Scootaloo was downstairs sitting on the hard floor in the living room.
She was facing a mirror, watching her mouth move. “App…les, Rain…bow, Canterlot”
Scootaloo smiled. She was quickly regaining her speech. She continued to try and get her pronunciations right.
She squinted at the small orange pegasus in the mirror. “Pony, Celes…tia, Prin…cess. I’ve just… about got it.”
Scootaloo got up and looked around the room she was in. The sun had long passed overhead, the east facing window was dimly lit in the late afternoon, giving the living room a dark, cold feel.
Scootaloo’s Rainbow Dash doll was propped up against the mirror. The doll had been silently observing Scootaloo’s speaking progress through lifeless button eyes. She picked it up in her mouth and walked towards the door to the hallway. She rounded the corner and started to slowly make her way up the stairs, trying her best not to fall or slip. She was still slightly dizzy due to her head injury. When she reached the top of the stairs she trotted over to her room.
As Scootaloo entered the doorway to her room, she saw Rainbow Dash sitting on the bed with tears in her eyes. Rainbow had not noticed Scootaloo’s quiet appearance at the door. Scootaloo trotted over to Rainbow and stared at her for a couple seconds. Rainbow looked up and saw Scootaloo standing there with the doll in her mouth.
Time seemed to slow as the two pegasi looked at each other. The sun was shining into the room, a light breeze slowly meandered through the window as the two stood there, basking in the beautiful, everlasting day. Scootaloo moved closer to Rainbow Dash and held out her hooves. Rainbow stared for a moment before the tears began streaming down her face. She got off the bed and wrapped her hooves around Scootaloo.
Scootaloo was startled for a moment, but then started to sob slightly onto Rainbow’s shoulder and Rainbow did the same. It was perfect; everything Scootaloo ever dreamed of. Rainbow knew how much this meant to Scootaloo. They both kept hold of each other and continued to share this moment in their lives that could only ever happen once.
Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Rainbow… you’re more than an idol to me.”
Rainbow pulled back to look at Scootaloo and smiled, she knew what Scootaloo meant. Scootaloo continued to hug Rainbow as tight as she could. Eventually, she yawned and nuzzled Rainbow’s coat. Scootaloo began to drift away. Having the warmth of Rainbow Dash’s coat and arms surrounding her was enough to comfort her.
Rainbow noticed Scootaloo quickly becoming tired. Her injury had made her weak, tired and very insecure. Rainbow never wanted to leave Scootaloo in her house, even if she had found her parents. She decided she would ask questions later, but at the moment, her top priority was getting Scootaloo someplace safe.
Rainbow got into a standing position and used her wings to lift the half asleep orange filly to her perch on Rainbow’s back.
“I’m not leaving you here squirt, you deserve better than this,” she whispered to the filly on her back.
Rainbow trotted out the room and down the stairs, trying to be as careful as she could. At the bottom of the stairs, she took one last look around the house before going outside, back to Ponyville.
It looked to be getting late, but outside it was still bright. Rainbow trotted out the door and pulled it until she heard the latch click. The sunset was gleaming with the same bright orange hue of Scootaloo’s coat, it was beautiful. Rainbow stopped a moment to revel in the quickly disappearing sunlight before starting to move. She began trotting in the direction of Twilight’s library.
Nopony was outside this evening, aside from the occasional gardener. It was a casual day in Ponyville. Rainbow was still carrying the weight of a small filly on her back, but she couldn’t just leave Scootaloo in that house. She still wondered about Scootaloo’s parents, who were they? Where were they? But those answers were still locked away. Scootaloo wouldn’t tell anypony, not even her idol.
It wasn’t long after that Rainbow reached Twilight’s library, but the windows were dark and it looked like nopony was inside, not even Spike. Rainbow opened the door and trotted in slowly. It was empty, nopony was here, nothing seemed out of place and books weren’t scattered over the floor.
“Huh, this is odd. I wonder where Twilight and Spike are,” she mused to herself. Scootaloo yawned, causing Rainbow to look behind her.
Scootaloo looked to be sleeping peacefully; Rainbow didn’t want to disturb her. Rainbow shut the door behind her, slowly and carefully, trying not to wake Scootaloo in the process.
Trotting over to Twilight’s desk, Rainbow noticed several books opened on the table. Once Rainbow reached Twilight’s desk, she started to read the books that were open.
“motion sickness... hallucinations... memory loss…” she read.
Rainbow’s brain snapped at those last two words, she then glanced up to the title of the article that she was reading. “Signs of Brain Damage and Specific Causes.”
Rainbow stared at the page, reading it over and over again. “What if… no, that couldn’t be.”
Rainbow looked back at Scootaloo, who was still sound asleep on her back. She focused her attention to some of the other books on the desk. Others were about cures for brain damage, specific remedies. One book that seemed to have been read the most was on the subject of memory loss. Rainbow pulled the book over and started to read it.
“Some of the main causes of psychologically induced memory loss are traumatic pasts, horrific scenes and specific other reasons for the patient to consciously or subconsciously want to lose memory. These are only reasons to why memory loss may occur, however, significant memory loss requires a ‘jump start’, typically some traumatic event, before it manifests fully.”
Rainbow looked back at Scootaloo; she then started thinking about her house, the strange lack of parents, the untouched furniture, everything. Nothing about it felt quite right.
Rainbow continued reading the book. There was a specific passage that had been highlighted. “Memory loss may also occur due to specific social distress. A very common example of social distress that may cause a patient (particularly prepubescent individuals) to lose memory is the loss of loved ones, such as siblings or parents.”
Rainbow’s heart stopped and froze in place.
She looked back to Scootaloo and stared at her for a long time. Rainbow couldn’t feel her own heart. The only thing that kept her from thinking she was dead was the fact that she could still feel her emotions.
“Squirt…” Rainbow couldn’t speak; instead, she quietly closed the book and left it where it was.
Rainbow stared out the window in front of the desk. It was the perfect night, Princess Luna had just raised the moon, and the night was shining and gleaming. The light of the full moon shone across Rainbow Dash, and over Scootaloo. Rainbow looked back for the final time, Scootaloo was completely bathed in the moonlight and she looked…beautiful.
Rainbow looked back to the book and put a hoof over the cover.
“I need Twilight.”