Sororal Instincts.

by Reptilicus

Stop chasing shadows, just enjoy the ride.

Twas the day before Hearth's Warming and all through the mountain, not a creature was stirring. Well that was a lie. Quite a few creatures were stirring. Bears, mountain lions, and a few timber wolves were loping around the base of the mountain, foraging for food amongst the snow. Closer to the summit of the mountain was a large cave. At one point this cave had been but a mere hole, but now was a somewhat curious house. A colorful green curtain on a brass shower pole that had belonged to a hotel room arched across the mouth of the cave, it's insides full of broken records, stolen goods, feathers, a guitar, and a cot that clearly had not been cleaned in some time. Some dried trout were tied to the ceiling, serving as food for the cave's main occupant. As for stirring creatures, two were on the cot right now, engaged in a conversation. A blue stressed-out pony and a large apathetic golden brown griffon.

"Please be serious about this, Gilda." Rainbow Dash sighed, growing frustrated at the direction the conversation was taking.

"I am being serious. You've gone real soft, Dash. Hanging around all those namby-pamby tea-guzzlin' earth ponies has turned you into a wuss."

"This has nothing to do with them, Gilda."

"Oh please. It has everything to do with them. First you're too lame to enjoy a good prank. Then you're so lame you hang around that pink clown..."

"Her name is Pinkie Pie."

"Yeah, whatever. And now you want to adopt a kid? THE Rainbow Dash wants to be a mommy? THE Rainbow Dash who is probably the most dangerous and speedy gal in the air in this country? Winner of the Equestrian Marathon five years in a row? Winner of the Best Young Fliers lightweight competition? The Darling of the Skies herself? Element of Whatever for the freakin' horse Princess? Please, Dash. Let's face the facts here, sister. You've changed."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not if you want to be a big sad dork who is throwing her formerly cool life away. But if that's what you want, that's fine with me. Enjoy it. You earned it!" Gilda gave a large mock smile and thumbs-up as she finished this statement.

"Gilda just.....humor me and just pretend we're still friends. Even if it's just for this last time then I won't ever bother you again."

"Oh, roleplay huh? You and that Pansy Pie do that alot?" Gilda grinned evilly, snorting with laughter at her own dirty joke.

"That isn't funny, Gilda. You know I didn't have to come to you first." Rainbow growled, turning away to walk out of the cave.

"Fine, then. What was the question again?"

"Do you think what I'm doing is a good idea? This adoption....thing."

"No. But then again since when do you care about MY opinion?"

"If I'm doing this I need to be more open to other things, I think. I wanna be a good example. For her. If I do this that pretty much makes you her Aunt."

"Disgusting. Barf. Shame."

Dash frowned and walked out of the cave. She had visited her old friend Gilda in the hopes of getting some encouragement. She scolded herself for not thinking ahead. Of course Gilda wasn't going to help or have any good advice. Dash had basically chased her out of Ponyville when the griffon had gone too far with her brash personality and somewhat cruel pranks. Their friendship had pretty much ended that day and this was their first meeting in quite some time. In a somewhat weird twist, the day Gilda left was also the day Dash realized she really liked having Pinkie Pie as a friend, whom Gilda hated beyond all reasonable measure. One day someone would find a way to bottle the pure hate that seethed out of Gilda, and would sell it for money. That day was not this day.

The curtain that covered the mouth of the cave was pushed roughly aside as Dash trotted to the end of the cliff. She looked around trying to get her bearings for the flight back to town. It had been difficult to track Gilda down, and even harder to get to this mountain. Now Dash was heading back with a sense of regret and wasted time. She coiled her back legs and leaped into the air, spreading her wings to fly but immediately felt her body lose all momentum as she was flung backwards and slung into the ground. Dash coughed loudly as the dust settled, craning her head to see her tail was in Gilda's sharp yellow beak.

The griffon's powerful feline hind legs pushed her forward into a pounce. Dash backed up against the stone mouth of the cave, suddenly feeling very frightened of her large ex-friend, especially now that said friend had her cruel razor-sharp eagle beak mere inches away from Dash's face, glistening in the sun. Gilda' golden eyes seemed confused and sad as her yellow scaly talons scratched on the rock on either side of the frightened pony.

"Look at me, dweeb!" she shouted, her tawny and violet feathers standing up.

Dash flinched and looked up into the eyes of her old companion. A yellow claw orbiting dangerously close to her neck.

"What do you care about more, Dash? This kid or wanting to be a professional athlete? Look me in the eyes and answer."

Gilda pressed her claw into the soft flesh of Dash's neck. There was no hesitation in the mare's voice as she spoke.

"I care about Scootaloo more."

Gilda grinned slightly and backed away, her fearsome appearance growing softer as her feathers relaxed. She sat on her haunches and began to preen her brown wings, as if nothing had happened. Dash pried herself away from the wall and cautiously walked up to her old friend.

"What the heck was that about, Gilda?"

"Just wanted to make sure you really wanted to do this. Figured you'd be honest if you thought I was gonna whomp your face in."

"Oh gee, thanks." Rainbow's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Ha, you're very welcome. Also Scootaloo is a terrible name for a kid, Dash. What were you thinking?"

"I didn't name her that. She's like seven years old, Gilda."

"What's this kid like, anyway?"

"She's like me, I guess. Only littler."

"Figures."

"Well thanks anyway." replied Dash annoyed, this time successfully taking off into the sky, turning in the direction of Ponyville. As she began to move on she heard a voice shout to her from below.

"Hey, Dash!" Gilda called from the cliffside. "Good luck."

*****************************************************

It had been quite some time since Rainbow had given her house a proper housecleaning. She didn't spend too much time within it anyway, preferring the sun and the wind to the confines of her home, nice as it was. On the rare occasions she did clean, it was little more than dusting and fluffing the clouds a bit. She never made a mess, there were never hooftracks in the foyer or stains in the carpet. Never anything that needed too much sweeping over. But today was different. She was a mare on a mission. The protocol? Get this house child-friendly and ready for a new occupant.

The first order of business was figuring out where the little pony would sleep and spend her days when at home. Dash's house didn't have many rooms to begin with, despite it's rather large size. Most of it was decorative. There was a kitchen, a living room, an attic with a overhanging porch, her own bedroom and one extra room. This particular room was where, for the last few years, Dash had been placing her trophies and marks of honor. The medal she had received from Celestia sat framed proudly on the wall. To it's right sat a trophy case, filled with things Dash had earned during her athletic exploits. The Manehattan Racehorse Derby First Place Ribbon, The Canterlot Gardens TrailRiding Expo Badge for Second Place, Best Young Fliers First Place tiara, Best in Show at the Wonderbolts Coliseum, San Flankcisco Steeple Chasing Award for Excellence, The Canterlot Endurance Run Quarterly Badge, and the International Polo Lightweight Division First Place Fleur-de-Lis. All awards Dash had won through hard work and endurance.

They had sat in this room for ages, collecting dust and rarely being seen by anyone. Dash preferred to travel and rarely invited others to her home. Meaning this display case had nobody to display itself too. Dash moved the trophies and placed them in the living room above the fireplace mantle. The display case was removed as were several boxes of old sports equipment. Her exercise equipment, barbells, weights, bench for pressing, cable machine and steel frame for chin-ups were all removed and placed in storage up in the attic. These devices were heavy and dangerous and Dash wanted to be sure Scoot couldn't go near them.

Soon enough the room was empty and Dash set about placing a bed into the room. It was a small bed, barely a bed at all really. It was quite similar to the bed Spike slept in over at Twilight Sparkle's house. A large flat basket made of soft fibers with a wide circumference, with a large circular pillow to serve as the mattress and a smaller pillow for the head. Out in front of the house Dash began putting up a banner that read "Welcome Home Scootaloo" to hang above the door frame. She went back inside the house and began to fix up a few things. Getting a window for the former trophy room, plastering up new wallpaper that had pelicans as a pattern all over it. Setting up a bookshelf with some Daring-Do comics Dash hoped her young ward might enjoy. She stepped back to observe her work once it was all done.

The room still seemed empty, she thought. But she knew as time passed it would grow. Fill with objects, toys, papers and whatever else the child enjoyed. It was funny, she pondered, how this room had once been a place for her to keep her achievements that she showed off to so few and now she had made it into a home for someone else entirely. If someone had told Dash a month ago that she'd be preparing her house for motherhood, she would have laughed right in their face. Strange how much things had changed in what seemed like such a short time. But logically it made sense, didn't it? It wasn't right for a growing kid like Scootaloo to be living in the woods like a barbarian. She needed a home and Dash was prepared to give her one. What she wasn't prepared for was figuring out how she was going to tell her friends about her plans.

*****************************************************************************

On an ordinary day Sugarcube Corner looked like a large gingerbread house, with swirls of white icing lacing the rooftop. But the last couple of weeks had blessed the bakery with a shocking amount of bits. And to celebrate the Cake family had given the bakery a seasonal makeover. Holly, mistletoe, and thistles hung from every gutter. The cookie-like shingles on the roof were now given a dark chocolate coat of paint, with large fake cranberries nestled on each slat. The topmost room of the building which normally looked like a pink cupcake and housed Pinkie's bedroom had been retooled to look like a coffee-cake with light brown icing. The pink stairs, shutters, and mailbox had all been painted a festive green. Everything about the building screamed 'HEARTH'S WARMING EVE!'

And business for the small bakery continued to get better. The "hot chocolate bar" had grown so popular that an entire section of the dining room was now devoted entirely to it. The ingredients had been expanded to include some holly-jolly new items to mix into the hot mugs. Sugar plums, cranberries, tulips, and gumdrops now sat with the usual confectioneries. The popularity of the humble establishment had expanded lightning fast. Word of mouth had reached even some local celebrities and soon guests were arriving from as far as Baltimare and San Palomino just to try this so-called "best cocoa in Equestria."

Every morning and evening the small bakery was full of ponies who ate, drank, and made merry. The income had been enough for the Cakes to pay off all their debts, and even start up a college fund for their newborn twins. They had even begun hiring local musicians to play outside the bakery, lending some atmosphere and class to the chaos that surrounded the place. Sometimes the mere realization that they were suddenly wildly successful was enough to bring the Cake's to tears of happiness. Pinkie was happy she had made her caretakers so proud, as the two couldn't seem to stop thanking her and showering her with affection and gifts. They had graciously given her all of Hearths-Warming Eve off. Pinkie had spent the day doing last minute shopping for all her friends.

The pink pony found herself in a toy shop during the afternoon, trying to figure out what to get for Scootaloo. She knew what to get the infants. They were babies and very easy to please when it came to toys. For Pound Cake she had gotten a plastic wind up bird. It played a happy jingle when it flew and she knew it would delight him. For Pumpkin Cake she had gotten a large doll of a giant squid. It was soft and squishy and just the sort of thing she knew the baby would like. As for her parents Cup and Carrot, she had gotten them tickets for a live show of the Manehattan Symphony Orchestra. It had cost her a fair bit of bits, but no expense was too high for Pinkie to make someone happy.

Rarity would be receiving a very large quiche that Pinkie had tirelessly worked very hard on. It was full of egg whites, pecans, cream cheese, oregano and spinach, which Pinkie knew was Rarity's favorite vegetable. It would be arriving with a fine bottle of chianti. For Twilight, a ticket for a luxurious weekend vacation suite at the beach for her and a guest. The purple unicorn was spending so much time trying to learn about friendship that she was forgetting how to relax and enjoy having friends. Which was quite ironic in a way. Pinkie intended to solve that problem. Applejack was going to receive a packet of honeycrisp apple seeds. It was one of the few varieties of apple that didn't grow on her farm. Pinkie had to pull a lot of strings, call in a few favors, and probably broke a few trade laws, to get this bag of seeds imported from Applewood, a land far to the east. Applejack's whole family would also be getting a new motorized rotary tiller so that they could farm easier and give Big Mac a break more often. Fluttershy was going to get a quilt that Pinky had knitted herself (with a bit of help from Rarity). It was covered in various flowery designs and birds, in a checkered pattern of yellow and orange. A spell had been cast on the cloth so that it would always smell like roses and cinnamon. And finally she had found the perfect gift for her bestest best friend Rainbow Dash. A bass guitar covered in flaming designs and decals. She knew Dash had once played guitar and hoped having a shiny new instrument might inspire the speedster to take it up again. And even if she didn't, the relatively high "coolness" of the guitar was sure to impress the somewhat vain tomboy.

However this left Scootaloo with no gift still. Pinkie had grown very fond of the small orange filly and adored the way she snuggled up to Dash at night. Pinkie really hoped more than anything that Dash would invite Scootaloo to live with her in her cloud mansion. She certainly had enough room up there. They needed each other. Dashie was always flinching and impatient but when Scootaloo was around the older mare was so calm and happy. Scootaloo was all alone in this world, and had clearly latched onto the elder pony, wanting little more than to be around her. It just seemed right. But what do you get for someone like Scootaloo? What sort of gift do you give to someone who has nothing? And was moderately content with nothing for a long long time? The pink pony was unsure until she glanced over at the large toys section. And there it was, the Holy Grail of Hearths-Warming Eve gifts. The Red Ryder Range Model Electric Scooter. Great for any sized pony. It had a compass in the steering column and a thing which told time. It was perfect. It was beautiful. It would be very hard to wrap.

**********************************************

Night fell on Ponyville and the Elements of Harmony found themselves once again at Sugarcube Corner, ready for a night of thanks, partying and celebration. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and RainbowDash found themselves sitting in a wagon that would soon be pulled by Big Mac. It had been Applejack's idea this year for the group of friends to go caroling. Mac tagged along in the hopes Rarity would flirt with him. Despite Pinkie begging, the Cakes refused to go. Having the infant twins sitting in a rickety wagon full of singing ponies on a cold winter night didn't strike them as the best idea. So they would stay at the bakery to close up shop and keep an eye on Applebloom, Scootaloo, SweetieBelle and Spike. At first Dash was somewhat hesitant to go. She hadn't gotten to spend any time with Scootaloo that day due to the Gilda visit and some other business matters she had attended to. Already she was missing hanging out with the tiny pony.

Mrs.Cake blew a kiss to Pinkie as the cart began to trundle down the path deeper into town. The rest of the night was soon full of laughter and singing as the six friends made their way through the town, occasionally stopping in front of lit cottages to belt out a tune in the hopes of someone exiting the home with some sort of sweet treats. Much like on Nightmare Night, ponies were more than eager to celebrate. At a certain point the mane six found themselves in front of the cottage of a pony by the name of Berry Punch, who brought out a small tray of margaritas. A far cry from the baked goods the carolers had received thus far. Their singing was much more off-tune for the rest of the night. Even Fluttershy found herself singing aloud with some liquid courage running through her veins. Mac of course, did not partake of the drink. He was the designated driver after all.

Back at the bakery, the Cakes were cleaning up the mess of that particularly busy day. Chocolate stains and bits of candy littered the floor. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were more than happy to help, hoping perhaps to earn their cutie marks for cleaning and soon found themselves working together to push a large broom across the floor to collect all the garbage. Spike had long since grown tired and fallen asleep on top of a chair, curled up like a cat. Mrs.Cake shuffled across the floor of the establishment, with large soapy hard-bristled cleaning brushes strapped to the underside of her hooves. Everywhere the three small fillies went, she followed, soon turning it into a game of tag as they cleaned the inside of the shop. Mr.Cake sat nearby happily crushing sugared walnuts to feed to the twins. Soon the interior of the bakery was gleaming clean again.

"Well! That went much faster than usual. You've all been such hard workers!" Mrs.Cake exclaimed. "You deserve to be rewarded. And I know just the way!"

She produced six small dark-chocolate coated truffles out of her apron, each drizzled handsomely with strawberry icing and toffee crumbles, and presented them to the three eager fillies who happily snapped the delicacies up. Afterwards Mrs.Cake and her husband brought down Pinkie's movie projector and soon the whole group was merrily watching "A Hearth's Warming Eve Carol" which was a holiday favorite. It was a dark tale about a crotchety old bighorn ram named Ebesneezer Stooge who hated being nice to other creatures. He was cold and sharp as a flint. As solitary as an oyster. That night he was visited by three spirits! The spirit of Clover the Clever who shows him the error of his ways from back when he was a little lamb. The spirit of Starsong who shows him how his grumpiness was affecting his family and friends. And finally the spirit of Discord who informs him to grow a pair. Ebesneezer awakes that morning and turns his life around and helps to make the world a better place. It was a pretty good story and had been re-adapted countless times, but everyone agreed the version that used singing puppets was the best. It just was.

About an hour into the film the main gang arrived back at the bakery. Big Mac took a seat, happy to be relieved of pulling the heavy wagon. They had stopped caroling minutes prior to kicking open the entrance door but Fluttershy was still swaying slightly and humming to herself. She was a real lightweight when it came to drinking. Rather than interrupt the fillies and their film, the other adults decided instead to catch the last hour of the movie, joining the Cake family on the couch. As the credits rolled Mr.Cake stood up, yawning wearily.

"Well this has been a nice evening! I hope you girls have a nice Hearth's Day tomorrow but I think this old workhorse is gonna turn in."

"I'll join you in a moment, HoneyBunny!" Mrs.Cake murmured as she scooped up the twins whose eyes were beginning to glass over. She turned to the group of friends who were still sitting near the projector screen. "I hope you all have a very merry day tomorrow. And many more to come! Pinkie if me and Carrot aren't awake in the morning feel free to open your present early!"

Pinkie stood up on her back legs, wrapping her forearms around Mrs.Cake. "Thank you!" she squealed.

A few minutes later Twilight found herself nudging Spike. He made a loud snort and turned over, not eager to return to the waking world. Twilight frowned and nudged the small dragon harder until his eyes finally opened.

"What is it, Twi? Can't you see I'm busy." he mumbled, shuffling to his feet and scratching his spikey back scales. The large green quills on his head slumped over from weariness.

"Yes I can see you're quite busy sleeping, Spike." Twilight replied, doing her best not to laugh. "But I need you to do me a favor."

"Is Big Mac taking us home?"

"Yep!"

"Uuuugh why, Twilight? Can't we all just sleep here?"

"Spike I promise you it will be worth it when you see your present tomorrow!"

"It better not be another book." Spike growled.

Applebloom and SweetieBelle were the first to object.

"Can't we sleep over here with Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked, making her eyes seem as large and sad as possible, hoping to win over her sister. This never worked.

"No, Applebloom. We're gonna spend tomorrow with Granny and Mac, like we should." Applejack replied, her face very serious.

"Yup." Big Mac agreed from the comfy chair he'd been sitting in.

"It'd just be for tonight!" SweetieBelle whined.

"No, Sweetie. We need to be up bright and early so we can make the trip to Manehattan and spend the day with Dad and Mom. Won't that be fun?" Rarity gave her sister an apologetic smile.

"I....guess." Sweetie grumbled.

Rainbow glanced down at Scootaloo who was looking somewhat sad that her night of fun with friends was coming to a close. She decided now would be a good time to act like a responsible adult.

"C'mon, Squirt. Let's get you to bed. It's late."

"Can't I stay up a little bit longer?"

"Nope!" and with that Rainbow grabbed the scruff of Scootaloo's neck with her teeth and was soon carrying the frowning filly upstairs. Rarity and Applejack both looked down at their sisters who wore similar frowns.

"Hey why don't y'all go and wish Scootaloo goodnight before we hit the road? I bet she'd like that!" Applejack mentioned, pointing at the stairs.

"Yes, go tell your little friend goodbye, Sweetie! You'll see her again soon enough." Rarity chimed in, nudging her sister with her snout.

"Fine," the two fillies mumbled at the same time, trotting to the upstairs hallway.

They entered to see Scootaloo tucked under Rainbow's wing. The two were sitting in a nest of pillows and blankets, both listening quite intently to the small electric radio that sat on the edge of the nest. The Wonderbolts radio show was giving its final broadcast for the week, delivering the finishing scores for all the ponies involved in the Unicornia Triathlon. It was fading away to cheerful music as the radio host wished everyone a happy holiday. Tank the tortoise was lumbering his way across the floorboards, small goggles affixed to his green face, appearing as though he were about embark on an adventure.

Rainbow flicked a hoof to turn the radio off, glancing at the two small guests who had entered Pinkie's room.

"Hey, gang. Here to say goodbye?"

"Yeah." Applebloom sighed sadly. Even her large pink bow seemed to be drooping sadly.

"You're so lucky, Scootaloo." Sweetie grumbled.

Scootaloo flinched slightly at these words. Lucky was something she'd never considered herself to be. That feeling of wanting to scream was coming back. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she didn't want to know why Sweetie considered her lucky, but childish curiosity egged her on.

"How am I lucky?"

"You don't have anyone to tell you what to do. I wish Rarity wasn't around sometimes so I could do whatever I wanted."

A flare of outrage suddenly unleashed itself from deep within the orange filly's core. Years of pent-up self hatred and loneliness exploded in her mind, forcing her clumsily to her feet. Her sleepy mood and exhausted body making her too weak to hold it in as she suddenly began to scream, leaping out from under the caring wing of her mentor.

"DON'T SAY THAT. DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT!" she bellowed. "I DONT WANT TO EVER HEAR YOU SAY THAT!"

Sweetie and Applebloom cowered, shuffling away from the bed and their hollering friend. Large tears of anger were streaming out of the filly's eyes as her whole body shook with passionate rage, orange stubby wings flailing wildly, stepping towards them like she was about to launch a brutal attack. Tank quickly ducked into his shell, hoping to flee from the loud noises. Rainbow attempted to put an end to the confrontation, wrapping Scootaloo up with her wing and holding the struggling filly close. She quickly shot a worried glance over at the other two Crusaders who were staring in fright at their friend's emotional tantrum.

"Hey guys, um, maybe you should head out. I think Scootaloo needs to go to bed like... right now."

The two fillies exchanged worried glances and hurriedly shuffled out through the door, their hooves clattering noisily as they descended the stairs. Rainbow tilted her head down to look at the small pony who was still struggling and coughing angrily while wrapped in the wing. Dash extended her limb, allowing Scootaloo to move again. The filly immediately crawled under a pillow and curled up, casting a darkened glance at the doorway her friends had recently exited.

"Hey." Rainbow whispered, lowering her body to lay next to the shivering filly. "Hey there. You know they're just kids, Scoot. They don't know any better. You don't need to get so upset."

Scootaloo sniffed angrily and wiped her face with a hoof.

"They're so dumb, sometimes." she hissed under the pillow. She shuddered, drawing in breath through clenched teeth.

Rainbow gently stroked the filly's side, trying to calm her frustration.

"They think I'm lucky. They have big sisters and parents who love them and care for them. Ponies who tuck them in at night and keep them safe. And then they complain! I don't have any of that stuff and I don't complain! They're the lucky ones." Scootaloo spat out. She coughed quietly, desperately trying to not lose her temper again.

"You know, Scoot, sometimes ponies don't realize how fortunate they are. Sometimes they don't realize how good somethin' is until it's gone forever."

"Do you ever miss your mom n' dad, Dash?" Scootaloo quietly asked. Rainbow had briefly mentioned the feud she had with her mother and father but Scoot had been too afraid to ask the question days earlier. Rainbow smiled softly and rubbed the top of Scoot's head. The tiny pony's body still ached from the earlier outburst.

"Yeah, sometimes." Rainbow nuzzled the filly's side gently. "But sometimes even though ponies love each other, they can't live with each other, Scoot. They argue too much and can't agree on anything. And eventually they stop liking each other. I didn't want that to happen with my mom and dad so I stopped talking to 'em."

Dash sat up and removed the small filly from under the pillow and cradled her in an arm. She gently boop'd Scootaloo's snout with her free hoof.

"As for you, YOU need to go to sleep. It's waaaaay too late for you to be awake. And you are clearly very grumpy!"

"I'm not even sleepy." Scootaloo grumbled, crossing her forelegs obstinately. A small hint of a smile was playing around on her face, but she was quite determined to still seem upset from earlier.

"Well....." Rainbow put her hoof to her chin and thought for a moment. "What if I sing you to sleep? Like a lullaby or something?"

"You can sing?" Scootaloo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well sure. Not as well as like....Twilight or Flutters I guess. But I can sing."

Rainbow leaned back slightly, thinking to herself. Mentioning Fluttershy had given her a small bit of inspiration for what to sing, but she wasn't sure if she could even remember the words. It'd been years since she'd heard the song. Might as well try. It was now or never. She started to peacefully rock the small filly in her arms.

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head...." Dash began. Her voice was rough but melodic all at once.

"How do you know this song? I heard Fluttershy sing it once." Scootaloo interjected.

"Oh! Well not long after I got here to Ponyville I hurt myself pretty bad and couldn't fly. I didn't want to go to the doctor cause I was so scared and I hated asking for help from ponies I didn't know in town. So I dragged my butt over to Shy's place for a while. Fluttershy took me in and sang to me so I could sleep, even though my body hurt. I liked it."

Rainbow cleared her throat and began to sing again.

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now.....somethin' somethin' bed."

Scootaloo snorted and began giggling quietly at the rather poor rehearsal as Dash scratched her head trying to remember the rest of the words.

"That's not how it goes!" she said through her giggles. Dash made a face like she was deeply hurt.

"Hey now! It's been a long time since I heard that song. Besides who's singin' here? You or me? Anyway! I think I remember most of it now." Dash began rocking the filly again, her voice filling the room.

"Drifting, drifting, off to sleep. The exciting day behind you. Drifting, drifting, off to sleep. Let the joy of dream land find you."

Dash held the filly close, singing in a lower tone as Scootaloo's eyelids began to droop.

"Hush now, quiet now......it's time to go to bed."

The room fell silent as the lullaby came to an end. Dash thanked Fluttershy in her head for teaching her such a pretty melody in the first place. The small filly lay quietly, snuggled up to Dash's chest, snoring sweetly. Tears began to form in Dash's eyes as she continued to realize how much she loved doing this. How much she adored this feeling and this kid. Her eyes stung as she slowly bent forward and gently placed Scootaloo onto a pillow. Instinct bade the cyan mare to nicker quietly at the small foal she wanted to raise as her own. As silently as she could, Dash planted a gentle kiss on the filly's cheek and whispered, "Good night, squirt."

A few moments passed as emotions coursed through the mare. Tonight she was going to tell her friends what she wanted to do. Her plans for the future. She was excited and worried all at once. Unsure of how her old friends would react to such an announcement now that she finally had the courage to tell them. And it appeared it would be happening sooner than expected, as Dash looked up and noticed several sets of moist eyes peering into the room from the hall. Dash grinned sheepishly and tiptoed out of the room, gently closing the door behind her, her eyes locked on the sleeping filly until the door creaked to a shut. She turned to face her friends in the hallway, unable to speak. She felt so vulnerable at the moment, shuffling her hooves nervously and wiping away a stray tear.

"Dash, that was so beautiful." Fluttershy whispered, her eyes brimming. "I don't know what else to say."

"That there was the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time, partner." Applejack seconded, hiding her expression with her old stetson hat. Rarity was dabbing her eyes with a lacy green handkerchief. "Oh goodness." she managed to cough out.

"Oh Dashie! You and Looloo are so perfect." Pinkie excitedly whispered, keeping her voice down lest she wake up the whole house with her usual volume of: extreme loudness.

"Wow." was all Twilight managed to whisper. She looked pretty impressed while at the same time shocked that her ordinarily tough friend was capable of such matronly comfort.

Dash blushed a bit at the compliment, gulping slightly as her nerves began to work in overtime. "Thanks, guys. Hey uh, I need to talk to you all about something. Downstairs."

Comments

[moguera]

The Red Ryder Range Model Electric Scooter. Great for any sized pony. It had a compass in the steering column and a thing which told time.

I see what you did there.

[Teraunce]

Curse you onion cutters.

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

I enjoy the photos and the story, even if its supposed to be sad i just don't know

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

10258427
you and me both dude