5. Homeward
Under Our Wing
Chapter 5
Homeward
“You know, it's impolite to read another pony's mail.”
Silver Hoof jumped, the letter falling from his hooves as his head snapped up. “S-sorry,” he muttered shamefully, bowing his head as Twilight collected the parchment into her magic and folded it.
“It's alright; with how we were acting I'd probably do the same,” she admitted, sliding the letter back into the envelope.
“What about-”
“Rainbow?” Twilight offered, smiling as the stallion nodded. “She'll be okay. She's stubborn but not completely illogical. Once she calms down a little I'll be able to talk her into waiting until the storm passes. She probably won't get much sleep tonight though...”
Silver Hoof nodded slowly, fiddling with his hooves awkwardly. “Sounds like she really cares about this Scootaloo.”
Twilight chuckled. “You could say that.”
A long stretch of silence filled the air as it became evident Twilight didn't want to say any more on the matter. Finally, Silver Hoof cleared his throat and started towards the stairs. “Well, I should probably go check on Neon and Misty.”
“I think Rainbow put them in the rooms at the end of the hall, just turn left from the top of the stairs. You can have any of the rooms down there.” Twilight called as the stallion reached the second floor landing. Giving his thanks he turned and hurried towards the end of the hall.
Twilight sighed as soon as he was out of earshot, her smile falling as she too left the entryway, searching for the pegasus she'd managed to lose in the colossal house. Eventually, after checking more room than she cared to admit, she found Rainbow sitting in the dining room, staring out the patio doors into the storm raging through the quiet meadow their cabin was built in. The pegasus's ears perked up as Twilight entered the room.
“It doesn't make any sense,” Rainbow muttered without turning away from the window. “It's not like her life was perfect, but... she's such a happy filly. Why would she have jumped? I swear if it had anything to do with those two snooty brats in her class...”
Sighing to herself quietly, Twilight came and sat next to her wife, leaning up against her. “We'll know more when we get back tomorrow, but I'm sure it's not like that. For now it's only a theory; unless Scootaloo tells them, they won't know what happened for sure.”
Rainbow slapped a hoof against the cold glass window, the hollow thunk was quickly swallowed by the howling winds. “If it weren't for this stupid storm I'd fly us back... but not even I could make it out of this, especially with a passenger...”
“We'll leave for home first thing in the morning, okay?” Twilight offered, standing and motioning for Rainbow to follow her. “Come on, let's get some sleep.”
Begrudgingly, Rainbow slowly turned away from the window and trudged alongside Twilight to their bedroom. “As soon as the storm stops, Twi. As soon as it lightens up enough that we can make it out.”
“Hmm?” Twilight tilted her head curiously.
“We're leaving,” Rainbow clarified. “As soon as possible, I'm flying us out to the main lobby and getting a carriage back to Ponyville.”
Twilight sighed as they reached their room. “You're not even going to try sleeping, are you?”
“I might oversleep.”
Groaning, Twilight watched as the pegasus went straight to their bedroom window rather than the bed. Looking between her two options, she eventually gave in and once again sat next to her wife. “Fine, have it your way. We'll leave as soon as we can.”
“Go get some sleep, Twi; I'll wake you up when the storm's calmed down,” Rainbow insisted, trying to shoo the unicorn away with her wing. Instead, Twilight grabbed the feathered appendage and curled it around herself like a blanket.
“You know I'll never get to sleep with you just sitting here like this. If you're staying up, I may as well join you.”
Rainbow sighed. “If this is your attempt to try and get me to sleep, it's not happening.”
“If that was your attempt to get me to sleep, it's not happening either,” Twilight shot back, chuckling quietly at the glare her wife gave her.
“Fine. We both know you'll be asleep in five minutes anyway.”
“Do we? Well I-” Twilight paused, yawning widely. When she saw the smirk Rainbow was wearing, her cheeks lit up a light red. “Shut up.”
“Told ya.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, resting her head against Rainbow's shoulder. “We'll see who's asleep in five minutes.” She yawned again, blinking and attempting to clear the haze from her mind. “We'll see.”
-_-_-_-
The quiet pitter-patter of raindrops on glass filled Twilight's ears as her mind returned to the waking world, slowly but surely. The wind still howled outside, but much quieter than it was when the storm started.
“Fine, you were right,” Twilight grumbled to the mare she knew was just itching to say 'I told you so'.
To her surprise, she got no snarky reply. Instead a low, guttural snore filled her ears. Her eyes opened and a victorious smirk appeared on her face as she saw the ceiling above her, the pair having fallen over in their sleep at some point during the night. She could feel the radiator that was Rainbow Dash next to her, the downy wing still wrapped securely around her back.
Craning her neck, Twilight looked out the window to the storm. The rain had been reduced to that of a heavy drizzle, and the trees swayed in the wind rather than bent. If she looked out far enough towards the horizon, she could see the colours of dawn starting to peak through below the clouds.
“Dashie~,” she called gently, turning her head around until she was met with Rainbow's sleeping face. Leaning forward, Twilight gently nuzzled her wife, watching as the pegasus stirred slowly in her sleep.
“The storm's almost over, Dashie, we can leave.”
Rainbow's eyelids pealed back slowly as she awoke, blinking blearily. She craned her neck, looking out the window, before shooting upright like somepony had lit her mane on fire. “Twi! Wake up! The storm's gone down! We can get back to Ponyville. Told you you'd fall asleep.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, stretching languidly before pushing herself onto her hooves and helping Rainbow do the same. “I'm going to ignore that comment. Come on, let's pack up and get going. I'll leave a note for Silver Hoof when he gets up.”
Giving a mock salute, Rainbow shot over to the bookcase and took the books that they'd brought with them, namely the Daring Do series, as well as a few other odds and ends from the dresser. She crammed them all into a pair of saddlebags and slung them over her shoulder. Throwing the bags over her back, she raced out of the room and found Twilight in the hallway, just finishing pinning a note to the wall opposite one of the doors, ensuring that somepony walking down the hall would see it.
“Ready?” Twilight asked, tugging on the paper a few times to make sure it would hold. At Rainbow's confirming nod, she lead the way towards the entryway of the house and through the front door once she'd double checked the contents of their bags, much to Rainbow's displeasure. By time they got out the door, the storm had died down to little more than a gentle sprinkle compared to what it used to be, and the wind was nothing more than a reminder of what had ravaged the valley not long ago. The sun was just barely peaking out over the horizon, and blue sky could be seen through small patches in the light grey clouds.
“Let's go!” Rainbow urged, crouching down and motioning to her back.
Twilight complied, clambering atop her wife and carefully avoiding her wings. Rainbow shifted as she adjusted to the already familiar weight, and without warning launched into the sky. “Which way's the lobby, Twi?” She asked over her shoulder.
Scanning the ground, Twilight pointed towards the path leading to their cabin with a hoof and traced it back towards the center of the cabin branch. “Go there; I remember seeing a map when we were dropped off.”
A couple powerful flaps later and the pair were rocketing through the sky towards the indicated direction. Just as the howling of the wind rushing past their ears set in, a flash and subsequent crack of lightning shot though the air just tens of meters a way, reminding them that though it may have died down, the storm was anything but over.
“Careful!” Twilight shouted over the sound of the wind as another bolt of lightning lanced by them. The rain had nearly soaked her to the bone and her mane was plastered to her face. She was sure that Rainbow had fared no better.
“I'm trying,” Rainbow snapped without looking back. “It's not exactly easy to manoeuvre with the added weight of a passenger, alright?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, squeezing herself closer to the pegasus beneath her in both an effort to conserve the heat that the rain was rapidly sapping from her skin, and make it a little less awkward for Rainbow to fly. “Better?”
“A little. It's about as good as we're going to get for now. We should be able to find a carriage or chariot back home once we reached the lobby. It's not too bad out here.”
“Speak for yourself...” Twilight muttered, shaking her sopping bangs out of her eyes to little effect. Craning her neck and peering over Rainbow's shoulder , he ensured they were still following the path back to the hub of the cabin branch. Her eyes lit up as she spotted their destination on the horizon.
Tapping Rainbow on the shoulder, she pointed towards a small hill with a large cabin built on it. A crescent shaped wall of mountains stood between them, the path cutting its way between two of them.
“That's it?” Rainbow asked, tilting herself down towards the gap in the mountains as another bolt of lightning cracked behind them.
“Yeah. Hopefully we can get a ride back to the lobby from there. Or at the very least rain jackets or something.”
“Aw c'mon, Twi,” Rainbow chuckled. “A little rain never hurt anypony.”
“You can't see my mane,” Twilight shot back. She felt Rainbow snicker beneath her.
“I like how your mane looks when it's wet.”
“Shut up and fly, Featherbrain. If we're lucky we can be in Ponyville before noon.”
-_-_-_-
Sliver Hoof yawned as the door to his temporary bedroom creaked open. The bright light of dawn shone through the large windows now that the storm had passed. He meandered out into the hall drowsily, checking into the rooms of his two children to ensure they were still asleep. After getting two matching snores, her wandered back into the hall, stopping when his eyes landed upon a piece of paper stuck to the wall.
Silver Hoof,
Sorry to run off so suddenly, but we had to leave as soon as the storm would allow, and you already know why. With any luck we should be back in Ponyville before long. Don't feel like you need to leave as soon as you wake up though; go ahead an enjoy some breakfast on us if you want, since we're still technically renting the cabin. You said today was your day off, so use it; get your wife and stay in our cabin as long as you want. We'll be stopping on the way out to let them know we're checking out, but we'll tell them we aren't leaving until later today, so you go ahead and enjoy. If anypony asks, tell them Rainbow and I are out getting some things from the central village.
-Twilight Sparkle
Silver hoof smiled, folding the letter and placing it on a table set against the wall as he made his way towards the front room. His wife was no doubt worried about him already, and the longer he waited to go find her the more stressed she would get, especially since Neon and Misty were with him. As guilty as he felt about it, a day off in one of the resort's cabins sounded wonderful.
His thoughts were derailed when he saw a letter laying on the floor in front of the door. His idle smile shifted to a frown as he trotted over and picked it up. As expected it was addressed to Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Glancing over his shoulder, he ensured he was indeed alone as he let his curiosity convince his hoof into opening the envelope and pulling out the letter.
Dearest Twilight and Rainbow,
I hope you get my previous letter before this one, as they're being sent on the same day, but I'm afraid I have news that the two of you need to hear. Scootaloo just woke up in hospital, with some... troubling news. She has admitted to jumping into Ghastly Gorge, but there's even worse news. Though the filly herself is fine, and will make a full recovery, her reason for jumping is... something that needs to be explained face to face.
In my last letter I thought we could handle it without you for now but... please, Scootaloo needs you back here. I hate to request this of you, but we all need you back here to help with what's happening. I'll explain everything when you're home.
-Rarity
Silver Hoof bit his lip, reading over the letter again. If the clear skies were any indication,
the storm had been safe to fly in for quite some time, meaning Rainbow and Twilight were probably already leaving the territory of the Crystal Empire, if not almost back in Ponyville.
“Mmmm... dad?” Came a sleepy groan. Silver Hoof spun around, quickly folding the letter and hiding its contents as Misty Skies trotted slowly down the stairs. “Where's Rainbow Dash?”
“They went home,” Silver Hoof explained slowly, discretely slipping the letter onto a table and walking to meet his daughter at the bottom of the stairs. “Go get your brother for me, I have a surprise for both of you.”
Misty yawned, rubbing her eye with a hoof before nodding and plodding back up the stairs.
Silver Hoof watched her go until she was around the corner before grabbing the letter off the table again and walking over to the window, looking out to the bright blue sky, freshly freed from its cloudy prison.
“Good luck...”
-_-_-_-
Rainbow fidgeted restlessly in her seat, front hooves idly tapping together as she tried to find a comfortable way to sit in the back of their carriage. For the umpteenth time one of her legs poked Twilight, who was sitting patiently with a book levitating in front of her muzzle. Finally, she snapped.
“Can you sit still for ten seconds!?” Twilight barked, closing her book with a sharp thud and glaring daggers at her fidgety companion.
“No,” Rainbow shot back, meeting Twilight's glare. “And I don't know how you can. You just sit there reading like there's nothing wrong. Do you even remember why we're going home early!?”
Twilight sighed, lowering her book into her lap. “Look, I know how worried you are – I am too – but you need to realize that there's nothing we can do until we actually get back to Ponyville. Just try to relax, okay?”
“Easy for you to say,” Rainbow huffed, crossing her forelegs and slouching back into her seat.
Frowning, Twilight leaned over and opened the window of the carriage, poking her head out and calling to the two pegasi pulling them. “How much longer until Ponyville?”
“'Bout twenty minutes,” one of them grunted over his shoulder. Twilight smiled, nodding in thanks, before pulling her head back inside.
“Only twenty minutes until we're home, Rainbow.”
“Would've been faster if you just let me fly us...”
Twilight rolled her eyes at the argument her wife had been using the entire trip. “No, it would've been slower because you would have gotten us lost; neither of us have a map, nor do we know how to get to Ponyville from the Crystal Empire.”
“We could have gotten a map,” Rainbow argued.
“That's what I kept saying, but you insisted we didn't have time to search the Empire for a map, so we left without one.”
“Well...” Rainbow trailed of, at a loss for a good argument. “How hard could it be? The Empire is in the north, so we'd just fly south!”
Twilight shook her head slowly, a hoof held to the bridge of her nose. “That's... not how geography works. Just try and keep your mind off Scootaloo, okay? We can't do anything about it until we're home, and this is the fastest way to get home.”
“How am I supposed to not think about Scootaloo? You read the letter; you know what she tried to do!”
“I already told you, Rainbow; it's just a theory the doctors have to explain her injuries. There could still be other explanations. Unless Scootaloo tells them anything, we won't really know what happened. For now at least she's going to be okay, and that's what's important right now,” Twilight explained slowly. “Here, you brought all the Daring Do books, why don't you read one?”
Rainbow sighed, glancing over to the saddlebags filled with books. “I guess...”
“We're almost home, just try and distract yourself.” Twilight's horn lit up for a few moments as she brought forth one of the books from her bag, scanning the title before passing it to Rainbow. “Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet, one of your favourites, right?”
Giving a large, theatrical sigh of acceptance, Rainbow grabbed the book out of the air and flipped it open to a random page. “Happy?” She muttered as her eyes wandered over the page, never actually reading what was printed there.
“No, but until we get back to Ponyville it's the only thing we can do.” When Rainbow didn't answer, Twilight frowned and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, you know Scootaloo's going to be okay, right? Even if she did... jump, we'll figure things out.”
“I know...” Rainbow mumbled, even as she shrugged off Twilight's hoof. Twilight watched her for a second before lifting her own book up and flipping to her page.
For the rest of the trip the pair kept their eyes glued to their respective books, one reading and the other lost in their thoughts and their worries. The sun was high in the sky by time they got to Ponyville, and was beginning its decent from its apex when they felt the carriage touch down on the rough cobbled roads. Finally they were home, and before they had even come to a complete stop Rainbow burst through the door, forgoing the path as she flew straight towards a tall building atop a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville. Twilight wasn’t far behind her, slinging her saddlebags over her back and paying the drivers before lighting her horn and teleporting herself to the hospital.
With a flash and a pop she appeared in the middle of the hospital's waiting room just as Rainbow burst through the doors. Together they rushed towards the receptionist.
“Where is she!?” Rainbow barked, slamming her hooves down on her desk.
The receptionist gave her a very bored, unamused stare. “Well I could sort through every female patient we have, listing them off one by one for you - which I would just love to do - or you could expedite the process and tell me who you're looking for,” she deadpanned, no small amount of sarcasm trickling into her voice.
“Scootaloo,” Rainbow clarified through grit teeth.
The mare behind the desk smiled sweetly. “See, was that so hard?” She asked before going to work shuffling through a folder, the smile falling from her face as she started muttering under her breath.
“Well?” Rainbow pressed impatiently.
“How about you look through these hundreds of papers for a single name, hmm?” The receptionist shot back, not even lifting her gaze from her files.
“Why you- mmph”
“Now's not the time, Rainbow,” Twilight scolded, slowly removing her hoof from Rainbow's mouth.
“I found her,” the receptionist called. “But you can't see her yet, she's-”
“What!? Why not!?”
Rolling her eyes, the receptionist tucked her files back into her desk. “As I was about to say,” she shot a glare at the apparently very impatient pegasus. “She's currently in the operating room. She should be out in an hour or so, and once the anaesthesia wears off you'll be able to see her.”
Rainbow growled lowly. “Why is she being operated on? Rarity said she was going to be fine!”
“I am not at liberty to disclose a patient's medical information with somepony without the patient's express permission or the permission of their legal guardians,” the receptionist recited, as though quoting straight from a manual – which she probably was.
Twilight sighed, forcefully dragging Rainbow away from the desk. “Come on, we'll just have to wait until Scootaloo's awake, then we can ask her ourselves.”
“Yeah, I guess. Still, I wish- Sweetie Belle?” Rainbow cut herself off as a familiar pearly white unicorn filly caught her eye. Sure enough, Sweetie Belle was sitting in a chair against the wall, head slumped back and quiet snores escaping her mouth. Next to her was Applebloom, also sound asleep.
Sharing a confused look, Rainbow and Twilight walked over to where they were sitting. Twilight gently nudged Sweetie's shoulder, eliciting a sleeping grumble as the filly woke up.
“Huh? Who – Twilight?” Sweetie Belle murmured, eyes blinking open slowly. “When did...” She paused, yawning and stretching languidly as she fully woke up. “When did you get back?”
“Just a few minutes ago,” Twilight explained. “Why are you here?”
“Scootaloo,” Sweetie said with a shrug. “They kicked us out of her room a while ago, said something about surgery...”
Twilight smiled kindly at the filly. “How long have you been here?”
“Since last night. As soon as we heard about Scootaloo we came and waited for her to wake up... she seemed really off though; all mopey looking. She wouldn't say a word to me or Applebloom. I don't know what happened though. Rarity came and was talking to the doctors, but she wouldn't tell me what was going on,” Sweetie explained.
“Where's Rarity now? We need to see her,” Rainbow asked impatiently, a hoof tapping against the ground.
Sweetie Belle glanced around the front room, before shrugging. “I don't know... she, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were here before I fell asleep... but she must have left.”
“Just to get lunch, darling,” Rarity called as she trotted quickly through the front door, bringing with her a saddlebag. “Pinkie and Fluttershy had to leave, but they said they'd be back later tonight.
Rainbow bolted off the ground, hurrying over and hovering just in front of Rarity. “Tell me everything!”
Wearing a clearly forced smile, Rarity levitated a paper bag out of her saddlebags and passed it to Sweetie Belle. “There are some sandwiches in there for you and Applebloom, I have to talk to Twilight and Rainbow Dash for a minute, okay?”
“Okay!” Sweetie called, already digging through the bag.
“Let's go somewhere more... private...” Rarity trailed off, motioning for them to follow as she walked back out the front doors. Rainbow and Twilight shared an uneasy glance before complying.
Rarity lead them out the doors and a little ways down the hill before turning off the road. When they were out of earshot from anypony who might be on their way to the hospital, she stopped. “Well, I must admit I didn't expect you two home until tonight; I only sent the second letter last night.”
“Second letter?” Twilight and Rainbow echoed in unison.
Rarity frowned. “Oh... so then you left before that... well, I suppose that's understandable. Still, that means I need to fill you two in on a little more information. First, Scootaloo woke up last night and... I'm afraid she admitted to jumping, but there is even worse news...”
“Worse news!” Rainbow shouted, “How can there be worse news than Scootaloo trying to...” she trailed off, unable to say it.
“Well... Rarity chewed her bottom lip nervously. “What's worse is why she... jumped... it's about her parents, you see-”
“What about her parents?” Rainbow's eye narrowed dangerously. “Did they do anything to her!?”
“What? No!” Rarity shook her head vigorously. “Good heavens no, nothing like that. It's... well... they were on business out in Manehattan and... the train they were coming home on derailed...
“They didn't survive.”
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Cliffhangers... Why do they always follow me!? CAN'T THEY JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Awesome chapter, by the way. Great job.
Cliffhangers are starting to get old after reading about 5 stories with them in the past day or so... Oh well, no one does cliffhangers like Kodeake!
Hmm...
I have to say, this direction for Scootadopt is one I haven't encountered before and is intriguing. Happy but difficult home life interrupted by sudden orphaning, if I'm not mistaken.
5199611
It's... something along those lines, yes. Of course I'll be going into further details next chapter.
5199629
Looking forward to those details.
5199629 AAAAAAAAASAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I HATE CLIFFHANGERS!
cool chapter. Please update soon.
Stupid trains :(
maneuver
______________
connect to line above.
_______________
Trains, planes, and automobiles = Murder.
Poor Scoots, I hope she doesn't loose her wings over this, or howelse is Dashie going to teach her to fly via the ponykite method?
Huh that explains why she jumped
MOAR NOW
5200474 I like trains :3
..... *gets hit by train.*
Well, shoot.
I certainly wasn't expecting that.
Just found this under the TwiDash group's Featured folder. Have to say, lovin' it so far. That being said...give me more!
5247176 Did you really just...?
I can't wait for the next chapter
Kodeake i got a question when will next chapter come out for this story
Great story, can't wait till next chapter, and by that i mean i can understand that it may take awhile but i will have this on my watch list
5199909 Why we all hate cliffhangers:
One puts them in their fanfiction... And they never update the story again.
6181703 I wouldn't say never. Kodeake has had to deal with some things in real life. It's not like he spends every waking moment writing thought it's possible he feels guilty about not updating.
6181787 Fair enough. Sorry.
6181794 it's okay. Heck, if I hadn't started writing, I would’ve agreed with you.
Okay, thought this is new (for me - it is) it's quite an interesting thing, yet long ago not updated.
Realy gonna look forward to something, that will give me a possibility to know, why you aren't updating
Best of luck
P.S. oh, totally forgot
Ain't there supposed to be "walked past" instead of the "walked passed" at the very end of second chapter?
Silver Hoof bit his lip, reading over the letter again. If the clear skies were any indication, the storm had been safe to fly in for quite some time,
________________________
Apple Bloom is a two word name [like Granny Smith, or Big McIntosh.]
________________
Needs end " marks.
__________________
Needs end " marks.
_____________________
Can't believe how many errors I missed last time around.
Still it's a good story, and it's good to see that Scoot's problems didn't center around ScootAbuse.
what i'd rather they did something to her at least then we get rainbow to the rescue
CLIFFHANGERS ARGH!