Sweet Scootaloo

by Krystal Clearskies

An Unfortunate Event

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait. For some reason, this chapter was a lot harder to write. I guess it was because in the past, i had an outline for what i wanted to happen in the chapter, but it was still pretty free form. This chapter, i had a strong, rigid plan for it and i wanted to execute it as well as i could. So writing it took a lot more effort. I hope you guys enjoy!

I woke up the next day feeling something strange, just as I had felt yesterday when I had woken up. I groaned and moved my hands to my eyes, tiredly rubbing my eyes with my fists to try and help myself wake up. Currently, I couldn’t see, but getting the gunk out of my eyes was helping.

Finally, after some vigorous eye-rubbing, I got out of bed and let out a tired yawn, raising one hand into the sky and one hand onto my back in an intense stretch. I could feel some joints crack, and after such a long rest, it felt really nice.

I walked out of my bedroom, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. To my shock, Scootaloo was at the table, her head planted down on the surface of it. Her mane was an absolute frazzled mess. It looked like she’d barely gotten any sleep!

I walked over to her and gently tugged on her side. “Scootaloo…did you have nightmares again?” She turned her head up towards me, nodding gently. I sighed, and I began to rub her side gently.

“Why didn’t you come snuggle me like yesterday? I could have tried to make you feel better.” I said as I continued to gently rub her side. Scootaloo sighed gently.

“I…I didn’t want to bother you. You…you looked like you were having nice dreams…” Scootaloo said sadly. I sighed back to her, and I sat down in a chair next to hers. I grabbed her hoof and I began to rub it gently.

“Scootaloo, you’re never a bother to me. I know you struggle with nightmares, and that’s ok. I want you to be well, and if you need to wake me up so I can cheer you up, then that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” I said as I gently squeezed her hoof, wanting her to know I meant what I was saying.

“I…I know. I’ll do that next time…” Scootaloo said, letting out a sad sound as she squeezed my hand right back. I smiled at her, and tostled her mane with my free hand, slowly moving to the fridge to get some food for our lunches.

“C’mon Scoots, we need to get going and start the day. Are you going to be okay, though? You look dead tired. I’m worried about you.” I said with a concerned tone in my voice. Her eyes looked bloodshot and I wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to make it through today.

“Yeah daddy, I think I’ll be okay.” Scootaloo said as she gazed towards me, giving me the most sincere smile she could muster at the moment. I shrugged. I was prepared to let her stay home, if she didn’t think she could make it today, but if she thought that she could, it was her choice.

I went to the kitchen counter and began to make us sandwiches like yesterday. The same kind as yesterday. I knew that was boring but I figured, if it isn’t broke, don’t bother fixing it. I finished slapping the sandwiches together and put then into a paper bag each, along with an apple and some juice for the both of us.

I grabbed Scootaloo’s saddle bag/backpack and carefully strapped it onto her body for her. I gave her a wide smile and looked into her eyes. “Ready to go, Scoots?” I myself had put my coat on, and I had everything I needed for work.

Scoots gave me a nod, and I quickly ushered her outside, closing the door behind us and locking it with my key. However, when we stepped outside, we were greeted to an ugly, yet beautiful sight.

SNOW! There was snow everywhere! It looked like we had suffered a blizzard last night! There had to be nearly six inches of snow on the ground! Where the hell did this all come from, and why did I hear no news about the forecast? This was a winter wonderland, all of a sudden! It had been getting colder for a few weeks now, but seriously? It was too soon for this!

Scootaloo immediately got excited, and with a happy squeal she ran right for a patch of snow. She jumped up, spun around in midair, and she dived into the snow, beginning to make a pony angel, using her small wings as well. She was giggling the entire time, apparently having the time of her life.

“Scootaloo! Be careful! You don’t have a coat or scarf on, I don’t want you to get sick!” I shouted after her. I knew, obviously, ponies had fur, but they could still get sick like humans. I didn’t want my babygirl to get a cold!” I shouted after her, rolling my eyes playfully as she made her…pegasus angel? She continued to giggle and have a fun time.

Suddenly, I heard a voice in the distance. Upon further inspection, it was Cheerilee, the school teacher. “Everypony! School is closed today due to all the snow! Keep your foals safe!” Cheerilee shouted to all the ponies nearby, and when she said this, I chuckled. I guessed Scootaloo and I would have some fun today.

I looked away for a moment, surveying the town around us. All over, there were foals and parents playing in the snow, having the time of their lives as well. They were all giggling, and laughing and in that moment, I could only think of one thing.

I was FORTUNATE to live here.

Honestly, if someone, or somepony, had presented me with the choice to move here, I might have stayed back home. But I wasn’t afforded the luxury of such a choice. I was thrust into this place, and there’s no going back possible. This being the case, Ponyville was the best place in the entire world to live.

Everypony here was so friendly, and took me in with open arms. Sure, it’s going to be weird without Twilight here. She was my best friend, after all. But I have other friends. And now, I have Scootaloo, the most important pony in my life, and I was so happy I could share a day like today with her.

Suddenly though, I was broken out of my reverie by something hitting me in the chin. I grunted upon the impact, and realized I had been pelted with a ball of snow! I looked to my right, where the ball no doubt came from. When I turned my head, sure enough, I saw Scootaloo, who currently had her head slightly angled downward, her back end swaying side to side with her tail wagging. She had a big, wide smirk on her face. This was without doubt a playful pose she had!

Crap. Sensing what was happening, I dug my hands into the snow and quickly crushed the snow inside my palms, forming them hastily into a snowball. Without even thinking, I quickly lurched the ball of snow at Scootaloo, being careful not to whip it too fast. The snowball whiffled through the air for a few seconds, and Scoots didn’t have time to react before it walloped her in the cutie mark. YES! I knew I didn’t play baseball in high school for nothing, still got the ol’ cannon arm!

Scootaloo looked shocked for a few seconds, before she got a determined look on her face. Quickly, she dug her hooves into the blanket of snow, and formed her own snowball. She then reared her hoof back, and thrust it forwards, flapping her wings for extra body strength as she completely cannonballed the snowball towards me. Having a split millisecond to react, I managed to action roll out of the way of it, getting my hair soaked in snow as a result.

“My hair! Oh, you little…IT IS ON!” I shouted at her, once again digging my hands into the snow and forming another snowball. I once again whipped it at Scoots, a little faster this time. She somehow managed to dodge it, more so expecting it this time than she had the last time.

This snowball fight went on for the better part of the next ten minutes. We dodged, we hit each other, we got our clothes absolutely soiled in the snow. I think she ended up getting mad at how many times I managed to hit her, though, because the next thing I knew she was charging at me!

She used her wings for extra speed as she galloped towards me, and she lurched towards my chest with all the strength she could muster. This was too much for my body to handle and before I knew it, I fell to the ground on my back, once again getting soaked in the wet snow.

Scootaloo, standing on top of me, carrying that same victorious smirk from before, but this time it was somehow a wider smirk, a cockier one. “YES!” She shouted, chuckling happily. “I won!”

I rolled my eyes playfully at her, rolling her onto her back suddenly with a grin. “Oh? Are you sure about that, squirt? Seems to me like I won!” I then returned the smirk she had carried a few seconds ago, letting out a chuckle much like hers.

Then, she returned the favor in full by suddenly flipping me onto my back once again! “Yes, I’m sure! I won!” She shouted once again. I could have rolled her onto her back again, but I decided that was enough rough play for now. Instead I just wrapped my arms around her body, pulling her closely to me in a super tight, loving hug.

I let out a happy sigh as she and I hugged, and I began to gently pet her mane. “I love you, Scoots. With all of my heart. You’re the best daughter in all of Equestria.” I said lovingly, her making happy sounds as I hugged her and pet her mane like this.

“I love you more, daddy. You’re the best daddy in the history of ever.” Scootaloo said, and this made my heart absolutely swell. It made me so happy, to know she loved me this much. It made me feel like…I’d succeeded as a parent, which was the biggest happiness I had ever known in my life. I felt a happy tear form on the edge of my eye. But, being a manly man, I refused to cry.

Sadly though, it was right then that I remembered something…school may have been closed, but work wasn’t. With a loud sigh, I picked Scootaloo up and put her on the ground as I stood up, brushing off all the snow from my coat and my pants.

“Scoots, I had a lot of fun, but…I still have to work today. Here’s my house key. Can I trust you to watch the house while I’m at work and let me in when I knock tonight?” I asked the filly, who smiled and nodded at me.

“Good. I’ll see you later, then.” I said to Scoots, and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. She smiled widely at me, before running to the front door of the house. She fiddled the key into the lock for a few moments, and finally managed to unlock it. I waved goodbye at her when she closed the door and locked it.

I sighed a bit sadly. Ending all that fun really hurt, but I had to work. Painfully, I turned myself around and walked through town, having to be quite a bit slower due to all the snow. Geez, pegasus ponies, this storm was a doozy! Did we really need all this snow so soon?

I finally made it to Colgate’s practice, and was greeted to something exceptional. The practice was EMPTY. Not a single pony waiting in the lobby! I suddenly let a big grin form on my face. Oh, this day was going to be easy. I should have realized the snow would deter ponies from making it to their appointments!

I walked around the front desk and sat down in the chair, getting comfortable before grabbing the newspaper and reading it. There was a whole lot of nothing, mostly, but a section of it had been rented out by somepony. They had rented it out to wish Lyra and Bon Bon congratulations on their engagement. That made me happy. It turned out Lyra had always speculated whether or not humans existed, and when I showed up in Ponyville she and I became best friends. And, me and Bon Bon did the same by proxy!

I was so happy for those two, they were really made for each other. I read the paper for a while longer, catching up on how the hoofball teams were doing. And also, apparently Las Pegasus had been selected as the next host city for the Equestria Games! That was mega exciting. Maybe if I worked a lot of overtime and saved up, I could buy Scoots and I tickets. She would absolutely die of happiness if she and I got to go to that.

The day was majorly uneventful. In fact, it was boringly so. I ended up eating my lunch about and hour early, because I was just that bored. Colgate stayed in the back, apparently catching up on boss-type paperwork, things I couldn’t do for her.

However, finally, the bell at the front door chimed, signaling that somepony had entered. “Welcome to Colgate’s Dentistry. Please sit down and I’ll be…” I stopped my sentence short as I looked in front of me, and I saw it was her.

The girl from yesterday! What was her name? Uh…Serenade Melody! That was it! She smiled at me once our gazes met, and she walked towards the front counter.

“Hey there, good to see you again. I don’t have an appointment, but I really wanted to see you today.” Serenade said to me, still carrying with her that big, wide smile from yesterday. I smiled right back at her.

“Well, normally, you’d get in trouble with Colgate for that, but for you? I think I can pull some strings.” I said in a playful manner, which made the mare giggle. I noticed, upon further inspection, that her lips were different…they were covered in lipstick! Cherry red, colorful lipstick! Lipstick was a very uncommon accessory for ponies, why would she be wearing it?

“So, I’m just going to cut to the chase. Do you wanna go out sometime?” Serenade asked me, and this made me open my eyes wide from shock. I felt gobsmacked! Did she…did she just ask me out?! Whoa. I never thought a pony would ask me out. Let alone one I’d just met yesterday. I wasn’t opposed to the idea, this just majorly took me by surprise.

Before I could reply, Serenade spoke up again. “I think you’re super cute. I’d love to get to know you more and I think a date would be perfect for that. We could go to a cafe and get coffee, or a diner for dinner, or a theater for a movie! What do you say?” Serenade asked me, and I found myself gazing into her eyes, unable to divert my gaze from those beautiful purple orbs of her eyes. I was blushing pretty hard, finding it hard to formulate a proper response to her.

“I…uh…yes! Yes, absolutely!” I finally managed to get out, cursing myself silently for my dumb stuttering there. Serenade smile widely at me, writing an address down on a sticky note on the counter top she had grabbed, using a quill and ink there.

“Pick me up at my house tomorrow. It’s this address. Seven o’ clock? I’ll see you there, if so, cutie!” Serenade said to me, playfully blowing me a kiss. This made me blush even more than before, but I gave the mare a curt nod as she turned tail and left the practice.

To say I was shocked was the understatement of this, or any century. I had just scored a date with a ridiculously cute mare without even asking her out. Was I the luckiest man alive, or something?

Again, just like yesterday, I felt an intense lonely feeling once Serenade left. This was even worse than yesterday, though, because this time there were no patients in the lobby and this place felt quiet. Painfully quiet! I hated this feeling.

The rest of my day was spent in quiet isolation. No patients came in for their appointments today, not a single one. But hey, that just meant I had gotten paid for free, essentially, and I was more than cool with that!

I began to pack up my things, when suddenly Colgate came out from the back. “Oh, hey Colgate! I’m just getting ready to leave, cleaning out the ol’ desk before I leave.” I said with a chuckle, but to my surprise I received no such chuckle in return from Colgate.

“Clean it out permanently…” Colgate said, her voice holding a deep tinge of sadness to it, as if she regretted what she was saying. Immediately, my eyes opened wide, and I turned around to look at her, a look of pure and utter disbelief on my face.

“W…what? Excuse me?” I asked Colgate, hoping to Celestia herself I had misheard her. But to my horror, Colgate sighed.

“I’m sorry, Jordan. You’ve been a phenomenal employee, but I have to let you go. It’s the winter months, now, and business comes to a crawl every year. I can’t afford to keep both you and my other secretary, and she’s been around here a month longer than you have. She has seniority, and I have to let you go. I’m so sorry. I have your severance check here. It’s an additional month’s pay.” Colgate said, but that in no way dulled the hurt I felt.

I’d been working here for an entire year! An entire year of my life I’d dedicated to this job, and she was just firing me like that? Without any prior warnings, or any care for me?

“Colgate…don’t do this. I’ve been here for over a year, now. And if not for me, think about Scootaloo. Please, you can’t do this. I won’t be able to support my daughter!” I shouted at her.

Colgate looked sad, but still unfazed. “I’m sorry, Jordan, but I have to do this. This isn’t a decision I made lightly, by the way.” Colgate said, again, as if that made any of this better. I lost my temper, and I suddenly slammed my fist down onto the desk, rage consuming my being all of a sudden.

“How can you be so heartless?! Scootaloo and I will lose my house! We’ll be on the street! How could you be such a heartless w…whorse?!” I shouted at her, regretting the very profane insult I threw at her, but in that moment, I was so overly angry I didn’t care!

Colgate looked at me with a look of shock from the insult, her eyes wide, before her eyes narrowed at me in equal parts anger and resentment.

“A whorse?! A heartless whorse?! I do care for you! That’s why I gave you your severance check! But I have to think about my business, my livelihood, first! Just…just pack your things and get out!” Colgate shouted at me, her face brightly red from anger, storming into the back of the practice without another single word.

A sat there for a few long moments, in complete and utter disbelief at what had just happened. I’d just gotten fired. I mean, this wasn’t a job I had planned to keep for the rest of my life or anything, but the fact that I was now suddenly without work made me sit there in complete and utter shock.

I looked at the newspaper I had been reading earlier, seeing the page about the Equestria Games. I remembered my thoughts earlier, about trying to buy tickets to it for Scootaloo and I. I guess now, that was nothing but a wild dream.

Begrudgingly, I got up from the desk and grabbed all of my belongings that I needed. I figured Colgate would throw out the things I left. I was mad, I was annoyed, and in that moment I just wanted to get out of there. And so, I walked out of the building, slamming the front door on my way out.

Immediately, I was assaulted by a flurry of snow landing in my face. Seriously?! It was snowing again? Why did the pegasus ponies need to make it snow again? We’d get completely and helplessly snowed in at this rate!

Grumbling to myself, I began to trudge through the snow, it now being so deep it went up nearly to my knees. My knees! I literally had to trudge through all of it, there was too much snow to actually walk, now.

I finally got home, actually breaking a sweat due to how hard it was to get through all of that snow, and knocked on the front door. After a few moments, Scootaloo opened up the front door and I walked inside my home.

I took off my coat, boots and other clothing and sat down in my favorite chair in the living room. I let out a tired sigh, closing my eyes for a moment as I wiped the sweat off of my brow. I looked over at Scootaloo as she walked over to me.

She sat down on the couch next to my favorite chair and I reached my hand over to her, gently scratching her ears. “Did you have a good day, Scoots?” I asked the filly, who gave me a smile.

“It was a little bit boring without you daddy, but I had a lot of fun! Diamond Tiara came over to say hi and she and I had a snowball fight outside, just like the one you and I had. Except I totally kicked her flank all the way to Manehattan!” Scootaloo said with a cocky grin on her face, which made me chuckle a bit.

“Rainbow Dash really is your idol, little filly, because you’re just as cocky and competitive as she is. It’s really cute.” I said to Scootaloo, watching her face as she blushed a bit and huffed at me.

“I’m not cute, daddy, I’m awesome! Just like she is!” Scootaloo said as she puffed her chest out. I rolled my eyes playfully at her, and I playfully tostled her mane with my hand.

“You and Rainbow may be awesome, but you’re both still very cute to me, Scoots. Hey, what do you want to eat for dinner?” I asked her, not really wanting to make food after the day I had, but Scoots had to eat and I would be a horrible parent if I didn’t feed her.

Scootaloo seemed to think about this for a minute, before she looked at me with a really cute face. “Could we just have some salad tonight, daddy? I really love all the food we’ve been eating lately but I’m worried that if I eat too much I won’t be able to ride my scooter anymore.” Scootaloo said with a slight blush on her face, and I chuckled.

“Oh no! Well I wouldn’t want my adorable little daredevil not able to ride her scooter anymore! One salad coming right up, Scoots.” I said as I leaned down and kissed her cheek, before getting out of my chair and walking into the kitchen.

Once inside the kitchen I opened up my fridge and got out various veggies. Cucumber, lettuce, radishes, carrots, regular salad fare like that. Washing, cutting and preparing each of these veggies was a little bit of a tedious chore, but for my Scootaloo it was no problem.

I mixed all the veggies together in a big bowl and set it down in the middle of the table. I also grabbed some cheese, croutons and ranch dressing which Scootaloo and I could ate to the salad at our own discretion. I called Scootaloo to the table, and I sat down at my place, while she sat down at hers.

Dinner was spent mostly in silence. I was silent because I was thinking about what happened today, and she was really enjoying the salad. I’ll answer your most burning question and say, yes I do enjoy salad, but it was to be flooded with ranch, croutons and cheese for me to feel like I’m not just eating rabbit food. I got plenty of all three, so it was a very delicious salad.

“Hey, Scoots? I need to spend some time alone. Would you be ok if I left you on your own for a bit?” I asked the filly, who looked at me in confusion.

“Why do you need alone time, daddy? Is something the matter?” She asked me, and immediately I felt a twinge in my heart. I couldn’t tell her I had gotten fired. She would panic, and I couldn’t put that burden on her. This was my weight to carry, not hers. She needed to still be a filly.

“Nothing’s wrong, Scoots. I just need alone time. It’s nothing bad.” I tried to reassure the filly, grabbing my bowl as well as hers and bringing them over to the sink, where I quickly washed them clean and put them away.

I think Scootaloo knew I wasn’t being completely honest, but she decided not to push the issue any further and decided to go up to her room. Once she left, I let out a sigh and quickly grabbed the newspaper, opening it to the jobs section.

“Hmm…Applejack and Big Mac need help on the farm. I’ll consider that. Hmm…looks like Mayor Mare is hiring an assistant. Looks like the school of friendship needs a nurse, training would be provided…” I said as I looked through the jobs posted here in the newspaper. I suddenly rubbed my eyes, tiredly. I knew eventually I’d have to leave Colgate’s job and find a different one, I just never expected for it to be so soon, and I hated job searching. I’d have to shave, iron my nice clothes for the interview, stuff like that. It was a pain in the neck. I guess this is what adulting is, though. And now, parenting as well.

After I looked through the jobs in the paper, I got up and walked to my office here on the bottom floor. I knew it was silly, but I did have an office room to keep track of bills and other things. One of the things I had in here was many, many copies of a resume paper.

I grabbed a few of them, and began to fill them out, one for each job. It was tedious to have to write each one all over again, back home on Earth everything was on the internet and so streamlined. But after a while I thankfully got it all done and set those aside for now.

Looking up at the clock, I noticed was just about bedtime, so with a yawn and a stretch, I walked up the flight of stairs to Scootaloo’s room and opened the door up.

“Hey, Scoots? It’s bedtime. Lights out, ok? I’m going to sleep too.” Scootaloo gave me a sad look. She was reading the latest Daring Do book and apparently was really into it.

“Aw, but daddy! I’m only three chapters in! Can’t I stay up a little more?” Scootaloo practically begged me, giving me those cute little eyes of hers. I was tempted, but I also knew it was unlikely school would be canceled twice in a row, so she would need her beauty sleep for tomorrow.

“Sorry Scoots, but you need to get to sleep.” I said as I walked over to her bed and tucked her in under the covers, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. “I love you, Scoots. I had a lot of fun playing in the snow with you, today. You’re the most awesome daughter to ever daughter in the history of daughters.” I said in a playful tone of voice. Scootaloo laughed a bit and returned the kiss on the forehead I had given her.

“I love you more, you’re the most awesome daddy to ever daddy in the history of daddies!” Scootaloo said with another laugh. I rolled my eyes at her playfully, and walked back to the door to her room. Gazing at her for a few long moments, I watched as she rolled onto her side, ready to fall asleep. I smiled at her, and turned out the light in her room, closing the door shortly thereafter.

I walked into my room and just as I did every single night, I stripped off everything but my underwear and got into bed. With how cold it was, the feeling of being embraced by my warm blankets was a very welcome sensation. I let out a happy, albeit tired, sigh, thinking about things.

I was still really upset Colgate had fired me like that, without so much as a second thought. But it was whatever. I’m an adult. I can find another job. Maybe a job that will pay even more than Colgate’s did. Maybe, if I worked hard, I’d be able to afford that trip to Las Pegasus for the Equestria Games anyway. I know Scootaloo would love it. That would be the trip of a lifetime.

I love Scootaloo. She really is the best daughter ever. Sure, she has some problems, but I’m not exactly Mr. Perfect either. She and I are growing together, and for that, I’m truly glad. I’m excited to see what the future has in store for her and I.

With that, I finally fell asleep, ready to start job hunting tomorrow. It would be an adventure, for sure. At least i would have Scootaloo at my side the entire time.

Comments

[Krystal Clearskies]

Hey everypony! Enjoy the new chapter! Love all of my readers!

[Krystal Clearskies]

9949051
What's manila? I've always heard it called vanilla.

[Professor Donger]

9949121
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_folder

[Krystal Clearskies]

9949138
Ah, different vernacular i guess

[GardenData61371]

Is the story dead?

[Krystal Clearskies]

10358255
No. I'm gonna continue this come hell or high water. COVID and other stuff just put a massive wrench in everything. I aim for two weeks from now for next chapter, but no guarantees in this craziness.

[f0st3r21]

“How can you be so heartless?! Scootaloo and I will lose my house! We’ll be on the street! How could you be such a heartless w…whorse?!” I shouted at her, regretting the very profane insult I threw at her, but in that moment, I was so overly angry I didn’t care!

This guy is emotional. He could have asked Colgate if she knew anypony who needed help, for a recommendation, or for a potential seasonal start date later on. He just burned that bridge.

He never asked Scootaloo about what her nightmares were about either. Could be fears about being sent back to the orphanage or something worse: fragmentary memories of why she was in the orphanage in the first place.

I think the nursing gig could be fun. Mayor Mare would be an interesting character to explore as well.

Definitely looking forward to more in the future.