Mayor Mare paced back and forth in her office nervously, chewing on her bottom lip as she thought the situation over. This was a dreadful, terrible thing. She'd had to deal with a number of travesties in what should have been the relatively quite, simple town of Ponyville, but it seemed that ever since Twilight Sparkle had arrived and the Elements of Harmony began defending Equestria, she'd been dealing with gods of chaos, magic devouring monsters, magical showdowns between the most powerful Unicorns around, and more.
Yet this... was something she couldn't blame on anypony. In reality, it was a very simple problem that every mayor had to deal with from time to time, but it had seemed that once more, because of all the odd circumstances her town had undergone since Twilight Sparkle's arrival, she had not had to endure such a relatively simple concern, but the burden was still just as heavy as any other. Perhaps it was because it was so close to home that she had to feel the sorrow welling up in her chest.
"Yo, wassup Mayor Mare!?" a familiar, raspy voice suddenly shouted by her ear, making the grey maned Earth pony jump. Turning around, she found Rainbow Dash and the other Elements of Harmony had assembled in her office. In her pacing, she hadn't even noticed that they had arrived, showing just how badly this news had set her off course.
"Ah, R-Rainbow Dash and the other Elements of Harmony, just the ponies I was looking to see." Mayor Mare stated, quickly moving over to her desk to take a seat. The mares raised a collective brow at the way she spoke. Usually she'd address them as "Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony". Not to say that they were looked upon as lesser, but considering she was generally viewed as the leader of the group, even before her ascension to Alicorn Princess of Friendship, it seemed odd to them.
Trotting forward, Twilight addressed the mayor. "Is there something wrong? You usually don't call upon all of us unless there's an emergency, but we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary and I haven't heard anything from Princess Celestia or the Cutie Map."
Shaking her head, Mayor Mare dismissed the more immediate concern of a national level issue, then motioned them forward. "Nothing of the sort that would warrant either of them to address you, but you were the only ponies I could turn to with some rather... disturbing news about a pony close to you all."
There was an exchange of worried looks between the Elements. They all cared for their friends a lot, and yet, as far as any of them knew, nothing was wrong with any of them. Surely they would have heard if something had happened to any of their friends, or even anypony they knew in general, especially with Cutie Map bringing up friendship in need.
Seeing the confusion, Mayor Mare rested her forelegs on her desk, setting her chin upon her hooves as she surveyed the group before her. "Tell me... how much do you know about Scootaloo's parents?" Mayor Mare inquired.
The mention of Rainbow Dash's biggest fan and adoptive little sister immediately got the rainbow-maned pony's attention. "Scootaloo? What does this have to do with her?" she quickly asked, taking a step towards the desk, ready to set her hooves upon it when Applejack quickly grabbed her friend and pulled her back.
"Easy there sugarcube, the Mayor's just askin' what we know 'bout her family is all. Course, Ah reckon Ah don' know much 'bout her family. Apple Bloom ain't never mentioned much 'bout it at least." the farmpony quickly admitted.
Rarity shook her head as she stepped up beside the other trio of sisters, by blood or otherwise, to the Crusader fillies. "Indeed, Sweetie Belle's never mentioned mentioned anything about it to me, so I can only imagine she's never spoken to either of our sisters, seeing how much they like to talk otherwise."
"I was afraid of that. It makes this a bit more difficult." Mayor Mare sighed, her head shaking from side to side as she dreaded what was to come next. "I suppose I should outline a few things before I get onto what the problem is." she stated, dropping back into her cushioned seat and spinning away to look out the window of her office, not wanting to actually look at the Elements as she explained what was going on.
"I don't know them much, but Scootaloo and her parents are from Ponyville initially. They moved here from Cloudsdale not long after Scootaloo was born. Apparently Scootaloo's inability to fly proved to be dangerous for such a small filly in a city above the clouds, and after one incident where she almost fell to the ground, they moved to Ponyville so they could have a ground-level house that'd be much safer for their flightless daughter. However, they kept their jobs in Cloudsdale, commuting their every day. The trip may not be too terribly long, but it is strenuous for them to do day after day, so they were often resting when they were home. Probably why you never saw them before." Mayor Mare began to explain.
Rainbow Dash fidgeted before the desk. She didn't like where this was going. She never even knew about Scootaloo's parents in the first place. She knew she had them, all ponies did after all, but the squirt never seemed keen on talking about her family. She was always more interested in what was going on in Rainbow Dash's life. She was starting to regret being so self-absorbed. She didn't know what this was for after all, but the fact the mayor was going into such detail told the Wonderbolt hopeful that things were not good for the orange filly she had come to consider her sister.
"They've been at it for years, always working hard for the sake of their daughter, but never really getting to do much else. I still blame myself for not knowing about this until now, but... It would appear that her parents died a few months ago." the mayor announced, the mere mention of the words seeming to make the very temperature in the room drop several degrees.
Rainbow Dash couldn't even find it in her to breathe for a moment. She knew she should have said something, but it was like the words were caught in her throat and she was choking on them. To think she didn't know that Scootaloo's parents were... dead... why didn't she know? Why didn't the squirt tell her about this? Did she not trust her? How could she have not mentioned this to anypony so far!?
Sensing the unasked questions, the mayor continued. "Apparently, on their way home after a late day of work they were called in for at the last minute, her father's wings gave out on him. Her mother tried to save him, but he was just too heavy and she was too exhausted. They plummeted and... well, you can figure the rest out from there." the mayor stated, letting the thought of what happened sink in for a minute before she felt it necessary to continue.
"It took a few days for her parents employers to figure out what happened and they met with Scootaloo to express their apologies for what happened. Apparently, they believed that Scootaloo would have reported it to us that her parents had not returned home and didn't approach my office at the time. It was a major oversight that shouldn't have been permitted, but that's besides the point. For whatever reason, Scootaloo didn't tell anypony about her parents' deaths. We think she was so overcome with grief, she wanted to ignore it. To just keep treating things like her parents were busy at work, we're not fully sure. But I received notice the other day that somepony from Cloudsdale heard that she had received her Cutie Mark and wanted to express their congratulations to the filly, telling us that they were proud a pony without parents could make such progress. It was at that point that we figured out what had been going on." the mayor concluded, sighing once more as she turned back to the Elements.
She found that not a single eye was dry among the group. Fluttershy wept silently behind the curtain of her pink mane, while Pinkie Pie was outright bawling like a baby, blowing her nose into a handkerchief that would have been comical had the news of what just transpired not been so terrible. Applejack and Rarity were holding each other, trying to comfort the other over the fact that their sisters' friend had been suffering so much and knowing they'd have to let their siblings know what happened. Twilight had tears running down her cheeks, but her attention was on Rainbow Dash.
The tears didn't spill out, but they welled up in the proud Pegasus' eyes. She fought so desperately to keep from crying over what she had just learned, but the fact that she hadn't known anything about her number one fan, HER ADOPTIVE SISTER, and her plight was just terrible. She knew somewhere inside it wasn't her fault that Scootaloo hadn't shared anything about her family life, but she felt like she should have taken the initiative. She should have figured out what was going on, but she just couldn't figure out why.
"I know this is... very hard to take in, and I'd hate to involve you in what comes next, but now that we've learned about this dilemma, we've got address what to do about Scootaloo. We know she's been able to take care of herself these past few months by using the bits her parents left behind for her, but... that money is going to run out eventually, and even if it didn't, we can't just let a filly like her live on her own anymore." Mayor Mare stated, hoping these ponies would be able to help her come to a solution. She had some ideas, but she wanted their input on this filly's future.
Knowing that the others will still struggling, and Rainbow Dash wouldn't be able to open her mouth at the moment without crying out in emotional turmoil, Twilight took a step forward, her wings moving forward to wipe away the tears that had run down her face. "Wh-what are our options?" she asked as calmly as possible, still feeling a slight tremor of sorrow running through her.
Tapping her hooves on her desk nervously, Mayor Mare replied "Our first option is to send Scootaloo to live with some relatives. She has an aunt that lives in Fillydelphia who may be able to ta-"
"NO!" Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted, frightening the mayor, as well as her friends. The outburst was followed by a few slight sobs, but she was able to quench them with a shake of her head and a few upset hiccups. "I-I mean, we can't send her away. Her whole l-life is here, with us. Heck, her Cutie Mark matches up with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's, it wouldn't be right to separate them." Rainbow Dash pointed out, earning a nod of agreement from Applejack and Rarity.
"That maybe true, but then we need to find somepony here in Ponyville to take care of her, and while I have no doubts any of you would be willing to step up to that, I don't want you to ignore the severity of the situation. To take in a young filly and help raise her to marehood, particularly one who hasn't felt it necessary to tell any of you that her parents are no longer with us." Mayor Mare declared, a visible cringe coming from those who knew what she said to be true.
They'd all gladly accept the responsibility, the Apples even had experience taking care of one of Scootaloo's best friends who was in very much the same position of deceased parents, but there was a glaring difference. Scootaloo, for one reason or another, hadn't trusted any of them with the knowledge of her parents' passing. Perhaps she was just too sad to share it. Perhaps she didn't want their pity. Perhaps it ran deeper than any of them realized. Either way, she hadn't opened up to them, and if she wasn't going to talk about it before, there was no reason to expect she'd be willing to open up about it if they suddenly confronted her.
Yet, the thought only made the slight trembling that had started in Rainbow Dash's legs since they learned about Scootaloo's parents grow in strength, making her agitation clear to the others. "We... we have to try! I mean, that's what friendship is about, isn't it? We don't always want to do something, but we trust in our friends when they show they want to help!" she blurted out loud. Her Element of Loyalty clearly showed to the others, but whether or not it was the right thing to do at the moment weighed on their minds. It was a very delicate situation and they had to think it out.
Rainbow Dash disagreed.
Before any of them could react, Rainbow Dash shot out the office window, making a beeline for Scootaloo's house. The speed with which she flew forth threatened to shatter the sound barrier, nearly sending the ponies she passed by tumbling in the wake of her speedy departure. She'd have to apologize to them later, especially those whose businesses she was likely disrupting, either by knocking ponies over or sending their merchandise flying from the wind pressure, but Scootaloo was her first and only concern at this time.
For the fastest pony alive, it took her less than a minute to reach Scootaloo's house at the edge of town. Slowing down just enough so that she didn't damage the house or the filly she was expecting inside, she still moved forward with enough force to knock the door wide open. "Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash cried out upon entering the house, her eyes quickly surveying the place.
Before she could get a verbal response, she noticed the smell of food coming from the kitchen. It smelt like blueberry pancakes, one of Scootaloo's favorites. She quickly flew forward, rounding the corner into the kitchen, expecting to see Scootaloo fixing herself a meal, something that broke her heart now that she knew it wouldn't be here parents doing that, only to discover-
"KING SOMBRA!?"
Indeed, standing at the stove, looking down at a lightly browned pancake was the infamous ex-king of the Crystal Empire. The Unicorn stallion cast a glance at Rainbow Dash, his eyes half-lidded, looking almost bored at the prospect of the Pegasus before him, then returned his attention to the pancake at the stove.
"Would you mind keeping it down? Scootaloo's in her room and I'd rather her not-" the tyrant king began speaking, the tone of his deep, yet oddly smooth voice clearly bored, as if the Element of Loyalty was but a mere afterthought, only to find said Pegasus flying forward with enough speed to making a Sonic Rainboom if given enough room.
However, when she got within a foot of the monstrous pony who had enslaved an entire empire, she was repelled by a barrier of red magic that seemed to appear instantaneously, sending her tumbling backwards, rolling across the floor and into the opposite wall. The impact was hard and made Rainbow Dash dizzy beyond belief, stars practically flowing by her eyes as she tried to focus on the villainous individual before her.
"I'd suggest against doing that, you may not be able to see it, but I have a-" Sombra started to say once more, only for Rainbow Dash to fly forward again, a bit less fast, but that only served to make the impact with the barrier that much less painful as she was forced back into the wall once more.
"Are you done? Because you're only prov-"
DING! Another collision and Rainbow Dash was sent rolling backwards once more.
"You know, this is starting to-"
CLING! Sombra was curious as to why the barrier made a different noise this time as Pegasus was sent on her back. The barrier's power hadn't diminished in the slightest. Perhaps it was-
CLANG! Now he couldn't even finish a thought before Rainbow Dash charged forward. Anticipating her next attempt, he instead focused the barrier around Rainbow Dash, encompassing her in a red bubble of magic that kept her in place.
"Now that we've put an end to that, you need to-"
DING! CLING! CLANG!
"Let me out of here you monster! What did you do to Scootaloo!? WHY ARE YOU MAKING PANCAKES IN HER HOUSE!?" Rainbow Dash shouted, practically roaring with anger that would have impressed Sombra had he not found her irritating at this moment. He opened his mouth to respond, when he was interrupted once more, but by a different Pegasus this time.
"Rainbow Dash! Why are you shouting?" Scootaloo asked as she appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, quickly scurrying over to the bubble of magic that she was being contained in. The orange filly cast a curious glance to Sombra, who snorted and released the magic, allowing Rainbow Dash to fall to the ground.
Landing with a slight grunt, Rainbow Dash quickly spun around and wrapped Scootaloo up in her forelegs, hugging her so tight that she made a squeak like a rubber ducky. "SCOOTALOO! I was so worried! Mayor Mare told us about your parents and you didn't say anything and I thought you didn't trust me or anypony else, so I came to see you, but then I found HIM!" she yelled, quickly pointing an accusatory hoof at the red-horned Unicorn, who merely placed the pancake he had been making onto a plate with several others, using magic to pour some syrup on top of them and carried them over to a table, not even looking at the mare that was shouting.
While she had found it difficult to keep up with everything Rainbow Dash had been saying, Scootaloo flinched when she heard mention of her parents. She knew this would come eventually, but she hadn't expected anypony else would tell Rainbow Dash of her de- her original parents. But she pushed past that, squirming out of Rainbow Dash's grasp and quickly moved over to the table, her eyes darting between her idol and...
"Um... Rainbow Dash, this pony here is-" Scootaloo started to say, only to be interrupted.
"King Sombra! The tyrant of the Crystal Empire and King of All Monsters! He's a terrible pony and a dark wizard! He's-"
"HE'S MY DAD!" Scootaloo shouted abruptly, cutting Rainbow Dash off this time. Her idol's eyes went wide, her mouth agape as she looked between the orange filly and the dark stallion. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, unsure of what to say. Unsure if there was anything to say.
Rolling his eyes, Sombra gave a sigh and returned to the stove, levitating some more ingredients out of the fridge with his magic. "It would appear I need to make more pancakes for our guest." he muttered to himself, earning a nod from Scootaloo as she continued to stare back at Rainbow Dash, now chewing gleefully at the blueberry pancakes in her mouth.