After living in a orphanage for two years Scootaloo learns she has a father, yet he was never told of her existence. Now after all this time she wonders what drove her parents apart, but the truth she finds leads her to something much darker.
A/N This is my first MLP:FIM fan-fic. Constructive criticism is welcome. Dark tag is for later in the story, if you see a more appropriate tag missing please let me know.
The sun was shining brightly over Ponyville and the town was full of bustling ponies going about their day. The Mayor sat at her desk looking over her small pile of papers needing her approval. A coffee mug sat, half full, as she look over the weather schedule pondering how Cloudsdale weather team thought a rainstorm was a good idea, when a knock came from the door. “Come in,” called The Mayor, as her secretary, QuickNote, entered the office. The Mayor smiled, thinking how lucky she was to have such an old friend working for her, but the smile turned to worry upon seeing her old friend looking flustered, almost angry.
“Mayor, Mr. Blaze, your one o'clock appointment, is here. Do you wish to see him now?” QuickNote said, with restrained agitation, yet still maintaining a professional address to her. Glancing up at the clock, The Mayor noted that he was fifteen minutes early and she did like punctual ponies, but the tone of her secretary made her wonder who this stallion was that could make her secretary's anger boil.
“Yes, I'll him see now. Thank you, QuickNote.” Giving her a smile, The Mayor trotted from behind her desk to meet this pony, but regretted her decision the moment the stallion entered her office. The stallion stood as tall as Big Macintosh, but still held the thin athletic build most Pegasus like him had. His short dark brown mane lay flat across his neck, but made the bright orange color of his pelt glow, and his cutie mark was a pair of outstretched Pegasus wings with a trail of fire following.
The one hoof she half raised to warmly greet this stallion, now hung in the air as the shock of who this pony was hit her like an anvil. Standing before her was Blazewing, a pony who left Ponyville due to events nine years ago. The Mayor began to recall the memories of her last dealings with him.
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Yelling from the town square had drawn a crowd of ponies to see who was causing all the ruckus. The Mayor knew who it was. Blazewing, the brown haired, orange furred stallion and, member of the aerial acrobatic stunt team, Phoenixwings, who rivaled the Wonderbolts in fame and talent. The other, a purple maned and teal coated mare, her cutie mark was a pony standing on its hind hooves, one front hoof held to the chest, the other held above the head pointing to a cloud with 3 raindrops coming out of it, was Raindancer, a Pegasus who had lived in Ponyville all her life. She stood with tears streaming down her face and a sneer of disgust playing across her lips.
“HOW COULD YOU!?” she yelled at Blaze, who stomped one hoof on the ground with pain and anger on his face. “I loved you! How could you sleep with another mare!” She screamed as loud as she could wanting everypony to hear.
“I told you once this morning and I'll tell you a hundred more times, it's a lie! Are you so willing to believe trashy tabloids over your own husband?” Blaze yelled, matching her shouts, his anger flowed unrestrained with each word he spoke.
“I DIDN'T READ IN SOME TRASHY TABLOID! CHEERLEE WAS IN MANEHATTEN PARTYING, WHEN SHE SAW YOU TAKE A MARE FROM THE BAR BACK TO THE HOTEL!” Gasping for breath between the sobs and her outburst, Raindancer, shaking, turned to walk away, but Blaze was in front of her quicker than most ponies could blink.
Everypony held their breath as Blaze, with a stern and angry face, raised a hoof to her shoulder, but was slapped away before taking a solid punch to the jaw. Before he could recover, Raindancer flapped her wings, turning herself around. Landing on her two front hooves, she bucked Blaze's head as hard as she could, which sent him crashing to ground.
Raindancer flew from the square, tears falling down to the earth as she fled. Blaze, however, was not moving. Minutes passed before The Mayor stood over him and called for ponies to carry him to the hospital. The next day was cloudy and depressing, as Blaze flew from Ponyville with his saddle bags that contained his Phoenixwing uniform, goggles, travel rations and a small sack of bits leaving everything else behind. The words of The Mayor hung heavy in his heart. “I think it would be best if you left Ponyville. I may not care what you did or didn't do but I can't have a pony known all around Equestria bringing a poor image to this town.”
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Slowly the memories faded as The Mayor looked upon the stallion, who nopony expected to return to Ponyville. Now she understood why her secretary was so agitated. Quicknote and many of the other citizens of Ponyville had believed Cheerlee's claim that he bedded a mare in Manehatten nine years ago.
“It's been a long time, Mayor,” Blaze spoke with a parched voice. Coming back to her senses again, The Mayor allowed Blaze to sit in front of her desk as she moved to the other side, never taking her eyes off of him.
“Would you like a glass of water, Mr. Blaze?” She asked, in a flat tone, wondering how much he had changed over the years, if at all?
“Yes, I would appreciate some.” Blaze's dry throat had caused a small fit of coughing. After Blaze had finished the glass, The Mayor studied his face, trying to guess his motive for coming back, but she could think of nothing on why. Blaze was first to break the silence. “You are wondering why I came back, aren't you?” The mayor slowly nodded her head, wanting Blaze to do the talking for her. “I'm here for my daughter, Mayor. I'm here for Scootaloo.”
“Bu-but how..?” The mayor's face drained of color. She had done everything she knew that could prevent any word of Scootaloo's birth from reaching him. Everypony in Ponyville who knew Blaze was asked not to contact him! Who could ha-? The orphanage! How could she have forgotten about Ponyville orphanage!? It hadn't been built until a year after Blaze left. The the ponies who ran it knew nothing about him.
The stunned mayor watched as Blaze rummaged through his saddle bag retrieving a letter clearly marked from the orphanage. “I received this letter two weeks ago stating that Raindancer had passed away two years ago, and that my daughter was living in the orphanage waiting for me to claim her. I sent them a return letter saying I was never informed of my wife's death and that I was going to come and pick up my little filly once my schedule cleared.” The mayor had expected Blaze to be yelling, but was speaking in a flat and calm tone.
Clearing his throat, Blaze continued, “I understand why you, of all ponies, would want me to never return, but because Raindancer has died, you stand to deny my right as a father to be with my child that no pony bothered to tell me about. In fact, Mayor, the day I left, not even my own friends responded to the letters I sent... the only pony in all of Ponyville that could prevent even my own friends from speaking to me would be you.” Not once did Blaze falter in his tone. Over the past nine years, the mayor had forgotten how Blaze dealt with anger.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, the thought struck The Mayor that gave her confidence. “It's been over nine years, and I don't believe Raindancer ever wanted you to know about her. She probably didn't think you were even alive. A-after all it was not my duty to tell you that you had a child.” The Mayor was about to smile thinking she had victory over Blaze, but stopped when she saw him smiling instead.
“Do you really think I'm so short sighted, Mayor? I've been writing to Scootaloo for the past two weeks and it was clear Raindancer never told her about me...can't say I blame her. But it was your responsibility to inform me of my wife's death.” The last few words filled the room with tension as his tone grew cold. The Mayor felt her heart race, as he knew as well as she, that Blaze and Raindancer never divorced.
“I-i-it-its been nine years, Blaze. Hardly anypony remembers you. Even I forgot about you.” Fear was taking hold of The Mayor. She had never once seen Blaze turn violent, but the cold stare he gave made her silently pray to Celestia.
“I guess I can't fault you on that, after all you didn't want a stallion with a bad name bringing the view of your town down.” Blaze's words stung like a viper's bite, but all malice was void from his words. His eyes were closed as he continued, “If after nine years, most ponies here have forgotten me then I hope you don't expect me to uproot Scootaloo and take her away from all her friends.” Her eyes shrunk in horror. He was moving back into Ponyville. With her mind blank, The Mayor could only nod her head.
After a few minutes, the silence was unbearable. She needed to think. She needed him to leave, but how? I need to get home... Home. That's it. “I take it you would like your old residence again?” She spoke as she began to searching her files for the home.
“I would have thought after two years it would have been sold, but if it's available yes.” Blaze spoke with a tinge of hope on his words. After fumbling with a few unrelated documents, The Mayor pulled a scroll out, unfurled it, and presented it to Blaze. The deed to his home still held his and Raindancer's signatures.
“I will need a day or so to get you the death certificate from Ponyville hospital. The doctor and nurse Redheart have been very busy of late.” Blaze silently nodded then took the deed and placed it in his saddle bag. “You must be tired. I can let the orphanage know you'll be by tomorrow to pick up Scootaloo.”
“Tired as I may be, Mayor, I already notified the orphanage and Scootaloo that I would be coming today.”
The Mayor stared blankly at him. “Oh I see. Well, I'm sure Scootaloo is still in school and would like to play with her friends before you arrive.”
Blaze chuckled at her. “By all means I think she would be telling her friends at school that I'd be coming by today and to tell Miss Cheerlee that she has a special guest arriving in...” Blaze looked to the wall-mounted clock. “Oh, I must be going. I promised I would be there in five minutes. Ta ta, Mayor.”
Weaving between the apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres, Scootaloo, on her blue scooter, propels herself as fast as she can to the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her two friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, would be waiting for her to show so they could decide on what they could do to earn their cutie marks after class. But that was no longer on Scootaloo's mind as she skidded to a halt, tossing off her helmet and bounding up the ramp. Bursting into the clubhouse, she yelled, “Applebloom! Sweetie Belle! The greatest thing in my life just happened!”
The earth and unicorn filly both looked to the winded Pegasus and spoke in unison, “You got your cutie mark?!” Still out of breath, Scootaloo held up a hoof as she took big gulps of air, hardly able to contain her excitement, she looked to her friends.
“You know how I've been living in the orphanage, since my mom died two years ago?” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle nodded waiting for her to continue, “Well, the orphanage found out that I have a father! He wrote me a letter. Here, read it.” Scootaloo handed the letter to her fellow crusaders.
Dear Scootaloo,
I have been told that your mother, Raindancer, has passed away, and that for the past two years, you've been living in a orphanage. It saddens my heart that your mother has passed away, for she was a loving and caring pony, with a mind like none other. But what truly breaks my heart, is that I was never told about you, or the fact that, when I left, she didn't even tell me she was pregnant.
I am sure you have many questions for me and I have many for you too, but the shock of being told that I have a child that my wife had eight years ago was a hard to swallow fact. I hope that, with Celestia's blessing, I'll be able to see you for myself in a few weeks.
Blazewing
As the two the earth and unicorn fillies finished reading the letter, they looked to Scootaloo, both not wanting to say what was on their minds. Scootaloo fluttered her wings with excitement as she hopped around the clubhouse. “You know what this means, girls? I was never an orphan. I have a dad and he's wants to come to Ponyville to see me.” Scootaloo's joy grew with every word, and her happiness was a sign to the other two that they shouldn't say what they were thinking.
“Scootaloo, Applebloom, we are going to be late for school,” Sweetie Belle said, trying to sound worried about being late for Cheerlee's class.
“Right, you two hop in the wagon. I'll get us there fast and then we can go crusading after.” Scootaloo was already galloping down the ramp to prep her scooter.
“If her father comes, then Scootaloo will leave Ponyville...” Applebloom said with sadness creeping into her voice.
Sweetie Belle looked to her with determination and spoke, “Then you know what we need to do... Get Scootaloo her cutie mark before she leaves!” With a smack of their hooves and a goal set, they left the clubhouse .
Scootaloo finished hooking the wagon to the back of her scooter. She hopped on and revved her wings. As soon as her friends jumped into the wagon, they were off racing to the school house with hope that this day would pass quickly.
Present Day
It had been a frustrating two weeks for Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. With over a dozen attempts by the end of the first week, they had done nothing but annoy Rarity, nearly set fire to the Apple Family Kitchen, and somehow made Spike's scales turn a bright blue. But, by Celestia, they were determined to get Scootaloo her cutie mark. It was the only thing that kept the two from thinking about...
“Applebloom! Sweetie Belle!” They heard Scootaloo cry as she burst into the CMC clubhouse, out of breath and panting hard she tried to speak. “My.. father... Ponyville... here... read... letter.” Falling to the ground, Scootaloo pushed a letter closer to them with what strength she had. Dragging her into the clubhouse and placing Scootaloo on an old davenport they got from Applejack, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle opened the letter.
To my dearest Scootaloo,
Today, I have good new for us both. Work has prompted me to be in Hoofington for the next two weeks, and, being only a half a day's flight away, I'll be coming to Ponyville to meet you and your friends. I want to see you after you get out of school, so I'll be there at three o'clock sharp. And if Cheerlee asks, tell her you have a special guest arriving after class. She's an old friend of mine and I would like this to surprise her.
Your loving father, Blazewing
The two looked to Scootaloo who, they now realized, had run all the way from the orphanage to tell them. Applebloom gave her best smile to Scootaloo. Half-hearted as it may be, she was happy for her friend. She remembers the months after Scootaloo's mother had died, both she and Sweetie Belle tried to cheer her up, but to no avail. Even one of Pinkie Pie's parties managed to bring a smile to the young Pegasus's face, right before she broke down and cried in front of the pink party pony. Applebloom had seen her sneak away from the orphanage one night as she helped her older sister, Applejack, close up the apple stand in town. Applebloom found the young Pegasus back at her old home, curled up on a bed too big for her, sleeping with a tear stricken face. The only thing she could think to do was lay down next to her friend, so Scootaloo didn't sleep alone. The next morning was full of explaining to her older siblings where she was last night. Mad as they were, they did understand and offered to let Scootaloo stay the night a few times.
“This is great, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle said, with mix of excitement and regret in her voice. “Now, you won't have to stay in that orphanage anymore!” She gave her own smile, a bit more genuine than Applebloom's. Sweetie Belle remembered how, during the first few months that Scootaloo was at the orphanage, she would sneak out, and either flee to her old home or to Rarity's when a sleep over was allowed. During the sleep overs, Sweetie Belle had awoken to hear Scoot's crying as softly as she could, doing her best not to not wake her friends. She knew Scootaloo didn't want to show sadness to anypony, and would try to hide it by going into the bathroom to cry or just crying into a pillow, but one night, she made it only half way to the bathroom before she broke down. Sweetie rushed to her and embraced the shaking, sobbing filly. All Sweetie could do was hold Scootaloo that night, wanting with all her heart to take away the pain her friend endured.
Scootaloo, having finally caught her breath, slipped off the davenport, landing shakily on her hooves. She gave a smile to her best friends, the very ponies who stood by her, even when all she wanted was her mother back. The nights she spent in the orphanage were her loneliest nights. Even with all the other orphans, none had lost a parent like she had. Most had lost their parents to accidents or illness, but she had come home one day after school to only see the lifeless body of her mother, laying in a pool of dried blood. Her smile faded as the memory threatened to overtake her like many nightmares before. She shook her head to clear her mind as it would do no good for her today. Today was going to be the start of a new life with a her father. Then, realization hit her along with her own hoof. “I forgot my scooter! We're going to be late for school if we don't leave now.” The three nodded, quickly grabbed their things and rushed out the door.
As the three of them ran, each was lost in their own memory, but Applebloom cast a look to Scootaloo and held back the despair she felt as the thoughts of losing her friend filled her heart.
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“Good morning, class,” Ms. Cheerlee called to her students. Like an out-of tune choir, all the children greeted her warmly. Cheerlee truly loved teaching, having all the little fillies and colts eye her with innocence and glee.
Scootaloo had no such look in her eyes today as she mused over the past two weeks. One of the first letters her father sent her was a picture of himself, telling her it was so she could recognize him when he could finally get time off of work. Scootaloo marveled at how his own coat matched hers, but that was the only thing she noticed that was physically the same about the two. The next letter she sent asked what he did for a living. What she got next, was a new letter with only a picture and five other ponies, dressed in full body uniforms of red, yellow and orange, in a stylized fire pattern of a phoenix. Each member had their goggles and hoods off, and above each pony, was the autographed name of the member, but Scootaloo didn't care about any of the ponies, save for one. She clearly saw her father standing in the middle of the photo, with a wide grin on his face, being the tallest member. The scratch and tak of chalk drew Scootaloo's attention to the blackboard, as her teacher wrote a few math problems. She began to drift again.
Scootaloo, off again, thinking of her father's letter about his travels around Equestria. From Manehatten to Las Pegasus. Even though his letter named a few more well-known cities, the ones he mentioned most were smaller towns. She heard her name called. “Four.” Was all she said in response. The reflex jarred her from the memories. Scootaloo focused her eyes to the speaker to find Ms. Cheerlee grinning with happiness. With a “good job,” her teacher turned and wrote the answer on the board. Scootaloo realized that most of the questions on the board were ones she struggled with the past week. She copied the problems onto her paper quickly as the school bell rang signaling the start of recess.
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The bell rang, ending recess as all the fillies and colts marched back inside. The crusaders marched in with the others, with manes full of sand after attempting to make sand sculptures.
Once Ms. Cheerlee started teaching again, Scootaloo found it hard to focus on the history lesson. On a normal day, history was easy for her. All she needed to do was copy names, dates and locations, but today was torturous in how long it dragged on. The past two weeks were fun with her friends as they attempted, almost feverishly, to earn their cutie marks, and by day's end, she would curl up in her bed at the orphanage and read the letters her father wrote. She wanted to ask why he left and why he never came back, but asking over a letter felt cowardly to her. She started to shift in her seat as she mulled over how she might ask that very question, but the tak-tak of chalk on the blackboard made her groan loudly. Ms. Cheerlee was writing about the history of Cloudsdale. Scootaloo looked at her paper. It was a mess of disjointed notes. She switched to the clock and began to scuff her hoof on the floor in frustration and let another groan escape her.
“Scootaloo!” Cheerlee cried out, as she gave her a irritated glare. “I would hope that you have a reason for interrupting my class?”
“Yes. no- I mean..” A nervous grin etched across her face as she looked to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle for help, but only got worried glances in return.
“And what, may I ask, is so important that you need to disrupt class for? If it's crusading you're thinking about, it must wait 'til after class.” Cheerlee turned back to the chalk board, about to begin her teaching again.
“It's not crusading, I'm waiting for my-” Scootaloo found her hoof in her mouth before she blurted out the surprise to her teacher, but cursed to herself, because now the whole classroom was looking at her with curious eyes.
Cheerlee turned to face Scootaloo again. “Waiting for your what, Scootaloo? What or who could be so important that you can hardly sit still in class?” Her tone was kind, but had lingering hint of disappointment in her student.
The look on Cheerlee's face told Scootaloo that she wanted an answer, with a sigh of defeat she look to her teacher. “I have a special pony coming to see me and the class today right after school. I wanted it to be a surprise to everypony and I didn't think I needed to say anything to you about it, because it was happening after class.”
Cheerlee looked to the clock and noted that it was almost time for class to end. “Okay, Scootaloo. For your punishment, you're going to tell the whole class who you invited.” She grinned cheerfully as Scootaloo squirmed in her chair.
Scootaloo glanced at the clock, fifteen minutes until class ended, but she had to think of something to say. “W-well, he's a Pegasus-”
“Oh, that's good.” Diamond Tiara chirped in. “Maybe this one can teach you how to fly, blank flank.” Silver Spoon giggled at her comment, which drew a disapproving glare from Cheerlee.
“Now girls, that will be enough out of you two.” The stern tone softened as Cheerlee addressed Scootaloo again. “Now, what does this pony do for work, Scootaloo?”
Beads of sweat began to roll off her forehead as Scootaloo tried desperately to think of how not to spoil this surprise. “Well, he's required to travel a lot.” Mentally cringing, she looked around the room to see the classes reaction.
“A traveling pony? Like a train conductor?” One classmate spoke. “Or maybe he gives flight tours to ponies across Equestria.” Another student chimed in, soon the whole class was buzzing, trying to guess the stallion's occupation.
With five minutes left until the end of class, the chatter died down and all the fillies and colts looked to Scootaloo, eyes begging for more on this mystery stallion. Diamond Tiara spoke up again. “Is that all you have to tell us, or is this just some dumb prank you're trying to pull?” The snarkiness of her tone didn't escape Cheerlee.
Cheerlee turned to Diamond Tiara, but Applebloom spoke quickly, “This ain't a hoax. If Scootaloo says he's gonna be here, then he'll be here.”
“Ok, I'll believe you Scootaloo, if you just tell us one more thing about him.” Diamond Tiara said, with a snide grin.
Scootaloo's apprehension at its peek, she saw this as her last chance to stall for time. “And what would that be?”
Extending a hoof out and admiring it, as if it had been perfectly filed, “If you tell us his name, I'll-..” The snarky comment was cut off by a loud boom outside.
“He's here!” Scootaloo cried, as the bell rang signaling the end of class. Despite the protests of Cheerlee, her class poured out of the school room and into the warm afternoon sun. Scootaloo, head pointed to the sky, could see her name written in blazing letters as an orange Pegasus corkscrewed down to the ground. Landing with a small thump, the Pegasus removed his goggles, a smile graced his face as he looked at the school children.
Scootaloo ran up to Blazewing, nearly tripping over her own hooves in excitement. She tilted her head up to look at Blazewing, with a cheesy grin on her face. Her gaze first came to his face, his eyes were a dull sun-bleached orange, unfocused, as if lost in thought. The hair around his left eye was thin, probably due to an accident, she thought. His brown mane was unevenly parted due to his flight. Lean but strong muscles were hidden beneath the moderately thick coat of orange fur.
Blazewing looked upon this little filly and felt the sting of tears begin. Even with the photo she sent him, seeing her reminded him of Raindancer. From her smile, to her wide bright eyes that were full of life, and the very color and style of her mane. It reminded him too much of what he lost. Not wishing to break down, he looked to the quickly growing crowd of children. “Would you like to do the introductions, Scootaloo?”
With a quick nod of her head, she turning to her class. Puffing her chest with pride, she spoke loud enough to be heard over the mummers and whispers of her classmates. “Everypony, I want you to meet Blazewing, member of the daredevil stunt team, Phoenixwings, and...” she paused purely for dramatic effect. “My father.”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stood slack-jawwed as the rest of the class crowded around and pelted Blazewing with questions.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stood outside of the crowd, feeling hesitant of approaching, but one thought echoed in their minds. Scootaloo was going to leave Ponyville. Now, they had a new feeling to contend with. Despair. Thoughts of never seeing Scootaloo again danced around their minds as Applebloom tried to hold her tears in check, but Sweetie Belle dashed through the crowd of fillies and colts. Knocking them over like bowling pins, she raced to her friend.
Applebloom soon followed and the two friends latched onto Scootaloo. Bawling like babies, they hugged her with all their might. In their hearts, they felt this may be the last time they saw their best friend.
“What the hay has gotten into you two?” Scootaloo screeched at her friends as they held her in a vice-like grip.
Applebloom was the first to recover, but never loosened her grip, “N-now that your *hic* father is here... he's gonna take ya away! You said so yer'self that he travels a lot, *hic* we'll never see ya again!” She broke down and cried even harder this time, soaking Scootaloo's mane and coat in tears.
Sweetie Belle spoke next. “And we tried so hard to get you your cutie mark before you left, because once you're gone... we'll never get to go crusading again!” She could only hold her friend and shake with sorrow.
Scootaloo's own sorrow started to well up as the words of her friends hit her. In the past two weeks, she never thought that she would need to leave Ponyville, Ms. Cheerlee, or her friends. Once more, she felt loss in her life. She hugged her two fellow crusaders, not wishing this to be real. Scootaloo prayed to Celestia that this was not how her life was going to treat her. To lose her mother and now her friends, just to have a father, was cruel and unfair.
The young foals gathered around the three sobbing fillies were more confused than sad, and the one adult stallion stood there and smiled. The sounds of crying were silenced when he spoke. “Now, what makes you think I would do something that uncool?” A pert smirk crossed Blazewing's face. “Even though I travel...a lot...Ponyville used to be my home and it still is.” The three fillies rubbed the moisture from their eyes and looked to Blazewing. “From the very first letters I read about you two,” Blazewing pointed a hoof at Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, “I knew if I took Scootaloo away from Ponyville, it would hurt all of you. So I had a chat with the Mayor and we have a place to call home.”
With a leap into the air the three cheered, their joy spread to the crowd of foals around them, who also began to woop and holler at the happy news.
Applebloom rubbed the wetness from her eyes. “So what did Scootaloo tell you about us?” Her eye raised with curiosity as she looked up to Blazewing.
A full smile graced his face as he spoke again, “Scootaloo told me a lot about you two. How the three of you go crusading for your cutie marks, and how you entered in a talent show and got 'best in comedy'.” Chuckling at the memory of the letter, “I wish I had been there to see it.” A deep content sigh escaped his lips as he watched the three little fillies pulled themselves apart from the once sad embrace. Clearing his throat to get the fillies attention again, “I need to talk to your teacher. Ms. Cheerlee, is there a place we can go grab a treat that I can meet you at?”
Scootaloo knew just the place. “Sugarcube Corner. It's a big bakery that looks like a gingerbread house. You can't miss it!”
Nodding in approval, “Okay, girls. I'll meet you there after I get done talking with your teacher.” He watched as the three squealed in delight and ran off, but not before Scootaloo gave him a quick hug before joining her friends once more.
Cheerlee had stood in the doorway of the schoolhouse, watching the scene play out before her. Mouth agape and stunned, she tried, with all her might, to believe that this was some dream turned into a horrible nightmare. The crowd of children had dissipated after the Cutie Mark Crusaders left, leaving Cheerlee and Blazewing face to face.
“It's been a long time, hasn't it, Cheerlee?” As Blazewing spoke, Cheerlee could tell that his words had no malice in them, but remembering the past all too vividly, they served to send shivers up her spine. “Y-yes it has been... W-would you like to step inside?” She cursed to herself as she allowed her years of teaching and dealing with parents override her desire to run.
“Yes, I would. Thank you, Cheerlee.” Blazewing entered after Cheerlee stepped back into the schoolhouse. He watched her take very nervous steps over to her desk and sit down. Taking a seat on the other side of the desk, he stared at the school teacher with a flat emotionless expression.
Cheerlee was no foal, she knew Blazewing could see right through her attempt to hide any fear. By Celestia, he was a pony who did death-defying stunts for a living. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't say a word to him. She knew him well enough to know his violent side. Should she run, he would be at the door in the blink of an eye with a hoof raised to knock her down. Cheerlee remembered the one night in Trottingham. The one night burned into her mind forever...
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The show was about to end, both Raindancer and I had left early, to avoid the hoard of ponies that would spew from the stadium once the performers left. With the event tonight, many of the streets oil and firefly lamps were lit to make the cobblestone paths safe to walk. But from the shadows, a unicorn sprung with a crazed look in his eyes and a knife held in magical grasp. Both of us began to back away from the crazy stallion as he advanced on us, until he lunged.
Splitting apart, the stallion crashed to the street, the two of us ran in separate directions. She ran to the rundown housing district, I ran back the way we came. After losing sight of Raindancer, I ran as fast as I could back to the stadium. I dared not look back should that crazed pony be after me. Hearing no hoofsteps behind me, I looked back briefly and saw nothing. Turning my head forward again, I crashed into Blazewing as he landed in front of me. Quickly, I told him of the attack and led him back to its site. Once we were there, Blazewing and I called out for Raindancer. A cry of pain pierced the night, and Blazewing took flight. I ran after him. He was too fast for me to follow, but the howl of rage I heard next chilled me to the bone. Rounding a corner, I froze. Before me, I saw Raindancer. Beaten with one wing twisted, slashed, and frayed, one eye swollen shut and her breath coming in short, pained gasps due to lacerations across her front legs and chest.
It wasn't 'til a guard pulled me away that I looked up from my friend to see four guards were holding Blazewing back, as another was checking the stallion who attacked us. The unicorn was on the ground, still and unmoving, not a single twitch. The guard moved me away from the scene, and asked me questions about what happened. I told him everything.
**************************
“I don't blame you.” The words snapped Cheerlee from her memory. She focused on Blazewing again and found him with his eyes closed, but the same emotionless face. “I don't blame you for what you said to Raindancer almost ten years ago.” He continued, his voice flat and steady. “You were only looking out for her, thinking that I was cheating on her that night.”
“That's in the past, Blazewing. Nothing can be done about that now.” She felt her anger start to rise at the mention of that night, drunk off her flank as she was, she still believes what she saw. Now, she wondered what he was playing at, bringing up that event.
“True, nothing can be done about that any more, but I can still make it up to her. You were her best friend, Cheerlee. You are the only pony who I'm willing to say this to any more.” Blazewing stopped and took a deep breath, then looked into Cheerlee's eyes. “I promise, I will take care of Scootaloo and be a true father to her.”
The words hit Cheerlee like an anvil. He never made promises to anypony, save for Raindancer. Of all the times he made a promise to Raindancer, not once did he ever fail to come through. However, she knew him well enough that he never made a promise to any other pony. “You're serious... b-bu-but why make this promise to me and not to Scootaloo?”
“Because, this is what I would have promised to her if she was alive today. You are the only pony to know Raindancer as good as myself. She trusted you over me that day.” Blazewing gave a deep sigh as he placed a hoof over his left eye. “I still have a scar from that day to remind me, I never broke a promise to her and this is the last one I can make to her. You are my witness to this, because she trusted you, and I should trust you as well.”
Cheerlee sat stock still absorbing his proclamation. After a few moments passed, her eyes narrowed into a glare. “Alright. I've heard your promise. But if you so much as preen her wrong, I'll be the one who bucks you out of town.”
Bursting through the doors of Sugarcube Corner giggling and full of mirth, the three sole Cutie Mark Crusaders took a seat at the window booth. The bright uplifting atmosphere of the bakery was like the sugary confections the patrons ate, sweet and delightful.
Mrs. Cake sauntered over to the little fillies with a smile. “You girls are in a good mood today. Tell me what has you three in such good spirits?” Mrs. Cake prepared to hear a new epic tale of how they were going to earn their cutie marks.
Scootaloo spread her wings as wide as she could and was about to speak, when a grinning Pinkie Pie cantered out of the kitchen and interrupted. “Okay, everypony, we'll be hosting a surprise party in just a few minutes and you're all invited! Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, I need you to hand out these invitations to Rarity and Applejack quick. Go go go!” Pinkie had shoved the pink invitation letters into Applebloom and Sweetie Belle hooves as she pushed them out the door. “Scootaloo, you are my helper today as we need to make lots of cherry delights!” Within less than a second, Pinkie had carried Scootaloo into the kitchen, placed an apron on her and set her in front of a large mixing bowl. This left Mrs. Cake a tad befuddled, but shook it off as yet another quirk of the pink pony.
Scootaloo was put in front of a long metal table. It held many items for cooking, ranging from mixing bowls, whisks, and an assortment of spoons. “Umm, Pinkie Pie, I don't know how to cook,. If you forgot, we set fire to Applebloom's kitchen last week.” Scootaloo said, with guilt at the resurfaced memory.
Placing a hoof to her chin, “You're right. Here ya go!” Whipping off the apron, Pinkie shoved a large box of decorations to Scootaloo. “Then you can decorate Sugarcube Corner, but hurry. We don't much time. We need to stay- Oh, hi girls!” Pinkie ran from the kitchen to greet her friends. “I'm soooooo glad your here. I need Mrs. Cake, Fluttershy, and Rarity to help me make some cherry pies, cupcakes and some tarts. Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, and Twilight, help Scootaloo put up the streamers and surprise decorations.” With all that said, Pinkie bounced over Scootaloo who had pushed the box out to the bakery's lobby.
“So, who is the surprise party for?” The ever inquisitive Twilight asked as she levitated some streamers to a high corner.
“Beats me, but any party done by Pinkie is sure to be awesome!” The rainbow-maned pegasus replied, as she hung a welcome banner in an archway.
Sweetie Belle looked up from the table she and Scootaloo were covering with a paper party cloth. “Wait, Pinkie didn't tell you what this party was for?”
“No, she didn't. All she said was that a surprise party for two ponies was being held here today. then gave me my invitation.” Twilight paused in the midst of her decorating. “I wonder who... OH. I got it.” The purple bookworm gave a joyous cry. “We can solve this easily. All we need to do is think of the pony that like cherries!”
“That could work Twilight, but more than one pony in Ponyville like cherries. I like cherries who's ta say it's not for me?” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.
“Other than the fact that you got an invitation the same time I did, if we get the rest of these decorations up quickly, I can make a list of ponies who like cherries that this party could be for.”
Before Twilight could start compiling a list, the door bell jingled and a slightly dejected Applebloom walked in.“Neither Applejack or Big Mac can come, both are working on fixn' the roof over my room.” She sat down and groaned loudly into a table that had yet to receive a paper cloth.
“Hay, there's an idea.” Sweetie Belle cried out. “We could be Cutie Mark Crusader roof repairers!”
“I already thought of that, but Big Mac said it was too dangerous for a filly.” Applebloom let a long sigh echo through the bakery, “And I was hoping that at least one of 'em would come to meet him.”
“Meet who, Applebloom?” Twilight asked with one eyebrow raised.
“Don't tell me Pinkie hasn't told ya who the party is for.” Applebloom lifted her head from the table. “It's for Scootaloo's...” Before she could finish, Applebloom was tackled to the floor by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
“Applebloom, what the hay are you thinking?!” Scootaloo scolded her friend. She looked around the lobby of Sugarcube Corner at the ponies who decided to stay and help decorate, all eyes were now on her, along with those of her long time idol.
“Wait a second. This is a surprise party for Scootaloo and a pony that she knows.” Rainbow Dash now joining the growing number of ponies intrigued that the young orange pegasus knew who the party was for, but wouldn't tell. “Oh wait, I get it.” Rainbow landed next to her number one fan with a sly grin. “Scootaloo, I know what's going on.”
“You do!?” With a bead of sweat rolling down the right side of her face, Scootaloo looked to her idol, expecting the worst.
“Yeah, you can't hide it very well.” Dash gave the little filly a slight jab to the shoulder. “You got yourself a colt friend.” Rainbow gave a triumphant pose she felt she earned, until she heard laughing.
All the ponies in the lobby of Sugarcube Corner watched as the crusaders began to laugh hysterically. Scootaloo, who was laughing the hardest, was clutching her sides as the force of her laughter became painful. A minute passed, and the laughter died down. Scootaloo, gasping for breath, looked up to Dash. “If... you... think I... have a colt friend... Rainbow Dash.” The attempt to speak drew fresh giggles from the young pegasus, as she stared at the bewildered face of her idol.
“Wait, you're saying this party isn't because you have a colt friend? Pinkie came by earlier, saying it was for two special ponies.” The purple librarian, now more puzzled than before, “if you are one of the special ponies, then the other...” Her words trailed off as she turned and walked away from the little filly, lost within her own thoughts. She stopped and whipped her body around. Twilight's eyes were wide and a huge smile plastered on her face, but before she could speak, a loud bang from the kitchen tore everyponies eyes to Pinkie.
Pinkie was covered in a variety of colored frosting, batter and red cherries. “He's here. Quick, hide. Crusaders, to your places.” The ponies in the lobby scrambled to a hiding spot as the three fillies clamored to the front door.
As Blaze stepped through the door, the sight of the little orange filly and her friends smiling cheerfully eased him. After the past had been caught up with Cheerlee, he had gone to the orphanage. Blaze had been used to signing his name for fans, but this time, he had been signing it so Scootaloo could come home. Home. The word echoed in his mind. He hadn't come back to Ponyville in nearly a decade, but it still felt like home to him. With a smile stretched across his face, he had all his attention on his daughter, but that was quickly shattered. With volume equal the Royal Canterlot Voice, the yell of surprise knocked him to his flank as ponies burst from hiding. Blaze rose with a chuckle, “You planed this, didn't you, Scootaloo?”
“Nope.” Scootaloo said with a cheeky grin, the rest of the party goers stared at the stallion who was so friendly with the resident troublemaker. Scootaloo turned her back to Blaze then addressing the all the ponies in attendance. “Every pony, I want you to meet a super awesome pony. Blazewing, member of the phoenixwing daredevil stunt group and he's got a BIG reason for being in Ponyville.” The lobby of Sugarcube corner hummed with the conversations of ponies guessing the why among the crowd.
The sound of Blaze clearing his throat drew every ponies eyes to him. “Scootaloo, I understand that you're excited about this, but are you going to introduce me like this to every pony?” Blaze gave her a questioning look but still had a smirk that betrayed his love of the attention.
“Hay Scoots, why don't ya introduce some of the most awesome ponies in Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash said, trotting up to the young pegasus.
“Oh right, this is Rainbow Dash. One of the most super duper awesomest ponies in all of Ponyville.” Scootaloo couldn't contain herself as she told Blaze about Dash, from being Ponyville's leader of the weather team to Dash's dream of being a Wonderbolt. Dash herself used to the over eagerness of the little filly boasted her own ego with her winning the best young fliers competition and her sonic rainboom.
Blaze, not speaking a word through this conversation, was reminded of his youth in the rainbow-maned mare before him, days he would spend on doing tricks when he wasn't needed to help the crew. He was unable to drift into memory this time as a purple unicorn pushed passed the cyan pony and extended a hoof to him.
“Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm Ponyville's librarian and student at Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns.” The young mare had her fears of being a braggart to the new stallion after all. Rainbow was quite well known for it herself. She was surprised when he took her hoof and gave a gentle shake.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Sparkle.” Blaze held a smile that felt fake even to himself. He never liked the upper crust noble ponies. To him, they were all a bunch of rich ponies who inherited bits from their families or were big time business ponies with no sense of humor. But this purple pony didn't strike him as either.
Twilight gave him a much more genuine smile. “I want to, on behalf of Ponyville, thank you for adopting Scootaloo.” She took a breath to continue, but a high pitched voice cut her off.
“Twilight, what are you talking about? Hes not here to- OH, that's right. You don't know Blaze is Scootaloo's father.” Pinkie Pie had suddenly appeared in between the Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Her beaming grin, infectious as always, made Blaze smile wholeheartedly, but the two friends of Pinkie stopped, looked to her and put more force in a single word than intended. “What!?”
Rainbow had halted telling Scootaloo about some of new tricks, her gaze now fully on Blaze as the words of the party pony sunk in. Twilight however looked beyond confused in her attempt to process what Pinkie had said. Completely at loss for any more words, she could only open and close her mouth in a vain hope that movement would give her something to say. The outburst had caused Rarity and Fluttershy to trot out of the kitchen loaded with the baked treats.
Rarity quickly placed the slightly less than full trays of cherry tarts on a vacant table and trotted over to her friends. “Why, what in all of Equestria is wrong? Pinkie, could you please...” As her eyes traveled from one friend to the next, she grew increasingly worried until they landed on Blaze. With a gasp, the white unicorn summoned her saddle bag and pulled out many objects including brushes, scissors, and an assortment of quick mane 'n tail conditioning bottles. “How did you get your mane and tail in such a dreadful state, darling? It's so uneven and knotted that even Rainbow Dash is left speechless.” Rarity worked furiously brushing knots out of Blaze's mane, ignoring the odd look he gave her. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo giggled at the fact this stallion was getting a impromptu fashion attack from the unicorn.
Fluttershy very quietly made her way to Pinkie, who sat next to the crusaders giggling herself. She looked over to Dash who looked a tad awestruck by what had transpired. Twilight looked deep in thought as Fluttershy spotted her next. Twilight had her head down with one hoof to her chin and her ears folded back, her eyes shifted from side to side as if she were reading a book. Fluttershy then took notice of the crusaders, as the three giggled with some inside joke that the others finally got. “Umm, is everypony okay?” the butter-colored pegasus spoke from behind Pinkie.
“Oh, everything is A-OKAY. In fact, now that the guest of honor is here, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!” Pinkie shouted then bound over to a phonograph to play music for the party goers.
The now exposed Fluttershy caught the eye of Blaze, who gave a smile causing her to hide behind Rainbow Dash.“Oh, so you're the guest of honor. You must be moving into Ponyville for Pinkie to throw such a nice soiree.” Rarity remarked as she removed her tools from Blaze's tail and mane, which now were even and free from the windswept knots. “Oh, how rude of me. I completely forgot my manners,” she said, shocked at her own lack of etiquette. “My name is Rarity. I'm the owner of Carousel Boutique and seamstress here in Ponyville.” She gave a slight curtsy to the stallion. “Please tell me your name and what brings you to Ponyville?”
Blaze cleared his throat, which snapped Twilight from her mental prison and Rainbow Dash from her new found admiration of her number one fan. “Can we first find a table? I've been flying for a good portion of the day and I'd rather be sitting as I'm questioned.” The group of fillies and mares gave a nod and found a large table, and before the last of them were seated, Pinkie and placed a round of their favorite smoothies before them. After taking a long drag from his smoothie, Blaze looked to Scootaloo with a smile, then turned to the five mares around him. “Well, just to make sure everypony is on the level, I'll start at the beginning.” Taking a deep breath, Blaze began. “My name is Blazewing. I'm a member of the traveling daredevil stunt group, PhoenixWings. Roughly twenty years ago, my group came to Ponyville for a show. It was here that I found my special somepony, married, and moved into town.”
“Wait, did you quit preforming after you married?” Rainbow Dash asked with a sudden outburst.
Blaze, having read the two page letter Scootaloo wrote about her idol and the mare's passion for joining the Wonderbolts, knew where this was coming from. “No, but because I decided to live in Ponyville, I was forced to travel long distances to cities and towns on the other side of Equestria. Many times, I traveled without rest just to get home.”
“Forgive me for saying this, but how can you claim to have lived here, yet nopony seems to know you.” Rarity questioned the older stallion hoping to catch him in a lie.
“That's because he left after a humongously big fight with Raindancer about ten years ago. And besides, I know him. I know everypony in Ponyville. You could have asked if I knew him, silly filly.” Pinkie popped from under the table to sit next to Rarity and Twilight, sipping her own cotton candy pink smoothie.
“Wait, what? Who? Pinkie, please make some sense right now.” Twilight groaned as the sugar crazed earth pony added more information that didn't make her understand the situation any better.
“It's sooo simple, Twilight. Blaze here is married to Raindancer. Raindancer and Blaze got into a big fight and Blaze left. Raindancer is Scootaloo's mother and Blaze is her father. You're the smart one here, Twilight. I thought you would have figured it out by now.” The ever jubilant earth pony made her way around Twilight to give a hug to Blaze. “It's sooo good to know your back.” Pinkie's eyes went wide as saucers as an excited gasp escaped her. “That means I can throw you a big 'ol grand birthday bash to make up for all the ones I've missed.”
“OK, now that makes sense, but that raises even more questions like, why didn't you come two years ago when Scootaloo lost her mother? In fact, why didn't you come back 'til now anyway?” Twilight felt that his answer was not going to be pleasant.
Blaze's face lost his smile as the tension around the table grew. “Well, the answer to the first question is simple, I was never informed of my wife's death until two weeks ago, and at the same time I was told she had left behind Scootaloo, whom I hadn't even known was born.” His eyes were on Scootaloo as he spoke. With a sigh, he reached into his saddle bag and presented a letter to the group. “This is the letter I got two weeks ago from Ponyville orphanage. This was the only thing, in nine years, that ever came to me. The reason why I never came back was not because I didn't want to, but because I was told not to.” With another sigh, he sipped a little more of his melting smoothie.
“But who would want you to... leave? You seem like such a nice pony,” the ever bashful Fluttershy spoke up, but ended with a squeak as the eyes of her friends and Blaze fell on her.
With a groan, Blaze placed his hoof over his brow and gave a slow circular massage. “Well, I knew this was going to come up, I just wish it had been later.” He deadpanned as he removed his hoof. “I wasn't what you'd call a model citizen, I was young reckless and branded as a troublemaker even before I came to Ponyville. It was here it all started to catch up ta me. And even after I moved here, it didn't stop me from pulling pranks on ponies before I left to do a show. Only when I came back, I had Raindancer and the Mayor scowling at me and tell me I had to restore the town hall back to normal.” The memory served to give him a chuckle before Pinkie started laughing hysterically.
“I remember that, the whole town had to look at a green and pink town hall for a week until you came back.” Pinkie was on her back laughing and snorting to which Rainbow started snickering at the thought of the discolored town hall.
“I bet the Mayor was mad at that.” Rainbow's laughter couldn't be contained much longer and soon had joined Pinkie on the floor, clutching her sides.
“Oh, she was livid. It took me three days to repaint the town hall and every time I took a break., she shot me this nasty glare. That was my first ever prank in Ponyville, and it was fun at the time, but I had Raindancer to think about and support.” Blaze was smiling again as he launched into more tales of pranks at the request of the crusaders. He thanked Celestia that he was able to shift the topic away from the truth, without lying in the process.
The afternoon wound down as did the party. Many of the party-goers left with a wave and hearty goodbye. Blaze, the crusaders and the five mares around the table soon became the only ponies left in Sugarcube Corner as Celestia's sun touched the horizon and began it's gentle decent.
“Oh my good gracious!” Rarity cried out. “Just look at the time, Sweetie Belle. It's time to go.” Rarity trotted around and nudged Sweetie as she gave her friends a goodbye hug. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Blaze. I do hope you can settle back into Ponyville with little trouble. Oh, and if you ever need formal attire, please come by my shop. I can personally tailor many fine vests for you and I can guarantee that they will be fabulous.” With her ever ladylike smile, Rarity curtsied once more before heading home with her sister.
“Oh, I completely for got about, Angel. He's going to be upset that dinner will be late. I'm sorry, but I need to go too.” Fluttershy got up and flew out the door without making a sound.
“I have to get back to the library. Spike has most likely finished his chores and is waiting for me. It was a pleasure, Blaze, and if you need help, I got lots of books on parenthood that can be great references.” Twilight had turned and was out the door before Blaze could retort to what she had said.
“I gotta say, Blaze, I never would have guessed this little squirt had such a famous father.” Rainbow pointed a hoof at Scootaloo. “I'd love to stay, but I'm Ponyville's lead weather pony and tomorrow is gonna be busy.” With a wave goodbye and one last hug from Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash left.
“Well, Scootaloo, I gotta git home before AJ comes lookin' for me.” Applebloom gave a wave to her friend, turned to head out the door, but was stopped by Blaze.
“I'm sorry, but its too late for a young filly to be walking alone. Allow me and Scootaloo to take you home.” Blaze held a stern face that softened after his offer to Applebloom. As Scootaloo stood next to her friend, for a brief moment, Blaze saw Raindancer in place of her, broken wings and shattered body. Blaze barely heard the objection from Applebloom. Shaking his head to clear the image from his eyes, he looked to the young earth pony. “No buts, and besides I haven't seen Ponyville or Sweet Apple Acre in years, the two of you can tell me everything that's changed as we walk.” He said with a chuckle. The real reason, he was willing to keep from the fillies just long enough.
*****************************************
The walk through town was mostly uneventful. Blaze had been asking questions about the town and noting how much has changed in his absence. Scootaloo took note of her father holding his head high, as if he was proud to walk the streets of Ponyville again. The setting sun made his orange coat look almost on fire, but his flat brown mane grew a few shades darker as the sun continued to set. She marveled at how tall he was compared to most other grown up stallions she knew, the tallest of them being Big Macintosh and the stallion who owned the orphanage.
Applebloom had somehow managed to coax Blaze into telling the two about the towns and cities he visited. Applebloom asked for more about Manehatten and a small town called Haydale. As Blaze told a story about how he forgot his bit bag and was forced to wash dishes for a meal, Scootaloo caught sight of the Mayor in between two homes talking with a pony hidden in the shadows of the growing dusk. Too far away to hear anything, Scootaloo kept her eyes on the Mayor and noted that she was anxiously shifting from hoof to hoof. Scootaloo reasoned that she wanted to get home and redye her mane as a few pink strands were visible.
As they reached the edge of town, Blaze grimaced at the fact the sun was setting faster then he remembered. “Okay, if we are going to reach Sweet Apple Acre before night fall, we'll need to fly fast. You two hop on my back. I'll get us there in a flash.” Blaze knelt down far enough to allow the fillies to climb on.
“Ah don't know,” a concerned Applebloom spoke. “What if I fall off? I don't have wings like you or Scoots.”
At the mention of her nickname, Scootaloo glared at Applebloom which earned a stifled snicker from Blaze.
“Well, how about this. You can sit in front and hold my mane for safety, Scootaloo can sit behind you and I'll fly low just to be safe.” Blaze gave a smile to the filly doing his best to assure her her safety.
“Applebloom.” Scootaloo grabbed her friend's attention. “Remember the last time you came home after sun down, Applejack doubled your chores for a week. We couldn't go crusading without you. It was the worst week ever.” This caused Applebloom to shudder.
“Okay, just don't go too fast.” Applebloom hopped onto Blaze's back and clutched his mane. It felt sleek because of Rarity's work on it earlier, so she secretly bit into a lock after Scootaloo got on.
“Alright, everypony ready?” Blaze called out.
A bit overexcited, Scootaloo shouted. “Operation: Fly to Sweet Apple Acre is A GO!”
Applebloom responded by holding onto his mane tighter. Blaze unfurled his wings, mindful of his new passengers. Blazes broke into a light trot that quickly picked up the pace to a full gallop. Holding his wings vertically, shielding the two fillies from the rushing wind, he gave a powerful leap into the sky and simultaneously forcing his wings down catching the air to propel him higher than his legs alone would allow. After a few more beats of his wings, Blaze and the two fillies were airborne. Applebloom, still clutching his mane, squealed as the wind whipped her own mane into a flurry.
Scootaloo, however was looking at the ground, transfixed in the simple fact that she was higher than the trees she used to climb. Many times before, she had climbed tree after tree and jumped from each one, furiously beating her wings in her attempts to garner flight. In the end of every try, the outcome was always the same. Cold hard earth and some tree sap. Now looking down at the ground whizzing by faster than she had ever could hope to go, she barely registered the gleeful whoops and hollers of her friend. The flight felt like it lasted for hours to the young orange pegasus, but when they finally landed at the front porch of the Apple family farmhouse, Scootaloo had doubled her wish that her wings would become stronger. She slowly slid off her father's back, her mind racing with an image of herself flying next to her father. The thought didn't scare her, but of the many times she had this image, it was always her idol. It was always Rainbow Dash.
The knocking of a hoof on the wooden door drew Scootaloo from her thoughts. She watched Applebloom plant her hind hooves so she could rapidly smack her front hooves on the door.
The door swung open to reveal a very upset Applejack. “And just what 'in tarnation are you doing Applebloom? It's sundown and you barely made it home 'n time. Why, I was about to go find ya an'... an'... Applebloom, who is this stallion?” Applejack's anger dropped and was replaced with concern as she took notice of Blaze.
“Good evening. I was hoping you could tell me if Big Macintosh still lives here?” Blaze gave a kind smile to the young mare, guessing at her relation to Big Mac himself.
“That depends on who's askin' for 'im.” Her southern drawl slipped a bit further than she normally allowed. She was setting herself to grab Applebloom and slam the door in his face until she heard rustling behind her.
“AJ, what's goin' on?” The red stallion came up behind his younger sibling. He noticed her odd stance which was blocking most of the view out the door. The Stetson hat she wore was hindering his sight even more.
Blaze spoke loud to be clearly heard past the young mare blocking him. “Unless your granny smacked out the good memory you have, I'd hate to reintroduce myself a second time.” A childish grin broke out on Blaze's face as he watched the red stallion move the young mare out the door and to the side.
“Blaze... 'S that really you?” The look of disbelief etched across Big Mac's face. He thought his own eyes were playing tricks on him.
“Eeyup.” Blaze mimicked his old friend's well versed word of choice.
A flash of red was all anypony saw as Big Mac closed the distance between him and Blaze. With one hoof raised he smacked Blaze in the jaw, sending him tumbling to the dirt. Blaze rolled over and back onto his hooves. With a grin, he lunged at the red stallion and the two began to wrestle in the dirt.
Applejack had picked up Scootaloo and brought her to the safety of the porch as the two equally large stallions fought. She was both shocked and amazed that her big brother, who was kind and gentle to anypony he met, just clocked this stallion and started fighting.
“Now hold it!” The grizzled appearance of Granny Smith in the doorway made the two stallions halt and stand at attention. “Now, look what ya gone an' done to yer'selves. We were just about ta eat and you gone a dirtied yer'self up. I thought I taught you better than that Macintosh.” The scolding had made the red stallion drop his head like a young colt. Her sights then turned to Blaze, who held a grin of a colt caught roughhousing in the living room. “And you haven't changed in years, have ya, Blaze? I'd wallop yer flank if I felt it would do something.” Though he never lost his grin, Blaze folded his ears back for he too remembered the scolding his parents gave him. “Now, I say you two go wash up, supper is still hot. Applebloom, would ya kindly put two more plates on the table?” With all that said, the matriarch of the Apple family slowly made her way back into the home.
Applejack and the two crusaders watched as Blaze and Big Mac shared coltish grins as the two gave a hearty chuckle. AJ, coming back to her senses, ushered the two fillies into the house and to the kitchen to help granny. With that done, she took a quick trot over to her older brother. “Big Macintosh, what in the hay was that? I ain't ever seen you clock a pony, ever.” The red stallion stayed silent, unsure of how to answer his younger sibling.
“Yeah, Big Mac, ya hit harder than I remember,” Blaze chimed in, which drew Applejack's gaze to him.
“And that's the other thing. Who in the hay are you? Granny knows ya. Big Mac knows ya. Even Applebloom knows ya. Why, in all of Equestria, don't I know who ya are?”
Big Mac spoke calmly. “AJ, this is my old friend, Blazewing. Back when you were a filly an' goin' ta school, Blaze had just moved into Ponyville.” Blaze cracked a smile at AJ as Big Mac continued. “He's part of a group of traveling pony entertainers. Most of the time when he was in town, you were off at school or half-asleep from working on the farm.”
Applejack was stunned, but a new question slid off her tongue before she could catch herself. “So why did you never talk about this well-endowed stallion?” Realizing what she just said, Applejack clamped her hoof over her muzzle and her cheeks grew redder than her brother's coat. This elicited a roaring laughter from Blaze and a stern glare from her brother.
“Hay!” The sound of Applebloom's yell drew all of their attentions away. “Supper's gettin' cold.” The younger Apple family member beckoned the three to come inside. Applejack took this opportunity to flee from her brother and Blaze.
Once all were seated at the table, supper was served. Applejack had taken the seat next to Granny, who was at the head of the table with Applebloom to her left. Big Mac was at the other end, across from Granny with Blaze to his left and Scootaloo sitting next to her father. Applejack kept her eyes on her plate to avoid any more contact with Blaze or her older brother, who glanced over to her every so often during the meal. Applebloom picked up an old topic from the walk earlier, asking Blaze more about Haydale and his travels around Equestria. Granny had chimed in a few times to ask Blaze what brought him back to town. The news of him being Scootaloo's father hadn't taken Big Mac by surprise, and Granny was joyously commenting how it wasn't hard to see the resemblance between the two. AJ herself winced slightly at the fact that she had inadvertently hit on the older stallion.
With supper concluded, Blaze and Scootaloo said their farewells and began the trek home. Ponyville by nightfall was peaceful and quiet, save for the crickets and the hoots of owls. Scootaloo turned down a street that wrapped around the edge of the town, lost in her thoughts of the days progression.
“Scootaloo?” Her father's voice broke her train of thought. When she looked up to him, he had a look of mild concern. “Where are you going silly filly? Our house is this way.” Her eyes fell to the ground and she pawed at the dirt.
With a heavy sigh, she looked back to her father. “I... I need to be somewhere...”
Blaze held a befuddled look upon his face. “Its nearly ten at night, where do you need to be?”
Scootaloo shifted her weight, very unsure of how her newly acquired father would take her words. “I wanted to go talk to mom... at the... cemetery.”
“That's a good idea, Scootaloo.” He spoke with a calm and understanding tone, with a motion of his hoof, Blaze let Scootaloo lead the way.
As they walked, neither of them spoke. Blaze looked to his young daughter as his mind wandered to darker thoughts. “How has she dealt with having the only parent she knew of pass away, and so early in her life? How does Scootaloo truly feel about me? Did she ever feel like I had abandoned her and her mother? I honestly never knew Raindancer was pregnant. Does Scootaloo hate me? No... she was happy to see me earlier, but was that truly happiness? Is she truly happy that I've come back to take care of her? Does she blame me for not being there for her?”
Scootaloo was not much better off, her own mind also a swirl of unvoiced questions. “I wonder what made him leave Ponyville? Pinkie had said earlier that he and mom had a big fight. He left and never came back. Every time I tried to talk to mom about him, she'd always clam up and never talk. I... I was going to ask her again after school, but I never got the chance.” With a sigh, Scootaloo looked up to see the gates of Ponyville cemetery looming above her. Her father, who hadn't been paying attention, smacked into the iron gate. The sight of Blaze's sudden and painful jerk back into reality made Scootaloo stifle a laugh.
Blaze himself soon began to chuckle at his own absent-mindedness, as he rubbed the sore spot on his muzzle. Clearing his mind, Blaze looked to his daughter again. “Well, at least the gate is open.” This caused Scootaloo to hold back yet another bout of laughter. “Let's go see your mother.” His voice low, nearly a whisper, urged Scootaloo to take the lead in guiding him to the grave.
Scootaloo gave a nod to her father and stepped into the cemetery. The small cobble path broke off many times. The paths she didn't take ended in a cul-da-sac surrounded by the headstones of other deceased. Because she knew the graveyard well, it only took a few minutes to come upon the one path that led to her mother's grave.
Soon enough, the two were standing in front of a tombstone. Blaze's face fell into a solemn expression as he gazed upon earth that now held his dearly beloved somepony. Rummaging through his saddle bag, he pulled a single white carnation that swayed in the breeze blowing through the graveyard this early evening. Taking a step, he placing the flower down and nudging it close to the stone that held the name and cutie mark of Raindancer. Blaze's eyes then read the words carved into it.
“Here lies Raindancer, loving mother and loyal wife and kind friend to all ponies. By Celestia's sun, may she rest peacefully.”
With the final word spoken barely above a whisper, Blaze fell to his knees as the trickle of tears fell from his eyes, blurring his vision. He hadn't even noticed Scootaloo approach his side. As the two of them sat staring at the stone marker, the evening grew colder as the bright white disc of Luna's moon climbed higher in its nightly cycle.
“Two years...Two years too late...” Blaze thought, trying to choke back a sob that threaten to escape. His face caught between a grimace and frown as reality hit hard. When he had gotten the letter he was shocked, but in disbelief. Now kneeling in front of the grave, he could only accept the truth. “Why...why did I never come back? I should have come back a week later, she would have calmed down by then. It never mattered what the Mayor said to me. I just used it as an excuse to get away.” Tears were now flowing from his eyes and harsh sobs echoed throughout the graveyard. Scootaloo turned to her head and watched as her father fall deeper into his sea of sorrow. “Why did I never come back... Because, I knew whatever Cheerlee had seen was wrong, but she chose to believe her over me.” Like a foal that was wounded, Blaze curled up into a ball, his crying growing harsher as his throat grew raw. “I never wanted to see her hurt again, not after that day in Trottingham. And yet, here I am, two years too late to say I'm sorry. Two years too late to admit that my own bullheadedness cost me the one thing I loved. I'm such a foal.” Blaze's body shook, his heart felt void from the loss and his mind began to tune out the world around save for one sound. Turning his head, he spotted, through bleary sight, his daughter crying next to him. His only child felt the same loss he did, the loss of a loved one so close and so dear. Uncurling from his now uncomfortable ball, he placed a wing over Scootaloo, pulling her close.
As two saddened souls lay in front of the grave, a shadowy figure sat watching the two. A scowl of hate crossed its face then turned and left silently.
The two heart-broken pegasi sat in silence leaning on each other. Scootaloo was first to shatter the gloomy silence. “I don't think she hated you... she never talked about you, but I remember her looking at a picture every night, she'd always locked it in her desk and cried herself to sleep long after she tucked me into bed.”
With a hoof, Blaze wiped his eyes clear and gazed upon his daughter. Reaching his head down to nuzzle the young filly, the words she spoke lifted his spirit as he looked down loving at her. Fresh tears burned at his eyes again, yet these were warm in defiance of the chill night and the pain in his heart. Blaze's voice cracked as he tried to speak. “That's... how your mother always was. She was harsh... but loving, she put her hoof down... when I crossed the line. But after... every fight, she would feel bad about yelling at me... even though she had every right to.”
“Yeah, there was one time that I skipped class to try and get my cutie mark. What I didn't know was that Ms. Cheerlee gave us a pop quiz that day. Mom was so angry at me that she took away my scooter until I promised never to skip class again.” Scootaloo gave a weak chuckle. “I didn't make that promise until a week later.” This made Blaze chuckle and Scootaloo told him more about Raindancer during his absence.
With a heavy sigh before turning his eyes back to the grave, Blaze found his voice again. “Sounds like you got my stubbornness, Scootaloo.” Speaking softly at first but grew after another large sigh, “Scootaloo... I have a show to do in Hoofington the day after tomorrow, I... I would like you to come and watch.”
The somber frown Scootaloo held gave way to a bright smile of disbelief. With her eyes growing wide with excitement, Blaze could see stars of the night sky reflected in them. “Really, you'll let me come to your show!?” The tiny filly saw her father nod his head. Bounding out of her father's protective wing and hopping around him with excitement and a cries of how awesome this was. Soon she came to a stop and jumped to give Blaze the strongest hug she could muster.
After a few minutes, they pulled away. Both with bright smiles, the duo turned to leave the cemetery, but Blaze halted after a few steps “Oh, one moment, Scootaloo.” He turned and trotted back to the tombstone. Placing a light kiss upon the rock, he whispered, “I love you, Raindancer.”
Blaze and Scootaloo had left the graveyard around midnight, but a shadow continued to linger about, watching the two pegasi. As the younger was ushered onto the elder's back, the shadow bit back a curse while the two flew peacefully into town. “I will have to take care of one of them... but which one?” The shadow contemplated this for but a moment. Stifling a yawn, the shadowed pony began it's trek to a nearby farm. “I will figure that out in the morning.”
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The morning sun rose over the horizon to bath Ponyville in it's warm glow, but not all were so welcoming of this day's light. The rays of the sun passed through the second-story window of a house near the eastern most edge of the town. Instead of flooding the room with light, it was stopped by a pair of thick curtains, a small parting caused the light to narrow into a thin band that rested high upon the wall. As the sun climbed further into the sky, this small band grew in length creeping downward. The light soon touched the cheeks of a small orange filly, resting peacefully in a dreamless sleep. Soon the warmth of the sun roused her from sleep, long enough for her to turn and place her back to it. Now the warmth hit the back of her head giving rise to a moan of protest and more shifting from the young filly.
Rolling one last time, the blanket covering Scootaloo slid off her body and fell to the floor below. With one more groan, she pawed the edge of the bed for her covers but found nothing. Opening her eyes slowly, she groggily looked upon the bed. “Wait... that's my bed. Where is my blanket?” Casting her half-lidded eye down. “Oh there it is, on the floor... Wait, my bed's over there. I'm over my blanket that's on the floor.” Her eyes shot open and glanced behind her, her wings were folded at her sides. Flailing legs and a soft thwop onto the floor became Scootaloo's final wake up call. With one more groan, she raised herself to all four hooves and surveyed the room. Her eyes first fell upon the bed, and to the wall above it hung posters of the Wonderbolts. To the left of the bed was her desk and two floor pillows. On the desk were papers filled with drawings of Rainbow Dash and herself flying through clouds. Another had Dash doing a sonic rainboom but the colors were off. On the other side of the bed was her closet, which normally held her helmet, scooter and some protective gear for when she did some of her more dangerous stunts. It was bare and a small amount of dust had settled inside.
Scootaloo wondered how she ended back at her old home. She had caved in and went to stay at the orphanage almost a year ago. A faint smell reached her. It was light and the most distinctive aroma was that of cinnamon. Moving to the door, the scent grew in strength, and upon nudging it open, the smell became more defined. Vanilla, there was vanilla among the growing perfume. Leaving her room, she trotted to the top of the stairs and took a big whiff of the pleasant fragrance. With careful steps, she made her way downstairs and a new smell greeted her. “Is that... Hash browns?” She rounded the corner that partly hid the stairs and entered the living room. There lying on the sofa was her mother, her purple mane wrapped in a white bath towel. Her teal coat showed signs of having left the shower not too long ago. Her right wing hung loosely at her side, a scar near the joint told of how the limp wing came to be.
“Mom?” Scootaloo's voice came out like a squeak, but still got the attention of the older mare who smiled sweetly at the little filly.
“You're up awfully early today. Did you sleep well?” The teal pegasus' voice was like the soft pattering of rain, her smile was bright and loving. But yet the scars across her body told of her painful encounter years ago.
Scootaloo nodded in reply, unable to make herself speak. All she could do was stare at her mother in disbelief. Caught between fantasy and reality, Scootaloo was torn with emotions of both love and loss. She so desperately wanted to run across the room and hug her mother and never let go, but she knew that this was a lie, a play of hope that everything that had happened was just a nightmare.
“That's good to hear.” The teal mare spoke again as she slipped off the sofa and let loose her slightly damp mane. “I was thinking, why don't you invite your friends over to dinner tonight? I can make that three bean salad that you love.” She mussed with her mane for a bit, shaping it into her normal style that Scootaloo mimicked every day.
Scootaloo stood still, unable to believe that what she was seeing was real, but wishing with all her heart that this was. The past two years had made the little filly pine for the good days. The days when her mother would pick her up from school and help her with homework. How she would tuck her into bed, kiss her forehead and say, “You'll find your cutie mark tomorrow.”. The day she lost a tooth to an accident while crusading, she was there with a smile and warning her to be careful next time. A smile that a mother gave to her foal to say without words that they loved them very much. That's all Scootaloo wanted, her mother looking at her with that very smile.
“What's wrong, Scootaloo? Are you alright?” Concern washed over the teal mare's face when the young filly didn't answer. “Please, tell me what's wrong?” Taking a step forward, the color in her coat began to drain. The shine of her recently washed mane dulled and grew bleak.
Scootaloo's eyes went wide with fear, she knew what was happening now. Her heart began to beat frantically, it was the nightmare again. Giving herself a quick pinch and a painful one too, but resisted the urge to cry out. She looked back up to the mare who had now walked around the coffee table, all her color lost save for the blood that dripped slowly from her nose, and trail of the crimson fluid ran from the sofa up to the undead mare.
“Please Scootaloo, tell me what's wrong?” The once soothing voice now was a winded raspy tone. Taking a few more steps, blood started to run from her ears in a slow trickle. With every step, one of the scars on the mare's body opened up and added more blood to the growing crimson mire. The grinding of bone on bone echoed through the room as each step brought the undead closer to the frightened filly.
The fear growing in the young filly caused her to step backwards, away from the nightmare that lumbered to her. The hoof steps that met wood were accompanied by small splashes, as the floor became covered with the crimson liquid as did the nightmare cadaver. Scootaloo backed herself into a wall, fearful tears rolling down her cheeks as the colorless visage of her mother shambled to her. Closing her eyes and drawing breath, she prepared to scream.
“Horse feathers!” The sudden outburst made Scootaloo's eyes snap open. The living room was back to normal, the sofa, floor, coffee table were all clean, not a speck of blood. The undead image of her mother gone as if carried off by the wind. “Well, I guess I can eat that one. Some extra syrup will cover the burnt taste.”
Scootaloo relaxed. The breath she held turned into a sigh of relief. Her heart slowed to a normal rate as she shakily made her way to the kitchen. Peering into the room that held both the dining room and kitchen, what she saw she was not ready for. In the kitchen half of the room, her father was trotting back an forth, placing pancakes on a serving platter, chopping fruit and dropping them into some yogurt, setting plates and silverware on the table, and pouring a glass of juice for her and a cup of coffee for himself. “Dad?” The word seemed so foreign, yet as she spoke it, she remembered yesterday's events.
Blaze stopped and looked to the sound and seeing his daughter trot into the room. A smile beamed across his face as she gazed upon the slightly disheveled filly. “Good morning, Scootaloo. Did you sleep well?”
She stopped midway through the archway, remembering the words of the ghastly horror mere moments ago. She shook her head to quickly clear her mind. She didn't want to look weak in front of her father. That would be totally uncool. “I slept alright, but how come we're in my old house?” Scootaloo did want to know how he managed to get the very house she and her mother lived in for so many years.
“Oh, that should be obvious. Your mother and I bought this house before you were born.” Blaze said in a matter of fact tone. “Even though I haven't lived here in nearly ten years, this is still my home...” Grabbing one plate with his teeth and sliding more onto his wings, Blaze made his way to the table.
Scootaloo couldn't help but think that her father wasn't giving her the whole story. But that would have to wait as her gut gave a low growl, a sign of how hungry she truly was. She nudged one of the chairs out from under the table and leaping onto it. The sight of the food placed in front of her made her mouth water. Vanilla cinnamon pancakes, topped with butter and maple syrup, a side of lightly cooked hash browns, a small lilly salad, and a glass of orange juice. All this food combined with the fact that the orphanage only stocked the blandest of oats for the foals left Scootaloo with only one thought, eat! The pancakes were first to go. They were light and fluffy, despite being bathed in syrup. There was enough vanilla to muster a strong presence, but left the cinnamon to take a back seat on her taste buds. The hash browns were a bit over-cooked for her taste, but were good nonetheless. Then came the salad, a light tangy dressing coated the lilly and romaine leaves. Scootaloo looked to the final item, the glass of orange juice. Grabbing the glass with both fore-hooves, ignoring the discomfort in her midsection, she drank the juice in one gulp.
Blaze watched as his little filly ravaged her breakfast with mild shock, as he slowly ate his own thinking to himself. “Is this how she normally eats? I'll have to ask Big Mac about that. Whoa, she's on the salad already! What does the orphanage not feed the foals enough?” *SLAM* Blaze watched his daughter drain her glass then fall, painfully, to the floor. Pushing back his own chair and walking around the table to see Scootaloo lying on her side, her hooves cradling her swollen belly. “I don't remember ever seeing a pony eat that much food so quickly. Did that orphanage not feed you or something?” He asked with a soft chuckle.
Scootaloo moaned from the near painful swelling of her midsection. She dared not move lest the pain become more intense. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw her father stand a wing's length away. With growing discomfort, Scootaloo pushed herself onto her hooves. “Oh, they fed alright. The most blandest of bland oats, hay and flowers. I never want to go back there again,” She said with an angry huff.
Blaze stifled another chuckle in favor of getting the day moving. “Okay, Scootaloo, I'm going to finish eating and in the meantime, you should go brush your teeth. When were both done, we can go pick up your stuff from the orphanage and get ready to leave for Hooffington.” The little filly jumped to her hooves, gave a salute, and scampered off, all with a cocky grin of a filly ready for action. Blaze moved back to his seat to finish his meal. “So full of energy, how in Celestia's mane am I going to keep up with her?” Laughing at himself for thinking such a thing. “Oh come on, like I was any different. If she is anything like me, I'll be just fine, but she gonna have some of her mother in her too. I think that's where my problem lies.”
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The visit to the orphanage went better than Scootaloo expected. What she planned on dealing with was more foals calling out embarrassing names, making faces, and taunting her into fights, but none of that happened. Probably because her father came decked out in his full flight gear. Most of the orphans that didn't have school today were here gawking, looking between her and Blaze in a state of near shock. She couldn't help but grin with pride as she loaded her small saddle bags full of her stuff. Crayons, rolled up Wonderbolts poster, her Rainbow Dash fan club wig, her scooter helmet, a small bag of bits she had earned from helping Applejack on the farm, and finally her scooter. During her collecting, she noticed her father idly gazing around the room looking slightly imposing.
On the way out, they went to the orphanage's director so she could say her last goodbyes to him and the staff. The only one Scootaloo truly was going to miss was Ms. Bright Heart, the orphanage's personal doctor. She had been the only staff member who seemed to know what Scootaloo was going through. The ever present smile the doctor held made her feel at ease when she was pestered and bullied by the other orphans. Even though Scootaloo knew she was not the only orphan being picked on, it was always done out of ear shot of the adults. Worse yet, as the doctor told her, they were doing it because they were scared and hurt themselves. It never made any sense to Scootaloo why these other orphans would do that. It was far easier to hide the pain than it was to lash out. Despite all the taunts, all the verbal jabs at her shortcomings, and all the nights spent feeling truly alone. Scootaloo had endured to see this day, the day she finally walked out of this dreadful place.
Looking up to the sky Scootaloo breathed in the crisp air. She took one last look back at the orphanage and saw a line of colts and fillies that had harassed her in the past. Each one of them had a look of either bewilderment or confusion plastered across their faces. She relished the fact that some of them had been turned down because of their brutish nature, and others because they were just prissy.
Blaze cleared his throat to garner his daughter's attention. “Hay, Scoots, let's see how fast you are on that thing!” His voice rose just enough to be heard by the other orphans while giving her a wink. “First one home, cracks open the ice cream!”
A roguish grin crept across Scootaloo's face. She wouldn't turn down any challenge given to her, not from Dash and certainly not from her father. “You're on!”
Crouching down with half open wings, Blaze looked to the filly. “Ready... Set... GO!” With the fluttering of tiny wings, Scootaloo shot forward into the early afternoon. Blaze was running behind her muttering. “Darn, she's faster on that thing then I thought she'd be. Well, that should teach me to underestimate my own child.” With a hearty laugh, Blaze picked up speed, closing the gap between the two racing ponies.
The race ended with Scootaloo finishing first, her father hadn't made it easy. For every twist and turn she made, he was right on her tail. Every bump or dip slowed her down, making the once sizable gap at the start shrink. She had pumped her wings harder then ever before, the extra weight from her saddle bags made it worse. When she had stepped off her scooter, her wings burned fiercely. It felt like her back was replaced with red hot coals. Her breaths came and went with great heaves of her diaphragm. She had only pushed herself that far once before... a year ago, when she was trying to impress Dash with a new stunt that ended with Dash saving her, but being that close to her idol made that failed stunt worth it.
However, this was the first time some other pony pushed her to that limit. Her gaze lifted so she could stare at her father, the very stallion who was never around to raise her. Her thoughts ran to a few other classmates and foals that only have one parent. Berry Pinch only had her mother, Berry Punch the wine seller, Key Lime only had her father, who works as a farm hoof for Applejack; Lemon Daze had her mother, though Scootaloo never asked what her mother did, and Rumble didn't have any parents, but did live with his older brother. Then her thoughts strayed back to the orphanage and all the foals there that had no parents themselves, and how up until two weeks ago she was just like them. No mother, no father, and no other relative come to claim her. For two years, she felt alone. She had her friends who supported her, but it wasn't the same. But in a matter of two weeks, her whole life had changed, leaving her wondering how much more would her life would be altered.
Pushing herself onto her hooves, she gave her father a cocky grin. “Beat ya.” Her smile turned to a frown as she noticed her father showed no sign of fatigue. “You let me win.” She deadpanned.
Blaze gave a sigh. “But it pushed you to your limit, and doing that will help your wings grow stronger.” Blaze had been asked to train young pegasi, whenever he stayed in a town that were to far away from flight camps. “Now, how about some ice cream before we head out?” The scowl his daughter had eased into a smile as they made their way inside.
The flight to Hooffington left Scootaloo exhilarated. Unlike last night, where they were barely above the tree tops, they were flying amongst the clouds. Zooming past the white puffy masses, Scootaloo and her father shared a moment that she would never forget. She cheered, whooped and hollered as Blaze did a few loops, spins, and dives to entertain his daughter. During the lapse in tricks, they talked about other things. Scootaloo told of the many adventures she and her friends had. She carefully omitted the story of the cockatrice, not wanting her father to fear that she was too wreckless in her attempts to grain her cutie mark.
Blaze himself, eager to learn more about his daughter, said very little. Having her on his back, Blaze had remembered the one time he needed to take Raindancer back to Cloudsdale. It was after she had recovered from the Trottingham attack, she needed to resign as Ponyville's lead weather pony because of her crippled wings. Brushing off the memory, he resumed his flight and focused on the tales of his daughter, and her complaints about being covered in tree sap.
Landing in Hooffington just an hour away from sunset, Scootaloo marveled how a town in mid-summer could be this cool. An image of Ms. Cheerlee popped into her head and a lesson of Equestria's northern territories, explaining how they are normally colder than Ponyville or Canterlot. The crisp air filled her lungs and then, she thought about how little she was allowed to travel. She had been to Canterlot twice, but no other town or city. After hearing about Applejack's cutie mark story and listening to her describe Manehatten, Scootaloo wondered what other town and cities were like. Traveling from town to town, meeting new ponies, and seeing things others only dreamed of. That idea had been squashed early, due to the fact she'd have to leave Applebloom and Sweetie behind. They both had families that cared fiercely about them, whereas she herself didn't have one... at least, not until recently. Scootaloo glanced up at her father, watching him take deep breaths of the northern air with a weird grin on his face.
Blaze, on the other hoof, was in near bliss. The cool air reminded him of flying higher than most pegasi, how he dared to climb so high, that the lack of air threatened to make him blackout. The thrill of danger was like a beast needing to be tamed. Yet, every stunt was made to be dangerous, but liveable. Ever since he found his special talent, he had made it a point of his life to push the limit, much like tomorrow's performance. Usually, the cries of fans after going through some minor stunt was enough, but tomorrow night, he would have his daughter watch one of his more daring stunts. The thought of it alone, made him almost giddy as a school colt. He could almost feel the adoring eyes of his daughter watch with awe and wonder. Snapping himself out of his daydream, Blaze's gaze fell upon Scootaloo. “We're going to be staying at a hotel near the fairgrounds. Let's go drop our bags off, then I'll introduce you to some of my team. Sound good?”
Scootaloo nodded firmly, but her eyes grew wide as her stomach made its displeasure of being empty known. “Hehe. Can we get something to eat before hoof?” She gave an embarrassed chuckle.
Blaze giving a light laugh himself. “Right, some of the restaurants are still open. We'll grab a bite, then go see the team.” As the two walked to the hotel, they were oblivious as to what had happened back in Ponyville.
On the edge of Ponyville within a small farmhouse, a lone mare paced between her kitchen and living room. Her hoof falls echoed through her home, which was void of life save for herself. While pacing, her mane had become disheveled from continuous head shaking. Since awakening not an hour earlier, she had devoted most of her morning to spiteful slander. “How dare he come back! That rat sack of toad dung is going to ruin everything!” The mare's words were loud, but in no threat of being heard by anypony. “Just one more month and she would have been transferred to a different orphanage, probably Manehatten's, which would have been most ironic. Considering that was the place where Cheerlee had stumbled upon him. Too bad, I know him better than to rut some two bit mare who's too drunk to even walk.”
The mare's voice dropped in volume, not for fear of being over heard but she didn't want to be hoarse later on. “It was a good thing the Mayor told me about his return. She knows if these plans go sour, she is going to lose a lot of money. Sometimes that bitch cares too much about her town's image... Just because we have the princess' student living here, doesn't make this place anything more than a farming town.” Her pacing increased in speed along with her going anger. “What made her think that because we have a student of her royal highness, ponies would come flocking to this town? Tourist revenue my plot. If the mayor wants more money for the town she needs to stick to my plan.” Her voice then turned to a snarl. “But that little twerp of a pegasus just had to be born. Too bad for her that I was never too fond of her mother. If I had attacked Raindancer when she was at her prime, I would have lost. It's a shame I'll never be able to thank that stallion who crippled her.” Her pacing halted in the archway between the two rooms. A wicked smile crossed her lips as she recalled the look of horror on Raindancer's face. That event had cost her a lot; time, money, and more than a few words to certain ponies that made that whole area vacant for a mere half hour.
The mare moved into the kitchen and sat down at the table, papers of various types covered it's surface. Some were tax forms and others were profit numbers and product inventory. The mare looked over all the papers, then shoved them away violently, placing her chin on her hooves. “I won't kill a child and I'm nowhere close to being strong enough to take out Blazewing. If I can't kill him, I'll just have to run him out of town again... The Mayor won't be able to help this time around. I can't confront him directly. He knows I hate him and by default, he'll know I hate his pathetic excuse of a foal as well...” The mare rose from the table to fetch a glass of vegetable juice as she pondered this turn of events. She had seen them in the cemetery last night. She wasn't blind to the fact that those two had bonded quickly. Scootaloo was young and a mild trouble maker, but the worst she ever did was botch a love potion. “I can't think in here. I'll head to town and see what's going on.”
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“Ah can't believe it.” Applebloom was walking beside Sweetie Belle as they roamed the orchard of Sweet Apple Acre. She had been in town that morning with her sister to sell some more apples in town when they ran into Scootaloo and Blaze. Scoots had told her that she was going to Hooffington to watch her father perform, and she would be gone until Monday, and that she was sorry for missing crusading over the weekend. Sure, Applebloom was mad, but she knew how much Scootaloo wanted to learn more about her father. It still made her feel a tad jealous. “Ah can't believe that she would just ditch us when we had plans.”
Sweetie, on the other hoof, was a bit more practical in her own thoughts. “Well, yes, but you know Scoots wants to know more about her dad because she barely knew she had one.” Scootaloo had shared all the letters Blaze sent to her with the two of them. Not once did any of those letters invite her to a show, so Sweetie explained that it had to have been asked that morning.
“I know, I know. It's just that Ah think he did that on purpose so we couldn't go.” She had turned to her sister begging her to let her go to the show, despite how weird Applejack was acting around Blaze. Applejack stated to her that her chores came first. And that was something that had bothered Applebloom since that morning's encounter. Any time Blaze cast a look to her older sister, she looked away. Applebloom thought that Blaze had done something to her older sister before dinner, she just didn't know what that was. Every time she brought up the topic of Blaze, AJ would just clam up and start talking like Big Mac.
Applebloom had gone from worry, to fear of losing her friend, then to joy at happy news that Scoots would be staying. Now, finally to the confusion at how everypony was starting to act weird around Blaze. The first pony she noticed acting weird was Ms. Cheerlee. She didn't have her normal cheerful smile when greeting him. Then, there was Pinkie, baking all those cherry-filled treats, and nothing else. The last time Pinkie made baked goods consisting of only a pony's favorite, was when she made that particular pony unhappy in some way. Then, there was her brother, he just punched Blaze and they started fighting. And now her sister was acting all funny around him. “I know he came in just yesterday, but Ah noticed some ponies act strangely around him... You weren't there last night but my brother and Blaze started fight'n, but after Granny stopped em', they acted like they was best friends. And now AJ is actin' strangely every time Ah mention him.”
“You know, Pinkie knows every pony in Ponyville and that party ended up being for Scootaloo's father. Maybe we could ask Pinkie about him and find out what she knows.” Sweetie was concerned more about how little they knew about Scootaloo's father than with how a few of the town residents acted around him. She couldn't say that she was convinced about Blaze's feelings about her best friend; though the letters he sent were kind and loving letters and that must count for something.
“Yeah, maybe we can get some clues about what happened to Blaze that made him leave so long ago.” Applebloom piped in and motioned Sweetie to follow her as she galloped to Sugar Cube Corner.
A mare was standing not to far from the two crusaders, pretending to be absorbed in the clouds as she overheard the two fillies talking. After the fillies ran off to see the party master of Ponyville, a wicked smile crept across her face. “So you two want to find out about him.” The grin widened as the mare trotted back to her home. “Then, I have something you should find fascinating.” With a chuckle that dripped with malice, the mare knew just how to break the newly-formed family to pieces.
************************************************
After a quick bite to eat, Blaze and Scootaloo made their way into the fairground. Booths of all kinds were being crowded with families and couples enjoying the festivities. The firefly lamps lined every path, bathing the fair and its patrons in a soft amber glow. All around, Scootaloo could hear the joyful cries of foals as they played games, winning prizes, ate the deep fried carnival food, and spending time with their loved ones.
Scootaloo couldn't help herself as she began to wander around the midway eying the various games and prizes. Most of them contained small prizes for foals around her age, but few interested her. One booth had a filly-sized replica of Princess Celestia's regalia, but yet the it wasn't the grand prizes. The one that held that spot was a new set of royal imitation regalia in the likeness of Princess Luna's. Many of the other prizes included fake swords, spears, bows with a quiver arrows each, a white oak wand with the same swirly pattern of a unicorns horn, and fake royal guard armor.
Blaze was in no hurry to introduce his newly acquired daughter to his teammates just yet. So when Scootaloo veered off to the midway, Blaze silently followed, allowing her to take in the sights and sounds of the fair. When she stopped at one booth who's prizes consisted of cheap imitations, he wondered what prize she would go for if given the chance. “Hay Scoots, wanna take a crack at it?”
Scootaloo wiped her head around at the sound of her father's voice, then that competitive smirk came back. “You bet I do!” She turned to the booth's operator. “How much is each prize?”
The operator of the booth, a stocky violet earth pony stallion with a curly dark blue mane, looked at the little filly who's eyes burned with determination. “Each prize is based off of how many of the bottles you can knock down. You get three tries with a total of eighteen bottles. For the grand prize, you need to knock down all of the bottles. For second prize, it's twelve bottles. The sword, wand, spear or bow n' arrow, ya need to knock down four, and for the armor its two pins.”
“Alright, let's do this!” Scootaloo stepped up to the counter, Blaze placed a few bits for her to play. The operator set up three stacks of six bottles, then placed three balls in front of her. Sticking her tongue out, she eyed the first stack. She then reared back and threw the first ball.
Blaze watched as the ball soared through the air and impacted two of the bottom bottles blowing them away from each other, and knocking the third bottom bottle from its comfortable resting place. Clapping his hooves together and smiling. “Good job, Scoots.” Blaze had been to too many of these kind of fairs, not every booth was honest in its practice. His eyes turned from his daughter to the operator. The operator was sitting on his haunches and leaning on one of the stakes holding the booth upright, and looking positively bored. At least, until the resounding crash of more bottles falling drew both adults to the sight of the second stack completely knocked down.
Scootaloo stood there with her grin replaced with heated determination on wining this game. With the last ball in hoof she reared up for the last time and sent it flying to her mark.
All three ponies watched as the last ball was flung to the only remaining stack. As it moved through the air, all sound dimmed. The lights became brighter as the three stared, eyes wide. *Crash* The ball, much like the first, knocked two bottom bottles away, but the third was only clipped sending in wobbling around. Scootaloo's eyes were wide her wings stretched out in anticipation; Blaze held his breath; the operator's mouth was hanging open in pure shock, as the bottle tilted just a tad too far and fell to the table with a thunk.
Scootaloo jumped with her wings fluttering, pumped her hoof into the air and yelled. “YEA! WOO HOO! I DID IT!”
Blaze stood in silent awe, not because of his daughter's achievement, but because the operator of the stall was grinning from ear to ear.
The Operator shouted so any pony could in the area hear him. “Congratulations, little filly, you just won the grand prize!” Ponies from the area around started to gather around the booth to view the commotion. “One filly-sized set of Princess Luna's regalia is yours.” The operator boomed as he reached for the prize.
“I don't want that one.” Scootaloo interrupted the operator before he could remove the prize.
Blaze was eying his daughter, confused at her sudden refusal of the most sought after prize.
Scootaloo placed her for-hooves on the counter and stared at the the prizes. “Rather than that I want the bow n' arrow, the sword, the wand and three of the armors. That should total the same as the grand prize, right?”
The stallion blinked at the little filly's request, for all his time in this booth, all the little fillies wanted the sun or the new lunar regalia. This was the first time a filly wanted the lesser prizes meant more for colts. With a shrug of his shoulders and a hearty laugh.,“You got it,” taking the prizes off the high shelf and placing them all in a bag. “Here ya go, and have good night.” Turning away from her, he addressed the crowd that had formed. “Step right up and see if you got what it takes to win the grand prize. Only three bits a try.”
Scootaloo took the bag and quickly removed herself from the crowd with her father in tow. She, needless to say, was happy. Her hopping and her wings fluttering like a humming bird was a dead giveaway to any that bothered to look her way. She couldn't wait to get back home to show her friends and tell them what she had planned.
Blaze was happy himself. The sorrowful event last night now felt so long ago, it gave him hope that he was on the right track to fix his mistakes.
But once again, had he only known of the shadow that plotted it's revenge against him. And the first part of its plan was already in motion.
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“Where is that Celestia damned magazine?” The shadow mare was furiously tearing her room apart. Books, magazines, and newspapers were being tossed haphazardly around the living space. “Ahha, here it is.” The shadow mare hissed. An old copy of The Newmare Times held in her hooves. The front cover held a slightly blurry picture of two ponies walking, one a deep rusted red coat and dull yellow mane her cutie mark was obscured due to the second pony. He was a tall orange coat with a short dark brown mane, despite his own cutie mark being covered by a flight suit. It was the suit itself and his size that gave the stallion away. The picture of Blaze with his wing draped over the shorter mare who looked like she had too much to drink.
The shadow mare grinned maniacally. “Now, just to get this into the hooves of those filly friends of hers. The rest should take care of itself.” Laughter like that of an evil scientist echoed throughout the room.
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“Well, that went swimmingly.” Sweetie had tried to use a little tact when questioning Pinkie. Rarity had told her one time that, “Sometimes if you want some pony to tell you what you want to know, use a little finesse and you should do fine.” That was coming from a mare who would whine your ears off if you resisted saying anything. The questioning of Pinkie had gone smoothly until Applebloom asked directly. “What did Scootaloo's father and mother fight about all them years ago?” After that Pinkie had simply said. “That happened sooooooooo long ago, I can't remember what they fought about. All I can is that it was a nasty fight and nasty fights make ponies unhappy, and what's the best way to make ponies happy?... A PARTY!” After that, the whole of Sugar Cube Corner was in a new throng of a party.
“I'm sorry, Sweetie, I didn't know that ya were trying ta be all sneaky about it.” Applebloom had realized her mistake just a moment too late. She had seen her friend try to continue talking to Pinkie after that, but the overly hyper mare had escaped in the crowd of party goers.
“Its called being subtle, not sneaky. Anyways, we need to learn more about him and Pinkie knows him, but I doubt she'll talk to us now.” Frustrated with the lack of progress, Sweetie wracked her brain for anypony that might know Blaze. “What about Berry Punch?”
“Ya mean Pinch's mother. I think she lived in Ponyville back then, but she works in the wine shop. We ain't allowed in there.” Applebloom gave her friend a deadpanned stare for her short sightedness.
“I know, but doesn't she make some wine from the apples your family grows? Maybe you can deliver some and ask her some questions.” Sweetie was going to continue her plan until it was stopped.
“That ain't gonna work. It's either Big Mac or AJ that delivers the apples to her and she just bought some a week ago. And besides there has ta be others that remember him.” Applebloom now herself tried to think of some ponies that might fit the bit. “What about the flower sisters?”
Sweetie gave her a inquisitive stare. “You mean, Lily, Rose and Daisy? Why would they know him?”
“Well if anypony is gonna buy flowers, it's gonna be from those three. Let's head to the market. One of them should be there today.” Applebloom was optimistic about this prospect. With a nod from Sweetie, the two galloped to the market paying no heed to the mare following them.
I'm normally not a fan of Author's notes in a story but this time I make an exception. I need to direct your attention to moguera, who helped me name two OC's that make their appearance in this chapter. Dust Devil and Flash Bang. (Also has some good stories too) But without further delay here is...
Unwelcome Visitor
Carnival of lies part 3
After earning her prizes, Scootaloo relentlessly pestered her father to see the team. He had given in with little resistance, telling her to follow closely. As they weaved through the crowds of fair-goers, many more things caught her eye, but she was determined to see her father's team, and maybe even find her special talent being a daredevil like her father. Within a few minutes, they were free from the crowds and heading up to a very large tent. The ticket booth was empty and the entrance blocked by two large and burly earth pony stallions. They both had dark green coats and ash gray manes, but the strangest thing about the two of them was their cutie mark. Both of them had the same mark, two hooves crossed in front of an archway. The two stallions stood stock like the royal guards, no emotion across their faces.
Blaze stopped a few hoof lengths away from the two earth pony guards with a smile on his face. “Hello, Tough Luck. Any troublesome fans bothering you tonight?” He chuckled knowing full well what the answer was.
The two guards merely shook their heads in unison, but turned to look at Scootaloo with eyes that seemed to pierce right through her. They turned back to Blaze with raised eyebrows, every movement was in perfect sync.
Blaze roared with laughter at the sight of his daughter's shiver under the gaze of the two stallions. “I guess you two want to know who and why I've brought a little filly here.” The twin stallions nodded in unison to which Blaze chuckled again. “This is my daughter, Scootaloo. Turns out she was living in a orphanage and not a single soul told me about her.”
The guards exchanged glances to each other then back to Blaze. “You're serious!” The twins cried in shocked unison, the stock facade dropped and both stood with gaping mouths at him.
“It's true. Remember when I came back full time nine years ago...” Blaze paused giving the two guards time to nod. “Well, turns out she was pregnant and didn't tell me, not ta mention getting kicked out of the town as well.” Waving a hoof in exaggeration of his last statement. “Either way, Scoots. This here is Tough and Luck. They are twins who guard our locker room and lounge when we perform.”
Scootaloo nodded politely to the stallions. Her throat was dry ever since their combined gaze fell on her. “N-nice to meet you.” After her greeting, the two softened their gaze making her feel a lot better.
“Well, let's get going. There are still more ponies you need to meet.” With a quick nod, the two stallions stood at attention again, ready to stop any intrusion should it happen. Blaze motioned for Scoots to keep following him to the tent.
On the inside of the tent was a flurry of activity. Ponies of all kinds were running around to set up platforms and various types of dangerous machine traps used in the show. One pink unicorn mare with a fluffy red mane and a cutie mark of a tube exploding, was checking some thin tubes and barking orders to others. It was this mare that Blaze crouched and darted behind while snickering. “Bang, your tail's on fire!”
The mare screeched and dove into a near by tank of water. When she resurfaced, she was met with Blaze rolling on the ground laughing. “I take it you're back then.” Even though she looked like a mare in her mid-thirties, her slightly scratchy voice gave away the truth of being quite a bit older. “If you plan on continuing your jokes right as you get back, then your emergency leave must not have been that important.” The pink mare climbed out of her watery tank summoning a nearby towel to dry.
“Oh, come on, Bang. You know you love it when I scare you.” Blaze rose up and smiled at the mare. “But I have an even better surprise for you today.” He motioned for Scoots to come join him. “Flash Bang, I want you to meet my daughter, Scootaloo. She's the reason I needed to take an emergency leave. Scoots, this is Flash Bang, our lead Pyrotechnic.”
Bang had finished drying off and looked to the little orange filly. “Well, I'll be. Blaze, you slick little weasel. When did you have a foal of your own?” As she looked over the tiny filly, Bang smiled, truly delighted at the news.
“That's the tragic story. Turns out my wife was pregnant with her when I was told to leave town. She's been living in a orphanage for the past two years and nopony even sent me a letter, till the orphanage found out about me.” Blaze held a grim tone as he spoke.
Scootaloo herself was still curious of those events, but now was not the time to bring that up. She happily grinned at the unicorn, wondering how much this mare would tell her about her father. “Nice to meet you. How long have you known my Father?”
Bang laughed at how forward this little filly was. “Nice to meet you too. I've know your father since he was born, and if he knows what's good for him, he'll learn not to scare a mare who knows fire magic better then anypony else.” This made Blaze give her a very skeptical stare, but said nothing. “I gotta say, he was a rambunctious one. If I or his parents didn't find him climbing on something, he would be bothering the other workers to let him help out.” She giggled as a memory surfaced. “Oh, one thing he tried to do was help one of my techs fix a broken flamethrower. When it was fixed, Blaze here tried to test it and caught his tail on fire.” She punched Blaze softly on the shoulder as Scoots joined her in laughter.
Blaze rolled his eyes as the memory was told, he remembered it all too well. With a snort, the laughter died down. “As much as I'd love to leave my daughter here to learn of all my childhood told by you, she still has yet to meet the others and I do believe your team still needs your help setting up for tomorrow's show.”
Bang shot a sarcastic smirk at Blaze and promised Scoots to tell her more tomorrow before the show started. As the father and daughter walked away, Flash Bang felt a twinge of emotion she had never had before. “For once in my life, I'm actually jealous of you, Blaze. You had a wife and now a little foal of your own.” She muttered under her breath. A tech called to her and she groaned, knowing full well this pony's problem.
Scootaloo was imagining her father as a colt with his tail on fire as they made their way to the back of the tent. Fresh giggles were hard to hold back as she looked at her father with filly glee. He only gave a snort of irritation, but she assumed it was from having an embarrassing part of his past told.
At the back of the tent, Blaze stopped and stared at the entrance to the mobile locker room. His ears flared open, hoping to catch the sounds of his other teammates. After a few pained seconds, he heard the tapping of hooves and faint fluttering of wings. Turning to Scootaloo with the gentlest smile he could muster, “Okay, Scoots. I need to warn you that my captain is nice in public, but in private has quite a loose tongue.”
Scootaloo looked to him, her confusion easily readable on her face. “What does that mean?”
Blaze heaved a great sigh. “To put it more bluntly, she has a foul mouth. I just needed to warn you, other than that, she's a great pony to be around.” Parting the flaps that separated the two rooms, Blaze ushered Scoots and himself into the locker room. Moving past the small row of lockers that held his teammates flight gear, he stopped at one more door. A voice could be heard from beyond along with some oddly out of rhythm tapping. Blaze sighed once more before covering Scootaloo with a wing and opening the door.
Inside this new room was a fully furnished lounge that had three large couches, a few beanbag chairs, and small round coffee table. Despite all of these furnishing, the lounge felt quite larger than it should be. Lying on one of the couches was a pegasus mare. She had a rusted red coat, a wild yellow blond mane and eyes the color of yellow sapphire. The other pony was a gray coated pegasus stallion, with a slicked back blue mane with a lighter streak of blue running down the middle, his cutie mark was that of small brown whirlwind. When the door opened, both turned to see Blaze enter with a half stretched out wing.
The red mare's face broke into a sultry smile and a tone of voice match. “Well well well, look who shows up after practice is over and called for an emergency leave the moment we landed here.” The mare dragged her flank off the couch, wiggling her hips a little. “We have less than twenty four hours till showtime, and I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back for the show, or to my little flank.” This mare shook her hips one more time, which allowed her cutie mark to be seen by Blaze's hidden daughter, a yellow disc with the silhouette of a pony in front of it.
The other Pegasus said nothing, but clopped his hooves on the small coffee table and making a few gestures in the air.
Blaze sighed again, this time out of embarrassment for his captain's slightly lewd display. “Yes, my trip was fine and thank you, captain, for your most unnecessary welcome home, and I'll be expecting an apology soon.” Blaze folded his wing back.
The red mare was about to comment, but nearly choked on it when Scootaloo was revealed. The gray stallion however started tapping on the coffee table and made more hoof gestures, all of which made no sense to the little filly.
“Yes, this is her. Scootaloo allow me to introduce you to my Captain, Sunbright and my best friend Dust Devil. Guys, this is my daughter Scootaloo. And to make a long story short for you captain, no, I had no idea she was born because nopony told me.”
Scootaloo's glaze shifted back an forth between the two pegasi. Sunbright had started doing her best impression of a fish, Dust Devil was smiling calmly and waving his fore-hoof in greeting. With a nervous grin, Scoots scuffed the floor before speaking. “Umm, Hi.” “ugg what's wrong with me? I'm normally good with talking to older ponies. Why am I so nervous around these two?” Scoots chided herself.
“Well, that killed my libido.” Sunbright deadpanned. This earned her a stiff glare from both her teammates and cocked head from the filly. With a shake of her head, she spoke in a controlled authoritative tone. “Anyway, I'm glad to see you're back in time for the show. We have sets one, three and seven up for audience vote tomorrow. Should be a cake walk for you Blaze, no matter which one you get. I'll see you two in the morning.” And with that, she launched herself through an open skylight.
If Scootaloo hadn't felt awkward before, she sure felt it now. Her eyes fell from the skylight to her father's best friend, who was making more gestures with his hooves.
“Yes, I did warn her and no, I didn't expect her to react that way.” Blaze sighed before addressing Scootaloo. “I'm guessing by now you're wondering why Dust doesn't talk?” A slow nod came from his daughter. “Well, the reason is because he was born mute. His entire life he hasn't been able to talk so he uses sign language to talk to us.”
A flurry of gestures sprung from the other stallion and Scootaloo watched trying to make sense of the motions but couldn't make heads or tails of it.
“No, I haven't told her yet. I'm not exactly ready to. Yes, I do plan on it, just not now... No, I don't know how, that's why...” Blaze gave an exhausted sigh as the hoof motions of his friend continued. “Yes, I know, you were the first one to know then and you were the first one to know this... Yea, she met the twins and Bang earlier... No, I checked into the hotel this afternoon, and before you ask, yes, I did reserve the room in advance... Okay.” Blaze turned to Scootaloo with a smile. “If you want to ask Dust a question, I'll be your interpreter.”
Scootaloo grinned and immediately began to pelt Dust with questions. Her father effortlessly translated the sign language. After a few hours and many question, she was tired, having learned much about the history of the team. How every new member had either made a new set of challenges, or a new way to spice up the old ones. Unlike the Wonderbolts, her father's team held many earth and unicorn ponies willing to risk a tightrope walk or attempt some crazy underwater stunt. One story told that night was of an earth pony leaping from a high board into a shallow pool of water. With goodnights said and her father flying her back to the hotel, Scootaloo promptly fell asleep wondering how her friends were doing.
If only she had known the events that transpired earlier that afternoon.
The trip to the flower sisters was fruitful, but it was nothing more than learning that Blaze had bought some flowers for a salad. The two crusaders walked the semi-busy streets on Ponyville market.
“Who do we ask next?” Sweetie had asked for the third time, having been unable to think of any adult that they knew personally that lived in Ponyville back then.
“Well, we can't talk ta my brother because I tried that already. We can't ask Ms. Cheerlee until Monday, and Berry Punch doesn't close until after we're in bed. I can't think of anypony who would know him.” As Applebloom listed off once again the ponies she knew, she found it quite hard to believe that she knew so few adults personally.
“Yoohoo! Girls, over here.” A yellow earth pony with an amber orange mane called to the two little fillies.
Sweetie looked to her fellow crusader, shrugged and headed over to the stall the older mare was calling from. “Hello, Ms. Top. How are you doing today?” Sweetie spoke politely to the older mare.
“Oh just Carrot Top is fine and I'm doing well. Say, could you girls do me a favor?” Carrot Top asked sweetly to them.
“Sure, what can we do for ya?” Applebloom replied with a hearty smile, her eagerness to help meant a chance to earn a cutie mark.
The older mare smiled sweetly. “Could you two throw out that old magazine right there, some random mare dropped it and didn't bother to pick it up. I would have done it myself, but I can't leave my stall.Would you do this for me please?”
Applebloom looked a bit disappointed, but was eager to help. “Sure thing, Ms. Top.” Picking up the discarded magazine, the two walked to a nearby waste bin to dispose of it. That is, if Sweetie Belle hadn't gasped and tore it away from her. “What gives, Sweetie Belle?”
“Applebloom, look!” The white filly pointed a hoof to the picture on the cover. One red mare and an orange stallion, the magazine was called... The Newmare Times.
Scootaloo bolted upright in her bed screaming at the top of her lungs, and began to violently thrash against the confines of her blanket. The door burst open and a teal pegasus rushed into the room. She felt kind and tender hooves wrap around her, brushing her mane softly. A voice like the soft pattering of rain cooed and rocked her gently while saying, “It was just a dream.”. Scootaloo slowly gave in to the soft words, letting her fear ebbed away, and with a heavy sigh, she was calm again. “It was a normal nightmare for once. If you could call a pegasus falling out of the sky a normal nightmare.” She let her mind wander as she sat there allowing herself to be rocked gently by her mother. “I was flying by...no, being held by somepony, but who was it? Why can't I remember.” The wind outside rattled the window making her jump and the arms of her mother squeezed her tighter. Scootaloo heard her name being called from the mare above her, she didn't respond.
“Scootaloo... Why did you let me die?” A winded raspy voice spoke out. “Why didn't you hurry home?”
“No, please, not again!” Scootaloo squirmed in her mother's embrace, but to no avail. The hooves that wrapped around her were like a vice, the body behind her cold and clammy. “B-b-but I did hurry home, I ran all the way from school.” Her voice trembled as she tried to fight the rising fear.
“So you're not at fault for not rushing home, but being too slow.” The decaying mare tightened her grip on the little filly.
“No, I ran as fast as I could! Please believe me!” Scootaloo wailed. Her attempts to dislodge herself from the undead grip were fruitless. Her wings were pinned to her sides and utterly useless.
The mare moved her snout to hover by Scoot's ear. “Oh, I believe you were just too slow to save me Scootaloo. It's no wonder why that mare Rainbow Dash barely gives you a fleeting glance. Why would anypony want to deal with a little filly who couldn't even save her mother?”
Scoots stopped struggling at those words. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of Dash flying in the sky, barely acknowledging that she was cheering for her. All the times Dash had flown off without saying a word to her surfaced unbidden.
“And let's not forget the two fillies that call themselves your friends.” The raspy voice continued. “Those two fillies that only help you because they pity you. They only do it because it makes them feel less guilty than not helping does.”
Tears now fell from Scootaloo's eyes as the words sunk in. “N-n-no... Y-you're lying, they wouldn't do that. They care about m-me. We are g-g-gonna get our cutie marks together.” She didn't want to believe what she was hearing from the mare behind her.
“Oh and what did you three do all last week and the one before... You went crusading for your cutie marks, but every idea that was tried was your idea. They did this because they thought that IF you learned your special talent, they could simply let you drift away from them instead of flat out kicking you out for being such a failure.”
Through blurry vision and an aching chest, Scootaloo began to struggle once more. “No, you're wrong! They care about me! My friends would never do anything to hurt me!”
“If you believe so, just wait and see. Your father doesn't know that you failed to save me. Your so-called friends know that you don't deserve a father after you let me die. I wonder how he would look upon you if he knew? Would he still love you? Or would he leave because you let me, his very special somepony, die?” The undead horror tightened its grip on Scootaloo, making it even harder for her to breath.
“No!” Scoots flailed her hooves around hoping to smack the mare and make it lose its death grip on her, but to no avail.
“You can end the pain right now, Scootaloo. Just stop struggling and let me take you. At the very least, we'll be together again. That would make me very happy you know.” The nightmare cadaver's raspy voice carried a soothing bitterness to it.
Scoots continued to writhe and defy the nightmare. With every jerk and twist, she felt her body move just a tad more out of its grip. “NO! He loves me and he won't leave me!”
The nightmare's face fell into a frown before lifting back up into a maniacal grin. “Oh ho ho, you think he loves you. Ha, what a laugh, Scootaloo. He doesn't love you any more than he loved me. Why do you think he never came back? It's because he never loved me! That fight that happened before you were born, what do you think it was about? I can tell you this much, it was right about the time I found out I was with you.” The horror's laugh was like a rusted nail being pulled from a plank of wood. Throwing her arms open, she let the little filly tumble to the floor with the mocking laughter echoing around her.
Scootaloo screamed as she plummeted from the nightmare's grasp. The final words of the nightmare chimed in her ears as she fell and hit the hardwood floor with a loud smack. The world went pure white to her as she continued to scream, until a strong pair of orange hooves wrapped around her clutching her softly. Scootaloo hadn't realized that she was crying, at least not until she started to hear a stallion's voice comfort her.
Blaze had awoken with a start when the scream of his daughter began. Bolting to his daughter's bed, he saw her flailing like a fish out of water. Quickly picking her up and rocked her back n' forth. “Shh, it's ok, it was just a dream, shh.” Blaze felt his daughter relax within his arms. “Scootaloo, it's alright...” Blaze, unaware of the inner turmoil of his daughter mind, heard her mumble something in her sleep and started to squirm in his grasp. “Your safe at home now, just take it slow.” As he spoke his words she struggled harder against his grip. “Oh crap she's still having a nightmare, umm what in all of Celestia's mane do I do? Wait, what was that mare's name? The one that she adores so much... Dash... Rainbow Dash that's it!” “Don't worry, you'll be as fast as Rainbow Dash some day. Most ponies would be lucky to catch a glance of you.” Blaze felt her struggling cease and let himself take a breath. “Okay, crisis averted. She's calm and I should try to keep her calm. If I talk about her friends, she should remember happier times.” Taking a breath Blaze drew up all he was told about her friends. “And lets not forget your two filly friends, they are great because of how they help you, pity they couldn't come.” Blaze was rewarded with a few moans and barely audible mumblings from the filly. “It's okay, you three tried all of last week and the one before to get your cutie marks, some of them were your ideas.” He didn't know how his own words were being twisted in her nightmare-fueled mind. “I believe you three will get your cutie marks, just you wait and see.”
“Okay, she's still calm, just keep going and she'll be fine.” Fate, however, was going to make Blaze eat those very words. “You can end this dream now, Scootaloo, just stop struggling and wake up. We can have breakfast together again.” Scootaloo moaned and mumbled something along the lines of love and leaving. “Hehehe, of course I love you, silly. Why do you think I came back? It's because of you.” Blaze smiled thinking he was making positive progress in his daughter's dream. “The fight I had with your mother before you were born, I will tell you what it's about, later. I'll tell you this much, if she had told me she was with you, I would have stayed.” Blaze was feeling good until a swift buck to his stomach caused his arms to fly wide open dropping the little filly to the floor.
“Crap!” Blaze's mind was reeling from the sudden attack and the act of dropping his daughter onto the floor. Ignoring the pain, he swiftly scooped up Scootaloo and looked her over. “No lost fur, no scraping, but she might be left with a bruise.” He stopped when he noticed her eyes upon him. They were wide and full of fear, of her nightmare or him he couldn't tell, but it was enough to convey that holding her any longer would be unwise. Placing her on her bed, Blaze took a step back from his daughter and as calmly as he could asked her a simple question. “Are you okay, Scootaloo?”
At first, she didn't respond. She was still shaken from the words her nightmare spoke. When Scootaloo lifted her head and looked into her father's concerned eyes , she broke down and cried. Her father was quick and had her in his hooves once again, clutching her tightly as she drained her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time since she lost her mother.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had been pouring over the tabloid all morning. They read the article roughly six times before finally calling it quits, having found the answer to who the mysterious mare on the cover was. All it stated was that the prominent member of the stunt team was sighted taking his inebriated captain to a hotel, and that in the three hours the reporter stood outside of the establishment, that no observation of Blazewing leaving was recorded. The rest of the article talked about the “Why a married stallion would do this?” and “What will this do to his career?” bit. While it remained professional, this reporter had painted the star pegasus in a very poor light.
To any reader or a child, the words were like a spike driven through their hearts and dreams, but to the two fillies reading it today, it was devastating. Not once in their young lives had they ever heard of such acts and more importantly, knew what to do about it.
“We can't tell Scootaloo!” Sweetie cried out after finishing the article.
“What? Why not?” Applebloom's perplexed stare bored into her friend.
“Because if she finds out about this, it will ruin her chance at having a father and he might send her back to the orphanage!” Sweetie waved her hooves in the air to emphasize the direness of the situation.
“Now tell me why would he go and do a thing like that?” Bloom understood the basic contents of the tabloid. Blaze did something wrong and was caught in the act.
“Well... maybe this was what he was talking about back at Sugar Cube Corner. He said 'I wasn't what you would call a model citizen.' This has to be what he was talking about!” Sweetie's mind was racing. Of all the bad things that could happen. This is the. Worst. Possible. Thing! This could very well push her pegasus friend over the deep end.
“I don't doubt that Blaze did something that was wrong of him. This magazine just told us what it was. But Scootaloo needs ta know. It wouldn't be right if we didn't tell her.” Applebloom had been raised to be an honest pony, and she sure as stars wasn't going to start down the wrong path, like those unicorn brothers some time back.
“But she lost her mom. Now what would happen if she lost her dad too? She might do something horrible like... like... Like run away or something!” Sweetie was quickly losing her mind with renewed worry.
“Well, you know what we need to do if that happens?” Applebloom eyed her friend and fellow crusader. “We make sure she knows we care about her like we did two years ago. We helped her then and, by Celestia, we'll help her again.”
Sweetie nodded and steeled herself, for she knew what came next. Applebloom trotted up to her and they bumped hooves, looked to the sky and shouted together. “With Celestia as our witness, we will help Scootaloo with her cheating father!”
Elsewhere in Canterlot, the regent of the sun and co-ruler of Equestria groaned in frustration.
Breakfast was awkward to say the least. Scootaloo never made eye contact with her father as she slowly munched on some oatmeal with banana slices and honey. Blaze was worried for her, but he had to think of a way to bring her out of this depressing state. Then an idea popped into his head and a great grin crossed his face. “Hay, Scoots.” His cheesy grin grew as she looked up from her food. “I remember Bang telling some of the new techs to lock the firecracker box last night.” He watched as Scootaloo tilted her head to the side, clearly wondering what he was going on about. “If I remember correctly, Long Fuze should have been on duty and he always forgets to lock it. How about we give my team a wake up call?” Blaze was rewarded with perked ears, wide eyes, and an almost devilish grin. “Finish your oatmeal quickly, we don't have much time.” Blaze was mentally patting himself on the back. “Offer the prospect of fun and most fillies and colts will forget their blues in an instant.” After placing the bowls on the room service dolly, Blaze and Scootaloo were soon flying over the fairgrounds with their goal of mirth and mischief.
As Blaze soon found out, he had found that his memory was spot on, but unfortunately Flash Bang was already awake and chewing the younger stallion's ears off.
“If I've told you once, I've had to tell you a hundred times! Never leave the fireworks box unlocked! How is it that you forget the same task every single night?” Bang's yelling carried over the crew setting up the rows of seats for tonight's show. Long Fuze was shaking in his hooves. No matter how many time he ended up on the receiving end of Bang's anger, it was never easier to deal with.
Crouching low and whispering into Scootaloo's ear, Blaze instructed the tiny filly to search for a brown box with red and yellow lettering then meet him back here. With that done, it was now time for his part. “Good morning, everypony!”
Flash Bang and Long Fuze turned and stared at the overly joyful stunt devil. “You're in a good mood today. I didn't expect you to be up this early, Blaze.” Bang had more than enough experience with Blaze's pranking. Her sarcastic greeting betrayed her suspicions of his behavior from the get go.
Blaze continued to smile hoping that Bang had not yet remembered that he had Scootaloo, his new partner in crime. “Good hotel beds are only a sweet second to any cloud I could sleep on, but the food is worth the wake up call.” He saw Scootaloo drop into the open container of carefully wrapped explosives and begin her rummaging. He needed to stall for more time. “I take it Fuze forgot to lock the fireworks box again?”
Long Fuze pulled his ears back and dropped his head lower to the ground. “Oh, don't get me started again Blaze. It's bad enough that he forgets to lock it on normal days, but to forget it on a show night! Had it not been for Tough Luck, some joker would have found the box wide open for Celestia's sake.” Her emphasis on 'wide open' made Fuze thankful of the earth pony twins and hoped that a pay dock was all he would get this time around.
Blaze laughed. He loved how Bang over exaggerated the incident. Only Bang, the captain, Dust Devil, and himself, knew that the fuses for all the fireworks were hidden. Any pony who didn't know the location of it was in for a nasty surprise. Motion from the box caught his attention as a purple and orange blur made its way from the box. “Okay Fuze, I gotta say try not to let this happen again. While nothing was stolen this time, you'd better thank Tough Luck for saving your flank.” Turning to Bang with a less than happy face. “I know he's under your management, but please remember that he is your second hoof and apprentice.” With that Blaze winked at Bang and cantered out to the mobile trailers used for places with less the prime hotels.
Flash Bang groaned and dismissed Fuze. Trotting over to the explosives box, she found it to be in horrid disarray. “Wait, it was all in order just a minute ago. Fuze didn't do this and Blaze couldn't have then...” As the realization struck her, it was already to late. “BLAZE, don't you dare corrupt that little filly!” The screech from the captain's room rang out accompanied by the bursting of tiny firecrackers.
Blaze and Scootaloo were both rolling on the floor of the trailer as the captain was awoken by the rapid popping of firecrackers underneath her bed. The rude awakening had frayed the captain's mane as she fell out of bed. The laughter from the two died down as Sunbright tried to get her mane back in order while glaring at them. “I should have seen this coming. Knowing the trickster you are Blaze, I should have known you'd get her to help you with pranking. I had hoped it wouldn't be so soon.” With a sigh, Sunbright set the hoof-brush down and looked over her mane for any out of place hair. “Now, since you've gone and woke me up, you are to report outside for overdue flight training and pre-show warmup.” She turned to Blaze, mouth open to continue her rant, if a certain little filly hadn't cut her off.
“OH, can I watch!” Scootaloo put on her best cute filly face. Every time she tried to use this on her mother, it failed, but most other adults crumbled at it. And Sunbright was no different.
“It's just a quick flight test to make sure he hasn't lost his edge, but I guess so.” Sunbright was caught off guard at the filly's actions. She had been almost sure that Scootaloo would avoid her after last night, or maybe it was her desire to watch a pro at work. “Okay, enough stalling. Blaze outside now!”
Blazewing cantered outside and started stretching. A few audible pops later and he was done. With a short leap, he was in the air and climbing higher with every beat of his wings.
Scootaloo turned to the captain. “What were those popping noises? Do they hurt?” She was a tad worried that they may be a bad sign.
“All that popping was him loosening up his joints. Sometimes, they hurt, but it fades quickly and if you're wondering, no, they aren't dangerous or bad. Most ponies pop their joints, but you shouldn't do it just yet.” Sunbright never took her eyes off of Blaze as she answered the little filly's questions. “Blaze, your right side is too tense and you're drifting off!”
Scootaloo watched as her father made loops and wide arcing turns. So far, this warmup was lame. She had seen Dash do much more complex maneuvers just for her warmups. “Come on, dad, show us what you got!” She cried out in hopes of something better.
“Ah, youth, how often had I done the same to my parents when I watched them.” Blaze laughed to himself and decided to indulge her. With one final loop, he dropped into a vertical dive straight to his daughter.
When her father dived, Scootaloo panicked. He was coming down too fast and was going to land right on top of her! She scrambled away from the projected impact zone only to be jerked off her hooves and flung into the air. Instinctively, her wings flared open and beat wildly to keep her aloft. Her head and legs scrunched up as close to her body as they could. Her eyes clamped shut in fear of seeing the ground, but yet, the only sound heard was the sound of her own frantic fluttering. Slowly, her eyes creaked open, and to what did she see? None other than her father on the ground, holding her aloft with a single hoof and a slap happy grin on his face.
“You need to learn a few things about daredevils, Scoots. When you call us out, we will do something crazy.” Setting the now disgruntled filly down, the captain came strutting up with a little giggle.
“Alright, Blaze, enough scaring the daylights out of your kid. We need to talk about a few things so find her a quick foalsitter.” Sunbright turned and trotted away then called over her shoulder. “I'll be in the trailer.”
The grin Blaze wore faded, replaced by a more blank and emotionless facade. After his captain was out of sight, he turned to Scoots with a subdued smile. “Sorry, Scoots, I was hoping for a little more time, but I got to get some work done.”
“Work? I thought the show was your work?” Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow at her father, trying to catch him in a lie.
Blaze didn't stumble, but took a moment to decide on how much of the business side of his work to talk about. “... Yes, the show is what I do, but it goes a bit deeper than that. We have finances to do, deal with ponies who work for us that haven't been doing what they are suppose to, ponies that want to be employed with us or want to join our act. We also have to decide on what town or city to perform at next, send letters to notify the mayor and we either receive an acceptance or rejection letter in return. We choose what set of tricks and stunts to beforehoof, but the audience chooses which one of us will do what stunt.”
Scootaloo tried to wrap her mind around the amount of work done behind the stage, over what she thought was the actual work. She wondered if the Wonderbolts had do the same things as her father did. “Oh, I thought you only had to do cool stunts and be awesome.”
Blaze burst out laughing for he also thought the same way in his youth. “Well, I've already delayed that work for three whole day now, so let's go find somepony to watch over you.” With that said, Blaze picked up Scootaloo, placed her on his back and headed into the tent to find some unlucky pony to foalsit.
“Excuse me, Miss Sassaflash!” The arctic blue pegasus halted her weather duties to find the pony who called her. “Down here!” Casting her eyes to the ground, she spotted two little fillies, a white unicorn and a yellow earth pony. What could these little fillies need of her? She dropped from the sky and landed in front of them.
Sweetie Belle waited patiently as the pegasus landed in front of her. “I'm sorry to bother you, Ms. Sassaflash. My friend and I are doing a paper for school and we're hoping to ask you a few questions.” Sweetie knew Applebloom didn't want her to lie, but they had to find the truth, and who better to ask than another pegasus.
Sassaflash smiled at the fillies. “Sure, I'll help you out. What do you need to know?” Sass could take a few minutes away from her job.
“Great, thank you!” Applebloom pulled out a small note pad as Sweetie levitated a quill, ready to write. “Okay, we're researching entertainers and how the public views them. The pony we've chosen is a stallion pegasus named Blazewing. He's a member of-”
“Blazewing of the Phoenix Wings daredevil trio! Oh, I love their shows, Blaze and Dust are such hunks. Oh, I wish they would come to Ponyville so I didn't have to take time off work...” Sassaflash had ranted and rave about the team for ten solid minutes. Sweetie's magic now drained, causing the quill to float lazily to the ground. “Oh dear, I'm sorry, I didn't realize how long I was talking. Why don't you rest here for a bit, I'll go grab a cloud so you two have some shade.” And she was off.
Sweetie slumped against Applebloom tired from using her magic for so long. “I think we need to find a pony that's not a fan.”
“Ah guess so, but we are just asking random ponies hoping that they know him. Oh, I know!” Applebloom grabbed Sweetie and took off.
Sweetie screeched as she was carted away. “Know? Know what, Applebloom?” Finding her hooves once again, she quickly matched the pace of her friend .
“I know who we need's ta talk to!” Applebloom in her jubilation, nearly plowed into several ponies.
“Who?!” Sweetie Belle said aggravated, having swiftly becoming annoyed at her friend and fellow crusader.
“Why, who else than a pegasus that knows all about doing tricks and stunts?” This only earned a glare from Sweetie, to which Applebloom responded with a goofy grin. “Rainbow Dash, silly!”
If Sweetie wasn't running, she would have facehoofed. Why hadn't she thought of that before. Surely, Dash would know more about Blaze and his team, even if her desire was to join a more known and loved group. “Right, let's find Dash and quick.”
//However back at the -tap tap- Humm? Yes, Pinkie, what is it? … … You wanted to do a fourth wall breaking joke. Well, I would love to, but it's not necessary right now. I promise you can have one in a future chapter... Yes, cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Okay, see ya later, Pinkie. Now, where was I? Oh yes. However, Scootaloo was in the care of Flash Bang, but not everything goes as we hope things to!\\
Scootaloo held a grin so large, it threatened to stick like that. It hadn't been more than half an hour since Flash Bang was unceremoniously recruited to foalsit, but in that time, Scootaloo had learned a lot about her father as a colt. The whole flamethrower repair was just the tip of the iceberg. Blaze was well known to climb to any high point: trees, scaffolding and buildings were not safe from his enthusiastic endeavors. He even tricked another pegasus to fly him into the air, just to jump off and scare the daylight out of him. This trend of climbing and jumping was so bad, Blaze's parents had to find wing binders to try and control this. According to Bang, it failed all, but twice, and left his elders far more stressed.
A brown stallion came rushing over to the mare and filly. “Ms. Bang! We need help over here. Cannons one and two aren't functioning properly and we can't find the problem.”
With a sigh, Bang looked to Scootaloo. “Can you stay here for a minute? I need those cannons for tonight... On second thought, Short Fuse come over here!”
A disgruntled young unicorn stallion came trotting over, his short turquoise mane was half dyed a darker blue and looking quite odd against his lime green coat. “Yes, Ms. Bang?” The stallion's voice made it well known that he didn't like what was coming.
Bang ignored his obvious irritation. “I need to deal with the cannons and can't take little Scoots over there. I need you to watch her until I'm done, got it?” Bang's voice told of her years in dealing with ponies, and this tone meant he had no choice.
Short Fuse gave a heavy sigh of defeat. “Alright, come on,” motioning Scootaloo to follow him over to where he was working. He sat down in front of a black box, the top portion had more than a dozen wires protruding from it. Below them were two rows of red lights, each marked with a number. To the lower left side, a large red button covered by some glass, to the right, a key was stuck in the box next to two lights, one yellow, the other red.
Scootaloo marveled at the mysterious nature of this box as the older stallion used his magic to adjust wires. “What does this do?”
Short Fuse groaned as the growing headache began to bloom. “It's called a detonator, and it's used to set off the fireworks for the show's ending.” Short knew that was not going to be last of her questions.
“Cool! What does this button do?” Before Short Fuse could stop her, Scootaloo lifted the glass and pressed the large red button. The two rows of red light lit up along with the yellow one near the key.
Everything was silent for a moment as Short held his breath, his eyes wide with fear. Another moment passed, then all the red lights blinked off. Short's sigh conveyed his displeasure with the little filly's action. “Listen, Scoots or whatever your name is, had this been armed, you would have set off all of our fireworks and leaving us with nothing for the crowd tonight. You would have wasted thousands of bits worth of fireworks and possibly injured somepony still working in the area.”
Scootaloo backed away from near-enraged stallion. Though he was keeping his voice low, he made no attempt to hide his anger. “I-I'm sorry.” She didn't want to turn her back for fear he may turn violent.
“You should be sorry. To what stallion or mare that raised you apparently didn't teach you very well. Be thankful that nothing bad happened this time, because should you touch something that's not yours might get you into more trouble than you can handle. Now do us all a favor and get out of here, this is no place for you or any foal for that matter.” With his rant done, Short Fuse turned away from Scootaloo and once again set himself to his work.
Scootaloo huffed at him and took off. It's not like she broke anything. She had wanted to scream at him for what he said. He knew nothing of how kind and caring her mother was. Of all the things that she had taught her, and had yet to teach her. Scootaloo looked up and found herself outside near a few trailers. She could hear voices from some of them, others, she heard snoring. “Okay, that will conclude the finances and progress for tonight, we'll talk about the towns that have requested us tomorrow. You are all dismissed.” Even though Scootaloo had only met the mare just last night, Sunbright's voice came through loud and clear. Scoots made her way around to the back of the trailer, found some boxes, and swiftly climbed to a partly open window. Peeking inside, she saw a few ponies shuffling out except for her father and the captain.
Once all of the ponies had left, Blaze picked himself up and yawned loudly. Smacking his lips a few times while rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he turned to his captain. “You are a damn great flier and a damn good captain, but your ability to put me to sleep during these meetings is beyond my understanding.” Grunting a little as he stretched out his stiff muscles.
Scootaloo continued to watch as her father, but got distracted by the captain as she sauntered over to him. Blaze finished and was going to speak, had Sunbright not grabbed his face and locked her lips to his. Scoots was at loss for words. The more she stared at the two kissing, the more she wanted to bust in there and stop it.
Blaze broke the kiss by gently pushing his captain away. “I do expect you to control yourself, you know. I have a daughter and she takes priority.” To Scootaloo, his voice was flat and emotionless.
“Oh, I expected you to say that Blazey Wayzy.” The sultry tone from Sunbright was on, and the more she heard it, the more she felt disgusted at the captain. “I know you would never willingly abandon a mare, no matter how young.” The captain giggled before she continued. “You know I love you and if it helps at all, I'd treat her her as if she were mine.”
Scootaloo was confused at the captain's remark. Was she implying that she could replace her mother? If so, she was so wrong. There was no way her father would marry her. She glanced at her father so she could judge his reaction to this, but found the same emotionless stare. “I'll think about it.” Scootaloo didn't know how to take this. Was he truly willing to marry his captain just so she would have a mother? She already had a mother. Granted, she was gone, but that didn't mean she needed another one. Quietly as she could, Scootaloo climbed down from the boxes and made her way back to the tent. She found Short Fuse still working on the detonator from before. Plopping herself a few hoofsteps away, she thought about how her father's response. Scootaloo now wanted answers from her father. How he felt about her, her mother, and his captain. She didn't have long to think as Blaze trotted up to her, a bright smile on his face as if nothing had happened.
“Come on, Scoots, let's grab some lunch.” Blaze blissfully unaware that his daughter had witnessed his captain's actions.
For the first time Scootaloo's smile was fake. She decided right there to get to the bottom of why her parents split so long ago. As soon as she got home, she would get Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to help. She knew they would help. For now, she would enjoy this time with her father, because she felt what she may find, might not be pleasant.
//Even now two -CRASH- What the? Dash, what are you doing here? … … You came all the way over here just to ask when your next scene is... Well, guess what, you can show us just how fast you truly are as you get back to Ponyville in time for your scene which is next. -ZOOM- -BOOM- now, where was I again? Oh, right. \\
Even now, two little fillies trekked across Ponyville in search of the local rainbow maned pegasus, hoping to end their search for Blaze's past on a high note.
“Come on, Sweetie, she's got ta be around here somewhere.” Applebloom, despite what others would say, had the most energy out of the three crusaders.
Sweetie, panting a little from running all over Ponyville, was searching the sky for the cyan pegasus. “I don't see her. Maybe we could ask a pegasus to look for her.”
“Look for who?” A very distinct voice rang out from behind the two fillies.
Applebloom and Sweetie turned around in the blink of an eye to face the very cyan pegasus. Dash was covered in sweat and was breathing heavily. “Are ya ok Rainbow?” Applebloom inquired.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just doing some practice since it's my day off.” Dash wipes some moisture from her brow. “Who are you looking for that you need a pegasus to help search?”
“Actually, we were looking for you, Rainbow.” Sweetie looked to the older mare. “We were hoping that you could answer a question that me and Bloom have.”
Dash, now fully in control of her breathing, eyed the two fillies. She was nervous about what they could, or for that matter, might ask her. “Ah, sure, what did ya wanna ask?” At the very least, she could fly away or simply direct them to Rarity or AppleJack if they asked her something... inappropriate.
“When Scootaloo introduced her father, ya said he was famous.” Applebloom had paused for only a second.
Mentally giving a breath of relief, Dash silently thanked Celestia it wasn't the birds and the bees question. “Oh, he's famous, alright. He's been nominated as one of the most hunkiest stallions in all of Equestria. I still think Soarin is better. Blazewing and his family I think are one of the three original pegasus families that started it... oh, I think one hundred and twenty some years ago...but the Wonderbolts have been around for much longer.” Dash was going to continue, but was quickly interrupted.
“That's not exactly what we wanted to know...” Sweetie cringed a little inside when Dash gave her a questioning glance. “We wanted to know if he had ever been in trouble... He did say he was a prankster, and we wanted to know if he ever went... too far?” Her eyes fell down as she pawed the ground. She hadn't actually wanted to ask so bluntly, but what's done is done.
Dash was perplexed at her question. She had expected something like 'How old is he?' or 'Do you think he's cool'. Were these two really looking for something bad about him? “Why do you want to know?” She may not be an egghead, but she wanted to know what brought this on.
“We heard a rumor that he did som'in bad and that's why he left Ponyville. We know how bad rumors can get, especially when they're untrue.” Applebloom gave a quick nod to Sweetie. Both of them still remembered the mess that was caused by them printing stories as Gabbygums.
Dash nodded. She had once again underestimated these two. They weren't out to hurt him or keep him from Scootaloo. “Okay, I guess you've heard something about him, but when it comes down to it, there is only one thing most ponies talk about when he's the topic. Did he cheat on his wife? To this day, nopony really knows if he did it or not. He denied it publicly, but some ponies believe that makes him guilty. But take my advice and don't tell Scootaloo.”
The two fillies looked to Dash slightly confused before asking in unison. “Why?
“Because, Scootaloo is my number one fan and you both know she lost her mother. I don't think she wants to hear her father's a bad pony on top of that.” Dash watched over the fillies as they thought about this. She continued. “I'll tell you two a secret.” When she had both of their attentions, she let this one failure be known to them. “After Scoots went to the orphanage, I couldn't stand to see her like that. So I tried to adopt her.”
“What!?” Is what they tried to screech, but a hoof was waiting for them.
“Yes, I tried to adopt Scootaloo, but the orphanage said I didn't meet the standards for adoption.” Dash removed her hooves from the two and bowed her head. “They said I didn't qualify, because I was too young and I was unmarried.” She growled these words, her anger showing through. “And I did everything right. I showed them that I made more than enough bits to support the two of us. My job was steady and in good standing but...” Dash paused and took a deep breath. It wasn't worth breaking down here in front of two fillies that were best friends to Scootaloo. “But the one thing that ended it was me and my stupid mouth saying, 'I was going to be a Wonderbolt'. They told me that if that was my goal professionally, then adoption was out of the question. They said the life of a famous pony carting around a filly from city to city could be seen as bad publicity for me and bad for her. They also told me that if she didn't have a permanent home, that 'She wouldn't get the proper education she needed.' All I wanted to do was make her happy again, and I know she would've been happy with me. I just had to open my big fat mouth!”
When Dash slumped, both Applebloom and Sweetie ran up and hugged her. They too had begged their families to adopt Scoots, but were shot down. “It's okay, Rainbow, we know you did the best you could. I'm sure Scootaloo would be happy to hear that you cared enough to try and adopt her.” Sweetie was hopeful that her words would cheer up the cyan pegasus.
“I know you're right.” Dash giving the two another hug before letting them down. “But that's why I don't want to see her family fall apart again. She's already lost her mother, she doesn't need to lose the only other family she has too.”
Sweetie and Applebloom gave a firm nod to the older pegasus. The two were glad that their investigation came to a halt. As long as Blazewing was a good father to Scootaloo, then nothing else mattered. The happiness of their friend was far more important than digging up some old dirt. “Ya' know, I think we should get somethin' ta eat. All this work has made me hungry.”
Dash laughed. Only Applejack and her family would rebound so quickly, and turn to food no less. “That sounds pretty good about now. Sugar Cube Corner, my treat.”
With a resounding “YAY!” from the two fillies, the three of them were off to the famed confectionery.
It was time. Time for the most glorious event of all night. The Phoenix Wings daredevil event and, for Scootaloo, the very event she had been waiting for all day. To finally see her father in action. From her front row seat, she could see everything. Of all the working ponies behind the scenes making sure this event went smoothly, one of them was called as an escort for her. Long Fuze was the poor unfortunate soul this time. Many of the ponies around Scootaloo oohed and awed as the performers did many things: An earth pony Tightrope walking while balancing spinning plates on their heads, making a pony pyramid over ten ponies high, an earth pony and unicorn couple were swinging high above the air as they flipped around and caught the other. Scootaloo had seen a circus before, but none of them matched up to this.
Barely noticed by the crowd, a beige mare in a black vest and top hat entered the center of the tent. “And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The fabulous trio of flaming pegasi. The Phoenix Wings!” Erupting from the ground, three pegasi emerged. Their bodies fully covered by a red and orange flight suit. The suits played tricks on the eyes of every pony watching, for each one was made to stylize a phoenix against the body of the pegasus wearing it. A flash emitted from the three as they broke off, lighting the air on fire with brilliant orange, yellow, and red flames. Scootaloo cheered like all the other ponies as the three came to rest on a platform up near the top of the tent. “For you first timers, let me introduce you to our lovely fireball of a captain, Sunbright!” The captain removed her goggles and waved to the ponies below. “Our next member, who's devilishly handsome and whips the wind into a fury, Dust Devil!” Dust removed his own goggles and waved to the crowd. “And lastly our biggest and a powerhouse of a pony, who has been with the group since birth, Blazewing!” Unlike the others, Blaze dropped off the platform to do a flyby on the crowd below before returning to his teammates.
Several young mares squealed and called out to him as he flew by, foalishly hoping to be the one he'd fall in love with. To Blaze, it was the same old song and dance with every love struck mare, a smile, a wink, and off he flew. When he landed on the platform next to Dust, he gave a short tap to Dust's hind leg.
Dust in turn eyed his friend. It had been a long time since he'd gave that non-verbal cue to go before him in a show. Something was obviously bugging him, even beyond the problems he was going to face with his daughter. A nod of acknowledgment and Dust moved into position.
The announcer spoke again, dispelling the cries of joy from the crowd. “The first up is our lovely captain. Now, for our first-timers, in front of you are three buttons, you get one vote for sending our captain on 'The Free Fall', 'Cannonball Rescue' or 'The Roaring Dragon'! Make your choice now!”
Scootaloo examined the buttons before her, each held a picture of what stunt to be chosen. A falling pony for the first, a cannon for the second and the head of a dragon for the last. Unsure which one to pick, Scoots turned to Long Fuze. “Which one do I pick?”
Long Fuze thought for a moment before answering. “Free Fall is her best one out of the three, I think that would be the best choice.”
Giving the older stallion a thankful smile, she pressed the button.
“And all the votes are in!” The announcer rang out again. “The Captain will suffer the Free Fall! Wrap her up boys!” With the announcer's words, Blaze and Dust pulled a wing restraint brace and tied Sunbright tightly. The announcer didn't brake the audience's sight on the now flightless captain. “Captain Sunbright, whenever you are ready!”
Up on the platform, Sunbright took a few deep breaths. Her normal routine was interrupted when she felt a wing poke her in the side. A quick look confirmed that it was Blaze that had poked her, but what happened next, she had never expected. With a swift thrust of his hips, Blaze had sent the captain over the side and into open air. Upon feeling gravity take hold of her, Sunbright quickly brought a small copper rod with tiny barely noticeable leavers to her mouth. “What in all of Celestia's mane did he do that for?! Is he trying to get me killed or something?!”
When the crowd saw this, they cheered, thinking it was nothing more then a twist on the show. As the captain fell, the crowd gripped the rails in front of them. Closer and closer she fell and Scootaloo became worried when Sunbright had passed the mid point.
“Crap, damn you, Blaze!” The captain, out of options, squeezed the very tip of the copper rod. A dull click told her just what she wanted to know. With less then a few feet to go, the brace popped off and the captain soared over the crowd with the cheers following behind her. She landed back on the platform, a bright smile and wave of her hoof sent the audience into a roaring applause.
“Amazing! What a sight of skill that was folks! I hope you are ready for more because Dust Devil is up next, and we only have two stunts left. Which will it be, The Cannonball Rescue, or The Roaring Dragon!?” Most had ignored the announcer in the beginning, but when Dust was called forth, the crowd burst into action to make their next choice. “Quick to vote, I see. I like that about you ponies. For Dust, it's Cannonball Rescue!” A team of earth ponies wheeled out a set of four cannons, each one big enough to fit a full grown mare or stallion.
Scootaloo looked to Long Fuze. “Are they doing what I think they're doing? Are they going to shoot ponies out of those cannons?”
Long Fuze turned his head to gaze at the inquisitive little filly. “Yeah, it's the only flight stunt that involves other ponies.”
“That's so cool!” Scootaloo nearly screeched at the top of her lungs. For a single moment, she actually wanted to be shot out of the cannons and into the open hooves of her father. But the moment passed with the resounding boom from the first cannon being fired. Scootaloo watched as a cream colored earth pony was shot out of the first cannon. The pony squealed as she fell, the mare was soon caught by the strong hooves of Dust and lowered to the ground. Peace was quickly swept away as the firing of two cannons forced Dust into action again to save the lives of more ponies. Upon the sound of the third round of cannon fire, one of the daredevils flew in front of Blaze and the captain. At this point, Scootaloo stopped admiring Dust and his stunt, to watch her father and Sunbright yelling at each other. Between the roar of the crowd and the cannon fire, Scootaloo couldn't make a word of what they were saying. However, their faces displayed their fury. Scootaloo watched as her father, his face contorted in anger, shouting at his captain and long time colleague. For every shout Blaze made, Sunbright had one ready and waiting in return, the anger on her face matching that of her father's. Scootaloo wished she could hear what the two were fighting about, and hoped that her father didn't get fired over whatever this was about. With one final blast of a cannon, the crowd erupted in cheers as Dust lowered the final daredevil to the ground. With a wave and a smile, he launched himself back to the platform, where Blaze and Sunbright were now smiling at the audience below.
The announcer once again called for the audience's attention. “Ladies and gentlecolts. The stallion you've all been waiting for... Blazewing!” Blaze reared up, splaying his wings, and the crowd went nuts. They stomped the ground, cheered, and started to chant his name as he kept their attention firmly on him. Meanwhile, members of his crew were quickly setting up for the last stunt. “Now, it is time for our most beloved flier to face his own creation, The Roaring Dragon!”
From his vantage point high above the crowd, Blaze watched as his crew moved sets of rings around the tent. The setup was different almost every time, but today was one of the more grand displays of this trick. After the rings were finally set into place, the true danger of this stunt flared to life. Directly below him, the maw of a dragon greeted him, writhing in bright orange and red flames. Blaze's eyes traveled around as the rest of the flaming mass as it came alive. Past the head, the long serpent-like body twisted and corkscrewed down close to the floor before it curved up into a straight, but steep climb. At the peak of this arch, its body became vertical to the ground and then curved into a much smaller spiral before ending with another draconian head. “Oh, right, I forgot about the fire... although, that is not the problem.” Blaze looked down at the flaming dragon and saw the true problem. He had been much younger and far smaller the last time he did this trick. Now, there was barely enough room for his wings as he passed through the rings of fire. With a heavy sigh, Blaze steeled himself.
From the spectators stand, Scootaloo watched as her father fell from his platform and into the fire. Then, all she could do was wait with baited breath. The orange and yellow flames masked where her father was inside. A cry rang out from the middle of the flaming corkscrew as one of the many rings wobbled, and then another. With each new wobble, a deeper silence fell over the stands as they watched the fire drake rock. Each shake marking each impact as Blaze made his spiral down. The base of the first spiral rocked with a unnervingly loud crack and silence filled the air. The long body of the fire dragon rocked smoothly to and fro, but the crowd poised at the edge of their seats wondering if Blaze's accent would be disastrous.
Then, without warning, the arched back of the dragon flared a bright yellow. To the patrons, it was a pretty display of fire and magic, to the crew it was a nightmare. Using the shadows to her advantage, Flash Bang moved around the edge of the performance field with much haste. Now at the final spiral, the wobbling intensified. Scootaloo and the rest of the spectators held their breath. To the little orange filly, the last remaining seconds dragged on for eternity. She hadn't realized how she had gone from sitting to standing on her hind legs flapping her tiny wings to keep her steady, hoping that her father would make it out alright.
With a resounding bang of wing on metal, Blaze clipped the last ring as he pulled out of the flaming dragon's maw, followed by a bright trail of orange and yellow flames. Scootaloo cried out in mixture of relief and joy to see her father complete the stunt, but something was wrong. Cries of shock and fear rang out through the crowd as Scootaloo realized that her father was on fire.
Blaze was flying in a wide circle over the stunt grounds, one too many contacts with the flaming rings had transferred the liquid used to keep the rings burning onto his suit. When the pain hit him, Blaze then realized how much trouble he was in. The fire had eaten away at his flight suit and now was burning away fur, feathers and flesh. The heat was unbearable and the pain blurred his vision, the screams from the crowd drowned out the yelling from Sunbright, who was standing next to a tank filled with water. Flash Bang broke her cover and levitated the tank of water in front of Blaze. With a splash and a mighty crack, Blaze hit the water and the bottom of the tank. The audience went dead silent as the tank was lowered back to the ground, black smoke emanating from the container.
Scootaloo jumped over barrier and ran as fast as her legs could carry her over to the tank. With adrenalin pumping, she leapt to the tank and looked inside. She saw her father sitting in knee high water breathing hard. His suit was burned off completely, his pelt was charred black on his left side, half of his mane and tail were burnt off and not a single feather was left unsinged. The stench of the burning flesh nearly made her vomit, but Scootaloo was forcefully removed from the tank by the pyrotechnic pink unicorn. She emitted an ear piercing scream as she was yanked away.
Upon hearing his daughter's cry, Blaze bounded out of the tank to face his daughter's attacker. Brushing his wet mane out of his eyes, he caught sight of the head pyrotechnic holding Scootaloo. The audience's gasp at the damage Blaze had sustained nearly deafened Blaze's voice. “Bang, you can let her go now.” He hobbled over to the filly struggling to free herself. “Scootaloo, I'm alright.”
The sound of her father's pained voice made her thrashing pause long enough to watch Blaze fall to his good side. With one last jerk, she was freed from the unicorn's grasp. With a plop, she hit the ground and scurried over to her father.
Sunbright and Dust flew over to view the damage done to their fellow entertainer. The captain poked lightly at his left shoulder and heard only the hiss of pain. “Can you stand and finish or do we have to call them in?” As Sunbright waited for his reply, the little orange filly caught her eye. Before a she could get a word to leave her lips, Blaze rose to his hooves and spread his wings wide.
Despite the sight of his charred left side, the crowd cheered as Blaze got to his hooves. With a smile to the audience, he gave a bow, eliciting a round of hoof stomps and and cheers as the famous daredevil cheated death once more. With a look to Sunbright and a nod, Blaze turned, placed his good wing over his daughter, and headed to the dressing rooms outside the tent.
The Mayor rested in her home after a day that left her weary. She sat on her plush pillow as the light from candles danced across her maroon desk, while the rest of her room was shrouded in darkness. A small stack of papers she had brought home lay in a neat pile to her left. To her right, a pail three quarters full of ice, partially melted, with a Malbec wine bottle chilling, a glass of the red wine sitting next to it. She normally went for a dry Pinot Grigio, but forgot to visit Berry Punch to restock a bottle or two. The papers she had taken from the office to finish had been signed and stamped with her approval. Once she turned them in to the office tomorrow morning, she would have the rest of the day to relax. Closing her eyes, she mentally thought about how the ponies of Ponyville, well, most of them, were happy to have her as mayor. Her thoughts then drifted to a mare she didn't like dealing with. This mare who had-. Shaking her head to purge the mare from her thoughts and continue relaxing, she reached for her glass, but was met with a dull clop of her hoof on wood. Perplexed, she gently waved her hoof around where the glass should had been, but met nothing but air. Opening her eyes, The Mayor felt time stop. Her eyes shrunk to pinpricks at what was standing in front of her. Before her stood a mare covered in a black cloak, a pale yellow hoof held her wine glass out of her reach. The hood of this cloak covered everything but her muzzle, not a single hair of her mane or tail was visible. The Mayor was very familiar with this intruder to her home.
The cloaked pony took the glass and tipped it to her lips, taking a draught of the liquid. When finished, the mare placed the glass back on the desk gingerly. “Isn't it a little early to be celebrating, Mayor? After all, you have yet to finish what you started by getting rid of the brat!” Her final words were punctuated with her hooves slamming on top of the desk. The bottle held in the pail shifted amongst the ice.
The Mayor was shocked at first to see this mare so late at night, but given the recent turn of events, she should have expected it. The Mayor relaxed just a little. She had dealings with this mare before, and they was never pleasant. She knew that this mare didn't want to hear the obvious, but she didn't have any other words to please this mare at the moment. “It's not like I could do anything about it. You told me to tell you if anything regarding Scoot-”
“I don't want to hear her name! That flightless rat stands between me and what I want, and you are still helping me with that.” The mystery mare was huffing from anger and the sudden outburst. Removing her hooves from the desk, she spoke more calmly to The Mayor. “Or did you forget that?”
Mayor closed her eyes, more out of shame than fear. “No, I didn't forget. That's why you had me drop that tabloid by Carrot Top's cart, and make sure that those girls would pick it up. You don't have to remind me why I'm doing this.” As soon as those words slipped, The Mayor cringed at the mistake. She didn't need reminding, but her inability to reason with this mare left the Mayor disadvantaged.
“Oh, I don't?” A tone of mock shock was replaced with that of cold uncaring voice. “That would be nice if I shared your opinion.” Poking a hoof around the inside of her cloak, the mystery mare pulled two photo's and tossed them on the Mayor's desk. “Don't forget, Mayor, that I only want one thing. Your position means nothing to me except helping me get what I want.” The mare paused letting her words sink into The Mayor, who remained silent with her eyes closed. “Now, I can't access the archives until the annex is done, but you can. I want you to place her file in your personal safe so I can pick it up later. Once I have that, I won't need you any more and my plan can still be salvaged. Fail and you won't be drinking for a long time, Mayor.” With that said, the Mysterious mare left the Mayor's abode through a window that had been left open.
The Mayor passed the wine glass and took the wine bottle out of its ice pail. One hoof gripped the neck of the bottle, the other was hovering unsteady over the two pictures. Both photos held the Mayor when she was much younger. Her bright pink hair was wild in the photos. In one, she wore black fishnet stockings with a matching black saddle, while enjoying the company of a stallion much older than herself. The other showed her with a slim paper tube shoved in her left nostril, and the front of her muzzle covered in white dust. A salty drop of water hit the pictures as The Mayor glared at the photos. With a swift jerky motion, The Mayor brought the bottle to her lips and chugged, eager to rid herself of the memories from her past. That didn't stop them from coming. One after another of the Mayor's teenage and young adult years turned on her, making her relive not just the night that started it all, but every dirty memory. The rest of the night, she sat there crying and drinking until she passed into the realm of dreamless sleep, the only witness to this was the moon and stars high above Equestria.
^^^
-Clack Clack- -Clack Clack- Oh, Celestia, how I hate the sound of trains. The noise and the rocking might be soothing to some ponies, but not me. My place was in the sky like any respectable pegasus. I did a bang up job of that didn't I. Not only did I blotch my own trick, but burned and made myself unable to fly for two whole weeks! I guess I should be grateful that I didn't lose my life or suffer permanent damage. Ugg, if those medical ponies had their way, I'd be stuck in Hoofington till I was able to fly again. Speaking of the doctors, the nurse they sent with me is fast asleep. I swear to Celestia that they sent a fresh out of training nurse to accompany me back to Ponyville. Most medical ponies I met in the past never sleep and try to make you swallow pain pills or sleep aids every hour. Yet this one is off in la la land with those very pills now, and my side is starting to heat up again. Here is a lesson I should teach Scootaloo, don't get burned, why... because it's flippin painful! I've been burn before, just not this badly. Forty percent of my left side plus my wings were burned, and I had to have all my feathers plucked so I would heal properly. It is a sad day when a pepasus is grounded. If I wasn't use to being grounded due to injury, I would flip out like any other. But I'm use to it for more than that... this is becoming tiresome. Every time I start thinking about Raindancer, I feel my ears fold back. No! I'm not going to think about that right now. As sorry as I am about leaving her, I can't change the past. As much as I want to, that will never happen.
Wait... something is next to me? Oh, it's Scootaloo. Well, at least she's not having a nightmare tonigh. I don't think I could hold her in my condition. … … How can I be a father to this little filly? I mean, yeah, I married and had a few romps in the bedroom with her mom, which were awesome. Ow... I can't pose dramatically with my wings wrapped up like a couple of baked potatoes. Still, life with Raindancer were the best years of my life. Oh... oh, dear Celestia, I better watch the tabloids. If they find out my wife had a child after I left, it will be horrible! I can see the headlines now, 'Deadbeat father returns to Ponyville!' 'Daredevil forgot the wrapper before leaving his wife!'. I know what they would say too. They would talk about how I banged my wife, then went to sleep with a mare while on tour, just to return home and find my wife was pregnant and ditched her. They would play it up as like, now that my wife is dead and with no other family, I am unwillingly taking care of her because I never wanted her. Stop! Calm down, Blaze. You can deal with that when it come around. When did I turn into such a pessimist? I think it started with that tabloid years ago that started this whole mess. That is if I don't include what Cheerilee told Raindancer. I can't help but be angry every time I think about that. If Raindancer didn't knock me out, I most likely would have stormed the school house... I don't think I have to say how that would have turned out, still that's in the past. Maybe this is also a second chance to patch things up with her?
“Oh, my gosh!” Oh, now the nurse wakes up! After I've been lying here in pain for the past hour. “Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry.” Well, she is trying to be quiet so she earns a good mark there. “I'm sorry. Here, these and a glass of water should help you.” I pop the pills and down them with the water provided. She's nervous, rightly so, because of the pain I'm in and her falling asleep while on the job. Another sigh escapes me as I look at the chestnut brown mare with over-sized glasses, and her green mane done up in a bun. When I first looked at her, I had so much painkillers in me, I thought I was looking at a tree. When you're drugged up and a tree starts talking to you, not only does it feel weird at first, but you start asking odd questions to said 'tree'. Like; 'Do you enjoy birds nesting amongst your leaves and branches?' 'What are your favorite bird songs?' 'Is it hard to clean off all that bird crap?' Now after the painkillers wore off, I'm more than certain that Scootaloo was laughing when I asked those questions. Speaking of her, she has accepted me as her father rather quickly. I would have thought she would have hated me for not being around. Or was that orphanage really that bad? Oh, the painkillers are kicking in.
Well, at least I'll be able to to sleep now. In the morning, I'll be carted away to Ponyville hospital and a letter will be sent to Macintosh to come pick up Scootaloo for school. Speaking of Ponyville hospital, when did it get so famous? Not only does it have the best burn treatment center, but also the best treatment center for magical accidents. In truth, that's the only reason the doctors were willing to let me be transferred. Otherwise, my recovery would have taken months, and that would be too long... Wait, something's at my side? Is that a chicken? No.. chickens don't have purple hair or tails. Um... what was I doing again? Wow, I'm really tired. Maybe I should rest for a bit...
^^^
Sunlight was barely creeping through the windowpane as the train pulled into the station. I'm glad painkillers exist, because otherwise, I wouldn't make it to my next destination. Scootaloo walked next to me as I was wheeled out to the waiting medical ponies. Her eyes were full of worry and her mane was unkempt. I had gotten so use to giving out fake smiles. I think even the royal guards would be fooled. Scootaloo didn't buy it when I told her I was fine. She looked more worried after I said that. Maybe I should just keep my trap shut. I guess I should be glad that a few pegasi are air-lifting me the rest of the way. The nurse will escort Scootaloo to the hospital then probably return to Hoofington. I would write an angry letter about her falling asleep, but it's not worth it. I'm sure she'll get the hang of things sooner or later.
I'm sure this will be the last time I feel the wind in my face for some time as the two pegasi lift off. Even if it's not from my own flying, I still love being in the air. Wait... Scootaloo hasn't done any flying when I'm around. Even if Raindancer was unable to fly herself, she still should had been able to teach Scootaloo some basic flying lessons. I probably look like I'm sulking right now. I look that way every time I think. No matter how I look at the moment, this bugs me. I've looked at her wings and they seem to be developing normally. She's got some serious speed when she's on that scooter of hers. Yet, other fillies and colts her age are flying with ease, while she's still ground bound. … That is something I will have to talk with her about.
Big Mac is an early riser and it's good to know that after all these years he's still my friend. Out of all the ponies in this town, he was the only one who stuck by me. That is reassuring because I know once ponies start to recognize me, I'll need both his and Scootaloo's help. Unless in these last ten years, this town has forgotten about me. If that's the case then I have nothing to worry about. Oh, wow... Now I can see why Ponyville's hospital is so good. It's huge! Bigger than any of the other hospitals that I've been to. The population of Ponyville must have skyrocketed while I was gone. Oh look, a roof landing with a stretcher waiting. I just hope that I won't be shackled to the bed on top of being grounded. Unlikely, but even I dislike hospitals... for more than one reason.
^^^
Scootaloo hated the hospital, probably more than any other pony in Equestria. It was where she was kept, telling doctors, 'Yes, that is my mom!' for longer than she needed to. Talking to police ponies who were asking questions that she had no answers for, and the Mayor, who came a day later, said she was going to be put in Ponyville's orphanage. The only good thing about today is that she wasn't going to lose another family member. With a sigh, she waited for Big Mac and Applebloom to show. She had already asked nurse Redheart if anything had changed with her father, but got the same answer every time. 'It will take some time. Please be patient.'
The opening of the hospital's doors caught her attention right before she was tackled by her farmer friend. “Scootaloo! Are ya ok? Is yur father okay? Did he hurt ya? What happened? Whoa!” Applebloom was pulled off by Big Mac and held in the air. Scootaloo picked herself up and brushed off the dust that was dragged in by the Apple family filly.
“I'm fine, Applebloom, but my dad's not doing so well. He got burned badly during the show. I don't know how he's doing right now because nopony will tell me.” Scootaloo sat with a huff. Even with her closest friend, she wore her blank emotionless mask. She had broken down in front of both her friends before, but she still didn't want them to think of her as weak. This, however, didn't have the desired reaction of a pony leaving her alone, but rather this had consistently made ponies around her more worried.
Applebloom squirmed a little and was dropped gently by her brother. After this, she swiftly wrapped the pegasus filly in a hug. She disliked how Scootaloo always got that vacant stare whenever she started talking about her family. All Applebloom wanted was for her friend to enjoy her life again. She and Sweetie had made a promise to do just that. But her father's emergence had brought a mixed result within the feathered filly, or at least, to Applebloom's eyes.
As for Macintosh, he left the two fillies to talk and made his way to the counter where the nurse sat waiting. “I'll be take'n Scootaloo to school. Did ya'll need me ta pick up Blaze later?” He had figured Blaze wouldn't want to stay in the hospital any longer than needed, given his stubbornness and loathing of them.
Nurse Redheart looked up to Big Mac with a rosy blush coming to her cheeks. “Yes, he's not that badly injured and just needs rest and occasional ointment applied with fresh bandages. If you don't mind making a return trip, he should be ready to be released with supervision in an hour or so.”
“Thank ya kindly, Ms. Redheart.” Macintosh turned to gather the fillies, missing the raging blush that graced the nurse's white coat. “Alright, you two, let's go and get ya ta school.”
The two looked up to Big Mac and gave a nod and fell in step, the best they could, with the large earth pony. Applebloom was calmer now that she knew her friend wasn't going to revert to her emotionally closed off ways. Scootaloo had been reminded by Bloom's hug that she could rely on her friends for more than getting her cutie mark. Big Mac, however, was quietly chuckling to himself as he walk to the schoolhouse with the fillies in tow.
^^^
It's one thing when you know an old friend will help you out. It's another thing entirely when you know said friend will help you while laughing the whole time. And that's just what Macintosh did. From the time he picked me up from the hospital to my front door, he was laughing. I swear his laugh must have drawn half the town to my condition by the time we got to my house, and he's still laughing as he helps me inside. Ugg...as soon as I'm able to, Mac, you're going to get pranked. Hard. I was put into bed by Mac and a blanket tossed over me. Mac is still laughing, just not as hard, and thankfully the doctor dulled back the dosage of the painkillers. Turns out the Hoofington doctors were going a tad overboard because they were pulling my feathers out. I hear Mac say that he'll be bringing Scootaloo back home. As much as a relief that is for me, I don't like anypony seeing me injured. Even though the doctor said the ointment will speed up the healing, I still needed to keep off my hooves and rest as much as possible. With or without the ointment, my side still burns and it's been two and a half hours since I last took any pills.
The pills are on the night stand across the room... Sometimes, Mac, you prove my point that you're not that bright. With a heavy sigh, I pull myself out of bed, the burning pain from my left side has made just a short walk agonizing. “Okay, directions, take two every four hours with water or a meal. Do not take more than twelve in a twenty four hour period. If pain persists call a doctor. May cause drowsiness, blurry sight, and dizziness. Do not fly or attempt to work while taking this medication.” I cast my eyes around my room and to my dismay, not a single glass for water. Holding the pill bottle in my mouth, I half drag half trot down to the kitchen. This blows. I've been injured plenty of times, but I gotta say getting burned like I did is lucky compared to what could have happened.
I was told by one of the nurses that Ponyville's hospital staff has grown due to recent events, as well as having a much wider and better treatments than any other in Equestria. To top it off, they are allowed to claim that they have treated some of Equestria's most famous ponies. Ponyville itself was not short on praise as well. Being home to the princess's student, Ms. Sparkle. The Apple family was already known for their cider, zap apple jam, and some of the best apples one could ever taste. Now that I think about it, I remember having a fashion magazine shoved in my face by Sunbright. It was talking about a dress designer that had made dresses for Sapphire Shores. Not that I cared at the time, but now that I think back on it I feel the pieces slip into place. Ponyville had only one fashion store who was owned by that white unicorn. She must have been that designer that was in the magazine.
When did Ponyville become so famous? I mean it was founded like sixty years ago... or was it seventy? Yet this little town doesn't have a population more than like six hundred... I think it's around six hundred. I guess I should ask Mac what else I missed in the past nine years. Regardless, I need to head the hospital tomorrow. They will be expecting me as they will be changing the bandages from my epic flaming screw up. … … I guess I shouldn't be so concerned about it now. After pushing Sunbright off last night, and worse yet, yelling at her like I did, I would have to expect her to let me go after that.
I shuffle into the kitchen and place the bottle on the counter. I grab a glass and start to fill it with water from the sink. Why did I have to do that? Why did I have to go and make this so much worse? It's bad enough that I woke her up with the firecrackers, but to shove her off in the middle of a show was just another mark on how much of a mule I am. The worst part about it, I did it because she kissed me. I look up to see the cup overflowing with water, I quickly shut it off and stare into the glass. I sigh, why am I doing this? I've never been so spiteful to Sunbright before, not even when she gets drunk, tries to seduce me and ends up puking on me before passing out. I don't think I've ever yelled at her before this. Maybe, it's because I was never attracted to her. She has a drop dead gorgeous body for a mare, but she's not what I wanted. I expect by tomorrow, she will send a letter requesting my resignation. In hind sight saying she was equal to 'shallow sex-driven fan mare' was not what I should have said. I have enough bits stored away to keep me and Scootaloo fed for about two months or so. I'm glad now that I have this house paid off. I could audition for the Wonderbolts. I have the background and skill to make it, but I've been in the Phoenix Wings practically since birth! Oh, Celestia, what would my parents think of me now? Their son, a stallion who breaks promises and mares' hearts. Toss in getting kicked out of the group his very family founded and I'm sure they would disown me on the spot! That is if they didn't skin me first.
Placing my head on the cool counter I can't help be feel more and more undeserving. I have a foal to take care of from a mare I abandoned years ago! I not only put at risk the life of another pony, but said things that were uncalled for. I screw up the trick I made in my youth. I won't be able to fly for two weeks because of that. I should stop dancing around the bush and say it. “I'm an ass. Not just any regular ass, but a lying, unfaithful, disrespecting pony who's worse than griffon crap!” I don't feel any better. My eyes spy the bottle of painkillers. Could a pony overdose on pain pills? I squeeze my eyes shut. No! I can't start down that path again. I was ready to just drink myself into oblivion when I had left Raindancer, that is if Dust hadn't pulled me out of it. He's not here to save me if I do something stupid like that again. What's worse is if I die, where would Scootaloo go? Right back to the orphanage, a place that she hates vehemently. Picking up the glass, I pop two of the pills and take a sip. The water is cool, refreshing, and washes the pills down with ease. I place the glass down and leave the bottle there with it. I know what I can do. If it comes down to it, the next opening in the Wonderbolts line up is going to be mine. While I wait for that, I'll get a job with the local weather team. Scootaloo said that Rainbow Dash was head of Ponyville's weather team. I should go talk to her about that. Or maybe Big Mac needs help around the farm? If either one doesn't pan out, I'll go to the other.
I make my way to the couch and plop myself into it. Hehe, nopony ever knew why this couch was so comfy. With the enchanted cloth that cost me damn near a wing and a leg to get, I stuffed it full of cloud and nopony was ever the wiser. Well, maybe Raindancer was, but she never complained about it. With a half-baked plan, I can only hope everything turns out well. Despite the doubts I have about the future, I feel good. Although that just might be the pills. As I settle into the couch, I think of Scootaloo. I need to tell her the truth soon, before a disaster strikes and I have to clean up another mess.
^^^
Scootaloo and Applebloom sat outside the schoolhouse waiting for Sweetie Belle to show up. During that time, Bloom was pestering Scootaloo for the details on the show, but she was tight lipped on that. When Sweetie finally showed up just a few minutes before class, Scootaloo dragged the two around the building. “Okay girls, we are going to have a special crusaders meeting after school. I can't tell you what its about right now, but I need your help.”
The earth and unicorn filly didn't have time to question their friend as Ms. Cheerilee called the children in for class. The three scampered from around the building, and with a chipper greeting to the purple pony, sat down ready for class. “Okay class, who's ready for some fractions!” Most of the class groaned, not wanting to do math so early in the morning. But such things in school, much like life at times, simply don't go your way. For the next hour, the class worked on learning what Cheerilee called 'simple fractions'. To Scootaloo, it was time spent doing boring and tedious work. Time better spent learning to fly or about her father's past. So the day trekked on with fraction after fraction, each of the little colts and fillies wished and prayed that math would end and lunch would be upon them. Their wish came true, but only in part. Math was over, but now to the dismay of the class, mostly just Scootaloo, ancient Equestian history.
Scootaloo ignored the lesson in favor of writing what she knew about her father, but to Cheerilee, it looked like she was writing down notes. The purple earth pony was pleased because this would be on the test next week. The orange filly, however, had her own ideas of what was important. After an hour long lecture, Cheerilee called for lunch time. The classroom was cleared in record time, and the school teacher admired how foals were always so full of energy. Especially that pegasus Rumble. Oh, she felt he would be one handsome stallion when he grew up. But that was a thought for another day. For right now. she had a test to prepare and more lessons to plan.
Scootaloo was eating a lunch that was made for Big Mac while she sat with her friends. “No. I'm not telling you, not here at least. Wait till we get to the clubhouse.” That had been the third time she had told Applebloom and Sweetie, but they weren't satisfied.
“But ya gonna tell us right?” Bloom was really wanting to know what was going on in the mind of her friend. If she had to put her bits on something, her bet was that it was something to do with her friend's father.
“Yes, of course. I'll tell you both about it. I just don't want anypony telling Diamond or Silver. It's bad enough that they butt their noses into my life any more than they already have.” An angry huff left the tiny pegasus, just the thought of those two bullies made her irritable. Fortunately for the three of them, both the bullies fell ill with the flu over the weekend and wouldn't be around.
“OK, but you better not forget,” Sweetie said while poking Scootaloo's side. She hadn't forgotten what Rainbow Dash had asked them and the promise they had made. Sweetie more than willing to help her friends should anything happen to them.
“Don't worry, Sweetie, I won't be able to.” Taking another bite of the sandwich, a thought unrelated to her current dilemma occurred. How was it possible to make apples into a sandwich and make it taste so good?
Cheerilee called the foals back to class. Once they were all seated she gave a huge smile and said, “Ok everypony, I want you each to tell the class what you did this weekend.” Twist eagerly shouted that she made more of her peppermint sticks and that ponies could now buy them at Sugar Cube Corner. Featherweight had taken pictures of other pegasi in flight. A chubby colt in a fez spent his time reading. Snips had cut Snails mane into a Mohawk. Snails who nodded his head now looked more fitting in a punk or heavy metal band. Pipsqueak went to a lake with his father to go fishing. Applebloom said she and Sweetie helped around the farm. When it came time for Scootaloo to tell what she did, she hopped off her chair and trotted up to the front of the class. Cheerilee raised an eyebrow in confusion as to why the filly would need to be at the front of the class.
“My weekend was spent up in Hoofington watching the Phoenix Wings daredevil act!” All eyes were now on Scootaloo, just like she wanted. Raising a hoof, she silenced the foals who wanted to hear of the groups epic feats. “Underneath a tent that was taller the town hall and wider than the library, three of the most daring pegasi, wearing suits of yellow, orange and red, burst from the ground with fire licking at their back hooves!” The class traded looks amongst each other, all with the same thought in mind. This was going to be good. “High above the crowd, the three stood confident that this night was going to be the best. As each member was called, they took off from the platform and flew above the audience to give them one last look before they started.” Cheerilee's face was blank, but her mind was raging at the fact the Blaze had taken Scootaloo out of Ponyville, even if it was for the weekend. Scootaloo grinned as the class begged her to continue. “The captain, a mare who's coat was rustic red and a mane of gold, was the first to perform. Her stunt was the 'Free Fall', which doesn't sound scary to a pegasus until you bind their wings.” A gasp rang out from the class and more them a few gulps from the other pegasi foals. “That's right, she had her wings bound and she had only a minute to unstrap herself. With all eyes locked on her, she jumped.” The class was wide eyed with wonder and they all unknowingly were inching closer to the edge of their seats. “The captain was falling faster and faster, rushing towards the ground and suddenly!” All the foals held their breath. “Bam! She rips free from her bonds and flies over the crowd in victory!” The class bursts into a glorious cheer, Cheerilee however was silently fuming while retaining her cheerful smile.
“Oh, but that's not all. The next stunt was done by the stallion who has never spoken a word in his life. The silent terror of the skies, Dust Devil. This gray coated and blue maned stallion was on a different path. He was up against the cannons with live ammunition.” An echo of 'wows and awes' rang through the room, Cheerilee had her hooves over her eyes as she knew what the 'live ammunition' was. “And when I say 'live ammunition', I mean ponies were being shot out of the cannons to their DOOM!” Scootaloo reared up to her hind legs as several of the fillies screamed at the thought of being shot out of a cannon. Cheerilee moved one hoof to her desk drawer and found a nice cool glass bottle inside. She was going to need this after class ended. “The first cannon fired and an earth pony shot through the air. With all his years of training, Dust Devil caught the mare and returned her to the ground safe and sound.” Many of the foals gave whoops of joy, but were quickly silenced by Scootaloo. “Oh, but it's not over yet. With that mare out of danger, the blast of two more cannons, Dust was forced into action again. This time a rich stallion and his wife were in dire straits.” Cheerilee hoped that Scootaloo was exaggerating, because the thought of the team using patrons in their act was chilling to her. “Dust caught the mare, but under her extra weight, the flight to her husband looked impossible. Never fear, for Dust had a mountain of power behind his wings and caught the stallion on his back!” Pip, with his Trottingham accent, gave a loud 'Woohoo' from his desk. “Oh, but that's not the best part.” Scootaloo said with a grin. “The last pony that was hurled through the air was caught but...” Scootaloo had paused, she now remembered that she hadn't been paying attention to the last portion of Dust's act. With the whole class enraptured by her tale, she improvised. “She slipped out of his sweaty hooves.” The class foals gasped, for a pagasus to fall was one thing, for an earth or unicorn pony to fall meant injury for sure. “Dust Devil twisted in the air and pumped his wings for all their worth. With only inches to spare, Dust caught the mare and flew up to the top of the tent before returning her to the ground.”
Now Scootaloo had the entire class truly on the edge of their seats and she had saved the best for last. “Now, we come to the big finale. The last of the three, the largest of them and my father, Blaze Wing. For him, no ordinary trick would do, for he would risk the very fires of the Roaring Dragon!” Cheerilee felt her heart stop, this was the same stunt that Blaze had done the night Raindancer was attacked. Now more than ever, the bottle of spirits was calling to the purple teacher. “From the platform high above, my father smirked like this was as easy as eating pie. The fire burst and twisted into the head of a dragon. It traveled down into a spiral before coming back up into an arc and into a much more impressive fiery tail that was wrapped around the center support of the tent.” Cheerilee was starting to crack, memories of that night were coming back on top of her loathing of Blaze. “My father lept from the platform and into the maw of this flaming behemoth. As he passed through the beast it moved as if you could see him being digested inside.” This made several of the foals cringe at the thought of being eaten alive. To Cheerilee, she had to hold back her laughter. She knew all to well that this was a sign that Blaze screwed up from the get go. The teacher forgot about the bottle of alcohol in favor of listening to Scootaloo's retelling of the events. “After he reached the peak of the arc, all swaying stopped. The only sound that was heard was the crackling of the fire dragon was made from.” Cheerilee had both her front hooves over her mouth as she tried with all her will to not bust out laughing right there. “With a loud bang and a flash of white fire, my father burst from the dragon's tail and flew around the tent to show how he mastered this beast!”
With one over her eyes and mouth and the other holding her sides, Cheerilee thought she was masking her delight at what she knew was at Blaze's expense. Removing the hoof from her eyes, she addressed the class for the final time today. “Well Scootaloo, that was a riveting tale of your weekend. But class is almost over and I need to remind all of you all that there is a test next week. So, I expect you all to study hard and have a great afternoon.” Just as Cheerilee finished the bell rang. Foals gathered their saddlebags and rushed out of the schoolhouse to play the rest of the day. She wouldn't need the bottle now that she heard about Blaze's smoking finish.
Scootaloo had to wait for Applebloom and Sweetie, mostly because her bags were still at home and she didn't need them anyways. “Ok, girls, off to the clubhouse.” With her two friends in tow, Scootaloo took off to the Apple family farm.
^^^
The door to the Crusaders clubhouse had never before been forced open with such speed. It's hinges squeaked in compliance and the impact left a door nob impression in the wall. Scootaloo ignored everything in the small wooden hovel except the chest where their Crusader capes were stored, amongst other oddities that the three of them pick up along the way. Applebloom was panting mildly as she joined the tiny pegasus inside. Sweetie, on the other hoof, was heaving great gulps of air and her coat was matted with heavy perspiration.
“Scootaloo!” The yellow farm filly cried. “I thought you said you couldn't fly?! You were nearly airborne the entire time.” While that was true in some regard, it wasn't accurate. She and Sweetie had watched their feathered friend leap with all four legs while beating her wings to give more momentum to the act. After landing, Scootaloo would simply repeat the motion, even though she fell more often then she wanted to. When the falls did occur, it had allowed both Applebloom and Sweetie to keep pace with the young pegasus.
“I wasn't flying.” Scootaloo said as she continued her search through the box. “That was an exercise for young fliers that I learned about last year. It's suppose to help me learn to land and take off at the same time as I run.”
“S-Scootaloo...” Sweetie was slowly catching her breath and knew her sister would demand she take a bath when she got home, but that was unimportant as to the question she needed to ask. “What are you looking for?” She said between gasps for air.
“Those detective hats that Pinkie gave us, the ones she stashed in here 'in case of some mystery needing to be solved emergency' or something like that.” Scootaloo started to chuck objects out of the chest: a rubber ducky, a mouse cat toy, an umbrella, a wheel, a french horn, and a microwave.
“Oh, hay, you found my microwave!” That shrill voice of the joyous pink pony rang throughout the clubhouse. As she caught the device, Pinkie leaned through the window and ushered the unicorn and earth filly to come close. With a shrug, the two walked over thinking very little about Pinkie's sudden appearance. The party pony whispered into the young ones ears. “It's not who you think it is, but the mare is crazy.” Pinkie then disappeared and Applebloom just rolled her eyes and passed it off as her just being Pinkie Pie.
“Found em!” Scootaloo cried as she tossed three gray padded wool caps to the floor. One of them had something else stuffed into it. Before Applebloom or Sweetie could react, the tabloid was laying face up in front of Scootaloo with only a slight curl to its edge. The two looked to each other before turning their eyes back to their friend who wore an expression halfway between confusion and shock. “What is this?”
Sweetie started to sweat again while Applebloom muttered something under her breath too low to be heard. Scootaloo looked to her friends, her face was unreadable, but the low even tone told of Scootaloo's displeasure. “How long have you had this?”
Applebloom was the first to break. “We found it when ya was up in Hoofington. We was gonna tell ya about it about it when ya got back, honest.” She pawed the ground with a hoof. It was the one thing she did when she was telling a half truth. “But ya were so happy ta be with ya pop we was thinking about just tossin` it away.” This was closer to the truth, but it didn't matter any more.
“Well, I'm glad you didn't, because I need to find out what happened that made my mom and dad split.” With her nose, she flipped open the tabloid and read the article about her father and Sunbright. To Scootaloo, the pieces of what had happened over the weekend became much clearer, as well as her displeasure of Sunbright. “Okay, girls, change of plans. We are gonna find any pony who lived in Ponyville back then and get some answers.”
Sweetie and Applebloom's hearts sank. The one thing they wanted to avoid most had happened, and now their pegasus friend wasn't not going to be deterred from her path. They each made a prayer to Celestia that everything would turn out all right.
Sweetie cast her eyes down and found she had moved over the thinking spot. The lantern above her flicked on as she recalled what they had done over the weekend. “Scootaloo, we tried that already. We couldn't tell you that earlier because you were going too fast for us. When Applebloom and I found that magazine, we went to find ponies who would know something abut it. We only found one pony who knew anything about your father, and she said that what was said in that magazine was untrue.”
Scootaloo took her friends words to heart, but the pony who told Sweetie could have been lying. “I believe you, Sweetie... But there is only one way to find out. I'm gonna borrow this for a bit.” With that, Scootaloo grabbed the tabloid and ran out the door.
Applebloom and Sweetie moved to follow their friend but collapsed when their muscles refused to move. The two watched as the orange blur moved further and further away, both of them felt dread well up in their throats wondering who she would talk to.
^^^
A quick stop at home to pick up her saddlebags and a heart attack later, Scootaloo was out the door. She knew her father to be home recovering. What she hadn't expected was seeing him on the couch. She, quietly as possible, ascended the stairs grabbed her bags and left. The thought of waking him up and asking him then and there had popped into her head. However she felt the need to find the answers for herself, the help of one mare in particular. She passed by much of Ponyville and ended at the home of the most magical unicorn in the whole town.
Scootaloo sat in the library waiting on Twilight to finish her work. When it came to Twilight and her work, time became anyponies worst enemy. Fortune smiled upon her today as her wait was but five minutes long.
Twilight turned to the orange crusader with a smile. “Okay, Scootaloo, what can I do for you today?” Although the purple librarian had a hunch on what she was here for.
Scoots jumped up and fished out the magazine that was found by her friends and dropped it in front of the older unicorn. “Sweetie and Applebloom found this a few days ago and I was wondering if you could... I don't know, see if you could find any more for me?” Scootaloo was desperate at this point to have a true yes or no to the haze of her father's past.
“Okay, this was expected, but I didn't know she had a copy of this.” Twilight nodded to the young pegasus, her smile faded a little as she went into lecture mode. “Well, Scootaloo, I already did that.”
Scootaloo was in the unicorn's face faster than Pinkie could throw a party. “You did!? Please tell me what you know, please please please!” Her mind was now full of questions and fear of what the protegee of Celestia would reveal.
Twilight pulled the hyperactive filly off her face and placed her on a pillow. “Well, ever since Pinkie's party, I've been wondering myself on why he left, mostly because his explanation at the party didn't seem all that believable. This magazine's reporter and, from what I have uncovered, an eye witness, saw Blaze walking into a hotel with this mare.”
Scootaloo slumped. “So it's true. My dad really did cheat on mom. But why? Why would he do that? She loved him, and her loved her. Did they not love each other any more? Or was it something else?” Soon, the gears of her mind churned out more questions of her father's infidelity, until Twilight cleared her throat.
“So.” Twilight continued. “I contacted The Newmare Times when I found out about the article, and what I got back was this.” Turning her head slightly, she summoning her magic and pulled out a letter. Clearing her throat a second time, she read the letter to Scootaloo.
“Dear Ms. Sparkle,
We thank you for taking an interest in our publication and should you wish to subscribe please fill out the inclosed form. As for your inquiry about the magazine article in question, that issue was retracted nine years ago due to facts that were falsified. Should you, or some pony you know, have one of these issues in your or their possession, we humbly request that you send us the misprinted copy so we may compensate you properly.
Sincerely,
President and CEO of The Newmare Times: Urgent Press.”
“So, it's not true, my dad didn't cheat on my mom?” Scootaloo looked to to the older mare, with the wanting in her eyes that she would confirm her own wish.
Twilight folded her ears back as she stared at the unfortunate filly, who was simply wanting a straight answer. “That I don't know, but I think I know where you could look next.” Scootaloo flared and rotated her ears, showing that Twilight had her full attention. “You could go to the Mayor and get access to the archives. I believe that's where all of your mother's stuff is being held when you were in the orphanage. Now that your father is taking care of you, you should be allowed to claim them," Twilight said, with a smile.
“My mother's stuff...” Scootaloo stated as her eyes widened. “Like her diary! Twilight, you're a genius!” She pounced on the unicorn with the strongest hug. Pulling herself off, she stuffed the tabloid back into her bags, and with a shout of thanks over her shoulder, Scootaloo rushed from the library to acquire the lost pages of her mother's thoughts.
Twilight watched the pegasus filly leave with pride that she would find the answers. Turning around, she looked around her home and thought a good dusting was needed. “Spike!”
^^^
“What do you mean I can't have them?!” Scootaloo fluttered her wings in agitation as she faced the Mayor in her office. Her one link to her mother's thoughts and knowledge of those years long past, was now being denied by the one mare who had the keys.
The Mayor on the other hoof was doing her best to not show how she felt on the inside, as she dealt with her pounding headache and urge to vomit. The heavy drinking last night had caused her to sleep in and gave her secretary a reason to be grumpy. Now, she had to comply with that mare's request by coming up with a plausible lie to deter the young filly. “Well, you see, Scootaloo, we moved the archives that held your mother's effects to the annex. The annex itself however is under restructuring for the next few days. I can let you know when it's done so you can come and claim them.” The Mayor put a smile on her face like she always did. In all of her years, she hated herself now more than ever. She knew she had made mistakes, who in their youth doesn't? The lies she told this little filly settled like a heavy gravy in the pit of her stomach. Much like the lies she had told to Ponyville's residents to get elected, and the lies she told herself every day that she would eventually fix her past mistakes.
Scootaloo let out an angry growl as she stormed out of the town hall. As she made her way back to the clubhouse, something that she heard Applejack say popped into her head. “There's more than one way to buck an apple tree.” If the Mayor wasn't going to give her mother's stuff back, then she will simply take it back.
^^^
“You want us to do what?” Applebloom and Sweetie cried at what Scootaloo had proposed.
“You heard me. I want you to help me break into the town hall's annex to get my mother's stuff. Sweetie Belle, you can search around your sister's work for some kind of black coat or something dark enough to cover me. Applebloom, you still got those lanterns from our camping trip and we still have all that coat dye from our talent show two years ago and-”
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle had startled her feathered friend into silence. “Scootaloo, I... We know you want to know what happened to your parents, but breaking into the town hall is going too far. What makes you think there is anything in there that will help?” She didn't even try to hide her growing worry, but Sweetie was afraid that this would only bring bad things for her friend in the end.
Scootaloo was a tad stunned at her friends' words but she needed their help. “When my mom died, some of her stuff was moved into the town hall's archive, and don't ask me why because I don't know. It was mostly papers, but what I'm looking for is her diary. She might have written down something about what happened between her and dad.” With a sigh, the filly continued. “Because I'm now living with my father, I can get that stuff back, but the Mayor wouldn't give it back so I'm simply going to take it back. Besides, it's not stealing if its mine, right?”
^^^
A cool night breeze was flowing through Ponyville tonight, a lone figure crept from shadow to shadow. It had been hard enough waiting for her father to fall asleep, even worse that Scootaloo told him everything was just dandy today. She wanted to ask him at dinner, but she didn't know if he would tell the truth or not. Poking her head around a building, she spotted her destination, the town hall. Scootaloo casts a glance towards the farm where her friends were to meet her. They had pleaded with her that if she was going to do this, they would do it together, but Scootaloo had run off without them when they didn't show up. Muttering under her breath, “it's already bad enough that I have to break in, I wouldn't want you two to get in trouble because of me.” Scootaloo set her sights back to the town hall and moved quickly to the building.
Scootaloo crept to a window and tapped it with a hoof. “Locked. I'll try another one.” So she went from portal to portal, testing each one, but was met with the same result. “RAA! Come on, there's got to be at least one that's unlocked.” With a grunt, she banged the last window in frustration. The window's frame shuddered, then swung open soundlessly. With a muted, “Yes!” Scootaloo dropped her saddlebags and prepared for her next task. Once that was done, she fluttered up past the open window and to the cold wood of the annex.
Should anypony walk into the archive at this time of night, they would be hard pressed to not laugh. The young orange filly had a small pillow crudely attached to each hoof to muffle her steps on the wood flooring. She was wrapped in a black turtle neck sweater one size to large for her, and holes had been crudely cut out of it for her wings. Strapped to her head was a yellow miner's helmet equipped with a firefly light. The light it cast was dim from the old bugs. Scootaloo silently crept from bookshelf to bookshelf as she made her way through the town hall's archive room, each hoofstep made a small pomph from the pillows. This annexed building was built after the town hall was wrecked by a gray mare some time last year. All of the records involving the town were transferred here after it's hasty construction for need to preserve the documents about it's residents, or more importantly to Scootaloo, her mother's diary.
The moon now reached it's apex and the young pegasus hadn't slept since the train ride home. Along with running around town a good portion of the day, she was weary. Scootaloo was not going to back down now just because was tired. No, she was close to the truth and there was no stopping her now.
She had been searching for around for about an hour while keeping a constant vigil for any security pony that might be roaming the large room. The wind outside was mild, but every so often would pick up strength only to die back down. The full moon illuminated the room through the uncovered windows. The chairs cast long and deep shadows that looked more like featureless tombstones. Row after row of bookshelves and metal filing cabinets took up the right side of the room. To the filly, they looked massively large, however she was not to be deterred from her goal.
“Ugg, where would this stuff be filed? And what do these tags even mean? FR.EQ2000-2005. FR.EQ1995-1999. Arrg, I'll just open one!” Grabbing a handle in her teeth, she pulled the filing cabinet open and pulled a random file out. 'Financial quarterly report of Ponyville. By QuickNote. Date:8/30/1997.” With a frustrated groan, Scootaloo placed the report back and closing the cabinet. Upon its closing, a loud bang was heard from the window startling Scootaloo. When she looked up, she noticed that the wind had picked up causing the near by tree branches to sway. “Stupid wind, making me jump some scared little foal. No, I need to stay focused, find my mother's stuff.” It didn't take Scootaloo long to realize that the numbers on the cabinets were referencing the years of it's contents, but even with this revelation it helped her very little with finding what she was looking for.
The moon had begun its descent to the horizon, elongating the already present shadows. Scootaloo moved through each row searching and came up empty each time until one row marked "Property Holdings". Before she could start down this row, another bang made her jump and turn. The wind had picked up again and clouds began to partially cover the moon causing the portion of the room she already searched to be bathed in darkness. Scootaloo shivered as the temperature drop became noticeable for the first time. Shaking her head, she continued her search and chided herself for being spooked so easily. “Let me see here. If this is the right place, then all I need to do is find something around two years ago. I'm sure I will find something...” Counting back to the year of her mother's death, she began her search there.
The wind outside had calmed a bit, but as the clouds moved through the sky, obscuring the moon's light. This made it much harder for Scootaloo to see even with her helmet, but she came prepared. From her saddle bag, she procured a small camping lantern. Poking the side to stir the fireflies inside, she smiled as they came to illuminate her dark world. Applebloom had been the one to get her the lantern when the three of them had begged and pleaded with AJ to let them go camping last year. As the glow intensified, her surroundings became more sinister. The light from the fireflies bathed the area in a soft orange-yellow light that made the shadows dance with every flicker and movement of the bugs inside.
Turning her attention back to large metal boxes that held the records of the past inside, Scootaloo knew the answers were here and she would find them. Grabbing the metal handle in her teeth, she jerked the box only to find that it was locked tight. “Drat. How am I going to get this open?” Scootaloo thought briefly about banging it like she did the window, but felt it wouldn't work. Not willing to give up, she looked around for any thing she could use. Her immediate surroundings yielded nothing, so she moved back into the main hallway. More clouds moved to completely cover the moon, the only light came from the lantern Scootaloo left behind and her own helmet. A low rumble of thunder rolled through the gray mass, then a bright flash of lightning crossed the sky lighting up. Scootaloo jumped as the night was filled with light and the sound of crashing air.
When the sky lit up, a unicorn stallion whose coat was that of charcoal stood near the locked container, his eyes had no pupils and flowed like molten gold. His mane was the color of ash and the cutie mark on his flank was that of a unicorn's skull. With three taps of his hoof, the container unlocked and fell open with a dull thud. As the sky darkened once again, he spoke in a tone so low even the dust hardly heard him. “My debt to you, Raindancer, has been repaid. Now your daughter will avenge you.” With a pop, the stallion teleported away.
Scootaloo whipped around at the sound of a pop to find the container open. “What the hay?” Making her way back she surveyed the now open box. The lock was now old and rusted, as if it had been that way for years. “That's just creepy. I turn my back, a flash of lightning and the box opens. Like some cheesy horror story.” Shaking her head. “It doesn't matter, just get the stuff and go.” Grabbing file after file, Scootaloo stuffed her bags full. Kicking the box closed, she gathered the lantern and made her way back to the open window. Hopping out, she took off the pillows and forced them into her already full pack, then made her way home, leaving the annex and the broken window behind.
Only a minute later, the dark stallion reemerged from the darkness. “To think, she would leave an open window. I thought you had taught her better than that, Raindancer.” With another three taps of his hoof, the window repaired itself. Behind the stallion, a wispy teal pegasus with a purple mane stood silently. “I'm sorry, it's not my place to judge you,” the dark stallion chided himself. This was met with a smile from the wispy mare. “I do hope your faith in your husband and foal is not misplaced.” This comment was met with a scrunched nose and an angry stare. “Either way you look at it Raindancer, neither of them know who is behind your murder. And to make matters worse, this interference will only insight her rage.” Raindancer folded her ears back and cast her eyes to the ground. “Do not worry, they will overcome this trial.” The mare lifted her head to look at the stallion her eyes still full of fear. “Yes, I know she is dangerous, but if your family is to live peacefully, she must be dealt with. However, my interference beyond this is forbidden.” To this, Raindancer gave a bow before being blown away as if the wind itself carried her transparent form beyond the veil of life. “You saved me from myself, Raindancer. I only regret that in my unlife, I will never be able save yours.” Turning away from the building, the stallion galloped into the Everfree forest.
Recap with a guest pony that has an evil mustache!
The Desert Brony sits down at his laptop after many weeks of stressful classes and work. “Alright, time to get this story rolling again!” Turning on the power and waiting, TDB come to the windows logon screen and enters his password. After the computer let him in, TDB navigates to his personal fan fiction folder. Before he could open the current chapter a knock from the door echo’s through his home. “Now who in all of sun and moon could that be?” TDB heads down the hallway to the front door. Opening the door reveals a UPS driver with a rather large cardboard box. “Can I help you?”
The UPS driver looks up from his small handheld device. “I have a package for ‘The Desert Brony’ at this address.” The driver was clearly skeptical about the name. TDB sighs, only a few people know of his handle as well as his address. “That’s me.” Taking the small device and scribbling his signature, TDB grabs the box and waves the driver off. Once inside TDB kicks the door closed feeling like Applejack for just a quick moment and pushes the box into the living room. “For a box of this size I would have figured it to be a lot heavier.” TDB studies the box in all its plainness. “Why are there no ‘This side up’ markings? And for another matter, which of my friends would go through the trouble of using my handle for a package? On that note, why didn’t they just give it to me in person? Wait… the return address should give me an idea on who sent it!” Glancing at the box yet finding nothing. Not even a barcode. “Ok now I’m thoroughly confused. I guess I’ll find out who sent it after it’s open.”
TDB reaches into his pockets and pulls out a Swiss army knife. After cutting the tape along the sides and top he puts the knife away. Lifting the box’s flaps causes an explosion and showers the room brightly colored confetti. TDB, having been knocked back by blast, watches from his prone position, as all sides of the box drop to reveal pink pony with a darker pink curly mane and tail.
“Oh man, you never know how cramped it is in a box until after you break the forth wall, and do you want to know how much I was to ship in the Royal Equestrian Mail? Forty bits! I could have bought more than two or three baker’s dozen cupcakes with that and still had enough to buy a tri-layered chocolate cake. OH and speaking of cake do you have any? DO YA?!” Even in the real world Pinkie was able to say all of that without taking a single breath, and TDB was pushed back to the floor as the party pony asked him about cake.
“I have cheesecake in the fridge." The words slipped before TDB could register that he even made a response. In a flash Pinkie was out of the room an in the kitchen gobbling down the aforementioned cake. TDB sat there for a moment then yelled. “What The F-“
“Hay, watch the language!” Pinkie cried from the adjacent room.
TDB picked himself off the floor and moved next to the earth pony. “Pinkie, how did you get here?” TDB pauses for a moment before flailing his arms at the earth pony. “On second thought I don’t answer that. Instead tell me how to get to Equestria or better yet just take me back to Equestria with you.” TDB on his knees begging the infamous breaker of the fourth wall with the largest puppy dog eyes he could muster.
Pinkie stared at TDB for a moment and a grin spread across her face. “Sorry noperino to both of those. I had to Pinkie promise the princess that I wouldn’t take any living creature back to Equestria with me or tell them how to get there. And speaking of Pinkie promises…”
TDB smacks his forehead. “Ugg thanks for reminding me. I have too much work and not enough time to do all of it. Tell you what, as I write this next chapter why don’t you inform the readers what has happened so far.”
Pinkie gives a salute with a serious face. “You can count on me!” Pinkie grabs your screen and focuses it totally on her. “Hiya everypony! Because it’s been a loooooooooong time since TDB has written anything, I’ll be giving you all a refresher on just what happened. Front to back, back to front and even upside down!” Pinkie moves from one side of the screen to reveal TDB hunched over his laptop. “This is The Desert Brony, a novice writer who fell in love with ponies around the summer of 2011 and-“
“Pinkie I meant what was happening in the story not my life!” TDB shouts from his desk.
The overly hyper pony giggles at the outburst. “I know that silly, I felt the readers would like to know how you got the idea for your story.”
TDB rubs his temples. “I will do that myself if they ask for it. Now please let me work.”
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie moves your screen to the other side of her so you are now looking at a projector screen. As the film begins to roll and fills the screen with pictures, Pinkie starts the recap. “So here we are in the mayor’s office where she is going about her normal day in Ponyville. Her secretary, who is really good at taking notes really really fast, tells her that her appointment is here. And this pony who wants to speak with her is none other than Scootaloo’s long lost father Blazewing! Although he was never lost just no pony from town ever tried to find him, I mean not a single pony volunteered. Anyway he comes in and confronts the mayor about how she never told him of his wife’s death. The Mayor gets scared and allows Blaze to return to town and even was nice enough to give him his house back.” Pinkie stops and takes a breath of air. “The next chapter was all about Scootaloo and how she was sending letters to her father. During school she was soooo distracted about her father coming that she interrupted class and nearly spilled the surprise to Ms. Cheerilee. Right at the last second Blaze breaks the sound barrier and writes Scootaloo’s name in bright orange fire above the school. Blaze agrees to meet Scootaloo and her friends at Sugar Cube Corner after he talks with Cheerilee. He promises Cheerilee that he’ll be a good father to Scoots.”
“The Next chapter is me throwing the best ‘Welcome back to Ponyville party’ for Blaze as he hasn’t been in town for almost ten years! I mean that’s a long time, that’s almost as long as the Cake’s have been in business. So I give him the bestest party I could muster up and he even met my other friends, you know them all. Dashie was stunned that her #1 fan was the daughter of such a famous stunt pony. After the party Blaze takes Applebloom home because he also wants to see his old friend Big MacIntosh! After a big apple family dinner, Blaze and Scootaloo stop by the graveyard to visit Raindancer. But as they leave that night a pony lurking in the shadows is watching their every move. Like some creepy evil stalker, it’s a shame she never uses my evil mustache.” Pinkie puts on her fake evil mustache.
“The next few chapters were all about Scootaloo meeting her father’s other best friend and captain of the team. While she was out of town, the other crusaders were digging up Blaze’s past. A tabloid was dropped next to the carrot stand and Sweetie Belle grabbed it before Applebloom could toss it away. During the big show, Blaze gets into a fight with his captain and then gets injured and is thankfully gets sent back to Ponyville.”
“Now we are at the last chapter and now it is Scootaloo’s turn to dig up her father’s past. With a little help from our most faithful unicorn student, Scootaloo goes to get her mother’s stuff back. The Mayor denies her so it’s up to the Cutie Mark Crusaders to get them back! That is if Rarity hadn’t put up that magical security system or Big Mac hadn’t been up late. So truthfully it was up to Scootaloo to break into the town hall and get them herself. With the help of an old friend of her mother’s, Scootaloo got them. Now I’ll sit here watching TDB until he finishes this next chapter.” Pinkie removes the projector and screen then turns and stares at TDB’s back while pawing at her fake black mustache with her best evil grin. "And if her doesn't finish I'll eat his new batch of cakes"
TDB stops working and turns to Pinkie. "You wouldn't dare." The only reaction was a slightly evil chuckle from the pink pony.
Having woken to a screeching alarm clock at three thirty in the morning, the Mayor somberly trudged through the cool early morning towards the town hall. “I should have just taken them last night before I left.” Her words ended with a stiff yawn, still hating herself for rushing home to simply drink herself sleep again. Coffee, yet another thing she had forgotten with the ever mounting stress of her life. “I... I'm not a bad pony.” The memories of her earlier years were now more of a pool with in her mind, still showing glimpses of her youth. “I've just made bad choices. I don't know how I managed to hide it all from my parents.” At these words another memory came to the fore of her mind. One of her regulars was in need of pleasing a business partner and wanted him to have an experience. She invited the stallion over to her home... The Mayor quickly slapped herself before the image could fully surface. “Now is not the time to dwell on the past. I love my life as it is now and I can't let that mare just trot all over me...” She trailed off as she wondered how she was going to deal with that Celestia be damned mare.
The town hall came into view and the Mayor picked up her pace. “I swear my life can't get any worse.” Unlocking the door she pushed past them and into the main lobby. With a quick glance around she noted that nothing was out of place. With a soft click she let the door fall shut and left her alone in the bleak light of the setting moon. Passing by the grandfather clock which read four twenty five, The Mayor made her way behind the desk that her secretary sat at to a door marked “Annex” in yellow gold letters. “Okay all I need to do is grab those files, break a few laws on top the ones I've already committed, take them home, and then let that blackmailing mare take them. All at the cost of a little filly's future and my own dignity.” Pushing past the doors she trotted through the dimly lit annex, her hoof fall echoed ominously around the room. Turning down one marked set of cabinets and stopped dead in her tracks. Before her lay an open metal cabinet which had fallen open during the night, its lock rusted beyond repair. The Mayor didn't feel her rump hit the floor when her back legs gave out, her jaw hung just as wide as the cabinet. Several minutes passed before something on her cheek roused her. She touched the side of her face, as she pulled he hoof away it glistened with moisture. “I'm crying?” the Mayor stated as she brushed more of the tears away, but they didn't stop. “Why won't they stop? I'm not-” her voice hitched. “I'm not sad, I'm okay. The files are gone and I- I- I'm so fucked.”
“What was that my dear?” The Mayor froze. That voice was no longer the ever snide and uncaring tone that the mare behind her usually carried, no this time it held an overflowing malice poorly hidden under a calm demeanor. “Did I hear you correctly when you said the files are gone?” The Mayor still had tears running down her face, her body shook as she felt her future wither and die right before her. The mare behind her waited for an answer, but when she received none the words out of her mouth were spoken to spite. “You know Neo Pink; I liked it better when you were my whore.”
The Mayor twisted her body to face the pony behind her, the tears hadn't stopped but now her face was contorted with rage as she yelled at the mare. “How dare you call me that! I left that life behind me as well as you. I trusted you to keep me safe and what did you do. Supplied me nothing but drugs and stallions that had no intentions of using a wrapper! I got pregnant because of you! I had a miscarriage because all you sent me was a load of stallions who liked to ruff me up! Why don't you stop hiding behind that stupid cloak and face me like a mare!” Too bad the Mayor got what she asked for. The sight of her old dealer and pimp had sent her skin crawling once more. The sight of her yellow coat, thick curly orange mane, her olive green eyes and her cutie mark of four carrots with one half eaten. “Golden Harvest,” she spat “if I hadn't spent so much of my youth with you I would have called you Carrot Top.”
Harvest scoffed at the Mayor. “Please, most ponies can't even tell there's a difference between me and my twin. In fact, you are only one out of a few who know. As for your past problems I wasn't the sole cause of them. You came to me wanting to make some bits, I told you what to expect and you didn't listen. You can blame me all you want but I told you 'Once you start down this path, I own you.'” Harvest had been unfazed by the Mayor's outburst. In fact she had expected it. “Now answer my question. Where are the files?”
The Mayor stepped to the side and waved a hoof to the empty box. “You tell me. I had this whole place under lock and key since it was built to house all those files. I came to get them for you like you demanded only to find a rusted lock and no files.” The Mayor had ceased her crying, feeling sorrow now was just wasted energy. “Even if a pony did break into this place, all they would find if financial statements of Ponyville going back to its founding. If by any chance they did search through this whole area, it would have taken them the entire night just to get half way through it.” The Mayor was babbling now. She still feared this mare over more than a few photos. Harvest had a temper, a real mean one. “I bought that cabinet two years ago and only I have the key. That lock couldn't have rusted like that without magic. So you tell me where they went, because Celestia knows I don't.” This had been the wrong thing to say.
The Mayor knew what hit her, she had felt it many times before as her body fell to the floor. The back of Harvest's hoof was like a lightning strike across her cheek and muzzle. Many times she had felt this mare abuse her when she didn't please a client or had stolen drugs to stop the withdraws. But even with her history the Mayor felt her fears take the reins. Quickly she got to her hooves but years of sitting on a cushy bed and plates full of food had dulled her reflexes. Harvest was on top of her as if she was still twenty years younger. The Mayor felt blow after blow crash down on her head and withers. The strikes didn't cease when she pulled her hooves of cover her head. This however had left her chest and belly open for attack. Harvest, upon seeing this, became relentless in her strikes to the undefended area.
Blow after blow rained down until the Mayor was nothing more than a quivering heap. Golden Harvest was panting, a sign that she hadn't had the pleasure of beating a pony for some time. “You are as useless now as you were then Neo Pink. I'll finish this myself, and unlike you I won't fail. Should you try to stop me, I'll make sure all of Equestria knows who the best whore to come out of Manehatten is.”
After Harvest left, the Mayor lay there for time unknown. The pain she was in had brought back the memories she had so longed to forget, of the beatings she suffered from Harvest and violent clients. After nights of being used and abused she would crawl into bed and cry herself to sleep, much like how she wished to do that right now. If she been aware of her surrounding, she would have heard the cry of shock as her secretary Quick Note discovered her. It wasn't long after that she felt a few hooves lift her up and carry her out into the morning. She felt drained; the pain had been pushed into the background of her mind along with everything else. Her ears twitched as she heard shouting from somewhere. Half of her sight was covered in darkness; the other half was watching ponies around her looking worried. She was vaguely aware that they were asking questions but it didn't matter anymore. One last tear rolled down her cheek as she gave herself to the void.
^^^ ~Later that day~
Golden Harvest sat at the table with her twin sister Carrot Top, eating a salad before they both had to tend to the small carrot farm. The carrot farm itself was about one-fifth the size of the apple family's, enough to grow their crop for themselves and the town of Ponyville. The size of the farm put the twins in no place to compete with the apple's in selling across Equestria, that was a fact that made Harvest grumpy every time some pony brought it up. She was noisily crunching her salad irritated with the Mayor's incompetence. That was until her sister cleared her throat.
“I'm sorry to disturb you sis but when I opened up the stall today I overheard more than a few ponies talking about something that happened this morning.” Carrot Top had a softer voice then her twin, but subtlety so. Harvest raised an eye at her to say 'I'm listening.' Carrot pecked at her food before allowing herself to continue. “Sis I know you fancy walks in the evening or in very early morning, but this morning the Mayor was attacked!” Harvest stopped munching and lifted her head to listen to her twin. “The word is right now that it was a burglary that the Mayor walked in on and she was beaten! Beaten, Harvest! What kind pony would ever do such a thing?”
Harvest closed her eyes and placed her hooves over her muzzle. Carrot took this as a sign of shock but the truth was far from that. Harvest was wondering how she was going to spin this away from herself should the Mayor spill the beans, but for now the burglary would stave off any question coming her way. She had gotten sloppy, so much so that it looked to her that any pony could link it all together. Then a thought crossed her mind, a question rather. “Carrot, is the Mayor going to be alright?”
Carrot slumped just a fraction, she was one of the Mayor's biggest supporters and thought highly of her. “Last I heard was that she was still asleep, I think the word on the street was that the doctors may believe she's in a coma. Quick Note is dealing with all the problems including helping the investigation. Even with the royal guards here I don't feel safe.”
Harvest stopped cold and lowered her hooves to the table. “Why would the royal guards be here, in Ponyville of all places?” She hoped that her sister hadn't heard the slight panic that escaped.
Carrot shrugged. “I'm not sure sis; all I know is that one of the pegasi that Quick Note flagged down was a guard who was visiting his family. He was also with a few guards that were also off duty, and from what I heard one flew back to Canterlot to report what happened.”
Harvest cursed her luck. She didn't need any more complications, loose ends or factors she couldn't control. If the royal guard were truly here and doing their own investigation, that meant it was all over. All the work she had put into this plan now down the outhouse pipes. The guards would discover who was behind the attack; they would go back even farther to Manehatten where she slung drugs, prostitutes among other things behind the backs of her family. “Sis, could you tend to the crops today? I think I could use a walk around town, maybe go see if the Mayor has improved.” Carrot Top gave her a nod, took their bowls to the kitchen before heading out to the fields. Harvest trotted out the door and headed to Ponyville, her mind revolving around the words her twin uttered.
^^^ ~The Market~
Scootaloo rubbed her ear from where Cheerilee had pinched it after catching her snoozing behind her math textbook. Her friends had done their best to keep her awake throughout the day but the little sleep she had finally caught up to her. After being embarrassed in front of the entire class, she was treated to a long lecture after school about sleeping during times of learning that almost made her fall asleep again! As Scootaloo trudged through the market she thought about Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. The two had apparently got caught trying to sneak out of their respective homes. Applebloom had been caught by her brother, he had stayed up late for some reason and when he saw her try to leave he grounded her on the spot, so said Applebloom herself. Sweetie Belle had been over at her sister's house, but was foiled when she tripped a magical alarm that Rarity put on the door. Who knew Rarity was the paranoid one. As for her, getting out of the house was easy when your father is in a medication induced sleep.
Scootaloo didn't want to head home just yet. She figured her father would be awake and roaming around the house. Thinking of her father her thoughts drifted back to the events over the weekend; Sunbright kissing her father after the meeting, Blaze pushing Sunbright off the platform, the two of them arguing in the middle of the performance. The image of her father and Sunbright posted on a tabloid, and that one was what made her family spit apart. She was close to the truth she had been looking for, she could feel it. After much searching through the documentation she “stole” Scootaloo finally located the diary, right before she realized the time. She had wanted to read even a little bit of it before school, but time had been against her.
So lost in her thoughts Scootaloo hadn't been looking where she was trotting and ran into another pony. Glancing up to meet the orange locks of Ponyville's resident carrot seller. “Sorry Ms. Top, I wasn't looking.” Scootaloo moved to the side to continue on but was stopped by a yellow hoof.
Harvest looked down on the orange filly, her boiling hatred for her held behind a mask of concern. “It's okay Scootaloo, but what has you so down that you won't even ride your scooter?” She spoke, her tone only hinting at the distaste of talking with the young Pegasus.
Scootaloo turned her head down and to the side, a small sigh escaping her lungs. “It's nothing Ms. Top.” She was about to excuse herself had the mare in front of her remained silent.
“It's about your father isn't it?” Harvest was mildly amused at Scootaloo's reaction. Her head snapped up, with the look of both longing and surprise. The little filly was stuttering but Harvest thought if she was going down, she might at least cause a little more pain. “It's not that hard to figure out Scootaloo. Your mother dies and for the last two years you’re stuck in an orphanage. Then bam some pony finds your father and he comes in to take you under his wing, it's too good to be true and you think... why wasn't he here in the first place?” Scootaloo nods slowly as she listens to her words. “The sad thing is Scootaloo I don't want you to hear this second hoof. The only pony who knows why your father left all those years ago is none other than your teacher, Ms. Cheerilee.”
Scootaloo recoiled when she heard this. Her teacher had known all this time, and never told her. Her eyes darted from Harvest to the ground and back to Harvest, one question now at the forefront of her growing list of questions. “Why didn't she tell me?”
Golden Harvest shook her head. “Probably because she thought it wasn't her place to tell you, Cheerilee probably thought your mother would tell you when she thought you were ready. But I think you need to talk to Ms. Cheerilee, she knows and it's better for you to hear the truth from her.”
Scootaloo stood there for only a second before racing off. With a shout of thanks over her withers, she sped down the road back to the schoolhouse to get the answers she deserved. Harvest cracked a smile. “Maybe I should have done this from the start. Had I realized that she didn't know about her father's past I would have. No matter, I said I would finish this and even if I can't get what I want I'll, at the very least; destroy her dream of a happy family.” Harvest set after the brash filly, wanting to see her face when the truth hits her.
^^^
Blaze opened the door to his home and strode in a little stronger than yesterday. Big Mac trailing behind him took a look around. “Did ya clean this place up?” Macintosh having seen the state it was in yesterday.
Blaze headed into the kitchen, his wings free from bindings but still bare of feathers. “Mostly, just some dusting and making sure the furniture wasn't rotting away. Not having anything to do I get bored and I'll start doing anything, you know how I am.”
The large farm pony knew all too well. He remembered one year where Blaze had broken a wing. If Raindancer hadn't suggested he work on the farm till his wing healed, he was certain the Pegasus would do something crazy like hang gliding or some other dangerous hobby.
“Hay Mac, isn't school over for the day? Shouldn't Scootaloo be home by now?” Blaze was in the middle of making sandwich and gestured if Mac wanted some.
The farm stallion declined the offer for food. “Eeyup, though Applebloom won't be crusading today. I found her try`n ta sneak out last night, some`m about getting her cutie mark fer find`n lost things. So she may be with Sweetie Belle right now.”
Blaze finished making his sandwich and moved back into the living room. “Ah, I guess I shouldn't have expected her to ditch her friends just to hang out with her old stallion.” Flopping down on the couch, Blaze waved a hoof to a chair for Big Mac to sit and relax.
Mac denied the offer again. “I gotta get back to the farm, but if ah see Scootaloo ah`ll let her know that ya wanted to spend time with `er.” The large red pony moved to the door and stopped when Blaze called out.
“Mac, if you do see her just let her know I wanted to have a nice dinner with her.” Blaze simply waved his old friend goodbye, being a tad lazy as well as knowing Mac didn't mind seeing himself out.
“Eeyup.” Mac called over as he let the door swing shut. The farm pony that he is, Mac had a lot to do and the time he spent with Blaze was bits out of the coin purse for his family. The fact that his old friend was back in town, meant a few good rounds of hard cider and stories to share in the future.
Blaze watched as the door to his home close, separating him from his old friend. He munched on the simple snack of bread, mustard, lettuce and tomatoes, his thoughts revolved around one question; How to tell Scootaloo the true reason he left. “Dust is right, if I delay telling her it's only going to hurt worse. Will she even listen? More importantly is will she believe me? … … I need to do something!” Rising from the couch Blaze made his way upstairs. Passing by Scootaloo's room he paused to see the door slightly ajar. “She's already going to be angry about the reason I left, no need to stack 'invading her room' to the list.” Pushing on Blaze turned into the guest/storage room. Most of the items kept in here were extra furniture or boxes of holiday decorations. It also doubled as a guest room but was mostly used by Berry Punch when she was too drunk to head home. Those were some fond memories; Berry having stumbled around Ponyville would be caught by Raindancer and brought here to sleep off her intoxication. Most of those nights ended with Berry puking all over the bed in her sleep, or falling off of it. That was until she was able to properly hold her liquor. The bed in question was now buried under a small mountain of boxes. Each box was crudely marked with black marker identifying its contents. A low whistle escaped Blaze’s lips as he noted multiple boxes marked Hearths Warming Decorations that had not been there before he left all those years ago. “I should have known she’d go and start buying all this holiday stuff.” Blaze shook his head as he looked into each box and moved them to one side of the room. After moving only a few, Blaze was forced to open the window as the dust danced around the room. “Ugg, I wish I still had my feathers.” Blaze stopped and chuckled to himself. “Raindancer always hated that I used my wings as a duster.” He chuckled again as he set his eyes on the next batch of boxes. These were marked with little smiley faces and pictures of crudely drawn ponies in crayon. “I guess Scootaloo got in here when she was little. Oh look I think this one is of Rainbow Dash.” His smile grew wider as Blaze rotated the box and finding more coloring, distorting the original markings. This whole side was of a teal pony and an orange pony both with purple manes. The drawing depicted the two flying through the town; each building was marked with the name of a pony like “the Cakes” or “Mayor.” With part of the bed now uncovered, Blaze sat down and opened the colorful box.
A peek inside had caused Blaze to lose his breath. Extending his hoof, he pulled out an old cracked pair of goggles. “I thought I threw these away long ago.” The goggles in hoof Blaze turned them around, being mindful of the cracked glass. The goggles were made of formed maple wood and a rubber strap. The Rubber had become dry and brittle which had broken off from disuse. The maple wood was scratched in places from repeated crashes and the lenses had spider web cracks from a crash that Blaze would never forget. “Wow, she kept them. All these years she kept them.” With a smile and a shake of his head, Blaze placed the goggles down and reached into the box again. This time he pulled an unmarked envelope discolored yellow with age. “What in Equestria is this?” Opening the pouch Blaze dumped two ticket stubs into his hoof. The envelope fell to the floor as Blaze stared in mild shock; the stubs identified an event that two ponies went to dated nearly twenty years ago. Blaze broke out into laughter clutching the stubs close to his chest. “How could I have forgotten that? Oh dear Celestia I made such a foal of myself that day.” Placing the stubs next to his goggles, Blaze reached into the box and pulled a book out. It was longer then it was tall and the cover was simple black imitation leather. Blaze placed the book in his lap and opened it to the first page. His laughter echoed through the room once more; the first pages were filled with pictures. The very first picture depicted Raindancer in shock, her eyes wide and wings flared as she was lip locked with a young Blaze at what appeared to be a carnival. The next showed the teal mare furious, her hoof connected with Blaze’s snout; this having been taken just moments after the first. Turning the page Blaze took a trip to the past, pictures of him and Raindancer. Dates that the two went on, shenanigans that they were caught in, even pictures of the wedding.
Nearing the middle of the book one page of the album made Blaze stop. Three pictures were all that covered this entry. The first was of Blaze and Raindancer sitting on a park bench eating some ice cream with Dancer having a dollop of the sweet dairy on her nose. The second showed Blaze licking the offending cream off with a mildly shocked Raindancer. The last was the two of them in a passionate kiss; the photographer with her two toned pink mane had turned the camera to herself, showing Cheerilee giggling at the two love birds.
Sounds of foals playing outside drifted through the open window, but the noise was lost on this room’s sole occupant. Blaze sat on the guest bed, surrounded by memories of the past. Days filled with laughter and joy, days filled with sorrow and pain; days where nothing mattered but the pony at his side and nights of showing that love to her. The next page in the album made Blaze’s heart sink. It was a picture of Raindancer in a hospital bed holding a small bundle of cloth. Inside was a sleeping orange Pegasus with a purple mane. In the lower left corner of the picture, the words “To Blaze, your daughter Scootaloo” were written. The next photo was a baby Scootaloo standing shakily on her own, at the bottom “our daughter’s first step” had been penned in. Flipping the page over Blaze was greeted with an orange foal, her face deep into a small cake. At the top of the picture “Her first birthday” had been scrawled in. The next showed Scootaloo splashing playfully in a tub, Bath-time had written on the left side. Blaze noted that the pictures were out of order from here on, but it made no difference to him. First mane cut, first lost tooth, first scooter crash. The pictures went on and on, each marked with a little note from Raindancer to describe the events surrounding the little orange foal. The last page was a picture of Scootaloo on her first attempt to fly. At the sight of this Blaze clenched his eyes shut as salty tears rolled down his face and dropped to the pictures below.
Blaze closed the photo album and placed it back in the box. “I’ve made the worst mistake of my life.” He spoke almost devoid of emotion, save for self-loathing. “I left the one pony who I love more than anything else, all because of a misunderstanding. That one choice cost me something I never knew was coming.” Blaze launched himself off the bed, landing on three hooves the fourth raised in the air. “I lost the opportunities to make memories with my daughter, but I’m going to make sure she can be proud to call me her father.” Slamming his hoof to the floor, Blaze moved from the room and down to the living room. “And that starts with me telling her the truth.” Grabbing his saddle bags on the way to the door, he opened the portal to the outside world. “I’ll tell her over dinner, I pray that I haven’t waited too long.” Locking the house Blaze set out to grab ingredients for the best meal he knew how to cook.
^^^
Inside the schoolhouse Cheerilee was at her desk grading the history exam that every foal took earlier that day. Most of them had scored rather well; Featherweight was doing the best out of the whole class, but the young filly Dinky was barely passing for reasons Cheerilee had no clue to. She had just set the last of the papers in a neat pile when the door burst open and slammed into the wall, startling her so that she knocked the papers all over the floor. Cheerilee jumped from her desk and took the poll that held the National Equestrian Flag from its holder, brandishing it like a spear at the pony that had startled her.
Scootaloo hadn’t meant to kick the door so hard, now she stood in the doorway baffled at her teacher who was on her hind legs holding onto the flag pole like it was some sort of weapon. “Umm… I’m sorry about the door Ms. Cheerilee.”
Cheerilee regained her composure as Scootaloo walked into the class room. “Oh Scootaloo, you startled me. Please just knock next time.” She heard the mumbles of an okay from her young pupil. “Please sit down, tell me what has brought you back?”
Scootaloo ambled over to the other side of the desk as her teacher replaced the flag. This was the one pony who would finally tell her the truth. It was now or never. “Ms. Cheerilee, I need to talk to you about something.”
Cheerilee sat back down and eyed the little filly with a smile. “If you’re worried about your history test Scootaloo, you will just have to wait till tomorrow.” ‘She couldn’t possibly have known I finished grading them just a moment ago… could she?’
Scootaloo sighed; she needed to stall only so she could find the right words to broach this subject. “No Ms. Cheerilee. I overheard a few ponies talking as I was passing through the market.” Right now she needed to keep her teacher talking.
Cheerilee sat in mild shock as she felt she knew what the little filly overheard. “I’m afraid what you heard was true Scootaloo.”
The orange filly froze. Could ponies truly have been talking about her father? Scootaloo gazed into her teachers eyes. They were full of kindness and worry.
“Now Scootaloo; I was asked to make an announcement tomorrow but I could tell you today as long as you don’t tell any pony about it for now.” Cheerilee had a false half smile on her lips. The same one she used to make fillies and colts less fearful of the news to come. “It’s true; the Mayor was attacked this morning and is now in Ponyville hospital.”
Scootaloo was taken aback at this. She had expected something about her father, not the mayor. “Wait. Who would want to hurt Mayor of all ponies?”
Cheerilee placed one hoof on the desk. “I don’t know Scootaloo. But a few off duty royal guards helped the Mayor and are volunteering their time to investigate. Don’t worry little filly, Ms. Mayor will be up and about again soon.” This time a genuine smile crossed the teachers face.
Scootaloo released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Who would want to hurt the mayor? Maybe after I’m done here, Applebloom, Sweetie and I can get our cutie marks in investigation!” “Ms. Cheerilee… Do you mind if I ask what you were doing before you became a teacher?”
Cheerilee stifled a laugh at the innocence of the question. “Not at all Scootaloo, I spent my days much like yours; spending time with friends, finding new and interesting things to try. I even went on a tour of all the major cities in Equestria.”
Scootaloo saw her chance. “Even Manehatten?”
Cheerilee beamed at the filly before her. “Yes even Manehatten. In fact I remember a lot of fun things I did in that city.”
“Like spying on my dad?” Scootaloo hadn’t meant to say it quite like that. But now that it was out there it was time for her to get the answers she came for.
The hoof Cheerilee had on her desk retracted as if she had just been bitten by a snake. “I’m sorry Scootaloo, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A nervous smile stretched across her features. ‘Oh dear sweet Celestia please don’t ask about that day. I’ll pass every filly and colt in my class just please don’t have her ask about that one day.’
Scootaloo squinted at her teacher and placed both front hooves on the desk. “I think you do. You knew my mom and dad before I was born. Something happened between them and you know what it was.” Scootaloo huffed in frustration, but she wouldn’t back down.
All the thoughts about tomorrow’s lesson plan were forgotten. She stared at the Pegasus filly for a good moment, baffled at how she had known and what she may know. The questions only mounted in Cheerilee’s mind before she sighed. “What do you want to know Scootaloo?” She hadn’t meant to sound so defeated but she needed to know how the Pegasus found out.
Scootaloo sighed in relief, the answers to all her questions was finally willing to be revealed. “I first want to know how long you have known my father?”
“Over twenty years. He was young and playful and got along well with other colts and fillies, and got them riled up for the entertainment that was for the celebration of Ponyville being recognized as a town.” Cheerilee had been one of foals that was eager to see the show and had begged Raindancer to join her.
Scootaloo gave a curt nod to the older pony. “You knew my mom for much long right.”
Cheerilee was happy to move away from the topic of Blaze but knew it would come back. “I was your mother’s best friend, and by extension your father as well.” She was less than pleased to speak those last words.
Scootaloo nodded as if this was the right answer. “Ok next question. Are you still friends with my father?
Cheerilee flinched at this. “No Scootaloo, I’m not.” She almost spat “Your father has been a stallion of his word, if he made a promise to a pony he kept it. But he broke a promise one day, and I won’t forget it.”
“In Manehatten before I was born right.” Scootaloo blurted out. “What promise did he break?” In a round-about way this was the question she had been longing for.
Cheerilee placed one hoof over her eyes and sighed. ‘I really shouldn’t be telling her this.’ “He made a promise to your mother that he would be faithful to her. The one night in Manehatten I found him walking into a sleazy hotel with his captain. The smell of alcohol was thick around the two of them and I knew what he was doing. I didn’t waste any time, I rode the first train back to Ponyville and told your mother. He came back to Ponyville a week later only to be confronted by your mother.”
“Wait.” Scootaloo held her hoof up to halt the story. “What about the tabloid from the New Mare Times? It said the same thing but was retracted because it was falsified.” She had never before wanted her teacher to be wrong, but today was all about the truth.
Cheerilee felt the puzzle finally coming together. “Scootaloo, that article was retracted because your father and his captain threatened to press charges for slander. They have had bad press on them since the day their group was formed. If well-known members of a group were fooling around when one of them was married, the scandal could have ruined them to the point that no city or town would want to hire them.” Cheerilee paused for a brief moment to gauge how the young pegasus was taking all of this.
Scootaloo lowered her hoof as the words of her teacher passed through her mind. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of her father going so far to cover up a mistake he had made. She raised herself up and headed for the door.
“Scootaloo, where are you going?” Cheerilee called out the young filly. The face of the young pegasus was blank and emotionless. The mauve teacher hadn’t seen her ware this mask since before she became friends with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.
As for Scootaloo, she took one look at her teacher as if her eyes would convey just how obvious the answer to the question was. She was going home.
^^^
Blazewing was moving around the kitchen stove stirring pots of various boiling liquids. One was filled with tortellini that danced in the heated water, gracefully rising and falling amidst the chaos of bubbles. The second was filled with a rich red concoction to which Blaze was dumping a healthy amount of herbs and spices into. The last pot was covered but the steam spread the aroma of mixed vegetables though the home. A short ding passed through the kitchen and Blaze took a step back and opened the oven. The scent of fresh bread, garlic and cheese mixed with the other aromas of the room as he placed the bread off to the side and turned his attention back to the pots.
Had he been paying attention, Blaze would have looked behind him to find an orange pegasus filly staring at him like he was just another stallion in the background; a stranger who claimed to be her father. Scootaloo stood there in the doorway eyeing the stallion she had once thought of as a good pony, a pony that cared about her. She took a step and hit a creaky floorboard deliberately calling his attention to herself.
Blaze twisted his head and a smiled at the little filly. In his own mind he was praying to Celestia that everything went well. “Scootaloo welcome home kiddo, dinner is almost ready.” He spoke a bit too cheerfully, ignorant to the storm that started to brew.
Scootaloo didn’t make a sound as she crossed the room and sat at the table waiting for the right moment. All she thought about as she was heading home was the image of Blaze and Sunbright trotting into a rundown motel to do what adult did behind closed doors. She watched him like a griffon does a mouse as he drained the pasta and portioned it for the two of them.
Blaze felt oddly empowered at the fact that he would come clean with what happened all those years ago. He would finally be telling the whole truth, not just what he wanted in order to save face. “I hope you like veggie tortellini, parmesan garlic bread and steamed greens.” He wondered if he was being a bit too enthusiastic as he presented the meal.
Scootaloo sat and poked at her food, taking a bite here and there as she didn’t feel hungry in the slightest. Blaze was eating merrily across from her as if the past had never happened and this was just a normal day.
Halfway through Blaze set his fork down and cleared his throat to grab the attention of his little filly. When she didn’t look up he proceeded anyway. “Scootaloo there is something I want to tell you.” No reaction from her so he pressed on. “I-”
“Cheated on mom.” Scootaloo had cut him off.
Blaze felt like he had been bucked in the gut by Big Mac. He sat in shock as his daughter locked her eyes with his. The burning hatred that danced within her had stopped him cold. They were the same eyes that Raindancer gave him that day. “Wa-what-”
Scootaloo glared at her father, finally seeing him for what he truly was. “A week before you came back from Manehatten nine years ago, you slept with another pony. I know all about it.”
Blaze flapped his jaw a few times as his mind overloaded and derailed as the poisonous words from his daughter left him scrambling for words. “But I-”
“Couldn’t help it! Is that what you told mom!” Scootaloo screeched “You thought that you could have some fun and head home like nothing ever happened.”
In his mind Blaze scrambled to think of how to calm her down and find a way to explain “No I-”
“Only like Pretty mares, mares that aren’t covered in scars and can fly!” She spat back some old words that had made her cry the first time she was bullied.
Blaze felt his anger rise at the accusation of his daughter. “Your-”
“What? I’m what; wrong, just a little filly who doesn’t know what she’s talking about. You went and had fun with your captain while mom was here and you thought she would never find out!”
If there had been a spike poised over Blaze’s heart, those words were the hammer driving it in. Only now the pain was compounded by the fact that she had learned before he could properly tell her the truth. Those eyes full of hurt bore further into him than he was prepared for. “Scootaloo please I can ex-”
“You never wanted me; that’s why you left, isn’t it!?” Scootaloo screamed as loud as she could. “Mom told you she was going to have me and you left! I hate YOU!” With that last shout Scootaloo jumped from her chair and ran out the door.
Blaze was in shock but still ran after her, had he not tripped over his own chair. “Scootaloo wait!” He cried as he removed the offending chair and dashed out the door. Blaze was met with the receding dust of his daughter’s scooter. Wasting no time he galloped at full speed after her. ‘I could have avoided this whole mess if I had just told her sooner!’ Despite his larger stature and ever constant training, Blaze had soon lost sight of Scootaloo in the maze of streets that Ponyville had become to him.
“Oh dear me what is all this ruckus about?” A calm eloquent voice rang out from a door way. A snow white unicorn with a curled purple mane was trotting out to the street to inspect the commotion. “Oh my Blazewing is that you?” Rarity inquired to the featherless Pegasus.
Blaze let his head fall in defeat; the dust trail that marked Scootaloo’s location was gone. He was now outside Carousel Boutique and the proprietor of it, who he had met only a few days ago, now stood with him in the diminishing light of the setting sun. “Oh hello Ms. Rarity, I’m sorry about the disturbance.”
The seamstress was befuddled at the state that Ponyville’s most recent addition had come to be. She had learned from Sweetie Belle that Blaze had an accident and was grounded for some time. But to see it up close she felt conflicted on allowing him to wear such bland white bandages. “Oh it’s no trouble but what ever seems to be the matter darling?”
Blaze glanced at the unicorn before lowering his head in shame. “Scootaloo got angry over something I did and ran off.” As much as he wished to spill the whole truth, Blaze felt that would just make everything worse.
Rarity nodded her head as if she understood. “I know how it is; sometimes Sweetie Belle and I are so at odds with each other that we end up shouting and saying some rather nasty things. But after some time when we both have cooled off we come to realize how foolish we were being and forgive each other. I’m sure Scootaloo will come back when she’s ready. It will all turn out fine.” She smiled at Blaze as he took her words.
‘As much as I wish I could believe that, I don’t think she’ll ever want to see me again.’ Blaze lifted his head and turned to the unicorn. “Thank you, but I need head back home and wait for her.” Blaze bowed to her and trotted off back home but not for the reason he stated.
Unknown to the two adults a pair of young ears had caught the conversation and took off to the far side of town where the aroma of apples filled the air.
The pitter-patters of a foal’s hooves were only heard by the very pony racing across the town of Ponyville. Sweetie Belle had been worried when the sound of a scooter whizzed by not ten minutes ago. Her fears were confirmed when Blaze had been stopped by her older sister a mere moment ago. Her oldest friend, and fellow crusader, was in need of help and she needed it now! It was times like these that Sweetie wished that she knew how to teleport like some of the older ponies, like Twilight or the princess. That thought was quickly overridden by her need to find Applebloom. She raced past the library, Sugar Cube Corner, and the Town Hall, which was still abuzz with activity from this morning and many more houses of Ponyville’s residential district. The road faded from the well trampled dirt to the path that had two narrow ruts cut into it from the repeated use of carts going to and from the town.
It was a relief to her when the Apple farm came into view. Its lush green trees were standing tall much like the very family that planted them. On any other day, Sweetie might have been tempted to acquire one of the succulent fruit as she headed to the farmhouse, but with Scootaloo in need of help, her temptation would have to wait. Turning off the path, Sweetie passed under the sign that welcomed ponies to the orchard. With the farmhouse in sight, she hit the porch and banged on the old wooden door. In a single moment, she realized that she just ran from Ponyville proper all the way to the farm.
When the youngest member of the Apple family opened the door, she was greeted by the sight of a young pearl white unicorn gasping for breath. The red mane earth pony raised an eyebrow at her disheveled friend. “What `n tarnation are ya doing here Sweetie Belle? I thought ya`s was grounded like me?”
Sweetie held up a hoof while taking large gulps of air, trying desperately to catch her breath. “Scootaloo… ran away!” She spoke between breaths before collapsing.
“What do ya mean she ran away?!” Applebloom screeched a bit too loud. “Sweetie, what happened? Do ya know where she went?” The earth filly quickly became panicked at this sudden turn-of-events.
Sweetie, having finally caught her breath, looked at her friend, her worry written all over her face. “I don’t know what happened! All I know is that I heard Scootaloo wiz by my sister’s shop and her father was trying to catch her. He was stopped by Rarity and he said something like ‘I made Scootaloo mad and she took off’.” Picking herself up, she grabbed her fellow crusader and lead her into the orchard. “I think she might have gone to the clubhouse first. If we hurry, we might catch her before bolts again!”
With Applebloom in tow, the two fillies ran off into the orchard. A large red stallion stepped out of the home a moment later. With a single stalk of hay tucked into the corner of his mouth, Big Mac headed away from his home in search of one particular pony.
^^^
Blazewing had trotted home in defeat, but hadn’t spent long within its walls. Just long enough to wrap and put away the food. On his way back out, he had grabbed his bit bag and locked the door. He walked the streets of Ponyville, his mind filled with self-loathing comments both old and new. “Talk about a spectacular failure that was. You not only managed to shatter your marriage, but also fucked up your chance to make your filly happy. Hope you’re proud of yourself, because I think your cutie mark represents how you crash and burn at everything.” Blazed shook his head clear as he passed restaurants and other businesses in favor of Ponyville’s only bar. He pushed open its doors, the wide room was well lit and was fairly busy tonight. Every table was full of locals having a drink after a long day and gossiping about the news of earlier today. This left only the bar proper which was devoid of anypony, but the bartender himself, a bald malt brown earth pony with a recently trimmed goatee.
The bartender looked upon Blaze as he placed his bit bag on the bar and took a stool. “What can I get`cha?” His voice was rough and harsh, as if he spent much of his youth yelling.
Blaze looked up and met the eyes of the bartender. “A bottle of your hardest liquor.” The bartender gave him a nod and procured a bottle that surrounded by a pure black cover with no markings, save for a silver kite shield with two crossed swords over it. The featherless daredevil sighed as he watched the bartender pour a shot of milky white liquid into the glass. The first gulp ended with Blaze hacking as if he had swallowed liquid fire.
The bartender was about to remove the bottle when Blaze’s hoof shot out and stopped him. “I said the bottle, not a shot.” The bald earth pony studied the orange stallion and was intent on taking the bottle, until his eyes fell upon the featherless appendages of the pony before him. It didn’t happen often, but this bartender had seen his fair share of pegasi unable to fly. “Just don’t go overboard. It’ll only slow ya healing.” With that said, the bartender set the bottle down and walked to a table that required attention.
With the bottle to his right, Blaze poured a second shot into his glass. For a few minutes, he scowled at the milky liquid as memories replayed in his mind. The angry face of Raindancer flashed in his mind and he quickly chased it away with the shot. As this drove away the memory, another surfaced to take its place. The scowl of an angry filly and the pain of her words drove him to pouring a third shot and gulping it down with vigor. The rapid consumption of two shots caused another coughing fit from Blaze and forced him to take a moment before preparing his next. It was easy to forget how quickly alcohol effected pegasi, a fact Blaze chose to ignore tonight. Every motion of his head, Blaze felt like his brain turn from solid to liquid and left the room beyond the bottle nothing but a haze. It was in this state that Blaze felt the least; should a memory come bubbling up, he merely rocked his head and banished them before taking a shot. He had heard the bartender talk to him a few time, but he just waved him away with a hoof.
Across the bar, a purple earth pony sat at a large round table surrounded by her drinking buddies; friends she had made over the years of drinking at this bar. They shared stories of adventures they partook in years ago, telling the tales to their newest drinking member who looked the worst out of the group. The mare held a tall bottle with a slim neck and a wide base high above her as if offering it to some unnamed alicorn. Bringing the bottle down gently, she tipped the mouth of the bottle, letting the last of the burgundy liquid fill a glass that sat in front of the newest member. “Okay, Caramel, this is the last glass. If you can drink the last of my special batch then you are welcomed with open hooves!” Berry Punch shouted in her drunken jubilance.
As for the young stallion in question, it was clear to any sober pony that he has had enough. Caramel sat in his chair rocking from side to side, hardly able to hold his body upright. Both of his hooves held onto the table for support as the world around him swirled in ways that made the lights dance like fireflies caught in a tornado. When his eyes finally rested on the glass of wine, a determination broiled within him as he reached out to the glass with an unsteady hoof. Clutching the glass near the top of its stem, Caramel lifted it clear from the table.
For Berry Punch, this was a rite of passage to drink with her and her buddies. Of the many townsfolk that tried to drink an entire bottle of her wine were met with utter failure in the form of simply passing out or vomiting all over the floor and sometimes both. So needless to say, it was hard for Berry to find good drinking buddies that could keep up with her; or at least till the bar closed. In truth, if Caramel didn’t finish the glass, she would welcome him no matter what. Tonight, she wasn’t disappointed, Caramel tilted the glass and chugged the last of the wine in a single go. The table burst into a single cheer and the entire members of Berry’s drinking party cried out “OH-PA” right before Caramel felt that the floor was a good place to take a nap. With laughter all around, Berry stood up and declared in a not so quiet voice, “I’m going to grab more drinks!” then turned and headed to the bar to order. That was, until she got halfway and spotted the only stallion on the stools. “YOU!” Berry pointed a hoof to Blaze as she flipped from joyous to seething rage.
Blaze was called back from the bottle to the waking world as the shout had forced the whole bar to settle. Turning his body to find the disturbance, he was met with a very pissed off purple mare pointing a hoof at him “Well, crap. I should have known Berry would be here, after all, where else would she be. I guess I’ll try to be civil.” Blaze dropped from the stool and faced Berry Punch with a casual smirk. “Hey Berry, long time no see. Are you sober enough to trot home or do I need to fly you home like old times?” ”Wow, is that what you call being civil? I’d hate to hear what you say when you’re being nice.”
To Berry, his nonchalant attitude merely pissed her off even more. “Hey. HEY! Just what do you think you’re doing showing your face back here?!” Berry’s screams had now turned every head in the bar including the bartender.
Blaze was starting to become agitated with Berry screaming at the top of her lungs. “What do you think I’m doing? I’m having a drink. I would think that much is obvious to a mare that enjoys drinking.” “You’re only drinking because you fucked up.”
Berry’s frequent intoxication was well known in the town. She had never been violent, but the sight of Blaze had sparked many unpleasant memories within her. “So what if I can drink like a fish. At least I’m not a stallion who sleeps with a mare then runs off!”
Blaze’s featherless wings opened defensively. “Well, what do you know? Old Berry Punch is going for the low blows tonight,” The words were out long before Blaze could catch himself. “If you’re still harping on that stupid false rumor for ten years ago, it makes me wonder who else in this town still believes it.” “At this point, almost every pony in town thinks you’re a scumbag.”
“I wasn’t talking about that, stupid! I was talking about how you knocked up Raindancer and left! You’re a pig, Blazewing. Nothing but a worthless stallion that is full of himself!” Berry cried out.
Once his name was out in the open for the whole bar to hear, Blaze could see the lights turn on in everypony’s head; at least those that were still awake. Now the faces around the bar turned from confusion to loathing the orange stallion. A few stallions from Berry’s drinking group had made their way to her side like bodyguards. “I stand corrected. Everypony does think you’re a scumbag.” The bartender was behind the bar to the farthest corner fiddling with something under the counter. Blaze had his backside to the bar, wings outspread, crouched and ready to fight. “Yeah and who bothered to tell me that she was pregnant? Nopony, that’s who! Not a single letter ever made it to me telling me that she was going to have my foal! And if any here still remembers me then they know full well I would have dropped everything. My pride, my wings, and even my job just to be here for that, but what happened was a whole lot of nothing! Not a word from Ponyville in almost ten years and it’s from an orphanage telling me I had a child from a mare that I love with all my heart!” Blaze was yelling so to be heard by everypony in the room, not caring if anyone outside could hear.
“You think that because nopony wrote to you is a good enough excuse to not come back and swallow your pride! You could have come back at any time in those past ten years, but you didn’t!” Berry screeched. “You could have come back and apologized, but you didn’t! You left and Raindancer cried almost every night since then. The only thing keeping her going was Scootaloo and she even cried that you weren’t here. I know because she came to me to cry her eyes out! She loved you and you abandoned her when she needed you the most!”
“The only reason you’re so pissed off is because you got used and you’re blaming everypony, but yourself! I wanted to have foals, I wanted to be a father to Scootaloo, but nopony can see that!” “Well, it was nice knowing you, Blazewing. But I’m sorry to say that you’re an idiot.” The full weight of his words hit the entire bar like steam train hits a deer. Every adult in Ponyville knew what happened to Berry back then, but despite what happened, not a single pony in town ever put the blame on her. Now, the entire bar had turned to Blaze with hate in their eyes. Nothing would stop them running him back out of town for good. Before the flood of drunken ponies could pounce, the door to the bar was forced inward by a large red earth pony.
Big Macintosh stood in the doorway with a stalk of hay in the corner of his mouth. He felt the boiling anger in the room and it was all directed at his old friend. Big Mac strode in between the crowd of angry drunk ponies and Blaze and stood facing the mob. “Naw, I see ya’ll are mad, but I need ya to let somepony do some talkin' first.” Mac stomped his hoof on the wooden floor and from the door an orange filly with a purple mane and tail trotted in. “If any ya’ll interrupt before they’re finished, ya will be bucked like ma apple trees.”
Scootaloo placed herself just a few hooves away from her father and stared at him. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from her fit of crying back in the clubhouse where her friends and Big Mac found her. Her friends walked in on her clutching a Rainbow Dash plushy that Scootaloo made herself, curled up into a corner, thinking of running away from Ponyville forever. Applebloom had pulled her from the corner and gave her the biggest hug she could muster with Sweetie Belle joining soon after. When Scootaloo finally became calm, Big Mac had walked in; although, it was more of him sticking his head through the door. He didn’t say much, but somehow, he had convinced Scootaloo to come with him. Now, she was here facing her father and she needed to ask the questions she truly wanted to. “How did you meet mom?”
Blaze watched his only child trot from the door to him and wanting to pull his gaze away from her, but couldn’t. The redness of her eyes told him of the pain she went through just a few hours earlier. He had been expecting more verbal hate from her, but when her question was voiced, it befuddled him at her lack of anger. “I met your mother here in Ponyville. I was doing some tricks for the local foals to excite them about the carnival. I tried to do one of my dad’s tricks, but messed it up and I crashed right into Raindancer.” “And I, the drunken voice in your head, will explain that you were an idiot for trying that stunt.” Blaze chuckled. “She took it rather well and I offered her two free tickets to the show as an apology. I didn’t see her again till the festival started and she was walking around with Cheerilee who was dressed in the ugliest fashion of the time.” A member of the mob snorted at his own mental image of the school teacher back in the day. “I talked with her for a bit, but I had to leave to start the show. It was that moment that I felt my attraction to her and I put more effort into that night’s performance then I ever did before. When I found her again, she and Cheerilee were taking photos and I asked if she wanted a picture with and an autograph. She accepted without hesitation and as Cheerilee took the picture, I kissed Raindancer.” A few aws and snickers floated from the mob “Yeah, she didn’t take that too well did she, idiot.” “She hit me hard for that.” At this Blaze chuckled at the nostalgia.
“Wait, if Cheerilee took photos then where are they?” Scootaloo wondered out loud.
Blaze snorted at this, “they are in a photo album that was stuffed in a box in the spare bedroom.”
“Oh.” Scootaloo was going to find that album later, but her daughter-father talk needed to happen now. “What did you do after she hit you?”
With a sigh, Blaze pressed on. “The festival was over for the day and when my parents found out I had kissed a mare without it being consensual, they told me to find her and apologize. I was going to do that anyway, but when I started wandering around town, I was having a hard time finding a pony who knew her, until I walked into Sugar Cube Corner. It was there that I met Pinkie Pie for the first time; she was just this pink ball of energy that never slowed down. When I finally got a word in telling her I was looking for a particular mare, she piped up and said she knew ‘everypony in Ponyville’. At the time, I didn’t know your mother’s name and I was working off her cutie mark so when Pinkie told me her name and where to find her, I was all set to fly over when I was stopped. Pinkie shoved a box in my hooves and said it was a peace offering and took off. I was confused as to what she could have done to your mother, but I soon learned what it meant to be friends with Pinkie. I took the box and flew to your mother’s home; I knocked and waited for about thirty minutes when I heard your mother scream from behind me, ‘What are you doing here!?’” Blaze shuddered as the memory focused on Raindancer’s face. “You know your mother’s anger very well, but before you were born it was like facing off against a manticore. So, when she stomped up to me, I did the only thing that came to mind. I opened the box and yelled, ‘I’m sorry!’” “That saved your flank, just for a minute.” Blaze chuckled again which turned into a roaring laughter. “She didn’t even hear me because, as soon as I opened the box, she lost all focus on me and devoured the mini-cakes inside. Your mother eventually looked up from the box; her face was completely covered in chocolate and I couldn’t help, but laugh. I’ll tell you Scoots, you may never know how hard it is to care that you’re getting your flank beaten by a cute mare whose face is covered in frosting.” Blaze had to take a moment to calm down or risk laughing again. “She stopped when her parents came home and she was forced to patch me up. That was when she and I truly started talking, I apologized for kissing her at the carnival and she said she was sorry for beating the snot out of me.”
Scootaloo snickered at the end for she had caught her mother indulging in some cakes she bought every now and then. With a frown, Scootaloo stared at Blaze wanting him to answer a question her mother never did. “Umm, how did mom get all those scars?”
The good mood that Blaze found himself in was destroyed by that question. His head dropped, his ears folded back and his color darkened a few shades. “It happened in Trottingham a year after she and I got married. Your mother and Cheerilee had come to see me perform and made it into a vacation so they could relax. The night of my last performance there, she and Cheerilee left early and were attacked by a unicorn on their way back to the hotel. I ran into Cheerilee as she was running away, but I didn’t find your mother in time.”
“She was attacked? What kind of pony would do that!?” Scootaloo had asked her mother a few times how she got her scars, but Raindancer never answered. The fact that her mother was attacked had disturbed her greatly.
“The insane kind,” Blaze said with a hated tone growing in his voice. “The local guards said he was suffering drug withdraw and was most likely after money to buy more; that was two days later while your mom was recovering in the hospital. She lost her ability to fly that day due to the doctors having to focus on saving her life rather than her wings.” With a sigh, Blaze let his flank rest on the bar’s wooden floor.
“That was before Manehatten?” Scootaloo inquired.
Blaze gave a nod with his head “Yeah, it was before Manehatten. And speaking of Manehatten, that’s what I was going to talk to you about at dinner.” He stopped and took a deep breath before gazing into his daughter’s eyes. “That night in Manehatten was the night of the Phoenixwing’s one hundredth anniversary of its founding. Every member of the team was celebrating except for me; I was saving that for when I got home. As the hour ticked on, my team left the bar to go sleep off the booze, but Sunbright, our captain, was still going strong. I blame her tolerance to alcohol on her father; that pony could drink three or four bottles of wine and not get sick. But Sunbright could only handle two, so when she finally hit her limit, she was far too drunk to fly straight. I didn’t even know we were being followed when I left the bar with her. I knew Manehatten well enough to know where all the hotels were so I took her to the closest one.” His voice had dropped an octave during his tale. As his gaze pulled away from Scootaloo, he waved a hoof in the air as his voice began to rise. “I didn’t know at the time it had changed owners and was turned into a risqué love motel. And that is all anypony would ever listen to. No one bothered to listen to the fact that I have no romantic interest in my captain. She’s like a little sister to me and ever since then, nopony would bother to hear how, the moment I got her into the room, she puked all over me!” This earned a cringe from everyone in the bar. “For most of the night, she spent moaning with her head down praying to the porcelain throne, but did anypony listen to me? No! Not a single pony would listen. Not the press, not Ponyville, not even… your mother.” Blaze’s voice sunk back down at the end. His wings fell limp and his color darkened once again. “I tried to convince her that was untrue, but she wouldn’t listen. Much like this room today, the ponies of Ponyville hated my guts so much that the mayor told me to leave. I didn’t want to, not for a second. But when the one pony who I felt would believe me turned and bucked me in the face, it was hard to convince myself to stay. It was that moment that I felt I had lost everything. The only thing I had left was my career and now I’ve lost even that!” Blaze ended this statement with slamming his head into a cushioned stool.
“What? What do you mean you lost your job?” Scootaloo’s mind flashed back to a few days ago, when she witnessed Blaze and Sunbright quarreling during the show.
Blaze cringed; he hadn’t meant to spill that until he had secured a new job. “Great job letting that slip out, idiot.” “Before the last show, Sunbright had gathered all of the post show team to make sure that they would be ready to pack everything after the show ended. When the meeting was done and everypony had cleared out, I was going to go find you and take you to lunch when Sunbright stopped me. Over the last ten years since Manehatten, she somehow got the impression I was falling for her, even though I never felt that way. She would do stupid things like flick her tail at me or have me meet her in the trailer after a show. But that day, she took it too far and said that she could be a mother to you, Scoots.” Blaze felt that since he had dug himself a hole, he might as well finish the grave. “During Dust Devil’s cannonball run, I told Sunbright that if she ever said anything like that again, I would leave. She told me that she was doing it for me, because she loved me. I got pissed off and said some rather nasty things back to her. Sunbright never got a chance to retort because Dust had finished, and it was my turn to please the crowd. I was so furious at Sunbright that I screwed up my stunt and got injured.” Blaze weakly flapped his for emphasis. “For years, I’ve wanted to tell the truth, but with nopony willing to listen. I just gave up and told myself to get used to it.” With a sigh, Blaze stood up to look at his little filly. “I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t believe me when I say this but; I just wanted you to be happy.”
Scootaloo sat in a place that only adult ponies were allowed, listening to her father’s life story and the miseries he experienced. She was still very much mad at him for leaving her mother and never being there for her. How many of the days of bullying could have been prevented had he simply been where he belonged? Here in Ponyville with her and her mother, watching the two of them. Would they have had another foal? What would it be like to be a big sister? Scootaloo shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now was not the time to be distracted. She knew her mother had loved him, and she knew now that her mother blamed herself for him never coming back. She had known him for only a few days, but those days were full of him trying to make her happy. He had made an effort to help her get better at flying and even pushed her to get better. Those things were not something a dead-beat father would do. She was no egghead as Dash had so often called Twilight, but she was a smart filly and now it was time to make a choice. “Dad,” Scootaloo waited until her father locked eyes with her, “can we go home now?”
Blaze was only aware of the fact he started crying after he had scooped up his filly and held her tightly. The greatest sense of relief washed through him as he sat there in the bar holding his only child. She may not have forgiven him, but he knew that he now had a better chance to make it up to her. “Yes,” Blaze choked out “yes, Scootaloo, we can home.” Releasing his filly, Blaze took his bit bag and dumped quite a few of the shiny coins out, then ran out of the bar while grabbing Scootaloo and placing her on his back.
Big Mac and the other bar patrons just stood there as the father and daughter darted off. Most of them felt oddly torn between wanting to toss the daredevil out of town and letting him stay with his daughter. It wasn’t until Berry Punch walked over to Big Mac and crawled onto the large stallion and fell asleep that the tension in the bar finally settled. With shrugs all around, all the ponies paid their tabs and began their own journey home. Big Mac carried Berry and dragged Caramel back to Sweet Apple Acres for some proper rest.
^^^
Golden Harvest had tailed the flightless filly to her school, listened to her teacher spill the beans, then was rewarded with that filly screaming at her father, crushing both of their hearts with just three simple words. Then, much to her delight, after having nearly lost the two of them in their mad dash out of the home, she had witnessed Blaze trudge home just to lock up and start binge drinking. When the shouting match between Blaze and Berry had started, Harvest had felt nothing better would be possible, but when Blaze had simply said Berry was at fault for her drunken escapade that led to the birth of her daughter, Berry Pinch, she had wished she had popcorn as the whole bar was ready to kick his flank for that remark. Harvest felt blessed until Big Mac and Scootaloo had shown up. When Blaze was finished telling his side of the story, Scootaloo had forgiven him and the whole bar had just shrugged like nothing happened! Harvest felt her joyous mood crash and burn right into the sun that had long since set on Ponyville. As the bar was emptied, she too walked with them knowing they wouldn't question her sudden appearance. The crowd of ponies slimmed as each of the colorful mares and stallions walked into their homes and promptly went to bed. Harvest wasn't going to sleep tonight; she had things to take care of.
^^^
Scootaloo wasn't happy about being carried, but at the very least, she wouldn't be without a family again. She wanted to disbelieve him at first and she was unsure if she had even done the right thing. Maybe, in time, that question would be answered, but for right now, she knew that going back to the orphanage was not an option. Now back at home, she hopped off her father’s back just to be swept up into another hug. “Dad, come on no mushy stuff please, it’s not cool.”
Blaze let his filly go and laughed. “I thought the same way until I met your mother. Mushy stuff just happens and sometimes it takes you by surprise. You know now that I’ve finally explained myself to most of the ponies that hate my guts. Can I ask you a question Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Uh… I guess so.”
Blaze looked at her and now that all this misunderstanding had been explained, a question came to his mind. “Just how did you find out about the whole Manehatten fiasco?”
Scootaloo sighed: her father had explained his side; she might as well do the same. Trust begets trust, right? “Applebloom and Sweetie Belle found a magazine that printed the story. I went to Twilight to see if she would help me find the truth and she said it was false, then pointed me to my mother’s stuff that was being held by the Mayor. After I got those, I had to hide them before going to school, but I didn’t want to come home after school so I just walked around until Ms. Top told me that Ms. Cheerilee was the pony that caught you in Manehatten and told my mom, so I talked to her and you pretty much know the rest.”
Blaze looked dumbfounded at the little filly before him. “And you did all this in less than two days. Dang, Ponyville has changed if all of that could happen in just a couple of days.” Blaze grinned while he shook his head in slight disbelief when another question popped in his mind. “So, why did the Mayor have your mother’s stuff?”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “The ponies at the orphanage explained it. They said because I was a ward of something, the Mayor had to hold that stuff until I was adopted or some junk like that. I only wanted mom’s diary because I figured that she wrote what really happened before I was born.”
Blaze nodded. “When you were in the orphanage, you were referred to as a Ward of Equestria, but that no longer applies. Scoots, how about we read your mother’s diary together. I missed a lot over the last ten years and I’m sure your mother wrote about them.” With a nod from his filly, the two ascended the stairs to Scootaloo’s bedroom. The first thing that caught Blaze’s attention was the pile of papers and folders that were poorly hidden by a single pillow.
Scootaloo bounded over to her bed and chucked the pillow off the mound of papers she hid that morning. She grabbed the diary off the top and opened it to a random page. After a quick read, Scootaloo’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Dad, what’s spelunking?”
Blaze looked at the diary to the entry marked. “Dear Diary, I had a great day today. Blaze left to go back to the Phoenixwings tonight, but at lunch, he treated me to a nice meal and I finally convinced him to go spelunking. I do hope to have a surprise for him when he gets home :) Only time will tell. Goodnight.” Blaze was flushed with embarrassment after reading the entry. It was dated a week and a half before the whole Manehatten fiasco. “Um, not to be rude Scoots, but I’ll have to tell you that some other time.”
Rather than get into another argument, Scootaloo decided to ask some other pony tomorrow. As the pages of the diary turned, her father was reading the entries out loud. As he went on, both of them noticed that the diary had days, even whole months missing, yet not a single page was torn from the book. After about eight months, the diary became coherent again and Scootaloo listened to her father read.
“Dear Diary, I know I haven’t written anything in the past month and a half, but it finally happened. I went into labor just three days ago. I was shocked because I hadn’t expected it to happen for another three and a half weeks. But today I sit here and write this at the crib-side of my little filly. I have decided to name her Scootaloo and I know she will be a hoof full because she’s so full of energy. I’m happy that my daughter is finally here but I still feel hollow that I’m one out of two ponies that should be here today. Blazewing, I wish you were here to see her; and more importantly so I could say I’m sorry. I knew deep down that Cheerilee was wrong about you and Sunbright. I knew you would were loyal to me but I think because I was pregnant I lost the ability to think clearly. I know that sounds like an excuse but I have no way to explain why I didn’t believe you back then. I hope you will come back soon so you can meet your daughter. Goodnight.” Blaze set the diary down and hugged his daughter. This time she didn’t pull away. When they returned to reading, the next entry was confusing to Scootaloo.
“Dear Diary, Today marks the third week of Scootaloo’s birth and a rather unwelcome visitor. My half-sister came to the house today with a proposal. She wanted me to give up the Deed that our grandfather had willed to me. I know I haven’t talked about it before but that was mostly due to the fact I was going to give it to Blaze and his team so they could have an off tour practice area. She said that because Blaze had abandoned me that I had no reason to continue holding onto it and that she and her twin could use it to grow more carrots. I have a hard time believing that is what she wants to use it for. I told her that Blaze didn’t abandon me and that he would return, and I pray to Celestia that it’s sooner than later. Scootaloo started crying and I heard Harvest ask if I was foal-sitting and I told her no. I swear the look on her face was priceless. She excused herself and I can only assume that she headed back to her farm. I need to go feed Scootaloo now before I put her to bed. Goodnight.” Scootaloo just stared at the pages as if they had just told her that she was full of cooties. “I have an aunt?”
Blaze stared down at Scootaloo with a raised brow. “You actually have two aunts from your mother’s side, Golden Harvest and Carrot Top. They’re twins and… Wait, Scootaloo. Didn’t you say Carrot Top sent you to Cheerilee about why I left?” The gears had started to turn in Blaze’s head. His thoughts didn’t make sense at the moment but he hoped his daughter would clear them.
Scootaloo grew even more bewildered at the question poised to her. “Um, yeah. If she hadn’t then you would have told me anyway. I don’t what the deal about this is.”
Blaze blinked a few times before pushing himself off of the bed and crouching to be at eye level with his daughter. “Scootaloo, I know both Carrot Top and Harvest and if she still feels the same, I know Carrot would never tell you to go to your teacher about that. Between her and Harvest, Carrot actually likes me being her brother. Harvest, on the other hoof, never liked me and did her best to try and make life miserable for me and your mother. Carrot Top would have told you to just ask me.”
Scootaloo raised her eyebrow as her confusion continued to pile higher. “But why does Harvest hate you when Ms. Top doesn’t?”
Blaze pulled away and sat on his haunches. “I have no clue Scootaloo, and now that I think about it, Harvest would go so far as to try and tear us apart. The strangest thing is that I never did anything to her. No pranks or stuff like that…” Blaze trailed off doing his hardest to remember anything that he might have done to spite the yellow carrot grower.
“Um dad,” Scootaloo called to her father as now her curiosity was peeked at one particular thing. When Blaze had his eyes on her, she motioned to the diary again. “What’s a Deed?”
“Well, the way your mother used it, she was talking about a track of land.” Blaze said matter-o-fact tone. “And by what her diary stated, she was just going to hoof it over to me so the team could have some place to train or relax. That may be why Harvest is so negative to me, but I can’t help feel there is more to it.”
“Would this be a deed?” Scootaloo said as she pushed a large flat envelope to Blaze with her nose.
Blaze took the plain envelope and cursed under his breath as he fiddled with the small mettle tabs with his hooves. Upon opening it, two pieces of high quality paper were lied out on the bed. The first was, in fact, the very deed to a large chunk of fertile land on the other side of Ponyville from Sweet Apple Acre’s. The second paper, however, was titled “Last Will and Testament” but the pony named was not Raindancer. As Blaze read this document, he quickly became aware that this was the will of Raindancer’s grandfather, Storm Cover. Before Blaze could read much more of the will, a knock from the front door echoed through the home. Looking to Scootaloo, “stay here,” Blaze commanded before he made his way down stairs.
Scootaloo however was curious to find out just who would be knocking at- casting her eyes to her clock- eleven thirty at night. Leaving her bedroom and fluttering as quietly as she could down the stairs, she glanced up as her father opened the door and watched as he was kicked in the face by another pony. “DAD!” Rushing forward, her eyes focused only on Blaze until she was roughly picked up the nape of her neck. “No! Let me go! Dad, help!”
Blaze shook his head a few times from the blow that had disoriented him. Shakily, he got to his hooves as he watched a yellow mare with a curly orange mane galloping away with Scootaloo in her teeth. Only once before had Blaze ever let rage get the better of his judgment, but the sight of his filly being ponynapped right in front of him sent him over the edge. With a mighty bellow, Blaze tore after the earth pony in a blind furry. Between Scootaloo’s hollering and Blaze’s shouts of obscenities to the mare, it was of little surprise that ponies around town were drawn to their windows to watch the scene unfold. But none dared to leave their homes as the sight of a raging Blazewing tore up chunks of the dirt road in fury, save for a purple unicorn and her friends.
Blaze couldn’t feel the pain in his wings and left side as adrenalin coursed through his veins. The town of Ponyville passed by in a blur as Blaze galloped. The homes thinned and faded to grasslands that muffled the pounding of his hooves. The plains soon turned rocky and barren as three ponies came to a halt.
Harvest was breathing heavily through her nose, her teeth still holding a squirming Scootaloo as she gazed over the scar that was Ghastly Gorge. The sound of Blaze skidding to a stop behind her made her turn to face him. This was her last stand and she was going to make him pay.
“Put Scootaloo down now!” Blaze bellowed at the top of his lungs. He wanted nothing more than to get Scootaloo back and pound Harvest’s face into the dirt. He breathed in deep, but slow drags of air to help calm him.
Harvest reared up to her hind legs and spit Scootaloo into a waiting hoof. “Like I’m going to take orders from you. You and your stupid filly have cost me so much that I actually had to resort to this.”
Scootaloo continued to struggle against the older mare’s grip, but gained nothing from it. “Why are you doing this?” She grunted in her flailing.
Harvest scoffed at the filly as if she was nothing more than a maggot spoiling her crops. “Oh, I bet you would want to know. I bet you would want to know how your father’s family ruined everything!” She hollered the last part and shook the filly. “You,” turning to Blaze, “Your father and mother were the ponies that ruined my life. Sixty years ago, my grandfather, Storm Cloud, married an earth pony that was mine and Raindancer’s grandmother. From her our mother was born and married my father. Carrot Top and I were born first then our mother divorced, got remarried and had Raindancer. I didn’t even care that I had a half-sister at first and I did what I could on the streets of Manehatten growing what little carrots I could with my sister. My father, however, was struggling to make enough bits to keep paying the rent. That was until I found a way to make myself bits beyond what even a business pony could dream of.” Harvest laughed “It was so easy I’m not surprised many of my clients came back almost begging for more. Of course, when you sell a drug as potent as Black Salt I was bound to get rich and expand.”
Blazewing felt cold, his eyes shrank and his breath caught in his throat. “You sold Black Salt!” Now, more than, ever he wanted to grab Scootaloo and simply push this mare off the cliff. “That stuff kills ponies, how could you!”
Scootaloo now both afraid and confused about what was being discussed couldn't help but ask, “What’s Black Salt?”
Harvest shook the filly to quiet her. “Black Salt is the most addictive aphrodisiac drug that makes any mare or stallion last far longer in the hay and leaves them open to suggestions. In fact, before she became the mayor, Ms. Mare was my property. With a drug like Black Salt, I was bound to get mares and stallions coming to me begging for more. So with that, I started finding bigger fish that wanted to have a good time. The druggies rarely asked for money, so I was able to make a lot of bits from selling their bodies.” The grin Harvest had about her underground fame and fortune was swept from her face as she glared at Blaze. “That was until your parents came along.” pointing her free hoof at Blaze. “Your parents came into Manehatten and ruined everything. They stuck their noses where they shouldn’t have and found my dad working on a new batch of salt. The guards were called and he was hauled to Canterlot, tried and convicted and now will rot in that dungeon for the rest of his life. But not without a plea bargain releasing the name of the true mastermind behind the Black Salt operation. But thankfully, my daddy cares enough about me to not abandon me. He gave my grandfather’s name as the head of it all. But by then, my grandfather had taken ill and was hospitalized. When the guards marched into his hospital room, he died from the shock.” Harvest chuckled for a moment, but it quickly soured. “I was what I needed to take all the heat off me and claim the ignorant child role. I was then shipped here to Ponyville where Carrot Top had moved to before the whole operation started. It was a month later that I found out that my grandfather had left a large plot of land to Raindancer. I figured that it would be perfect place for me to recover from my loss in Manehatten. But go figure that she wouldn’t budge on helping family when she was being wooed by you-” pointing her hoof again at Blaze. “I found out that you were the son to the two ponies that ruined my operation so I hated you from the start. I also found out around that time that if Raindancer died, the deed to the land would go to the next eligible family member and that pony was me. So I started planning on how to get rid of both you and my half-sister. I had almost succeeded years ago when I was able to use an old druggie I sold my salt to. I slipped some into his food and had a good time with him as I told him to kill Raindancer. Too bad, he fail. If he hadn’t, I would be on that land pumping out Black Salt to all of Equestria and with all those bits, not even the princesses would be able to touch me.”
“You’re fucking mad Harvest!” Blaze roared. “You plan on dragging all of Equestria into chaos and you have the gall to think that you’d be untouchable?” Featherless wings flared out as Blaze puffed himself up to look bigger than he was.
“And it would have been a reality if this little twerp hadn’t been born,” Harvest shook Scootaloo rough enough to cause her to cry out in pain. “And you had never returned. Now that the guards are investigating what happened with the Mayor, my hoof has been forced.”
“What are you talking about? There are no guards investigating what happened to the Mayor. Just Hoof Cuff and his team of police ponies.”
Harvest took a step back coming dangerously close to the edge of the ravine. “No, you’re lying! An off duty guard from Canterlot was on scene when the Mayor was carted to the hospital.” Harvest didn’t believe Blaze, not for a second.
Blaze just shook his head at Harvest’s lack of understanding. “Hoof Cuff is a retired guard, you nitwit. Hoof Cuff asked a friend of his to come from Canterlot down to Ponyville to help with the investigation. If you even bothered to listen to other ponies, you would have realized that this morning.”
Harvest lowered her head. Her quick assumption and the words of her sister had misled her. The distant beating of wings pulled Harvest’s attention to in front of her as Ponyville’s resident problem solvers were making their way to the gorge. “Well, I guess our time is up and it’s time I bid you farewell.”
“You’re not going anywhere but jail, Harvest. I’ll see to it myself if I have to.” Blaze shouted.
“Well,” Harvest smirked “are you going to catch me while your filly falls to her doom?” With that, Harvest tossed Scootaloo into Ghastly Gorge then ran to the closest batch of trees.
Blaze pumped his legs and jumped into the gorge after his daughter. As both pegasi fell closer to the ground, Blaze reached out and pulled Scootaloo to his chest and turned his back to the ground. “Dad,” Blaze looked down to his only remaining family “I love you, dad.”
“My fellow ponies of Ponyville,” Quick Note stood at a podium, directly to her left sat a closed coffin. “It is with a heavy heart that I stand here today to talk about a pony who dedicated her life to making sure the citizens of this wonderful town were as happy and as peaceful as could be. While we sit here and grieve for the loss of our beloved mayor, let us know that she has been a part of our hearts since day one. She has done so much for us and yet we did so little for her. She encouraged us every year during winter to work together, she made an effort to help other ponies with problems they had, and if a building needed repairs, she was there to help ease the burden financially. She was kind and cheerful to all ponies of Ponyville and likewise, so were we to her. We mourn the loss of you, dear Mayor, but we ponies of Ponyville will never forget the things you did for us. May you find peace in the great herd and may you always have green grass under your hooves.” As Quick Note finished her speech, not a single pony had dry eyes. The ponies that had gathered in the cemetery that early afternoon had filled the cemetery to pay homage to the fallen mare. For the past two weeks, citizens of the town had stopped by to quietly wish that she make it through. But early yesterday morning, the doctors pronounced the Mayor dead. This had marked the second murder to ever be recorded in all of Ponyville's history. Unlike last time, every pony now knew who was responsible for both crimes.
It had been a hectic two weeks for all the ponies involved. Ponies were questioned and most had the same reaction, baffled that Carrot Top’s twin was behind the assault and murder. Carrot Top had cried when the Hoof Cuff told her of her twin’s crime, she had begged and pleaded them that if they find her to at the least spare her the death penalty. They had told Ms. Top that their only concern was finding her and that if she had any idea of where she could have gone to inform them immediately. Many of the townsfolk started to buy more carrots, more out of sympathy than anything else. Some sent her cards and Pinkie Pie threw her a party. Applejack and her family had decided to give a small portion of their unused fields to her, and also offered to help her should she need any. Every pony did their best to show that she wasn't blamed for her sister's actions. Carrot Top thanked them all and retired to her home every night after the market closed for the day. As the weeks drew on, many still felt bad for her.
As ponies filed into a line to pay their final respects to the Mayor, most shambled forward until it was their turn to toss a small hoofful of dirt into the open hole over the coffin. By the time every pony was done, the hole had been filled and one more tombstone rested in the graveyard. This one was different; this one was inscribed with more than just the Mayor's cutie mark and life. It also held an epitaph of her personal motto. “Don't be afraid to pick yourself up after you fall, nopony will think less of you if you make a mistake.” The last pony left in the cemetery was Quick Note. She had been the Mayor's assistant for years; she had gotten to know the Mayor better than the other residents of the town. It was there next to the grave that she lay, pawing a hoof over the loose soil. The breeze blew her combed mane away from her face, the young unicorn knew more about the Mayor than she was willing to admit. With a green glow, a pink rose was placed on the grave and Quick Note left.
^^^
-Knock knock knock- A stallion stood in front of Ponyville’s only liquor store. A box of fresh baked cupcakes rested at his hooves as he waited for the mare who owned the shop to open the door. When the door finally opened, a purple earth pony mare with a deep purple mane stood in the doorway looking oddly sober this afternoon. Clearing his throat, the stallion spoke up. “Berry Punch… I know things these past few weeks have been rather eventful, but back in the bar, I said something unacceptable and I hope you understand that I am truly sorry.” Blaze lowered his head waiting for Berry to verbally tear into him, but when nothing came he dared to glance up only to find a smile on the mare’s face.
“Oh, Blaze, you had like five shots of ‘Silver Shield Milk Vodka’ that stuff will screw with anypony’s judgment.” Berry’s smile shined with a fresh brush look. “I take it those are my favorite flavor of cupcakes from Sugar Cube Corner.” Berry reached down and grabbed the box in her teeth and placed them on her back. “I’ll forgive you. Now, I know you have a big thing going on tonight so get going I don’t want to cancel my date because you didn’t get your flank in gear.”
Blaze took a step back to allow Berry to step out and close her door. “You have a date… with who?”
Berry’s grin grew wider and looked as if her face would split from the pure joy emanating from it. “Big Macintosh.” She calmly stated then trotted away leaving a slack-jawed Blaze on her porch.
^^^
“Ladies and Gentlecolts!” An announcer could be seen in the middle of a large open arena. The seats were jam-packed full of ponies from as far as Trottingham. Even the Princesses were in attendance to the newly created Ponyville stadium. “I would like to welcome you all to Ponyville amphitheater and the new home to your very own Phoenixwings!” The crowd thundered their applause as three ponies flew into the stadium, each with a trail of fire following them. “And it is with great pleasure that tonight a pony from your own home town has risen into the ranks and now will be flying as the newest member of the team. So please put your hooves to the floor for your very own, SCOOTALOO!” From a cloud placed high above the stadium, an orange blur descended with alarming speed before curving up and flying too close to the crowd causing many of them to duck.
With a few loops in the air, Scootaloo landed on the same platform in front of the other members. She had on a smaller, but none the less, same flight suit that the other Phoenixwing members wore. As the audience cheered for the filly, including her friends, Scootaloo held her head high and pumped her wings in anticipation for tonight’s show. It had been such an eventful two weeks it was hard for her to believe all that had happened.
***
“I love you too, Scootaloo. Now, keep your head up.” Before Scootaloo had been able to respond, her father tossed her up and out of his reach. All her pegasus instincts fired off at once and she pumped her wings with fervor. “Hay, Scoots,” When she looked up, she saw her father suspended between Sunbright and Dust Devil with a goofy grin plastered on his face.
“Wait, what?!” She just stared at him in utter bafflement.
“Sorry, Scoots. If I said something, Harvest would have ran off with you instead and I wouldn’t be able to see you fly on your own.” He said waving a hoof to her back.
Scootaloo turned to stare at her wings that were beating almost like a hummingbird’s, right before they faltered and she fell into the waiting hooves of Rainbow Dash. “I-I- I was flying!” She cried for joy, nearly popping out of Dash’s grip.
“Whoa there, squirt. You still have to build up your muscles so don’t go and force it.” Dash smiled at the pegasus she called a sister.
“Yea, can we talk about this on the ground because honestly, Blaze, you’re heavier than you look.” Sunbright strained with Dust as the two pegasi climbed into the air carrying Blaze to the lip of the gorge.
When every pegasi were once again on the ground, Scootaloo and Blaze shared a long overdue hug. Scootaloo broke from the hug and looked at Sunbright who was standing close by before lightly kicking her left front leg. “Ow! What was that for?”
“That,” Scootaloo glared at the older mare, “was for kicking my dad out of the team.”
Sunbright raised an eyebrow at Blaze and Dust silently asking them if they knew what this was about. When the Dust shrugged, she focused on Blaze who had started scratching the back of his head. “I may have had a bit too much to drink and jumped to conclusions.”
Sunbright nodded and looked to the filly. “Well then, I guess that kick could be for me thinking about kicking him out. Truth is, I couldn’t even if I was pissed enough to do it. I can’t kick Blaze out because he’s too good to lose to the Wonderbolts and a lot of mares love him.” Sunbright rubbed her temple with a hoof. “But the real reason is because I’m only the team leader in name not practice. It’s the three of us that debate on everything that goes on in the team and the most I could do is suspend him from a show.” Sighing she looked up to Blaze, who was now eying her with suspicion. Sunbright closed her eyes as she spoke “And the real reason I came all the way to Ponyville was to apologize. I’m simply a lonely mare who wanted to share a warm bed, but didn’t think about my teammate’s feelings or that they were still trying to overcome a loss.” When she opened her eyes, Blaze was giving her a deadpanned stare that left his displeasure well known. “Okay, I acted like an ass and I’m sorry.” With this, Blaze gave a nod of approval.
“Right,” Twilight Sparkle piped up, “with that out of the way, would somepony please explain what just happened?”
After all the ponies had been introduced plus one rain-check on a welcoming party; Sunbright explained how she and Dust had hidden below the edge of the gorge and heard the self-incriminating speech that Harvest had made. The two waited until Scootaloo was tossed off the cliff, but was disgruntled when they were forced to save two ponies. Twilight had pulled a notepad and jotted down everything and then sent a letter to the princess once they returned to town.
***
“Are you ready!?” the announcer’s voice had pulled Scootaloo from her memories. The last week alone, she had both her father and Rainbow Dash teamed up to train her for tonight’s performance. When her father had asked if she would join, she had originally refused because she wanted to join the Wonderbolts like Dash. When her father stepped up and said that just because she joined now doesn’t mean that she was stuck with them. Many ponies that had joined had left to pursue other endeavors or their true callings, or simply because the constant traveling never left them time to find love. So the decision was made that Scootaloo would become a member of the team to build her up to her goals of becoming a better flier; good enough for the Wonderbolts. With a grin, Scootaloo crouched, ready for takeoff. While there were still issues she had between her father, Scootaloo was happy to finally be moving forward toward her goals with not just her friends, but with family at her back.