Working Towards The Future

by Dasponi

Chapter Twelve; Another Letter

After a busy day for the both of them, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were reunited once more at the gates to the school when their respective days were finished. Rainbow Dash was supposed to work for longer than Scootaloo was at school but she had explained the situation, as best as she could without revealing too much, and her weather team had been very helpful and willing. Rainbow Dash was good at her job and friendly with everypony there so she had earned more than a few favours. Being in charge always helped, but Rainbow didn’t like playing the “I’m The Boss” card and she didn’t want to abuse her power, so was very glad the rest of the team had been so accepting.

After much discussion it was decided that while Rainbow Dash couldn’t just leave work early, she could work shifts in the evening or in the early morning, while Scootaloo was asleep. Weather was a twenty four job after all. Shifts at the weather patrol were an hour and a half long, with a break in between. Everypony had to work four shifts in a day and a day was usually around eight hours long, taking all breaks (including a lunch hour) into account. Rainbow Dash used to work straight through a full day like most ponies, but now she finished after her third shift at three in the afternoon. This way she was able to make it to the schoolhouse by half three which was when school finished. From now on she would be working a shift overnight and had chosen to work from ten until half eleven. It meant she would probably nap more during the day, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. If she really had to she could cut into her morning training time. But only if she REALLY had to.

“Hey Rainbow!” Scootaloo called as she left the school building and saw Rainbow Dash waiting for her. Scootaloo ran over to Rainbow and cuddled up close to her.

“Hey Squirt, how was school?” Rainbow replied, rubbing Scootaloo’s mane nervously. She was casting her eyes about as she spoke, looking at the reaction of the other parents and carers to the affectionate display. She was more affectionate with Scootaloo than she ever thought she could be, but it was much different in public. She didn’t mind playing with the filly and giving her calming hugs, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about it in public. To her relief barely anypony paid any attention to them.

“It was good.” Scootaloo replied, looking up at Rainbow Dash and smiling. “Well something a little bad happened, but I’ll have to tell you about it on the way home.” she added, looking downcast as she remembered what Featherweight had told her. Rainbow Dash looked at her with concern and leaned down to Scootaloo’s level. It was mostly to give her a quick nuzzle while nopony was looking but she managed to pass it off as letting Scootaloo hop up onto her back incase anypony did see it. Scootaloo hopped up, tucked herself into Rainbow’s mane like she usually did, and held on tight as Rainbow Dash took off into the air.

“So what’s this bad thing that happened? Did somepony mess with you again?” Rainbow Dash called back to Scootaloo.

“Not exactly.” Scootaloo replied, shaking her head. “Featherweight saw us with the tiara. He wants us to take it back or he’ll tell Diamond Tiara what we did.”

“Oh? Is that it? I can do that no problem.” Rainbow Dash replied. Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure of a plan straight away, but she didn’t want Scootaloo to worry about anything. She had plenty of time to come up with a plan. Time had also proven her to be quick at thinking on her hooves.

“How will you do that?” Scootaloo replied. She had faith Rainbow Dash could come up with something, but not so quickly.

“Don’t worry about it Squirt. I have to work tonight and I’ll drop it off then.” Rainbow Dash assured her. It was the very beginnings of a plan at least.

“You’re working tonight?” Scootaloo wasn’t aware of Rainbow Dash’s new working situation. It had only been worked out in the past day or two, and this was the first day of Rainbow’s new schedule.

“After you go to bed yeah. It’s so I can pick you up from school and spend the evenings with you.” Rainbow Dash explained. She felt Scootaloo’s grip around her neck tighten as the filly hugged her tighter.

“You did that for me?” Scootaloo asked. It sounded to Rainbow Dash like she was on the verge of tears.

“She really isn’t used to ponies doing things for her...” Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She flipped over, catching Scootaloo in her forelegs as she did, and hugged her tight to her chest. “Of course I did you silly filly.” Rainbow Dash said, nuzzling Scootaloo. “So don’t you worry about anything this Featherweight said either. It’s alright, I’m Loyalty. I’ll be here ‘til the very end.” Rainbow Dash titled her head back so she could see where she was going, and continued flying how she was all the way back to the cloud manor.

A few hours later, after Scootaloo was safely tucked into bed and sound asleep, Rainbow Dash prepared a little more than usual for work. She threw on her old black outfit to hide as much of her body as she could and put the tiara in a box and then threw the package into her saddlebag. She gave Scootaloo one last check and, after seeing she was how she had been left, took off into the night.

She decided to drop the tiara off before she went into work. That way she could take the suit off and avoid any unnecessary questions from her fellow ponies working the graveyard shift. Rainbow Dash found her way to Diamond Tiara’s house and briefly considered trying to sneak through the window when she thought of an even better idea. The last time she had tried to break into somewhere it resulted in her being found and chased across the town. There was no need to repeat that performance. There was another way, one that didn’t involve breaking and entering. She landed by the front door and took out the box with the tiara in. She quickly scrawled a note that simply read “To Diamond Tiara, from Mysterious Mare Do Well” and wedged it under the box. It stuck out enough to be seen, but not so far that it could be blown away by an errant wind. With that goal accomplished, she set off for work.

The next day came and Scootaloo rushed into Rainbow Dash’s room to watch her do her morning practice routine when she found something she was not expecting to see; Rainbow Dash was still asleep in bed. Scootaloo checked the clock to make sure that she hadn’t woken up too early and saw that it was seven in the morning. Normally at this point Rainbow Dash would either be half way through some trick or nursing the wounds of failure.

“Rainbow? Hey, Rainbow!” Scootaloo called, trying to rouse Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash stirred slowly. She opened her eyes and peered at the clock next to her bed. Her eyes shot open as she saw the time and she bolted up in her bed.

“Shoot, I really overslept.” Rainbow Dash said before disappearing into the bathroom. She reappeared one short trip to the bathroom later and was just about to dive out the window and begin her practice when she finally noticed Scootaloo was watching her. “Oh, morning Squirt. You’re up early.”

“And you’re up late.” Scootaloo replied, stifling a giggle at the sight of Rainbow Dash so flustered. Her prismatic mane was messier than usual and her fur was a mess. Whatever she had been doing in the bathroom, it wasn’t cleaning herself up. She had been brushing her teeth and then decided that could wait until after training. Showering was usually done after training as well.

“Yeah, I guess this new schedules gonna be a bit tougher to adjust to than I thought. At least I managed to take care of your business with Diamond Tiara.” Rainbow replied.

“You did? How?” Scootaloo said with what was probably the largest smile Rainbow Dash had ever seen on her face.

“I put it in a box and left it on her doorstep with a note from Mysterious Mare Do Well. I think she’ll buy it and not suspect a thing.” Rainbow Dash explained, smiling.

“Mare Do Well? That really was pretty smart.” Scootaloo replied. “I wonder what happened to her actually...” Scootaloo added, staring off into space as she was lost in thought.

“She’s still around, she’s just not in the hero business anymore.” Rainbow Dash replied, giggling. These days Mare Do Well was shelving books in a library, bucking apples on a farm, and baking cakes.

“Wait, you know who Mare Do Well is? Who?!” Scootaloo asked excitedly. Nopony had seen Rainbow Dash unmask her friends and they had never come out. Mare Do Well had simply vanished and left everypony wondering just who she was, and why she stopped. Rainbow Dash was about to reply when they heard a tap on the bedroom window. It was the white Pegasus who delivered the priority mail.

“Got another letter for you Rainbow Dash.” he said when Rainbow Dash walked up to the window. He dropped the letter off, gave Rainbow Dash a polite nod, and then took off again on his way to deliver more mail.

“I wonder who it’s from?” Scootaloo asked, walking over to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow herself picked up the letter and started to read it. When she realised who it was from she read it aloud because it was for Scootaloo as much as for her.

To Rainbow Dash (and Scootaloo)

It was good to hear from you after so long. Then I read your letter and find out it’s because you have yourself a little filly who can’t fly? I’m hurt you would only talk to me because you need me for something. Although, seriously, I’d be happy to help you and this Scootaloo out. I’m sure I can get her to fly. It’s not that I don’t have faith in your ability to teach a pony, I just have more faith in my ability. I sent this letter before I left and it’ll probably be a lot faster than me. You can expect me on Friday and we’ll get started on those lessons as soon as we can.

Yours,

Star Shine

P.S, you never actually explained how you know this Scootaloo, did you get yourself a special somepony?

“Me? Find a special somepony?” Rainbow Dash said when she finished reading.

“Me? Your daughter?” Scootaloo added. The two exchanged a look and burst out laughing.

“Geez Rainbow, how long has it been since you talked to this guy?” Scootaloo asked, still laughing. “It sounds like he barely knows you at all.”

“It has been a while yeah. It’s been at least half a year.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“So...he doesn’t understand how babies work? He can’t really think I’m your foal.” Scootaloo asked, doing the math in her head. A pony pregnancy lasted about eleven months. Scootaloo didn’t know quite how babies worked herself but she was smart enough to know that Mrs. Cake was pregnant for eleven months, even if she didn’t know how the babies ended up there in the first place. Unless he was incredibly stupid there was no way he would think that Scootaloo could be Rainbow Dash’s filly.

“I don’t think he does really. He just likes to joke around like that.” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Oh...say, what kinda name is Star Shine?”

“I guess you’ll have to ask when he gets here. He told me once but I forgot.” Rainbow Dash admitted. “Still it sounds like you’re in a for a good week.” Rainbow said, smiling.

“How so?” Scootaloo asked, confused as to what Rainbow Dash meant.

“Well think about it Scoots. Diamond Tiara has her tiara back, she won’t be at school all week, and Star Shine is coming to teach you to fly over the weekend. That sounds like a pretty good week to me.” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Hey you’re right, this is going to be the best week ever!” Scootaloo exclaimed brightly. Rainbow Dash nodded, took a look at the clock, and then jumped out the window when she saw how much time she had spent reading and talking. Her practice time was really being cut into. Scootaloo took her spot by the window, and watched Rainbow Dash fly around and practice her routine. She really did feel she was in for the best week ever.

Author's Note:

I spent far too long working out the maths behind Rainbow Dash's day at work, and so I'm going to try and show you my working, as if this was a maths test, so you may come to understand it. Basically, as I said, weather ponies work four shifts that an hour and a half long, and they can choose when these shifts are. They typically work straight through all four shifts though. They also have a small break in between. This system is loosely based on the one used at my volunteer job, except we don't have shifts. So let's see if I can work this out again:
09:00-Work starts
10:30-First shift over
11:00-Second shift starts
12:30-Lunch hour
13:30-Third shift starts
15:00-Day ends and she heads to the school

10:00-11:30-her fourth and final shift of the day. Scoots is in bed by 9 and Rainbow sticks around until 10 to make sure she stays asleep. Rainbow tries to get to bed and be asleep by midnight and is up at half six for her morning training. Scoots wakes up around seven, breakfast is at 8, and they leave for the schoolhouse...generally whenever (as I explain in a later chapter).

I hope that made sense I tried to work out a system that would work ad make sense in the confines and context of the story. As long as it makes sense, that's all that matters. I had to work it out again actually. To think I was good at maths in school. If you're wondering how Rainbow explained the situation to her weather team, she used the same lie Scootaloo did, and said Scoots was staying with her on a temporary basis and it was a sudden and unexpected turn of events.

Also reference to the song Rainbow by Koroshi-Ya is...well a reference to that song. Damn I love that song. The next chapter will be when my OC, Star Shine, makes his official introduction, and there is a reason for that name. I'm not just being egotistical. Lastly, I actually did look up on Wikipedia how long a horse pregnancy (and presumably a pony pregnancy) lasts. I don't advise going that far for your art. Longest author's notes EVER. Jeez this has been about as long as a chapter.

Comments

[Frankie2]

Wow. I really appreciate the work you put into writing this story. And it really shows. I look forward to meeting Star Shine. I don't look forward to when Diamond returns to school on Monday.

:And I'm looking forward to three days from now...oops.

[Dasponi]

2618436
Thank you, that really means a whole lot I personally think Star Shine might leave a bit of a bad first impression, but after a few chapters he'll be okay. But I can explain more of that some other time

[TwixiePony]

Another great chapter :D

[Dasponi]

2619521
I did mean that. That's what I get for not getting enough sleep I'll go fix it. Thanks for pointing it out

2619394
Thanks

[Cold Spike]

MOAR!

[twilightsparkle13]

Umm...
OK
don't know if this in ditfferent between where you are and the US, but

by half three which was

shouldn't it say half past three?

[Dasponi]

2619878
In Britain we don't always say "past". We tend to reserve "past" and "to" for when it's not halfway. Say, 20 past, or 10 to. Although, to be a proper sentence, it probably should have been "half past"

[AllPowersCombined]

Mare-Do-Well

Heh. Still not a bit less awkward

[Baree]

5,5 hours of sleep? That's just not healthy.

[Cinnamon Clover]

I thought the whole pony pregnancy thing was common knowledge in the fandom at this point, like the late Apples.

[Sycamore]

Wow, Rainbow's lucky. She goes to bed at 12 and gets up at half six. I wish I could sleep that much.

[changeling khaos]

After much discussion it was decided that while Rainbow Dash couldn’t just leave work early, she could work shifts in the evening or in the early morning, while Scootaloo was asleep. Weather was a twenty four job after all. Shifts at the weather patrol were an hour and a half long, with a break in between. Everypony had to work four shifts in a day and a day was usually around eight hours long, taking all breaks (including a lunch hour) into account. Rainbow Dash used to work straight through a full day like most ponies, but now she finished after her third shift at three in the afternoon. This way she was able to make it to the schoolhouse by half three which was when school finished. From now on she would be working a shift overnight and had chosen to work from ten until half eleven. It meant she would probably nap more during the day, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. If she really had to she could cut into her morning training time. But only if she REALLY had to

This is pretty hard to read. Its just a mess.

[Spectrum16]

Heck I dont care If its over a year late
Youtube does it all the time
But the Its alright im loyalty....
Gawd dammit...Now I realise is koroshi....F IT!

[Dasponi]

6225995
I was sad when Koroshi announced he was done I think he even removed all his old songs

[Teraunce]

6247457
6225995

Song referenced.

[Leviathan Eclipse]

She decided to drop the tiara off before she went into work. That way she could take the suit off and avoid any unnecessary questions from her fellow ponies working the graveyard shift. Rainbow Dash found her way to Diamond Tiara’s house and briefly considered trying to sneak through the window when she thought of an even better idea. The last time she had tried to break into somewhere it resulted in her being found and chased across the town. There was no need to repeat that performance. There was another way, one that didn’t involve breaking and entering. She landed by the front door and took out the box with the tiara in. She quickly scrawled a note that simply read “To Diamond Tiara, from Mysterious Mare Do Well” and wedged it under the box. It stuck out enough to be seen, but not so far that it could be blown away by an errant wind. With that goal accomplished, she set off for work.

Genius! Using that hero persona was brilliant... unless somepony matches her writing to the note