Tale of a Lost Scoots

by RDfan27

Chapter 32 - Revelations

“Hey, Rainbow?” Twilight said, entering the room.

“What’s up Twi?” she asked, sauntering over to the side of her marefriend, who was also in the room packing.

Twilight looked cautiously at Fluttershy. “Should I really tell Dash with her in here? I mean, I know they’re close and all, but I don’t know if Dash would want her to know about it. This may be something Dash would want to keep to herself… but then again, Fluttershy could be here for Dash to help her accept it…”

“Hello. Hello! Earth to Twilight!” Dash yelled, waving a hoof in Twilight’s face. She blinked, shaking her head free of the train wreck that was her previous thoughts.

“S-sorry. Just thinking,” she said dismissively.

“About what?” Fluttershy asked, coming closer with a worried look on her face.

“Well… that’s kind of what I’m here to talk to Dash about.”

“Is everything okay Twilight?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“Well,” Dash said, the anticipation and worry evident in her voice. “Spit it out then. What is it?”

“Well…” Twilight shot another unsure glance in Fluttershy’s direction, who seemed to finally get the hint.

“Hey Dash, maybe I should go. I think she wants to speak to you about this privately.”

“Hey, no way! Whatever you have to tell me, you can tell both of us!” Dash exclaimed, wrapping Fluttershy in a wing and pulling her tightly to her side. This was accompanied, as always, by a quiet squeak from the shy pegasus.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “It’s, umm… it’s about Scootaloo.”

Rainbow Dash gulped but otherwise did not hesitate.

“I’m sure,” she said in a voice that left none of her loyalty to question.

“Ok then, if you’re sure. I just spoke to Tidal Wave. She has informed me of some… interesting news. I’m not quite sure what to make of it myself.”

“Well, what is it?” Rainbow Dash asked, clearly getting impatient.

“Scootaloo’s parents are in this world…” The silence that followed the simple statement seemed to stretch on forever, although it was in actuality, just a few seconds.

Finally, Rainbow Dash spoke up, although the usual bravado and confidence carried by it were nowhere to be seen. “R-really? She really said that?”

Twilight nodded with a solemn expression on her face, prompting Rainbow Dash to stand up, determination in her eyes.

“I’ve got to go talk to her,” Rainbow Dash said.

“But Dash—”

“I’ll be back in a bit,” Dash said harshly, stopping Fluttershy mid-sentence, before trotting out of the room.

“Well…” Twilight began. “That could have gone worse.”

Fluttershy sighed dejectedly, and then went back to packing their things.

***

Tidal Wave paced back and forth across her room. She had wanted to get started on packing, but her mind was far from focused on it. She eventually gave up trying, content with letting her mind take her wherever it wanted.

‘How am I gonna tell her? It was easy enough to beat around the bush with Twilight, but I can’t just leave that out with Dash. She’s my sister for pony’s sake! Not to mention, she’s basically Scootaloo’s mother. But I can’t jus—’

“Ahem!” Dash cleared her throat, cutting off Tidal Wave mid-thought.

‘Yup. Totally saw that one coming.’ Turning her head to look at Dash, she tried to play off her previous behavior.

“H-hey, Dash! How are you doing? I was just getting started on packing. Maybe you should too. Hey, do you want some help with that? I could come to help you as soon as I’m done here.” Tidal Wave’s nervous smile didn’t help her cause at all.

“Tidal Wave, you know why I’m here. Don’t try and avoid it. I need to know everything you can tell me about Scootaloo’s parents.”

Tidal Wave sighed, looking down at her hooves dejectedly. Taking a moment to steel her resolve, she looked back up and trotted over to stand by Rainbow Dash. “Dash, there’s a reason I didn’t want to talk to you about this. I know something that I should probably tell you, but I don’t want you to have to carry more around on your shoulders. You already have so much to worry about with Scootaloo.”

Rainbow Dash dropped her head. “You really don’t get it… do you?”

Tidal Wave cocked her head at this. “Get what?”

“Look. I know I’ve had a lot thrown at me at once, and yeah, it kinda sucks. But no matter what, there’s one thing that will never change. I love Scootaloo. More than I would my own daughter. There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do to help her. And if that means carrying around a little more emotional baggage so that I can maybe help her understand her real parents one day, then you’re darn right I can handle it.”

Tidal Wave looked deep into Dash’s unwavering eyes, looking for some sign of uncertainty, but found none.

“Ok. I’ll tell you,” Tidal Wave relented. “I told you that I found Scootaloo’s record, right?”

“Mhmm.” Rainbow Dash nodded as she stepped into the room and took a seat on the floor.

Tidal Wave sat down as well, continuing with the story. “Well, what I didn’t tell you is what exactly that record told me. Not only did it tell me that she had been missing for years, but it also gave me some information about her parents. And when I did some more digging, I found out some… shocking news.”

“Shocking how?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously.

“Well, firstly, I found that Scootaloo was a repeat visitor at the hospital. It wasn’t minor things either. She constantly needed stitches, casts, and occasionally even surgery.”

Rainbow Dash actually chuckled at this, stopping Tidal Wave in her tracks. Dash noticed this and quickly explained herself.

“Sorry, sorry. That just sounds like Scoots. Always getting into trouble. Seems like that kid wants to get hurt sometimes, ya know?”

Tidal Wave’s smile returned, and she laughed as well. “Yeah, I can see that.” Her smile suddenly dropped as she remembered where she was in the story. “I looked into the causes for each of her injuries though, and each of the nurses had written down a normal answer, as you would expect, but also noted that it was under suspicious circumstances.”

“What do you mean by suspicious circumstances?” Dash asked, now clearly showing signs of unease.

“Well, I wasn’t too sure myself, so I talked to one of the nurses that had worked on her. It was a long shot, but I was hoping she remembered something she could tell me. Surprisingly though, when I asked her, she remembered every detail like it was yesterday. She told me the kid was acting all jumpy and kept looking up at her father as if asking for approval. She also hesitated when she gave an answer as to how she had broken her wing.”

Rainbow Dash felt sick, and it was showing clearly in her face. Tidal Wave did not look much better either.

“Y-you don’t…”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Tidal Wave said, already knowing where Dash was going. “So I did some more digging. All of the nurses that had interacted with her said pretty much the same thing. Very sweet kid on her own, but whenever she was around her father, she acted all jumpy and scared.” Tidal Wave stopped, taking a deep breath and regaining her composure.

“And then she was gone. She just stopped coming to the hospital all of a sudden. Normally she would be seen at least once a week, but then she just stopped. This would normally be good news, but with the way she had always acted, the nurses saw it as anything but. It was about a month later when they heard that she was reported missing. Every single nurse in the hospital that had interacted with Scootaloo was furious. I was still brand new in the hospital at this time, so I was pretty much the only one that didn’t understand. They walked right out of the hospital when they found out and marched right down to the police station. I remember having to cover about 10 shifts while I was still in my first month there. That was a crazy experience.

“Anyway, they practically stormed the police station, demanding that the parents be arrested. The police promised they would look into it, but that was all that they could do without hard proof. So, an investigation was started on top of the missing pony case that was already open. Nothing ever came of it though. There was never enough proof. The nurses all thought she was dead, and the police wouldn’t do anything about it.”

“W-what did all of the nurses do then?” Dash asked, clearly fighting to hold in tears.

“They all quit. All of them. Including my mother. We had the best nurse staff in the nation, including the only zebra nurse in all of the land, with healing abilities like you wouldn’t believe, but they all just left. They couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Your Mom was a nurse too?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah, when she had quit working with the government, she had taken up a job as a nurse. She wanted to help ponies to make up for what she had done. She had her two children while she was a nurse, but as soon as everything happened with Scootaloo, she was fed up, and went to join my father with the resistance.”

“Wait, hold up. You have a sister? Why didn’t you mention her before?”

Tidal Wave visibly winced, her breath hitching in her throat. ‘It’s now or never. I need to tell her.’

“Tidal Wave, are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked, standing up and slowly trotting over to her. She took a seat next to her and draped a supportive wing over her shoulders. “You know, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, I have to tell you. I just… need a minute.”

“Take your time,” Rainbow Dash said.

Having her sister’s wing wrapped around her was surprisingly comforting for Tidal Wave, seeing as Rainbow Dash didn’t even know they were sisters yet. Regardless, it only took a moment for Tidal Wave to regain her composure enough to spit out the truth.

‘Here goes nothing,’ she thought. “Rainbow Dash… you’re my sister.”

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, I'm back! I'm glad to be back and able to start writing again. I am going to try to get a good schedule going again now, seeing as I should have some more time on my hands. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed. As always, leave a comment if you have any suggestions or feedback. I love to hear from you all. See you all next week... hopefully.

Comments

[Tempestus]

Woohoo, new chapter!

[Blast]

At this point, we know that she has parents (Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood). Whether they figure into this piece is another matter.

[RDfan27]

9714786
They do not. This story takes place before season 9.

[musoperatica]

To the author - reactions and my response to this chapter...
Twilight: rainbow i found out something about scootaloo's parents.
Rd: that's great twi! i gotta go
Twilight: Rainbow wait...ugh
fluttershy: she always dives head first without thinking. so twilight what was the news?
well...this goes beyond scootaloo, fluttershy. it's like -
rainbow goes to see tidal wave and drops a bombshell you're my sister!
upon reading the chapter's title and when she said that i'm going like ''i freakin' called it!"
never expected to happen like now. thought it would be like they leave and then the secret's out.

p.s: anyways i'm sorry i haven't reply back when PMing it's not out of laziness or being forgetful far from it...my laptop of three years is breaking down on me! i shall explain everything. just thought you should know.