Visionary
The Cutie Mark Crusaders had returned to their clubhouse and since they found that they now had some time on their hooves due to their walkout, they decided to spend it constructively by tidying up the place. Apple Bloom was busy washing the windows while Sweetie Belle dusted and Scootaloo swept.
“What’s the matter, Scootaloo?” asked Sweetie Belle. “You look like you’re in a bad mood.”
“I don’t feel like our walkout made as much of an impact as I thought it would,” said Scootaloo after putting her broom aside. “Silver Spoon looked a little shaken by it but Diamond Tiara blew it off like it was dumb... and she’s sort of right.”
“She might feel that way now,” said Apple Bloom, putting her washcloth down for a moment, “but once Dinky talks ta the reporter fer the Ponyville Express an’ the story gets printed in tomorrow’s paper, ah think Diamond Tiara’ll feel a little differently about it than she does now. When everypony reads about it, maybe they’ll follow our example an’ boycott Rich’s Barnyard Bargains. There ain’t nothin’ ah’d like ta watch more than Diamond Tiara squirmin’ when her daddy lays down the law.” Apple Bloom smirked and rubber her hooves together with anticipation.
“Why Dinky?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Huh?”
“You said you sent Dinky. Why her?”
“Why not her? I reckon she gets why we walked out as much as any o’ us. Plus she’s cute so the reporter’ll listen ta her.”
“You think Dinky’s cute?”
“Sure. Why? Don’t you?”
“I guess but...”
“But what?”
Sweetie Belle put her duster down.
“Do you think Dinky’s cuter than me?” she asked.
Apple Bloom shrugged.
“Ah dunno. She’s cute enough ta charm the reporter; that’s all that matters.”
“But wouldn’t it have made sense to have sent the cutest filly to make super duper sure that the reporter was super charmed? You should have picked me. Why didn’t you pick me? Am I not as cute as she is?”
"Uhhh, you're about... the same?"
"About the same? That's all?"
“Sweetie Belle, what’s gotten into you?” asked Scootaloo. “It’s just a news story.”
“Yeah,” said Apple Bloom. “You’re just as cute as any other filly in class.”
“Just as cute?” asked Sweetie Belle. “You mean I’m not cuter than anypony else in class?”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.
“Oh, fer the luv o’...” Apple Bloom sighed. “Yes, you’re cuter than Dinky. As a matter of fact, you’re the cutest filly in all of Ponyville.”
“Ap-ple Bloooom, you’re just saying thaaaaaat,” whined Sweetie Belle and averted her eyes. She returned her attention to Apple Bloom with a grin. “But say it again.”
“No,” shot back Apple Bloom. “Now why d’you care who ah think is cute?”
“Oh, I’ll bet I know why,” said Scootaloo with a grin as she nudged Apple Bloom with her elbow. “SB’s got a good thing going with Button Mash and she’s paranoid that she’s gonna lose him to a filly who’s cuter than she is.”
“Concerned is the word I would have used,” noted Sweetie Belle as she averted her eyes, “but, yeah, that’s more or less it.” Sweetie Belle fidgeted and wrung her forehooves nervously. “I’ve been thinking about wearing makeup to school to enhance my best features but my mom said I can’t wear any until I’m older... but by then, it could be too late."
“Well, don’t be paranoid or concerned about it,” said Apple Bloom. “Ah think you’re way ahead o’ me in the cute department.” She looked over at Scootaloo and, after waiting a few seconds, gave her a sharp nudge.
“O-Oh, yeah, me too,” said Scootaloo. “You totally outcute me... a-and Dinky’s got nothing on you, either.”
“Awww, do you mean it?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Ab-so-tively,” said Apple Bloom. “So don’t sweat it. Bein’ yerself is what gotcha this far with Button so just keep it up an’ you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, “and if Button does dump you, chances are that it won’t be on account of your looks.”
“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?” squeaked a panicked Sweetie Belle as she shoved her nose against Scootaloo’s.
“N-Nothing!” spat Scootaloo as she recoiled in fear at the sight of Sweetie Belle’s wild eyes. “I-I-I was just-”
There was a knock on the door and since Sweetie Belle happened to be the pony closest to the door, she was the one who walked over and opened it. The pony at the door was Dinky, back from her journey to the offices of the Ponyville Express. In the fraction of a second it took their eyes to meet, Sweetie Belle sized up the pale lavender filly and she had to admit that Dinky did have a certain amount of cuteness against which she was unsure how her own cuteness measured up. If Button fell for one unicorn, why not another? Could Button have eyes for Dinky or vice versa? Whether or not this was the case, she was unwilling to leave it to chance.
“Hi, Sweetie Belle,” said Dinky.
“Hi, Dinky,” said Sweetie Belle rapidly, “Did you know that I’m dating Button Mash? Well, I am. He and I are pretty serious so in case you were interested in him, you should know that he’s off limits.”
“Huh?” asked Dinky as she tilted her head, completely confused by this out-of-left-field greeting. Sweetie Belle yelped as she was whisked back inside from the doorway by the tail by Scootaloo, thus allowing Apple Bloom to take her place in the doorway.
“Would you give it a rest?” barked Apple Bloom back at Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom turned her attention to the perplexed Dinky and smiled politely. “Sorry about that, Dinky. Sweetie Belle’s sufferin’ from a mild inferiority complex.”
“Am not!” protested Sweetie Belle from inside.
“Hush!” Apple Bloom swung the door open slowly and stepped backward to allow Dinky to enter. “So tell us how it went.”
“Awful!” said Dinky, walking into the clubhouse and shutting the door behind her. “I did exactly as you asked but no one at the paper wanted to take my story.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders’ jaws dropped.
“What?” spat Apple Bloom. “Why not?”
“Toldja you should have sent me,” remarked Sweetie Belle under her breath.
“Nopony would tell me,” said Dinky as she reached into her saddlebag and produce a newspaper. “The stallion at the front desk just gave me this free copy of today’s Ponyville Express and told me to have a nice day.”
Apple Bloom took the newspaper, set it on the floor and looked at the front page. She groaned and facehoofed.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Take a look at the front page story,” said Apple Bloom. “That’s what’s wrong.”
Sweetie Belle walked over to where the paper lay on the floor. When she read the headline, she furrowed her brow and hung her head.
“Somepony has got to have it in for us,” grumbled Sweetie Belle as she lay on the floor and rested her chin atop her crossed forelegs. “That’s the only thing that can explain the consistent bad luck we have.”
“What does it say?” asked Scootaloo.
“Filthy Rich Buys Ponyville Express,” read Apple Bloom.
“Ooooooh... horse apples!” cried Scootaloo as she scowled and scraped her right hind hoof against the floor disgustedly. “We might as well have stayed in school and never bothered with the crummy walkout.”
“What’s so bad about him buying a copy of the newspaper?” asked Dinky. “And how is it worthy of being a front page story?”
“Not one copy, Dinky,” said Scootaloo. “He bought the entire news publication! Now he controls what gets put in the paper and what doesn’t.”
“Meanin’ any negative story about Diamond Tiara’ll never get printed,” added Apple Bloom. “Up to and includin’ our walkout story.”
“Swell,” grumbled Scootaloo. “Now what do we do?”
“We can write the story ourselves and submit it to The Foal Free Press,” said Sweetie Belle. “It hasn’t had the same readership as the Ponyville Express since we quit the Gabby Gums column but it’ll have to do.”
“You guys aren’t gonna like this,” said Dinky, “but I ran into Featherweight earlier and he told me that we can’t do that.”
“Why not?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Miss Cheerilee told him that he can’t print any story involving Diamond Tiara or the train accident.”
“That doesn’t make sense!” cried Sweetie Belle. “Why would Miss Cheerilee be on Diamond Tiara’s side?”
“He said that her bosses told her to inform the editor-in-chief that no stories involving Diamond Tiara or Twist’s accident can be printed in The Foal Free Press. She says that she could get in big trouble if he printed anything about the accident and the paper could even be shut down for good. He’s not happy about it but he’s afraid of quitting in case Diamond Tiara wants to be editor-in-chief again.”
“The two papers we have in this town – and they’re both off limits!” growled Scootaloo.
“And with his hooves tied, poor Featherweight’s keepin’ a thankless job ta keep somepony else off the throne.”
“I feel so... ineffectual,” asked Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom sighed dejectedly and sat upright on the floor with her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her forehooves.
“Well...” she mumbled, “Does anypony want ta help me make some flyers so we can stick ‘em up around town?” she asked.
“Why bother?” asked Scootaloo. “We can’t win! Diamond Tiara probably has somepony in her pocket at the stationery store to stop us from buying the paper we need to make the flyers!”
“Did I hear somepony say ‘flier’?” said a familiar voice coming from the window.
“Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Scootaloo with a smile. “Hi! Dinky? Could you please get the door for her?” Dinky nodded and opened the door. Once Rainbow Dash entered, she flew inside, approached Scootaloo and opened her forelegs for a hug. Smiling, Scootaloo obliged her gladly, wrapping her forelegs around Rainbow Dash’s torso.
“Sorry for interrupting your Crusader meeting, guys,” said Rainbow to Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Dinky, “but I was wondering if I could borrow The Scootinator here for a little while.”
“We get to hang? Cool!” said Scootaloo as she looked up at Rainbow Dash and then turned to face the others. “Is it okay if I take off now, guys?”
"Pretty please with oats on top?" asked Rainbow Dash.
“Well, we were kinda brainstormin’,” said Apple Bloom, “buuuut since we weren’t really gettin’ anywhere, ah guess we can spare her.”
“Sweet,” said Rainbow. “I’ll have her back before you know it.”
Rainbow Dash soared through the late morning sky with Scootaloo on her back, hanging on tightly. After a few minutes of searching for a cloud that looked roomy enough for frolicking, she found one. She landed on it and let Scootaloo climb off her back.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work busting clouds?” asked Scootaloo.
“Got finished early,” replied Rainbow Dash. “How’d the walkout go?”
“Don’t ask. No matter what we do, nothing ever seems to go our way.”
“That is bad news... but I have some good news.”
“I could use some. What is it?”
Rainbow inhaled and exhaled purposefully.
“Scoots, I’ve been doing some thinking and... oh my gosh, I’m so excited that I’m just gonna come right out and say it – I’ve decided to adopt you!”
Scootaloo’s jaw dropped. It had been doing a lot of that lately.
“Adopt... me?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yes! Well, not right this second – not that I wouldn’t want to – but really soon! There’s still some paperwork for us to finalize and all that jazz but, apart from that, it’s in the bag! Isn’t this great?”
Scootaloo ground her teeth as she prepared her answer.
“Rainbow Dash... I don’t want you to adopt me.”
Rainbow’s heart sank.
“Oh... really? Well, I’ve gotta say... I wasn’t expecting that. It’s probably no surprise that my first question is: why not? Don’t you want to upgrade your honorary big sister to an honorary mom?”
Scootaloo averted her eyes and rubbed her right foreleg with her left foreleg.
“It’s not that. It’s just that... well, I’ve dreamed of having parents since I was old enough to know what being an orphan was. That’s a long time. How long have you dreamed of adopting a foal? A little after Twist died?”
“Uhhh.... somewhere around there.”
“Exactly. And how long have you dreamed of becoming a Wonderbolt?”
“Since... forever?”
“Right. I know how much your dream means to you, Rainbow Dash. Everypony knows you’ve got what it takes to join them some day. How many Wonderbolts were parents before they graduated from the academy and were promoted as new recruits?”
Rainbow Dash boasted the most complete collection of Wonderbolts trading cards in all of Equestria – she even had all of the convention exclusive foil chase cards – so this was an easy question to answer.
“None,” admitted Rainbow Dash, followed by a sigh. “Every last one of them were both single and childless. It’s not against the rules but... none of them.”
“I might be wrong about this but I think the reason why is that it takes just as much dedication and focus to become a top notch flier as it does to be a top notch mom. Adding a responsibility to your plate like looking after a foal is just gonna distract you from making your dream come true. You represent the spirit of loyalty. Don’t you have to be loyal to yourself before you can be loyal to others?”
Rainbow nodded, conceding to Scootaloo's point.
“I’m thinking that I didn’t give this as much thought as I thought.”
“Ya think?”
The pegasi shared a laugh.
“I love you, Rainbow Dash... wow, it still feels so awesome to be able to say that out loud... and I appreciate that you love me and think highly enough of me to want to adopt me... but I don’t want to be adopted as an afterthought. And I definitely don’t want to be the reason that you don’t get into the Wonderbolts. Letting you sacrifice your dream to fulfill mine would just be selfish of me. And giving me a fraction of your love and attention while still following your own dream would be selfish of you. Don’t worry about me. The time that you spend with me as my honorary big sister is good enough for me. It’s more than I could have ever dreamed of having. Buuuut... if it would ease the sting of my rejection, we could pretend that I’m your daughter.”
“Say what now?”
“Yeah. See, clinical studies have shown that the best way to do that would be for you to provide me with a weekly allowance. It’ll really add to the authenticity, y’know?”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
“‘Clinical studies’, hmm?” she asked.
“Yeah. It was published in the Equestrian Journal of Foal Psychology just last month.”
“You read medical journals?”
“Yup. Sure do. They recommend fifty bits a week so I’m cool with that figure if you are. We wouldn’t want to go against the results of clinical studies, would we?” Scootaloo closed her eyes, smiled and held out her hoof underside up to accept her allowance money.
“Fifty bits a week?” asked Rainbow Dash. “That’s highway robbery! When I was your age, I was lucky if my mom gave me forty!”
“Hey, can I help it if my pretend mom is twenty percent cooler than your actual mom was?”
Rainbow Dash smirked.
“C’mere, you,” she said. “You’re gonna get a new mother – the mother of all noogies!” Rainbow grabbed Scootaloo in a headlock and growled as she gave her a playful noogie. Scootaloo giggled and squealed as she wriggled to escape from Rainbow Dash’s grasp.
“Ahhhhhhahahaha! Where’s child protective services when you need theeeem?”
Rainbow Dash released Scootaloo and sat down. She smiled at the filly in front of her and they shared a bittersweet smile at what could have been.
“Hey, squirt?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah?” asked Scootaloo.
“We’re cool, right?”
“As a cucumber. Why?”
“Well, then... if it’s not too insensitive a question... what’s it like growing up not having a mom and dad?”
Scootaloo nodded once as she drew her lips between her teeth and bit them gently.
“I was asked that same question by Sweetie Belle,” she said. “I’ve always told her that it’s not so bad and left it at that. I’ve never told her the truth because I don’t want anypony’s pity. Apple Bloom knows what it’s like not having a mom and dad but she’s got other family members so she has a slightly different outlook than mine. Now that you and I have had our little talk, I’ll give you the real answer.” Scootaloo sighed and looked at the floor. “In the early years, it was hard. Really hard. You want your heart to be made of stone because your feelings get hurt so easily... and you want to be mad at the world for not giving you parents who want to love you. But you accept it, count your blessings and move on. That’s all we can do. There are counselors at the orphanage around the clock who we can talk to whenever we’re feeling down. We even get special visits from successful grownups who were orphans themselves. They talk to us about how they dealt with growing up without parents. Did you know that Mayor Mare was an orphan, too?”
“Mayor Mare? Really?”
“Yeah. She said that if you don’t reach a point of acceptance, the bitterness and resentment can eat away at you. When she was a foal, she was so bitter that she used to pick on Miss Cheerilee when they were fillies.”
“Our mayor used to be a bully? And she picked on Cheerilee? That’s unbelievable! See, this is exactly the kind of cool stuff I missed out on by not going to school in Ponyville.”
“Mayor Mare and Miss Cheerilee are best friends now but back then, Mayor Mare was a hard filly to be around. She was angry all the time but now she can share stories like that with us because she made a decision to be a better pony and make peace. You can let your situation make you cynical and unpleasant to be around or you can be grateful for what you’ve been given and maintain a positive attitude. It sure would be nice to simply have a positive attitude as a default setting like Sweetie Belle or Pinkie Pie instead of always having to work at maintaining a positive attitude. Mayor Mare’s been down that bitter road so she makes a point of visiting the orphanage almost every week to share her experiences. I choose not to let my negative feelings define me... but all I’m really doing is turning a blind eye to them. I like the ponies that work at the orphanage and I care about them a lot but I can’t really love them like family. They get a paycheck for being there. To them, the responsibility of looking after me is their business. To a parent, the responsibility of looking after me would be a pleasure. That’s the kind of mom or dad I want.”
Rainbow smiled at her honorary little sister.
“Wow,” said Rainbow.
“What is it?” asked Scootaloo.
“I never realized just how mature you were. It makes me a little sad knowing that you grew up a little faster than Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle had to.”
“Faster than you know. Guess which out of the three of us kissed a boy last year?” Scootaloo raised and dropped her eyebrows a few times.
Rainbow Dash smiled a toothy smile and held her forehooves against her face.
"Girl, you are gonna spill... and don't you dare leave out a single detail!"
Pinkie Pie sat patiently in her forensic scientist unicorn friend Petri Dish's office at the Ponyville police station. There were so many knick-knacks and doodads placed here and there that she would have loved to touch but she had been warned before about messing with the lab equipment. Petri was busy examining documents from file folders and checking things off of clipboards.
“Thanks for waiting Pinkie," said Petri. "Would you mind if I drew some blood before I start?”
“Not at all,” said Pinkie. “Here, you can use this.” Pinkie performed a little sleight of hoof and produced a red crayon seemingly from Petri Dish’s left ear. She hoofed it to him with a grin. “Need some paper?”
Petri smirked.
“I’ve always appreciated your sense of humor, Pinkie," he said, "but I take my work seriously.”
“I know," said Pinkie with a grimace. "That was more for me. I never was a fan of needles. Is there any way we could skip it?”
“Well, all right... but only if you answer a few questions for me.”
“Questions I can do. Fire away.”
“You said that this hoofkerchief was given to you by your friend Rarity to catch blood that you shed from an undisclosed injury. Do I have that right?”
“Yes.”
“Was it soiled with another pony’s blood?”
“Ew. No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I would have noticed.”
“Was the hoofkerchief clean?”
“Absolutely. Rarity’s hoofkerchiefs are probably cleaner than this lab.”
“Other than when you gave it to me, did this hoofkerchief leave your possession at any time? Is it possible that somepony else might have taken it without your knowledge and replaced it with a different one?”
“No and no. Pete, what’s going on? Did you find something weird in there?”
“Quite. Pinkie, the blood on this hoofkerchief you gave me isn’t a match for your blood type. Your blood type is K. This hoofkerchief is stained with type T blood. Now, unless you’ve switched blood types – something which the medical community agrees is biologically impossible – I’d be very interested to learn how this blood could have come from your body. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Pinkie began to shiver uncontrollably. Her pupils narrowed and she let out a sustained squeal that sounded like a tea kettle that had reached its boiling point.
She figured out what had happened.
And she was freaking out because of it.
Her blood type was K.
The blood on Rarity’s hoofkerchief was type T.
It wasn’t a match but it came from her eyes. It wasn’t even a match for Rarity whose blood type was Q.
However, it was a match for one very relevant pony that she knew with type T blood.
Twist.
Pinkie started to hyperventilate as terror unlike any she had ever known crushed her soul like a glacier traveling over a frog. Petri Dish called out to her and asked her if she was all right but she couldn’t answer him. Her heart, lungs and stomach were working overtime. He took the initiative and ran to fetch a sedative for her. Pinkie saw spots before her eyes and before long, there was a purple filter that had taken over her vision. She was both burning up and freezing cold. She wanted to pass out, scream and vomit, all at the same time. Any of these would have brought her some much needed minor relief but her body couldn’t decide on one of them and so they did none. Apart from how scared she was, only one other thought occupied her mind.
On the night of the accident, she had shed Twist’s blood from her tear ducts – moments after she died.
And no amount of giggling at this ghostly phenomenon was going to make it go away.
Stats
Page generated in 0.037 seconds
Total duration
1,026 users online
1,932,790 hits today, 2,167,270 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
They could always make their own newspaper. With blackjack. And hookers.
Jesus Fucking Christ! That blood thing scared me!
YOU KNOW... FOR KIDS!
4775639 You don't think her soul resides in Pinkie, don't you?
4775856 Like twilight, I didn't think that was physically, or spiritually, possible! Oh, I got an idea for how The CMC can spread the message of their protest: pirate radio! -Hums The Concept of Love.-
They could take the story to a newspaper in Canterlot, hopefully...
4775690
I wanted to cry for joy when I read that you got scared. I was afraid that I had taken too long to get to this point in the story and that the impact wouldn't be there when the payoff came around. Thanks for being a regular reader of a not so regular writer.
Also, fans of Diamond Tiara should check out the third chapter of my story The Last Temptation of Hondo Flanks where she makes a cameo appearance alongside Sweetie Belle and Button Mash.
I'll give this a look in a bit, since it seems a bit interesting. That said, I'm also a bit reluctant because of that little part at the end of "eye for an eye." It's a pet peeve of mine, because the saying has NEVER had anything to do with revenge whatsoever. The proverb of "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" has only ever been "the punishment should be equal to the crime; never lesser, never greater." I understand people think that it's about revenge and as such nobody bothers to look up a proverb before using it, but it still pisses me off. Hopefully the story itself will be able to entertain me despite the proverb being misused.
4792315
Thank you for looking past that one thing. Hopefully you'll give it a chance and become interested enough to become a regular reader.
4775590
This Blackjack?
th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2014/195/4/4/_foe_ph__happy_blackjack_by_koshakevich-d7og438.png
4805681
That works. With enough booze, she might take care of DT directly.
4806704
Yeah... Unless she switches into emo-mode... (which is the reason why I got bored of PH).
I am freaked out, horrified, terrified, saddened, upset, disgusted-ish(Sorry Twilight!), and mentally disturbed.
(Placement of the previously used emoticon is classified as: Irony.)
5259498 this pretty much sums up my reaction as well.
Oh and I'm glad Dash did not adopt Scootaloo! that mare has NO BUSINESS raising a foal! If you noticed when she flew in it was like there were 5 fillies instead of just the 3 CMC and Dinky.
Kudos for
being the voice of reason.
AND OMFG I CAN'T BELEIVE SHE CRIED TWIST'S BLOOD THAT IS FUCKED UP!!! but story wise quite a cool element and
all it's own I never expected!
TWISTception!