Rising Above

by Quick Fix

Chapter 6 - Time Changes All

October 6th

---

It had not been a good start to the day for Scootaloo. After her minor meltdown the day before she had spent the rest of the day at home, alternating between questioning if she would be ever be capable of flight and trying to get airborne again. So far all she'd got out of it was a bruise on her shoulder when she hit a wall on landing one time. The ache had been bothering her all night and she couldn't take the time to rest on it, today she'd managed to book an appointment with Mayor Tiara. At the very least, Apple Bloom had agreed to come and walk to town hall with her. Scootaloo knew she needed the company right now, provided they didn't talk about yesterday.

"So, Scoots...You know Bounty right?"

"Bounty, gonna have to remind me."

"Unicorn, white hair and dark green mane, fruit basket cutie mark."

"Oh, yeah him. He works at Sweet Apple Acres, right?"

"Yeah, thing about him is, Applejack talks about him a lot. Not like she talked about those slackers she hired last year. More like she, likes him, as in likes him. You think she finally found somepony for her?"

"I...Apple Bloom, you're talking to the wrong pony about relationships. Pinkie's the one who knows more about bond building like that."

"That I am!"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both jumped as Pinkie Pie trotted up behind them, grinning as always. Even after all these years, neither of them knew how she managed get around town without anypony seeming to notice her coming.

"Hi Pinkie, we were just discussing mah big sis and Bounty." Apple Bloom commented. Pinkie nodded and walked with her and Scootaloo, bouncing the whole way.

"Oh yeah, that's an interesting one. I mean normally I would think a pony like Bounty wouldn't think a mare like Applejack his type, but then you wouldn't expect a unicorn to be happily working on a farm would you? Add in ponies like Trenderhoof's previous interest in her and well, I wouldn't rule anything about between them yet."

Scootaloo nodded and smiled slightly, even if she could rarely follow Pinkie's thoughts and logic, it still managed to find a way to cheer her up. Which, she suspected, was actually the point. It worked though, by the time the trio reached town hall she was back to her usual cheery self thanks to the volley of random questions they were giving her to take her mind off things.

"I guess if I was honest," Scootaloo mused, thinking over the latest question posed to her. "The kind of stallion I'd like to date would be athletic, easy-going, not too bad looking..."

"Like Soarin in his prime?" Pinkie interrupted, prompting a humoured laugh from Scootaloo.

"Something like that, maybe not quite as goofy though."

"Come on, you stuck around with the Crusaders all these years, you have to like goofy." Apple Bloom teased. Scootaloo merely grinned and waved a hoof in fake dismissal.

"Well, thanks for that you two, I should get going now. I'll see you later." She trotted off to the hall doors, waving at Apple Bloom and Pinkie Pie as she headed inside, leaving the other two to continue where they left off.

"So AB, what do you look for in a partner?"

"Well, funny you should ask..."

---

The mayor's office of Ponyville had always been somewhat sparsely decorated, right now it was practically just the bones of what was needed. Sitting at the prominent desk in the room was a pink earth pony with violet and white mane, a tiara on her flank. Sitting next to her was a unicorn filly, sand coloured with flowing dark blue mane, golden coloured eyes and no cutie mark to speak of. She stretched herself up to look on the desk and see what was going on, catching the end of the mayor filing a report away.

"Is this meeting going to take long, mum?" She asked, prompting Diamond Tiara to put her work aside and look down at the filly.

"Stellar, I promise it wont be too long. Plus I think our next visitor will be willing to help you in the meantime, my dear little blank flank." She answered softly, pulling the filly into a cuddle. Stellar Nova had been an unlucky girl, having lost both her parents to illnesses four years ago. Diamond Tiara had offered to adopt her without hesitation when she'd found out and the two were as close as anything now. Stellar happily cuddled up to Diamond, giving a soft noise of content before looking up as the office door opened for their next piece of business.

"Morning DT, Stellar." Scootaloo said cheerfully as she stepped into the office. Diamond grinned and waved at her, Stellar giving a little squeak of joy at the sight.

"Aunt Scoots! You didn't tell me aunt Scoots would be visiting!" She waited for Diamond to put her down before bounding over to Scootaloo and hugging her, the pegasus giggled at the sight before hugging Stellar in return.

"Well, I was coming on business today. But I can always make time to see my favourite little filly," Scootaloo nuzzled her happily. The fact she was allowed to have such a close friendship with Stellar was a welcome sign of just how good things between Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo were these days. "You done any new pictures lately?"

"Sure, you want to see?"

"Of course, me and DT'll talk about what we need to while you find it." Stellar gave a happy squee and darted off to look for it through the folders on the desk.

"Try not to disturb too many worksheets, dear," Diamond told Stellar with the classic parental tone, before getting up and trotting over to Scootaloo. "So, what needs my input?"

"Fortunately, nothing too serious. First off, Fluttershy somehow has it in her head you're planning an extra tax on nature based businesses. Silent Breeze asked me to check how valid that is with you." Diamond nodded, clearly taking even the little things like this seriously in her role.

"Well, I always saw the sanctuary as more of a charity so even if I was planning something like that she'd be immune. As it is though, Ponyville's budget is stable for the foreseeable future, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Well that's good to know. The other thing is, Cheerilee wants me to do a talk at the school, while they're learning about cutie marks."

"I see..." Diamond already knew where this was going and she was weighing it up.

"Yeah, I know it's been a secret between you and the CMC all these years. But they'll be hoping to hear how I got my mark."

"You're gonna tell us?!" Stellar chimed in, starting to jump around again in excitement. She always got like this when she thought Scootaloo might finally tell about how she got her cutie mark. Diamond looked back at the filly and smiled softly, they'd kept it quiet all this time because it had been a rather embarrassing, and humbling, moment for her. To keep hiding that would ultimately be more of what the old Diamond Tiara would have done though, something she still wanted to prove she was better than now.

"Well, even if we've kept it secret for this long, it would be heard eventually...Alright, you can tell them the whole thing. It was a pretty cool story in hindsight."

"Aww thanks, it was cool of you to finally lighten up after that as well."

Diamond Tiara chuckled and nodded, stepping aside as Stellar came running up with a paper just about being held up with her magic. Scootaloo took it and looked, the picture a slightly crude but still sweet of Stellar riding on Diamond's back in a sunset. The sight reminded her of some evenings she had got to spend with Rainbow Dash while growing up.

"Wow, that's really special, kid. Cutie Mark Crusader artist in no time at this rate." Stellar gave a small cheer and went to put the picture away, Diamond watching her before looking back at Scootaloo.

"This is a little short notice, but I need a favour. Could you watch Stellar for the afternoon while I handle a trade meeting?"

"Come on DT, you know I'm going to say yes to an offer like that. Where'd you fancy going, kid?" Stellar had perked up as she listened and took a moment to put the picture away before thinking her options over.

"Could me and aunt Scoots go visit the sanctuary, mom?"

"Of course, you can enjoy yourself and Scootaloo can give Fluttershy the good news while she's there. You're really good at choosing what benefits the most ponies, my little blank flank." Stellar smiled as Diamond Tiara ruffled her hair gently, hugging her in return before bounding over to the door.

"I'll see you this evening DT. Don't worry, I'll make sure she stays in once piece." Scootaloo promised, waving Diamond Tiara goodbye as she followed Stellar out. Diamond watched them go and smiled softly before heading back to her desk and writing a note to remind her to reimburse Scootaloo for anything later. Out of her own bits of course.

Author's Note:

Hey there readers, I'd like to thank everyone who's taken the time to stick with me this far. Considering how nervous I was when I decided to post it, the response has been a major boost.

Thanks again for taking the time to keep reading this far. I've caught up to where I got before I joined here but I'll try and keep up the pace for you all.

Comments

[Comickook]

VERY good exchange with Future Diamond and her adopted daughter. :-D

[redmar]

It's good to see a friendly Diamond Tiara which isn't surprising but still nice to read.