• Published 14th Aug 2013
  • 6,303 Views, 361 Comments

Golden Wings - TheGreatEater



Raindrops sees Scootaloo dumpster diving in an Alley way. After bringing her home, can this mare although maybe not the hero Scootaloo wanted, but the one she needs?

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[MMM] Magical Muffin Makers

The rest of the day was a blur. Friday soon rolled around, the day before Scootaloo’s big reveal. She knew most of the ponies wouldn’t see it coming that she was an orphan, and few would see that she had taken what she needed to survive from them, but she’d tell everypony everything when the meeting came around tomorrow. In her eyes it was reasonable, at least until a few days ago when Raindrops brought it to her attention that the bits she was taking were needed for them, just as much as it was for her. But with Pinkie Pie’s reaction, she was ready to tell the other four most important ponies in her life, and the three extras who just joined the Crusaders.

She was lost in her thoughts as the Crusaders trotted over to the Cakes’ shop to get Pinkie Pie’s help in preparing the potions, and loading up cupcake batter with the potions as the secret ingredients. The fillies were lucky that Twilight and Zecora were both busy with their own personal business to inquire too deeply when they asked for herbs, gems, and a potion book, and a promise that they had adult supervision. It had taken a huge dip out of the fund the Crusaders had from doing odd jobs that weren’t part of them making up what Crusader Insurance didn’t cover from their escapades, but in the end they had everything they needed for the day’s activities.

“So everypony today’s the day Ah can feel it! There’s no way that anythang can go wrong, especially since I got Zecora to help me makes some magic dust to undo any dangerous stuff that might come up, and with Pinkie Pie helping the plan is foolproof.” Apple Bloom said with an air of confidence,

“Are you sure? Dinky was telling me what happened when Scootaloo tried cooking,” Mango asked trotting faster to get closer to Apple Bloom.

“Well, Scootaloo’s a special case, Ah love her like a sister but put her near anything that requires cooking and not even Celestia can predict what’ll happen,” Apple Bloom answered with a chuckle.

“Kays, this shall be interesting to see,” Mango mumbled.

“Aye! It’ll be a blast!” Pip chimed in, as they trotted into the back entrance of the store.

They arrived to a chaotic storm of pink as Pinkie Pie bounced from one edge of the kitchen to the other. Switching uncooked and cooked goods from the ovens, getting utensils set up, cleaning, and cooking at a pace that could only be described as mind bending. It was after nearly a minute of watching, their eyes spinning in their heads from the attempt of keeping track of Pinkie Pie before Pinkie Pie stopped, just as fast as she was previously moving in front of them.

“So I see that you’re here, you must all be excited aren’t ya! Huh?! Huh?! I bet you are, getting your cutie marks in magical cooking! This is so exciting, I’m so going to use the muffins that you make and use them for a giant party to celebrate!” Pinkie said ecstatically her body practically vibrating from a mixture of raw energy and excitement.

“That’d be great! Thank you Miss Pinkie,” Dinky said looking around at the kitchen.

“Awwww! You’re welcome, and you don’t have to call me miss. Pinkie, or Pinkie Pie is good enough,” She replied giving a playful ruffle of Dinky’s mane, “Now I’m going to be supervising you all today to make sure that you stay safe when cooking.”

“No offense, but I heard from other ponies that you’re random. Why are you concerned about safety?” Mango asked innocently.

Pinkie gave a playful laugh that hid just how much that comment stung seeing as how Mango was just a filly and didn’t know any better, “I’m not really random as much as my head is so full of things that I have trouble getting it out in a way that others easily understand sometimes.

“But as for safety, I’d never want any of my friends to get hurt, and I’m always careful when doing things that could be dangerous. After all, if I get injured then I’d not be around for awhile until I got better. Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah … sorry,” Mango said scuffing the floor with her left forehoof.

“It’s alright, now the fritters and cherry-chimichangas should be about done. I’ll get everything set up and help you all with your potions. Or at least help make sure you prepare them safely,” Pinkie replied as she wandered to the stove just as the timer went off.

It took Pinkie Pie and the Crusaders several minutes to get their cauldrons set up, and mix enough cupcake batter for each of them. Pinkie Pie watched them as they got started on their concoctions to ensure that nothing blew up, or did anything to dangerous while brewing.

Scootaloo was slowly preparing her ingredients, mulling over revealing her secret to her friends. She promised that when it was the right time she’d do it, and so far Pinkie Pie had given her a positive reception to her confession. A part of her didn’t want to tell other ponies. After all, she’d been taking care of herself for five years and nopony before now cared what she took. But on the other hoof she knew know that taking from others, even though the circumstances were dire, wasn’t a good habit to have now that she didn’t need to live that way anymore.

If anything Scootaloo was a responsible filly, and she was going to do the right thing. But telling her friends and Dashie was more difficult than telling the others. They were more important to her than any other pony, and the thought that this might cause a rift between them that she couldn’t fix felt like an icy dagger stabbing her in the heart.

“So Scootaloo, y’all been mighty quiet lately. What’s the matter?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Nothing … just thinking about something,” Scootaloo mumbled.

“No wonder I thought I smelled smoke,” Apple Bloom ribbed, much to Scootaloo’s annoyance, “Sorry, no need to get all sulky. It’s just odd for you to be so deep in thought. You usually act before you think. So what’re you thinking about?”

“You remember how I said that I’d tell all of you everything about the party later? And how you’d say that no matter what we’d be friends forever?” Scootaloo said with a sad flap of her wings.

“Ah sure do,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Well I’m just thinking of the right way to say it,” Scootaloo said softly as she moved onto the next set of ingredients.

Sweets gave Scootaloo a nuzzle, saying, “Whenever you’re ready to tell us what’s been bothering you we’re here for you.”

Scootaloo responded with a series of affirmative mumbles as she went back to her ingredients. The act of preparing her potion was calmingly monotonous, and helped her get herself ready for what she needed to say, “Hey Pinkie? Can I talk to the Crusaders alone real quick?”

“Sure thing Scootaloo. Just come get me before you light up the cauldrons,” Pinkie Pie responded chipperly.

When the room was clear Scootaloo took a deep breath and began, “So Apple Bloom ... Sweetie Belle … we’ve been friends for a long time right?”

“Mmmhmmm,” they both replied interested in where this was going after waiting two days to hear what was bothering their friend.

“And you promised that we were friends no matter what,” Scootaloo reminded them nervously.

At this point the Crusaders were looking at one another. Thousands of thoughts ran through their heads as they wondered what Scootaloo could possibly have done that would make her so nervous. Even the newer Crusaders knew of Scootaloo’s reputation of being fearless.

“We’ve already said we would,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Well the thing is…” Scootaloo looked at her friends, taking a deep breath, “I’ve been homeless for the last five years, and I was taking bits I found out in the open since I didn’t consider it stealing, then Raindrops said told me it was two days ago. I also took bits from AJ, Dashie, and Rarity and lots of other ponies. I also took gems from Rarity after she was done with big orders to trade for bits. I’m so sorry, but I needed that money, and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier I just didn’t want to be taken away and lose all of my friends here!” Scootaloo said in a single breath. The words came out in a rush as she tried to say as much as possible as fast as possible, after she was done she hung her head with her ears flattened against her head as she awaited her friends reaction.

“Wait … what?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“I’ve been living on the streets for the last five years, and sometimes at the clubhouse since I met you girls, and I’ve lived off the bits I found laying around in the open, because I didn’t figure anypony would miss them,” Scootaloo started to say before being interrupted by Apple Bloom.

“What’ve you been eating all this time?” She asked, her face still showing the shock she was feeling.

“Apples I found laying around, free food from Pinkie Pie, Sleep overs, and things you really don’t want to know about,” Scootaloo answered with an embarrassed blush.

“Wait, you took our Apples?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah, but I used some of the bits I took and placed them on the table you have by the couch. So it’s not like I didn’t pay for them,” Scootaloo said defensively.

“Sorry,” Apple Bloom said, “I don’t think Applejack would care about that since Rainbow Dash is always taking our apples and she hasn’t done more than yell at her so far.”

“What about the gems, what happened with them?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“You know that pony I told you about who trades gems for bits?” Scootaloo said, pawing the floor with her left foreleg.

“Yeeaah...” Sweetie answered slowly.

“Well he knows me since I usually give him Rarity’s gems,” Scootaloo said.

“Oh, well Rarity thinks Spike’s been taking them for food. So that’s no big deal. But why didn’t you tell any of us? Don’t you trust us?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I do, I was just afraid that if anypony found out then they’d take me away from everypony here and send me to an orphanage. The closest one is in Manehatten and I didn’t want to lose you all,” Scootaloo said sadly. Her wings hanging limply at her sides.

The Crusaders wrapped Scootaloo in a hug and Sweetie Belle whispered, “Well at least you finally told us. We’ll make sure that nopony takes you away because we’re best friends forever.”

Mango Dash broke from the hug and looked at Scootaloo, “You know you should tell Rainbow Dash, she’s always talking about you and I think she’d be more angry if you waited to tell her later. She might be angry that you didn’t trust her sooner, but she likes you like the sister she never had. We’ll do your potion here while you go over and tell you how it turned out. Kays?”

Scootaloo nodded and dashed out of the kitchen. Whipping her helmet on as she blazed a path to Rainbow Dash’s house while the Crusaders got started on the potions. Each of them thinking about what Scootaloo said.

“I think we can all agree that was a shock, but what do we do now? Can we do anything to help her?” Pip squeaked.

“I don’t know, but if she needs us I think we can all agree we’ll be there for her,” Sweetie replied sadly.

“Ah agree, we stick together no matter what,” Apple Bloom agreed.

“At least she’s with Ms. Raindrops, I know she can be a bit overprotective at times, but she’s a real nice pony,” Dinky Doo said, scratching the back of her neck nervously. The revelation seemed weird to her since Scootaloo looked so happy when she was having the sleepover at Raindrops’ house not even two days ago.

“Well we should probably get started on our cupcakes, I’ll help get Scootaloo’s started. I hope Rainbow Dash doesn’t take the news too hard though. Especially since she hasn’t really been able to be with Scootaloo all that often with her job and Wonderbolt training,” Mango Dash said as she went over Scootaloo’s sloppy mouth-writing to see what Scootaloo was making.

“Ah’ll finish it up since Ah have the most work with potion making, but Ah appreciate any help you can do on getting it started,” Apple Bloom replied as she finished up her prep work.

It was around this time that Pinkie Pie appeared behind Apple Bloom, “So the talk went well, I take it?”

Apple Bloom almost jumped out of her skin, yelping loudly before yelling, “How’d you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You … Ah didn’t hear you come in,” Apple Bloom stated.

“Oh that, well I was there and now I’m here. So how’d it go?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Well it went alright Ah guess. Scootaloo went to talk to Rainbow Dash and we’re going to help get her potion ready,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Well then that’s good. I’ll wander around and make sure nothing explodes twice or eats any of you. Like that one time Rainbow Dash tried cooking Baked Ziti and it turned into a Ziti monster that ate the twins. Then I blasted it with my party cannon and the twins shot right out of it’s … nose, mouth thingie … It was really weird looking,” Pinkie stated before trailing off with a shudder. The non-euclidean horrors that Rainbow Dash’s cooking summoned were more mind shattering than Discord’s imagination.

It was several minutes later the first mishap started. Sweetie Belle’s potion started emitting a purple cloud in the form of a skull which began cackling manically, running over to the magical biohazard, Apple Bloom shouted with panic, “What did ya do Sweetie Belle?”

“I don’t know! I think I might have added too much Laughing Nightshade, or maybe not enough Spiked Purple Nettle?” Sweetie replied, in more of a question than a comment, as she nervously laughed at Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom sat before the purple skull that was now speaking in menacing limericks at them. Ran through the ingredients in her head, “Sweetie … ya know how Ah told all y’all that how ya stirred a potion, and other things were just as important as what ya threw in?”

“Oh … right … stirring,” Sweetie nervously chuckled.

Apple Bloom was prepared for not only her own potion but for her friends frequent accidental mishaps and quickly rummaged through her saddle bag looking for some crushed Jet known for it’s ability to slough away negative energies as well as decent purification powers. After finding the powder and throwing it into the cauldron, she stirred it seven times clockwise to every counter-clockwise turn for several minutes the cloud had fully dissolved and the potion turned a brilliant shade of amethyst.

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief Scootaloo and Mango Dash’s potions began to rumble. Mango’s was shooting miniature comets that Pinkie Pie was frantically trying to put out the flames caused by their erratic bombardment of the kitchen. Scootaloo’s, meanwhile, was releasing a foul smelling blue smoke with random sparks shooting out like fireworks.

“For the love of Celestia’s fuzzy nipples! Can’t we try not to destroy half of Ponyville when we cook?” Apple Bloom yelled, shoving her hoof back into her bag as she once again scrounged through her bag, when a pale blue hoof popped out of Scootaloo’s cauldron, an eerie moan rising out of it.

Just great, even when Scootaloo isn’t personally cooking something the things she prepares summons things that should not be named. She thought to herself as she whipped out the big guns: Powdered Hematite and salt.

Throwing the powder at the offending pots, the meteors died off and the thing in Scootaloo’s cauldron disappeared. Going to Scootaloo’s potion, she put in the last few ingredients and stirred it, while verbally guiding Mango through the steps needed to prevent the potion from blowing up half of Ponyville.

Looking over at Pips and Dinky she saw that they were making rather decent potions, “Your two potions look like they're coming along, nice work there. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if ya need it.”

“Thanks Apple Bloom, I hope that my potion doesn’t do anything creepy,” Pip said as he looked at he kept his eyes glued to his green bubbling potion.

“Hmmm ... Okay,” Dinky said distractedly as she was stirring her potion, tongue poking adorably out to the side in concentration. Her brow furrowed as she tried to keep her potion from turning to tar, or worse a flaming ball of adorable doom.

After several more saves by Apple Bloom ending with the crusaders covered in various liquids, powders, and oven dust, all but one of the potions were finished, “Alright now, Scootaloo’s ingredients say that I need to add a bit of moon stone just as it’s finishing up,” Apple Bloom said, tossing the stone into the pot.

Suddenly an explosion of blue smoke flew out of the cauldron, a mare appearing from within the dissipating cloud, striking a dramatic pose within the cauldron, yelling, ”The Great and Powerful Trixie has …” Trixie started before looking around the kitchen before her gaze settled on Pinkie Pie.

It suddenly dawned on her that A) This wasn’t her big break after a year of homelessness and fighting to get some kind of job involving her magical talent, and B) Her stage was fetlock deep in murky water with an unidentifiable smell rising from the impromptu stage. Oh my stars! What did I do to deserve this? Why am I here of all places? Did I kick a puppy in a past life? Not pay my taxes? I finally get a break and a place where I can get bits and I end up here! Well I might as well get some answers, and try to play it off … somehow … I just hope they don’t have any spare disasters they are waiting to blame on me this time around.

“You!” They simultaneously yelled as their hooves pointed at one another.

“What am I doing here!?” Trixie yelled.

“Um … My friend’s potion might’ve accidentally summoned you here,” Apple Bloom mumbled, secretly wondering why Scootaloo would create a summoning spell to get this pony of all ponies.

“Well … I’m always happy to help a fan … but I was in the middle of my first show in a year in Las Pegasus. What am I going to do now?” Trixie moaned, trying to skirt around the fact that Ponyville was the last place she wanted to be..

“I can help you. Well, Twilight can help you, and I might be able to get you something … maybe,” Pinkie muttered. Even though Twilight forgave her for her actions, Pinkie Pie was still miffed at what happened to her last time they met.

“Thank you … and tell your friend to send me the potion used for summoning me. When I get some more bits I’ll be sure to buy some off of her. Although I wonder how she pulled it off. Summoning Spells require quite a bit of magic, a potion that could summon a pony would be amazing for my shows,” Trixie said, walking to the door. “I’ll meet you at Twilight’s Pinkie. By the way kid, nice looking cutie mark.”

They all looked at each other’s flanks, sighing in disappointment that the blue trickster was pulling a quick one over them when Apple Bloom spotted an image emblazoned onto her own hindquarters. A cutie mark of three cauldrons was still awash in the afterglow of its creation. Sweetie, Pip, Mango, and Pinkie were babbling excitedly, but all Apple Bloom could think of was how she couldn’t wait to tell Scootaloo.

Scootaloo propelled her scooter towards Dash’s cloud home, her mind running through the myriad of problems that could happen. So far things had been going fairly well, but that didn’t mean that things wouldn’t come crashing down around her. As the castle in the sky came into view, Scootaloo slowed herself and tried to prepare for the upcoming talk.

Alright, so far my friends forgave me, and it turns out that Pinkie Pie has been helping me out and covering my tracks. So hopefully this won’t turn out that bad. Scootaloo thought to herself as she took a deep breath and bellowed, ”Dash!”

She waited as her honorary big sister came flying down from her cloud mansion and settled gracefully to the ground. “Hey squirt, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash inquired with a tilt of her head.

“Well I was talking to the Crusaders while we were making potions for our magical muffins, and they told me that it’d be best for me to talk to you now rather than wait for tomorrow,” Scootaloo said nervously, pawing the ground with her forehoof.

“Wanna come up? I think I have some protein juice left over from your last sleepover,” Dash offered. She could tell something was up, and had a slight chill running through her from Scootaloo’s nervous disposition, something that was rare for the filly she looked after to exhibit.

“Um … yeah that’d be cool,” Scootaloo responded quietly.

Dash laid down and stretched out her wing. Scootaloo, taking the invitation, clambered up onto Rainbow Dash’s back and wrapped her forelegs around Dash’s neck. She held on as if it was the last time she would have the chance to do so. Scootaloo took little joy in getting flown by her favorite pony with the upcoming talk weighing on her mind.

After getting in and pouring them both a cup of protein juice, Rainbow Dash said in a calm but firm tone, “Okay, so what’s up?”

With that Scootaloo told her everything. How her family died from the Chills when she was younger. How she ran away when she overheard ponies talking about sending her into an orphanage and how she eventually ended up in Ponyville. How she’d been living in the streets for the two years before she met the Crusaders and how after that she sometimes stayed in the Clubhouse when she wasn’t having sleepovers. How for the last five years she’d been taking bits from others, including who and where, to survive and being able to occasionally afford food that didn’t come from the trash.

Ending up with Raindrops finding her, taking her in, and getting her to tell everypony what happened in the big reveal the upcoming day. As Scootaloo told her story, Rainbow Dash’s face ran the gamut of emotions from anger to sorrow and shame. She had silent tears running down her face when Scootaloo finished, and wrapped the orphaned filly in a hug.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I was worried that I’d be sent away to an orphanage, or you’d not want to be my big sister anymore,” Scootaloo mumbled into Rainbow Dash’s chest.

“That’s stupid, Squirt. So you didn’t trust me to be there for you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I was scared. I’m sorry,” Scootaloo sniffled.

Rainbow Dash was conflicted on to what to do next. Eventually Scootaloo’s crying stopped and gave way to soft snores as the emotional drain passed. Rainbow Dash gently grabbed the scruff of Scootaloo’s neck and carried her to the guest room she had set up for when she had guests over. Taking out a pad of cloud-notes , she wrote a quick note letting Scootaloo know that she had to get stuff done and would be there later in the evening. As well as letting her know that she would be bringing home dinner.

As she stepped to the edge of the cloudhouse she looked back and whispered, “I need to talk to the girls. I’m sorry that I failed you squirt. I’ll try to fix this, but first I need to speak to Raindrops.”