//------------------------------// // Why is it so Special? // Story: Forgotten // by OneStrangePegasister //------------------------------// Scootaloo pawed at the dirt on the ground with one of her pale orange hooves, trying to do something to wear off her boredom. So far, it wasn't working. She was at Sweet Apple Acres with Apple Bloom, talking with Gingerhoof, an old friend of Rarity's. For whatever reason, Gingerhoof had decided to visit Apple Bloom. She originally had to talk with Applejack, but she wasn't there at the moment. Scootaloo wished she was, however. She couldn't stand being this bored, and Gingerhoof was not helping, as the mare was discussing boring topics with AB. "Apple Bloom," Scootaloo groaned to her friend, but not loud enough for Gingerhoof to hear. "Can we please leave? I'm bored as hay! And I'm tired of this mare. She's too 'canterlotian' for me. I mean, Rarity is also canterlotianish, but Gingerhoof is just.." "Scoots, that ain't even a word," Apple Bloom told her with a roll of her eyes. "And would ya hush up? Gingerhoof is talkin' about this Mother's Day event she used to have with her family, and..." Scootaloo had stopped listening to her a few words ago, but her frown deepened at the mention of Mother's Day. "But why would Gingerhoof be talking about Mother's Day?" she wondered out loud. AB heard her and answered, "Cuz Mother's Day is in a few days. Didn't ya know?" Scootaloo's frown deepened even more (if that's even possible). "A few days? How come I didn't know?" The yellow earth pony shrugged. "How the hay should Ah know?" Before Scootaloo could ask anymore questions, or even answer AB, Sweetie Belle galloped up to them, a giddy grin across her face. "Guess what guys?!" she said excitedly once she had stopped beside them (not to mention, caught her breath). Apple Bloom blinked. "Ah thought you and Rarity were at your parents' for the weekend? In Manehatten? Ferr Mother's Day?" Sweetie nodded. "We were! But guess what?" she asked again. "Mom and Dad are coming to Ponyville!" Gingerhoof blinked. "Really?" "Really, really!" "I wasn't expecting you guys to get back so soon..." "How come everpony knew Mother's Day was coming except me?!" Scootaloo snorted in frustration. Apple Bloom blinked again. "Scoots, now calm down-" "You know, I'm sick of all this talk about Mother's Day!" the orange pegasus said angrily. Her fury was so sudden that it made everypony jump. "Mother's Day this, and Mother's Day that... Well, what's the big deal?!" Sweetie Belle stared at her friend with wide, frightened eyes. "S-Scootaloo, you're starting t-to scare me..." "I'm just so SICK of it!" Scootaloo yelled. "WHAT is so SPECIAL about MOTHER'S DAY?!" And with that said, she galloped away, trying to get away from Sweet Apple Acres and her friends as fast as possible. Rainbow Dash was helping the weather ponies clear the clouds out of the sky, when she saw a orange filly with magenta hair dash past her. Her mane covered her face, but Rainbow could tell she was crying. "Scootaloo?" she said with a frown. The young fifteen-year-old filly was too faraway to hear the blue pegasus, though. Though Rainbow Dash knew she probably should not interfere, she was concerned for her, and hated to see the filly so upset. Thus, she made the decision to follow her. Scootaloo shut the door behind her as she entered the cabin that bordered Ponyville. She walked over to a small table by the kitchen, and glared a picture that stood atop the table's surface. It was a picture of a mare and a stallion, with a small tangerine colt in the middle, who looked to be about four years old. They all wore bright smiles as they stared back at Scootaloo through the frame and glass. And Scootaloo hated it. "You said you would come back for me, but you never did, huh?" she growled at the picture through watery eyes. But her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Without going to open the door, she said through clenched teeth, just loud enough for the pony behind the door to hear, "Come in." A blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane entered the cabin and advanced forward with a steady trot. Scootaloo turned to face the mare, and her eyes widened. "Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?" But instead of answering the orange filly, Rainbow glanced around and commented, "Nice place ya got here." "Yeah," Scootaloo muttered. "It was my, uh..." She flattened her ears. "It was my mom's." Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Your mom's? Does she live here now? Or do you live alone?" "I live alone," Scootaloo answered the blue Pegasus quite rudely and curtly, which made Rainbow flinch slightly at her tone. "Sorry, it's just she... She left a long time ago, along with my dad and brother." Rainbow gazed at the filly with sympathy. "Oh. I'm sorry." The orange filly sighed. "It's fine. I've learned to cope without them, and living alone. It's been almost six years, after all." Rainbow's eyes widened. "Six years? You've been alone for that long?" All Scootaloo could do was nod slowly. "I... I had no idea," Rainbow Dash uttered. "Why should it matter?" the orange pegasus shot back, her eyes filling up with tears. "I've been doing just fine without them!" Though what she said wasn't true, she was hoping Rainbow Dash would just accept her answer. However, the rainbow-maned mare wasn't fooled. "Scoots, we both know that's not true," she said seriously. "I can tell when you're upset, and you are upset." "I'm not upset!" Scootaloo retorted, though her voice was shaky. "Why would you think that?" Rainbow rested her head on one of her hooves. "Well, let's see... For one, you're crying." "Am not!" But Scootaloo wiped her eyes as she said this. Rainbow Dash sighed. "This is about Mother's Day, isn't it?" Scootaloo couldn't deny it any longer. "Yes, it's about Mother's Day," she confessed through tears. "What else do you think it would be about?" Rainbow Dash walked over to the filly and pulled her into an embrace. "C'mon, tell me what's wrong," she told her. "You can trust me." "It's not that I don't trust you... I just don't want you to think of me as a baby for saying all this." "I won't," Rainbow promised. "Now, tell me what's bothering you." "Well," Scootaloo began, wiping her cheeks with one of her hooves. "It started when my family left. My mom said she was going with my dad and my little brother, Orange Blast, on a little errand, and told me they would be right back. I trusted what she said. After all, that wasn't the first time she had left me alone in the house. "So, I waited. And waited. And waited. I waited for them all day to come back, but..." She sniffed as a new set of tears formed in her eyes. "They never came back. By then, it had been a year, and I was used to living by myself. But I never lost hope that they would return. "By the time I turned ten, though, I just gave up. There was no use waiting or hoping anymore. It was official; they weren't coming back." The fifteen-year-old covered her face in her hooves, sobbing. Rainbow Dash comforted the filly by stroking her mane. She understood now why Scootaloo was so upset. What she didn't understand, was that how could her family leave her like that. Scootaloo lifted her head after a while and looked at the cyan pegasus. "Why would they leave me like that?" she whispered, just loud enough for Rainbow to hear. "What did I ever do to them? Was I not a good enough daughter for them? Did they just not love me?" "Listen," Rainbow Dash told Scootaloo, moving the filly's head to meet her gaze. "If they truly loved you, they would have come back. I just don't understand how they could have left you like that. You're a strong, confident, amazing filly. And if you ask me, a family who left their kid like that isn't a family worthy of anything." Scootaloo smiled and wiped away a stray tear. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash." Then a sudden thought occurred to her. "Is it okay if I consider you like a... motherly figure? I already consider you to be my big sister, but would it be to much to ask that of you?" Rainbow grinned. "'Course not. Just don't call me 'mom,' okay? It would be a little embarrassing." Scootaloo couldn't help but to laugh as she threw her hooves around Rainbow Dash in another hug.