Oh Mother, Where Art Thou?

by Locomotion

Chapter 7: The Parting of Ways

As the newly-commissioned Wonderbolts filed out of the arena, Soarin, Spitfire, Slate Shard, Scootaloo, Blue Finch, Memphis Belle and Rumble all greeted Rainbow Dash warmly.

“That was a great show you put on, Rainbow Dash,” praised Blue Finch. “Best Wonderbolt air display I've seen in years – and by a trainee too! Imagine that!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled modestly. “Yeah, well, Thunderlane sure put in a good effort himself, you gotta admit,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, and I'm really happy for him,” agreed Rumble, “but you were really awesome out there, Dash, just like you always are.”

“Awesome?! She was way better than awesome!” objected Scootaloo ecstatically. “She was totally epic!!”

“I'll say it was, Rainbow Dash,” added Slate Shard heartily. “Never in all my life had I seen anypony pull off a sonic rainboom before. If Typhoon had been alive today, I bet she'd have been really impressed by your flying abilities.”

Spitfire nodded in agreement. “I certainly was. May not have been part of the stunt routine, but you pretty much stole the show with that rainboom of yours, Rainbow Dash,” she smiled, giving the rainbow-maned mare a pat on the back.

“Aw, thanks, Spitfire,” replied Rainbow Dash, blushing with pride. “Still, I can't take all the credit; if it hadn't been for Soarin, I'd never have made it this far.”

Soarin gave little more reply than a fond smile as he looked lovingly into the twinkling eyes of his fiancée, who returned the gaze for a few moments before leaning in and softly kissing him. Rumble sighed softly as he watched their tender moment playing out in front of them, and was surprised, but pleasantly so, when he noticed Scootaloo beaming warmly upon her adoptive parents with one hoof over her heart. In the past, she would probably have cringed at such a sight, even after having become involved with the grey Pegasus colt – and yet, at this moment, she was smiling upon it as if she had always found love and romance truly heart-warming. It was like her adoption had opened up a whole new side to her character that had been shut away in an old closet, the key to which had been lost for many, many years before Rainbow Dash and Soarin finally rediscovered it.

“Anyway,” said Spitfire, “I'd better get back to Cloudsdale – those reports aren't going to sign themselves, after all. I'll see you on Monday, Rainbow Dash, and I hope it all goes well with Scoot.”

“Oh, it will, Captain, I promise,” asserted Rainbow Dash. “So long then.”

“Yeah, see you round, Aunt Spitfire,” chimed in Scootaloo. Spitfire gave her niece a gentle hug of farewell, and took off back to the Wonderbolt base.

Blue Finch looked up at the clock. “I guess we'd better be on our way back too,” he remarked. “Our train's due out in an hour.”

With that, the six ponies made their way back to the station, casually chatting about how their lives had been going since their fiasco three weeks earlier. It turned out that Slate Shard's decision to put Scootaloo up for adoption had been a blessing in disguise; not long after, the quarry company for which he worked had found itself in serious trouble for not adhering to the government labour laws, and quarrying operations had ceased for a few days pending further investigation. By now, the original owners had been driven out of business, but the quarry had reopened under the ownership of the nearby Maenofferen Slate Company, which was working hard to improve working conditions for the quarry's employees.

“They're rebuilding the trackwork so that they can use steam locomotives instead of draft ponies,” he explained, “and not only will I be in charge of one, I'll be getting that pay-rise I had been asking for since Typhoon and I got married.”

Soarin and Rainbow Dash were delighted to hear this, but felt rather awkward about having to take Scootaloo into their care when things had just started to look up for her father. Slate Shard, on the other hoof, reminded them that it was for the best; he still had to get up early in order to prepare the engine for a hard day's work, so he still wouldn't get as much time with his daughter as he would have wanted.

---

The train pulled into Ponyville Central Station rather late the following evening. As the six ponies alighted from their coach, Rainbow Dash and Soarin wished Slate Shard all the best in his new job.

“Hope those new engines make it a bit easier on you, Slate Shard,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, I'm sure they will,” chuckled Slate Shard. “I mean, so what if they're so labour-intensive – after having to haul trucks with my muscles alone, this'll be a cinch.”

“Well, let's hope so,” mused Soarin. “Anyway, we'll see you when we see you.”

Slate Shard nodded in reply, and turned to head home. Barely had he taken more than a few steps, however, when he heard Scootaloo calling out for him. As he turned back to her, the little orange Pegasus filly reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“So long, Dad – I love you,” she whispered.

Slate Shard smiled affectionately as he returned the hug. Even though his daughter had forgiven him, he had never expected to hear those last three words from her ever again, and to know that she still cared for him in return gladdened his heart immensely. “I love you too, Scootaloo,” he replied softly as they parted. “Take care of yourself, kid.”

“I will, Dad.” Scootaloo gave her father one final nuzzle, and ran to catch up with Soarin and Rainbow Dash. Slate Shard kept his eye on her until the last, then turned and started to plod away from the station towards home. It was rather strange, but despite not having spent so much time with his little filly, his life now felt somewhat empty and lonesome. He didn't feel anywhere near as distraught as the night she ran away, but he couldn't help wishing that there was somepony else with him at this moment – somepony with whom he could talk about his guilt and sorrow.

As if in answer to his untold plea, he heard a gentle voice just behind him; “You okay, Slate Shard?”

The orange-coated quarry-pony stopped in his tracks, but didn't bother to look up. “Yeah...I guess so, Blue Finch,” he mumbled in a somewhat incoherent voice; but even he knew that wasn't the case. A long silence ensued.

“Do you...want a bit of company getting home?” offered Blue Finch.

Slate Shard looked over his shoulder at the blue-grey Pegasus, who was standing just behind him along with the rest of his family. From the warm, friendly smiles on their faces, it quickly became clear to him that they still wanted to help him through whatever issues were currently plaguing his mind. With a small smile of his own, he simply nodded in reply.

---

The sun had completely disappeared beneath the horizon by the time Blue Finch, Slate Shard, Memphis Belle and Rumble reached the quarry-pony's house, giving way to a beautiful, clear moonlit night. Having spent so much time getting to know Blue Finch and his family, Slate Shard no longer felt as empty as he first thought he would when he had handed the reins of raising Scootaloo over to Rainbow Dash and Soarin – in fact, he felt a deep gratitude that, even now that his wife and their daughter had each moved to a better place in their own way, he still had other ponies around who would support him when and where necessary, and he would always be grateful for it.

“Thanks for walking me home, guys,” he said as they came to his front door. “I hope everything goes okay with you.”

“No problem, Slate Shard,” smiled Blue Finch. “That's what friends are for. By the way,” he added kindly, “if you ever need anypony to talk to about your problems, just remember that we'll all be here for you.”

Slate Shard smiled back. “I'll remember that,” he promised.

“You sure you'll be okay now that Scoot's not here?” ventured Rumble. “I mean, that adoption thing must have been real hard on you and all, so...”

“It's okay, Rumble,” soothed Slate Shard. “If I'd carried on the way I always had been since Typhoon's death, she would have been a lot worse off by the end of the day; no social skills, no proper qualifications, no real purpose in life, nothing. As much as I care for her, I had to let her go in order for her to flourish. Besides, as long as I know she's got good ponies around her, I'm sure I'll be okay – especially now that I know she's got such a smart young coltfriend.”

Rumble could only blush. “I guess so,” he agreed shyly.

“Oh, I know so,” went on Slate Shard, patting Rumble's head in a friendly manner. “From what I'd seen, you and Scootaloo make a great couple, and I'm really happy for both of you.”

Blue Finch chuckled heartily. “Ah well,” he said, “we'd better be getting home ourselves. See you later, Slate Shard.”

“Okay, Blue Finch, see you.”

Slate Shard stood just outside the front door and watched until the three Pegasi were out of sight. Once they were gone, he gazed up at the star-sprinkled night sky, remembering all the good times he had had with his family, from that very first date with Typhoon right up to Scootaloo's birth and beyond. How he wished he could have relived those memories without the bitter-sweet ending that had nearly destroyed his family forever like a nuclear bomb. But that was all in the past now; against all the odds, the bomb that had threatened to blow up his family ties had been safely disarmed, and that was all that mattered to him, however much he was going to miss his daughter.

“I'm really sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you, Typhoon,” he whispered. “You were a wonderful mother back when you were still alive, and I could never hope to be as good a parent as you would have wanted me to be.” He smiled softly, and blinked away a small tear. “But everything's okay now. Our daughter's in capable hooves, and I'm almost certain she'll grow up to become the beautiful mare you would have wanted.”

And after one final gaze up at the deep blue sky, Slate Shard opened the door and re-entered his house, still smiling wistfully. To him, it would just be another night's rest before setting off to work again early the next morning. But this time, it would be more than that; gone was all the exhausting haulage that used to be part of his job, for it was soon to give way to a far more satisfying day of driving a little narrow-gauge steam engine around the quarry, and on top of that, he would no longer be forced to work overtime in order to support anypony other than himself. For the first time in years, even though part of him felt a little lost without Scootaloo, he couldn't have been any happier.