> Under Your Wings
>  by Askesalsa
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Under Your Wings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

Dash heard a recognizable voice call out to her. She was in the middle of napping on a cloud after a hard day's work. Blinking her eyes, she tossed off the last moments of her relaxed break. She stood on the cloud, stretching her back and wings with a loud yawn. Finally, she moved to the edge of the cloud, looking down to see Scootaloo standing below, waiting in anticipation.

"Hey, Scoot," Rainbow Dash said, her voice still sounding tired from her rest. "What's up?"

Scootaloo eagerly bounced from the ground. "School's out! I came as fast as I could, since I didn't want to keep you waiting!" The orange pegasus filly sounded extremely excited. She was smiling ear to ear, flapping her small wings a bit as she hopped in place.

Rainbow Dash then remembered how she promised to give the filly a few lessons in flying today. "All right," the older pegasus replied. Though a little irritated that she was disturbed during her nap, she had made a promise, and was always loyal to her word. She jumped down from the cloud, landing gracefully in front of Scootaloo. The young pegasus seemed even more excited than just a second ago trembling with happiness. It was kind of like when a school girl meets her idol. This was, of course, the case with Scootaloo, as she highly admired the rainbow-maned pegasus.

"So, you wanna get started?" Rainbow Dash asked. Any grudge she held over being bothered quickly disappeared when she saw her little fan's face. Being a proud and sometimes boastful pony, she was always happy when others openly admired her flying abilities, and nopony admired her like Scootaloo. "How far along are you anyway?"

Scootaloo flapped her tiny wings once nervously, lowering her head a bit in embarrassment. "So far only able to stay in the air. And even that isn't for very long."

"Show me."

The tiny wings fluttered into motion, soon becoming a blur of momentum. The orange filly clenched her eyes in concentration, giving it her all to flap her underdeveloped wings. Slowly but surely, she rose from the ground, levitating in the air no more than a few feet from the ground. She began to wheeze slightly from the strain, but she settled down after a few seconds. Setting off was always the hardest part.

Rainbow Dash gave the filly a smirk. "All right! Now let me see how high you can go." She was rather amazed at Scootaloo's progress. It was not more than a few weeks ago that the same filly could only use her wings to give herself a kick-start on her scooter. It was, however, about time she learned how to fly, and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but wonder why the filly's parents weren't teaching her themselves.

Scootaloo made the same trying expression. She ascended a few meters before stopping. She looked at Rainbow Dash, sweat covering her face. "This is about as far as I can go. I've been training hard for this."

"And you're doing great. Not as great as me, when I was your age of course," Dash said jokingly, yet with a bit of pride in her voice as well. "But you've really come far in such a short time. You know what? How about we start navigating today?"

"Navigating? Really!?" Scootaloo almost fell to the ground from the surprise, but managed to regain her balance. Rainbow Dash laughed loudly at this, making the orange filly blush. She grinned in embarrassment. "Hehe, whoops."

Still giggling a tad, the rainbow-maned pony continued: "Yeah, navigating. You've pretty much got the flying under control. From here on, it's just training, and I can't teach that. Instead, how about I teach you how to move from side to side?"

"That would be awesome!" This time, Scootaloo did fall to the ground because of her exaggerated excitement. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing, holding her belly to try and control herself.

"Hey, cut it out, Rainbow," Scootaloo said, blushing yet again. She took to the air one more time, this time a tad faster and with more ease than before, though still wheezing for a few seconds.

After she finished laughing, Rainbow Dash flew up to the side of the orange pegasus filly and gave her a light pat on her head. She faced the same direction and tried to get the same altitude, so as to be able to train her more efficiently.

"I gotta be honest with you: I've never actually trained anypony before, so I'm gonna do the same my dad did when he trained me. You ready?"

Scootaloo nodded, staying focused on hovering steady.

"Cool. All right, first thing first: it's all in the weight. When you wanna fly in some direction, you gotta lean your body that way. Like if you wanna move forwards, you lean forwards, and then you use your body weight to push yourself in the direction. You got it?"

"I think so." She nodded again, swallowing her spit with a nervous face.

"Great. Now, try and follow me, okay?" Rainbow Dash tilted forwards, slowly moving in a straight line, feeling the wind picking up as she was moving. She looked over her shoulder to see Scootaloo doing pretty much the same, although a bit wobbly. She was obviously nervous, focusing hard on her every move.

"Good! You're on the right track," Dash encouraged, smiling over her shoulder. "Now, try and move the same way I do. Follow my trail." She leaned to the right, making a turn sharp enough to make a sound in the wind. She spun around so as to face forwards again.

Scootaloo tried to do the same, but accidentally leaned too far, losing her balance. She wobbled a bit through the air with panic spreading across her face and into her movements before losing control, flying in wild patterns as she desperately tried to correct herself. Finally, the young pegasus hit a tree branch and made a painful expression as she fell to the ground.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she darted over to the crash site to check on the filly. They were not high in the air, and their speed was not that great, but even a small collision can leave quite a bump, so the older pegasus could not help but bite her bottom lip in worry. "You okay?" she asked, landing beside the filly and helping her back to her hooves.

Scootaloo rubbed her sore forehead a bit, but otherwise seemed fine. Even so, Rainbow Dash felt that she had to check for herself, since she didn't want her little fan to get hurt.

"Come here. Let me see." As Rainbow Dash expected Scootaloo's forehead, she couldn't help but notice the filly turn red with a blush and steer her eyes away. The young pegasus leaned backwards, as if she was embarrassed by Rainbow's closeness. Dash gave a gentle smile and patted her on the forehead again to indicate that she was done checking. "Seems like you're all right. You got a lot of practice to do yet though, Pipsqueak."

Scootaloo looked back up at her with adoring eyes. "Do you think I'll ever be as good as you?"

"Ha! Not in a million years. You gotta settle for second place, Scoot," Rainbow teased with a grin. "You ready to go again?"

Scootaloo nodded fast and took off into the air. Rainbow Dash followed and positioned herself beside her again, getting ready for round two.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Scootaloo!" Applebloom called, making both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo turn their heads. The young earth pony and Sweetie Belle were fast approaching. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had planned to be together today to find their Cutie Marks, or just to have fun and see if they happened to get them in the process. The two fillies ran over to their friend and her rainbow-maned pegasus idol.

"Hey guys," Scootaloo said with a smile. "Are you as excited about tonight as I am!"

The two fillies nodded simultaneously, giggling as they did.

"Sure am!" Applebloom proclaimed. She cast her gaze to the older pegasus. "Hi, Rainbow! How're ya?"

Dash smiled to the filly. "I'm good, thanks. So, what plans do you three have for tonight?"

"We're gonna have a sleepover! We're sure ta find our Cutie Marks tonight!" the yellow earth filly said with a lot of confidence.

Rainbow Dash giggled, amused by the the filly's excitement. "Well, good luck with that. Do your parents know about this?"

"Ah told Big Macintosh. He said it was fine," Applebloom said.

"Yeah, Rarity knows," Sweetie Belle added.

"Don't worry about it," Scootaloo said with a low voice and a rather weak smile.

Applebloom looked to her pegasus friend. Scootaloo seemed to become a bit quieter every time somepony mentioned her parents. She didn't give it much thought, though.

Rainbow Dash gave the orange filly a quick, serious look, but let it fade. "Well, in that case, let's say that's it for practice today, eh Scoot?"

"Sure, Rainbow Dash." The filly smiled widely at her idol.

Dash gave a nod of goodbye to the trio. "I'm gonna head home now. You three have fun, okay?"

"We will!" the three fillies said simultaneously.

Rainbow Dash flew off, leaving the fillies to themselves. Scootaloo turned her attention to her friends. "So, has the plan changed any? You guys come up with anything new?"

"Not without you, we haven't," Sweetie Belle said with a smile. "We thought about going to the treehouse to figure out how to get our Cutie Marks, and find out where we'll have our sleepover, just like we promised."

"Sounds good," Scootaloo replied.

"Great! Let's get to the clubhouse, shall we?" Sweetie Belle said.

The three of them nodded in agreement and took off towards their base of operations.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

In the treehouse, Sweetie Belle picked up a folded piece of paper and a few crayons from the corner. Unfolding the paper at the table, the Cutie Marks Crusaders' unfinished plan from last meeting on how to get their Cutie Marks was revealed.

Applebloom and Scootaloo sat down on each side of Sweetie Belle. The unicorn filly banged her hoof on the table like a gavel and cleared her throat. "Before we start the meeting I wanna check that everyone's here: Scootaloo?"

"Here!" the orange filly proclaimed, raising her hoof.

"Applebloom?"

"Here," Applebloom giggled, finding this a little silly, yet funny.

"Sweetie Belle?" The white unicorn became silent for a second as she stared straight ahead with as serious a face she could make. "Now where's Sweetie Belle?" she joked, unable to keep a smile from forming on her face.

"Stop joking around, silly," Applebloom giggled and gave Sweetie Belle a light push on her shoulder. The official Cutie Marks Crusader meetings always started the same way; lots of laughs, fun and silliness that had pretty much nothing to do with finding their Cutie Marks. It was just three fillies having fun together.

Scootaloo always seemed the most happy. While Sweetie Belle and Applebloom stopped laughing relatively quickly, Scootaloo just kept going. She really cherished their moments together. Applebloom couldn't help but smile at her friend who was having the time of her life. She herself enjoyed spending time with the pegasus and unicorn as well, even if their friendship was pretty new.

It was strange, really: Sweetie Belle used to attend another school in Ponyville, but she changed schools when the Parasprites ate it in the incident a few months ago. Scootaloo, however, had always attended to the same school as Applebloom. She always kept quiet, though, and Applebloom had never even noticed her. It was as if she intentionally avoided contact with other ponies.

It was nice to see her open up like this. Scootaloo was fun, energetic and friendly all at the same time, which was rare to see. The trio had only been friends for a short while, but it felt like they'd been friends forever.

"Anyway," Applebloom said when the orange filly had finally turned her laughing into a much quieter snickering. "Ah think we should find out where we can have our sleepover. Ah'd propose the clubhouse, but Applejack says Ah'm too young ta sleep somewhere with no adults. Sweet Apple Acres is out of the question too, since Big Macintosh is having guests."

"We can't sleep at my place either," Sweetie Belle said with a guilty look on her face. "I accidentally set fire to one of Rarity's dresses, and she needs peace and quiet to work on it through the night."

The two other fillies laughed out loud at the ridiculous bad luck Sweetie Belle had, creating a blush and an embarrassed smile on her face. This kind of result seemed to be customary for whenever she helped her sister out.

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom then turned their attention towards Scootaloo, smiling at her with anticipation shining from their eyes. The orange pegasus seemed to shrink under their gaze. She smiled nervously, coughing into her hoof. "So what do we do then?"

"Well, since we can't sleep at mah place or Sweetie Belle's, yer pretty much our last option," Applebloom said. She could see Scootaloo sinking even lower and losing the smile on her face.

"I…" she began, obviously making excuses. "I don't think tonight's a good night."

Wondering why exactly Scootaloo suddenly seemed so nervous, Applebloom continued: "Why not? Are your parents busy?"

"Well… um… yeah. They are. They're having… um… a dinner party tonight." Scootaloo gave a fake, toothy smile. She was trembling with nervousness, showing just how bad a liar she is. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at each other with a hint of worry in their eyes. Why would Scootaloo lie?

Applebloom continued even further: "Scootaloo… what's wrong?"

Scootaloo flinched. "What do you mean?"

"Well… yer lying." Applebloom had always been rather straight-forward. She did not want to make her friend uncomfortable, but she could not help but wonder why she was hiding something from them.

The orange filly took a step backwards and looked down at the floor. "I'm not lying… They really do have a… dinner party."

There was an awkward silence in the room. The three fillies were all looking at the floor, thinking of what to say next. Applebloom was worried whether or not she went too far, but more so, she worried about what could be so important for Scootaloo that she had to hide it from her friends.

"You can't come home with me…" Scootaloo suddenly said, her head hanging low and her voice almost a whisper. She was saddened by something; as if she wanted Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to come over, but for some reason could not allow that to happen. "I can't tell you why, but you can't."

"… but why? Ya don't have to hide anything from us..."

"I can't tell you."

"Is it something with your parents?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Just drop it, okay?"

"Maybe I can get Applejack to talk it over with 'em. I'm sure it'll be okay."

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" the orange filly suddenly shouted out. Tears started flowing down her cheeks and a quiet sobbing began to break her voice. She was trying hard not to cry, yet the tears kept fighting to fall.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle sat horrified. They hadn't intended to make their friend cry. Both apologized at the same time, and in the same quiet voice. They both wanted to walk over to Scootaloo and comfort her in some way, but they were not sure whether this would help or worsen the situation. They had never seen their usually energetic friend like that.

Scootaloo stood up after a short while and walked towards the door. "I'm sorry… I need to be alone right now…" she said, her voice weak and saddened. She started running, disappearing out of sight into the growing darkness of evening.

The mood had changed, and Applebloom and Sweetie Belle bid each other goodnight. Each walked home with a mixture of guilt for unintentionally having made Scootaloo cry, and worry for her well-being.

When Applebloom came back to Sweet Apple Acres, her head hung low, she was greeted by the familiar, cheerful voice of her big sister. "Howdy, Applebloom. Yer sure back early. Didn't ya have a sleepover planned tonight?"

Applebloom looked the cowpony in the eyes, wondering whether or not she should tell her about what happened. She was sure Scootaloo wouldn't want her to bring this up with anypony, but on the other hoof, Applejack would probably find out sooner or later. Her big sister might also have some idea of what to do in this situation. She recalled the meeting's events to her sister.

Silence struck the siblings and the cheerful expression on Applejack's face had been reduced to one of worry. She sat on her flank and signaled her baby sister to come closer to her so she could comfort her. Applebloom was showing a sad face that could give somepony a heart attack, making her sister smile at her to turn her frown upside down.

"Ain't nawthing fer you ta worry 'bout, sugarcube. Although, Ah gotta admit: That does sound mighty weird," Applejack said with a gentle yet pondering tone. She brought her hoof to her chin, thinking about which steps to take now. "Ya said ya think it might be something about 'er parents?"

"Don't know what else it could be. She got awfully upset when Ah brought it up."

"Well, as Ah said: Don't you worry about it," Applejack comforted, putting a hoof around the filly, whose eyes were shaking and wet. "Ah'm sure we'll figure out what's wrong. In fact, Ah think Ah might speak to Rainbow Dash about it. Since Scootaloo idolizes 'er so much, she should be able to talk to 'er about this." She pulled Applebloom towards herself for a hug to soothe her worries. "It'll be all right, ya hear?"

Applebloom nodded slowly with a weak smile. She wanted to be the one to take care of this, but she didn't know what to do. It was probably a good idea to let the big ponies talk to her friend. They had a better idea of how to take care of a crying filly. She hoped, at least.

"Now, off ta bed," her sister added, sending her heartwarming smile. "Ya had a rough night. Ya should really get some rest."

Applebloom nodded again and went into the house. She greeted Big Macintosh and his guests, excused herself for being tired and unsocial, and went straight to her room. Lying in her bed, she put on a hopeful smile and was instantly asleep.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow Dash was up early today. She was practicing a few loops she wanted to show the Wonderbolts the next time she would meet them. She had the stunts pretty much nailed down, but it could never hurt to be extra cautious and train a little more, perfecting the already perfect.

Wiping off a drop of sweat from her forehead, she noticed a familiar figure in the distance coming towards her; Applejack. She gave off a smile and went to greet the cowpony.

"Hey, AJ," she greeted, flying over to the pony without landing, instead staying in the air before her. "What's up?"

"Heya, Rainbow," Applejack replied, sitting before the pegasus. "Not much going on with me, but Ah'd like ta talk with ya about somethin', if ya don't mind."

"Well, sure. What is it?"

"It's about Scootaloo. Applebloom was with 'er last night."

"Yeah, I know. I saw them run off to their clubhouse. She didn't disappear or anything, did she?" the rainbow-maned pegasus asked, making a worried face.

Applejack shook her head. "Ah don't think so. But she kinda had a fight with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Well, fight or flight. Whatever ya'd call it. Anyway, she apparently became mighty upset when the girls mentioned 'er parents. Had 'er crying and all, and this made Applebloom and Sweetie Belle worry a bunch. Ah thought ya might want ta talk with 'er or somethin' like that."

Rainbow Dash finally landed. She was a little surprised to hear that Scootaloo had trouble, yet no more surprised than that she secretly expected this. She did not know what to do about it though. Scootaloo was just a fan. The orange filly wasn't her responsibility, and she couldn't see why she should be the one to talk to her. She wasn't family or anything. She just trained her.

"It's too bad for her if she's sad, but why me?" the rainbow-maned pony asked with a bit of hesitation.

"Beg yer pardon?" Applejack replied in surprise, narrowing her eyes.

"Why should I be the one to talk to her? It's not like I'm her mom or anything."

"Why, Rainbow Dash… Ah'm surprised ya would say somethin' like that." Applejack was getting irritated. She was disappointed that Rainbow Dash did not simply agree to talk to Scootaloo without hesitation. She stepped forward towards her in a way that made Rainbow Dash back off a few steps.

"It's not like I know her very well either!" Rainbow Dash defended, a little intimidated. "She doesn't tell me about her life or anything. She just likes to spend time with me and have me practice with her."

"And why in tarnation do ya think that is?"

"I don't know. Because she looks up to me or something?"

"Exactly! Yet yer saying ya ain't got nothin' to do with 'er personal life?"

"I didn't mean it that way... I just meant she isn't my responsibility." Rainbow Dash was getting a little ashamed of herself, yet she insisted that she should not be the one to talk with the orange pegasus filly. She would not know what to say to her anyways. She didn't have any experience with kids, nor any real experience with comforting people. Applejack or Fluttershy would probably be much more suited for this job. Hay, maybe even Pinkie Pie.

"But yer her idol, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack said in a loud, slightly angry voice. "She respects ya! She looks up ta ya! Yer probably the only pony she'd open up to! How can ya just stand there and say ya don't wanna talk to 'er?"

Rainbow Dash crumbled in shame. She turned quiet for a second and tried to avoid eye contact with the cowpony. She really did feel bad about what she was saying, yet she did not have the courage to actually act the adult; to take responsibility. "I just don't know what to do…"

Applejack sighed. She shook her head a little and calmed herself by keeping quiet for a second. She looked Rainbow Dash in the eye with determination and concluded the lecture: "Scootaloo is having a hard time right now, Rainbow. She needs ya. For Celestia's sake, she's just a filly. Yer the grown up here. Ya gotta act the part, all right?"

Rainbow Dash was quiet. She lowered her head and nodded in agreement, accepting her defeat. She needed to do something about this whole thing.

Seeing the rainbow-maned pegasus agree made Applejack smile with a mixed sense of relief and accomplishment. This was her win. "That's better," the cowpony said. "Now go and talk to 'er."

"I don't know where she lives, though."

"Oh... right." Applejack hadn't planned on that, but knew it was only a matter of time. "Ya got any training planned with 'er?"

"No. And she hasn't come around today."

"That unusual?"

"Actually, yeah." Rainbow Dash stood up and regained a bit of her usual, proud attitude. "She's kind of bent on training with me as often as she can, so she comes around every day before school and ask me to practice flying with her."

"In that case, she might still be upset. We'll ask her teacher where she lives, s'posing she won't go ta school tomorrow. Cherilee's the one, right?"

"You probably know that better than me, AJ. You're the one with a little sister in that class, remember?" the rainbow-maned pegasus giggled, making the cowpony blush a tad in embarrassment.

"Ah s'pose so."

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow Dash and Applejack parted ways, having mutually decided to ask Cherilee where Scootaloo lives after school. Rainbow Dash still felt bad after Applejack's lecture, embarrassed and ashamed of her hesitant act. Sure, she wasn't Scootaloo's big sister, but she spent so much time with the orange pegasus filly that she should have noticed the signs.

She flew up to her cloud, intent on relaxing a bit before getting to work clearing the skies for the day. Settling in to the billowy cloud, she tried to rest, but couldn't keep herself from looking over to Ponyville, pondering what to do if Scootaloo really had trouble. What could it be? Is she being abused at home? Is it some kind of trauma? Whatever it is, it must have something to do with her family, considering the reactions she has when her parents are mentioned.

After a few minutes of thinking, she noticed another recognizable figure at the Ponyville market. Apparently, she would not need to speak with Cherilee after all; it was Scootaloo. The filly was hiding behind a corner for some reason, invisible to the ponies on the ground, but very noticeable from the cloud where Rainbow Dash was sitting. The rainbow-maned pegasus thought about flying over to the filly to talk to her like Applejack said, but she became curious about what Scootaloo was doing. Why was the filly sneaking around like that? Dash decided to stay hidden for a while herself and follow the filly's course of action.

Much to Rainbow Dash's surprise, Scootaloo jumped out from behind the corner when nopony was looking, grabbed as many apples as she could carry from a small vendor nearby, and quickly sprinted away as if her tail was on fire. She had stolen the apples.

Rainbow Dash was stunned after having witnessed this. She decided to keep stalking the filly, curious as to why she would do something like that, and also a bit afraid of confronting her about it. Not to mention the dreaded emotional talk she would have to have with her. She jumped from cloud to cloud, staying out of Scootaloo's sight. The orange filly had changed her means of transportation from hooves to scooter.

After a few minutes, Scootaloo made a right turn into a cemetery. It was still early in the morning, probably about half an hour before school started. Why would she go into a cemetery at this time of day, or at all for that matter, Rainbow Dash wondered? The filly stopped the scooter in front of a semi-large gravestone. Taking off her helmet, she sat down on her flank with the stolen apples between her and the stone. Dash got a bad feeling at this point, but still wanted to stay hidden. She chose a large tree to hide behind, close enough for her to eavesdrop.

"I brought breakfast," Scootaloo said, pushing an apple closer to the grave before her. "I know, I know. You don't want me to steal anymore, but it's not like a few apples will hurt them. Besides, I haven't been caught yet." She took a bite of her apple and chewed it fast at first, then slowed down before forcing herself to swallow. She look disgusted at the apple in her hoof. "I've never liked breakfast. It's always so hard to chew this early in the morning. But I know it's healthy for me. That it keeps me going through the day, like you always said, so I'm making sure to eat it." The filly paused on both eating and speaking. She hung her head a bit, smiling at the stone in front of her. Lowering her voice, she continued: "I'm sorry for keeping you up all night... I just had to tell you about what happened between me, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. I feel bad keeping this a secret for them, but I don't want them to treat me any differently either. I know they're just trying to help and all, but it's not like they understand anything, right? I mean, they're not like me." Another pause. She was rotating the apple core in her hooves, looking at it without actually taking notice of it. "How could they understand...?"

Rainbow Dash was astonished. She had an idea about what was wrong, but this was simply too much for her to handle. Could Scootaloo really be...? Could that grave...? She sat down behind the tree and placed her hoof over her mouth, trying to find the courage to speak to the filly. She had no idea what to say. No idea what to do or even how she should sound when speaking to her. That filly is completely alone...

Scootaloo was sitting quietly in front of the grave for a while. She was smiling vaguely, but her eyes were storing another mood. She wasn't teary-eyed. It looked more like those eyes had lost their will to fight. She lied down on her belly, head and forehooves stretched forward, reaching for the gravestone. "... I miss you, mom," she said in a faint voice, almost a whisper.

"Hey, Pipsqueak," Rainbow Dash said with a gentle, yet nervous voice. She finally had enough of hiding and wanted to comfort the filly sitting alone in front of her mother's grave. Scootaloo was surprised by the sudden appearance of the rainbow-maned pegasus and rushed up on her hind legs, desperately trying to block the view of the gravestone.

"Hey, Dash," she said in a voice more along the lines of her usual volume, yet still not quite there. She was shaking, clearly afraid of how much Rainbow Dash had seen. She really did not want anypony to find out about this. That was too late though: Rainbow Dash had seen everything and she could no longer pretend that everything was fine.

The older pegasus walked over to the filly, still unsure of what to say, which her face showed all too clearly. "What are you up to?" she asked, afraid this was too straight-forward a question.

"Nothing... just passing through the graveyard on the way to school."

"... I already know, Scoot," Rainbow Dash said with a sad sigh, finally confronting her. This was not for herself, she thought, but for Scootaloo.

Scootaloo threw away her fake smile and looked to the ground, seeming a little embarrassed and saddened that Rainbow Dash found out. "So, what of it?" she said defensively with a low, irritated voice. "You're gonna pity me now?"

"..."

"Go ahead. See if I care..." The two of them were silent for a while. Rainbow Dash was looking at the filly with worry, and Scootaloo was looking at the ground, a tear forming in her eye.

"Yeah, I probably am gonna pity you," Rainbow Dash said, making the filly bite her bottom lip. "But it's not like I'd do that to anypony." She walked over to the filly, put her hooves around her and sat down with her, whispering to her: "I'm sorry, Scootaloo... I wish you didn't have to go through this... I can't say I know how you feel, but I can tell you this much: You don't have to be alone anymore..."

The tears in scootaloo's eyes were forming faster. She began whimpering, yet she kept her body stiff and in as much control as possible.

"... You're putting too much on yourself, you know...?" Rainbow Dash continued, clinging to the filly in a way she never thought she would do. "... You should have some more faith in us bigger ponies... You're too young to have to be by yourself..."

"So what if I'm young!?" the filly cried out, weeping louder than before. "You big ponies are all the same! As soon as I start trusting you, you leave me alone! YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!!" she grabbed Rainbow Dash, hugging her tightly and wept. She was trembling throughout as the emotion poured from her. It was as if she had not cried out in years. "First Dad leaves before I can even talk! Then Mom leaves me! Even Gran'pa and Gran'ma left me! Why should I think you're any different!?"

"... I won't leave you..."

"Shut up!"

"... I won't leave you, Scootaloo..."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!!!"

"LISTEN TO ME!" Rainbow Dash cried out as she pushed the filly back, keeping her hooves on her shoulders. She could not help but form a few tears in her own eyes, but she knew Scootaloo needed her. She looked the filly in the eyes intensely enough for her not to look away, making sure their gazes were locked. "I won't leave you! No matter what happens, I promise, I will be here for you! Do you understand!?"

Scootaloo was quiet for a few seconds. Her face was forcing a different expression on her face as her tears increased the speed with which they were pouring out of her eyes. She jumped in again for a hug, clinging tight to the rainbow-maned pegasus. She cried to her heart's content. All the tears she had kept in finally streamed from her eyes, running down Rainbow Dash's shoulder. They stayed like this for what felt like an eternity, neither saying a word. The filly cried, and the older pegasus brushed her mane with a hoof, consoling her.

Rainbow Dash brought the filly back with her to her house in the clouds. She let her skip school for today, simply because of what had happened. The two of them shared a connection that seemed to have strengthened greatly during this little incident. She walked over to the young pony with a box of tissues to clean up the remaining teartraces on her face.

"You know, you really shouldn't steal," she added as she was wiping her face with a tissue.

"It's not like there was anything else I could do. I don't wanna go to an orphanage."

"You should stay here instead."

The filly looked up. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open in surprise. Rainbow Dash smiled at this reaction and thought to herself that it was the best solution for both of them.

"I'm not much of a cook, though, so you gotta live with whatever the hay I serve," she laughed, making the orange pegasus filly smile. "So what do you say?"

Scootaloo did not say anything. She simply smiled as wide as possible and leaned in to give Rainbow Dash a big, loving hug, which the rainbow-maned pegasus returned with a smile.
> Single Wing, part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The early morning light was as sharp as always, passing the borders of the open kitchen window where a light breeze gently shook the drapes from side to side, letting in short glimpses of the sun's blinding rays. Scootaloo quickly found herself blinded, just as she was carrying one of her mother's finest plates to the kitchen table. A bumpy corner of the rug swept the temporarily blinded filly off her feet, making her accidentally lose her grip on the pretty piece of porcelain and send it flying through the air. With a bit of reflexes, luck and agility though, the orange filly managed to leap forward and caught the plate midair before it would break into an impossible puzzle. She let out a sigh of relief, wondering just how disappointed her mother would be if she had broken this heirloom of hers from her own parents. Not wanting such an event to happen again; the orange filly carefully put the plate down and decided to close the window so the wind could no longer play this trick on her.

As she stretched her tiny hoof to properly grab the edge of the window and pull it back to the sash, she noticed the shape of an earth pony, probably a stallion, walking up the narrow gravel path to their house. She closed her eyes halfway in an attempt to identify the stranger with the blinding sun behind him. A set of sparkly stars appeared in her pupils when she noticed the white doctor coat covering the stallion's own natural faded tan one, and the white-gray mane that ran untrimmed along his neck. She also managed to narrowly notice a picture of a bandage-wrapped heart on the old stallion's flank and was now a hundred percent sure of his identity.

With the speed of light she stormed to the door and opened it wide before the stallion had a chance to reach the doorbell. She excitedly started skipping in place with enough intensity for the glasses, bowls and plates on the shelves to start clinging in symphony. "Hi, Candyfeld!" she yelled with a happy voice. "Did you get me some sweets this time too, huh? Did you? Did you?"

The old stallion burst into a deep laughter, though the wide open mouth from which this sound emitted was almost invisible because of his great, white mustache. "Always with the Candyfeld, eh Scootaloo?" he cheerfully replied as he used a hoof to nuzzle the orange filly's mane. "Yes, well I just might have a little something on me."

He stretched his neck as much to the side as ponily possible to reach the chest pocket of his doctor's coat. Scootaloo was still a little unsure of why he would wear such a weird piece of cloth when it was so difficult to do something as simple as reach into the pocket. But every time she asked him about it, he simply answered that he looked more respectable as a doctor with it, whatever that meant. He got his teeth around a white plastic stick and managed to drag out a red and blue lollypop of such proportions that it logically should not have been able to fit in such a small pocket.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Scootaloo shrieked when she was presented with the sweet wheel of sugar on a stick. Her eyes turned sparkly once more and a waterfall of drool started running from her mouth. She jumped the piece of candy like a viper attacking its prey, even making the old doctor quickly retract his hoof out of pure instinct.

The filly was just about to yank her teeth into the candy, but stopped when she noticed that it was still wrapped in its plastic container. From there, she started ripping and tearing it with her teeth and hooves to get her price from the bag, while the old doctor stood watching in amusement.

However, it did not take long for him to remove his attention from the filly to a staircase at the end of the hallway. While he was silently focusing on each step, his well-hidden smile became smaller, gradually replaced by a more serious and stern appearance. Scootaloo took note of where he was looking and let go of the lollypop, only having managed to tear a little at the impossible.to-break invisible wrapping.

"She's still sleeping," she said with a smile on her face and a couple of adorable eyes looking up at the old doctor.

"That's good," he responded, still focused on the staircase. "So I take it she's as weak as ever?"

"It's not like she's weak all the time," Scootaloo said with a serious tone that caught the doctor's attention. "Yeah, she's been coughing a lot at night. And yeah, she's been sort of… sleepy lately… but she still has time to play and have fun and stuff."

The doctor smacked a hoof to his forehead and let out a loud sigh. "She still does that? Celestia, how many times do I have to tell her to stay in bed before she gets it?"

Scootaloo's ears dropped a tad and she looked to the side, eyes lowered and focused on the floor. "… I think it's nice when she's up… it's more fun than when she's just sleeping."

"I know you think so," the doctor said, nuzzling the filly's hair gently in an attempt to cheer her up. "But you do know that she needs her rest too, right?"

Scootaloo nodded and looked back up. She noticed that the old stallion was smiling caringly at her, as much as the mustache would reveal, and forced a weak smile upon her own lips. Not wanting to seem too miserable, she tried to lighten the mood by changing her tone of voice into a more jokingly sort: "Well, she won't stay in bed no matter what you tell her. She's way too stubborn for that, Candyfeld."

"I guess that's true," the old stallion said with a snigger. "And proud to boot; no matter how many times I tell her to rest; she just smiles and says she's fine. You know, she doesn't make my job any easier."

"And what fun would there be in an easy job?" a sweet voice called out from behind Scootaloo. The filly's eyes widened and she hastily turned her head to see the light-brown pegasus mare with the spiraling cloud cutie mark slowly approaching them from the stairs. Her purplish-red mane was messy, even more than Scootaloo's own, meaning she must have just gotten out of bed. The orange filly jumped up and trotted over to the mare to embrace her in a big hug that was returned with a single hoof wrapped around her little filly shoulder. Although the pegasus' green eyes showed clear signs of fatigue, and although her missing wing was very noticeable, Scootaloo always found comfort in the loving light that her sweet smile always seemed to give off.

"My, my, aren't you a buzzkill?" the mare said, grinning at the old doctor, who simply stood smiling in front of her, all the while maintaining the hug with the little filly. "Coming here and making my cute little daughter all sad. It's probably a good thing you didn't become a pediatrician, eh Candyfeld?"

"So even you've started calling me Candyfeld, huh?" the old doctor laughed loudly to the point where his eyes started generating water. "You do realize what a laughing stock I would be at the hospital if they heard that name, don't you, Copperbolt?"

The brown mare sniggered and let go of the orange filly, hinting to end the hug. "Well, we're not at the hospital right now, are we?" she replied deviously before winking to her orange daughter, who winked back with a hearty grin, happy to see her mother as always.

"Well, as long as you remember to call me Heartfeld around others," the stallion said as his outburst of laughter wore off. "Or nopony would take me seriously."

"I can't make any promises," Copperbolt replied with a jestering tone.

"Me neither," Scootaloo joined in, trying to imitate every move the pegasus was making.

Smiling and sighing, Dr. Heartfeld shook his head at the two. "Good grief, you never change."

While the mare and the filly simultaneously shook their heads as if they had been practicing the synchronization, the elderly stallion changed his expression back to the serious one he had just a minute ago. Fun time was over in his case. Scootaloo's smile faded when she noticed this and she looked to her dear mother beside her to try and see what the problem was. But Copperbolt simply smiled at her, telling her that everything was fine with a simple nod of the head.

"I'm glad to see you're ok," the stallion said, returning Scootaloo's attention to him. "But you know how I feel about you being out of bed, right?"

Copperbolt rolled her eyes and waved a hoof before her as she responded: "Oh, don't be so stingy, Candyfeld. I need to stretch my wing every now and then. Besides, what harm can a little fresh air do?"

"It's not about the fresh air," the stallion sighed. "You're just in no condition to walk around like you do. If you would just listen to-."

"Is that a lollypop, Scoot?" the brown mare interrupted, and the elderly stallion smacked his forehead in annoyance at the mare's unwillingness to follow his medical advice.

Scootaloo looked up at her and smiled with all her might, knowing exactly what would come to happen next. So she got ready to defend her price. "Yeah, Candyfeld gave it to me."

"Oh?" the brown mare smiled deviously. Scootaloo tried to hide the treat behind her back as Copperbolt sneakily approached it. It was obvious to the orange filly that she would have to fight for her right to eat it at this point. The one-winged pegasus continued: "Well, have you eaten your breakfast yet?"

The orange filly nodded hastily, although it did not seem to convince her all too clever mother, who simply extended her devilish smirk, still slowly approaching the lollypop like a predator would its prey. She then darted her head forward with the speed of a Quarray Eel, snatching the sugarwheel away from Scootaloo before she had a chance to react. The orange filly jumped forward with a grin of her own and tried to grab it back, but her overly pepped mother was holding it just outside of her reach, giggling as she waved it back and forth above the bouncing filly's head.

"Aww, come on!" Scootaloo laughed while jumping for her candy. "Give it back! I promise I won't eat it 'till after breakfast!"

"Yeah right!" Copperbolt responded while holding the object between her teeth, which made her spit a little when she talked. "I've heard that one before. This one's going on the shelf." She turned around and walked to the kitchen where she stretched her body to reach the highest shelf on the wall.

"Please, mom? Can't I just have one bite?" Scootaloo pleaded, trying out her puppy eyes, though Copperbolt had developed an immunity to these eyes over the years.

"Aren't you the one who always says it's too hard to chew in the morning?" the brown mare said in laughter, still trying to reach the shelf.

But the little game was ruined when something seemed to happen to Copperbolt, just as she was about to put down the piece of candy: She began sweating, and her movement was becoming unstable and wobbly. Her breath was heavy enough to be heard through the kitchen door and into the hallway where Dr. Heartfeld and Scootaloo were both watching her through the doorway with a growing sense of worry. The mare herself ignored it though, futilely acting as if everything was ok. "Besides…" she breathlessly continued. "Breakfast gets you… through the… the day. You can't just… you shouldn't eat candy before-."

She finally dropped the lollypop and stumbled a few steps back before she regained her balance by grabbing onto the table, hitting it hard enough for the entire kitchen to shake. Scootaloo darted over to the weak mare and was almost about to jump her, though she stopped herself from doing so, afraid that she would somehow make it worse by jumping her in this weakened state. She instead sat down beside her and gently touched her side with a single hoof to show that she was there.

"Mom, are you ok?" Scootaloo asked, though she knew the answer already. The true answer at least, not the one she expected her mother to give her.

"Yes, yes," Copperbolt answered with a weak voice, putting on an obviously fake and forced smile. "I just lost my balance for a bit, honey. Don't worry about me."

"I think we should get you back to bed," Heartfeld calmly and sternly intervened as he walked over to the pegasus that was still clinging to the table. He let his head slip under her body from the side and then lifted himself along with her, letting her hang breathlessly over his back. She began coughing on his back, letting out loud shockwaves from her throat that she tried to hold back with her hoof, while Scootaloo was watching silently with a frightened expression.

"Sorry about that, Scoot," Copperbolt said wearily, having given up on trying to hide her weakness, though she kept on smiling. "I guess I have to get my treatment done with for the day."

"You're gonna be ok though, right?" Scootaloo asked with worry painted across her face.

Copperbolt smiled at her and nodded once. "Of course I am. In fact; when you get home, how about we do something fun?"

"Are you sure we can do that?" Scootaloo asked, unsure whether or not this was an empty promise. She looked at Heartfeld, whose face told her they could not do anything, but Copperbolt's eyes said differently.

"Of course we can, Scoot. Don't underestimate your mom," the pegasus giggled while she flexed one of her forelegs as much as she could. "So what you wanna do?"

Her head lowered, Scootaloo started rubbing her hooves together in thought. "Can we… maybe go to the playground?"

"You really shouldn't," Heartfeld strictly intervened, bringing Scootaloo's head even further down.

"I'm still gonna," the brown pegasus laughed, making the doctor let out a surrendering sigh. "There's no way I'm backing out of a promise to you, Scoot. When you get home from school, we're going to the playground, ok?"

Scootaloo felt a little bit of a smile form on her lips. Perhaps there was still hope of getting to spend a little fun-time with her mother, but she could not bring herself to completely believe in her words. She raised an eyebrow and put on her most serious expression and asked: "You promise we can go?"

Copperbolt nodded once more and raised a hoof as much as possible while still on the doctor's back. "I promise."

The doctor shook his head though, giving up on trying to convince his patient that she should do as he says. He looked up at a clock hanging above the doorway and seemed a little surprised at what he saw. "Speaking of school," he said. "Scootaloo, shouldn't you be on your way?"

Scootaloo looked at the clock herself, resulting in her eyes opening wide in shock at how late it was. Slightly panicky, the young filly put aside all the bad thoughts from before and instead focused on the fact she was late, overreacting to the point where she was unable to think clearly. Copperbolt simply laughed weakly from the stallion's back at the jumpy filly and signaled for her to calm down with her forelegs. "Don't worry, Scoot," she said with tears of laughter left in her eye corners, though her voice was tired and worn out from the coughing. "I bet Cherilee won't mind you coming a few minutes late. Just take your scooter and get there as fast as you can."

"But I've never been late before!" Scootaloo yelled, not having been calmed down the slightest by her mother's words.

"Well, you'll be even later if you just run around whining about it, won't you?" The brown mare said with a devious grin, countering her sleepy expression and inviting Heartfeld along on a small giggle. "Now gimme a hug, grab your stuff and get the hay outta here, ok?"

The filly nodded hastily and jumped in to give the one-winged pegasus a quick farewell-hug before she dashed over to the door where her helmet and backpack was lying ready. She waved back at the two ponies, still standing in the kitchen in the same awkward position with Copperbolt on Heartfeld's back, and received a couple of caring smiles and waves in return. Slamming the door open and forcing it shut once again, she galloped to her little scooter, jumped on it, and started her wings like a motor and propelled forwards as fast as possible to make sure she would get to school as fast as possible. There was no reason to worry about her mother right now. She was in good hooves with Dr. Heartfeld. What she did worry about though, was Cherilee's reaction when she would show up after the bell had chirmed.
> Single Wing, part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The look on Cherilee's face told Scootaloo that she had definitely not made it in time. She offered her teacher an awkward grin that was met with a disappointed look. Luckily, it only took a few seconds for Cherilee to let her breath out and point her hoof to the only empty seat in the classroom. Scootaloo gave her a few hasty nods before she zigzagged between the tables and positioned herself as neatly as possible in the seat, trying her best to create the image of a perfect little school-filly.

This image was broken quickly though, by the mean sound of giggling from a few seats in front of her. She sighed in annoyance and looked disapprovingly at the only two fillies she could imagine would rudely laugh like that: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"I thought you were fast, Loserloo," Diamond Tiara bullied with her usual snobbish tone. "But I guess it's easy to get lost when you have such a featherbrain."

Scootaloo knew better than to start bickering with somepony like Diamond Tiara. She simply looked up at the blackboard and used her hoof to support the weight of her head as she leaned in over the table, blocking out all the annoying statics coming from this pest of a pony.

"Diamond, Silver Spoon, behave yourselves," Cherilee calmly said while staring strictly at the two fillies. They quickly submitted to the purple teacher's gaze and humbly sank into themselves as they apologized together. "Good," the teacher continued with a smile. "Now, seeing as Scootaloo decided to show up a little later this time, I'll just repeat my announcement. Perhaps this time somepony who's been... distant… will hear it as well."

She looked to the back at the dark-gold coated colt that was fruitlessly attempting to pick his nose with his hoof. Shaking her head, she gave an amused smile before continuing the announcement: "The half annual pony parent's consultation is coming up, so I'd like you all to remember and tell your parents about it. It'll be next Monday from 8-9 pm. I bet they will all be excited to hear how you're all doing in class, and don't worry if your grades haven't been perfect; they'll still be thrilled to see how you're doing with your friends." Once again she directed her gaze to the foal in the back, this time giving the blue, bucktoothed colt beside him a quick glance, and smiled at both of their clueless expressions.

Scootaloo swallowed a lump of spit that suddenly clogged her throat. She shakily raised her hoof with a wide, fake smile on her face, immediately gaining the teacher's attention. The look on Cherilee's face told the orange filly that she already knew exactly what she was going to say.

"Yes, Scootaloo?" Cherilee said with a hint of annoyance in her voice, yet her expression showed more concern than irritation.

Scootaloo put down her hoof, but maintained the forced smile. "My mom's at work at the same time the consultation is held. She won't be able to make it."

"Scootaloo," the teacher said with a loud sigh. "None of your parents have been to the consultation for the past two years. How can they always be this busy?"

"I don't know," the orange filly lied with a shrug of the shoulders. She did know, but the pride she had inherited from Copperbolt kept her from telling the truth. Although she was normally a terrible liar, she somehow managed to get her act together when it came to her pride. "I guess it's just a really hard job."

Another sigh left the purple teacher's mouth. "Fine then. I'll just have you bring them a letter like always. Anyways, we should get class started, shouldn't we? Let's have a blast of math."

While half the class smacked their foreheads at the teacher's terrible humor, and a few dimwits and nerds giggled along with her, Scootaloo relaxed her entire body and let the breath she had held in seethe out between her teeth. The worst possible thing that could happen in her own opinion would be if somepony found out about how she was living at home. She was sure that everypony would start pitying her or her single-winged mother, which was something she had trouble taking. Pity was the most shameful thing somepony could get, she thought.

When the bell started its chirming, Scootaloo fastened her grip on the table so as to not be swept away by the storm of foals and fillies, dashing to the freedom of the school's playground. As soon as only the dust cloud remained from the stampede, she got up and skipped to the door, thinking that she would use this recess to train her skills on the scooter. But Cherilee seemed to have other plans.

"Wait a minute," the teacher said from her desk desk, stopping Scootaloo abruptly in her progress.

The orange filly slowly turned her head to the purple pony, smiling widely as she did. "Yes, miss Cherilee?"

"I'd like to talk to you about your parents," she said with a serious face. Her eyes were glowing with concern, filling Scootaloo with the fear of her being suspicious about her, and possibly finding out that everything was not as dandy as she would have it seem.

"Why?" the orange filly asked as she slowly approached her teacher.

"I'm just a little worried. It's unusual for parents to have this much work."

Scootaloo did a quick sweep of her hoof in front of her. "Oh, it's not so bad. I guess it's just bad luck that it always happens at this time."

"Is that so?" Cherilee asked unconvinced, raising an eyebrow at the young filly. "So both your parents always have overtime at the same time?"

A little confused, Scootaloo tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow by herself. "Both my parents? I only have my mom."

Cherilee's eyes widened at this piece of information. She switched her stance from a relaxed one to a more stiff and awkward kind. "Just your mom?" she asked, clearly never having heard of this before. Or perhaps she simply forgot about this fact. "Then where's your father?"

Scootaloo looked to the side with a saddened expression. This was a subject she could be honest about. "…He left us while I was still a baby," she said in a low voice. "Apparently we weren't good enough for him."

"I see," Cherilee said with guilt showing in her eyes. "I'm sorry to hear about that…"

The entire atmosphere had become awkward. Cherilee and Scootaloo were both trying their best to avoid eye contact. The orange filly mostly wanted to just run away, but unless Cherilee gave her permission, she would have to stay. Instead she tried to end the conversation before the teacher would resume the original topic: "Well, it's fine. It's not like it's a big loss."

"Still," Cherilee said in a low voice, clearly pitying the young filly. "It must have been hard on you, having your father disappear like that."

"Why?" Scootaloo said, raising the mood a little, annoyed at the teacher's pitying tone and the assumption she made that it was 'hard on her'. She hated her father for having left them, so she never truly felt sad that he was not there. Still, there was always this empty feeling left when he was mentioned. "I've never met him. Sure it was probably hard on mom, but she's doing just fine, raising me alone." This was partly true, though Copperbolt's condition remained unmentioned.

"She sure is," Cherilee said with a weak smile, probably still feeling guilty for bringing up a sensitive topic. "But it must be hard for you two, living on a single pony's income."

"Nah," Scootaloo said as cheerfully as she could, faking every bit of happiness. "She's a former Wonderbolt. She can handle any job." Now the lies were restarted, yet Scootaloo kept her facial expressions calm. Copperbolt had not actually been working since she quit as a Wonderbolt. Dr. Heartfeld, not to mention her condition, would never allow it. They both lived on the monthly, Celestian welfare-check, which only just covered the living expenses.

"Former Wonderbolt? But last time I saw her, her wing was…" the purple teacher stopped herself midsentence when Scootaloo's ears lowered along with the rest of her head. "Ohh," she continued awkwardly, having realized the truth. "So that's why she's…?" Scootaloo nodded. "I see… I'm sorry…"

The awkward silence returned, this time along with a lot of sad thoughts in the filly's head. Cherilee did a few movements that showed just how uncomfortable she felt right now, which was probably why she uttered this next sentence: "Well, I think I've taken enough of your time with this… topic. Why don't you go enjoy your break? We'll… continue another time, shall we?"

Hearing this, Scootaloo did a few flexes of success inside her head, but her physical body maintained its composure. She simply smiled awkwardly and nodded hastily at the purple teacher and turned around to dart out of the room, eager to escape the questioning as well as the tense air the conversation had created. But even though she was happy that she had escaped another suspicion, she could not help but keep thinking these thoughts of her mother and father that their little chat had brought along.
> Single Wing, part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm home!" the orange filly shouted as soon as she opened the door. She did not get a response though, which was usual for whenever she would return. She walked upstairs and slowly opened the door to the brown pegasus' bedroom, careful not to wake her up. The sound of her mother's breathing was steady, and loud enough to be called a low snoring. She was wrapped up tightly in a blanket and lay crumbled up in a fetal position. Scootaloo noticed a half-eaten sandwich, a glass of water and a bottle of pain-pills on the drawer next to her, probably something Dr. Heartfeld had given her before he had left. The sandwich and water made the young filly smile at the doctor's kind-heartedness, but the pills made the smile fade away as they reminded her of her dear mother's condition: She was not sleeping because she wanted to.

Scootaloo's gaze then turned to a different drawer with a mirror hanging just above it. On this drawer were a collection of photos, neatly framed and showing a black stallion from the front with grayish-purple eyes. It was not possible to see the stallion's cutie mark on the photo, but Scootaloo had been told enough stories of her father to know that his flank sports a silver bicycle.

She momentarily thought back on how Cherilee had been acting awkwardly when told of this stallion's leaving, and decided to take a closer look at the framed photo. She walked over to the drawer and looked at the picture angrily, quietly snarling at it as she tried to somehow have a vicious staring contest with it. She truly hated him. She often lay awake at night, thinking about how he could simply turn his back on them when they needed him the most, despite what she had told Cherilee. But the main reason she hated him was the fact that her mother didn't; the very fact that this picture had not been torn to pieces proved that Copperbolt still had some sort of feelings for him. He was hurting her, even when he was not around, and that made Scootaloo think of him as an enemy.

Yet she secretly kept wishing for him to come home someday; wishing for him to tell them that he was sorry or that he did it for their sake in some way. He was her father after all, and nothing could possibly change that.

As she leaned in over the drawer, using her crossed hooves as a pillow for her head and leting out a sigh, she felt a hoof softly being planted on her shoulder. She looked up and saw her mother, gently smiling at her with her eyes showing the most caring of lights, although her fatigue was still clear.

"How was school, Scoot?" she asked in a calm, motherly voice.

Scootaloo let out another sigh and took a few seconds to answer. She was still leaning in over the drawer, looking at the picture while speaking: "Fine, I guess. Nothing really happened, you know?"

"Did you have fun with the others?"

"Well, if you mean 'did I get into a fight with Diamond Tiara?' then yes, I did," Scootaloo answered in an angry tone of voice. That snobbish filly had been bugging her throughout the entire recess to the point where Scootaloo almost went over and smacked her face in. The only reason she remained cool was that this sort of behavior would probably make Cherilee angry at her.

"Seriously, Scoot," the one-winged pegasus said while rolling her eyes. "You really gotta make some friends. It's no good if you just stay alone. And it's even worse if you keep getting into fights."

"Yeah, because I totally wanna be friends with Diamond Tiara," the orange filly said without attempting to hide her sarcasm.

Copperbolt laughed and gave her a few taps on the shoulder. "I'm not saying you should be friends with that gal. In fact you should probably get back at her somehow."

"But I thought you didn't want me to get into fights?" the filly said, looking back up with a confused expression.

"Well, I didn't say fight, now did I?" The brown mare said with a devious smirk and a sneaky look in her eyes. "You should just pull a prank on her or something. That way she'll learn not to mess with you."

Scootaloo giggled through a closed set of teeth. "Yeah, she deserves that."

The two of them spent the next few minutes, plotting a wicked plan to get back at the snobbish filly. One of the things Scootaloo loved the most about her mom was her liveliness; how everything she did became all fun and games, even though she was sick as hay. The laughter they shared were always sincere, and even the occasional cough from her could not bring them to stop.

Scootaloo looked at the picture of her father once more and released a sigh through her smiling mouth. She noticed her mother do the same, although her eyes had a different glow than her own. They were happy and sad at the same time, showing just how much she missed that black stallion, even though he hurt her so much when he bailed.

"You shouldn't hate him, Scoot," the brown mare suddenly said with a smile. She was somehow always able to read the filly's mind completely. An ability that was sometimes comforting and sometimes scary, depending on what Scootaloo was thinking about. "He's really not that bad."

"Then why did he leave?"

The mare looked at the ceiling in thought. "I don't know… I guess he had his reasons."

Scootaloo looked back at the picture while leaning her body up against her mother's soft coat. She could hear her heartbeat and compared it to her own: It was slower. The coat also felt rather cold when she compared it to her own, but the appearance the one-winged mare had was a lot more energetic.

"You won't leave me, will you?" she suddenly found herself asking, only realizing what she said after the words had left her mouth.

Copperbolt looked at her with surprise, her face momentarily showing a rare seriousness. She then laughed quietly and nuzzled the filly's mane. "Why would you think I'd leave you?"

"I don't," Scootaloo said, returning the mare's gentle smile. "I just asked for some reason."

A kiss was gently planted on her forehead, followed by another nuzzle. "Of course I won't leave you, Scoot. Don't ever think that."

It was words like these that made Scootaloo feel all the more calm. She closed her eyes and nodded, thinking of how silly she was to even ask such a question. Of course Copperbolt would never leave her. Officially she was sick, but the energy and happy mood she was sporting always made Scootaloo think that her attitude itself was enough of an antidote to keep the illness at bay.

"Now, how about we get off our hooves and go to the playground?" Copperbolt asked as she nudged the orange filly. Scootaloo gave another nod in reply and stormed to the stairs.
> Single Wing, part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The playground was completely empty, which was not surprising considering how late it was. The sun was barely visible on the sky, only showing a few dim rays of light that cast a dark pink shadow on the horizon. Even a few stars had become visible in different spots on the twilight sky.

The excited filly moved her head from side to side, checking out the different instruments of fun that she could use. The swings were seductive, but the ticklish feeling she got from the carrousel was always a winner, even though it often made her nauseous. She looked over her shoulder as much as possible without breaking her neck, maintaining the silly grin for her mother to see and snigger at.

"Wow, Scoot," the brown mare said with a hint of happy surprise in her voice. "You're really excited about this, aren't you? You know, it's not an amusement park. It's just the plain old playground. Don't you come here almost every day to train on the scooter?"

Scootaloo nodded hastily and did a 180 degree turn to properly face the brown pegasus. "Yeah, I do," she happily replied. "But I rarely get to go here with you. I'm just so happy that we can play together for once."

Copperbolt gave the filly a silly smile while nuzzling her mane with a hoof, messing up the already messy hairstyle. "Well, sorry for being bedridden all the time," she joked. She took a break from stroking the filly's mane and looked around the playground in a way similar to how Scootaloo had done it, though not with as much fillyish excitement. "So, what do you wanna do first?"

Scootaloo started skipping in place. "Oh, can we go to the swings?" she said loudly, almost shouting with pure anticipation. "You can push me while I'm on it! Please, please, please?"

"Sure," Copperbolt sniggered. "Let's do that. Though really, can't you just use your wings to give yourself a boost?"

"It's not the same!"

"I know, I know," the brown mare said. She inhaled deeply and let it out quickly, nodding in acceptance at the filly's request. "Let's go get you in the air then, ok?"

They walked towards the chained leather seats that were the swings, meaning Copperbolt walked towards it; Scootaloo was running with all her might, eager to finally be able to get that little push to the sky that she had seen the other foals get from their parents. She did a quick jump and landed her flank perfectly in the seat, giving herself a boost that she stopped immediately so Copperbolt could be the one to truly start the fun.

"You ready?" Copperbolt asked, to which Scootaloo did a few quick nods in response. The orange filly felt a couple of hooves being planted on her back and start pushing her forwards, bringing her gaze further upwards before they finally let go and let the swing fall back. She let out a happy giggle and excitedly commanded the one-winged pegasus to take her higher, an order that was heard and obeyed.

Every little push brought her higher and higher, and Scootaloo even reached the point where she instinctively started flapping her wings and stretched out one of her hooves to touch the slowly blackening sky. But as the chains of the swing were reaching their limit on the horizontal metal bar they hang from, she could feel every push become weaker. Her laughter became a snigger, her snigger became a smile, and even this tiny smile faded as her mother's panting became more audible. The hooves that were pushing her were trembling, clearly using all of their strength to keep her in the air. It did not take long for them to simply stop pushing.

"Just… give me a… a minute, Scoot," Copperbolt said breathlessly, looking at the lawn under her feet while speaking. "Just gotta… catch my breath. Then I can… I can go on."

"Mom, are you ok?" Scootaloo asked as she jumped down from the swing. "You wanna lie down?"

"Isn't that what mommies are supposed to ask their kids?" the brown mare laughed, still fighting to breathe normally, though Scootaloo did not join in on this, instead looking at her with a serious expression and a raised eyebrow. Seeing this, Copperbolt smiled weakly and nodded at the filly's proposal. "Yeah, maybe I should lie down a bit."

She dragged her body to a nearby bench, supported at the side by the worried filly. Scootaloo kept giving her a smile whenever she looked at her, but these smiles did not seem to lift the brown mare's spirit. In fact they seemed to hurt her, like a knife cutting through her skin. She took care when positioning herself on the bench, letting her chest cover her hooves as the bench was too short for her to stretch them forwards.

"Sorry about this," she wearily said to the filly beside her. "Seems like I'm out for the next few minutes."

Yet again, Scootaloo forced a smile to tell the one-winged pegasus that it was not her fault. "Don't worry, mom. You just take your time, ok? Then maybe we can give it a go in a few minutes, all right?"

"Yeah," Copperbolt responded with a weak grin. "Maybe we can."

They sat still for a few minutes, Scootaloo watching the brown mare catching her breath. She still tried to cheer her up by acting as cheerful as possible, but nothing seemed to lighten up the mood. Copperbolt was really down, in a way she had not been for a long time. The usually cheerful eyes were trying to avoid eye contact, making Scootaloo feel all the more worried.

"I'm sorry, Scootaloo," she suddenly whispered, still not making eye contact.

"Why are you sorry?" Scootaloo asked, a little worried about her tone and the fact that she called her 'Scootaloo' instead of 'Scoot' or 'honey' or something like that.

"I'm really a pitiful mom, aren't I?" she suddenly started, to which Scootaloo shook her head in response. Still, she continued: "Yes I am. I haven't been able to take care of you the way everypony else takes care of their own children. I've just been… a burden. Having you take care of me every day… hay, I can't even teach you to fly like a proper pegasus would."

"Please stop, mom," Scootaloo pleaded quietly. She felt a lump in her throat grow larger and more water gather in her eyes with every word the brown mare said.

Copperbolt looked at her for a few seconds with the same sad expression, yet she forced herself to smile again and nuzzled the filly's mane with a shaky hoof. "Sorry," she said gently, sweeping the other hoof over her eyes to dry them. "I guess I lost myself a bit there."

There were a lot of things Scootaloo would tell her right now: How amazing she was, how much she loved her, and most of all how wrong she was, saying all these things. But the words would not leave her mouth no matter how much she tried. She simply moved closer to the one-winged mare and nuzzled her cheek against her soft coat.

"What did I do to get such a cute daughter?" the brown mare lightly jested to lighten up the mood, and she did succeed in making the filly smile lightly, even if only for a little bit. "I must be the best pony in the world for Celestia to let me have you, Scoot."

"I had a feeling I would find you two out here," a familiar voice quietly called out to them from behind. Scootaloo was the only one to move her gaze in the direction of the voice, and she greeted Dr. Heartfeld with a single nod. "Is everything ok?" he asked them with a caring tone.

"Yes, yes," Copperbolt wearily replied without looking directly at him, instead giving Scootaloo a vague, yet comforting smile. "We're just a little tired from a long day."

"I'd say," the doctor said as he looked at the now completely black night sky. "Regular ponies don't have the energy to go out and play at this hour."

"Well, we're not regular ponies, are we, Candyfeld?" Copperbolt sniggered lightly, although this time it was a genuine snigger, so Scootaloo found the will to smile along. Heartfeld had pretty much nailed the issue and found exactly the right thing to say to dissipate the dark cloud hanging above their heads. He was like that: Always the observant and caring, yet at times strict and overly rational old pony.

"So it's Candyfeld even though I haven't got any candy, huh?" he said with a couple of smiling eyes, clearly glad that he had been able to lighten the mood.

"No candy?" Copperbolt carried on the joke. "Guess we gotta find him a new nickie, eh, Scoot?"

Scootaloo nodded with a small smile. "Yeah… how about Mustachefeld?"

The three ponies laughed together, sharing a lovely moment that almost completely removed all the sad feelings, at least for a moment. But the weakness remained, and while Copperbolt tried her best to lift her body, Scootaloo was reminded of how ill she was at this moment. She did not get to truly feel sad again, however, before her mane was nuzzled by the doctor pony, who did so just before he slowly walked over to the brown pegasus and picked her up the same way he had done so this morning.

"Guess we should get you guys home," he said, stretching his neck to smile at the brown mare on his back through his thick mustache. "Seems like I should start charging a transport fee with you, huh?"

Copperbolt giggled weakly. "You're just happy you get to touch a fine mare such as myself."

The old stallion laughed heartily at this joke. "How much of a dirty old pony do you think I am?" he said as he beckoned Scootaloo to walk beside them.

She gave a small smile and trotted over to Heartfeld's side, nodding at him to signal that she was ready to go. Although she was still feeling a little sad that her mother's condition had to make a return while they were having fun, or at all for that matter, she was happy that Heartfeld had showed up and helped them as he did. One thing Scootaloo was certain of was that she could always trust that old pony to help them when they needed it. He was dependable and kind, and in many ways the only pony other than Copperbolt she truly felt safe around.
> Single Wing, part 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Dr. Heartfeld was giving Copperbolt a hasty treatment in the bedroom upstairs, Scootaloo was lying on the sofa in the livingroom in the same manner that a bearskin rug would lay flat on the floor. She was thinking about how the day had gone by, and how Copperbolt's illness somehow managed to ruin every happy moment the young filly would have with her. In just one day, two episodes happened, turning the upside-down frown on Scootaloo's face into a proper frown.

As she spent the time waiting for Heartfeld to come out of the bedroom, Scootaloo simply stared straight ahead into nothing with the eyes of a dead pony, all the while mumbling how she thought her situation was unfair. The sound of hoofsteps on the stairs woke her up though, and she opened her eyes a little wider while she raised her tiny body to look over the back of the sofa. When Heartfeld walked by the door to the livingroom, he seemed to be lost in thought, eyes pointing to the floor while his head was still pointing straight.

"How is she?" Scootaloo asked from the couch, waking the old stallion up from his pondering process. Without saying a word he looked at the orange filly, making contact with her worried eyes and quietly looking deep into them for a moment as if he was studying her mind. He finally decided to go over to her and joined her in the opposite end of the sofa, giving her a quick, but unconvincing smile as he sat down.

"She's the same as always, Scootaloo. No reason to worry," he said with a mixture of medical professionalism and grandfatherly kindness. Scootaloo returned the smile when she heard him say this, but with just as little conviction as the doctor's. She positioned herself like a sitting dog and looked at the cushion beneath her, seeming both sad and tired.

"It's just not fair…" she repeated her mumbling, although this time loud enough for the doctor to hear her, albeit her voice was still low. "Mom's such a kind pony. She's funny, she's tolerant, she's proud… she used to be athletic too. I mean you have to have been athletic to have been a Wonderbolt, right?"

She looked up at the doctor, who answered her by nodding in a slow fashion, telling her to go on. Scootaloo took a deep breath and swallowed the air as if it was a piece of food. "Why'd she have to get this sick?" she continued. "She's the kind of pony everypony should know. She had always dreamt of becoming a Wonderbolt, and when she finally did, it didn't last for more than a couple of weeks. She didn't even get to be on the posters for the grand galloping gala before this… stupid illness hit her like a brick wall. And since she had me and all to take care of all by herself, she… that her wing had to be cut off… it's just not fair…"

Neither of them said anything, leaving an air of silence as the old stallion quietly kept his eyes locked on the depressed filly that could not even find the right words to describe her feelings. He sighed deeply and turned his head a little upwards, moistening his lips as he thought of how to respond to the filly's emotions.

"Well," he began, taking his time phrasing each sentence. "Life's not always fair. Sometimes bad things happen to good ponies that even doctors like me curse at, no matter how many ill ponies we see each day. Your mother is one of those cases, definitely. But that doesn't mean you should let that rule your life. It's not like Copperbolt's life is all bad."

Scootaloo raised her pupils from the cushion and let them rest on the old doctor, who was looking to the side as he was speaking. He seemed to be staring into space, smiling a little as he spoke to cheer her up. "Sure, she became ill almost right after getting accepted into the Wonderbolts, but whenever she speaks of that short-lived career, she does so with pride that she was able to come that far. And sure, your father left her, but she still had you, didn't she? In fact, every time I speak privately with her, she can't seem to stop talking about you. She really loves you, and she definitely doesn't want to see you being so sad because of her illness."

Scootaloo felt like smiling, but her lips were unable to form. Though Heartfeld's words were comforting, they were not convincing enough for the filly to truly cheer up. He probably realized that, seeing as he was looking at her with caring and concerned eyes. He leaned in on the filly, close enough for Scootaloo to be able to see her reflection in the doctor's pupils, and whispered to her: "Have I ever told you about when I first met her?"

Scootaloo shook her head slowly in response, her face showing confusion over why the doctor would bring this up now. Heartfeld simply leaned back, gave her a heartwarming smile and started telling: "When Nurse Redheart contacted me I immediately set off to the hospital. Apparently, one of the Wonderbolts, had fainted during her training. When I arrived, Copperbolt was sleeping in one of the hospital beds, sweating from every pore of her body and breathing heavily. I had to wake her up and ask her what exactly happened. She told me how she had felt ill for weeks, but that it wasn't until that day that she actually collapsed. Amazing, really, how she could tell me all this with such a big grin on her face as if the whole incident was just a silly farce. Even with her body burning from the fever, she kept on smiling and acting cheerful.

I had to be more serious though, seeing as she seemed really ill. After running some tests, we found out that she had been infected with an incurable disease, as you know, and that it was spreading from her wing. We had to remove the wing before the infection could spread to the rest of her body. She was stubborn though. When we told her the truth, she started claiming that she didn't feel sick enough for it to be serious. She even said we must have done the tests wrong. I wish we did, but sadly, that wasn't the case. When she finally came around to the truth, her usual proud nature… well… she started screaming and cursing at me with a tear choked voice. I was even prepared for her to get violent, which she did, though only against a potted plant in the window. It took twenty minutes to calm her down and have her face reality. I know you probably don't want to think about Copperbolt acting this out of character, but I'm telling you so you can understand: Even somepony as proud as Copperbolt can lose it from time to time, if the cause is serious enough.

Anyways, when we finally got her on the operating table, she said something weird to me before I started the surgery. She told me that her trainer was fetching you from pre-school and was bringing you to the hospital, so she wanted me to do something for her. Do you know what that was?"

Scootaloo shook her head again, completely captivated in a sad and frightened way by the story.

"She wanted me to pour water over her before I allowed you to see her. I was puzzled, really, very confused by this strange request. When I asked her why she wanted this she told me: 'Because I don't want my daughter to be able to see that I'm crying'."

Swallowing a lump of spit, Scootaloo began biting her lower lip. She started moving her mouth to speak, but it took a while before she was able to actually phrase a rather simple question: "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because," Heartfeld said as he leaned back in on the filly. He carefully placed a hoof under her chin and raised her head so their eyes would meet. "She didn't want you to be sad. She wanted to hide her tears so you wouldn't get more scared than necessary in that situation."

"But," Scootaloo said with a wimpy voice. "Why wouldn't she want me to be sad?"

"She's your mother, Scootaloo," Heartfeld gently replied. "She wants you to be happy. She doesn't want something like her condition to make you worry all the time. She wants you to smile and laugh and have fun. I'm telling you this because you're about to cry now. Now, I'm not saying that crying is a bad thing. In fact, it's good to cry every now and then. But don't let it control you. What do you think Copperbolt would feel like if you were miserable all the time? She wants you to be happy, no matter how sick she is. She doesn't want you to lock yourself up in sadness, you understand?"

After having told Scootaloo all of this, Heartfeld maintained eye contact with the silent filly, awaiting a proper response. She did not smile, nor did she cry or show any other form of emotion. Her face was empty, as if her mind was wandering in thought over what had been told her. After a while, she finally nodded and smiled a little; a weak, but definitely sincere smile. The old doctor grinned at her and gave her mane a quick nuzzle, widening her smile if only for a bit, raised his faded tan body from the sofa and did a few short stretches.

"You should go up to her, Scootaloo," he said warmly and with a less serious tone than the one he had maintained throughout their conversation. "I don't think she'd mind seeing you. And if you just keep in mind what I've been telling you, then it would definitely be worth going to her, don't you agree?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo replied with words instead of just nodding like she had been doing while he told her the story.

"I'll be going back home then. Wouldn't want to show up at the hospital sleep drunk tomorrow, right?" he said with a jokingly tone as he walked towards the door.

"Nope," Scootaloo replied as she gave him a heartwarming smile. "Thanks Candyfeld."

Returning the smile while he opened the door, he waved his hoof in goodbye. "I'll see you later then, Scootaloo."

It did not take many seconds for Scootaloo to move towards the staircase after the old doctor had left. Having heard of a side to Copperbolt that she had never even considered might exist, she felt like she had to follow Heartfeld's advice and go talk to her. She wanted to be with her anyways, so this was simply an excuse to enter the bedroom.

She slowly opened the slightly creaky door just enough for her to be able to peek into the darkness of the room. The light from the hallway partly illuminated the big bed, showing movement under the blanket that was probably caused by this very light. After mumbling some sleepy words, Copperbolt's face became more or less visible in the shadow of the darkness, and Scootaloo could just make out that she was looking at her.

"What's up, Scoot?" the tired mare spoke while she yawned, using a hoof to block its path from her mouth.

Scootaloo smiled at her and reached her little hoof to the side of the wall, searching for the light switch on the dark wall. When she clicked it, the lamp that hang from the ceiling flashed a few times before finally bathing the room in its slightly dim light, that nevertheless was bright enough at first for the brown pegasus in the bed to cover her eyes with a foreleg. Scootaloo then proceeded to walk over to the bed and sat down just beside the nightstand. She looked smilingly at the tired pegasus, who returned the smile and nodded a single time before she raised the blanket, inviting the small filly to join her in bed.

"All right, then," the mare said in a semi-whisper. "Come on up."

Scootaloo's face beamed as she did a little jump to the mattress. She positioned herself just beside Copperbolt, so she could burrow her face in the brown mare's coat beneath her neck. The pegasus' single wing cast a shadow over the orange filly as it was gently used to cover her tiny body, enveloping her in a feathery blanket, and shoving the two of them as close to each other as possible.

"So," Copperbolt said with a sweet and motherly voice as she smiled over her shoulder. "What did you wanna talk about?"

Scootaloo rubbed her cheek against the brown coat, noting both the good: How soft it was and how good it smelled, but also the bad: How very cold it felt. She moved her eyes all the way to the side, looking at the brown, fur-wall as she spoke: "I talked a little with Candyfeld downstairs."

"Oh?" Copperbolt replied normally, requesting for the filly to go on.

"He told me about the first time you went to the hospital." Scootaloo said in a low voice, unsure of how Copperbolt would react.

But Copperbolt did not remove the smile from her face. In fact, she widened it and stretched her head to the side, closer to the little filly's mane. "Well, that's a pretty boring story, isn't it?"

"I don't think so," Scootaloo replied. She moved her head to meet Copperbolt's, letting her nuzzle her mane with her mouth. "I liked hearing all that about you. I like to know everything about you. But yeah, I did get a little sad when he told me about how you tried to hide your crying by splashing a bucket of water over your head."

"Oh," Copperbolt said in a slightly lower voice that sounded a little less merry than before. "He even told you that, did he?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah… But I'm glad he did. Though I wish you would've been the one who told me…"

"I see," the brown mare said as she stopped nuzzling the filly, letting her head rest on top of her mane for a few seconds before going on. "Sorry about that. Didn't think you needed to hear."

"He also told me why you didn't tell me." Scootaloo moved her head back a little and caught the brown mare's gaze. She made sure to smile at her, so she would not feel bad about not telling her. "That you did it to protect me."

Copperbolt smiled at the young filly and gave her a single nod, followed by a grin typical to her character. "That doctor just kept up blabbering, huh? Guess I know not to tell him any secrets for a while."

"Yeah," Scootaloo said as she grinned along; though the grin was only for this one joke. She did not feel sad, but she did not feel like laughing either. She kept on smiling the simplest of smiles, but did not want to go any longer than this. She wanted to be open with her mother. "Mom… can I ask you something?"

Seeming a little surprised at the filly's request, Copperbolt answered: "Well sure, honey. You don't have to ask if you can ask."

"I know," Scootaloo replied. She let her gaze drop to the white mattress below her and took her time finding the words for her question: "It's just… Why are you always doing so much for me? I know you're my mom and all, but you don't have to hide your sadness from me. I mean, you always smile and laugh and such, even though you're…"

The young filly had trouble finding the right word here, as if it was somehow taboo to say it, so Copperbolt came to her rescue by saying it herself: "… Sick?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo said with a slow nod of the head. "I don't want you to hide your feelings. I want you to be honest with me."

"Is that so?" Copperbolt answered in a low tone of voice. She looked to the side, averting her daughter's gaze as she thought up an appropriate answer to this question. "Well… Yeah, I might be hiding my tears sometimes, but it's not like I do it all the time. When I laugh and smile around you, it's because you make me do that. I don't feel sad when you're around."

"But you can't be happy all the time, even when I'm around, right?" Scootaloo said with a slightly raised voice, making the brown mare go back looking her in the eyes.

"You're right, Scoot. I shouldn't hide my feelings from you," Copperbolt answered, surprising Scootaloo because of how little a fight she put up, her stubborn nature considered. "But: You gotta stop doing that too, ok?"

This sentence caught Scootaloo off guard. In fact, it surprised her to the point that she was surprised at just how surprised she was. With a face as blank as her flank, she stared at the brown mare, whose smile was increasing as she watched the filly's reaction. "What you mean?" she answered obliviously.

"You know what I mean, Scoot," the mare said with a tone that reminded her of a lecture, yet she kept the sweetness in her voice and the smile on her lips. "Remember what I said earlier today? That you should make some friends? Well it wasn't the first time I've said that, right?"

"So what?" Scootaloo defended, forcing a big and easy to see through grin upon her face. "I don't wanna be friends with the others."

"Why not?" Copperbolt asked with a slightly louder voice.

"Because," she started answering, but she had trouble getting beyond that first word, stuttering as she searched for a reason not to befriend anypony. "Because why would I wanna be friends with any of them? You're wrong. I'm happy. I'm happy as long as I'm with you."

"Scootaloo," Copperbolt said with a deep sigh. "Aren't you just covering up like I was trying to?"

After a short break, where Scootaloo foalishly did her best to avoid looking her mother in the eyes, she stubbornly continued: "… No, I'm not. I don't need anypony besides you."

And with the worst timing imaginable, Copperbolt began coughing wildly. Loud, scary choking sounds as she let air and spit burst out of her mouth from the top of her lungs, trying to block every cough with her hoof. The wing that was covering Scootaloo was trembling lightly in between the grand shivers that every cough brought forth. The filly was even afraid she might see blood, though this luckily did not happen.

"… I'm fine as long as I'm with you," Scootaloo quietly repeated when the coughing stopped, both to prove her point to Copperbolt, but also to somehow prove it to herself.

Copperbolt was panting at this moment, seeming even more tired than she did at the playground. These spasms the illness created were always sudden and tiring, using up every ounce of strength in the pegasus' body. "Sorry about that…" Copperbolt said with a hoarse voice. She smiled to hide her fatigue, but the outburst made her lips shake as she formed them. "But Scootaloo… I love you… I really do, and I would never want to leave you… But I can't be the only pony you rely on. Equestria is full of nice ponies, dying to meet you and be your friends. I don't want to be the only pony in the world to be able to enjoy your company… Please, Scootaloo… Promise me you'll try and be more social… make some friends."

Once again, Scootaloo moved closer to her mother's body, resting her cheek on the soft, cold fur of her chest. "I don't…" she started speaking with a very low volume, but she could not find it in her to finish that sentence.

"Please, Scoot… Promise me," Copperbolt said. She tried to relax her body and lowered her head to the pillow so she could lie down while looking at her daughter. She even tried her best to manually stop her wing from shaking, but it was only able to finally do so when Scootaloo used a hoof to catch it, dragging it further up her body so it completely covered everything but her head.

"Ok, mom," the young filly finally gave in, smiling at her dear mother. "I promise."

A tired, yet sincere smile grew on Copperbolt's face. "I'm glad," she whispered and used a hoof to wave the young filly closer.

Scootaloo dragged her tiny body up to Copperbolt's head and reached her hooves around her neck, embracing the pegasus in a tight hug while she did the same to her. Gently swaying back and forth, they kept their eyes closed and quietly savored the moment. There was no need for words, but instead just the sweet bliss of their motherly and daughterly touches.

"Mom?" Scootaloo whispered into the brown mare's ear, still maintaining the same hug.

And Copperbolt answered with the same sort of tone: "Yes, honey?"

"Can I sleep in here tonight?"

A small kiss was planted on her cheek as Copperbolt slowly retracted from the hug. She gave the filly a heartwarming grin and a nod, and raised her single wing, guiding the orange filly back under the ticklish feather's sweet comfort. Scooting back into position, Scootaloo once again nuzzled against the soft coat of her mother, suddenly finding herself very tired from a long day. She gave off a long yawn, and in a matter of seconds she had ventured into dreamland.

"Sweet dreams, Scoot," Copperbolt whispered so she would not wake her up. "I'll be right next to you all night long."
> Single Wing, part 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo woke up with a shiver of the body from the cold air in the room. The lamp was still on, although the morning light had overtaken its role. She also noticed that she was still lying under Copperbolt's wing, though it seemed rather cold. Of course Copperbolt must have been freezing through the night, seeing as Scootaloo fell asleep while leaning up against her, so she could not reach out and grab her own blanket to pull over. It was just like her mother's kind heart to let her sleep like that, even though it meant for her to freeze herself.

The filly then looked back up at the brown mare's face to see how she was doing, smiling at how peaceful she seemed. Copperbolt seemed to sleep like a log, and judging by the wide and sweet smile on her face, she must be dreaming the most amazing of dreams. Steadily and quietly, Scootaloo dragged herself out from under the wing, so as to not wake up Copperbolt. She reached out behind the brown mare and got the blanket between her teeth, and then proceeded to cover her mother all the way up to her neck, slowly and neatly.

Letting her breath seep out between her almost closed lips, Scootaloo took a second glance at her mother's smile, wanting to see just how sweet and peaceful she looked while sleeping. True enough, she looked like the happiest of ponies, but this time Scootaloo also noticed something off: Weird stripes from the corner of her eyes, running along her face downwards and ending in a small spot on the pillow that had a darker shade than the rest of it. She had been crying, that much Scootaloo could tell, but as to why she had done it, and how she could have without waking her up, the young filly had no idea.

"Mom?" Scootaloo said with a sweet and low voice, still smiling even though she was a bit worried about the tear tracks. "Wake up mom. Did you have a bad dream?"

The mare did not react in the slightest, still lying with the same sweet smile locked on her lips. Using one of her hooves, Scootaloo gave her a gentle nudge in an attempt to physically get her up, but all that moved on Copperbolt's body was because of this very nudge. "It's morning mom. There's a clear blue sky and all. You really wanna sleep through this?"

Still nothing. At this point, Scootaloo was beginning to feel a little worried. Sure, Copperbolt can sleep deeply too, but she usually wakes up after being called out to, or at least reacts to Scootaloo's voice. "Mom? Mom, get up will you? You're starting to freak me out."

The smile on Copperbolt's face suddenly lost all meaning, while the dark tear tracers became Scootaloo's point of interest. There was definitely something wrong. Her cold body was even colder, and her fur seemed dull and bleak compared to its ordinary radiance. The filly's smile was gradually changing into an expression of panic as she began pushing harder and with two hooves instead of just one. "Mom, wake up! Please, mom, you're scaring me here! It's not funny!"

It was almost provocative how the mare's expression stayed still no matter how much she was being shaking around by the frightened filly, whose voice was becoming louder and more panicky by the second, and whose eyes kept getting more and more watery. "Mom! Mom! Please wake up!"

After a while, Scootaloo decided to stop with the showing and instead try to make the final test. She was panting, sweat running from her forehead as she looked to the chest of the pegasus. Biting her own lips, the filly finally managed to muster enough courage to remove the blanket and pressed her ear against the cold fur. She could not hear a heartbeat. She stayed like that for longer than was necessary to confirm her terrible suspicion, desperately listening for the drumming sound that was supposed to come, fruitless as it was.

"No…" she whimpered with a squeaky little voice. "No, mom… Don't do this… DON'T DO THIS!!"

She cast her hooves around the cold mare's head, screaming and letting out endless streams of her own tears, never intending to let go. "You said you wouldn't leave me, remember!!? You said there was no way you'd leave me!! Was that a lie!!? Did you lie, mom!!? Why did you lie, mom!!? WHY DID YOU LIE!!! MOM! MOM! PLEASE WAKE UP!! MOM, PLEASE WAKE UP!!"

For hours this was the mantra for the orange filly. She screamed, she cried, she pleaded and she even tried begging Celestia for help, though not even she had ever been able to bring anypony back like that. Helplessly sitting alone with what used to be her mother, Scootaloo spent the worst day of her life, sobbing.
> Single Wing, part 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although the white sheets had been removed days ago, Scootaloo was still certain that she could smell Copperbolt's distinct fragrance from the large mattress. This was the main reason she had been spending most of the time since the funeral in her, now former, bedroom, tightly hugging the sheetless pillow. She kept digging her nose into the sheets to, at the same time dry her eyes whenever they began to tear up, to keep to keep the memory of the brown mare completely intact, especially now that she had seen firsthoof how nopony else seemed to do that.

She remembered how the funeral had been painfully empty. Although the ceremony was held on a holiday, and the sun had been shining as brightly as always, only a few ponies had shown up to show their respect. A few of Copperbolt's former Wonderbolt comrades, a few former fans, Dr. Heartfeld and herself were the only ones with enough guts to even make an appearance. Not even Scootaloo's father had dared show his face, making the orange filly curse his name whenever she thought about him even more than she had done before. How such an amazing pony as Copperbolt could have touched so few hearts, and how the one she had loved her entire life would not even come and say his farewells was beyond Scootaloo's ability to comprehend.

The filly's sorrowful line of thought was distracted by a few knocks on the door, followed by a sweet mare's voice saying: "Can I come in?"

Scootaloo turned her head and wiped her eyes clean so as to be able to clearly see who this mysterious stranger was. She saw a middle-aged, dark blue pony with a well-trimmed mint green mane and a potted tulip cutie mark standing in the doorway, shooting her a warm smile that did not seem to even attempt to hide the fact that she was putting pity on the orange filly, as if she somehow understood exactly how she felt. Standing behind this mare was a more familiar face, Dr. Heartfeld, which explained how the blue mare had gotten into the house.

"Sure," Scootaloo apathetically replied with a shrug. "It's not like I care." She did not want company right now, especially not from somepony who would definitely pity her as if she was the most unfortunate thing in the world. She showed this unsocial attitude off by lying back down on the pillow, facing the opposite direction of the two ponies. Yet they still decided to enter and stand beside the bed.

"Scootaloo," Heartfeld started in a soft, yet serious voice. "I'd like you to meet Mrs. Flowerbed. She's here to help."

Scootaloo did not reply, so the blue mare took this as her cue to speak: "How are you feeling, dear?" she asked with an annoying sense of familiarity, as if they had known each other forever.

"Fine," the orange filly said without turning her head. "Just fine."

"I see," the mare continued. She looked around the room a few times, maintaining the same smirk of pity on her face. "It's a nice place you two had here. Was this your mother's room?"

"Yep," Scootaloo replied.

"And I'm guessing that was her bed, right?"

This time Scootaloo turned around and gave the smiling mare a disapproving stare. "Well, duh? Where else would she sleep?"

"You're right, of course," the mare said with an embarrassed grin on her face, quickly nodding as she spoke. "I guess that was a silly question, right?"

The orange filly raised an eyebrow and looked to the doctor on the blue mare's side. She pointed a hoof at the mare and started talking about her as if she was not there, though she was too irritated to care about being polite. "Who the hay is this?"

The doctor gave a short smile that quickly turned serious again. He turned his head to the mare as though he was looking for her approval with something, and sure enough: She nodded back at him, her own smile having faded away. Returning his attention to Scootaloo, he sighed before he began speaking: "Scootaloo," he said and gave himself a small break, his pupils pointing to the sky while he was moving his mustache from side to side in thought. "Mrs. Flowerbed is a therapist. She works at 'Celestia's Home for Lost Children' in Canterlot. It's… an orphanage. She's here to help you and… well, how shall I put this… it's going to be your new home."

The orange filly's mouth gaped open as she retracted her body in frightened surprise. "What?" she simply replied, looking fearfully at the slowly nodding mare and then back at Heartfeld.

"It's really for your own good, dear," the mare gently said with the same annoyingly familiar tone. "Besides, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's a really nice place, and everypony there wants you to have a good time. You'll probably make a lot of friends there."

"But I don't wanna go to an orphanage," Scootaloo said with a high-pitched voice of terror. She stood up in the bed and took a few steps backwards, shaking her head slowly from side to side as if the doctor and the mare had suddenly become arch-enemies of hers. "I just wanna stay here."

"Now, be reasonable, Scootaloo," Dr. Heartfeld began, but he was cut off by the mint-haired pony, who was shaking her head to tell him that she would do this by herself.

"Darling," she said with the voice of pity that Scootaloo truly dreaded. "There's really nothing to be afraid of. I promise you will like it there."

"But… why can't I just stay here?" The orange filly responded. Her eyes showed the sort of fear one would find in a cornered animal, shifting between these weirdly compassionate hunters before her. Noticing how they gave each other a few long glances, as if they were telepathically communicating in sentences she was not supposed to hear, Scootaloo found a desperate glimmer of hope in the old stallion's presence. With a long jump across the bed, she leaned her forehooves against his chest and looked him deep in the eyes. "… Or maybe I can stay with you?"

Heartfeld bit his lips as if he was expecting something like this to happen, and dreaded the thought. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo," he said as he turned his pupils to the side in order to avoid the filly's gaze. "You can't stay with me."

Scootaloo's eyes teared up a bit and her ears fell slightly to the side when she heard this. The old stallion's words had struck her like an arrow in the back, one that hit her nerves too at that. "… What?" she said with a lowered volume and a whimpering tone.

"I'm really sorry… I just can't let you stay with me," the old stallion continued with a serious, yet clearly pained voice.

"Wh-wh… wh-…" It took the filly all of her strength to search her vocabulary and find the right words. She stepped back from the doctor and dropped her flank to the soft mattress, still trying to get eye contact with him, fruitlessly. "… Why?"

"Scootaloo…" He took a deep breath and shut his eyes tight for a second before he forced himself to meet the orange filly's gaze, facing the problem head on. "… I'm a doctor. I've been a doctor for many years and I've had a lot of patients. Some of them have… well… passed away… and left behind their children. If I took care of all of them because of something like this, then I would be driving an orphanage myself… you understand that, don't you?"

Scootaloo was shaking her head slowly, still maintaining eye contact although her eyes had become soaked enough for a blur to make this a challenge in itself. "No… I don't understand… What are you saying?"

"I'm saying… Copperbolt was a wonderful pony and you are a sweet girl, Scootaloo… But she was just a patient of mine. As a doctor, I can't get too emotionally involved with my patients or the people near them. It would ruin my career as well." His eyes were shaking to the point where he had to break their contact with Scootaloo's once more. "I'm really sorry…"

"Your… career?" Scootaloo said in a whimpering voice. She could feel her hooves shaking. The tears she was shedding steadily went from those of fear and sorrow into tears of anger, feeling completely betrayed by the doctor's words. "Mom was… just a… just a patient?"

"Darling…" the mare stepped in, having noticed the filly's mood changing. "He didn't mean it like-…"

"SHUT UP!" Scootaloo roared with enough force to make the blue mare instinctively step back. The filly was panting, struggling to catch her breath because of her mixed feelings of rage and betrayal. She barred her chattering teeth at the doctor, who was looking at her with calm, apologetic eyes. "What do you mean 'she was just a patient'!?" She found herself scolding the old stallion. "Didn't you feel anything for her!? You've treated her several times a week for years, didn't you!? Wasn't that enough to make you sad that she…!?"

"Scootaloo-..." the doctor started, but he was quickly interrupted by the angry filly's sorrowful screaming.

"Didn't you cry at the funeral!?" she continued shouting in a tone that was even louder than before.

"Of course I did," the old stallion defended in a low voice. "But-…"

Once again he was interrupted. "But what!?" The orange filly was burning with rage, while struggling to breathe properly because of the constant sniffing she had to do to keep the tears back as much as possible. "You didn't care for us at all, did you!? Mom was just a job, wasn't she!? Another way to make money!"

The doctor was shaking his head with a shocked expression while the blue mare was biting the tip of her hoof, following the scene with watery eye corners. "No!" Heartfeld defended loudly, though he tried to keep calm and lowered his voice immediately. "You got it all wrong… Scootaloo, I did care about you two… Copperbolt was one of the strongest, funniest and smartest ponies I've ever met. But as a doctor I can't just go and prefer one patient over another, you can see that, right?"

"No!" Scootaloo shouted stubbornly in response, casting away reason with a single swipe of the head. "I can't see that! You're just leaving me alone!"

"Please, dear," the blue mare finally intervened, putting a hoof on the angry filly's back to calm her down, though Scootaloo shoved her back in an instant.

"Don't touch me!" she said to the mare before returning her attention to Heartfeld. "You're just like dad, you know that!? As soon as things get a little rough, you just turn your back and run away!"

"Scootaloo…" the doctor said as gently as possible, trying his best to calm her down. He reached out a hoof to calm her with a hug, but Scootaloo did something that surprised everyone in the room: She bit him. As soon as Heartfeld's hoof had reached her shoulder, she spun around with a viper's speed and let her fangs dig into the area just above the elderly stallion's hoof. With a short scream and an accidental curse word not meant for a filly as young as Scootaloo, he retracted his leg and instinctively began inspecting the teeth marks.

Scootaloo was quick-witted and used the resulting confusion to jump down from the bed and make her escape. She grabbed a key next to the picture of her dad on the drawer with her mouth, and from there on made a quick turn, facing the door. The blue mare and Dr. Heartfeld had snapped back from the surprise at this moment and started pursuing the filly. Scootaloo was already too far ahead of them though.

Before she slammed the bedroom door, she made sure to stare the old stallion in the eyes as he approached her. With clear words and a hoarse voice, she shut her eyes tight and shouted at the top of her lungs: "I hate you, Heartfeld!"

This apparently startled the doctor just enough for him to make a quick stop and make his lips shiver on a hurt face. The orange filly finally slammed the bedroom door, stuck the key in the keyhole and turned it, locking the two ponies inside the bedroom. She could hear them kick at the door and shout simultaneously, calling her name and begging her to open the door. She was even certain she could hear Heartfeld's voice yell apologies at her, but she was too mad at this point to care.

Sniffing a few times, she put on a determined, yet tearful expression, and rushed down the stairs. Having been the one taking care of the house for years, she knew exactly where everything was, and she instantly opened a specific desk drawer in the study, that actually used to be her father's. In there, she found a lot of documents, including the deed to the house, old bills and all other sort of things. She quickly found what she was looking for in the mess of paper: Documents regarding where Scootaloo went to school, a list of her classmates' numbers and a lot of other things that could help the authorities track the young filly down so they could put her in that dreadful orphanage.

It suddenly hit Scootaloo what she was doing: She was running away. Her entire life had been spent in this particular house, but if she wanted to avoid going to the orphanage, she would have to leave everything behind. However, she would have to leave everything behind by going to the orphanage as well, so she might as well just run along with her pride and get everything over with.

She took a deep breath and snatched the documents she needed, and then ran to the door without looking back. With a few quick movements, she opened the door wide and jumped up on the scooter she had parked just outside. She got ready to drive on, though stopped herself for a moment so she could get a final glance at her home. Staring at it with sad eyes, a full, but short filly-life flashed before her eyes, mainly with pictures of a certain brown mare's loving smile. As she felt her eyes becoming watery, she bit her lip to stop it from shaking, and started the small motor that her underdeveloped wings could be used as. With a last goodbye said under her breath, she narrowed her eyes and focused on the road ahead, which seemed to lead nowhere, yet was the road she would have to follow. Hopefully, she would end up somewhere better.
> Single Wing, part 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo did not find it difficult to sleep in the hay at all. Nor did she have any trouble keeping herself warm at night with all these warm feathers surrounding her. However, waking up early in the morning by the loud sound of the rooster welcoming the morning sun, not to mention being randomly pecked in the face by the female residents of the chicken coop, was a bit irritating to her.

This morning was no exception. As soon as the first syllable of the "Cock-a-doodle-doo" was uttered, a yellow beak started digging into the orange filly's cheek. After a few pecks, Scootaloo finally managed to push the feathered nuisance away with her hoof.

"Cut it out," she told it with a sleepy voice as she rubbed the sore area. She stood up and brushed the little bits of hay off her coat before she did a few stretches. "Geez… you guys are so annoying. You still haven't gotten used to me?"

It had been a few weeks since Scootaloo did her overly dramatic escape from her own home and what she still sees as a traitor of a doctor. Although she had calmed down somewhat and become a little more capable of seeing this fight from his point of view, she still felt angry and sad that he would send her away, and to an orphanage for that matter. Since then, Scootaloo had been staying among the chickens every night. Here she would not have to fear being caught by anypony, perhaps except for the timid, yellow pegasus who owned it. But so far, Scootaloo had been able to hide from her as well.

Her life had become somewhat harder though, seeing as she had to be on guard every time she went somewhere in Ponyville. She had seen Dr. Heartfeld a few times, walking the streets of the village, but luckily, he never noticed her. As for food: Being such a small filly, Scootaloo would not be able to find a job anywhere; at least not a legitimate sort of job. Therefore, although she hated herself for doing it, she stole her food from the local stands in the daily town market. Her conscience was killing her, yet she thought it to be the lesser evil when compared to following that Mrs. Flowerbed or whatever that blue mare was called to the orphanage.

Scootaloo stuck her head outside of the coop and looked around the area, trying to spot any potential dangers. The coast seemed to be clear, so she got out and reached into a large haystack, from which she first pulled out her helmet, and then the actual scooter. She looked back and waved at the chickens, which did not seem to care much about her, yet she had come to like these feathered menaces through the last few weeks, even if all they did was annoy her.

Turning on her little biological engine on her back, she speeded away faster than most pegasi could fly. Her new life would not prevent her from fulfilling her duties as a student; and Copperbolt would probably not like it if she should prioritize her education any differently just because she did not have a home. She had to stay strong.

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Alright, children," Cherilee called out to the class with a smile on her face. The semi-angelic little colts and fillies sat with their hooves together in prayer, backs straight and smiles almost reaching their own eyes. Scootaloo was no exception, smiling as widely and politely as everypony, albeit a fake smile.

"If you would all just-…" the purple teacher continued, but was stopped by a raised hoof from the front seats. "Yes, Diamond Tiara. You want to say something?"

"Yes please," the filly said with her classical snobbish grin, yet a polite tone that she had probably been working on ever since she had learned of school etiquette. "I got an announcement that I'd like to make if I may?"

"Is that so?" The teacher said with a gentle smile. "Well, I'm sure we're all excited to hear. Why don't you come up here and tell us?"

"With pleasure." The pink-coated filly rose from her seat and trotted to the desk with her nose high in the air. She positioned herself next to the teacher and did a quick 180 degrees turn to face the class.

"As you all may know," she started, not attempting to hide the exaggerated and gleeful pride in her voice. "I've just gotten my amazing cutie mark a few days ago. Now, I know you all love it, and I don't blame you, since it's probably like the best cutie mark ever. That's why I'm having a little cute-ceañera to celebrate it. I'd like for as many to see how beautiful and amazing it is, so I'm going to invite all of you to come celebrate with me. Bring gifts."

With that said, Diamond Tiara's silver-maned sidekick stuck her snout into her bag, from which she brought out a bunch of sealed envelopes with her teeth. She divided these into two piles, picked one up and began dividing these among the rest of the fillies in class, soon followed by Diamond Tiara with the second pile.

When the pink filly reached Scootaloo, she reached out her hoof with the envelope in it for the orange filly to grab. Scootaloo gave her a suspicious look, seeing as she never would have thought Diamond Tiara would invite her to anything, yet politely accepted the invitation. As she grabbed the paper piece with her teeth, the pink filly gave her a devious smirk, one that made Scootaloo's suspicion the invitation increase.

"What?" the orange filly asked in reference to the smirk with a hint of irritation.

The pink filly started giggling at her. "Oh nothing, Loserloo," she said, putting emphasis on the insult. "I should just tell you it's totally fine that you come to my cute-ceañera. It's not like it'll be totally embarrassing to be a blank flank at a cutie mark party, right?"

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes as she let her gaze fall to the side and land on her bare rump. Sure enough, she was one of the few still lacking an actual cutie mark. With all that has been going on, finding her special talent had not exactly been her top priority. Though she lately found herself wishing she would have gotten her mark sooner, so a certain pony could have seen it.

"If it was up to me, I would have spared you the humiliation and not invited you," Diamond Tiara continued, raising her head so she could better look down on the orange filly. "But my mom told me I had to invite the whole class, so I guess you just have to… well… not show up, if you don't wanna be the laugh of the party."

Scootaloo felt the urge to kill rise, yet she kept her calm and simply ignored the rude filly's insulting words. She looked at the envelope before her, studying it thoroughly as Diamond Tiara walked back to her seat with an annoying giggle.

Although Cherilee officially started the class, Scootaloo did not look up from the invitation. She was wondering exactly what to do with it: Whether to burn it, soak it so the ink runs, or just tear it to pieces. But even so, she remembered how she had promised her mother that she would become more social. Even if it was Diamond Tiara's, a party is still a party, and it would be a social event where she would have plenty of chances to meet new ponies. She sighed and looked back at her flank with worry about the party's possible results. If she would go to the cute-ceañera, she would have to be one of the few without a cutie mark. Diamond Tiara would definitely try and bully her with it, so she would have to take a lot with a straight face if she went. Still, she had to try. She would never keep her promise with Copperbolt if she simply stayed home. Besides, should the worst come to happen and the party becomes awful, she could probably just hide under a table until it ended.
> The Warmth Under Your Wings, part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thought that popped into Scootaloo's head before she opened her eyes was that the hay somehow felt different than usual. It felt so comfortable and warm, yet light as air and slightly wet like morning dew. She began poking the fluffy material a few times before she finally opened her eyes and took a good look at this strange bed surface. Surprised at first, she did not see hay, but a pretty white cloud. A smile formed on her face when she finally remembered just what was going on, and as she took a good look around the spacious room of white, the pleasant reality came to her like merry thoughts on a Hearth's Warming Eve's morning. This was not the chicken coop she had been used to.

"Finally awake, Squirt?" The orange filly heard from the door behind her. With a happy smile she turned around to see Rainbow Dash lean against the cloudy doorway, forelegs crossed and looking as cool as ever while Tank was hovering beside her with his noisy turtle engine. "You seemed so peaceful when you were sleeping, so I didn't wanna wake you up. Not on our first day together."

The orange filly jumped up from the cloud, tearing a little bit of it along with her as she stormed over to the rainbow-maned pony and jumped in for a big hug. She almost knocked Rainbow Dash over, though the rainbow mare was able to catch her footing and quickly returned the filly's hug. Even Tank moved in and nuzzled the orange pegasus on the side, careful not to accidentally cut her with his rotor.

"Did you sleep well?" Rainbow Dash asked the happy filly, cutting off the hug so she could look her in the eyes when she answered.

"Sure did," was the answer, accompanied with an excited nod. "I've never slept in a cloud-house before. It's really awesome."

Dash giggled briefly and placed her hoof on top of Scootaloo's head, gently stroking her mane back and forth. "Well, it's about time then. Every pegasus should try and sleep on a cloud at least once. It's so much better than sleeping in a regular bed, don't you think?"

While the orange filly was hastily nodding in agreement with Rainbow's statement, the rainbow-maned pegasus suddenly showed a face of realization, thinking about what she just said. Finding out only yesterday that Scootaloo had been living alone, and that she had been carrying such a painful secret with a straight face for as long as they had known each other, made Dash realize how little she actually knew about her little fan. She was carrying a pain from her past that Rainbow Dash knew she would never be able to truly comprehend.

And yet, here she was, smiling sweetly in her presence. She was looking right into Dash's eyes with a true light of happiness that brought a genuine smile upon the rainbow-maned pony's lips as she continued to nuzzle the filly's mane. However terrible her past experiences must have been, Rainbow Dash was happy that she could somewhat turn Scootaloo's frown upside down.

"Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash started with a low and serious voice, though her smile never lessened its intensity. "You trust me, right?"

A little surprised, Scootaloo dropped her happy face and stared in wonder at the teal pony's gentle expression. "What you mean?"

"Well," Rainbow soaked her lips and looked to the ceiling, taking her time to find the right words, careful not to say something that would hurt the filly's feelings. "I've just been thinking: Seeing you there on the churchyard yesterday… well… I'm really not sure how to say it, but I think I've finally found out a little something about you."

The filly tilted her puzzled head to the side. "Found what out?"

"Actually, it's not so much about you as it is about me." Taking her gaze off the ceiling and returning it to the filly, Rainbow Dash took a deep breath to prematurely calm herself before she would become too nervous to continue. She had been hiding from her problems for too long these days. "I haven't really been a very good adult. Truth is… I've known for a while that you were hiding something… I'm pretty observant about these things after all… Yet I…"

"It's ok, Rainbow Dash," the filly started with an adorable smile, but Rainbow Dash raised a hoof to silence her, all the while returning the filly's smile.

"Let me finish, all right?" she said, and Scootaloo nodded in acceptance while leaning in to listen. "I've ignored you. I know you don't agree, but it's the truth. It's not like I don't like you or anything, I mean you're really awesome. Kind of like a small version of me, although your flying skills sucks." The rainbow-maned pegasus was doing a few awkward motions as she said this, and grinned nervously. But, luckily, Scootaloo just sniggered at what she was saying, making it easier for Rainbow Dash to continue. "Yeah, as I was saying: I've never been much of a role model, or of an adult, or of a nice pony at all. But that's why… I wanna change all that. I wanna get to know you, Squirt. I wanna be there for you and be somepony special to you. Just like how you're special to me."

Scootaloo's smile widened and her eyes were shaking, beaming with a happiness that the filly had not felt in a long time. She was about to jump in and give Dash another hug, but was stopped by Dash's hooves, which held her back by her shoulders. She looked back up at her rainbow-maned idol and spotted a sense of worry in her eyes, making her own excitement drop a tad as she curiously remained silent to hear what else she had to say.

"That's why…" Dash continued with a low and serious voice, showing just how much she feared how Scootaloo would react to what she was about to say. "I wanna know everything about you. I want you to tell me… about your life. About your mom and dad and… well… about everything."

Hearing these words, Scootaloo backed away from Rainbow Dash, finally breaking out of their little, comfortable zone. She sat quietly on her flank and looked to the side while Rainbow Dash bit her bottom lip in nervous anticipation of her response. The moment could not be called awkward, but it was definitely intense, as if Scootaloo's answer would shape their entire future. The only thing disturbing the silence in the air was the sound of Tank hovering cluelessly in the background.

Still looking to the side, the filly opened her mouth and made a few inaudible noises before finally answering in a low tone of voice: "You know, you're the only one I'd ever tell, Dash."

This answer was enough for Rainbow Dash to let her breath out in a short burst of relief. She nodded with closed eyes and a happy smile at the filly, who was once more looking at her with a smile of her own. "Yeah, I figured," Rainbow said with a large grin. "And don't worry, Pipsqueak. I'd never tell anypony without your permission."

"Promise?" Scootaloo asked while looking directly into her idol's dark pink eyes, as if she was trying to read her mind.

"Hey, I may not be the element of honesty," she answered proudly with one hoof to the heart and another in the air. "But the element of loyalty also includes being trustworthy, so yeah, I won't tell anypony. You can believe in that."

Happy as ever, Scootaloo once again jumped in for a hug, though this time there was no hoof to stop her. Instead, as she tightly grabbed the rainbow-maned pegasus around the waist, she felt a couple of hooves cross each other on the back of her head, pulling her even closer to the soft coat of the teal pony. It had been a long time since the orange filly felt quite as comfortable, and even longer since she had felt such warmth against her cheek. Everything somehow felt just right.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on!" Dash called from the ground as Scootaloo stumbled through the air. "You can do it! Flap those wings!"

This day's training session was somewhat different. First of all, it was taking place during school time. Since Dash had let the Scootaloo sleep in, they decided they would use the rest of the day bonding. They could always find some excuse to Cherilee later. And so, the filly and her idol took their time getting to know each other, practicing Scootaloo's underdeveloped flying skills just outside of Rainbow Dash's home.

The wind was somewhat stronger than usual. Not strong enough to be of any real danger to anypony, but enough to make the thinner branches of the trees point in the same direction, along with making the leaves dance in the gentle symphony of the breeze. Rainbow Dash had no trouble standing still on the ground in the wind, with only her mane and tail swaying along with the current of air, but for Scootaloo it was a different tale altogether: It was hard enough for her to stay in the air and maintain her balance as it was, but since she had no contact with the ground whatsoever, the strong wind made her struggle to move without stumbling around too much. It was even necessary for her to narrow her eyes as much as possible, or the wind would hit her eyeballs and make the task even more difficult.

"You ok up there?" Rainbow Dash called out, noticing the filly's trouble. "You can come down if you want to."

"I'm fine," Scootaloo stubbornly answered, focusing on the path before her. She felt the sweat running from her pores and her breathing becoming unstable as her body became more and more exhausted from fighting with the wind. After a few minutes of being pushed around like a flag, she could hardly stay in the air anymore, but that did not keep her from trying. She had to prove to Rainbow Dash that she was getting better at flying.

"Seriously, Squirt," Rainbow Dash called out again, this time with a slightly more serious tone of voice. "Come down from there. The wind's too strong."

"I'm telling you, I'm fine," Scootaloo answered once again, panting as she did.

"No, you're not fine. Now come down before you get hurt." Rainbow Dash stomped the ground a single time with her foreleg, indicating she meant what she said not only as a piece of advice, but as an order as Scootaloo's new adoptive parent.

This time, Scootaloo did not say anything back, but instead groaned a bit and slowly descended. She landed right in front of Rainbow Dash and pouted a bit before she spoke: "I was doing fine, you know."

"I know," Dash said with a sigh and a smile, reaching out to nuzzle the filly's mane. "But don't get ahead of yourself. You're still inexperienced, and it's kinda windy today."

"It's not that windy," Scootaloo answered, though Dash simply sniggered at her stubbornness.

"Sure it isn't," she said with a sarcastic, joking tone. "You know, you may be a fast learner, but you're not a superpony. No way you'd be able to fly already."

"But you were able to do a sonic rainboom when you were my age," Scootaloo said, looking up at the rainbow-maned pegasus with wide open and admiring eyes. The filly was amazed at her idol's achievements, yet they also made her feel somewhat inferior, being a pegasus that could barely fly at all. It could not be helped though, since Scootaloo never had anypony to teach her before Dash came into her life.

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash gave the filly a toothy grin before she proudly jumped into the air and started flapping her wings. She did a little pirouette as a display of her abilities, mostly because she saw a chance to brag about her abilities, but also to make sure Scootaloo would not take the whole thing too seriously. "But that's because I'm awesome."

"You sure are," Scootaloo said admiringly. "I hope I can one day be as awesome as you, Rainbow Dash."

"Aim for the top, kiddo," the rainbow mare said with the pride of a king.

"Well, it sho' seems like you two are havin' a might' good time," the familiar voice of Applejack called out. Both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash turned their smiling faces in the same direction to see the farmerpony walk towards them in a steady pace. She was carrying a couple of baskets full of delicious red apples, one basket on each side of her, and smiling widely at the two hardworking pegasi.

"Hi, AJ," Rainbow Dash greeted as she stopped her flapping and carefully got all four hooves in contact with the ground below. "What's up?"

The cowpony reached around her back and grabbed the handle connecting the two baskets with her teeth. With a little effort, she lifted the heavy baskets and carefully removed them from her back before she finally put them down before her. With a swipe of the hoof, she wiped her forehead and breathed out after lifting these heavy apples all at once. "Phooey, that's some heavy stuff," she said with a breathless smile on her face. "Anywho, Ah just thought Ah'd stop by with a little somethin'. Ah know ya'll like them red apples a lot, and Ah had a little to spare so Ah thought, 'hay, why not let RD have 'em?'"

Noticing how Scootaloo was sitting with a happy face behind Rainbow Dash, Applejack thought that they probably already had their little chat. She continued to smile and wave heartily at the little filly, who just as heartily waved back. "So Ah'm guessin' the two of you've worked things out?" the cowpony said with her gaze having returned to Rainbow.

"Worked what out?" Scootaloo became a little puzzled by the cowpony's words, not to mention a little suspicious about Rainbow Dash's promise from this morning. They had been together the entire day, but it was possible Rainbow Dash had told somepony about her before she woke up. The filly then rose from the ground and trotted up to the side of Rainbow Dash, where she looked up with a serious face and a slight sense of worry. "You didn't tell anypony, did you?"

"No way," Rainbow Dash defended, waving her hoof back and forth in front of her to wipe away the filly's suspicions. She was grinning heartily so Scootaloo would not make a big deal of the situation, and continued to explain exactly what happened: "But Applejack heard about what happened between you and Applebloom the other day. She was the one who made me realize I've ignored you."

"Oh," Scootaloo responded with a sense of relief. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Sorry I doubted you, Rainbow Dash."

"Hey, no problem, Squirt," Rainbow heartily replied, giving the filly a nudge with a single hoof. "But I gotta have a little talk with AJ now. Why don't you go practice? Just don't fly too high. Don't want the wind to catch you off guard."

The filly nodded hastily, gave the rainbow-maned mare a quick hug and then rushed off, setting a distance between them of about 10 meters before she took to the air and restarted her little battle with the wind.

"Guess Ah didn't think before speaking there," Applejack said, giving Rainbow Dash an awkward smirk.

"Nah, it's cool," Rainbow responded as she looked at Scootaloo practicing with a proud look in her eyes, as if Scootaloo's progress had suddenly become as important as her own, if not more. "We've had a good chat last night. I really learned a lot about her and such. Actually, a lot happened, which is why I wanted to talk with you, pony to pony."

"Did ya find out what the problem was?" Applejack asked curiously, and Rainbow Dash returned her gaze to her as she nodded in response. The cowpony then leaned in, ready for Rainbow to tell her in a whisper. "So, what was it?"

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and let it go as soon as her lungs were filled. "Sorry, AJ," she said with a smile. "But I promised not to tell."

"That so?" Applejack asked a little confused. She looked at Scootaloo who was practicing her flank off and then back to Rainbow Dash, who was looking at her with a strange, relaxed sort of nervousness. "Then what'd ya wannna talk to me about?"

"I've talked with Scootaloo about this and…" she took a break from speaking, soaking her lips while she was looking through her inner vocabulary in search for the right words, while Applejack nodded in anticipation. "I'm gonna adopt her."

The cowpony's jaw dropped and her eyes almost blasted out of her skull when she heard this surprising exclamation. "Hold on, whaa? But ya can't just adopt 'er. What in tarnation do ya think 'er parents would-." Before she was able to finish her sentence, she noticed how Dash was biting her bottom lip and smiling in an awkward sort of way. The rainbow-maned pony's expression was telling the whole story, and made Applejack realize part of the story on her own. "Ooooh," she said, biting her hoof as she looked back at the training filly with sympathetic eyes. "So that's why…?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, her smile having faded a bit on her face. "Yeah, that's what I felt like when I found out too. She hasn't told me anything specific yet, but she made me promise not to tell anypony about what I saw yesterday. She doesn't want anypony to pity her." She looked back over her shoulder at the filly, and once again smiled at her happy face when she was practicing in the gust. "She's really proud."

"Ah'd say," Applejack responded, though she was somewhat less pleased with the filly's stubborn nature. "But RD, ya really just gonna adopt 'er like that?"

"Well, what's the problem?" Rainbow Dash asked the cowpony with a tone of annoyance. "You said so yourself, didn't you? 'I'm the grown up. I gotta act the part,' right?"

"Yeah, but." Applejack was still a little shocked at this sudden piece of information. She rubbed her cheek with a hoof, pondering the situation and trying her best to find out what to do and say. "But suddenly deciding to adopt 'er, Ah mean, what are ya thinking, Dash?"

"I don't get you," Rainbow said, now slightly angered by Applejack's sudden shocked attitude. "First you want me to be a responsible grown-up, then when I finally decide to help her, I'm doing it wrong?"

"That's not it, Sugarcube. It's just…" The cowpony took a break from speaking here and began poking her own forehead, thinking about what sort of measures would be best in this situation. She lifted a hoof to tell Rainbow to give her some space, and used this space to close her eyes and calmly recollect everything that had been said. With her thoughts finally settling in her mind, she was able to calmly and caringly explain her thoughts to the irritated pegasus, and proceeded to do so: "Listen, RD: Ah'm glad ya figured everythin' out and Ah'm glad ya took me seriously yesterday. But ya rushing this whole thing. Ah mean, ya don't even know anything about Scootaloo's situation, do ya? Ya know bits and pieces, yeah, but ya still don't got the bigger picture: If ya wanna adopt 'er, ya gotta fill out all sorts of paperwork and whatnot. Ya gotta find out who she's been living with 'till now, what else she's kept a secret and so on. And besides, ya can't keep yer promise to Scootaloo 'bout not tellin' anypony if she's gonna live with ya?"

Suddenly realizing the sense in the cowpony's words, Rainbow Dash became a little nervous about the whole situation. She had rushed into this whole thing without a single thought about the consequences, though she was still a little confused about the last thing Applejack said. "Well, why do I have to break my promise? I don't see why I should tell anypony."

"Because," Applejack continued. "Everypony's gonna figure it out eventually. They're all gonna think it's might' strange that the two of ya suddenly live under the same roof, and then they're gonna put two and two together. They're gonna pity Scootaloo even more if she just stubbornly keeps acting like nothing's wrong, when it's obvious that somethin' is. Ah mean, even Applebloom and Sweetie Belle now knows somethin' ain't right."

"I never thought of it that way," Rainbow Dash said in a low voice as she looked to the side at the still happy filly with a couple of worried eyes. "Guess it's gonna be a tough road, huh?"

"Ya bet yer flank it's gonna be tough," Applejack concluded with a nod. "So, ya still intend to adopt 'er?"

"Of course." The rainbow-maned pony responded without a moment of hesitation. However, she quickly became a little quieter again. "Though I might have to have another little talk with her then..."

"Ya sure this is what ya want?" Applejack said with a lot of care in her words. "Ah could always help ya out here, ya know."

"Thanks AJ," Rainbow responded without looking at the farmer pony. "But I'm sure about this. I guess I've grown to like that little squirt."

With a sigh and a friendly smile, Applejack reached out a hoof and planted it on her teal friend's shoulder. "Guess there's no stoppin' ya. Well, Ah bet Scootaloo would be might' happy living with ya, Rainbow."

Rainbow nodded slowly and looked the cowpony in the eyes, a smile forming on her face. "I sure hope so."
> The Warmth Under Your Wings, part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So where are we going, Dash?" Scootaloo asked, jumping happily in circles around the cyan pegasus as they walked the road to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had asked the filly to come along for some reason, though she would not say exactly why they were going there other than Rainbow had some 'business' to attend to.

Rainbow Dash shot the filly a heartwarming smile. The happiness Scootaloo had been beaming with all day was something genuine, something she had never thought she would see in the orange pegasus. Before today, every smile Scootaloo made seemed to have required a command from her. Like she had been unable to laugh out of reflex like most ponies would when they are happy. That this smile and excitement on the skipping filly's face seemed to be happening without her realizing it, made Rainbow feel both glad and proud. She was the one who made Scootaloo laugh.

"You'll see when we get there, Squirt," Rainbow Dash said with a teasing tone. "But really, it's not that exciting. It's just some boring business I have to attend to."

"If it's just business you wouldn't have asked me to come," Scootaloo replied without slowing down.

"Well, the business is about you. Applejack told me I had to do this, so I thought you might want to come along and see what will happen. It'll make it easier for me as well." The rainbow-maned pony beamed with a sense of duty, making her seem more grown up than she was used to herself. It was a nice feeling in a strange sort of way.

"Business about me, huh?" Scootaloo repeated, pondering what exactly Rainbow Dash could mean by these words. "So I'm guessing we're not going to the amusement park?"

"In Ponyville?" Dash laughed in a way that made it seem like she was ridiculing the idea. "No way, Squirt. Ponyville's amusement park sucks. It's nothing but rollercoasters and spook-houses. No, if you wanna see a real amusement park, it's gotta be the one in Cloudsdale. The "Rainbow Ride" and the "Thunderstream" will make your head explode with awesomeness!"

"Yeah, I've heard about them," Scootaloo said with her eyes to the ground. "But there's no way I can go to Cloudsdale."

"Well not as you are now, anyways," Dash said with a comforting tone, giving the filly a gentle nudge to cheer her up. "But when you become good enough to fly there, how about we celebrate by going? Just the two of us."

Nodding fast enough for her neck to almost snap, Scootaloo already seemed as excited as Rainbow did when she first did the sonic rainboom as a filly. She restarted her skipping, clopping her hooves everytime she set off the ground in excitement over Rainbow's promise. Rainbow Dash could hardly hold down her giggling when she looked at the happy filly.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah, here we are," the rainbow-maned pony said as she made a full stop outside of a specific building. Scootaloo stopped skipping and curiously looked up at the wooden letters above the building's door. She was not sure how to react when she read the words 'Adoption Agency' the letters spelled, and she looked to Dash with a sense of worry about what was going on.

Rainbow Dash did not seem to notice the filly's expression, though. She was busy smiling widely as if she was looking into the future while she was studying the sign. With a relaxed sigh, the rainbow-maned pony then proceeded towards the door, and beckoned the orange filly with a few nods of the head.

Scootaloo felt uncomfortable at this moment, nervous about what exactly would happen inside that place. She had not yet told Rainbow Dash about how she had run away from Dr. Heartfeld and that annoying blue mare from the orphanage in the past, so of course Rainbow would not know the risk of coming here. Still, the orange filly decided not to say anything, and followed Dash after mustering some courage and swallowing the lump in her throat. She would have to keep an eye out while in there, and stay as close to Dash as possible.

The inside of the agency was classic for a governmental institution: A big desk with a receptionist sitting patiently behind it, in this case a light-purple earth mare who was doing a crossword, and a clean, naked tile floor. A few chairs were lined up in the corner of the room, intended as a waiting area with a table full of magazines to read while you wait your turn. The magazines were all lying messily on the table's surface because nopony bothers to put them neatly back where they picked them up. Of course there were also a few ferns in the room, because Celestia forbid that ponies should feel unwelcome in a public institution.

"Can I help you?" the purplish mare said with a pencil in her mouth without ever looking up from the crossword.

"Yeah, I'd like to adopt a certain filly," Rainbow Dash replied. Scootaloo looked up at her, smiling widely as she finally realized why they had come here, and Rainbow Dash returned the smile and added a nuzzle with the hoof on top of the filly's head.

"Is that so?" the purplish mare said in an uninterested voice, though she seemed to realize that there was work to do, so this time she looked up from the crossword and spat out the pencil. "You do know you can't just adopt somepony, right? We need to go through both your and the one you wanna adopt's history first."

"I know, I know," Rainbow dash replied with a nod. "We're both ready, right Scoot?"

"Sure am, Rainbow Dash," the filly said in excitement, wagging her tail like a dog.

"All right," the mare said. She bent over behind the table to look for something, only her flank visible from where Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash stood. When she finally reappeared, she had a few pieces of paper in her hooves, which she divided and placed before herself on the table before she grabbed the pencil again. "I'll need both your names then."

"I'm Rainbow Dash," Rainbow said, pointing a hoof to herself. She then moved the same hoof over Scootaloo's shoulder, dragging the filly to her body as she presented her with a smile: "And this is the one I wanna adopt: Scootaloo."

For some reason, the mare behind the desk had an unusual reaction. She stopped writing their names and looked up at Rainbow through the top corners of her eyes, seemingly surprised by the name 'Scootaloo'. This reaction gave the orange filly another lump to swallow, though Rainbow Dash was still oblivious. It did not help lessen Scootaloo's worry that the mare leaned in over the desk and got a better look at her while rubbing her own chin in thought. The only way Scootaloo knew how to respond in this situation was to force a weak smile upon herself and wave shyly at the mare, who waved back with a short smile of her own before returning to her seat.

"Well, it doesn't seem like there'll be a problem here," the mare said with a sudden voice of interest. "Though I'm gonna have to ask you two to wait while I go fix some of the required papers."

"Wait?" Dash said with a bit of her classical impatience in her voice. "Well, if we have to. How long do we gotta wait?"

"Oh, it shouldn't take more than five to ten minutes," the mare responded with a smile. "If you'd like, there's free coffee and cocoa in the waiting area."

"Sweet," Rainbow replied with a huge grin. "We'll just wait here then."

With that said the purplish mare turned around and walked out a door behind the desk into some sort of backroom with tons of archives. Scootaloo followed the mare with nervous eyes until she was completely out of sight before she turned her attention to Rainbow Dash, who had already pressed the espresso button on the coffee maker. With a few steady steps, Scootaloo walked over to her idol while looking around the room with the feeling of being watched making her stomach twist. She poked the rainbow mare lightly on the side to revert her focus from her espresso back to her.

"What's up, Squirt?" Rainbow Dash said with a smile, not noticing the filly's behavior. "Want me to make you a cup of cocoa?"

Without responding to the offer, Scootaloo jumped straight to the request she wanted to make, all the while looking nervously at the door to the backroom. "Dash, can we go?"

Rainbow Dash seemed a little surprised at the filly's question and finally took notice of her nervous expression. She gulped the rest of the espresso down in one go and put the plastic cup down on the messy waiting room table. "Well, we can't just go now. I gotta get the papers done so we can finally be legally together."

"Who needs the law?" Scootaloo said with an unconvincing smile and an even more unconvincing giggle. "It's too much of a hassle, isn't it? Let's just go live together anyways. Who's gonna know?"

Rainbow Dash did a few thoughtful movements with her lips and looked at the door to the backroom. She saw the purplish mare return with a sweet smile on her face. A smile that seemed more genuine than a professional smile should seem, making her wonder if this was why Scootaloo suddenly seemed so nervous. The filly had not yet told Dash anything about her life, and seeing as she had been an orphan, it would not be strange if she had some sort of history with this place.

"Scootaloo," Rainbow asked in a low voice. "Is there something I should know about?"

The filly shook her head and lightly pulled the rainbow-maned pony's leg. "Nuh-uh. Can we go now?"

"Scootaloo." Dash sighed and gave the filly a look of disapproval, to which the filly responded by sinking into herself. "Seriously, what's going on here? You told me you'd let me know about your life, yet here you are, acting all strange, and not telling me anything. What is it you don't want me to know about?"

Scootaloo bit her bottom lip, saddened enough that she had disappointed Dash that she made a sad and apologetic face. "I'm sorry Dash... I honestly did mean to tell you, but just not… just not yet. Anyways, I just don't wanna be here right now."

While Dash was looking at the filly with a pair of sympathetic eyes, pondering how to respond to Scootaloo when she was so fragile, the door to the agency suddenly sprung open as an old stallion with a large, white mustache and a faded tan coat rushed in and headed straight to the desk. Dash immediately recognized the stallion as Dr. Heartfeld, one of the most renowned doctors in Ponyville, who had even helped her a few times before, whenever she had a training accident. She also noticed that Scootaloo seemed to know him as well: The filly's eyes opened wide in terror as she frantically searched for a place to hide and ended up using Rainbow's body to cover her.

"Where is she?" Rainbow heard Dr. Heartfeld say with a breathless, loud voice, giving away just how fast he must have run to get to the agency. The purplish mare raised a hoof before the old doctor to calm him down, and then pointed another hoof to Rainbow Dash, or probably more specifically to the filly behind her.

Heartfeld seemed to shine with delight at seeing the young filly, confirming Dash's suspicion that something had happened between the two of them, something Scootaloo probably wished had not happened. He trotted over to them, stopping only a few inches before Rainbow, who he seemed to ignore at the moment, and bent his upper body over so his eyes were at level with Scootaloo's.

"I'm so glad I finally found you Scootaloo," the stallion said with a sigh of relief escaping his mouth. "I was really worried about you. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if something-."

"-Happened to me?" Scootaloo coldly finished the doctor's sentence. She stayed behind Rainbow Dash with her back against the rainbow mare's leg, looking away from the doctor and crossing her hooves as she was sinking into herself in an attempt to repel him. "I'm surprised you even remember me. I'm just a piece of trash after all."

Another sigh came from Dr. Heartfeld, though not one of relief this time, but rather of sorrow. Dash gave him a look from the side that he did not notice either because of his focus on the little filly. He seemed different from his usual dignified appearance, eyes full of regret and confusion. There was little doubt that he had something to do with Scootaloo's painful past, and little doubt that his part was one of unhappiness for the filly, though Rainbow Dash had a difficult time imagining this gentlecolt hurt anypony.

"So you still hate me, huh?" the old stallion said as he sat back up. "Well, I guess I can't blame you. It was hardest for you after all. I'm just glad you are safe."

Dash looked to Scootaloo behind her to see how she would react to Heartfeld's, in her own opinion, kind words. But the filly did not seem the slightest bit moved, still giving the stallion a cold shoulder. She was definitely hurt; an inner wound that not even time seemed able to heal completely. Everything Heartfeld said slipped off her like oil in water. Still, Dash decided to stay quiet for the moment, seeing as she did not have any insight to the situation between these two.

"Scootaloo," the doctor continued slowly, picking his words carefully before speaking them. "I don't expect you to understand why I did like I did. But I really want you to know that I never intended to hurt you. Copperbolt wasn't just some patient. I don't think I'd be able to forget her even if I tried. And I wouldn't be able to forget you either, Scootaloo. Nothing in Equestria, if not the entire world could make me forget about you. But… I just couldn't take you in. Even if I did you wouldn't be able to be happy with me, since I'm always on the run and everything. There's a reason I'm single even though I'm as old as I am, you know? That's why I did it Scootaloo… I did it so you could get a chance at happiness…"

The room became silent enough for the wind outside to be audible. Only the occasional awkward cough from the uninvolved purplish mare behind the counter broke the intense atmosphere that hang in the air from time to time. Rainbow Dash had taken note of everything the doctor had said, and even though she was still only on the border of Scootaloo's world, she felt like she had a slightly better idea of what had happened to the filly. She even took note of the name that was mentioned: Copperbolt. Though she did not know exactly what the relationship between Scootaloo and this former Wonderbolt was, she did have some sort of idea. If what she thought was correct, Scootaloo's mother was an amazing pony.

"I don't care," Scootaloo finally said in a low, angry voice, breaking the silence in the room. All three adults gave her their full attention, eager to hear exactly what the filly had to say. "You still left me alone… No, you didn't leave me alone… You gave me away, like I was just some useless toy… It's a good thing that you don't expect me to understand you, because I don't. I won't. I don't wanna understand how you could just betray me like that."

The filly stood up and looked directly into the eyes of the old doctor, tears slowly rolling down her angry face and dripping to the floor from her trembling lips. She stood like this for a moment, looking ready to charge at the stallion, who looked ready to take the hits she would give him. But she never actually attacked him. Instead, she spun her little head around and looked sorrowfully at the rainbow mare at her side. Rainbow Dash took note of this look and invited the filly closer to seek comfort by her side, an offer which Scootaloo took without hesitation.

"But you're not sending me away now," the filly said, smiling weakly as she reached her hooves around her idols leg in a tight hug. "Rainbow Dash and me are gonna live happily together, no matter what you say."

The doctor finally took notice of Rainbow Dash, who offered him a smile as she stretched her wing to cover the filly hugging her leg. Though he looked surprised for a second, he ended up tilting his head a bit to the side and warmly smiled back, seeming genuinely happy that Scootaloo had found somepony to be with. "Is that so?" he said with a low tone of approval. "I'm glad."

Still, Dash did not feel completely right about this situation. Heartfeld was happy, Scootaloo was happy, she was even happy herself and the mare at the counter also seemed strangely happy, probably touched by their awkward display of emotions. But that Scootaloo hated the kind doctor this much proved that she still had demons to struggle with, even though Dash was right beside her. Therefore, the rainbow-maned pegasus finally thought that she had to butt in and figure out what was going on. This was the new role as Scootaloo's guardian she had agreed on taking.

"Say, Squirt," she said as she removed her wing from the young filly, making her look up at her in surprise. "How about you go outside for a bit? In fact, maybe it's best if you go home."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked in confussion.

"I need to talk with the doctor." The rainbow mare shot the filly a determined grin, telling her that she would take care of things from here. "I'll meet you at home in no time, ok?"

Scootaloo smiled widely and nodded in agreement, excited that Rainbow Dash would want to take up her fight for her. This is something she had always wanted an adult to do, but Copperbolt had never been physically capable of doing it, and she did not think anypony else would have ever done it. After letting go of Dash's leg, she stormed towards the door, waved at her idol before leaving and finally left the rest to Rainbow Dash.

"I never would have expected that she'd end up with you, Ms. Dash," the stallion began with a heartwarming smile. "But you do certainly resemble her mother in a number of ways."

"Yeah, Listen Doc," Rainbow began awkwardly, rubbing the back of her mane as she was thinking. "I really don't have anything against you, but you seem to have some sort of thing with Scoot, so I don't wanna get too friendly with you before we've talked."

"I see." The old doctor nodded, agreeing that it was for the better if Scootaloo was to trust Rainbow Dash. "Then what did you want to talk about?"

The rainbow pony looked to the ceiling with a pondering face, inhaling a few loads of air as she thought out exactly what she wanted to ask him. In the end, she walked a few steps closer so she stood right in front of him, breaking the wall of distance between the friendly-zone and the intimidation-zone. With a very serious and determined voice, she finally requested: "I want you to tell me everything."
> The Warmth Under Your Wings, part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The space of the waiting room felt like it had closed around Rainbow Dash and Dr. heartfeld, leaving them in a vacuum where they were able to comprehend only each other's presence and the things they said. Rainbow Dash was completely still on the outside, but the inside of her head kept telling her different ways to properly react to the things the old, faded tan stallion had just told her. Though she had an idea what had happened in Scootaloo's past, she was still somewhat unprepared for hearing the truth.

Dr. Heartfeld was a patient pony. While Rainbow was picking up the pieces of information one by one, he sat still and watched her with a pair of curious, yet calm eyes, eager to hear her response while still giving her the required time to absorb what he had said. With a straight back and a dignified expression, he sat ready for Rainbow's judgment, whatever it would be. This was, after all, the reason she had asked him to tell her the story of the unfortunate orange filly in the first place.

"Hold on," Rainbow Dash said in terrified confusion, signaling halt with her hoof at the old doctor while she was steadily shaking her head to collect her thoughts, eyes down. "So, you knew everything about how Scoot's dad left her?"

The old stallion nodded a single time. "I did."

"And you knew that she had trouble trusting other ponies, yet trusted you like you were… what did you say again? A reserve dad?" She raised her head to look at him, her gaze settled for interrogation.

"That is correct," he replied, nodding yet another time. "I was one of the few ponies she could trust. It's probably because I knew about what was going on in her life, unlike everypony else."

"Yeah, I'm not good with all that psychology mumbo-jumbo," the pegasus said with a tone that pushed the stallion's speculations to the side. "But even I can see that you screwed up pretty bad when you tried to send her away to an orphanage. I mean, you knew Scootaloo had trouble trusting ponies. What the hay were you thinking?"

"Well, I-," the doctor started with a sigh, but he was cut off before he could even begin explaining when Rainbow Dash once again halted him with her hoof. She was looking straight in his eyes, her face showing a silent anger and lots of determination. Though she seemed a little intimidating, she carried no ill will, but only anger as the to-be guardian of Scootaloo.

"Actually, I don't care what you were thinking. I just know you made a huge mistake." Rainbow Dash lowered the hoof she was pointing at him and lessened the intensity in her facial expression a tad, though she still kept her gaze rather strict. "But you did it for her, right?"

"Of course I did," the stallion answered bluntly, a little surprised at the question. "I would never do anything to harm her. My timing with the orphanage was just… wrong… I should have taken her in for some time myself; get her used to the idea and such instead of just thinking it would be all right…" He looked to his hooves with a guilty face that carried a lot of regret. "But I didn't… I only have myself to blame for that."

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow Dash said, waving her hoof in front of him as if to say she did not care about that either. "I don't really wanna hear about what you 'could' have done. All I needed to know was if you knew that what you did do was wrong, and since that's the case, I don't really need to tell you that myself."

"I'm not sure I understand," the doctor said with a low, puzzled voice.

"Yeah, um…" Rainbow Dash was trying her best to keep a cool appearance. Avoiding eye contact and awkwardly scratching her cheek while she was talking. She somehow found it easier to keep her cool while in the air, so she flew off the ground a few feet, effectively breaking out of the personal space they had made during the conversation, and crossed her hooves in an attempt to seem as chilled out as possible. "Well you're sorry, right? It's pretty obvious when you look at how you acted in front of Scootaloo. As long as you're sorry and you show it and you say it, she should be able to forgive you, don't you think?"

"Well, I don't really care about being forgi-," the stallion started, but he was once again cut off.

"And you shouldn't say you don't care about being forgiven," was the sentence Rainbow used to interrupt, bringing the stallion's puzzled expression back upon his face. She did not smile, still obviously trying to look cool and calm, but her eyes were giving away as much kindness as her words. "No way I'm gonna let Scootaloo run around and bear a grudge like she's doing right now. As long as she's living with me, she's gonna have to be able to let things go and live in the present. Otherwise she'll never be able to be really happy, don't you think?"

The old doctor was stunned for a second. He was looking at Rainbow Dash with a much different perspective than usual. Seeing her float before him with that serious face and determined posture made his mustache vibrate a bit, slowly allowing a growing amount of laughter escape him. "Yes, I definitely think so. Boy, I never would have expected you of all ponies to say something like that."

"I'm full of surprises," Rainbow Dash said proudly, followed by a healthy snigger.

"You really are," the stallion said with a thoughtful smile as he kept his studious gaze on her. "You know, you really do resemble of her."

Rainbow Dash leaned in. "Of who again?"

"Copperbolt," the stallion replied with an even greater smile. "Always the positive one. It's no wonder Scootaloo likes you."

"Oh, yeah," Rainbow said thoughtfully. She looked out the window, down the long road that led to her home, where she sent Scootaloo. "She really had an amazing mom, huh? I never would've thought that Copperbolt had a child… then again; I didn't even know she died… I only heard about how she had to give up her career…"

"As soon as she stopped being a Wonderbolt, the media lost its interest," the stallion said gently. "She had only been one for a short while after all."

"Yeah…" Rainbow kept afloat, eyes still locked on the road. Her head was filled with thoughts, making her slightly oblivious to her surroundings for a moment, but she quickly shook her head to get back on track. "Anyways, I guess I gotta get this whole thing settled. I really gotta have a chat with that kid, don't I?"

"That might be a good idea." Heartfeld nodded in agreement. As soon as rainbow Dash flew over to the counter where the light-purple mare stood, and had probably been standing throughout their entire conversation as evidenced by her dumb expression, Heartfeld thought the scenario of Scootaloo living with Rainbow Dash over once more. He quickly came to the conclusion that this was the best possible thing that could happen, and crossed his hooves with a sense of relief. "I'm really glad she found you."

With a pen and a lot of paperwork ready in front of her, Rainbow Dash smiled at the old doctor and replied, "As long as she is too."

--

Rainbow Dash made sure to look around the area around her house a few times to see if she could spot Scootaloo somewhere. The orange filly was nowhere to be found, which either meant she did not go home as Rainbow told her to, or that she had somehow managed to fly up to the house all on her own. With the strong winds and the fact that Scootaloo was rather new at flying, her being able to fly all the way up there would have been a rather impressive feat. But there was no denying that the young filly had talent, so Rainbow would not be surprised if she had in fact managed that task. The rainbow-maned pony then took flight, heading diagonally up to the cloudy terrace of the house and proceeded to open the unlocked door.

Sure enough, inside the white and fluffy furniture-stuffed cloud room was the little orange filly. She was skipping around the room, laughing heartily as she played catch with the slow shell-copter that was Tank. Even the tortoise seemed to be smiling vividly, albeit with as much intensity as a hundred year old pony would be able to muster. They did not seem to notice Rainbow Dash in the doorway. They were much too busy having a good time, which made Rainbow Dash smile in delight at them getting along well. She did not want to interrupt them. But she knew she would have to spoil the fun at some point.

When Scootaloo hid herself behind the cloud couch, Tank did a slow turn with his head as if he had noticed the presence of something in the doorway. Whether it was animal instinct or a pet's passion was not something Dash could put her hoof on, but it was obvious that the flying reptilian was overcome with joy at the sight of its master. It let out an ugly disgruntled noise that Rainbow Dash had steadily taken a liking to since she adopted him, finding it as cute as the yelp of a puppy. The noise also made Scootaloo pop her head up from behind the couch to see what the fuzz was about, and as the green chopper hasted to embrace the rainbow mare, the little filly beamed up herself.

First Tank, then Scootaloo. They took turns welcoming Rainbow Dash with a passionate hug. The two ponies were grinning and giggling heartily while Tank flew in circles on the side, grunting his little song of joy. He seemed happier than ever.

"Did you get it done?" Scootaloo suddenly asked with the widest of smiles and glitter in her eyes.

Rainbow Dash suddenly found herself a little uncomfortable, knowing that she would have to spoil the moment soon, but she still returned the smile and nuzzled the filly's head. "You now officially live with the awesomest pony in Ponyville, kiddo."

The filly once again leapt in for a hug. "This is so great! Now we can be together all the time, and we can go on trips…"

"Hey, Scoot?" Rainbow Dash said quietly in an attempt to get the filly's attention, but she was already jumping around the place in excitement, her mouth running wild with excited blabber of the things they would do from there on. Rainbow Dash took in a deep breath and tried again, this time with just enough force in her voice for the filly to notice. The result was a puzzled expression on Scootaloo's face as she sat down to quietly listen to what Rainbow Dash had to say. "I'm happy you're excited about staying with me and all, but we really gotta talk about something."

Scootaloo tilted her head a bit and raised an eyebrow. "Talk about what?"

"Well," Rainbow began with a slightly worried tone, afraid of how the conversation would go. She was after all new to being responsible. "I talked with Dr. Heartfeld as I said I would. But I had to know something before I could… well… defend you or whatever…"

Scootaloo kept looking at her with a slight bit of worry in her eyes, but Rainbow Dash shook her head to shake off the discomfort and continued, "Yeah, I asked him to tell me your story. Everything he knew."

"What!?" Scootaloo yelped in shock, making Tank retract to his shell for a moment.

"I pretty much had to," Rainbow Dash defended immediately, fearing that the filly would overreact. "I mean, how else would I know why you're mad at him?"

"You could have asked me!" Scootaloo yelled in anger.

"I've already done that, but would you tell me!?" Rainbow Dash found herself yelling back.

The filly became quiet. She diverted her gaze from the rainbow-mare in front of her, staring blankly to the side. Rainbow took a moment to calm herself so she would not let her temper get the better of her. Being a hothead was something that came naturally to her, but this time she had to be the calm adult, no matter how frustrated Scootaloo was. She rubbed the space between her eyes slowly, massaging herself back to being composed, and let out a bit of her breath.

"Scootaloo," she began with a low tone of voice as soon as she had calmed down enough, and the filly forwarded her lips to show that she was pouting. "Listen, I know things have been hard for you. I still can't say I completely understand, because I've never really experienced the same things as you, but… I still think I know you better than most ponies."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked, still looking to the side, keeping up a defensive appearance.

"Because you're like me," Dash answered with a friendly smile. "Well, not really like me. I mean we're pretty different in a lot of ways, but I think deep down we're the same kinda ponies." She moved a little closer to the filly, but did not touch her yet; afraid she would somehow make things worse, "We're both pretty stubborn aren't we?"

"So what?" Scootaloo replied with a hard-shelled attitude. She turned away from Rainbow Dash and crossed her hooves. Yet even if she was pouting, her wings were trembling just a bit, enough for her fragility to be noticeable.

"Yeah… pretty stubborn," Rainbow Dash continued, ignoring the filly's grumpiness and trying to sound as soothing as she could, "And proud too. We don't want anypony to feel bad for us, ain't that right? We don't want anypony to think we're weak, so we put on this… I dunno what to call it exactly..." She rubbed the back of her mane in awkward thought to find the right words to use in this situation. So far, Scootaloo was still pouting, "Attitude, I guess. When something's making us sad, we just smile and pretend nothing's wrong, right? I know I do at least."

The filly's backside was now trembling with greater intensity. Every once in a while a sniffing sound came from the front, and the movements that usually followed that sound, such as whipping the head back and using a hoof to wipe off the face, were kicking in as well. Rainbow Dash noticed this. She smiled a little at the fact that she seemed to be getting through to the filly, but kept her eyes silent and caring all the time.

The rainbow-maned mare then slung her head back and moistened her lips, "You know, I think that kind of pride and stubbornness is pretty cool sometimes. I mean, if you weren't stubborn, you wouldn't have made it this far in the training at all. And your pride just adds fuel to the flames… but…"

Scootaloo moved her head backwards just enough for one watery eye to be visible to Rainbow Dash. She had become somewhat milder, more genuinely interested in what Rainbow was saying; a crack in the shell. "But what?"

"But it hurts," Rainbow Dash said with her lowest possible voice. "It hurts the ponies who care about you when they can see you're locking yourself up. But that's not all… The problem is it hurts you." She stretched her hoof towards the filly, finally feeling like she could make actual contact, and gently placed it on her back. "There's such a thing as being too stubborn too, Scoot… You're isolating yourself from everypony else… You're letting all the bad thing's that's happened to you take control, and it makes you sad. It makes you angry. It makes you think that somepony who's only trying to help is some kind of enemy."

"Why do you say that?" The filly asked with a high-pitched voice. She took a big step forward and turned around. Her stance became defensive and her watery eyes narrowed in anger. "What did you talk with Heartfelt about!?"

Rainbow Dash tried to calm her: "Scoot, listen to-."

"Did he talk you into this!?" The filly shouted in rage. "What the hay did he say!?"

"Will you shut up!" Dash cried out at the top of her lungs, and Scootaloo was almost pushed back by the force of her voice. The rainbow mare was panting a bit, but she soon realized that she had once again let her temper get the better of her. She smacked her forehead and let the hoof slide over her eyes, covering them while she calmed herself, all the while Scootaloo was sitting in front of her with trembling lips. "You're doing it again, Scoot," she continued with a little more annoyance in her tone, but other than that it was back to normal. "Don't you see? I haven't even told you anything yet, but you already think I'm conspiring with Heartfeld, but that's not how it is at all… Scootaloo, I'm trying to help you…" She removed the hoof from her eyes and caught the gaze of the orange filly. "I really am… I like you, Squirt, and I want to help you… but I can't do that if you just push every little helping hoof away… You gotta learn to trust some ponies…"

The filly had restarted her sniffing, and even added a quiet whimpering to it. She looked down at the perfectly white floor, lips trembling as she stuttered her useless defense of her actions. "But… b-but I… I just…"

Once again, Rainbow Dash felt like she could move closer, and she did. This time she even moved close enough to dry away some of the tears that had stuck on the orange filly's cheeks. "I already said I wouldn't leave you, haven't I?" Dash said gently, and Scootaloo looked up at her with shaky eyes. "I mean that… I won't leave you for any reason, but that doesn't just mean like I won't go away… It means I won't leave you alone to just go off and cry on your own… I wanna be able to comfort you, but you gotta let me in so I can do that, all right?"

The filly looked back down, tears exiting the corners of her eyes one by one. "… I miss her…" she suddenly said with a low, yet high-pitched voice, finally bursting completely out of her shell.

Rainbow Dash offered her a careful smile. She reached both hooves around the filly and clutched them together, pulling Scootaloo into the comfort of her chest. "It's all right…" the rainbow-maned pony whispered sweetly. "Let it out."

"I really, really miss her…" the filly continued, her voice becoming more tear-choked for every time she said anything. She did not return the hug, but instead let her body rest completely against Dash, soaking her cyan coat with her tears as she finally let go and cried almost as audibly as she did when Copperbolt died. "Mommy… I miss my mommy!"

"I know," Dash replied as she gently rocked the crying filly from side to side. "And it's ok."

--

"All right, all right!" Dr. Heartfeld called out to whoever was knocking on his door in annoyance. They seemed impatient, constantly knocking the same three times in a row every thirty or so seconds. Even with this though, the old doctor did not find any reason to stress his way to the door. Had it been an emergency the hospital would have sent a magic note, unless of course every unicorn employee had gotten ill at the same time.

Another one of the knocking-waves began as soon as he reached out to open the door, hitting his eardrums hard enough for him to do a small jump in surprise, consequently waking him up completely as he opened the door.

His surprise increased as soon as he saw the ponies on his doorstep. Rainbow Dash was standing tall, smiling in careful triumph at the old doctor, and on her side, attempting to hide a little, was Scootaloo. The filly was avoiding all eye contact, the orange color on her cheeks turning a little red as if the sun was setting on her face.

"Hey, Doc," Rainbow Dash said with an energetic charisma, albeit with a mature tone behind it that would not have been there only a few days ago. "Surprised?"

"Honestly, yes," the doctor said with an awkward grin, his eyes jumping between the two ponies before him. "I never would have expected you to come here. Is there something I can help with?"

"It's not so much that," Rainbow replied. She gave Scootaloo a quick nudge on the side that made the filly take a step forward. "But Scootaloo has something she wanna say to you, isn't that right, Scoot?"

At this point, Heartfeld had narrowed down the possible options of their visit, but he was still not sure whether what Scootaloo would say was good, bad or in between, so he looked at her with genuine anticipation.

"I'm sorry…" Scootaloo said with a low voice, containing a high amount of embarrassment in its tone.

"I'm sorry?" Heartfeld said, not because he misheard her, but because he was rather surprised by the filly's sudden exclamation.

"I'm sorry for running off like that… and for hating you," Scootaloo continued, still avoiding eye contact with the old stallion. "I guess I overreacted a bit… well, a lot… I know you just wanted to help me, but I couldn't really admit that until now…"

A big smile appeared on Heartfeld's face. This whole apology had left him sort of speechless for a moment, but that did not stop him from trying to form a response. "Well… I…" After a moment of stuttering awkwardly, he sighed quickly to clear his mind. "That's quite all right, Scootaloo. I'm just glad to know you're safe and sound."

The filly looked up at his mustache-hidden smile and gave him one in return, finally breaking out of that awkward mood she was in. She jumped forward and grabbed onto his forelegs, making him stumble a bit with a snigger of surprise. He quickly found himself returning the hug, smiling widely at the fact that the filly seemed to have forgiven him. Whatever Rainbow Dash had said to her, it had been more effective than he would have imagined.

"Dr. Heartfeld?" Scootaloo asked modestly while still clinging to his legs. "Would it be ok if I… you know… came to visit sometimes?"

The old doctor laughed heartily. "No need to even ask, Scootaloo. I would be honored to have you over sometimes." He looked up at Rainbow Dash. "You're welcome too, of course."

"Thanks," Rainbow Dash replied with a toothy grin. "We'll be sure to stop by then. For now, though…" She leaned down to eye level with Scootaloo. "How about we get going, eh Squirt? We got a lotta ponies to tell about us moving in with each other."

Scootaloo's face did not show any immediate signs of enthusiasm, but after a few seconds she smiled and nodded in agreement with the suggestion. She still seemed new to the idea of telling everypony her story, but for once she was open to it. She turned back to Heartfeld and tightened the hug quickly before letting go and skipping back to Dash's side. "I'll see you later then, Candyfeld," she said across her shoulders with a toothy smile while she waved the doctor farewell.

Heartfeld's smile widened as he returned the wave. "Back to Candyfeld, are we?" he laughed. "I'll look forward to that then. You two have a good time, you hear?"

"We will," Scootaloo replied with a quick nod. She returned her attention to Rainbow Dash. "Hey Dash, wanna race to Carousel Boutique first?"

Rainbow Dash grinned deviously. "Oh, you got guts, asking me to race. Wings or hooves?"

"Hooves," Scootaloo giggled. "Definitely hooves. No way I'm good enough to beat you yet in a flying competition."

"You're saying that as if you think you'll ever win," Rainbow Dash laughed.

The two of them got ready, looked back at the doctor in the doorway and simultaneously said "Bye, Doc!" And they were off.

"Goodbye!" Heartfeld called to them happily as they galloped down the road. Watching them energetically stir up the dust of the gravel path, he could not help but smile across his whole face. It was finally over. Scootaloo had finally found some peace, and Heartfeld was happy that everything seemed to end well. Those two would definitely be all right.