiar curved, pointed red horn that had a gradient into the grey of his coat where the base connected to the head. The pony's red eyes, which held a cold attribute that sent a shiver up Scootaloo's spine, yet seemed oddly soothing, fell upon the Pegasus filly. His mouth opened slightly to speak, revealing an unusual set of fangs that had no place on anypony's figure, which made Scootaloo shrink further away from the intimidating stallion before her, afraid of what he was doing in her house and why. Noticing this, the Unicorn sent the pan back into the kitchen as he slowly approached Scootaloo, his motions slow, but his much larger form easily allowing him to close the distance with the filly, especially when her back met with the door out of her house. Seeing this, the Unicorn sighed and sat down before Scootaloo, the action helping to ease her ever so slightly. "I see that you are apprehensive about my being here. I suppose you can't quite tell who I am, but certainly you are going to be able to figure it out soon, just by looking at me." the stallion stated, simply sitting there and looking at her. Scootaloo relaxed a little more, but still looked at the pony warily. She'd never seen him before, and yet, now that he mentioned it... something about him was familiar. Sure, she recognized the horn on his head, but it felt like it was more than just the horn. Something that could be felt, not seen. She couldn't describe it, but whatever it was, she found herself slowly walking towards him, until he would have easily been able to reach out and grab her with of a hoof if he wanted to, although he likely could have grabbed her with his magic at any moment in the first place. Letting the corners of his mouth curl up in a slight smile as she approached, he reached out, setting his hoof on her head. She froze, but couldn't find herself capable of pulling away. It wasn't magic that kept her in place, but something else. Rather, she found herself pushing her head more so into his hoof, feeling relaxed and comforted by the slight sensation she got from making contact with his hoof. Stroking the filly's main, the Unicorn continued to watch over her, the smile not leaving his lips. Leaning in closer, he gently whispered "There is a lot I still have to explain, but don't worry Scootaloo. Just know that I am your new father."