Off The Radar
Off the Radar
Scootaloo had adjusted very well in the first week with Rainbow and Spitfire. She was happy to help around the house, and she followed the very few rules that she was given to a tee. She loved hanging out with her new guardians, and the trio felt like the family Scootaloo always wanted. Every day was something new, every conversation had somepony rolling on the floor laughing and letting the tears stream down her face. Or all three of them. Then the day came that Cloudsdale was close enough to Ponyville that the three would be able to get in, find Scootaloo's parents, have a conversation, and get out without missing dinner back home. The three loaded up their saddlebags and took to the sky. Scootaloo still wasn't flying well yet, so she rode on Rainbow Dash's back.
"Think they'll be registered citizens yet?" Rainbow asked Spitfire.
"I doubt it," she replied. "It's only been a little over a week. It took me almost three weeks to get registered in Ponyville, and it's not even half the size of Cloudsdale."
"Cloudsdale isn't that big. If they're not registered, it shouldn't take more than a few hours to find them," Rainbow said. Cloudsdale truly wasn't as large as it was made out to be. It still wasn't exactly small. It was difficult enough to keep the city together as it is, and entirely impossible to anchor with magic like the cloud homes many pegasi resided in outside of Cloudsdale and other cities in the sky. Without the magic anchor, the clouds that made up the city often drifted apart, leaving it in need of 24/7 repair efforts. It was a difficult task, but given the amount of ponies that the city was home to, it was a necessary one. Not to mention it was impossible to prevent the city from drifting around the skies of Equestria. The drift was fortunately slow and predictable, so it didn't take much work to make the drift calendar that was a part of every pegasus home.
"We'll start at the mayor's office and go from there," Spitfire said. The three made there way to the center of the city. They were sure to find out something from the mayor.
The day was planned to the second. Everything was accounted for. Travel time, restroom breaks. It was almost as if Twilight had planned the trip. They did forget one thing that the lavender unicorn would not have. The line in the mayor's office. Two hours passed from the time they arrived to the time they were finally able to be seen to.
"Number 243!" an old pegasus called out.
"Is that the mare from the Best Young Flyers competition?" Rainbow asked.
"Who cares, she called our number. Let's go," Spitfire grunted.
The three walked quickly to the counter.
"It IS the mare from the competition," Rainbow noted. "I can't stand her voice."
"Rainbow, we're here for a reason," Spitfire reprimanded.
"Right."
"How may I help you young mares today?" the attendant at the counter asked.
"We'd like to know if a home here was recently bought by a certain family. We want to talk to them," Spitfire answered.
"What about?" the attendant inquired.
"Something that doesn't concern you," Rainbow replied. The attendant was now less than ready to deal with these mares.
"I apologize, I did not mean to upset you."
"Then mind your own-"
"What my wife is trying to say is that it's a personal matter," Spitfire said calmly, but shot a look at Rainbow Dash that betrayed just how pissed she was at her wife's attitude.
"Wife?"
"Yes, my wife." Now Spitfire was unhappy with the attendant. The attendant quickly caught on and decided that she'd be safer if she just did her job.
"I'll just get to finding that house. What is the family's name?"
"Crestfall," Scootaloo answered.
"First name of the head of the household?"
"Jade."
"Hmm, Jade Crestfall. According to my computer, the Jade Crestfall family hasn't been anywhere near Cloudsdale in almost 10 years. Although an arrest warrant has been placed on Mr. Jade Crestfall."
"An arrest warrant? What for?" Rainbow inquired.
"Tax evasion," the attendant replied.
"Sounds like my dad," Scootaloo said with a smirk.
"If they're not in Cloudsdale, then where are they?" Spitfire asked, mostly to herself.
"I have no idea," Rainbow answered. "You sure there's no evidence that they're here?"
"None at all," the attendant answered.
"Thank you for your help," Spitfire said to the attendant.
"Anytime," the attendant replied, her relieved sigh betraying how happy she was that they were leaving. The three mares decided to ignore it.
After a thorough search of the residential area of Cloudsdale, the trio found that Scootaloo's parents really weren't in the city. They talked about what to do next on their flight home from the city.
"I'll swing by the library tonight. Twilight is bound to have a book on this somewhere in there," Rainbow offered.
"Good idea," Spitfire replied. "I'll put dinner on."
"I like Spitfire's part of the plan," Scootaloo commented with a growling stomach. This forced a laugh out of Rainbow Dash.
"I think I have to agree with Squirt on that point." After a short flight, they arrived back at their home. Rainbow kissed Spitfire and flew off to the library to see Twilight.
Twilight’s Library...
"It says here that if a filly is in the care of two official legal guardians for a full month with no effort on the part of the parents to find her, then the filly is considered abandoned and the parents' signatures are not required on the adoption papers," Twilight said to Rainbow.
"That's fantastic! Thank you so much Twi!" Rainbow exclaimed and hugged her friend. "It's already been a week. Just three more and she's ours!"
"Rainbow, I still think you need to think this over a little better," Twilight said. "I know you want to adopt Scootaloo, but are you and Spitfire really capable of raising a filly?"
"We've been doing a good job so far," Rainbow said. "She's following the rules and helping out. And she's so much fun to have around the house."
"Could you punish her if you have to?" Twilight asked.
"Of course I could! I think you need to have a little faith, Twi."
"I'm very happy that you and Spitfire are kind enough to take her in, I just don't know if you're looking at this from a long term perspective."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that I think you're too wrapped up in the moment to see how difficult this is going to be, that you're not thinking in her best interest." As much as she loved her friend, Rainbow was not about to take that from her.
"Oh, and you know what's best for her?! Tell me Twilight, what's better for her than putting a roof over her head, food in her stomach and giving her the family she's always wanted?!"
"Putting her in a youth home where she'll be guaranteed everything she needs to get by without risk," Twilight responded flatly.
"Where she can be a number on a list and a tax write-off?! Where the only love she'll get is whatever she makes for herself?! HAY NO."
"Rainbow, would you just-"
"We're done talking about the matter. We're taking her in and I don't care what anypony says about it," Rainbow said forcefully before yanking open the library door and speeding away. She knew that Twilight was looking out for Scootaloo as much as she was, but what Twilight didn't get was that Scootaloo would be able to find food and shelter if she was on her own. But what Scootaloo needed more than anything was to be loved. No shelter was going to provide that without a close, personal relationship with the filly. Scootaloo was home with Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, and the two mares quickly found themselves loving her more and more with each passing day. Scootaloo was the closest thing to a foal of their own as they would ever have. Rainbow Dash was not about to give that up.
Later, at Dash’s house...
After dinner, Rainbow Dash brought Scootaloo and Spitfire to the living room to tell them what she learned from Twilight.
"We have right to maternity for a month. As long as Scootaloo's parents don't make an effort to find her in that time frame, we won't need their signatures on the adoption papers. Seeing as she's been in our care for a week, we only have to wait three more weeks until we can get the adoption papers signed."
"How is anypony going to know that she's in our care legally?" Spitfire asked.
"When you took her to see Nurse Redheart, we were marked as her guardians. We are her official legal guardians as of that physical," Rainbow answered.
"This means that as long as my dad doesn't come looking for me, I get to stay here?" Scootaloo asked, hope evident in her voice.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Rainbow Dash replied with a smile.
"YEESSSSSS!" Scootaloo screamed. "OH YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYEEEEESSSSSS!"
"Alright kiddo, we're happy too," Spitfire laughed. "And as much as I hate to break this up, I do believe it's somepony's bed time."
"Awwwwwww. Can I stay up late tonight? Pleeeease?" Scootaloo asked.
"Not tonight. You have school in the morning," Rainbow said. "Friday and Saturday you can stay up as late as you want. But only if you're good through the week."
"Okay," Scootaloo sighed. As usual, it didn't take long for her to perk back up. "Goodnight Rainbow Dash! Goodnight Spitfire! I love you guys!"
Rainbow and Spitfire looked at each other. Those were four words they never expected to hear from that filly's mouth. But in their hearts they knew they shared that sentiment with her.
"We love you too Scootaloo," Rainbow said. All Spitfire could manage was a stray tear from her right eye. With that, the filly bounded off to her room.
"So this is what it's like to have a family that cares," Scootaloo thought aloud as she curled up in bed. It wasn't long before she was sound asleep, dreaming of the adventures to come with her new family.
Later that night...
Rainbow Dash and Spitfire walked silently to their room, their tails intertwined. There weren't any words to describe the joy they felt. They were parents. Mothers of a wonderful filly. Although it didn't work out as either had planned it in their heads, it couldn't have gone better. They were prepared to do whatever it took to give this filly the life she deserved from the start. As the two laid in bed, Rainbow broke the silence.
"So this is what having a kid is like."
"It's amazing, isn't it? Neither one of us gave birth to her, but we're still treating her as if she was ours all along." Spitfire couldn't hold back her tears.
"I only hope her dad stays away. I don't want him to come and take her back. Not now," Rainbow said, gripping her wife tighter.
"Three weeks is a long time. He knows she's in Ponyville. She wouldn't be hard for him to find," Spitfire said with a hint of worry.
"Let's just keep high hopes. Worrying won't change whether he comes looking for her. No sense fretting over something we have no control over," Rainbow said. "I say we get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day for the weather team. We're putting together one seriously big snowstorm for next week."
"That'll be fun," Spitfire said, now with a hint of irritation. "Gotta work for a living I guess. Goodnight Rainbow." Spitfire kissed her wife.
"Goodnight Spitfire. I love you."
"I love you too Rainbow." Spitfire fell fast asleep, dreaming of a day not so long ago when she first heard those words leave Rainbow Dash's mouth. Ever since that day, her life only got better and better.
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[REDACTED] Censored for being much too good for my bad self.
3498899
Might wanna use this for that comment, because... you obviously know why.
~SolidFire
3499508
o-o I was right? I'm sittin' here guessin'. Hah!
all i can say is shitstorm ahead.
Whole situation at Twilight's house...that's where the alarms went off in my head. I agree a storm is a brewing...and not the one the weather team has to make tomorrow!
Things are only gonna get worse before they get better...