> Sisters!?!
>  by Darthvalgaav
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> She's my WHAT?
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The last bell of school had rung some time ago. Fillies and colts had long since raced out of the confines of the school house, heading in all manner of directions. Many of them went straight over to Sugarcube Corner for an after school cookie, muffin, milkshake, and so on. Others were simply heading home to drop off their saddle bags before heading back out to spend some non-school time with their friends. Either that or they were staying home to do their homework either because they wanted to get it done and out of the way or that their parents were upset due to their poor grades.


Yet with all that said, there were three fillies who had stayed behind at the school. Two of them, an earth pony and a unicorn, were staring through the window as they watched the fate of their friend inside. Said friend, a pegasus pony, was still seated in her desk while her eyes were fixed on its wooden surface where a paper lay. In front of her was their teacher who looked at the smaller filly with a sad frown.


“Now Scootaloo,” said Cheerilee, breaking the moment of silence. “I hope you understand that I am doing this because I am worried about you. This is the third time you have turned in barely completed assignments this week. And your test scores have been dropping slowly over the last few months. If this keeps up, then I will have to call in Mrs. Foster for a conference and then…” Scootaloo looked up a bit to see that Ms. Cheerilee was biting her lower lip. “Well, we might have to talk about summer school or perhaps holding you back a year if this keeps up.”


If this bothered the filly, she didn’t show any signs of it. Instead she quickly glanced at the clock to see that class had been let out a half an hour ago before lowering her head to look at her desk again. That was thirty minutes where she could have been doing something cool like trying to hang out with Rainbow Dash, practice her flying, trying out new stunts, and so on. Instead she was here having to listen to this while doing her best not to groan out loud.


“But I am sure it won’t come to that,” continued Cheerilee as she pointed a hoof at the paper Scootaloo was looking at. “Because I’m going to be giving you extra assignments to help boost your grades starting today. Now I want you to have this completed and on my desk first thing tomorrow morning.”


Scootaloo gave a lazy nod as she took the paper and placed it in her saddle bag without looking at it or where it was being placed. When she closed her bag, Scootaloo strapped it on her flank while saying a quick goodbye to her teacher before heading out the door.


As soon as she was out the door, Scootaloo found herself being tackled by her two best friends in the entire world. Despite being pinned against the hard ground, a warm happiness grew inside of her upon seeing that they had waited this long just for her. It was enough to make Scootaloo grin up at them, forgetting the long conversation she had been forced to listen to. But that happiness lasted only a split second when she saw the worried and concerned expressions on their faces.


“Is everything ok Scoots?” asked Apple Bloom as she and Sweetie Belle got off their friend. As she got up, Scootaloo stole a quick glance towards the doorway to see if Cheerilee was standing there. Thankfully, she was not.


“Yeah, it’s fine,” she said, waving off their concerns with her hoof. She had hoped that they would take her word on this and dismiss the fact that she had been asked to stay after class like it was no big deal. Instead, however, her two friends gave each other a look that caused Scootaloo to frown.


“It didn’t seem like everything was fine,” said Sweetie Belle as she leaned forwards a bit. “Ms. Cheerilee never asks somepony to stay after class for no real reason.”


“And ya have been acting mighty strange lately,” added Apple Bloom with a raised eyebrow that matched her older sister’s. As Scootaloo let out an annoyed sigh, Apple Bloom continued. “Ya seem a bit more… distracted ah guess. Like today, Miss Cheerilee called ya three times an ya acted like ya were comin’ out of a daydream or something. If something is goin’ on, ya know ya can tell your fellow Crusaders.”


“I’m fine,” stated Scootaloo as she rolled her eyes and fighting the urge to stomp her hooves in frustration. She knew from past experiences that things like that would make them worry more which would result in them asking the same questions again and again. Best thing to do in these situations was to change the subject and hope the problem goes away. “Look, let’s get out of here. We’ve already spent too much time at school already. How about we head over to the clubhouse and figure out something fun to do!”


“Ahh,” said the two other fillies in unison as they gave each other another worried look. Frowning, Scootaloo lifted a hoof before continuing to press the idea of having fun. Maybe mention some things that they might like. Perhaps heading to Zecora’s so Apple Bloom could practice her potion making while she and Sweetie Belle assisted. Or going to Sweetie Belle’s place to listen to her show tune albums. Yet before she could utter a word the shadow of an older mare loomed over them.


“Oh, Scootaloo,” said Cheerilee as the pegasus filly’s ears flattened. “I would have thought you’d be off getting to work on that extra assignment by now.” While her tone was innocent, there was a powerful message behind it that all three fillies heard loud and clear.


“Well maybe we’ll hang out later tonight,” said Sweetie Belle quickly, causing Cheerilee to smile and nod approvingly. “Or tomorrow.”


“Might be for the best,” added Apple Bloom with a nod.


“Gee, thanks,” deadpanned Scootaloo as she turned to leave. With barely a word to any of them other than ‘goodbye’, Scootaloo went to the side of the school where her scooter lay. After undoing the lock on the front wheel she set off down the dirt roads of Ponyville while her friends waved at her from behind.


For the next several minutes Scootaloo rode around Ponyville aimlessly, just passing shops and ponies as she felt the wind blow through her mane. The small pegasus could feel her worries and annoyances take a back seat as she scanned the area looking for a ramp she could use to become airborne for a few wonderful seconds. Nothing to bother her since it was just her, the scooter, and the road. There was a sort of freedom in this, probably the most she would ever get until her wings became strong enough for her to truly fly.


It wasn’t until her second pass around town that Scootaloo began to wonder what she was going to do for the rest of the day. The rest of the CMC were out thanks to Miss Cheerilee. If she did try to catch up with them later they might ask about her homework and what that was about. Something that Scootaloo really didn’t want to talk about or lie about. If she did, then she might get them into trouble with Cheerilee. Scootaloo could just see it, Cheerilee looking at her two friends wondering why they distracted her from her homework or something to that effect. Then they would get mad at her for lying to them in the first place. That definitely wasn’t happening.


Scootaloo tried to think of other ponies who she could hang out with, but the results were not all that good. The first pony she thought of was, of course, Rainbow Dash. She couldn’t think of a cooler pony she would want to be around or to be more like. Whenever she wasn’t busy, Rainbow was willing to watch her as she tried her most wicked stunts on her scooter while giving her advice on how to get better air time. Or she would just relax with the filly. If there was one pony Scootaloo felt like she could confide her plans for the future to, it would be Rainbow. And she was sure Rainbow would understand. But the problem was that her big sister was not in Ponyville right now and hadn’t been for some time. Right now she was on a big tour with the Wonderbolts, heading from major city to city almost non-stop. There was no telling when she’d be back.


So that left Scootaloo with mostly fillies and colts her own age to hang out with. While she was on better terms with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon she doubted they were close enough to spent time like this. Snips and Snails were just out. Rumble was out because hanging around him would just remind her of all the things she couldn’t do. Pip might be a good option, but his princess obsession was a bit-


Scootaloo slammed on the brakes, coming to a screeching halt that caused many heads to turn her way. But the wide eyed happy filly didn’t care because a wonderful idea had just popped into her head. Princess Twilight! She could go and visit her to see if she had heard anything about Rainbow Dash. And if not, Scootaloo could send her a letter via Spike!


So, with extra vigor, Scootaloo sped off towards Twilight’s Castle of Friendship.


-x-


“Hey Scootaloo,” came Spike’s voice as Scootaloo walked into the library. Looking around she saw that the dragon had his head turned to look at her while his arms held several large books that were stacked on top of each other. She supposed he would have to have his head turned that way seeing that the size and number of books he held made it impossible for him to see anything in front of him.


“Hey Spike,” answered Scootaloo as she walked towards him. “Working hard?”


“This? Nah,” said the dragon, almost dropping the stack as he did. “This is nothing for a dragon helper like myself. I do it all the timmmmmeeeeeee!” It was as he said that last word that Spike had tried to continue to walk, only to trip or stumble (Scootaloo didn’t really see what happened) and dropping all the books in the process. For a moment, the two stared at the pile in silence before it was broken by the dragon. “I, uh, also do this all the time.”


“Do you need a hoof?” asked Scootaloo as she watched Spike begin to pick up the books.


Spike shook his head. “It’s alright. I got this.” Then, with a book in each claw, he turned to look at Scootaloo. “So what brings you down here?”


“Oh, I was just wondering if Twilight was around,” said Scootaloo, trying to play it cool. “I wanted to ask her if she had heard anything about Rainbow Dash. No big deal really.”


As she said this, Scootaloo spotted Twilight at the opposite end of the library. The purple alicorn was seated in front of a crystal desk with books piled up everywhere around her. The smaller piles were on the desk, stacked in threes and fours from what the filly could see. The larger ones, however, towered over the alicorn as she sat with her nose most likely in book. Normally this wouldn’t be anything too strange for anypony who knew Twilight. But Scootaloo noticed that these books had blotches of dirt on their covers and spines, something she had never seen on any book in Twilight’s possession before. They also looked far more worn and used than normal, making the filly wonder for a brief moment just how old they were.


“Well I haven’t heard anything,” replied Spike with a slight shrug, causing Scootaloo to droop slightly. “And Twilight’s busy looking for something in those old books she’s found in the old castle of the Royal Pony Sisters that she’s had me looking through all our mail.”


“Oh,” said a slightly disappointed Scootaloo. “Well, would you mind sending a letter to Rainbow Dash? I want to let her know what’s going on.”


“Well I can’t do it right now,” said Spike as he continued to stack books into his arms. “If I did that, it might fly into her face while she’s trying to fly. But if you want, you could leave it here and I’ll send it to her later tonight. How’s that sound?”


“Ok,” said Scootaloo, her smile returning as she took off her saddle bag and put it on the floor. “I still need to write the letter anyways. Mind if I stay here for a bit?”


“Sure thing,” said Spike as he walked towards the bookshelves while Scootaloo opened up her bag. From there she began to search for a blank piece of paper and pencil, shoving aside or tossing out everything else. After what seemed like ages, when in reality it had just been forty seconds, Scootaloo finally found everything she was looking for. Just as she was about to lie on the floor and write to Rainbow about everything that was going on Spike approached her again holding a very familiar piece of paper.


“Write a report on a famous pony in Equestria’s history that isn’t Rainbow Dash,” read Spike before lowering it. “Homework?”


“Sort of,” groaned Scootaloo, not wanting to be bothered with it. Sadly, she had a feeling that it was going to happen anyways.


“Well, if you need any help we have tons of books on famous ponies and I know every single one of them,” said Spike proudly as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms.


Scootaloo forced herself to smile. “T-Thanks Spike,” she said. “But, you really don’t need to go through the trouble-”


“Oh it no trouble at all,” interrupted Spike as he pointed upwards towards the ceiling looking all dramatic and important before zipping away. Scootaloo let out a sigh, ready to go back to something that really mattered to her when Spike returned holding several books smaller than the ones he had before. “These are some of my favorites. First we have Storm Crosswinds, the first mare in the history of Equestria to become Captain of the Royal Guard. She’s really awesome because back then, only unicorns from noble houses were given high positions like that. She really changed everything. Or maybe you would like to do something about some Wonderbolt history like Commander Easyglider or Admiral Fairweather. Oh, oh I know! Script Box! She helped create many of Equestria’s greatest comic book heroes and help make the medium take off!”


In that moment, Scootaloo could do nothing but stare at Spike. She didn’t want to do this stupid assignment. She really, really didn’t want to do it! But it felt wrong to turn Spike down after he had gotten her these books just to help her out. And some of them did seem interesting. Definitely not as interesting or amazing like Rainbow Dash, but then again who was? Maybe she could look into some of the other Wonderbolts or this Storm Crosswinds mare. They could be just cool enough to read and maybe do a report about.


Just as Scootaloo was about to reach out a hoof, a loud noise from within the library startled both her and Spike. “I don’t believe it!” Twilight had shouted. Both Scootaloo and Spike turned their heads in time to see Twilight dancing in place with a big grin on her face. “It really was there! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”


“Ah, Twilight,” Spike said in a hesitant voice. Twilight, how had her eyes closed as she danced, opened one of them to get a good view that she was dancing for a small group. Almost immediately she stopped as her face changed from purple to scarlet.


“Oh, Scootaloo,” said Twilight as she put on an embarrassed smile. “I didn’t hear you come in.”


“She’s been here for a while,” deadpanned Spike with a raised eyebrow.


“She has?” asked Twilight as she scratched the back of her head, her unnaturally large embarrassed smile growing a bit larger. Then, something odd happened. Twilight’s eyes went wide and her smile became more natural looking. “Scootaloo? Would you mind lending a hoof for a moment? I’d like to try out this old genealogy spell I found.”


“Gena-what?” asked Scootaloo, tilting her head as she said this.


Twilight beamed at the filly, looking happy to lecture somepony. “To put it simply, genealogy is the study of one’s family and their lineage. Ever since Pinkie Pie and Applejack found out that they might be related, I’ve been trying to help them find definite proof one way or the other in my free time. Unfortunately, the few documents I have managed to find haven’t been in the best condition. With such poor records, it looked like I would never be able to give a definitive answer one way or another. Current DNA spells are also out because, even if Applejack and Pinkie Pie are related, it will more than likely show up negative because of how far apart they are.”


Twilight then gestured towards her desk table. “Just when I was about to give up I suddenly got an idea! A long time ago, starting in the early days of Equestria before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, there were ponies trying to get into the upper class by claiming to be a distant relative. They would approach a Duke or Count looking as finely dressed as they could saying something like ‘I’m your third cousin’ or ‘I’m your long lost nephew’. Many of the smarter ones would even come with things like forged documents or would have memorized enough names so that the family in question would buy it. Well, of course, this couldn’t go on forever since it just kept happening. Eventually, one of the noble families commissioned a great wizard to create a spell that would reveal a pony’s bloodline which would effectively end any deceit.”


Twilight gestured for Scootaloo and Spike to follow her with her wing, leading them out of the library and into the map room while continuing her lecture. “Unfortunately, none of the books that this spell appeared in ever named it making it very difficult to find. Most books claim that the last time this spell was used was about six hundred years ago so finding a copy of it has been next to impossible using the normal methods. Luckily, the old castle library had plenty of books from that period so it was all a matter of looking through them in order to find the right spell. Which I just did! And I believe that using the magic of the Cutie Map will help improve the spell! All I need is somepony to try this spell on while I make notes!”


“Uh,” said Scootaloo looking curiously at the book with a twinge of hope. For as long as she could remember, she had been left in the care of Ms. Foster who ran the orphanage in Ponyville. While she would never admit this out loud, because it might make her seem less cool, Scootaloo had often wondered where she came from. Who were her parents? Did she have any siblings? Any Aunts or Uncles who might wish to take her in? If she ever found them, would they welcome her with open hooves and wings? Or would she have to live with the hard truth that she had been unwanted?


Scootaloo shook her head to chase away the doubts and fears. Right now she had a huge opportunity before her. A chance to get the answers she wanted, no matter how much they might hurt. And there was a chance that she might be related to Rainbow Dash! Maybe a distant cousin or something like that! That would be the greatest thing ever!


“Alright, let’s do this!” said Scootaloo confidently.


“Ok then,” said Twilight as she began to charge the spell, beads of sweat rolling down her face due to the sheer amount of power it probably needed. “Let’s see if this works.” With that, the spell hit both Scootaloo and the map at the same time. After Scootaloo was hit her entire body began to glow lavender while the surface of the map seemed to ripple as if a large drop of water was landing in the middle of a circular bowl. All three individuals in the room waited with baited breath for a sign that the spell was working. Twilight seemed the most eager out of all of them, summoning a quill and a blank piece of parchment so she could most likely document everything that happened.


Then, after what seemed like forever, the glow around Scootaloo body began to gather around her cutie mark which a copy of it separated from her and floated right above the map. From there, her mark began to pulse for several minutes before a thin line emerged from its top. It shot upwards only to stop after three inches where it then forked out. Once the lines had stopped for a moment, small dots at the end of these lines appeared and began to grow like fruit off of a tree.


“I-It’s making a family tree,” said Twilight as she scribbled something down. But Scootaloo was barely paying her any attention. She had learned about family trees in school last year so she had an idea of what she was seeing. And if she was reading this right then it meant she was an only foal.


Then something strange happened. As the dot began to take on more of a shape, more lines appeared above them and branching off into every direction before the ‘fruit’ could even fully form. But that wasn’t what was strange. What was strange was one set of lines began to appear under one of the dots that belonged to Scootaloo’s parents! The filly’s eyes widened as this line moved to show that one of her parents had been with somepony else and, much to her amazement, had two foals with that pony. Scootaloo could feel her heart pounding in her chest as more dots and lines appeared right next to hers! She…she had siblings after all! Grinning madly, Scootaloo turned to look Twilight who expected her to be just as happy as Scootaloo felt.


Except she wasn’t. Twilight had dropped both her quill and parchment with her gaze focused on the family tree in front of them. Curious, Scootaloo did her best to follow Twilight’s gaze which looked like it was directed at the filly’s parents. The dots now were no longer dots but cutie marks. One of them was that of a wing that looked like it was made of clouds. The other looked like three stars. It was the star cutie mark that branched off to the other family. Once again, Scootaloo looked over at Twilight who was slowly shaking her head while mouthing the words “I don’t understand”. Scootaloo turned her head towards where Spike was standing; ready to ask him what the big deal was, but the dragon also looked shocked by what he was seeing.


Looking back at the magical family tree, Scootaloo turned her attention back to the family tree where she noticed that her sibling’s cutie marks were beginning to form. Then after several long agonizing moments the filly felt her jaw hit the floor. Slowly, she turned her head to look to her side finding that her sister was staring back at her with mirrored shock.


-x-


Night had fallen over the town of Ponyville, the moon shining brightly while surrounded by countless stars. Every light from every home and dwelling had long been put out as the town’s residents slept in their beds. No pegasus ponies were out for there was no need. The weather this night was perfectly cloudless and would remain like this for several more days making this a spellbindingly peaceful evening.


Yet while the town’s ponies were in their beds, that did not mean that they were all asleep. For within the tree castle that Twilight called her home laid the alicorn with bloodshot eyes who stared helplessly at the ceiling.


She had been in this state for some time now. After the spell had revealed that she and Scootaloo were half sisters, Twilight was sure there must have been some sort of mistake. It just wasn’t possible! But repeating the spell several more times as well as using a standard DNA testing spell which she had mastered several years before becoming an alicorn produced the same conclusion: Scootaloo was in fact her half sister.


To be honest, the idea of even having a younger sister felt stranger to her. Back when she was younger she never really cared about being around other ponies other than Cadence or Shining Armor. Well, and Celestia of course, but that went without saying. As she grew older however, finally interacting with other ponies beyond academic purposes showed her what she had been missing all her life. And she would be lying if she said she never felt a bit of jealousy when her friends were with their little sisters. She wondered what it would be like to be a BSBFF.


Twilight turned in her bed so she was now looking out the window. But Scootaloo? Whenever she pictured herself with a little sister she always imagined that they would be bonding over books or something scholarly. Heck, she could even see them playing a game of Ogres and Oubliettes. But then again, that was how she imagined it. Truth was that Scootaloo had a strangely similar addiction to extreme and high speed action stunts as her mother did. Not to mention that Shining Armor, while still a big nerd, also enjoyed training his body much like Scootaloo did.


But this wasn’t the issue that was keeping Twilight awake. What was doing that was a dark thought that scared sleep away from her and caused her mane to stand up in all directions. A thought that had caused her to pace for hours until her hooves hurt.


Her mother had had an affair.


Twilight shut her eyes for a moment as she shook her head back and forth. She didn’t want to believe it. There had to be another explanation! But every possibility that Twilight thought of seemed either insane to even consider (her mom having a long lost twin sister who had the exact same cutie mark which messed up the spell) or just so dark that it made Twilight cry just thinking about. In the end, this was the most likely way it could have happened.


Sighing, Twilight got out of her bed. As her tired hooves touched the floor, her mind showed her how it could have happened for the thousandth time today. She could see her mother bumping into a stallion one day and making a friend. The two of them going off for tea or something like that while Twilight’s father was none the wiser. Slowly the two of them became closer until one night…Twilight shuddered not wanting to image her mother in that sort of act. Her mind continued to play however, showing her Twilight Velvet when she found out she was pregnant. Not wanting to ruin her marriage, she looked up a simple illusion spell to hide the proof. And then, when Scootaloo was born, something…happened.


“This isn’t helping,” Twilight said aloud while placing a hoof on the side of her head. Letting out a yawn, Twilight slowly came to the realization that she had no idea what actually happened. And there was only one pony who could give her the answers: Twilight Velvet herself.


Twilight frowned. Normally, if she wanted to see her mother, she could easily make the trip to Canterlot and the two could go out into the city for some ‘mare time’. That would be the ideal situation that wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows and would have allowed Twilight to ask her mother everything she wanted to know away from her father. Sadly right now both her parents were in the Crystal Empire spending time with Shiny, Cadence, and Flurry Heart. Taking a two day trip up there, without giving them any notice, would seem out of place for her. Add to the fact that Cadence might want to tag along with their ‘mare time’ wouldn’t help the situation. Of course, Twilight could just wait for them to return to Canterlot…but she didn’t want to wait. Both she and Scootaloo deserved answers!


“I guess there’s only one option left,” said Twilight as she rubbed her eyes. Her horn lit up to summon some parchment and a quill. “Dear Mom,” dictated Twilight as the quill moved across the paper. “I wish I was writing to ask how your trip is going, but something very important has come up here in Ponyville. Do you remember a filly named Scootaloo? She was one of Cadence’s Flower Fillies. Well I was working on a genealogy spell and discovered that she’s my half sister.” Twilight paused to let out a yawn before looking at the parchment once again with half closed eyes. “Mom, I need an explanation for this. Scootaloo needs an explanation. I’m not going to tell Dad, not until I hear from you. Please write back soon.”


With the letter finished, Twilight let the quill drop to the floor as she slowly walked out into the hall and made her way to Spike’s room. With knocking, the Princess of Friendship opened the door so loudly that it startled Spike from his slumber.


“AH!” Spike shouted as he sat straight up in his bed. As Twilight made her way closer, Spike looked out the window before looking at his clock. “Twilight, what’s the big deal? It’s too early for…Twilight, are you ok? You’re not looking so good.”


“I just,” began Twilight only to pause so she could let out a loud yawn. “Couldn’t sleep. Could you send this letter to my mom real quick?”


“Ahh, sure,” said Spike as Twilight handed him the letter. Without asking what was going on, Spike took a deep breath before exhaling a large stream of green flame which consumed the letter. Once the flames vanish, the dragon gave Twilight a worried look. “Twilight, is everything ok?”


Twilight did her best to look him in the eye, but failed. “I…honestly don’t know,” she said with a sigh.


-x-


Elsewhere, Scootaloo found herself in a similar position as Twilight. She laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling where a poster of Rainbow Dash hung. Normally, staring at her honorary big sister’s confident smile helped to reassure the small pegasus that whatever troubles she was going through would be alright. It also made her feel better knowing that somepony who cared about her was watching her as she slept. And yet this time it didn’t seem to help her any.


Twilight was her real big sister. This new found truth had been the only thing she could think of all day to the point where everything else was a blur. She could barely remember how she got home or what she had for dinner. She remembered talking to Ms. Foster for a bit but the details were something she couldn’t put her hoof on at the moment. But now, for some reason, time was moving sluggishly as she tried her hardest to go to bed. Perhaps, if she did, she would wake up and this would have all been some sort of dream.


She didn’t want this to be true! She didn’t want Twilight to be her real big sister! Why couldn’t it have been somepony cool like Rainbow Dash?


A frown appeared on Scootaloo’s face as a sudden and massive wave of guilt hit her. It wasn’t that she hated Twilight. Hay, she didn’t even dislike Twilight in the slightest. She was friendly and would have been a good big sister…for somepony else. She just wasn’t the cool big sister she had always wanted. Twilight was a dork who enjoyed reading and practicing her magic while she was a mare who got her thrills doing stunts outside. Ok, Twilight did come in fifth place that one time during the Running of the Leaves but that was it. It seemed impossible for them to do anything she would consider sisterly bonding.


Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Scootaloo tried her best to image them teaming up for the Sisterhoof Social. She could see Twilight actually bringing a book with them, trying to use it to see if there were any tips. Scootaloo winced as the vision of Twilight tried to do the jump rope competition only to get tangled up by the rope in less than two seconds. Then, when she pictured Twilight trying to do the obstacle course race with no wings or magic, she just shuddered. By the end of that one, Twilight would be covered in mud, eggs, grape juice, and they still would have been in last place. It would be sooooo embarrassing.


As Scootaloo opened her eyes she felt her shoulders slump while looking up at her idol once more. What would this mean for her and Rainbow? Would Rainbow Dash still be her honorary big sister now that she had a real one? Or would Rainbow Dash stay away from her and let Twilight do all the things that they did together?


Gritting her teeth, Scootaloo shook her head before lifting the blanket up and pulling it over her face. NO! She would not accept that! Rainbow Dash was her sister NOT Twilight! There was no way she was ever going to accept this! So with that, Scootaloo turned over to her side and closed her eyes determined to fall asleep.


-x-


Elsewhere, far to the north…


“WOOHOO!” cried Twilight Velvet as she kicked the door to her suite open. Around her, water dripped from her messy mane due to the large amounts of ice and snow that was tangled within it. Her eyes and smile twinkled with life as she hurried over to the bed where she began to strip off her survival gear which was then dropped onto the floor. “Oh Night, we have GOT to come up here more often. Climbing glaciers, mountains, free falling off of glaciers and mountains, parkour through a glacial field. There is just so much to do here that makes me feel alive.” She then paused. “Oh, and seeing the family was nice too. Wish they could have joined us.”


“Y-Y-Yes,” stammered Night Light as he stumbled into the room. Despite the warmth that the city area that Empire provided, he was still looking bluer than normal and shaking all over. As his wife walked into the bathroom, he began to remove his attire before neatly folding them and placing them in a bin to be washed. Once that was finished, he crawled into bed while he heard the shower start up.


“May-maybe n-next time we s-should v-visit T-T-Twilight in P-Ponyville,” said Night through his chattering teeth as pulled the blanket tightly around him. “I-I mean, w-when was the l-l-last time we visited h-her.”


“Good idea,” called out Velvet. “I’ve been wanting to explore the Everfree Forest for awhile now. Maybe we coAAAAHHH!”



Instantly jumping out of bed, Night Light ran to the open bathroom door. “Honey!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. But before he could step one hoof in, a rolled up parchment held in his wife’s magical glow floated in front of him.


“Sorry,” said Velvet as she poked her head out from behind the shower curtain. “Spike just sent me a letter. Would you mind reading it for me?”


Letting out a sigh of relief, Night Light took the letter with a small smile. “Maybe she was getting a little jealous since we only ever seem to visit Shining Armor,” he said humorously as he opened the parchment. The paper was a little wet and the ink was a tad runny from being sent to Velvet in the shower, but he could still read it clearly.


“Maybe,” said Velvet as she turned off the shower and stepped out. “I know Shiny and Cadence need all…the…help…” Velvet’s words trailed off as she stared at her husband who was staring at the letter with an odd look on his face. “Night? What’s wrong?”
> Rough Morning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo found herself sitting at her desk in school. Well, to be more precise, she was sitting at the only student desk in the classroom. All of the other desks were gone save only Cheerilee’s which looked more imposing than she had ever seen it in this low light. It almost felt like it was looming over her, ready to strike like some sort of monster from the Everfree Forest.


Feeling her body shaking, Scootaloo gulped before looking around. It turned out that there were other things wrong with this room. Everything from the colorful pictures on the walls to the cubbies containing the student’s personal possessions had been removed leaving everything bare. The windows had been boarded up like one of those condemned building Scootaloo had seen in pictures from Manehatten. Only small bits of light could be seen shining into the room before they were eaten by the darkness. And behind her was the door leading to the outside, shaped like the lid of a coffin as well as being bolted shut.


Scootaloo bit her lower lips as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing, but her thoughts were interrupted by a sound in front of her. Breathing heavily she turned to look forward to see that the door that lead into Cheerilee’s office was rattling wildly. But just beyond that was another sound. It sounded like two mares talking in unison, calling out her name. As if it couldn’t get any worse, smoke began to flow out from the bottom crack slowly filling the room.


Scared out of her mind, Scootaloo screamed as she leapt off the seat and made her way towards one of the windows. Frantically she banged at the boards, trying to either break them or make enough noise so somepony near her would notice. Over and over the filly tried harder and harder as the smoke began making it harder to breathe. She could feel her eyes stinging with tears while her breathing came out more like coughs. But still she refused to give up.


“Squirt, is that you?” came an all too familiar voice from the other side of the window. Despite her panic, Scootaloo smiled as she caught a glimpse of a rainbow mane through one of the cracks. “Hang on; I’ll get you out sis.” Scootaloo’s heart leapt for joy as she watched one of the boards was smashed by a light blue hoof. She could now see Rainbow Dash’s face, looking at her with the sun in the background. She reached out a hoof, ready to pull her to safety so they could fly far away from this place.


But before their hooves could connect, a lavender glow surrounded her idol. Scootaloo blinked as Rainbow saw launched backwards high into the air and out of sight while the board fixed itself. Scootaloo tried to bang on the boards again, but found herself unable to as the same lavender glow surrounded her body as well. She then felt her body begin to move back to her seat against her will as if she were nothing more than a puppet, only able to move her eyes and watch. As soon as she was seated chains burst from the floor wrapping around her legs and wings, keeping her in place as Cheerilee’s door exploded.


For a moment, nothing but smoke came out of the room beyond the shattered remains of the door. Scootaloo took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. She kept telling herself that Rainbow would come to help her, save her like she did on the camping trip. But then a figure emerged out of the smoke and her hope died. This thing was shaped like Queen Chrysalis in every way except the face. Half of it looked like Cheerilee, glaring at her with a frown. The other was a grinning Twilight, looking as crazy as she did when she cast the Want-it, Need-it spell.


“You shall never become like Rainbow Dash,” said the monster, using both pony’s voices at the same time. “We won’t allow it!”


Scootaloo screamed…and woke up.


-x-


It took several minutes for Scootaloo to calm down enough before she was ready to head downstairs for breakfast. She moved slowly, pausing several times to yawn or to rub the sleep from her half lidded eyes. Her limbs felt like lead and she was vaguely aware of the sweat that lightly coated her coat. Scootaloo knew she must have looked like a wreck, but would rather not let anypony know about the nightmare she had. Perhaps she would tell everypony she had just gotten up early to practice some stunts. That sounded far better than the truth.


As she stepped onto the main floor, Scootaloo turned to see Ms. Foster standing by the main doorway. While not as old as somepony like Granny Smith, it was clear that Ms. Foster was getting on in her years. Her old, dark blue coat was beginning to cling tighter to her frail bones and her short mane was as white as a sheet. She was standing in a way so Scootaloo could see her entire left side as she looked through a saddle bag that was on the floor with a frown on her slightly wrinkly face. Ms. Foster, however, must have either noticed Scootaloo out of the corner of her eye or heard her with those sharp ears that were always listening for any problems in the house, for she instantly straightened up to smile at her charge.


“Goodness,” she said as her light blue eyes surveyed the filly. “Looks like somepony was too excited to sleep last night.”


Scootaloo turned her head to look away from the older mare. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “Excited.”


“Not really surprising,” continued Ms. Foster as she returned to her saddle bag. “Given what happened yesterday. I’ll stop by the school while I’m out running a few errands and tell that teacher of yours you're staying home today.”


In an instant, all the sleepiness within Scootaloo vanished. Her face brightened as her eyes went wide with life. Her wings stood upright as far as they could while fighting the urge not to jump around screaming ‘YES!’ at the top of her lungs. But it was hard; her body was shaking from the tips of her hooves all the way to the top of her mane in a desperate attempt to keep her join inside.


“Hopefully I’ll be home by lunchtime,” said Ms. Foster as she put on her saddle bags. Then, while looking up at the ceiling, she nodded several times to herself. “Yes, yes. Should be noon if all goes well. Two at the very latest. Now if I am running a tad late and you get hungry just cook yourself something. Please remember to-”


“Clean up whatever mess I make,” said a still grinning Scootaloo in unison with Ms. Foster. However, the older mare didn’t seem to register what had just happened. She just said a few more things like reminding her that there were to be no stunts in the house before leaving after saying goodbye.


As soon as the door clicked shut, Scootaloo turned to head into the kitchen. There, near the large bay window, was a table that a dozen fully grown ponies could sit around. However, most of the seats looked untouched for some time save for two. A thin layer of dust covered a majority of the table which told the filly that soon Ms. Foster would be telling her to wash it. Perhaps she would even be asked to clean the seats seeing how they also sported a similar amount of filth. But things like that could wait for later. Right now, the only things on the fillies mind were eating her favorite cereal and looking over her plans for the future in peace.


-x-


A few hours later, at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight found herself dragging her tired hooves into the breakfast nook. There, visible scent trails flowed through the air carrying with them the scents of a late breakfast. Or perhaps it would be best to call this brunch as the princess surveyed the spread Spike had whipped up. On one plate was a small stack of tiny sandwiches, which as Twilight noticed, had various flower petals sticking out of them. Next to that was a stack of deep fried hay fries as well as a plate of hash browns. On the table were also three plates stacked full of various pancakes surrounded by bowls of various toppings. As Twilight began to drool at the spread, Spike entered from the kitchen while wearing a white apron with another stack of pancakes in his claws.


“Spike, what’s all this about?” asked Twilight as her assistant placed the plate on the table.


“Well,” began the dragon as he used the apron to remove some pancake batter from his claws. “You looked really sad last night. So I thought maybe this might cheer you up. Hopefully you’ll like-” Spike never got the chance to finish his sentence as Twilight was on the move. With soft, grateful tears appearing in her eyes the purple princess wrapped a wing around her assistant and brought him into a warm hug.


“Thank you,” she whispered with a smile as she held onto him for what seemed like forever. With Spike here and the smell of the food he had made for the two of them, she was able to forget about her mother’s probable affair and the impactions it may bring.


“Aw, it was nothing,” replied Spike, his cheek scales turning red as he waved it off. Slowly he pulled away from Twilight before racing over to her seat and pulling it out for her. “A seat for the lovely madam,” he said in a very fake Prench accent.


Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Why thank you my good dragon,” she said as she walked over to her seat and sat down. Once seated, Twilight’s horn lit up as food from across the table began floating towards her and landing on her plate. By the time Spike was seated next to her, Twilight had stacks of various pancakes piled on her plate, sandwiches, and hash browns in front of her.


“So Twilight,” said Spike as he began helping himself to the hay fries. “Do you have any idea what you’re going to do?”


Twilight didn’t answer at first, her mouth already so full of food that she couldn’t speak. Chewing quickly, she swallowed before saying “About?” before beginning to go for her next big bite.


“Scootaloo,” the dragon reminded her with a raised eyebrow. Twilight pause in the middle of levitating her fork to her mouth, her eyes wide for a moment before a somber expression overtook her. No longer having any desire to eat at that moment, Twilight set her fork down while releasing a large sigh.


“I…don’t know,” she said while looking down at her plate.


“Really?” said the dragon as he picked up a claw full of hay fries and tossed them into his mouth. “Seems like the easiest thing in the world to figure out. Just bring Scootaloo to live here from now on.”


“But what about the rest of the family?” asked Twilight as Spike reached out for more food, her head a bit lower now. As Spike lowered a claw, Twilight’s ears and wings went limp. For a brief moment, she pictured herself and the rest of her family on the day of her coronation, happily celebrating with each other without a care in the world.


“Right,” said Spike as he slumped in his seat. “Never really thought about that.”


“It’s just,” began Twilight, but paused to take a breath and exhaling the way Cadence taught her to. Feeling a little calmer and more in control of her emotions, she continued. “It’s just so hard to believe that my mom had an affair. I never thought that she'd do something like that. I mean, mom and dad always look so happy together! But that’s something I’ll have to come to terms with. Something…we all might have to come to terms with. Hopefully, when mom writes back she’ll be able to explain herself.”


“And what about Scootaloo?” asked Spike, lifting his head a little to look at Twilight.


There was silence for a moment before both of them heard knocking on the front door. With a worried look on his face, Spike stood before excusing himself to see who it was, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts on the matter.


Thinking about the situation, Twilight couldn’t help but feel guilty. Here she was, moping about what might happen to her family when there was a filly who had never known what it was like to even have one. A filly who, for all Twilight knew, had very little to her name while Twilight had grown up in the capital of Equestria and received the very best of everything. The logical part of her brain tried to tell her that she was being irrational. That she didn’t even know they were related until last night and that it was ok to feel this way. Still, Twilight couldn’t help it. Scootaloo should have gotten all of the same advantages that she and Shining Armor had gotten.


Slowly Twilight lifted the fork in front of her, watching it spin lazily with her magic. There was no denying what needed to be done. As far as Twilight knew, they were the only family that Scootaloo had. The only problem she could see with that would be the reaction of her family. There was no denying that sooner or later everything would come out into the open with plenty of hurt and angry feelings. Scootaloo might even become a target for those feelings, no matter how unjustified they were. Thinking about that, Twilight suspected that her best course would be to wait for her mother’s reply to find out the whole story. Then she could-


Loud banging like that of dozens of hammers filled the air, surprising Twilight so much that her fork shot straight up and hit the ceiling. As it fell back to land on the table, Twilight turned to look at the door that Spike had just left with her heart still pounding. Taking a breath, the princess trotted over to the door and opened it. What she saw was definitely not what something she ever expected.


In the main entrance of the castle, situated at the doorway, was a large painted standee of a white unicorn stallion. Dressed in what was clearly an old Prench commander’s uniform from World Party One, the stallion was posed to make himself look as heroic as possible. However, with his curly light red mane blowing in an invisible wind and massive chin held high that made Twilight think of one of Fluttershy’s sappy romance novels. Ones that ‘totally’ didn’t exist under her bed. Around the standee were a dozen or so worker ponies, looking like they were just leaving as they passed by really tacky altars holding hundreds of rose petals. Finally, she spotted Spike who was standing there frozen with a look of utter horror on his face as he stared up at the stallion’s face.


“Spike,” called Twilight as she approached the dragon. “What is,” she paused to gesture with her hoof, “this?”


Spike didn’t answer, his eyes still frozen as he looked upwards. He did, however, move his arm towards Twilight revealing that he had been holding a letter addressed to her. Curious, Twilight took the letter to see that her name was written on it in fancy golden ink. Frowning she opened it to see that the entire letter was written in the same golden ink.


“Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, my future beloved,” read Twilight, pausing for a moment to stick out her tongue. She had a bad feeling about this already. “Since the day of your coronation I have been unable to get you out of my head. To have you stand by my side as the peasants shower us both with praise and admiration. I know you must feel the same way about me given how shyly you have acted towards me in the past. But we cannot continue to wait. On Monday, I shall come to thee to confess my feelings in pony before we are to be wed. Until then I hope this small gift of me shall suffice and prepare you for the real thing. Signed Baron Casanova.”


Twilight’s pulled her head back as a look of confusion appeared on her face. Baron Casanova? The letter implied that they had met before but for the life of her she couldn’t remember. Not that it was impossible since, after all, she did forget the names of her friends from Canterlot. Had he attended Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? That seemed unlikely since she was sure that somepony like him was more than likely the type that would be hard to forget.


“He’s watching me,” said Spike as he continued to stare at the standee.


Rolling her eyes, Twilight lit up her horn. Within moments, everything that had been brought into the castle was covered in a lavender aura before vanishing from sight. Pleased with herself for pulling off such a massive teleportation spell, Twilight wiped away a few beads of sweat from her forehead before looking down at her assistant. It looked like Spike was coming out of his stupor as well, rubbing his eyes with both his clawed hands vigorously.


“Spike, do you have any idea who that stallion is?” asked Twilight. Spike, after dropping his arms, just shrugged. “Well, with everything going on I think it would be better if we asked him not to come over just yet.”


“Or ever,” muttered Spike darkly as he folded his arms.


“Ok Spike,” began Twilight as she got into her dictation stance. “Take a lett-” Before she could finish, Spike opened his mouth to shoot out emerald flames. When they subsided, a scroll hung in the air where the flames had been for a moment allowing Twilight to grab it with her magic. Looking at it closely, her eyes widened as she saw that the seal the letter bore was not that of Celestia’s but her father’s!


Quickly she unraveled the letter and began to read it out loud. “Twilight. I saw the letter you sent to your mother. Heading down to Ponyville as soon as we are done with some legal issues. Dad.” As soon as Twilight said the last word, her eyes went wide as her magic left the parchment. Like a leaf, it softly fell to the ground below as Twilight stared blankly with her mouth hanging open.


“Ah, Twilight,” began Spike waving his tiny claw in front of Twilight’s face. For better or for worse, it worked.


“I can’t believe I did that!” shouted Twilight as she began running around as randomly as Pinkie Pie would. “Sending mom a letter in the middle of the night! How stupid could I be? I should have realized there would be a greater risk of him seeing it. Oh why didn’t I just wait for them to come back home from the Crystal Empire and talk to her pony to pony?”


“Twilight, you need to calm down,” said Spike gently. But Twilight wasn’t hearing any of it.


“He said he was clearing up legal issues,” panted Twilight, tears rolling down her face. She stopped running her legs, but now her wings were active. With each sentence she spoke, she flapped her wings to take her up several feet. “He’s probably coming down here after the divorce. Or maybe he wants to see if I made a mistake before he does that. Is he asking Shining Armor for help? The family is breaking because of me! Why didn’t I…Couldn’t I just…I wish I had-”


Twilight was silenced by a knock on the door. Both froze for a moment as they stared at the closed double doors as another set of knocks echoed through the hallway. Heart racing, Twilight landed on the ground. Could it be her father? No, he just sent her a letter that stated he would be here soon instead of right away. Also very few ponies had the power to teleport beyond a few miles distances and Twilight doubted that any of the princesses could teleport from the Empire to Ponyville. Could it be her mother? That seemed more likely. She could have left on a late night train or gotten herself a flying chariot ride. Was she here to explain herself and get Twilight’s help? Or was she here to yell at her, blaming her eldest daughter for exposing her secret and ruining her marriage.


As another round of knocking began, Twilight felt a claw on her side. She looked down at Spike who gave her a weak smile and a timid thumbs up. While this wasn’t the best support she had ever gotten from him, it was still appreciated all the same. She smiled knowing that she had him watching her back. He would help her like he always did and together they would weather whatever would come their way.


So, taking a deep breath, Twilight began to walk towards the door. As she got closer, her horn lit up to open the doors revealing not a member of her family but instead a pony she had only met a few times in passing when she went to Mayor Mare’s office: Ms. Foster.


“Ah good, you’re home,” said the older pony was she walked into the castle, looking around as she did. “Beginning to think that you were out. But I do suppose this is a big castle and it takes awhile to get anywhere.”


“Actually I was dealing with some…mail issues,” said Twilight, trying her best to sound normal and failing horrible. However, the older mare didn’t seem to take notice as she instead trotted over to the central stairway to begin examining it. “Ah, how is Scootaloo doing?”


“Other than not getting much sleep last night, she seems fine. Still I decided it would be best for her to skip school today,” commented the older mare as she turned around to look at Twilight, surveying her for the first time. “But Princess, I have to know. Is it true what she told me? That you’re Scootaloo’s sister?”


“That’s what it looks like,” said Twilight. “Neither one of us had any idea until last night.”


“Then you’re just the mare to help me with a problem I’m having,” said Ms. Foster in an upbeat voice as she began to walk away from the stairway and down a random hallway. Unable to keep herself from frowning, Twilight followed the mare who continued to talk while keeping her focus on everything other than the princess. “Lately I’ve been going down to see the mayor regarding this issue, but she refuses to budge an inch on her stance. Might have a bit of mule blood in her I think. I don’t suppose she’s told you about it, has she?”


Even though Ms. Foster wasn’t looking at her, Twilight still shook her head. “No,” she voiced. “Mayor Mare only comes to me when she needs my help and I do my best not to interfere with her authority. The last thing I want to do is to step on her hooves.”


“I see,” said Ms. Foster as she paused to look into the map room for a moment before continuing. “Well princess, we’ve been talking about the orphanage. Now I’ve been running it by myself for the last fifty years. Hasn’t been that hard since there have been so few who lose their parents and have nopony to take them in. However…” Ms. Foster paused in the middle of the hallway to let out a deep sigh. Slowly she turned to look at Twilight and, as if noticing it for the first time, the princess noticed just how old the other mare was. While her appearance hasn't changed, something in her eyes seemed to add a number of years to the mare. Twilight recognized this, having seen that same look in Celestia’s eyes several times.


“Scootaloo was the last foal I took in,” said Ms. Foster eventually while looking down at her hooves. “I knew back then I was starting to get too old for the job. Began getting harder to get out of bed thanks to these old bones and not as fast as I used to be. Thank my lucky star that my hearing and eyesight are still going strong, but even then I knew that it was only a matter of time before they began to fade. So I told myself that once all of the foals under my care had left that was it, I’d retire. Right now, Scootaloo’s the only one left. Been that way for awhile now. Doubt she even remembers the others.


“In normal cases, I’d keep looking after Scootaloo until she was adopted or until she became old enough to make her own living. But recently, Mayor Mare decided that it was time to close down the orphanage and send Scootaloo to Manehatten or Canterlot. Says that it has to do with the town budget and there was little sense keeping the place open when there was one filly. Trying to get me to see that it might be the best for Scootaloo, heading into a bigger city where she’ll stand a better chance at getting adopted and not being alone. She also knows that I’ve been wanting to retire so it looks to her like it’s a win-win. Personally, I think areas like Ponyville are better for her, where she’s surrounded by ponies who love and care about her. Sadly, the mayor’s decision is final.” Ms. Foster then looked up at Twilight with a pleading look in her eyes.


Twilight knew what she was asking her to do. Something that she knew would be coming soon, but didn’t expect it to be this soon. To take Scootaloo in right now.


“Th-this is just a bit sudden,” stammered Twilight.


Ms. Foster let out a sigh. “I know dear, I know,” she said. “I know the two of you are still trying to wrap your heads around the idea. But, if what you say is true, you are Scootaloo’s sister. You could take her in for now until you’ve talked things over with your family. It would be a very simple process, much easier than normal adoption.”


From there, Ms. Foster began to talk about what Twilight would have to do. However, Twilight wasn’t paying attention as her mind tried its best to process this information. The town was losing the orphanage? The purple princess could see the logic and the reasoning. With everything that had been going on since she arrived like a giant rampaging Spike, Discord, Tirek, Rainbow Dash’s snowstorm, and Applejack’s baked bads it was easy to see where the money in the town was going to. Heck, they were still trying to fix all the damages from her fight with Tirek! And that was only the stuff that Twilight knew about. How many disasters occurred before she came to Ponyville? While she understood the mayor’s reasoning, Twilight wished Mayor Mare had talked to her about securing extra funds from the crown before closing down a government facility.


One that might have closed down anyways, she reminded herself before her thoughts drifted towards Scootaloo. Twilight had planned on taking Scootaloo later, a few weeks at most. After she had a proper talk with her mother and was able to come up with a plan. But now, due to her own impatience, her father knew. The entire family probably knew right now. Even with all the family chaos going around, Twilight knew she needed to be strong for Scootaloo. To stand by her like a real sister should.


“Ok,” said Twilight, interrupting Ms. Foster as she was talking about how a member of Foal Services would come to check up on them. “My sister can stay here.”


-x-


Later that evening, when the sun was close to its decent, Scootaloo found herself looking at what was to be her new room. With saddle bags stuffed with all of her most prized possessions, ones that she didn’t want quickly stuffed into boxes, the flightless pegasus walked into the crystal room which was three times bigger than her old one. Located next to Twilight’s room, this one had two large windows that let plenty of light in and gave her a good view of the entire town. Built-in dressers lined the crystal walls for things like her winter clothing, her single dress, and Nightmare Night costumes. Finally there was a large, four post bed that looked like it had just arrived today.


As she walked into the middle of the room, with her hoof steps echoing all around her, Scootaloo felt very small. She knew what Twilight was trying to do, but the room felt so…empty compared to her old smaller one. Looking down at her saddlebags, she wondered if she could ever fill up this room to make it her own. Right now, she doubted she’d even take up a corner!


Out of the corner of her eye Scootaloo noticed Spike as he appeared in the doorway while carrying a large box. “Knock, knock,” he said cheerfully as he knocked on the door with his tail before entering. “Where would you like this?”


“Ah, anywhere is fine really,” said Scootaloo with a shrug.


“Ok then,” said Spike as he walked over to the bed before setting it down. He paused for a moment to wipe away the sweat from his forehead before leaning against the box. There was a proud look on his face as he looked at Scootaloo. “So, enjoying the new digs? Pretty sweet, right?”


Scootaloo forced herself to smile. “Ah, yeah,” she said. “It’s…sweet.” As she said this, Spike stood up straight with his mouth a little agape.


“If you don’t like it there are other rooms you can have,” said Spike with a hint of worry in his voice. “I think we have some smaller rooms downstairs. O-Or we could move you into the bigger rooms if you want.”


“No, no,” said Scootaloo quickly as she wings stood up. “You don’t have to do that. This room is nice. Totally, one hundred percent perfect!” For a moment, the two stood there just looking at each other before Spike seemed to relax.


“Ok, I think I know what’s going on,” he said as he opened up the box he had been carrying.


“Ah, you do?” asked Scootaloo with a raised eyebrow as she watched Spike begin to pull out several laminated papers. She knew what they were, her past reports she did for school on Rainbow Dash.


“Well yeah, I’ve seen it before,” said the dragon as he paused to look at a crudely drawn picture of Rainbow Dash that was several years old. Spike squinted at the laminated picture for a moment before he set it on the floor with the others and continued to talk. “When the library was destroyed and we moved in here, it was a lot for Twilight. She had become used to the small but cozy tree house so when we moved into this big empty castle well it didn’t really feel like home. It took her a while to adjust.” He paused to look at another of the laminated papers. “But I’m sure that’ll happen faster with you than Twilight. I mean, isn’t it every orphan’s dream to move into a castle or something?”


“Yeah, when you’re a foal and don’t know any better,” said Scootaloo in a tone that caused Spike to take a step back. “I used to think like that too. I’d go to bed telling myself that in the morning I’d wake up and my parents would be talking to Ms. Foster. A-And when they saw me they’d come running up to me and hug me tightly while telling me how sorry they were that we got separated before taking me to live in a castle where nothing bad would ever happen again.” At that moment, Scootaloo’s wings began to hang by her side limply as her gaze was redirected towards the floor. “But then, when I got older, I realized how uncool that was. If it did turn out like that, they’d probably want to change everything about me until I was more like Diamond Tiara or one of those Canterlot snobs who come to Ponyville every once in a while. And knowing that while I was in an orphanage while they were living in some big, fancy…”


As Scootaloo words trailed off she shut her eyes. She didn’t want to look at herself in the floor’s reflection. Not wanting to look pathetic or uncool, Scootaloo took in a few deep breaths. But that wasn’t what helped her calm down. Instead it was a small claw touching her shoulder. When she opened her eyes she saw that Spike was now standing next to her.


“Sorry,” he said genuinely. “I guess I never looked at it look that. I just thought-”


“I know,” interrupted Scootaloo as she touched his claw with her hoof. She then looked away, biting her lower lip for a moment before speaking again. “Did you ever wonder the same thing? About your parents?”


Spike blinked at this, clearly taken a bit by surprise. Then he shook his head. “Not really,” he said. “Before I came to Ponyville, Twilight and her family had been the only family I ever knew. Honestly I never really thought about where I came from until the Dragon Migration. And even then, it was more about trying to get closer to my roots then find out who my parents were. I guess it’s because I know they are my family.”


“That sounds a little cheesy,” said Scootaloo with a chuckle before she got up and walked over to the box. Getting on her hind legs the filly reached in to begin pulling out more of her old Rainbow Dash inspired homework out of the box. From macaroni pictures to small figures and more reports, Scootaloo began placing them carefully on the ground.


“Yeah, it does sound cheesy,” replied Spike with smug look, his arms crossed. “But it is true.”


As Scootaloo shook her head, Twilight choose that moment to enter the room. Around her, held within her magic were several more boxes of various sizes. With great skill, the boxes were gently placed on the ground before the magic faded. But the glow of her horn didn’t fade. Instead it glowed brighter, a bead of sweat appearing on her brow before several more pieces of furniture appeared the room. In one corner was a new crystal desk that looked like all three members of the CMC could lie on its table. Appearing next to the bed were two nightstands with three drawers on each. Finally there was a large orange couch placed against the wall.


“Twilight,” began Scootaloo as she looked around at all the new furniture in her room. “What-”


“Well since this room was a little bare I thought I’d help fill it,” began Twilight in a tone that made it sound like it was no big deal. As she walked over to the filly, Twilight pointed to each of the items that she brought into the room. “That desk right there is the same size as the one I had when I was your age. It’s prefect for when you have multiple large projects you have to do. I thought those night stands would suit you perfectly. And that couch has a pull out bed so when you hold a sleep over your friends won’t have to sleep on the floor.”


Scootaloo felt her eyes grow wide as she felt a pang of guilt in her gut. “Ah, Twilight,” she began as she looked away, her ears flattening against her skull as she did. “You really didn’t have to spend all that money on me.”


Twilight stopped in front of her sister. When she spoke next, her tone was less cheery and more somber. “Scootaloo, I wanted to do this for you. It’s the least I could do since you deserve every advantage I had when I was your age. If it makes you feel any better, just think of all this as missed birthday. And…” As Twilight’s words trailed off, Scootaloo turned to look at Twilight just in time to her glancing at the door. For a moment, Twilight seemed nervous. It was as if she expected somepony to come screaming through the door at any moment. After a moment, she looked back at Scootaloo appearing more like herself. “Anyways, lets help you get unpacked.”


“Sure,” said Scootaloo. “First I need to find someplace to store all of my old Rainbow Dash homework assignments. Used to have them arranged by date back at the orphanage, but now I’m thinking that the better stuff should be more on display. But I also have my report that I did myself that summarizes all of my other assignments so I’m not so sure where that would go.”


“Maybe we could organize them by both grade and content,” exclaimed Twilight as she happily clapped her hooves, most likely happy at the thought of being able to organize something new.


As the two began looking through the box, Spike stood there watching this as he scratched the side of his head. “Wow,” he muttered. “Guess they do share one trait. Just switch Celestia with Rainbow Dash and…”


“Hmm,” said Twilight as she began laying out all of Scootaloo’s past assignments on the floor with Scootaloo now sitting next to her. “Did you say something Spike?”


“Not at all,” said Spike with a smile on his face as he began to walk out of the room. “I’ll get you two some drinks and some snacks.”


And so, for the next several hours, Twilight and Scootaloo worked to set up the filly’s room. While there was still a large amount of empty space, it didn’t feel nearly as empty. With every poster that was put up as well as every nik-nack, Scootaloo began to feel more at ease. Yet the only thing that remained untouched were the items in Scootaloo’s saddle bags. In there was a notebook that Scootaloo didn’t want Twilight or anypony else to see. It was this notebook that was the cause of her guilt when she saw everything Twilight had gotten her. A notebook detailing her ideas for the future.


One she had no intention of changing.
> Who's the boss
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small sigh escaped Twilight as she looked down at her mug and saw that it was empty. Her gaze flicked towards her normally neat and tidy desk where a sea of documents laid sprawled out in every direction before returning to her mug. Instantly her horn lit up, the mug floating away to the coffee maker on the other side of the room for a refill, while her attention returned to what was important. Normally the mare would prefer something more relaxing like tea or hot cider, but right now she needed the state of alert that only hot coffee could provide.


While her horn was occupied at the moment, Twilight picked up the document she had been reading with her hooves. This one, like many of the other documents before her, pertained to Scootaloo in some way. Things like report cards, medical records, and any other document Ms. Foster had on the filly that had been kept in a file cabinet in the other mare’s office. In the day and a half since Scootaloo had come to stay at Twilight’s, the Princess of Friendship had been going over them in her free time. Mostly while Scootaloo was in school.


The document currently in her hooves was one of Scootaloo’s medical records taken back when she was much younger. Unlike the others she had already looked at, this one came from a specialist who dealt with pegasi disabilities. Apparently Ms. Foster had been recommended to see this specialist after some worrying test results on Scootaloo’s wings. And, sadly, the findings showed that something was wrong with Scootaloo’s pegasi magic. If she was reading it correctly (and Twilight was very confident that she was), while the flow of magic was normal in her hooves and would allow her to walk on clouds, it was a different story where her wings were concerned. Since Scootaloo was still a foal, the specialist was hopeful that in time her body could correct this problem since she was still young. If not, unless there were more advances in magical medical skills to correct something like this, she would have to live with the idea of never flying again.


As Twilight set the document down her coffee mug floated onto the coaster. As it sat there, Twilight began to ponder about this troubling information. From what she knew off hoof, there was a chance that Scootaloo’s condition might have been caused by her parentage. Normally a foal born of mixed tribes gets either the father’s or the mother’s magic. However, in very rare cases, situations like Scootaloo’s do show up. There might be some genetic disorder or something like that from Scootaloo’s father’s side that could cause it, meaning Twilight would have to start looking through her books.


Slowly, Twilight levitated the mug up to her mouth and blew on the hot liquid as she began to think of possible ways to help her sister. The first pony who came to mind was Zecora who seemed to have a potion for everything. However, there would be a chance that she might not be able to help. If she did know of a potion that could help Scootaloo, why hadn’t she offered it to the filly who wanted desperately to fly? Was it because she didn’t know what exactly was wrong with her or was it because the ingredients were very rare? Had there been any new medical breakthroughs? Perhaps she could send Princess Celestia a letter, asking if she knew of any.


As Twilight took a sip of her coffee, her eyes glanced at another document. One that she had been reading over and over again. It seemed that Ms. Foster had kept records on how every filly and colt came to stay at her orphanage. Perhaps it was in case the parents ever came back for their foal or something of that nature. Twilight had hoped this might give her more information on who Scootaloo’s father was or if her mother had been the one to drop her off. However, what Twilight found was unpleasant to say the least. Scootaloo had been found near the edge of the Everfree Forest the morning after a horrible storm. Ponies had heard the crying filly, soaking wet, and found her in a cloud foal carrier with her name on it. The sheriff at the time checked the hospital to see in any pegasi foals had been born that matched her colors and age to find nothing. He…he thought it very likely that she had been abandoned.


Lowering the mug so she could take a breath to calm herself, Twilight tried her best to banish the notion that her mother might have done that. It was just too hard to believe that her mother, who stayed in the school dorms when Twilight was sick with a cold for a week, might have done something so monstrous. She didn’t want to think that anypony could do something like that. But it was looking like it could be a possibility.


Setting down her mug, Twilight shifted gears as she looked at the other thing that was on her desk: a pile of pictures. The night Scootaloo had moved in, Twilight had sent Moondancer a letter via Spike asking her to look through her old home in Canterlot for any pictures of her parents that were still there. She hadn’t gone into the details of why, just stating that it was an important and personal matter. And just this morning, Moondancer had what she had found special delivered to the princess.


Twilight had hoped to find something as she looked at every picture Moondancer had sent. Some pegasus stallion that appeared in multiple pictures over the years that she had previously overlooked. That wasn’t the case. Nearly all of them were family only with a few showing Twilight with her nose in her book surrounded by her Canterlot friends.


With a huff, Twilight realized she should have expected this. She wished she had paid more attention to her parents’ small get togethers when she was a foal or paid more attention to their co-workers. Scootaloo’s father could be a pegasus who worked at Night Light’s publishing company or could have served with Velvet when she was a specialist in the EUP. Of course she reminded herself that the stallion she was looking for could also have been a one night stand Velvet met at a café or something.


A sudden small knock on the door shook Twilight from her thoughts. Before she could open her mouth to ask who it was, the door opened and Spike’s head appeared through the crack.


“Hey Twilight,” he said looking slightly nervous. “Cheerilee is here to see you.”


Twilight blinked. “Oh,” she said as she got to her hooves. “Ok then. Send her in.” Spike nodded before pulling his head back. The door then fully opened as Cheerilee walked in with a worried look on her face.


“I’m sorry to bother you princess,” said the school teacher as she approached Twilight. “Is Scootaloo home?”


“Ah,” began Twilight as she glanced at the clock in the corner of the room. She had thought it was closer to noon, but apparently it was almost four in the afternoon. “Not that I’m aware of.”


“I see,” said Cheerilee as she looked away, sighing as she did so. When she turned to look back at Twilight, her expression was firm. “I’m sorry I have to do this during what I’m sure is a difficult time for both you and Scootaloo, but this needs to be done. It’s about Scootaloo’s performance in school.”


Twilight raised an eyebrow that this. “Is she struggling?” asked the princess. Cheerilee shook her head.


“It feels more like she’s disinterested,” replied the school teacher. “She is paying attention in class, I can see that. But when it comes to the work, well, for the last couple of months she’s been giving either half hearted answers or none at all. The only time she puts any real effort into anything is when she can link it to Rainbow Dash. If this keeps up she’ll have no choice but to either go to summer school or repeat the year.”


“I had no idea,” said Twilight as her hoof touched the side of her head.


“I am doing all I can to help her,” continued Cheerilee. “This week I gave her some extra credit work. However, when she came back to school it wasn’t completed. Under normal circumstances I would have talked to you right away, but given what you two are going through I assumed it had been forgotten in the excitement. So I talked to her after class and told her that I was going to give her another chance to complete it. That I wanted to see it to be on my desk the next morning.” Cheerilee paused to let out a sigh. “As you can probably guess, it wasn’t there.”


“I wish I had known,” said Twilight as she glanced over at her desk for a moment. “If I had, then I would have made sure she did it.”


“Well, here’s your chance,” said Cheerilee. “I told her I’d give her one more chance to get it done. Since today is Friday, I’m going to ask that she spends this weekend on her assignment which now has a minimum length of four pages. If she doesn’t, then I’m afraid my hooves are tied. I can’t keep giving her chances that she’s letting pass her by.”


“I understand,” said Twilight as she gestured to the door. Together, the two mares began to walk out of Twilight’s study and into the main hallway. “I’ll find her and make sure she gets it done.”


-x-


“Oh where is she,” muttered Twilight as she galloped through Ponyville. As ponies moved out of the princess’s path, Twilight scanned the streets for any sign of her sister.


For the last two hours she had searched through the town, starting first at the home of Sweetie Belle’s parents in the hope that the CMC had gone there. Not finding Scootaloo there, Twilight flew towards Sweet Apple Acres, scanning the roads as she did so for any signs of the trio. The first thing she did when she got there was to ask Granny Smith if she had seen them, however the old mare shook her head. After that, Twilight zoomed across the orchard as quickly as she could, nearly crashing into several trees in the process and scaring many squirrels. Naturally she also checked the club house which was also devoid of Scootaloo.


Now that she was back in town, worry was beginning to seep into the alicorn as she continued to find no sign of her sister. It had never occurred to her before to ask Scootaloo if she was heading out with her friends after school or when she would be home. She had never had to do that with Spike after all. But, then again, Spike usually stayed at her place while she was out and about. Shaking her head, Twilight knew she would have to think about things like this in the future. She didn’t want there to be an emergency and for her to not know where Scootaloo was!


Coming to a crossroad, Twilight paused in the middle of it. Her hooves continued to move however as she looked around in every direction. Down one road lead to the more residential area of Ponyville where she had been a short while ago. Another road would take her close to the school which she doubted Scootaloo would be. That left the last road which had shops running down as far as her eyes could see. One of those shops, which stood out among the rest was Sugarcube Corner. And in front of it were two familiar faces who might be able to help her. So, in a desire to get to them as quickly as possible, Twilight teleported right next to them.


“AAAHHH,” cried Rarity as she jumped back while dropping the cupcake she had been holding with her magic.


“Twi, what the hay?” cried Applejack as she too was startled. And they weren’t the only ones. All around them, ponies had jumped at the princess’s sudden teleportation. Many had dropped what they were carrying and some cried out in shock.


“Have either of you seen Scootaloo?” asked Twilight, not thinking about apologizing at the moment. She didn’t even notice that both of her friends had gone from annoyed and startled to looking concerned. “I’ve been looking everywhere and I can’t find her!”


“Whoa there now,” said Applejack in a tone meant to calm her down. “Simmer down Sally, simmer down. Ah think ya might need ta take a breath.”


“Or perhaps visit the spa to relieve some of that tension,” added Rarity as her horn began to glow and pulling out several twigs from Twilight’s mane that she didn’t even know were there. “Trust me darling, it will do you a world of wonders.”


“I can’t go to the spa right now!” shouted Twilight as Rarity continued to fix up Twilight’s mane and tail with her magic. “I’m worried about Scootaloo!”


“Oh that’s right,” said Rarity as her eyes glittered with excitement. “Scootaloo’s your sister now. It’s been the talk of the town of late. I would have been over to congratulate you, but I just finished a very important order for-”


“Rarity!” shouted Twilight again, this time stomping her hoof on the ground. “Focus! Have you seen Scootaloo?”


“Calm down Twi,” said Applejack as she stepped in between her two friends. “Ah understand you’re worried about your new kin, but Scootaloo ain’t no foal. She can take care of herself just fine. Plus she has Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with her.”


“I know but-” began Twilight, only to be interrupted when Applejack moved beside her and wrapped a foreleg around her neck. As Twilight looked at her country friend, she saw a calm and confident look in Applejack’s eyes.


“Ah know you're new to all this an’ it can feel mighty overwhelming,” began Applejack in what sounded like the beginning to a long speech. That was halted as the Cutie Mark Crusaders approached the sweet shop. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were walking along with Scootaloo circling around them on her scooter. As soon as Twilight spotted her sister, she freed herself from Applejack’s foreleg to approach the filly.


“Scootaloo, I’ve been looking all over Ponyville for you,” she stated as Scootaloo came to a halt. “Where were you?”


“We were just helping out a colt find his special talent,” said Scootaloo with a dismissive shrug. “It’s no big deal really.”


“And it never occurred to you to let me know where you were?” demanded Twilight, her eyes narrowing so fiercely that Scootaloo’s friends backed away slowly with their heads lowered. Yet Scootaloo seemed unmoved by this.


“I’ve never had to tell anypony what I was doing before,” replied the filly with a trace of annoyance in her voice as she looked back at Twilight. “Plus you never told me I needed to when I moved in with you.”


Twilight’s eyes softened at that. It was true. She had spent most of her time with the filly helping her to become comfortable with the idea that they were now family that the idea of establishing rules had yet to occur to her. Mainly because, like Applejack had said, Scootaloo knew how to take care of herself fairly well. That and she had always been respectful whenever she visited the castle. Right now, Twilight knew that she was at fault in this instance.


Still, Twilight’s eyes narrowed once more. “Do you know why I was looking for you?” she demanded. “Cheerilee paid me a visit today to talk about your grades! And that you have a paper due on Monday!”


Scootaloo let out a groan as she hung her head. “Oh come on Twilight,” she said when she looked back up. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing. I’ve got all weekend to do it.” As if thinking that the subject was closed, Scootaloo tried to go around Twilight. She didn’t get far, however, for Twilight lifted her and the scooter into the air and set her back down in front of the irritated alicorn.


“I might have believed that if this wasn’t the third time she asked you to do the same paper,” snapped Twilight. “Not to mention the fact that you’re in danger of going to summer school or being held back!” This earned a worried gasp from both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. While Twilight’s focus was on Scootaloo, she could still see the worried expressions on the other two fillies in the corner of her vision. “Now, we are going to go back to the castle and work on this paper together. Then, we are going to start setting some time aside each day for study sessions to help you get back on track.”


Scootaloo’s eyes widened at that. “B-But what about my Crusading?” she demanded. “And practicing my scooter tricks?”


“I’m afraid you’re going to have to cut back on them for a while,” said Twilight, her voice calming down a tad upon seeing the hurt look on the filly’s face. Twilight knew how important it was to begin working on your special talent as soon as possible as well as being with your friends. However, without a decent education, there would be a limit to how far you could go. She just needed to help Scootaloo realize this. “Until your grades improve I want you to head to the castle right after school so we can-”


“No,” interrupted the filly, her eyes narrowed in defiance. “You’re not the boss of me!”


For a moment, Twilight stared back at Scootaloo in shock with her mouth hanging open. She had no idea what had come over the filly she had known for some time now. What could have caused her to behave like this? However, that question was squashed in an instant as something snapped within Twilight. Her eyes narrowed again as her wings extended to their full height.


“Yes. I. Am.” Each word she spoke rung with power and authority the likes of which the Princess of Friendship had never used before. It shocked those closest to her, but what shocked them even more was what she did next. With her horn glowing with magical power she lifted Scootaloo and her scooter into the air before taking to the sky.


-x-


“I can’t believe you did that!” shouted Scootaloo. The trip back to the castle had lasted only a few minutes which the filly had spent trying to break free of Twilight’s hold. It was only when they had passed through the main door of the castle was she given her wish. Now the two of them stood in the main entrance hall as Scootaloo glared daggers at the older mare. “That had to be the most uncool thing that’s ever happened to me! And for what? Some stupid school work that isn’t important?”


“I’m not the one who put you in that situation,” said Twilight with a frown. “If you had done your homework the first or even the second time, none of this would have happened. And school is important.”


“Maybe for eggheads like you,” snapped Scootaloo. “And that’s not what I want to be like.” Twilight felt her eye twitch as her emotions began to boil again, yet did her best to keep herself under control. The last thing she wanted right now was for both of them to explode onto each other.


“I’m just looking out for you,” said Twilight, doing her best to keep her voice calm and even. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, snorted.


“Yeah right,” she said, her eyes rolling. “You never cared all that much before you found out we were sisters.”


“That’s because you weren’t my responsibility,” said Twilight as she took a step closer. “I had very little say over how you lived your life. There is also the fact that I didn’t know how bad things were going for you at school until today! But now that we’re family, I just want you to succeed and do well.”


“Well,” began Scootaloo before she paused, most likely trying to think of a good way to counter Twilight. “Well, it’s my life! I’m not going to waste it doing stupid math problems and writing lame reports about ponies who no longer matter! And you can’t make me!”


Twilight stared at the filly in shock, surprised again by the ways Scootaloo was acting. But that lasted only for a split second before a different emotion took over while her horn began to glow. Before Scootaloo realized what was happening, her prized scooter was glowing the same color before it was lifted into the air. The filly let out a howl of rage, trying to jump up and reach it with her wings flapping with all her might. Yet it wasn’t enough to reach it. Scootaloo continued to jump in vain, always being about a head too short, while yelling at Twilight to give it back. For her part, Twilight ignored her as the scooter flew across the room and into a closet that shut the very instant it was inside followed by the door locking. The princess watched as Scootaloo jumped onto the door and grabbed the door handle in an effort to open it with no success.


“Give it back!” shouted Scootaloo as she continued to try and open the door. “That’s my scooter!”


“You’ll get it back when you finish that paper correctly,” stated Twilight firmly. For a bit, she watched as Scootaloo struggled with the door a bit more before finally giving up. She landed back on the floor to glare daggers at her older sister.


“This isn’t fair,” snarled the filly.


“Actions have consequences,” responded Twilight as she marched in front of her sister. “You chose not to do your school work and your grades suffered. You chose to ignore Cheerilee’s warning as well as the help she offered you so she had to come to me. Even now, with all that, you still don’t seem to understand how bad the situation you are in is. So, as your big sister, I will do what I have to in order to help you.”


Scootaloo said nothing, just continuing to glare at Twilight as she spoke. When she had finished talking, the small pegasus stared at her for a few more minutes before wordlessly turning around and heading upstairs to where her room was. It didn’t take long for Twilight flinch when she heard the door slam shut, its sound echoing through the castle.


Then, Twilight lowered her head as she let out a long sigh. For a while, Twilight remained in place with the only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock. When Scootaloo had first arrived, it looked like they were forming a bond and getting along. But now…


Could she of handled this better somehow? Twilight bit her lower lip as she mulled over this question. She was sure that she had a handle on things when Scootaloo came to live with her. After all, she had raised Spike and he was more of a little brother to her than a son. So if she could raise a baby dragon with no help from Celestia and no help from books than she felt certain she could do the same for Scootaloo. Perhaps it was that mindset that was her downfall this day. She could have consulted books on how to be the best big sister she could be rather than searching through photos looking for Scootaloo’s mystery father. She could have consulted Applejack or Rarity sooner for advice. She could have spent more time with Scootaloo, trying to figure out what was going on in her life.


Deep down, Twilight felt like she had failed to be a Big Sister Best Friend Forever.


“Howdy Twi,” came the soft voice of Applejack behind her. Slowly Twilight raised her head to see not only her but also Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom.


“Hey girls,” said Twilight, the misery in her voice clear.


“We’re so sorry that things happened the way they did in town darling,” said Rarity as she approached the sad alicorn. “Not to mention our behavior. I had no idea things were going so poorly for Scootaloo. No wonder you were worried.”


Applejack nodded. “My head would have been hotter than a skillet on a stove if ah heard that Apple Bloom was being a lazy daisy in class. Don’t know what’s going on in that filly’s head.” The apple farming mare then turned her attention to the fillies still present. “Did ya all know this was going on?”


“No, we didn’t,” said Sweetie Belle as Apple Bloom shook her head. “I mean, we never really saw Scootaloo doing her homework unless she was trying to write a paper about Rainbow Dash. And we knew Ms. Cheerilee was giving her extra homework, but we didn’t know why!”


“It’s ok everypony,” said Twilight with a sigh. “The only pony who failed is me.”


“Now darling you can’t possibly mean that,” said Rarity. “You and Scootaloo just moved in together so you couldn’t possibly know everything that was going on in her life. Why, even I don’t know everything that happens with Sweetie Belle and we do have our fair share of arguments. Just think of this as more of a teeny tiny bump in the road that almost got dirt on your mane.” The fashionista mare shuddered at the thought.


“Rarity is right,” said Applejack. “Ya only fail if ya plain give up. An givin’ up ain’t something Twilight Sparkle does.”


“But after the fight we just had, I’m sure that Scootaloo will never trust me again,” argued Twilight.


“Twilight, dear, me and Sweetie Belle have at least three arguments a month,” said Rarity.


“Sometimes more,” chimed Sweetie Belle. “Like last night when I walked in on Rarity when she was applying her fake-”


“Yes, yes we get it,” Rarity quickly cut in with her cheeks burning red while also casting a glare at the smaller white filly. “However, once we understand where the other is coming from we usually get over it pretty quick. Once Scootaloo realizes that you’re looking out for her the way a good big sister is supposed to do then I’m sure she’ll come around.”


“I’m not so sure,” said Twilight as she shook her head. “I tried talking to her when we go back, but she didn’t seem to want to listen. So I took away her scooter until she finished that paper.”


Rarity and Applejack looked at each other for a moment before the apple mare moved closer to Twilight. “Sugarcube, I reckon that might have been for the best,” she said. “Honestly, ah would have done the same thing myself. But maybe laying down one of them olive branches might not be such a bad idea either. Ah mean, Scootaloo, she’s used ta having a lot of free rein in her life so maybe she’s acting out ta protect her freedom. Maybe do something that shows ya care about her without slacking off with her punishment.”


“And maybe later we can find out what’s going on with Scootaloo,” added Apple Bloom as Twilight placed a hoof under her chin in thought.


Suddenly, Twilight’s face lit up. She knew just what kind of olive branch she needed! And it would begin with a letter to Princess Celestia.
> The Growing Storm (Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Saturday morning and Celestia’s sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon as Twilight Sparkle opened the doors to her castle. A humid, chilly wind blew past her and the alicorn could see dark clouds being put in place by the pegasi far off into the distance. Thankfully, the weather team posted that the storm wouldn’t happen until nightfall due to the sheer size of the cloud. From what she read the cloud would spread from a few miles south of Ponyville all the way to Canterlot.


As the sun had yet to be covered, Twilight pulled out the letter she had received just a short while ago to double check it. The letter was a response from Princess Celestia that had been sent the previous night inquiring about studies being down on flightless pegasi. While the Princess’s quick response was surprising on this subject, it was still most welcome. Equally welcome was the answer that indeed there was a study going on right now in Cloudsdale! According to the letter, Dr. Scalpel was looking at pegasi whose flying abilities were either unnaturally weak or else nonexistent. While she did not know the specifics as of yet, she urged Twilight to see the doctor to find out more if she was interested.


Smiling, Twilight put the letter back into her saddlebags. This was just the thing she needed right now. Ever since last night, Scootaloo had been holed up in her room refusing to leave. Both she and Spike had brought her things such as food, books to help her with her assignment, and paper just to name a few things. All of it had been left at the door and, much to Twilight’s surprise, all of it had vanished from its spot in the hallway when she had brought Scootaloo’s breakfast this morning. While still not answering her door, Twilight believed that this was a step in the right direction. After all, Scootaloo could have remained stubborn about the whole thing and left the school work outside.


As Twilight opened her wings she wondered for a moment if she should swing by one of her friends to watch over Scootaloo. However, she shook her head at that as she took to the sky. She had already asked Spike and Owlicious to keep an eye on her. If anything should happen, Spike could just send her a letter and she would teleport back here in an instant.


-x-


Meanwhile, Scootaloo sat at the desk Twilight had given looking at a mostly blank piece of paper. At least two paragraphs had been written, but that wasn’t much of an accomplishment for the filly. She had written those exact same paragraphs over and over again, but very little after it. Behind her, scattered on the floor, were all of her previous failed attempts. She could only write a few more sentences before crumpling up the paper in frustration and tossing it behind her.


As she let out a sigh, Scootaloo lazily turned her attention to the open book next to her. The book had been opened to a black and white picture that dominated the page of a mare wearing the armor that sort of resembled the kind worn by the Captain of the Royal Guard except a bit more rugged. This was the pony that Spike had told her about: Captain Storm Crosswinds. According to the book, not only was she the first mare to become Captain but she was also the first pegasus to reach this position. The book detailed her entire life, from a filly living in the outskirts of Cloudsdale to her trying to get into the Guard (which was much harder for mares at the time) and ending with her acts that got her into the position of Captain.


Scootaloo had to admit that while Captain Storm was interesting, she wasn’t as exciting to write about as Rainbow Dash was. With Rainbow, Scootaloo would have been grinning ear to ear as she wrote down all of her idol’s facts that she knew from heart. She could put her whole heart and passion into it. But with this mare, Scootaloo was struggling to put any of that same drive and energy into it. Add to the fact that it was taking so long to write made it all the more unbearable to the filly. If only she were allowed to write it on Rainbow Dash, she would have been done by now and on with her life. The only reason she was doing this was because she felt guilty!


Scootaloo dropped her chin to the table as her hooves rested on either side of her head. As her eyes looked at the written words without really seeing them, the incident that happened yesterday played in her head. A part of her didn’t understand why she was feeling this way. She had just done what she always did before Twilight appeared and tried to force her to do something she didn’t want to do. Then Twilight told her that would be spending less time with her friends, was dragged back to the castle, and then had her scooter taken away! But perhaps the reason she felt like this was because of everything Twilight had given her. Maybe because it looked like she was acting like a brat or something.


Taking her hooves off her head and pushing herself away from the desk, Scootaloo shook her head. Was it so unreasonable to keep others from dictating how you live your life? It’s not like it would affect Twilight. The filly then turned around only to be greeted by the sight of all her failed attempts to write this stupid paper. All this was only further proof that she wasn’t Twilight’s little sister. She wasn’t some egghead and she sure wasn’t going to let Twilight turn her into one.


Wincing from another bite of guilt, Scootaloo tried to distract herself by looking out the window. There, she could see that weather was perfect for going outside and having fun. Which is what she should be doing right now! Looking farther into the distance she could see the clouds being brought together for a storm later on. And, flying through the air, was Twilight.


Her eyes widened as she realized what all this meant. A storm would be coming either tonight or tomorrow depending on when the pegasi finished moving the clouds. That would mean she would be stuck indoors with nothing to do until it was over. Wouldn’t it make more sense to do boring homework then instead of when the weather looked nice? That did make a lot of sense. Maybe what she needed was a break from all this dumb school work. Get some fresh air, ride on her scooter for a couple of hours, and hang out with her friends until the storm came! Then come back when the rain starts. By then she should be cleared of all the stupid junk in her head and it’ll be easier to write her paper. That or she’ll be too tired to do it and she’ll just jump into bed. Either one seemed fine to her.


Best part was Twilight wasn’t here to tell her no or stop her with her magic! Scootaloo knew there could be any number of reasons why Twilight was leaving: Friendship mission from the map, princess duties, going to see her friends, or looking for some dumb rare book. With most of those situations, Scootaloo knew that Twilight would be gone for awhile. Meaning the odds were in her favor of getting back to the castle before the princess got back. Plus since Twilight wasn’t here then there was a good chance she’d be able to get her scooter back.


Now grinning from ear to ear, Scootaloo raced to the door. As she reached for the doorknob she paused for a moment as a thought appeared in her head. Spike! She hadn’t seen him on Twilight’s back which meant he was most likely still in the castle. If he caught her trying to leave then he’d send a letter to Twilight which would be very uncool. Taking a breath, Scootaloo knew she had to be very careful not to be seen in order to get as much of her time as possible.


When the door opened, she slipped out into the hallway with perked ears. Scootaloo moved slowly despite her pegasus instincts screaming at her to move as fast as she could. Past experiences with Ms. Foster had taught the filly that hoofsteps become louder when you race and that the eye might catch quick/sudden movements. When she reached every door, she made a point to stop in order to listen for sounds coming from inside. It was because of this that, when she passed by the bathroom, she learned that was where Spike was.


“Oh yeah,” she heard Spike say loudly. “What do you think of these cannons Ember? Why yes, I have been lifting weights. You know, just keeping in shape. No big deal really.” As Scootaloo held her breath to keep herself from giggling like a mad pony, Spike paused. “Oh Rarity! Are you here to check out my bulging muscles and killer abs?”


With tears threatening to leak out, Scootaloo continued to move out before her laughter exploded. With each step her laughter died down a bit while she kept looking over her shoulder to see if Spike had left the bathroom. Even after she turned the corner, she continued to look behind her from time to time just to be on the safe side as well as keeping an ear out for any noise he could make.


Finally, Scootaloo made it to the main stairway. Below the entrance way looked deserted. But then again, Twilight didn’t have any guards or staff on hoof. Just Spike and Owlicious. So, feeling a bit calmer, Scootaloo made her way down the stairs a bit quicker but still keeping an eye out for the owl. The last thing she wanted was him hooting her out.


Five minutes after her hooves touched the crystal floor, Scootaloo was racing out of the castle as fast as her wings could take her. The closet door had, obviously, not been locked and if Twilight had placed any spell locking the door it had clearly faded. Getting her scooter out had been a breeze!


Now here was she heading towards town on this flat straight road. With no twists, turns, hills, or ponies to get in her way Scootaloo was able to go as fast as she wanted. In fact, she could actually see how fast she could really go. Maybe do her own version of a Sonic Rainboom with her scooter! Grinning at the idea, Scootaloo began to flap her wings faster than she ever had in her life. Bit by bit, the world around her began to blur slightly as her speed began to pick up. She could feel the wind pushing against her and, for a moment, she felt her rear hooves slide back a bit.


Startling to feel a bit nervous, Scootaloo began to wonder if she should slow down a bit. The town was getting closer much faster than she had assumed and the scooter was beginning to shake. But she gritted her teeth and shook her head. She knew that was quitter talk! Rainbow Dash wouldn’t pass up a chance to push herself! Her real big sister was fearless and that’s what she had to be like. She could-


What happened next happened faster than the filly could process. One moment she was holding onto the handle of her scooter and the next she found herself flying headfirst down the road in the direction of an open cart.


-x-


“Thank you for taking the time to see me Doctor,” said Twilight as she sat in the office of Dr. Scalpel, the two separated by a desk made of clouds. All around them were various degrees and awards the doctor had received as well as newspaper clippings that involved him in some way. As for the doctor, he was looking down at Scootaloo’s medical file which Twilight had brought with her with great interest.


“Not a problem, not a problem,” he said, his voice sounding slightly distracted. “You are a princess.” He then looked up. “Has Scootaloo ever been able to perform any degree of flight over a prolonged amount of time? Like, for example, when she was a foal?”


“I’m, ah, not sure,” replied Twilight.


Dr. Scalpel nodded before returning his attention back to the file, one of his hooves tracing something Twilight couldn’t see. “That’s…unfortunate,” he muttered. “Has she been able to walk on clouds with no difficulties? Without a spell helping her out?”


“She has,” said Twilight as she remembered hearing about the time Scootaloo visited Rainbow’s parents.


“Well that’s good at least,” mumbled the doctor without looking up at Twilight. Leaning forwards a bit, Twilight could see that the doctor was looking at old x-rays of Scootaloo’s wings. “Yes, her wings should have been double this size here. I can only imagine what they're like now. And…oh, that’s interesting.”


“What?” asked Twilight as she fought to keep herself from standing up.


The doctor didn’t answer right away, instead proceeding to close the folder containing Scootaloo’s file before looking up at the princess. “Princess Twilight, I believe I know what is wrong with your little sister,” he began after taking a breath. “Now, I’ll need her to come in for an examination to be sure of this, but the signs are pointing to smaller magical pathways in her wings. Since she is able to walk on clouds without the assistance of unicorn magic, it sounds like she has the normal amount of pegasi magic and that it is flowing into her hooves properly. But that doesn’t look like that’s the case for her wings. Judging by their size, I’d wager a guess that she is receiving a tiny fraction of what they should be getting.”


Twilight gave the doctor a nod to show that she was following along. In fact, she had read something similar about unicorns several years ago when she was still living in Canterlot. It was a study on why some unicorns have weaker magic as well as smaller horns. Before, nopony had given it much thought and chalking it up to not needing that much magic for their special talent or that they had no real talent with magic. But the article she read stated that researchers believed that the cause of this was actually the result of having poor magical pathways in the horn. This, they believe, causes poor magical buildup when casting a spell and poor horn growth.


When Twilight voiced this, the doctor nodded. “Since that article came out, several of us pegasi doctors have wondered if this might also apply to those in our tribe,” he said. “From what I’ve heard, their research has been heavily stalled due to a lack of willing participants. Not hard to image since the doctors would have to cut into their horns.” Twilight couldn’t help but wince at this while a hoof traveled up to touch her horn. Cutting into a unicorn’s horn normally resulted in severe and permanent damage to that pony’s magic.


“As for us,” continued Dr. Scalpel. “I am pleased to say that we have made great strides towards understanding this condition. Pegasi wings are much easier to operate on and heal in this regard. While we have had our fair share of failures trying to fix this defect, this new treatment we are attempting shows a great deal of promise. We plan to first operate on the wings of pegasi who are participating to correct the pathways with the help of skilled unicorn doctors. Once that is done, they will be given several injections of a potion that will increase the flow of magic into their wings as well as stabilize these pathways. The zebras who have offered their skills to help us make this potion are some of the best in their fields.”


“Sounds like a real team effort,” said Twilight with an approving nod causing the doctor to beam at her. “So, I take it Scootaloo qualifies to take part in this?”


The doctor looked back to the file in front of him. “As I said, I’d like to personally examine her and run some more tests. After that I can give you more of a definitive answer.” Dr. Scalpel then looked up at Twilight. “Before we proceed, however, I believe I should first inform you of the risks. While I am confident in the skills of myself and the other ponies working with me, this procedure is still very experimental. There is no guarantee that this will work. If it doesn’t, best case scenario will be that she remains unchanged and can take part in the next one. Worst case…she may lose the ability to move her wings permanently.”


“Scootaloo might...” breathed Twilight as her eyes widened before quickly looking away as she could not finish that sentence. She wanted to help Scootaloo to fly, to really fly like any other pegasus. But…was the risk worth it? If this failed, then Scootaloo wouldn’t even be able to ride her scooter like she used to.


A moment later, Twilight turned her head to face the doctor while still keeping her head low. “I’ll need to talk this over with Scootaloo.”


“Of course, of course,” replied Dr. Scalpel as he took out a planner book. “Princess, I’ll pencil her in for an appointment two weeks from today at two P.M. for her examination. I’ll give you until then to talk your sister and reach a decision. How does that sound?”


Twilight brought a hoof to her chin as she considered the doctors offer before nodding. As the doctor began to write in his planner, a scroll appeared in front of Twilight before falling to the ground.


-x- 


Twilight shot towards Ponyville General Hospital as fast as her wings could take her. Spike’s letter to her looked like it had been written in a panic, with ink splotches all over with several words crossed out. All she could make out was that Scootaloo had been taken to the emergency room. And that was all that was needed for Twilight to wish she still had the magical power of all four princesses so she could just teleport there.


Her wings began to hurt, almost to the point where tears threatened to appear. Yet she didn’t dare to slow down with only a momentary thought appearing in her head wishing that she had practiced flying with Rainbow Dash a bit more. All sorts of horrible thoughts ran through the mare’s head as the building came into view. Was her little sister ill? Had Scootaloo’s appendix burst? Had she cut herself somehow? Did she try some stunt in her room and hurt herself? Had a former villain from the past broken into her castle and attacked recklessly, injuring Scootaloo in the process? She could almost see Tirek returning, leveling the castle in a blast which Scootaloo was caught in.


Trying her best to keep calm, and utterly failing, Twilight made a failed landing in front of the hospital entrance that resulted in her rolling into the lobby. The princess could hear several ponies gasp when she stopped, allowing them to recognize who she was followed by them asking if she was alright. As the ponies in the lobby moved to help her, Twilight managed to stand on her shaky hooves. Breathing hard, she looked over to the receptionist’s desk where Nurse Red Heart still sat with her mouth hanging open. Not thinking about anything else, Twilight leapt over to her.


“Where is Scootaloo?” asked Twilight in a panic. She could hear herself breathing heavily and could feel the sweat on her fur making it slightly damp. Both she paid little mind to as she looked at the stunned nurse. “Is she ok?”


“Princess Twilight,” came a male voice behind her. “Please calm down.”


“Don’t tell me to-” began Twilight loudly as she turned to look at who was talking to her. However, she cut herself off when she saw who it was. It was Dr. Stable, looking at her in understanding as he held up a hoof. Still panting, Twilight took a step back from him.


“Princess, Scootaloo is fine,” said the doctor in a calming tone. “But you need to relax. You’re scaring the other patients.”


Giving herself a moment to catch her breath, Twilight Sparkle took in the scene around her. Several other ponies were in the lobby, including a young colt who was clinging to his mother as they both stared at the princess. Also in the room was an elderly stallion who looked older than Granny Smith appearing nervous while a few seats next to him a pale looking mare coughed into her hoof while she too stared at the alicorn.


“I…I’m so sorry,” began Twilight as her ears flattened against her skull. “It’s just I heard that Scootaloo…” Her voice just trailed off from there from both shame for how she had panicked as well as embarrassment.


“I understand,” said Dr. Stable he walked down one of the hallways connected to the lobby and motioning Twilight to follow him. “This happens all the time. Perfectly natural to panic when somepony you know is brought in here.”


“Can you please tell me what happened?” asked Twilight quietly as she walked next to him. “I only know she’s here because Spike sent me a letter, but I have no idea what’s happening!”


“There was an accident,” replied the doctor calmly, in a tone meant to reassure. However, Twilight’s ears perked at the word accident as her heart began to face faster. “From what I was told when she was brought in, something happened while she was riding her scooter. The ponies each had a different story ranging from hitting a pothole, the scooter couldn’t handle the stress of going at the speed she was going, to a sudden Diamond Dog attack. All end the same with her flying head first into a cart.”


As they walked, Twilight bit her lower lip as she felt her heart pounding in her chest. How could Scootaloo be alright after something like that? Her well informed mind, something she had always prided herself with, choose that moment to betray her. As clearly as if it were written on a sheet of paper in front of her, Twilight could see the growing list of things that could be wrong with Scootaloo.


“Thankfully, the helmet she was wearing took the blunt of the blow,” continued Dr. Stable as he gestured to a stairwell. Wordlessly, Twilight followed him upwards. “When she arrived she was bleeding from a head wound so after I personally bandaged her up I made sure she got an x-ray. Thankfully there were no fractures in her skull. We also checked for signs of internal bleeding and found none. We think the worst she’ll suffer is a concussion.”


As the two reached the second floor, Twilight allowed herself a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank Celestia,” she said. Now the two of them were trotting down a hallway with many open doorways. As they moved, Twilight’s eyes glanced in one of them to see that it was a patient’s room.


“With all that said, I’d like your permission to keep her here overnight,” continued Dr. Stable. “Just to keep an eye on her in case…something…” Dr. Stable’s words began to trail off as he stopped and looked into an open room. Twilight could see his eyes narrowing before turning his entire body towards it. “You there! What are you doing in here? This is a filly’s room! Where is the nurse?”


Twilight moved so that she too could look inside. Her eyes focused on the pony in the bed first and found it to be Scootaloo. The filly was lying on the bed, frowning with her forelegs crossed in front of her with white bandages wrapped around her forehead. All things considered, she looked like she was more annoyed than in any real pain. For a moment, Twilight felt her body relax a bit more upon seeing that she was alright.


That moment, sadly, ended when she noticed the only other pony in the room. It was an earth pony stallion standing a good head taller than Big Mac. He wore a black suit and tie, which covered up most of his front half only to stop before reaching his cutie mark: a cobra. The suit couldn’t hide the fact that he was an extremely muscular stallion that would put Bulk Biceps to shame. Even his hind legs looked like the muscles had muscles! He had neither a mane nor tail and his eyes were covered by thick sunglasses that reflected the images of those he looked at.


The stallion, who had been facing Scootaloo, turned to look at Dr. Stable before noticing Twilight. “Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said the stallion in a voice as deep voice that carried with it power and authority. As the stallion walked towards the door, he reached into his suit and pulled out his ID which he then showed to the pair. Twilight’s eyes widened upon seeing the Royal Crest which was held by all government employees. “I am Mr. Bubbles of Foal Services. Could we speak in private?”


Twilight nodded as she back away from the door. As Dr. Stable walked into the room, glaring at Mr. Bubbles as he did, the earth pony stallion made his way to the doorway that seemed two sizes too small for his stature. Yet Twilight watched in amazement as he maneuvered his body through the doorway with such skill that could only come from doing this for many, many years. His suit didn’t even catch a single wrinkle. Now in the hall, Mr. Bubbles walked towards the stairwell with Twilight following behind him.


As she walked, Twilight’s mind cursed this latest problem. She had been told by Ms. Foster that somepony from Foal Services would show up as part of the process to be granted custody of Scootaloo. It should have been an inspection of her castle and to find out how they were doing. Then, if there were no problems, that would have been the end of it besides a bit more paperwork. If there was a problem it would be up to the agent to decide how things would proceed.


Eventually, the two stopped in front of the stairwell and Twilight couldn’t help but blurt out, “I know this looks bad.”


Even with those sunglasses, Twilight could tell he was glaring at her in a way that made her feel small. Or that she was taking a test she was unprepared for. “On that we can agree,” he said firmly. He then reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a notepad as well as a pen. It wasn’t until the pen was in his mouth, poised to write, that he spoke again. “Now, where were you when this happened?”


“I was in Cloudsdale, speaking to a doctor to help Scootaloo fly,” said Twilight, her eyes watching the pen as it made note of what she said. “I was with Dr. Scalpel. You can check with him if you wish.”


“I might do that,” replied Mr. Bubbles in a clear tone. “Was there anypony watching over Scootaloo when you left?”


“I-I left Spike in charge,” stammered Twilight.


“Spike,” repeated Mr. Bubbles as he looked up from his notepad. “As in Spike the Hero of the Crystal Empire? The baby dragon?” When Twilight nodded, Mr. Bubbles wrote on the notepad some more before putting it back in his inner suit pocket. When it was tucked away he looked at her some more as if to grade her.


Finally, he spoke. “I’d like to have a look around your home,” he said in a calm and even tone. Twilight, whose throat had gone dry, nodded. As she gestured towards the stairs, the two of them noticed Apple Bloom, Spike, and Sweetie Belle standing on the landing below them with their eyes glued on the pair. Twilight began to sweat before giving the three a nervous smile before she and Mr. Bubbles walked down the stairs.


As the walked, Twilight could feel her heart pounding hard while Scootaloo’s friends watched her silently. She could tell that their eyes were fixed on the suited stallion, however. It was only when they passed did they move, galloping up the stairs in order to seek out their friend. Spike, however, had not moved. He had kept his eyes on her the entire time and, when she passed, hesitated for only a moment before turning to follow her walking only a few feet in her wake with his head lowered.


-x-


Meanwhile, Scootaloo sat in her bed and was bored out of her mind. Ever since she woke up at the hospital she had to hear doctors asking her over and over again how she was feeling. And over and over again she had to tell them that, besides being a little light headed and her head feeling itchy, she was fine. But instead of writing it down they kept repeating the same questions as she was taken to test after test. Then, instead of letting her out so she could enjoy whatever good weather was left, they told her she had to stay in the hospital for the night. Honestly, she didn’t know what was worse: sitting here and doing nothing for hours or being at Twilight’s and doing homework.


As thunder rumbled in the distance, Scootaloo felt herself cringe. But it was not the growing storm outside that caused this, instead it was the one inside of her. The guilt she had been feeling earlier was back at full force, made worse by how she had just thought about Twilight. It felt…unfair for some reason and she didn’t like thinking that way about a pony who was her friend. Then there was big stallion with the stupid name from Foal Services who just showed up and began asking her all sorts of questions. When he saw Twilight he wanted to talk to her in private which, as the young filly knew, was the universal sign that somepony was in trouble. And Scootaloo had a feeling that pony was Twilight.


The filly felt her ears flattening against her head. Twilight’s words about consequences came back to haunt her. If she had just done the report like Miss Cheerilee and Twilight had asked her to, she might have been able to have a little bit of fun. Her scooter would also still be in one piece! And Twilight probably wouldn’t be mad at her right now. If she had gotten mad at her talking back like that, then Twilight’s mane must be bursting into flames right now. Maybe even regretting that she let Scootaloo move in with her!


As the seconds ticked by, Scootaloo began to wonder if her plan was really all that good. All that had happened ever since she decided to do this was getting ponies either worried about her or mad at her. Perhaps she should just do her schoolwork until Twilight calmed down so she could talk to both her and Rainbow Dash about it. Maybe just drop it here and now so she could move on with her-


“No!” stated Scootaloo firmly as she shook her head. “That’s loser talk! Maybe what I should be doing is speeding up my-”


“Scootaloo!” came a duo of voices that pegasus would recognize anywhere. As she looked over at the door her two best friends came charging in and jumping onto the bed. At first, Scootaloo perked up at the sight of then believing that she could escape the emotions turning inside her. However, one look at their faces told her that they were very, very worried.


“What’s goin’ on?” asked Apple Bloom as she glanced from Scootaloo to the door and then back to Scootaloo. “We saw this big fella talkin’ ta Twilight! Ya should of seen her, like she was on trail or somethin’.”


“Pfft,” went Scootaloo as she waved a hoof at them. “Relax Bloom. It was just some guy from Foal Services who’s just checking up on things. Not like he can really do anything. Twilight’s a princess. She can do whatever she wants.” Yet, while she said this, she remembered her previous thoughts about Twilight regretting letting her stay with her. And if what her friends were saying was true then Scootaloo knew she would have to put her plan in motion sooner. Which was probably for the better.


“B-But,” stammered Sweetie, looking close to tears.


“Look, whatever you heard or saw doesn’t really matter,” said Scootaloo confidently.


“Ah, it kinda does,” said Apple Bloom as her face shifted from worried to annoyed. The farm filly then gave Scootaloo an examining look, as if there was something wrong with the pegasus that Apple Bloom thought she could almost see. “You’ve been acting mighty weird lately. Is something going on that ya need ta tell us?”


For a moment, Scootaloo was silent as she looked at her two best friends as she wondered if she should confide in them her plan. If she told them, they might take it badly and- NO! They were her best friends and best friends always have each other’s back! They would understand how much this meant to her and support her! If she couldn’t trust them, there was nopony she could trust.


“Ok,” said Scootaloo with a nod. “But first, you have to Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony what I’m about to tell you.” Her friends didn’t do the motions at first but instead looked at each other curiously. Scootaloo could tell they were silently debating whether or not they should do this. But after the longest minute in Scootaloo’s life, they looked at her before making the promise. When they had finished, Scootaloo grinned before proudly announcing, “I’m dropping out of school!”


“WHAT?!” shouted her friends together. Scootaloo grinned see that they were no doubt impressed by the awesomeness of her plan.


“Bu-But why?” asked Sweetie Belle.


Scootaloo let out a sigh as she turned her head to look at her wings. “Because I want to be more like Rainbow Dash. And at the flag carrying ceremony, I had to face the facts that I’ll never be able to fly no matter what. But dropping out of school is something that I can do, just like how Rainbow Dash dropped out of Flight Camp!” Scootaloo now grinned at them. “I had decided to do it the summer after I got my cutie mark. Thought it would be best for everypony plus the weather would be nice as I traveled across Equestria. Just doing my special talent and being awesome. But with all this stuff going on, I think it would be best if I left sooner so-”


At that moment, Scootaloo found herself tackled by Sweetie Belle who was now openly crying. “You were planning on leaving? H-How could you?”


Scootaloo stared up in shock at Sweetie for this sudden act. However, her eyes soon narrowed while a growl escaped her throat. “Hey, it’s my life and this is the only thing I can do to be more like Rainbow Da-”


“Rainbow Dash!” screamed Sweetie who sounded almost hysterical, pushing down harder on Scootaloo. “Rainbow Dash! It’s always Rainbow Dash with you. Scootaloo, they’re going to find you and then really send you to an orphanage in Canterlot! Don’t you care about anypony else? Don’t you care about us or your sister Twilight?”


“Twilight isn’t my sister!” Scootaloo all but shouted as she tried to get up. “Rainbow is!”


“NO SHE ISN’T!” screamed Sweetie as she refused to let Scootaloo up. “Twilight is your real sister. She wants to be there for you. But you don’t want her to be!”


“What’s going on in here?” came a loud, worried voice. Scootaloo didn’t need to look to see that it was one of the nurses. Instead she kept her eyes glued on the still crying Sweetie Belle.


“Let’s go,” said Apple Bloom suddenly as she placed a hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder. Scootaloo watched as Sweetie shook her head causing Apple Bloom to tug on her a bit. Slowly the apple filly managed to get her friend to follow her off the bed, comforting her the entire way. As they walked towards the door, Apple Bloom glanced over at Scootaloo that made her feelings as clear as if she had declared them at their clubhouse. She wasn’t happy. She didn’t agree with what Scootaloo wanted to do with her life.


As the nurse watched them leave with a confused look on her face, Scootaloo lowered her head. “You were supposed to understand,” she muttered to herself as the rain began to fall outside.


-x-


Hours later found Twilight finishing up the tour of her castle. Mr. Bubbles had wished to see each and every room she had, from the basement to the tallest tower. Each room was examined with meticulous care, checking to see if everything looked like it was being cleaned regularly and that it was safe. On this front, the only time he seemed to have any pause was when he saw Scootaloo’s room which was littered with paper balls. As Twilight explained that she had told Scootaloo to focus on her homework, Bubbles had examined several of the crumpled papers before silently moving on.


Naturally, there were other things that Mr. Bubbles inspected. When they were in the kitchen, the stallion wordlessly checked the entire food pantry to make sure there was enough to eat. He made sure there were plenty of oats, flowers, carrots, apples, and a variety of other foods that a growing filly would need. Thankfully, Twilight had all of these in abundance with the addition of gems for Spike, which caused Mr. Bubbles to raise an eyebrow at. Also during his tour, the stallion checked Twilight’s lab with great care to ensure that all the chemicals that were unsafe were clearly labeled and locked away. With this part, Twilight felt more at ease since she made a habit of making sure that her lab was neat and tidy. Well, except for a few of the blast marks on the ceiling that she was having trouble removing from the magical crystal. That also earned a raised eyebrow from Mr. Bubbles.


Finally, after the map room was inspected, Mr. Bubbles turned to look at Twilight. “Well it looks like your home is in order,” he said as he looked over his notepad in his hoof. “None of the food is moldy or past its expiration date and it meets the requirements needed for a healthy growing filly. Cleanliness is better than most homes I visit. For the most part your lab is fine, but I would recommend getting a lock for the door if you can for added safety”


“Well, that’s good,” said Twilight in a hopeful tone.


Mr. Bubbles, however, his frown deepened as he flipped a page in his notepad. “Princess Twilight, before I arrived I spoke to a former coworker of mine about you,” he said at last breaking the silence between them. “Since Scootaloo moved in with you, there was a rather large public scene and then the events of today.”


“I,” Twilight managed to say, not liking at all where this was going. “That is to say we just moved in together. We’re…just getting used to the change.”


The stallion sighed sadly as he closed his notepad and returned it to his suit coat. “Princess, it is my professional opinion that Scootaloo might be better off in the care somepony else,” said Mr. Bubbles.


“But you can’t!” Twilight almost shouted as she took a step forwards. “I just found out she’s my sister! I know I haven’t made all the right choices, but I am trying my best! You have to believe me!”


As Twilight stood there panting, the stallion before her lowered his head. “That’s what makes this job so hard sometimes,” said Mr. Bubbles as he took off his shades to reveal his blue eyes. As he lowered the hoof holding his glasses his eyes remained focused on them. As he spoke, his voice became softer by a tad. “You see somepony who wants to look after a younger sibling after their parents pass, wanting to keep the family together. Only later to discover that the older pony is unprepared. Then you see another who wishes to take in another and genuinely puts her all into it, but realizes it’s too much for her. Then I come in…to tear them apart. It’s never easy.”


Mr. Bubbles then put his glasses back on before speaking again. “Before you arrived, I had a chat with Scootaloo. She told me about the fight you two had last night and that you told her she won’t get her scooter back until she finished her homework. Also, if what you told me about your visit to this Dr. Scalpel is true, you do have Scootaloo’s best interests at heart. You are able to provide her with a home that most fillies and colts can only dream of. So…I am inclined to believe that you are trying. But even with that said, I still feel like Scootaloo belongs somewhere else.”


Twilight felt her body tremble as he said that. “B-But y-you just said…” stammered Twilight.


“As I said, I spoke to my former coworker about you,” said Mr. Bubbles. “But not just about the events of these last few days. You have a great deal of magical power, but there have been times when you have not executed the best judgment with your magic. Altering parasprites which resulted in half of the town being eaten as well as the ‘Want-it, Need-it’ incident. Then there are ponies like this Trixie character, who obtained a cursed magical object and was bent on challenging you before she tossed you out of town. Tirek, who chased you across Equestria and destroyed your former home. Let’s not forget the fact that you can be summoned either by Princess Celestia or by your magical map at a moment’s notice without having any idea when you’ll be back. With all this in mind, can you honestly say that you can give that filly the attention and help that she needs while keeping her safe?”


Twilight stood there with a dumbfounded look on her face. While she felt that her magical mistakes were fewer and less frequent, she could understand where Mr. Bubbles was coming from. While she felt she could argue that she had gotten better with her magic usage, as well as point out nopony was hurt in either incident, she found it a lot harder to argue with his other two points. She had no control over either force. If Tirek ever escaped and regained his power, Twilight knew he would make a beeline for her. Or what if Chrysalis should try to ponynap her again? Would Scootaloo get wrapped up in their attacks?


Then there were her missions. If the map called on her, she had to go and the same went for Princess Celestia. Rarity and Applejack had less of a problem with this because they had family who could take care of their little sisters. But as of right now, Twilight didn’t know if either of her parents would accept Scootaloo. Rainbow was out of the question because Scootaloo couldn’t get to her house under her own power right now. Not to mention that Rainbow also had her work with the Wonderbolts right now. Off the top of her head, she could ask the Apples if Scootaloo could stay with them or maybe ask her brother…


Mr. Bubbles let out a sigh once again. “Princess, there is no doubt in my mind that Equestria owes you a great deal of thanks for everything you have done. But, with all of these troubles circling around you, there is a greater chance that Scootaloo will be put in harm’s way. For her sake, I recommend that she should be sent to the Canterlot Orphanage. She’ll be well taken care of there until another member of your family comes and we can do another investigation.”


Twilight tried her best to keep the tears at bay, but as she sat there the more she thought about just how badly she had messed up. Because of her, the CMC would be torn apart. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle might even blame her for not doing a better job as a big sister! They’ll never want to come over to her castle for Twilight Time ever again. And then there was Rainbow Dash. When she came back, Twilight was certain that she would be blaming her for all of this. That she just sat back and let them take away her honorary sister. Then the group would take sides with some siding with Rainbow and others defending Twilight. The yelling would start, feelings would be hurt, their friendship would be ruined forever, the Cutie Map would shatter, her home would fall apart, Princess Celestia would banish her from Equestria, the world would-


Twilight then shook her head to banish these thought before she spiraled out of control. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” asked Twilight quietly. “Please, just give me a chance. It’s only been two days.”


For the longest time, Twilight looked up into the stallion’s face. She could see her own fearful expression looking back at her from the lens while his expression remained unchanged. With each deafening moment of silence she could feel her heart pounding harder and harder in her chest. The longer time passed, the more likely it felt like he would say no.


Finally he gave a short nod. “Very well,” he said, causing Twilight and Spike to let out a sigh of relief. “When I return to my office in Canterlot, I’ll check my calendar and send you a letter when the next inspection will be.” His brows narrowed. “I expect that no further incident like the one that happened today will happen again. The next time I arrive, I want assurance that there is a plan in place for when you leave town or a villain attack. I’ll also have somepony keeping an eye on things in Ponyville, just to be on the safe side.”


“I understand,” mumbled Twilight as her head sagged and her wings drooped. The stallion said his goodbyes and, as he left, Twilight felt herself sink to the floor.


“Twilight?” came Spike’s voice followed by his clawed hand touching her side. The Princess of Friendship raised her head slightly so she was able to look out from her mane a bit. While slightly obscure by her mane, she could see that Spike looked like the world was about to end. “I’m sorry.”


Twilight raised a hoof to wipe away the tears in her eyes. “Don’t be,” she said. “You have nothing to be sorry about. This is all my fault.”


Spike shook his head as he held onto Twilight more. “No, it’s mine,” he said. “I was supposed to be watching her. If I had been doing my job as your number one assistant, then she would never have gotten hurt.”


“I never should have put you in that position,” Twilight said after shaking her head. “The blame is all on me.”


“Well, at least we still have a chance,” said Spike as he let her go and speaking a tone that was trying to get her to look on the bright side. “So let's swing down to the hospital and tell Scootaloo the good news that everything is alright!”


Twilight, however, shook her head as the words of Mr. Bubbles still ran through her head. “I...need to think about some things Spike,” she said as she walked out of the room.

“About what?” asked the dragon.

Twilight didn’t answer.
> Storm of
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night had fallen over Equestria. However, Luna’s gentle moon was nowhere to be seen in the sky nor were there any stars. Instead they had been concealed by the thundering clouds above the heads of the ponies. The rain that came from these clouds fell fast and hard, pounding on the roofs of the dwellings with enough force that nopony could escape the sound it made. The wind howled as it blew across the land, sending an icy chill down the spines of those foolish enough to be out in this weather. Every once in a while patches of these clouds would flash, catching the eyes of those who were still awake. And when the lightning struck, the thunder it produced was enough to deafen those who lived in the town of Ponyville.


This was the scene that Scootaloo looked out at through her window with fixed eyes. Tonight had to be the night. Her so called ‘friends’ hadn’t understood her. No doubt right now they were breaking their Pinkie Promise, telling their big sisters what she had planned. And if they got involved then it looked like Scootaloo’s big plan was finished.


As thunder boomed on the other side of the window with enough force to cause the glass to shake, Scootaloo brought a trembling hoof to a saddle bag she had found in the lost and found. The bag itself looked like it had seen better days and was two sizes too big for her, but in this case bigger was better for it meant it could hold more stuff. Inside of it were several sandwiches she had managed to swipe from the hospital’s kitchen as well as a few other things she had found in the building that she was sure nopony would miss. Things like a blanket (the hospital probably had hundreds of them so nopony would miss one), a flashlight, and a few garbage bags to name a few. While it wasn’t the ideal list of materials she had planned out, Scootaloo believed this would do until she reached the first leg of her journey: Rainbow Falls.


Rainbow Falls seemed like the perfect place to start her new life. That area always had something going on. From exchanges to sports events, there would be no shortage of things to do and ponies to meet. It also meant that there would be plenty of ponies who might need an extra hoof meaning she could earn some bits until she had enough saved up to buy herself a new scooter.


Scootaloo’s mood soured at the thought of her scooter. She had no idea if it was still lying on the side of the road or in the trash. The desire to search for it was strong, but Scootaloo knew deep down that it was a bad idea for several reasons. First of all, it was in the complete opposite direction of where she was heading. Secondly, she would have to go through town in order to reach it. Even if there was a storm keeping ponies in their homes and getting it would allow Scootaloo to get to her destination quicker (provided of course if it was still in one piece), there was a good chance that somepony might spot her. And finally, it was too close to Twilight’s.


Taking a deep breath after another round of booming thunder, Scootaloo left her hospital room and headed for the main entrance.


-x-


Twilight sighed for what had to be the millionth time since she had gotten home. After Mr. Bubbles had left, she had silently dragged her hooves to the living room where she then laid down on her reading couch. Since then she had not moved from that spot, refusing to budge for anything. Not even Spike waving her dinner under her nose could get her to move a muscle or cause her horn to glow. She just laid there with her head on the pillow, looking off to the side without seeing anything. Discord could pop in and announce that he, Celestia, and Fluttershy were forming a herd as well as stating that the wedding would be in ten minutes…and Twilight wouldn’t even register it.


No, all she could do right now was sigh and think about what Mr. Bubbles had said her to her. His words about how dangerous her life was; how could it be that she had never thought about it before? Maybe it was because she was just too used to all the craziness that went on week after week to really examine it. Yet in the end, she had to admit how right he was. If Scootaloo were to remain with her, the filly’s life would be hectic and in danger.


With another long sigh, Twilight’s thoughts grew darker. How many times had she risked her life and her friends all in an effort to save Equestria time after time? Sure, she was glad to do it as were those who had followed her on her numerous adventures. And she was sure that she would be called on again in the future…which was the problem. What would happen if she got hurt or worse on one of her friendship missions? Twilight knew that Princess Celestia, her parents, and even Shining Armor and Cadence would gladly take in Spike. But Scootaloo? Seeing that her mother tried to hide Scootaloo’s existence, Twilight doubted that she would take her in while her father would be against raising her as well. Shining Armor and Cadence might, however bringing her in might cause tension. Princess Celestia would be too busy to take care of Scootaloo between her own princess duties and teaching at her school.


Perhaps, Scootaloo would be better off with somepony else. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be a part of her life, but she would rather have her sister safe than having such an uncertain future full of danger. Maybe Twilight could find a family in Ponyville to take care of her. That way Twilight could be close and she wouldn’t have to give up her friends. The problem with that was sadly simple: Scootaloo had been in the Ponyville Orphanage for years. Any couple here who would have wanted to take her in would have already had the chance. She could make a request, but they might only do it because she was royalty. Plus, what if there was another stalking villain like Starlight who found out about Scootaloo? Wouldn’t Twilight just be putting more ponies in danger?


Could one of her friends take in Scootaloo? Twilight closed her eyes as she drew a large red, mental X through that idea. She knew any of them would be willing to take her in, but they all shared the same problem as Twilight with leaving at a moment’s notice. And of course, there were other reasons why they couldn’t take Scootaloo in as well. While Rarity was used to taking care of Sweetie Belle, that was only when her parents dropped her off. Lately she was too busy running between her three boutiques to give any young filly or colt the attention that they needed. The same when for Rainbow, constantly going on tours and heading to Wonderbolts HQ everyday just wouldn’t work. Plus there was the fact that Scootaloo couldn’t get to her house without assistance. Pinkie Pie could work, but she didn’t have a home of her own, instead renting a room from the Cakes. Would there be enough room for the two of them? And would the Cakes be ok with watching Scootaloo along with the twins? Not to mention Pinkie being, well, Pinkie. Her personality might raise more than a few eyebrows from Foal Services. Fluttershy was more stationary and had some experience looking after the CMC, but during those times when they left she would most likely ask either her parents or brother to look after Scootaloo. With them living in Cloudsdale, a moving city, it didn’t seem like it would be the best fit for Scootaloo. Not to mention if she fell through the clouds and nopony saw her…


Twilight barely registered somepony giving her a light shake as she moved to Applejack. Perhaps they were the best pick of them all. With the entire family living under one roof, Applejack leaving at a moment’s notice would be less of an issue. Both Big Mac and Granny could be there to do things like help her with her homework and attend parent/teacher conferences as well as let her have some fun. Yet there was their constant money trouble. Taking in another mouth to feed might be harder on them. Not to mention Granny’s inconsistent health issues.


Still barely registering her body shaking, however much stronger now, Twilight just had to admit it to herself that she had failed. Not even a week in and she was losing-


“Princess?” came a mare’s voice followed by somepony shaking her roughly. So much so that Twilight fell off the couch and landed on the floor. Letting out a groan, her vision came back into focus to see that the one who had shaken her was a worried looking Spike. Standing next to him, dressed in a dripping wet rain poncho, was a mare she didn’t recognize.


“What?” asked Twilight, her voice somewhat groggy, as she stood up.


“Princess,” said the mare again, gaining Twilight’s full attention. While she didn’t know who she was, she did notice the nurse’s cap underneath her poncho. “I’m so sorry! I went to check up on Scootaloo and she was gone!”


“WHAT!” yelled Twilight, her wings outstretched as she gave a panicked look at the nurse. This must have scared the poor nurse, for she shrank in Twilight’s presence. But the Princess of Friendship did not care nor did she take any notice as she asked her next question. “Did somepony break in?”


Weakly the nurse shook her head. “I don’t think s-so,” she said. “I-I checked the window and it was in one piece. A-And there was no water on the floor. She m-must have left on her own. I-I thought m-maybe she came back here, but your dragon said he hadn’t seen h-her.”


“She,” began Twilight as her wings lowered while her breathing quickened. Her head turned to look out the window and the downpour that awaited anypony foolish to go out tonight. “She’s out there? In that?”


“Maybe,” said Spike, also looking worried. “But she could be out of it by now. I mean, she could have gone to see her friends or-”


Twilight didn’t wait for Spike to finish, instead galloping out of the room at full speed and heading towards the front door. As she drew closer, the doors swung open thanks to her magic before she came to a stop. Outside was far worse than what she saw from the window. The cold wind was blowing so hard that it propelled the rain into Twilight’s face even though she was standing several feet from the threshold. She could see the trees in the distance, shaking in the wind while branches fell before being carried away. Looking at the ground, she could already see puddles that could pass for small ponds littered across the grounds.


The princess looked at her folded wings, knowing they would be no use to her. While her flying had gotten better, she was nowhere near confident in those skills to attempt to fly in this weather. If she tried, she was sure that she would be tossed around like a volleyball at the beach. The only ponies who could stand a chance in this weather would have to be Wonderbolt level. But Twilight didn’t have time to contact them and wait to see if any of them would show up. All she knew was, at that moment, Scootaloo was out there.


Still…


“Spike!” shouted Twilight as she turned around. As usual, Spike was behind her. While he looked worried Twilight could tell he was ready and willing to assist. “Send a letter to Rainbow and tell her what’s going on. Maybe she can convince Spitfire to let her come here or have them send somepony else.”


“Right,” said Spike who saluted her before pulling out a quill and parchment. “It’ll just be a moment and then I’ll head out with you-”


“No Spike,” interrupted Twilight as she nervously looked out at the weather again. “I need you to stay here.”


Spike nearly dropped what he was holding, looking at Twilight with a confused and hurt expression. “But I can help,” he said.


Twilight nodded without looking at him. “I know you can,” she said as her hooves bounced about, wanting to head out as soon as possible. “Which is why I want you here. If Scootaloo comes home or if you hear anything, you can send me a letter. Also, tell the nurse that I’d like her to stay here in case Scootaloo does come here.” Then, without waiting for a reply, Twilight galloped out into the storm before her.


-x-


Plans are always so much simpler in one’s head. This was something that Scootaloo was quickly learning more and more with each step she took.


In the first five minutes of her trek, the filly found herself soaked from head to hoof. Her mane was drenched with water, laying flat against her skull as it felt like it weighed a few extra pounds. Her saddle bags also felt like they had had gained extra weight, most likely rainwater that had seeped into them and ruined everything except for the trash bags. When she had realized this, Scootaloo growled at her lack of foresight to not put her stuff in the trash bags in order to better protect them.


Five minutes after that, Scootaloo had began to shiver and shake. The relentless rain continued to pour down with enough force that they stung a little and the constant high winds blew against her as she walked into them. A few times the wind blew so hard that it managed to push her back and once knocked her down into one of the massive puddles she had tried to avoid. The cold had seeped past her fur and moved into her very bones, chilling her to the core. Scootaloo tried to recall a time when she had been colder in order to help her push through. However, not even the coldest winter night had she felt this cold.


How long had seen been out here now? It was impossible to tell anything anymore. It could have been fifteen minutes to several hours. All she knew was that the sun hadn’t risen yet to provide a meager amount of light through the clouds.


Scootaloo tried looking around her but saw only darkness. The last time she had seen any light around her that wasn’t lightning was back at the hospital. Since there she had been stumbling in the dark trying her best to find her way due to the union of darkness and rain. Maybe if the rain was a little lighter or if there was a building nearby with its lights on, Scootaloo might be able to find her way around. Sadly, she wasn’t that lucky.


Lightning flickered around her and was instantly followed by the deafening thunder. Scootaloo let out a cry of fear, swallowing a mouthful of water in the process. But in that moment of light, Scootaloo thought she saw something up ahead that might help her. They looked like trees. Could she be by the Apple farm? If so, then there was a chance she could find shelter from the storm. She didn’t want to knock on the door and ask if she could come in because, if she did that, she would have to explain what she was doing out in the storm. And if she lied Apple Bloom surely would have broken her Pinkie Promise if she hadn’t already. So instead, Scootaloo decided it would be better if she looked for the barn and wait out the storm in there.


As the filly marched towards the trees with the winds feeling like they were blowing in every direction, a voice in her head suggested that maybe she should just go back to the hospital. It was a tempting idea to be sure. There she could warm up with the shower that was in her room before drying off and wrapping her body in the blankets. She could sleep soundly, safely until Twilight came by to pick her up the next morning. Sure, Twilight was most likely angry with her right now and would make her do her homework…but there would be a nice breakfast and lunch to go with it instead on soggy sandwiches. Maybe even a warm fire for her to sit next to while she worked.


Scootaloo shook her head to banish these thoughts from her head while the wind pushed her to the side. No, now wasn’t the time to think like a quitter! Now was the time to focus on the goal at hoof. She could do this, she knew she could! All she had to do was picture it. The flowing rivers of rainbows that fell down cliffs. The wide, empty fields where she could perform her scooter tricks once she got enough bits.


Again the wind blew on her side, this time with enough force to knock her over. She didn’t land in a puddle like last time, but instead in a large mud patch that coated her entire body. And, for some reason, it seemed oddly deep for something near Ponyville. She could feel the slick, slimy mud slowly pulling her down in order to bury her alive. Fearing it might succeed the filly began frantically thrashing about to try and get out. She kicked her hind legs and flapped her wings with all her might so that she was able to get her head out of the mud and take a deep breath. Over and over she continued like this in order to escape. But the mud patch seemed to go on forever and the more she pressed on the deeper the patch seemed to feel. Thunder echoed through the night, Scootaloo seeing the lightning behind her closed eyelids as she desperately fought to keep her head above the mud.


Then, her forehooves touched firm ground. With all her might she pulled up, slowly freeing herself for the mud. With labored breathing, she sat on her flank and allowed the rain to wash away the filth covering most of her body. As the mud slowly washed off of her, she began to realize that something felt…off. Using her hooves Scootaloo began to feel around her body for whatever was wrong starting with her wings. There were no slugs, twigs, or anything else she thought she might find in there; just mud that had yet to be washed away. Then, as she continued to feel her way down, she realized what was wrong.


“Oh COME ON!” yelled Scootaloo to the thundering heavens as her hoof touched where her saddlebag should have been. Now there was nothing, most likely it had slipped off of her in the mud at some point. Seeing that she just escaped it, Scootaloo was in no hurry to return. But while things like the map and her food had been ruined by the rain she still could have used the garbage bags and the blanket.


Scootaloo began to shiver uncontrollably as she thought about her lost blanket. Again the thought of returning to the hospital flashed in her head with more urgency. Try as she might, Scootaloo found it hard not to see the logic. She was barely surviving right now. She had lost everything she had packed. How was she going to make it to Rainbow Falls at this rate? Perhaps it would be best to cut her losses right here, go back to the hospital, and hope nopony there had noticed she was gone.


There was another flash of lightning which allowed Scootaloo to see something that made her heart sink even more. The trees she had been walking towards were close, but they weren’t the ones found by Apple Family Orchard. No, these were twisted trees that looked like they were from somepony’s nightmares. Their bodies oddly bent and their branches looking more like claws meant to rip the flesh from innocent ponies who came too close. Perhaps it was due to the poor light, but it also looked like they were rotting and could fall over at a moment’s notice. Not even the trees in the Everfree Forest looked this bad.


Once again there was another flash of lightning which Scootaloo took advantage of to quickly check her surroundings. She saw a few things that looked more like blurs and saw something moving in the background, but overall she had no idea where she was. Had she gone past Ponyville already? Which direction was she heading in? If she didn’t know where she was…how could she even go back to the hospital? She supposed she could try and backtrack, but she was so turned around she had no idea where to start. And she certainly didn’t want to go back into the mud.


Slowly the filly began to rub her forelegs together in an effort to stay warm. She tried to think of what she should do to get out of this situation that she had gotten herself into. Yet her thoughts kept going towards the hope that somepony would save her. That her friends would just show up and everything would be ok. That Rainbow would come shooting down from the clouds and save her like she did on that camping trip. That Twilight would arrive and use her magic to teleport her home.


Maybe, if she closed her eyes, she might fall asleep and Luna would find out she was in trouble.


Scootaloo shook her head and slapped her cheek for good measure. She knew enough that that was the single dumbest thought she had at this moment. If she fell asleep there was a really good chance that she might never wake up! Besides, even if Princess Luna did manage to find her dream (which was a long shot in itself) there would be no way for her to find out where she was.


The only thing Scootaloo could think of doing right now was to keep moving. She could feel herself getting colder the longer she just sat there. Maybe if she kept moving she would be able to keep herself a little warm. And maybe she might bump into something or somepony and-


Something fast shot over Scootaloo’s head. While she didn’t see what it was, she could feel the air moving at supersonic speeds right before it dragged her backwards. She screamed in shock before being launched head first into the mud again. Her hind legs kicked about as her mouth was filled with wet dirt. Over and over again she struggled to get out so that she could spit it out and breathe in the air. But already her brain was getting fuzzy, her thoughts slowing down bit by bit. Her lugs began to burn as they begged for air while her legs continued to kick about.


Mercifully, help arrived before her remaining thoughts could begin to grow overly dark. Scootaloo felt two hooves grab her hind legs followed by her being pulled up into the air. The flightless filly felt her face leave the mud behind allowing her to cough out the mud and breath in the wet air. She opened her eyes which allowed her to barely see that she was hovering above the mud pit.


“I got ya little buddy,” yelled a familiar voice from above her. A voice Scootaloo could recognize anywhere, even in this storm. It was Rainbow Dash.


-x-


“SCOOTALOO!” screamed Twilight as she ran through the Everfree Forest, her horn lighting the path for her. The rain here was lighter thanks to the tree cover above her and it was close to the hospital, making it a good place to start looking for her sister. Twilight’s eyes moved frantically back and forth, looking for any signs of the orange filly.


Twilight yelled out Scootaloo’s name again as she noticed movement just off the trail leading to Zecora’s hut. She didn’t know if it was Scootaloo or some sort of monster that lived in the Everfree Forest but Twilight knew she had to take the risk. As the wind blew harder, the alicorn galloped at full speed. She could see her target darting behind trees as quickly as it could, trying to escape her sight. But Twilight kept her eyes locked onto it, even when her hoof slipped on a slimy tree branch and fell to the ground. Ignoring the pain on her side she continued with all her might. She would catch this thing just to make sure if it was or wasn’t Scootaloo before moving on.


Finally, Twilight managed to corner her target. There, laying in front of a fallen tree and looking at her with frightened eyes, was a manticore cub. The poor thing was shaking and whimpering as it looked up at Twilight as if she were some sort of monster. Twilight cursed under her breath. Not only had she wasted her time but she had frightened something so young.


Just as she was about to turn around, she heard a growl off to the side. Nervously she turned and saw two adult manticores nearby. One of them, a female, had three more cubs huddled up behind her while its mate bared his fangs at Twilight.


Slowly, Twilight began to back away from the cub in an effort to show she wasn’t a threat to their child. As she did, the cub she had been chasing ran over to be with its mother and siblings as soon as it could. However, this didn’t seem to calm either of them down in the slightest. Instead, the male’s stance took on a pouncing position with a hungry look in its eye. Perhaps it had planned on this the moment its cub was out of harm’s way. Perhaps it planned on killing Twilight so that she would provide a meal for the family.


As Twilight’s horn lit up, the male leapt into the air towards her. Not bothering to really think about where she might end up the former Bearer of Magic quickly finished up her spell. Just as its claws were mere centimeters away from her throat, Twilight vanished in an explosion of light only to reappear be the base of a tree somewhere else. Before she could sigh in relief, water that had been pooling above her in the branches came loose and poured on her like a massive bucket.


Rather than look annoyed, Twilight ignored it and continued to search for Scootaloo. That was more important to her right now.


-x-


“Thanks,” said Scootaloo as she felt her body’s shivering begin to fade. Currently, she and Rainbow were sitting on top of the clouds from wherever it was that Rainbow found her so that neither mare could get any wetter. Rainbow, who was wearing her Wonderbolt’s uniform, was doing the best she could to keep her warm by covering her with a wing and pulling her close to the older mare’s body. Already Scootaloo could feel the chill that had seeped into her body begin to lessen slightly.


“Hey, it’s no biggie,” said Rainbow as she looked down at Scootaloo with that proud, confident smile that the smaller filly knew all too well. Then it changed. While Rainbow wasn’t frowning, she certainly wasn’t smiling. All in all, she looked concerned. “But you sure are lucky that Twilight sent me that letter. When I heard that you were missing from the hospital in the middle of the night, during a storm, I nearly did a Sonic Rainboom in order to get here quick enough!”


Biting her lower lip, Scootaloo looked down at the clouds below her. “Are you in trouble?” she asked.


“Naw,” said Rainbow, causing Scootaloo to look up at her again. “I mean, sure we had a show tonight that was supposed to end with a Sonic Rainboom, but I talked to Spitfire about what was going on. Nopony in the Wonderbolts blamed me for having to bail when family is in trouble and I have a letter from a princess to boot. Besides, there is a reason we have reserves.”


Hearing all this allowed Scootaloo to let out a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was for her idol and big sister to get into trouble because of her. However, now that she thought about it, wouldn’t she have panicked even if there hadn’t been a storm? Sure she had originally planned on leaving during the summer, but Rainbow probably would have done the same thing. In fact, the more she thought about it, wouldn’t all of her friends freak out if she vanished? And why hadn’t she thought about this before?


“So squirt,” said Rainbow, interrupting Scootaloo’s inner reflection. “I think it’s time you told me why in the wide world of Equestria you did something so stupid.”


“I…told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle I was planning on dropping out of school,” muttered Scootaloo. “I was afraid they’d break their Pinkie Promise and tell everypony so I left.”


Scootaloo nearly felt Rainbow’s wings fly off of her. “Scootaloo…why would you ever want to do something like that?” asked a shocked Rainbow Dash.


“Because I want to be more like you!” shouted Scootaloo as she felt tears forming in her eyes.


“And dropping out of school was your best idea on how to do that?!” yelled Rainbow, causing Scootaloo to tear up more.


“Well I’ll never be able to go to flight camp!” shouted Scootaloo as she pulled away from Rainbow. She didn’t understand this. Rainbow Dash should have understood her so why wasn’t she? “Look at me, I’m a useless pegasus! If I can’t fly, then I’ll never be able to get into flight camp or do any of the amazing stunts that you can. So I thought that if I could do this and strike it out on my own…then maybe I could come close to being as amazing as you are.”


“But we talked about this,” replied Rainbow in a lower tone. “Remember? Back when you were trying to become a flag carrying team?”


“I know,” said Scootaloo as she tried to hide her tears with her hoof. “But ever since then, ever since I knew I’d never be able to fly no matter how hard I tried, I still wanted to be like you. I know I can never be like you but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to come close at least!”


“But you could be so much more,” said Rainbow, causing Scootaloo to drop her hoof while looking at her sister in surprise.


“But-” began Scootaloo, only to stop as Rainbow held up a hoof.


“Look, I may not like to admit it, but I’ve made my fair share of mistakes,” began Rainbow. “And some of them weren’t so cool. Yeah, I dropped out of flight school but I didn’t do it because I thought I was being cool. I did it because I wanted to escape that stupid ‘Rainbow Crash’ nickname. But I didn’t handle it so well and, ah, some ponies might have gotten the wrong idea. So instead of things getting better I made things worse. And it didn’t get better until years afterwards.” Rainbow then sighed as she sat down. “And, well, maybe if I had tried to pay more attention back in school instead for focusing on being cool then maybe I wouldn’t have panicked during that test.”


“B-But look at you now,” stammered Scootaloo as she gestured to the older mare’s uniform. “You’re a Wonderbolt! You’re the best flier in all of Equestria! You’re the most awesome pony who has ever lived!”


“That’s because my goal was to shoot to the top,” explained Rainbow as she moved back over to Scootaloo. “I wanted to be the best, not settle and be just like somepony else.” As Rainbow said this, she sat back down next to the filly who had her ears flattened against her skull while also looking away.


“Look,” continued Rainbow, “you’re an amazing little filly who has a bright future ahead of you. I’ve known that even before I took you under my wing. That’s why I never tried to push you into being more like me because, well, you’re not me. And that makes you really awesome! If you did try to copy me, that would make you a copycat which is totally not cool. Do you understand?”


“I…guess I do,” muttered Scootaloo. “But I don’t feel awesome.”


“Maybe that might have something to do with the hard time you’ve been giving Cheerilee and Twilight,” said Rainbow in a matter of fact tone. Scootaloo’s eyes widened when she heard this and looked up at her older sister in surprise. “What? You thought Twilight hasn’t been sending me letters since she found out you two were sisters?”


“But-” began Scootaloo, only to be interrupted when Rainbow gently placed a hoof on her mouth.


“I know what you’re going to say,” said Rainbow. “There are a lot of things that make Twilight a major egghead. Like how she would swim in books if she ever got the chance and that she’ll read ones that are about science and magic. That she’ll freak out over the tiniest thing. That all sounds uncool, right?” Scootaloo nodded. “But she’s still pretty cool. I mean, I hang out with her all the time and that doesn’t make me uncool…does it?”


“No way,” said Scootaloo quickly, aghast that the mere thought that Rainbow could ever be uncool.


“And Twilight has done some pretty cool things herself,” continued Rainbow. “Like when that ursa minor came to Ponyville. Sure the way she figured out how was nerdy, but in the end she did something no single pony had ever done before. Or what about the time she fought Tirek with the power of all four alicorns? Or how about the time she freed Princess Cadence? Or how she found the Crystal Heart and gave it to Spike in order to save the Crystal Empire? And while I know this might sound sappy, she wants to take you in so she can be your big sister. When you add all that to the cool meter, Twilight’s is only one percent less cool than me. Maybe half of a percent.”


“But does that mean I’ll lose you as a big sister?” asked Scootaloo fearfully.


“I’ll always be your honorary big sister,” said Rainbow at once, giving Scootaloo a playful noogie as she did. “That’s never going to change. But now you have a real big sister. One that can help you in ways that I’m not really good at. And she can be there for you when you really need her. If you let her that is.”


“I,” began Scootaloo as she looked away from her idol and back down to the storming clouds beneath her. Slowly, she took a shaky breath. “I’m afraid she might want to change me like Miss Cheerilee is. Like with all the-”


“That’s something you’re going to need to talk to Twilight about,” interrupted Rainbow as she opened up her wings before taking to the sky above them. She then shot downward, grabbing Scootaloo as she passed through the clouds towards the ground below them.


Within seconds the two were back below the clouds. While it was still raining, it was nowhere near as bad as before. The rain fell on them more gently, and unlike before Scootaloo could see where they were. Off in the distance, Twilight’s castle was still visible, if barely, meaning she wasn’t too far from Ponyville. In fact, the town didn’t look that far away. However, Scootaloo noticed that she had been going in the opposite direction from where she had intended to go. If she had continued on her way, Scootaloo saw that she would have headed straight to the Ghastly Gorge!


Then, in what felt like no time at all, Rainbow set Scootaloo down on the ground before landing herself. “Ok squirt, I gotta jet. I trust you’ll do the right thing and head home.” And with that, Rainbow flew off leaving behind her the usual rainbow trail.


For a time, Scootaloo stood there in the rain as she looked at the town not too far in the distance with her ears flat. As she began to drag her hooves towards town, with her head low, Scootaloo could hear Rainbow’s words over the rain. There was no way she could deny it or twist things around. Her idol, her honorary big sister, had told her that she had been wrong. That what she had been doing was the wrong thing. Perhaps the filly had always known it was wrong. Maybe that’s why she felt so many twinges of guilt over the last few days.


But now that she realized this was there any chance that her friends would forgive her? Looking back with this new realization made the knowledge that she had made Sweetie Belle cry like that all the worse. The look Apple Bloom had given her suddenly had more of an impact, almost causing the filly to burst out into tears. She felt like she was worth less than the mud she had nearly drowned in earlier this night. She had been willing to abandon them and the group that they had created in order to chase a silly idea she had. And Twilight…


Scootaloo almost slipped on the slick wet grass beneath her hooves as she thought of the purple alicorn. The way she had acted, causing nothing but trouble to the mare who had taken her in. Scootaloo was sure that Twilight had regretted letting her into her home. Perhaps maybe when she found out that Scootaloo was missing she might be glad. A notion that caused a lump to grow in the back of the filly’s throat.


Scootaloo shut her eyes tight for a moment, trying her best to fight back this feeling. When she opened her eyes, something bright that was almost outside her field of vision caught her attention. Off in the distance, there was a light that shined like the one Twilight used when she was using magic. As the filly focused on it, she could almost hear Twilight’s voice but couldn’t make out what she was shouting. Was she looking for her? Was she looking for her because she was worried or angry with her?


Taking a deep breath, Scootaloo ran towards the light. The part of her that didn’t want to face an angry alicorn told her she could avoid this situation entirely. Perhaps Twilight hated her now and wanted nothing to do with her. Perhaps, when she found her, Twilight would end up sending Scootaloo away to some far off orphanage. This part of her tried to tell her that it would be smarter to head into town where she could avoid the purple alicorn all together and come up with a new plan. Anything, including running away, was smarter than confronting an angry alicorn. Especially when the source of that anger is yourself.


However, Scootaloo did not deter from her path. Instead, she began to shout Twilight’s name in the hopes that she could hear. Scootaloo was tired of only thinking of herself, making bad decisions as she went. She knew that if she did run away, then Twilight would be even angrier with her. And if she wasn’t upset, then all she would be doing was making her worry about her even more. Moreover, Scootaloo just wanted to try and make things right, to fix the mess she had created with both Twilight and her friends.


There was a sudden flash of light in the distance followed by another one right in front of her. Skidding to a stop, Scootaloo looked up at Twilight who looked like she had been through Tartarus. Her entire body was dripping wet from the rain with twigs, leaves, and what looked like slugs in her mane. Mud was splattered over various parts of her body and there was a nasty cut on her side. Looking up at her face, Scootaloo saw that she was panting while still looking worried.


“There you are,” gasped Twilight as she moved closer to the filly. “Are you ok? Are you hurt at all?” Scootaloo shook her head allowing Twilight to let out a sigh of relief. However, her eyes hardened a bit. “What were you thinking going out in a storm like this?”


“I…wasn’t,” said Scootaloo as she lowered her head. For a while, she waited for Twilight to say something or pick her up with her magic so she could drag her off somewhere again. Then, Scootaloo felt Twilight touching her with her bare hooves. Before Scootaloo could flinch or pull back, Twilight enveloped her in a loving hug that Scootaloo had rarely ever received.


“I’m just glad you’re ok,” whispered Twilight into her ear.


-x-



Meanwhile, far north of Ponyville, a mare moved through the crowds still littering the streets of the Crystal Empire. This mare wore only a hooded cloak to hide her appearance…while also drawing plenty of attention towards herself. Everywhere she went she could hear the crystal ponies whispering behind her back, wondering if she was the new villain who planned on taking over Equestria or something like that. But the mare paid their open thoughts little mind as she headed towards her destination: the train station.


There, she saw that the Friendship Express was in front of the station with the ticket booths wide open. Grinning behind her hood, she galloped forward and startling the stallion behind the glass.


“One ticket to Ponyville,” said the mare quickly, placing a giant bag of bits in front of him. A bag so big that it could hold enough bits to buy first class tickets for the next twenty ponies!


“Ah,” began the stallion, looking uncomfortable. “I can’t let you on the train.”


“Why not?!” demanded the mare, slamming a hoof next to where she placed her bit bag.


The stallion gulped. “Because you look suspicious.”


“Oh,” said the mare, sounding calmer now. With her magic, the hood was pulled back which allowed Twilight Velvet to smile at the stallion. “Sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry so-”


“That’s far enough Velvet,” said a cold voice off to the side. Both Velvet and the stallion at the window turned their heads slowly to see who had spoken, with Velvet visibly sweating. Just a few feet away stood Night Light, Shining Armor, and Cadence who was holding Flurry Heart. And behind them were several crystal guards as well as one yellow pegasus. All of them, even the foal, were looking at Velvet with very disapproving looks on their faces.
> Sad Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain had lessened greatly by the time Twilight and Scootaloo reached the castle. No longer was it the downpour that made things difficult to see with lightning that shook the ground. Now it was more like a light drizzle against their coats. Twilight was thankful for this change since it made it much easier for her to find her way back to the castle. That and because Scootaloo was laying on her back, curled up into a ball.


For a moment, Twilight glanced back at the filly to see that her eyes were closed. Twilight could only imagine what it must have been like for her, lost in the storm like that and probably scared out of her mind. It must have left her drained, both physically and emotionally, because shortly after Twilight found her the filly began to nod off. Remembering what she had read from several books, the alicorn knew that the best thing she could do was to let her own body heat keep the filly warm as they made their way back to the castle.


She did, however, wish things were moving a bit faster. For some reason, she could feel herself becoming a bit lightheaded and dizzy. She tried to use her magic to teleport them back home only to have the spell fizzle out. Twilight could have used her wings to fly back except she wasn’t confident in her skills with a sleeping filly on her back. So that meant she had to do things the long way.


But now here they were at the castle entrance. Twilight could feel her lips moving to smile as she once again tried to use her magic to open the gates. Her head began to throb as she channeled her magic this time before fizzling out once again, much to her annoyance. Sighing in defeat, Twilight pushed the door open as hard as she could. As she did so, she found it odd that she was getting this much resistance. She had seen her friends opening these doors all the time without and difficulty. So why was it that it was taking all of her strength to move it several inches at a time?


With the door finally open, Twilight moved indoors. Before she could turn around to close the door, she spotted both Spike and the nurse rushing down a hall towards them. Both, the alicorn noticed, where looking at them with wide eyes.


“Twilight!” cried Spike as he ran over to her and hugged her leg. “You were gone so long that I thought I’d have to go looking for you! Or maybe even send a letter to Princess Celestia asking for a search party!”


“I’m,” began Twilight but stopped to cough several times. “I’m fine. And I found Scootaloo.” Twilight turned to look at the nurse while Spike moved to close the door. “Do you think she’ll be alright?”


Twilight watched as the nurse moved over to her and pressed a hoof against the filly’s head. “Her head’s a tad warm,” said the nurse before removing her hoof and looking at Twilight. “Normally, I’d suggest taking her back to the hospital. But I think we should keep the poor dear out of the cold and let her get some rest. If she’s not feeling any better in the morning, please bring her to us as quickly as you can. Also…are you feeling alright princess?”


“Hmm?” went Twilight, somewhat startled by this question. It was then that she noticed that the nurse was looking more than a little concerned as she stared at Twilight. Before the purple alicorn could say anything more the nurse had brought her hoof to Twilight’s forehead. The moment it made contact the nurse’s eyes widened in shock while pulling her hoof away quickly as though she thought a snake might strike her from Twilight’s mane.


“Princess,” gasped the nurse. “You’re burning up!”


“I thought she looked a little bit redder in the face,” said Spike as he appeared in Twilight’s vision. For a moment, she thought she saw him shoot a nasty look at Scootaloo. Twilight was about to say something when he looked back at her with concern written all over his face. “Let’s get you dried off and in bed.”


The next thing she knew, Twilight was being ushered up the stairs by both Spike and the nurse. With each step Twilight took, she could feel herself get a little weaker as well as a bit more disoriented. The world around her was turning fast enough for her to misplace several of her steps. If it wasn’t for the firm holds of the nurse and Spike, Twilight was sure that she would have slipped and fallen with Scootaloo in tow.


Soon the events before her began to blur. Twilight was vaguely aware that the nurse had noticed several cuts on her body. She was sure that the nurse was asking questions about them to which Twilight did her best to answer. Then, with a suddenness that was very alarming to the poor mare, Twilight found herself in the bathroom with just Spike who was drying her off. The princess asked where the nurse and Scootaloo were which seemed to alarm her dragon assistant. As he continued to dry her off he told her that nurse had taken Scootaloo to her room. Her eyelids became heavy while he spoke and she could feel her body becoming heavier. The next thing she knew was that she was cleaned off and in bed with an ice pack resting under her horn. She tried to speak again, but her voice refused to work this time. All she could do was look at her trusted assistant until sleep overtook her.


-x-


Scootaloo tossed about as she felt the light of the sun touch her face, refusing to wake up. The lure of sleep right now was just so intoxicating that she would welcome eternal night if it meant getting to sleep longer. It felt, however, that with each passing minute the sun was rising faster and brighter in order to rip her away from her comfort so that she could begin her day.


Slowly, Scootaloo opened her eyes as she surrendered to the call of day. As she settled into a sitting position she was, however, met with confusion. Why was she in her room in Twilight’s castle instead of the hospital’s room or on the road like she had planned? As she sat there the events of the previous night began to return to her. Scootaloo began to remember being out alone in the storm with nopony to help her until, like the one camping trip, Rainbow Dash saved her life. She remembered the talk they shared followed by seeing Twilight searching for her in the rain.


Once again, Scootaloo felt guilt wash over her as if she were back in the rain. Slowly, she pushed aside the covers before sliding out of the bed Twilight had provided her with. Gritting her teeth with this realization, Scootaloo began to walk around the room with her ears flat against her skull and head held low. Now the shame and guilt she had felt was made ten times worse as she was surrounded by the acts of kindness that were given to her.


Scootaloo stopped before looking over at the door. She knew that somewhere beyond that door was Twilight a well as the scolding of a lifetime. As much as Scootaloo wanted to wait here in order to put it off as long as ponily possible, maybe even using that time to work on her homework so she could get the tiniest bit on Twilight’s good side, she knew that wasn’t what she should do. Rainbow Dash had told her that she needed to talk with her sister. Heck, even if Rainbow Dash hadn’t said it Scootaloo knew it was the right thing to do. The longer she waited, the worse it would be for both of them.


So after taking a deep breath, Scootaloo made her way to the door. As she opened it Scootaloo was surprised to see that the door hadn’t been locked. Nor was there a spell in place to keep her in. It was odd, given how she had run out twice already, that Twilight would trust her not to do it a third time.


For a moment, Scootaloo just stared at the door as a frightening thought entered her head. What if Twilight no longer cared? What if, after last night, she had finally given up on Scootaloo? That she no longer cared if she ran away or not. If this had happened yesterday, it wouldn’t have given the filly pause for concern. Most likely she would have taken it as a sign to continue doing what she had been doing or even leaving when the weather was better. If this was true, did it mean there was no chance that she’d be able to make up with Twilight? Had she pushed away her family before ever getting the chance to be a family?


Scootaloo didn’t know how long she stood there, staring at the doorway with the same sense of foreboding as if it lead to a den of timberwolves. Eventually she summoned all of her courage and stepped out into the hall. As she walked, she kept telling herself that she was a brave filly and wouldn’t let herself give in to her fears. That Twilight wouldn’t do something like that. She went after her during the storm, same as Rainbow Dash. There was no way she would have brought her back here and then just not care. This had to be a sign of trust or something.


…Right?


Soon enough Scootaloo had made her way down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. She figured that it would be the best place to start. Judging by the scent in the air Spike was at the very least there hard at work making everypony’s breakfast. The chances were good that Twilight would be there and, if she wasn’t, she could just ask the dragon if he knew.


As she entered the kitchen, Scootaloo looked about to see that the only other individual there was Spike. Said dragon was standing on a large stool in front of the stove with a wooden spoon in his claw. As the door closed behind her Spike looked up from the pot he had been stirring in surprise which quickly morphed into outright hate. So much so that Scootaloo actually took a step backwards in surprise. Seconds passed in silence before Spike snorted flames out of his nose and then turned back to his breakfast duty.


“What do you want?” he asked coldly without looking at her. “If it's breakfast you’re fending for yourself.”


“Ah, ok?” said Scootaloo who was slightly shocked by this treatment. “Actually, I was kind of hoping you knew where Twilight was?”


“In bed,” snapped Spike as he roughly reached for a bowl. His claws trembled as he began to pour what looked like porridge into the bowl while gritting his teeth the entire time. Once it had several scoopfuls in it, Spike all but slammed it onto the counter before speaking to her again. “She’s not feeling well so don’t bother her.”


“Not well?” echoed Scootaloo dumbly as she eyed Spike savagely slice up an apple. “You mean like she’s sick or-”


“Of course she’s sick!” yelled Spike, flinging whatever was left of the apple across the room. Frightened, Scootaloo stood there with her mouth hanging open as Spike jumped down from his stool to march towards her. “She was out in that storm, running around in a panic looking for YOU! Maybe it was the cold or maybe that cut she got became infected or maybe it was both. I don’t know! All I know is that she was burning up by the time she got back.”


“Spike,” Scootaloo managed to say, her voice cracking up a little as she did. The filly had never imagined something like this could have happened. Briefly, she wondered what might have happened if she had gone the right way in that storm and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help look for her. Would Twilight have continued to look for her in that weather until she collapsed, being left there in the rain until morning? The thought caused her eyes to moisten.


Slowly, she began to wonder how else her actions could have harmed those she cared about. What if Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle had found out somehow that Scootaloo had run away as well? They might have gone out into that storm looking for her. They could have also gotten sick. Or perhaps something worse could have happened to them. One horrifying example that came to mind was that mud puddle. They could have gotten stuck in it the same way she had before Rainbow Dash saved her. Or they could have fallen down Ghastly Gorge!


Spike, meanwhile, snorted green flames from his nostrils again before turning around to get Twilight’s breakfast. After grabbing it roughly, the dragon turned towards the door while giving Scootaloo the nastiest look he could muster as he stormed out of the kitchen. Scootaloo remained where she was as she heard the door open and close behind her.


Leaving her all alone.
> Sorry Saturday
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Twilight,” came the voice of Spike, slightly bringing the alicorn closer to the waking world. However, at that moment, she didn’t want to open her eyes. Before she heard Spike’s voice she had been dreaming that she was in charge of reorganizing the Canterlot Royal Library! There were so many wonderful things she had to do that made her heart leap. She needed to, no, wanted to make a list of all the books they had in their possession followed by making another list of all the books that were checked out. After cross referencing the two, Twilight could begin checking each and every book to ensure that they were in tip-top condition! Only then could she begin deciding how she was going to reorganize everything.


Sadly, Twilight was unable to make it that far into her dream, for she felt Spike shake her while continuing to call out to her. Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes while at the same time feeling the effects of her ill body. Her mind felt foggy which made it hard to think. There was a pain in her throat and she was barely making any noise. Looking down she noted that she was sweating pretty bad right now and most likely smelled awful.


“Hey Twilight,” said Spike in a low and concerned tone. Twilight weakly turned her head to see that he was standing on her bed next to her. There was a forced smile on his lips as if he were trying to reassure somepony of something. “How are you feeling?”


“Not…good,” croaked Twilight before letting out a fury of coughs. When they ended, Twilight could see the worry in Spike’s eyes.


“Well don’t worry,” he said quickly as he put on a brave face. “I’ll be here to take care of you. And we’ll start with a nice healthy breakfast.” Twilight watched as Spike turned around to present her with a tray. On it was a bowl of porridge that had steam still rising up from it. Also in the bowl were several apples that looked like Spike had tried to turn them into apple sauce but stopped halfway through.


Twilight gave her number one assistant a weak smile. “Thanks,” she managed to say before needing to clear her throat. “But…not…hungry.”


Spike frowned. “Twilight, the nurse said you need to eat even if you’re not feeling hungry,” he said. “You’ll need all of your strength in order to get better. So please eat. For me?”


For a moment, Twilight looked at Spike followed by the dish he had made for her. What she had said was the honest truth, she didn’t feel hungry. Still, Spike had gone to all of the effort into making this for her so the least she could do was eat as much as she could. Taking a breath the princess began to focus her magic in order to lift the tray closer to her. However, nothing happened. Twilight tried again followed by a third time where she held her breath in order to focus everything on her magic. Still nothing happened other than her head pounding harder than anything she had ever felt in her life. It was almost bad enough to cause her to cry.


Realizing that her magic was out of commission for the foreseeable future, Twilight reached out for the tray with her hooves. Even though she had done things like this before it now felt like she had to use all of her strength to do it.  More so to bring it closer to her. Thankfully Spike didn’t seem to notice but was instead glad that Twilight was not putting up a fuss about eating.


“Is…Scootaloo…sick…too?” Twilight managed to say as she took a spoonful of her porridge and blew on it. While waiting for it to cool down a bit more, Twilight thought that she saw Spike’s eyes darken and a scowl appear on his face before it quickly vanished.


“Naw, she’s fine,” said Spike while Twilight put a spoon into her mouth. “She was up and in the kitchen before I brought this up to you. Didn’t look sick at all.”


Twilight smiled before pulling the utensil out of her mouth. “That’s…good,” she croaked.


Twilight finished her meal without saying much more. Her head began to hurt after a while and with her throat in this condition it was a battle just to say a few words. So Spike did most of the talking, mostly to assure her that everything around the castle was going to be taken care of. That he would tell those she was supposed to meet today that she would be unable to do so as well as making sure that the doctor gave her a house call. The most Twilight did was give a slight nod so that Spike knew she was listening.


One thing that did bother Twilight a bit was that Spike seemed to avoid talking about Scootaloo. Out of everything that he mentioned, none of it seemed to involve the orange pegasus in any way. Unless, of course, you counted making sure everything in the castle would be taken care of. Still, after seeing the look in Spike’s eyes, it bothered Twilight to no end and made her worry for her little sister. She wished her throat didn’t hurt so much or that she had her magic in order to write notes to her assistant. Perhaps then she could get to the bottom of things. Or maybe it was just her illness messing with her mind or her own paranoia. Maybe even a combination of both. Regardless, Twilight planned on talking to the young dragon as soon as she felt better.


-x-


Scootaloo found herself slumped in a chair within the castle library. Her head was held low and her ears seemed lifeless. If anypony were to walk in on her, they would see a miserable little filly.


The reason for that misery was fairly simple: Scootaloo didn’t know how to make things right. Twilight was sick right now and was probably really angry with her for running away. Spike downright hated her for causing Twilight to become so ill. Her friends were most likely still upset with her. They might not even want to hang out with her ever again and possibly ending the CMC all together. She felt certain the ponies at the hospital were mad at her. Scootaloo had a feeling she couldn’t go see Ms. Cheerilee due to her behavior in class. Even Rainbow Dash was disappointed in her for her recent behavior. Was there nopony in Ponyville who she could turn to?


More than anything else, Scootaloo wanted to make things right with the ponies who meant something to her as well as Spike. However, she couldn’t think of anything that could help her right now. She was on her own which was strange. Before, she had thought being on her own would be the best thing ever. She couldn’t wait to go out into the world so she could make a name for herself and be as awesome as Rainbow Dash. But now that she was alone all she wanted was somepony to help her. To talk to her and reassure her that everything was going to be alright.


Like a sister would.


Scootaloo felt her wings fall limp at her sides as she thought of that. Then she thought back to the rain when Twilight had held her. It had felt nice knowing that she had somepony willing to brave a storm like that in order to look for her. But it felt even better when Twilight had hugged her like that. It was like a reassurance that her sister cared for her and that everything would be alright. It was something Scootaloo wanted right now, more than anything.


Still, the question remained how to fix all of this. Normally, when she needed to think about something, riding her scooter helped clear her head. But she no longer had a scooter. And, even if she did have one, Scootaloo felt like leaving the castle right now was a bad idea. Given everything that had happened since she had arrived at the castle it would probably be better if she stayed here. Besides, she wanted to be around in case there was something she could do to help Twilight.


The sound of the front door opening caused Scootaloo to raise an ear. Was Spike home? The small dragon had left not too long ago, not bothering to tell Scootaloo where he was going. Had he come back or was it somepony else? Getting to her hooves, Scootaloo walked out of the library and towards the front door to see who it was. If it wasn’t Spike, then it would most likely be somepony wanting to see Twilight. If that was the case Scootaloo knew she would have to tell whoever it was that Twilight wasn’t seeing anypony today. Well, Princess Celestia would most likely be the sole exception. If she wasn’t angry or upset with her now Twilight would be if she told Princess Celestia to go away. Plus, she could ask the Solar Princess for help. If there was anypony who might know how to mend this situation it would be her. Well, the only pony who was currently awake right now. Princess Luna might actually have more experience in this department.


As she walked she heard a pair of voices calling out that she recognized instantly. How could she mistake the voices of her two best friends in the entire world? The filly almost froze in her steps but continued on just the same. She needed to talk with them anyways.


Soon enough, Scootaloo was in the main entrance hall of the castle. There, standing in the middle and calling out for Twilight or Spike, was Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. As Scootaloo approached they turned their heads in her direction showing that they looked really worried. However, after seeing Scootaloo they looked both annoyed and relieved at the same time. Better than downright hate at the very least.


“Ah, hey,” said Scootaloo as she stopped a yard or two away from them.


“Hey,” they replied in almost perfect unison before looking away. There was a very, very uncomfortable pause as Scootaloo watched the two fidget under her gaze.


“Ah, ah think maybe we should come back later,” said Apple Bloom finally as she turned around, followed by motioning Sweetie to do the same. At first, Sweetie didn’t move. She just locked eyes with Scootaloo only to begin tearing up while she bit her lower lip. As if unable to even look at Scootaloo anymore, Sweetie Belle turned around to follow her friend.


“It’s ok,” said Scootaloo after her friends had taken a few steps. “I think I know why you’re both here. You were going to break your Pinkie Promise and tell Twilight, right?” This caused both fillies to stop dead in their tracks. Slowly they turned to look at their friend as she continued to speak. “She already knows. Sort of.”


Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow in the same manner as Applejack. “What do ya mean ‘sort of’?” she asked.


Scootaloo scratched the back of her head as she looked down at the crystal floor. “Well,” she began before gulping loudly. “I, uh, sort of tried to leave last night during that big storm. I thought that you were both going to tell Twilight sooner or later so…” Scootaloo’s voice trailed off as she looked up at her friends. Both of them looked stunned with their jaws hanging open.


Sweetie Belle was the first to regain her voice. “Y-You went out there in that storm?” she asked as she approached Scootaloo. Scootaloo nodded. “What were you thinking?!? Don’t you know you could have been killed?”


“I know…now,” admitted Scootaloo as Apple Bloom also began her approach. “Look, I know I messed up. Like, I really, really messed up. My idea…it was dumb and I get it now. I just wish that I had figured it out sooner before I hurt so many ponies I care about. You both are probably still-” Before Scootaloo could finish her sentence two sets of hooves were wrapped around her neck, tackling her to the ground in a group hug. Scootaloo stared straight up at the ceiling in confusion as she felt Sweetie Belle’s tears against her coat.


“What?” was all Scootaloo could say.


“Thank Celestia ya finally came back to your senses Scoots,” said Apple Bloom as she continued to hug her. “Been worried sick about ya all night, wondering if it were the right thing to do breakin’ this Pinkie Promise an all.”


“I’m just glad you’re ok,” said Sweetie Belle. “You could have been really hurt in that storm.”


“Ok, hold on,” said Scootaloo as she pushed her friends off of her before slowly getting to her hooves. “You both forgive me, just like that?”


Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared a look with each other, neither speaking for several moments before looking back at the pegasus. “Well, ah wouldn’t say we completely forgive ya,” began Apple Bloom slowly. “Some of the things ya said were mighty hurtful.”


“Yeah,” added Sweetie Belle. “It felt like everything we’ve been through together didn’t matter anymore. That nopony really mattered to you.” At that, Scootaloo’s ears flattened against her skull as she looked down in shame.


“But,” continued Apple Bloom as she walked back over to Scootaloo. Once she was close enough, the apple filly flung her leg around Scootaloo’s neck and grinned. “It’s because of everything we’ve been though together that we don’t want our friendship to end this way. Ah mean, we are the CMC and we always stick together. So, if ya truly mean what ya said then the least we can do is give ya another chance. Just, ah, don’t do something that makes us worry like this again.”


Scootaloo smiled weakly at the two of them as she did her best not to cry. She felt elated that her friends were willing to give her another chance. Heck, she wasn’t even upset that they had planned on breaking the Pinkie Promise. Sure, she had a feeling they would have and it had caused her to be angry with them. But that had been yesterday when she was still acting like a big dummy. Now she realized that they wanted what was best for her, that they were willing to risk possibly ending their friendship because they were worried about her. That, in her mind, was probably the greatest sign of friendship they could have ever done for her.


“Thanks you two,” said Scootaloo as she fought a sniff. Even after everything, she still didn’t want to look uncool in front of them. “It really means a lot to me. I just hope Twilight forgives me too.”


“What makes you think that?” asked Sweetie Belle with a small smile of her muzzle. “She’s your sister so of course she’ll forgive you. What happened? Did she ground you for a year or something?”


“Kind of wish she did,” said Scootaloo, earning looks of confusion from her friends. Thinking it was the best way they could understand the situation the pegasus began to tell the tale of what happened last night. Not a detail was spared. She explained how she stole from the hospital to get what she needed. How she got lost in the rain storm, nearly dying as a result. That she was saved by Rainbow Dash who then proceeded to knock some sense into her, telling it almost word for word. When she got to the part where she spotted Twilight, Scootaloo’s voice choked a bit before going into detail the state Twilight was in because of her. All the while, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took all thin in without saying a word. At first they were standing but eventually they sat down and by the end they each had a hoof covering their mouths.


“Now I don’t have any idea what to do,” finished Scootaloo, who was now pacing back and forth. “Maybe if I hadn’t fallen asleep then maybe we could have talked this out. Instead I fall asleep and wake up to find out that not only is Twilight not feeling well but also Spike’s mad at me. Like really, super mad. I wish I had some idea how to fix this!”


“Well,” began Sweetie Belle, “you could try doing something nice for them. Remember that time we were trying to get dancing cutie marks and I decided to get some practice in at home? Well I also practiced in Rarity’s shop and, uh, might have accidentally damaged a few dresses she had been working on for Spoiled Rich.”


“I take it Rarity wasn’t too happy,” commented Scootaloo, earning a shutter from her friend.


“That’s putting it lightly,” replied Sweetie Belle. “But after I said I was sorry and offered to help her fix the dress she calmed down a bit. All I had to do was do some chores around the shop so she could focus on her work. Sure I still got a lecture, but it probably would have been worse if I had just gone to my room and waited for her.”


“Oh yeah,” said Apple Bloom as she brightened up. “The same thing happens with me sometimes. Sometimes when Ah’m in trouble Ah’ll do a little extra farm work or something that Applejack and Big Mac don’t like doin’. Like cleaning the pig pen.” The earth filly then turned to look at Scootaloo. “Maybe ya can do something like that. Is there anything that needs ta be done or Twilight wants?”


“I don’t think so,” said Scootaloo as she brought a hoof to her chin. “Spike does most of the cleaning around here. The only place he can’t reach easily is the ceiling of the library. Not that it’ll be much easier for me especially with these wings.” Then a light bulb lit up it Scootaloo’s head. There was something that Twilight wanted done as well as something she could do to help out around here. The flightless filly turned to look at Apple Bloom so quickly that she jumped back a bit. “Apple Bloom, do you think you can get Zecora to come down here and look at Twilight? You keep saying she’s got a potion for everything so maybe she has a potion that might make Twilight feel better!”


“Why not just ask me ta do it?” asked Apple Bloom, sounding hurt.


Scootaloo let out a sigh before giving her friend a deadpan expression. “Are you sure your potion making skills are good enough to help Twilight instead of making her worse? Like what happened when you tried to cure Big Mac of his sneezing fit?”


Apple Bloom’s cheeks turned scarlet as she looked away. “Well, he did stop sneezing,” she said in her defense. “And he grew back his coat pretty quickly!”


“But wasn’t that because of Zecora?” asked Sweetie Belle.


Apple Bloom let out a sigh of defeat. “Fine, Ah’ll ask her,” she said sadly. “But it may take awhile. For all ah know, she could be out there in the Everfree forest collecting potion ingredients and what not. Or she could be helping some other pony out. So we could be there waitin’ a bit.”


“Actually, I’m not going,” said Scootaloo. Seeing Apple Bloom open her mouth, Scootaloo quickly continued. “After everything that’s happened, I don’t think leaving the castle is a good idea. Not when Twilight’s sick and I’m the only one here. Besides, I sort of have something I need to do around here.” Scootaloo then let out a long sigh before looking up the stair to where her room lay. “Something I should have done from the start.”


-x-


It was several hours before Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle returned with Zecora in tow. During that time Scootaloo was hard at work in her room trying her very best to write her report. It was her hope that when Twilight got better Scootaloo would be able to show Twilight that she had done her homework. Not only that, but it was something really great. However, the more time passed the less likely that it seemed possible. She reread the books that she had been using before to try and see if there was something she had missed that might give her that spark of passion that she had when she wrote about Rainbow Dash. While she did find a few things that she thought were interesting on her second read it just wasn’t enough. Again and again, she wrote and rewrote her essay in an effort to make it as good as possible for both Ms. Cheerilee as well as Twilight. In the end, the work she had done had come up short in both length and quality.


Now she sat in a corner of Twilight’s room with Sweetie Belle beside her as the two of them watched as Zecora was hard at work. As soon as the expert potion-maker asked Apple Bloom, who carried a small cauldron on her back as well as having her saddle bags bursting to the brim with various plants, to get everything situated as she had a look at Twilight. While Apple Bloom unpacked and organized everything on the floor near Twilight’s bed, Zecora examined Twilight closely. To the filly it looked like the sickness had zapped all of Twilight’s strength, for she just laid there as Zecora inspected her closely without saying a word. Not even when Zecora opened up the alicorn’s mouth to inspect her throat did she show any reaction. She just laid there panting slightly while the zebra potion maker tisked every so often.


“It seems her illness is truly a mighty foe for Twilight’s health to take such a blow,” rhymed Zecora as she moved away from the bed to where Apple Bloom stood ready. “You were wise to call on me first young Bloom. A mistake in treating this could spell certain doom.”


“Is it really that bad?” asked Scootaloo, doing her best to keep the fear out of her voice…and failing.


Zecora did not answer at first, but began grabbing various plants laid out on the floor with her teeth and began putting them in the cauldron. “Many times I have seen this sickness run amok in the Everfree. Thankfully, it will not end her life or turn her into a tree. Yet to say that Twilight Sparkle would not suffer would be untrue. For two weeks she shall remain in this state without my trusted brew. It is tricky to brew it just right and getting it wrong would sadly worsen her plight.”


“So how long will this take?” asked Scootaloo as Zecora continued her work, telling Apple Bloom to get some boiling water. “Is it one sip and she’s done?”


“Nay, my young friend,” rhymed Zecora with a good humored smile on her face. “This sadly will not have an instant end. Twilight must drink this potion at least twice tonight. That along with a good night rest will help her feel alright.”


It was then that Apple Bloom returned with the boiling water, allowing the two of them to return to their work. Scootaloo watched as Zecora turned this into a teaching lesson for the young earth pony, questioning her from time to time about why they were using certain herbs and not others or how long to stir the cauldron. Even with the knowledge that Twilight wasn’t in any danger it still bothered Scootaloo that they both seemed so lax when making the medicine. At certain points, like when Apple Bloom was pausing a little too long as she muled over a question, Scootaloo wanted nothing more than to run up so she could start dumping as much into the pot as ponily possible.


Then, after what seemed like forever, Zecora poured some for her creation into a bowl. The substance flowed slowly like some sort of red colored slime. Calmly Zecora trotted over to Twilight’s bed where she proceeded to open Twilight’s mouth once again in order to feed her the ‘potion’. Scootaloo couldn’t help but gag while sticking out her tongue at the thought of having something like that in her mouth. As for Twilight, Scootaloo watched as her older sister’s eyes opened wide before she began to thrash about the bed with her hooves around her neck. While this was going on Zecora calmly readied another bowl for later with a look on her face that said all was well. When the thrashing finally stopped, Twilight was sitting upright with her wings outstretched while panting heavily.


“I think,” gasped Twilight as she looked at Zecora who was putting the next dose of potion on Twilight’s desk, “I prefer being sick over the cure.”


Zecora rolled her eyes before motioning to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “So many ponies say that same line yet still wish to become a healthy equine. Young Scootaloo wishes for your best so please drink once more and get some rest.” As Twilight stuck out her tongue and began to rub off the taste of the medicine with her bare hooves, Zecora left the room along with Scootaloo’s friends.


Now alone, Scootaloo suddenly became very nervous about being in the same room as Twilight. On instinct, she turned to look at the door which was her only means of escape. Yet her eyes narrowed after a moment. She refused to see it like that. Unless Twilight tossed her out, Scootaloo wasn’t going to exit this room until she made her apology and the two made up! When Scootaloo turned her head back around she saw that Twilight had noticed her, lowering her forelegs so that they rest on either side of the alicorn’s body. It was like she was waiting to see what Scootaloo did next at her own pace.


So, after taking a deep breath, Scootaloo approached the bed as she pulled out the paper she had been working on. “I, ah, wanted to show you this,” said the filly as she jumped onto the bed. With a slightly shaky hoof she gave Twilight her homework. “It’s not really up to my amazing standards so I was wondering if maybe you could…help me with it?”


It was almost like the illness as well as the treatment to said illness never happened. Twilight’s eyes began to sparkle with pure joy. “I’d love to,” she exclaimed with a grin. Rather than picking it up with her magic Twilight instead used her hooves, brining it in front of her face in an instant. Scootaloo sat there, watching as Twilight practically had her nose to the paper before slowly lowering it. When her face was revealed, Twilight no longer had the same sparkle in her eyes. Lowering her head a bit, Twilight set the essay next to her as Scootaloo watched on nervously.


“But, I think we need to talk first,” said Twilight in an even sounding voice.


“Y-Yeah,” agreed Scootaloo dumbly.


“Scootaloo,” began Twilight only to pause as she looked at the floor next to her bedside. “Do…Do you not want to be here?” Scootaloo held her breath as she watched Twilight let out a deep sigh before continuing. “Was it something I did wrong? All I wanted was to give you a good home and I thought I was doing everything possible to make this feel like home. But, if you were willing to go out in a storm like that just to get away from me…” Scootaloo felt her chest tighten as Twilight’s words trailed off. Then, when she next spoke, the filly could see tears running down Twilight’s cheek. “Was I really that horrible to you? I-If I was then-” Twilight never got to finish her sentence for Scootaloo had leapt from her spot on the bed towards her older sister. When they made contact, Scootaloo wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s barrel in order to hug her. She could feel Twilight’s body jerk in order to look down on the filly.


“No you weren’t!” shouted Scootaloo as she looked up at Twilight’s confused face while tears began to appear in her eyes. “I…I was so stupid. I’m so sorry Twilight! I never wanted you or anypony to get hurt! You have to believe me!”


“Scootaloo,” whispered Twilight.


“I…I thought I was being cool like Rainbow Dash,” admitted Scootaloo as her vision became really blurry. Yet the filly didn’t remove her legs from Twilight to wipe them away. “I had these ideas. They-”


“Scootaloo, take deep breaths,” said Twilight as she wrapped her hooves around the small filly. At first, Scootaloo didn’t listen but instead continued to ramble causing Twilight to repeat herself. It was then that the filly finally listened, inhaling deeply several times. With each breath she took Scootaloo could feel herself calming down even by just a little bit. It was only when the tears had stopped completely did Twilight move Scootaloo a bit away from her. Just enough so they could look at each other face to face. “Are you feeling better?”


Scootaloo shook her head. “Not really,” she said. “I still feel awful. There are so many things I regret doing and thinking. Makes me wish I was a unicorn so I could go back in time and slap some sense into myself.”


Twilight smiled lightly at that. “That might not work out as well as you think,” she commented. “So, you don’t hate it here?”


“No I-” began Scootaloo but quickly cut herself off. For a brief moment she bit her lower lip before she spoke again. “Twilight, has there ever been anypony you’ve always wanted to be more like? Wanted to follow in that ponies hoofsteps?”


“Of course,” replied Twilight. “When I was younger, I wanted to be just like some of the most brilliant unicorns in Equestria’s history. And when I saw Princess Celestia raise the sun, I wanted to be as powerful and as kind as she was.”


Scootaloo nodded. “For as long as I can remember, Rainbow Dash has been my idol. She’s like awesomeness given form. All I ever wanted was to get closer to her and that same level of awesomeness. So when she made me her honorary little sister, it was like the best thing that could ever happen to me. It felt like I was getting closer to that dream of being just like her.” Scootaloo paused for a moment as she then looked at her tiny wings for a moment before turning to face Twilight again. “But I knew there were some things that kept me from being just like her. Like flying. Eventually I decided to focus on the things I could do that could make me more like her. And when I found out you were my big sister…I thought if I accepted you as my big sister it meant you’d take her place.”


“Oh,” said Twilight in an understanding tone. “But Scootaloo, I never wanted to replace Rainbow Dash.”


“Yeah, I get that now,” admitted Scootaloo sadly. “I just kept thinking that we were so different that it seemed impossible for us to be sisters or even be close that I didn’t even give us a chance. Then I thought you’d become like Ms. Cheerilee. You see, a while ago I noticed my grades on any assignment I did on Rainbow Dash was lower than normal. No matter how much extra work I put into them they just seemed to be getting lower. Then she began to give me special rules saying I couldn’t do my homework on Rainbow Dash or even bring her up. That I had to do them on other ponies or just don’t mention Rainbow Dash in any way. It’s like she wants me to change what I love or something. Then, well, when I found out you were my sister I guess I thought you might try to make me brainy or something like that.”


“Scootaloo, I like you the way you are,” said Twilight. “And I’m sure that Cheerilee feels the same way.”


“Yeah but-” began Scootaloo only to be stopped when Twilight gently placed a hoof on her lips to silence her.


“All we want is to make sure you’re the best pony you can be,” said Twilight as she slowly brought her hoof back. “After my second lesson studying under Princess Celestia, I thought that in order to be a great unicorn all I had to do was study Starswirl. Could you blame me? He’s one of the most important wizards in all of Equestria’s history! Every night I would go down to the school’s library so that I could study all of his spells that were open to the public.” Twilight paused as a smile appeared on her face. “I thought I had it all planned out. I would master every spell there before asking to be let into the Starswirl Wing so I could study his more advanced materials. But that never happened.”


“Why not?” asked Scootaloo.


“Princess Celestia gave me a different book to read,” said Twilight, still smiling at the memory. “It was the first Daring Do book to ever be written, hot off the presses. When she asked me to read it I couldn’t help but wonder why. It was just a silly fiction novel and wouldn’t help me with my goal. For several hours all I could do was stare at it and grumble, thinking that Princess Celestia was wasting my time when I could be working towards my dream.” Twilight leaned a bit closer to the filly. “But in the end I trusted her enough to give the book a shot. And while I enjoyed the action as well as the adventure, it also got me to think of a few other things. Other cultures out there that could also use magic in different ways. Could it be possible to learn from them? What about ancient relics? So I couldn’t help myself and began to pull down every book I could reach from enchanting relics to the science of archeology. Slowly, I began to think that there was another way for me to be great. That if I gained as much knowledge as possible then I could apply it in new ways. Like how I took care of that ursa minor.” Pulling back a bit, Twilight let out a small chuckle. “But thinking back, I don’t think that was what Princess Celestia had in mind when she gave me that book. She kept bringing up the growing Daring Do fan club at school and when they were meeting. I think she was trying to tell me to go and make some friends.”


Scootaloo could only stare at Twilight in amazement. It had never occurred to her that Twilight could have gone through something like her.


“I guess what I’m trying to get at,” continued Twilight, “is that Ms. Cheerilee is worried about you. That your... need to idolize Rainbow was preventing you from seeing your own potential and keeping you from learning new things. As for me, all I want from you is to do the best you can and succeed.”


“But what if I can’t?” asked Scootaloo as she suddenly stood up. “I mean, what if my best isn’t good enough for your, er, our family? Look who I now have to compare with! You went to the best school for unicorns, were taught by Princess Celestia, saved Equestria several times, and became a Princess! Then there’s Shining Armor! He was Captain of the Royal Guard and helped defeat a bug queen! And that’s just the ponies I know about! But I can’t get into the best flight school or become part of the Guard. I’m not good in school even back when I was really trying! So…Twilight, are you alright?” As Scootaloo had been talking, she had noticed that Twilight’s head had lowered and was looking away again.


“Oh, ah yeah,” said Twilight quickly as she turned to look at Scootaloo. The princess then gave Scootaloo the most unconvincing smile the filly had ever seen before, causing her to imitate Applejack’s eyebrow raising almost perfectly. That seemed to do the trick as Twilight let out a sigh of defeat. “Scootaloo, I honestly don’t know how my mother met your father. And…I don’t know what will happen after they meet you. They’re coming down from the Crystal Empire soon and I haven’t heard much from them besides a short letter. So I don’t know what to expect. We might not even be a family anymore.”


Like so many times recently, understanding filled Scootaloo while a pit of dread was planted in her belly. She had been so wrapped up with her wants that she never bothered to think about what this might be doing to Twilight or her family. Once again, Scootaloo found herself as the cause of distress for Twilight. Only this time, it wasn’t because of something she did but simply for being.


“I’m horrible,” choked Scootaloo as tears began to reform in her eyes.


“No you’re not!” snapped Twilight firmly.


Scootaloo shook her head in refusial. “But all I keep doing is hurting you,” stated Scootaloo as she took a step back. “I got you sick and now I find out that I’m hurting your family. I probably even got you in trouble with that Mr. Bubbles guy! Maybe it would be better-” Scootaloo’s words were cut off as Twilight slowly stood up. Before the filly could protest, Twilight had moved over to her and embraced her in a hug.


“Scootaloo, what’s done is done,” she said as she held the filly. “If you think lying or running again will help anything, then you’re wrong. All we can do right now is handle things as they come. Just know that I’ll be by your side the entire time.”


The flightless pegasus felt a tremble go through her entire being as she looked up at her sister’s face. “But after everything I’ve done…Why?”


“Because I care about you, Scootaloo,” replied Twilight simply. “I don’t blame you for whatever will happen with my parents. You’re innocent in all that. Also, I think I might also be a little at fault here as well. I’m not used to being a big sister. Not like this anyways. I’ve been trying to juggle so many things at once that I messed up on some of the more important things. I should have laid down some ground rules like telling me when you were going out with your friends. I should have asked how school was going or if you needed help. There were also some…issues that Mr. Bubbles brought up that I never even thought of. I even began to think that maybe you might be better off with somepony else. But when I heard you went missing all I could think about was making sure you were safe. Nothing else mattered until I saw you again. So, if you want, I’d like you to stay here so we can really be sisters.”


“Of course I still want that!” cried Scootaloo cheerfully as she pulled back and smiled at Twilight.


“I’m glad,” replied Twilight as her smile turned into a smirk. “But you do you know that you’re still grounded, right?”


Scootaloo’s eyes went wide for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Yeah, I guess I should have known that was coming.” Then, an idea popped into her head. She closed her eye and when they opened, Scootaloo was gave Twilight the biggest most innocent expression she had ever given any pony before. “But you know you could be a really cool big sister and just this one slide.”


“Nice try Scootaloo,” said Twilight with a good humor laugh, causing Scootaloo to hang her head while the princess reached over for the homework. “Spike used to do that all the time when he was younger and thought he could get out of trouble. Only worked once.”


“Figures,” said Scootaloo as she raised her head, smiling slightly. Even though she was grounded, she was glad she was getting to stay here. That Twilight was giving her a second chance. One that she wasn’t going to mess up.


“Now,” said Twilight as she held up Scootaloo’s homework. “Let's get to work on this and then, when we’re done, we can-” Twilight was interrupted as the door suddenly opened. Both ponies turned to look in its direction to see both Spike and a earth pony wearing a doctors lab coat standing in the doorway.


“Twilight,” said Spike as he rushed into the room. “Good news! I finally got one of the doctors to make a house call! Soon you’ll be…better…in no time.” It seemed like Spike hadn’t noticed Twilight sitting up in her bed, looking much better than when he had last seen her. Nor did he notice the filly sitting with her who looked at the baby dragon with a nervous smile. Now that he had, Spike looked at the two of them with mild confusion. Slowly he turned his head around to scan the room as if he were expecting to see something that would explain all this. It was when he saw the bowl that the potion making zebra had left behind that he became crestfallen. “Somepony got Zecora to come, right?”


“Yep,” said Twilight and Scootaloo together.


“Huh,” said Spike as he crossed his arms. “Should have thought.”
> The Truth Revealed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thank you so much for this,” said Twilight with a large smile on her face. It was late in the day on Sunday, close to the time when Celestia would begin lowering the sun. The Princess of Friendship was in her library, seated in one of her large chairs while sipping on some tea as the faint smells of tonight’s dinner lingered into the room. From the smell of it, Spike was hard at work making another healthy meal for them in case Zecora’s cure was only temporary.


“It’s not a problem Twilight,” said Lyra who was seated on a loveseat across from her with a small crystal table littered with fancy snacks and tea separating them. Next to the mint colored unicorn was Bon-Bon who was nodding in agreement. “I mean, we’ve known each other ever since we were in school in Canterlot. Just let me know whenever you have to go out to do your world saving thing and we’ll come over here to keep an eye on Scootaloo. No problem!”


Twilight relaxed a bit as she set down her tea cup. “You have no idea how much of a load off my mind this is,” she said happily. “I must have spent hours trying to think of somepony who would be able to do this. Now all I need to do are a few more things Mr. Bubbles mentioned and I should be prepared for the next inspection. Hopefully he won’t blame me for what happened at the hospital.”


Bon-Bon gave the princess a light smile as Lyra looked thoughtful. “Well maybe he won’t find out,” said the earth pony. “Even if he does find out, Scootaloo was under the care and supervision of the hospital at the time. So I don’t think you have anything to worry about, especially given the fact that you were the one who went out to find her.”


“Mr. Bubbles,” muttered Lyra. “I could have sworn I’ve heard that name before.” Her eyes then suddenly lit up as she turned to look at her friend. “Hey, didn’t we have a stallion stop by yesterday with a cutie mark that looked like a-”


“Oh wow,” said Bon-Bon as she grabbed Lyra while also placing a hoof over the unicorn’s mouth. “Just look at the time! We’d better get going home!” Then at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud, Bon-Bon ran off with her friend out the door. As they ran, Twilight could still hear Lyra trying to talk through the other mare’s hoof until the sound of the castle door slamming shut echoed down the halls.


“Huh,” said Twilight to the empty room. “That was weird.” Shrugging, Twilight left her chair before heading out of the room. As she moved the princess was happily going over a checklist in her head of some of the other concerns Mr. Bubbles had. One of the concerns Mr. Bubbles had was the fact that enemies might seek revenge on her or attack Ponyville in general. Last night, both she and Scootaloo had sat down together to discuss an emergency plan. Several actually based on where Scootaloo was during a possible attack. For example, if she was in the castle then Scootaloo was to head down to the basement until she got the all clear for either her or Spike. As an added precaution in case it was a rogue changeling or other shapeshifter, they had agreed on a code phrase that they would use to confirm each other’s identity. If ‘Twilight’ answered it wrong then Scootaloo was to either bolt out of there or remain hidden in the basement. If the attack happened while she was at school, then the filly was to head over to either Sweet Apple Acres or Zecora’s hut depending on where the chaos was occurring. Sure there were a few things to iron out, but Twilight felt certain that they could do that before Mr. Bubbles arrived. Or she could ask him for his advice.


With that as well as finding somepony to look over Scootaloo during one of their sudden trips, all that was really left to do was to better secure her lab. Sadly there was no lock smith in Ponyville who could add a lock into the crystals of her palace. The only ponies who might know how to do that were the crystal ponies, meaning she’d have to send a letter to Cadence in the near future. After the whole family drama was sorted out of course. Or maybe she could just find a directory somewhere. That could work too.


As Twilight entered the main entrance she spotted movement from the stairway. Turning her head Twilight saw that it was Scootaloo with some papers in her mouth. Twilight could see the excitement in the filly’s eyes which wasn’t a big surprise. After their heart to heart the previous day, as well as Twilight going over Scootaloo’s homework, the princess had told her little sister about the study that was going on with pegasi who were suffering from the same condition she had. After hearing there was a chance that she might be able to fly, Scootaloo was a mix between a happiness explosion and small amount of down in the dumps. Happy because of the chance to actually fly under her own power and sad because of how she had treated the mare who had gone out of her way to find this just for her. After being consoled by Twilight, Scootaloo had begun to put some extra effort into her schoolwork. She was having some problems with it, probably due to having ignored her studies for so long, but Twilight was more than willing to help her catch up.


After dropping the papers on the ground, Scootaloo looked up at Twilight with a grin. “I finally got two full pages,” she said happily.


“That’s great,” said Twilight as her horn lit up to bring to papers closer to her for a closer inspection. Quickly her eyes began to roam over what was written with a pleased smile on her face. “Well, the structure is much better but there are a few grammar issues, but all in all I’d say this is a very well written paper.” Scootaloo beamed at the praise. “How about we see if Spike needs any help preparing dinner? If he’s got everything under control then we’ll go over the issues and make a few corrections together.”


Scootaloo’s ears flattened against her skull. “I, ah, think maybe we should get to work on this now,” replied a nervous sounding Scootaloo as her eyes darted from Twilight to the door leading to the kitchen. “You know, while it’s all still fresh in my head.”


Twilight frowned slightly at this. It had been easy for her to find out that Spike had exploded on Scootaloo. Even now that she was better there was still an air of tension between the two. Scootaloo looked like she was trying to walk on eggshells whenever she got too close to Spike. Meanwhile Spike mainly ignored Scootaloo, only talking to her in short sentences whenever Twilight told him too. While it did bother Twilight to see this, a part of her believed that she shouldn’t confront them directly. There was the chance that Spike might take it for her covering for Scootaloo and only pretending to forgive her for Twilight’s sake. It would be better to give them time to cool off and allow them to work out their differences at their own pace. But that didn’t mean that Twilight was going to ignore this completely. She would make sure that if nothing happened within the next few weeks she would take matters into her own hooves. Or if Spike crossed a line. Then she would confront them directly at the same time.


Before she could say anything to Scootaloo, there was a knock on the door. “Coming,” said Twilight as she moved towards the door with Scootaloo following her. Before she made it halfway the doors suddenly burst open surprising both sisters. Standing there in the doorway was a stallion who had a light red mane and a massive chin. Standing off to the side was another stallion dressed like a servant operating a portable fan which blew onto his master. The stallion in the doorway smiled so that his teeth twinkled at the two of them.


“Ah, my beloved Princess Twilight,” said the stallion as she walked into the castle without an invitation. As he walked, the servant moved as well so that the fan would always blow into his master’s mane. “It is so wonderful to see you once again! How long has it been? Ha! I think we can both agree it has been far too long.”


Twilight blinked. “Who are you?” she asked honestly. The stallion seemed to do a double take at this, as if the mere thought of a pony not knowing him right off the bat was the most shocking thing that has ever happened in the history of the world. Whatever confidence he had vanished and he seemed to lose a good foot of his height. He almost looked wounded or hurt. Then he shook his head quickly before bringing himself back up to his former height.


“Ha ha!” he laughed before his horn began to glow. In an instant, a dozen roses appeared before him. “I suppose it has been a while since we last saw each other at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. But I shall never forget the way that you always looked at me with those beautiful, shy eyes from across our lab table. Allow me to reintroduce myself: I am Baron Casanova. This wonderful evening I have come to sweep you off your hooves into the magnificent sunset. Together we shall make the most wonderful of memories that will live in the memories of all those to come for the next thousand years.”


Twilight let out a hum as she placed a hoof on her chin. She at least now had an idea of when they had met before, but it still didn’t help much. As much as she hated to admit it, back when she was a student in Canterlot she didn’t place much emphasis on her relationships with other ponies. Heck, it wasn’t too long ago that she was confronted with that fact and needed reminders of all of her friend’s names! Still, she found it odd that Spike had never reminded her of this stallion or any other stallion when she had asked.


“Sorry,” said Twilight at last in an honest tone. She glanced next to her for a moment to look at Scootaloo who was staring at Casanova with a deadpanned expression. “I still don’t remember you. Could you give me a little hint?”


Casanova blinked. “We were partners in Princess Celestia’s advanced chemistry class and were also in the same magical theories courses for three years,” he said while leaning forwards a bit.


Starting to sweat a bit, Twilight gave him an unease grin while here highly organized brain went into overdrive looking for any information on this stallion. Naturally she remembered everything that was ever taught in those classes, her sole focus being on what they were studying. She even remembered when they got brand new text books in chemistry, blushing madly as she stared at it in her hooves and hugging it tightly before giving into her desires to open it…oooohhhhh. Had Casanova thought that she had been giving him that look? Wait, if that was the case, they why hadn’t he said anything before now? Or had he and at the time she had been too enthralled in her studies to really pay attention to her? Still, if that was the case then why come here now of all times?


Head beginning to spin slightly, Twilight nodded while still grinning like an idiot. “Oh now I remember,” she said in probably the most unconvincing tone in the history of Equestria. “Casanova. It’s been a long time. The last time I saw you was-” Suddenly something clicked in Twilight. There was one memory she was sure about regarding Casanova. “Wait, didn’t you contact me saying you would be here on Monday? Today’s Sunday.”


“With a beauty like yours I could not wait,” replied Casanova as he gave a large smile. Before Twilight knew what was happening, Casanova reached out with his hoof to take a hold of her own and kissed it loudly. “I simply had to take in your brilliance with my own eyes once more. I hope you will forgive this transgression as I take you out to some of the finest, and most romantic, restaurants in all of Canterlot followed by a small get together of some of the Canterlot elites finest.”


Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth; sweat continuing to appear on her face as she struggled to keep her friendly smile on. She had to think of a polite way of turning him down. There was no way she was going to let Princess Celestia find out she was pointedly rude to a member of the nobility! She might think that Twilight had become a snob or something of that nature. That she was failing to live up to the model that she, Princess Luna, and Cadence had set. Would Princess Celestia think Twilight was showing signs that the power of her position had begun to corrupt her? That soon she would fall into her own darkness before trying to take over Equestria? Would her friends be called in to try and stop her or would the princesses combine their power to banish her? What would happen to Spike and Scootaloo then?!


“Hey sis,” said Scootaloo suddenly, getting the attention of the rest of the ponies in the room. Both of them could see Scootaloo smiling warmly at Casanova. “How about you go get ready for your date while me and this guy spend some time together?” Twilight was about to say something, but the baron’s facial expressions caught her eye. At first he looked shocked followed by a look that was clearly annoyance. His mouth had opened; ready to say something as he pointed a hoof at the filly only to pause as a look of understanding appeared. He then smiled the same smile Twilight saw in Rarity whenever she found a great deal when shopping.


“Why that is a splendid idea,” said Casanova as he moved over to Scootaloo’s side, never noticing the filly smirking slightly. “It would be a perfect chance for us to get to know each other better.”


“But-” began Twilight holding out a hoof as the two walked towards the door leaving the princess and the baron’s servant behind.


“Princess, my servant will attend you as you ready yourself for the evening of your life,” called Casanova. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw the servant roll his eyes. “While I know that you’ll look ravishing no matter what, he’ll make sure that none of the other notable ponies will find something to complain about.” With that said, Scootaloo and Casanova walked out of the castle with the door closing behind them.


Twilight stood there for a moment, wondering if she should ask Spike what she should do, when the door suddenly opened again. Twilight’s eyes budged wide and her jaw dropped as she saw Baron Casanova standing in the middle of the entrance. However, there was now a look of horror on his face as if he had just seen Tirek stomping towards him. The stallion’s coat, which had a pristine look to it, was now stained with mud as well as tree sap. His mane was also coated in these substances while also containing pine needles which stuck out in various locations. Standing next to him was a smug looking Scootaloo who didn’t have a speck of dirt on her. Calmly, Scootaloo walked away from the frozen stallion and stood next to Twilight while the servant ran back to his master.


“Casanova, what in Equestria happened to you?” asked Twilight as she took a step forward. “You were barely gone for a second!”


“I-I-I’m s-s-s-sorry P-P-Prin-n-ncess,” stammered Casanova as his body began to shake, his eyes seemingly unfocused. “I-I-I-I d-don-n’t think-k-k I-I-I ca-an keep o-o-our d-d-d-date. P-P-Pleas-se acc-ccept my ap-ap-apologizes.” With that said, Casanova began to walk away with the doors closing behind him.


Twilight instantly rounded on the still smug looking Scootaloo. “Scootaloo, what did you do to him?”


“Relax Twilight,” said Scootaloo as she sat down, waving a hoof in Twilight’s direction. “We just got to know each other a bit better, that’s all.”


“But how did he end up like that?” the princess demanded. “There aren’t any pine trees anywhere near the castle!”


“Ah” began Scootaloo as she scratched the back of her head. “I think it would be better if you didn’t ask any questions or think about this too hard Twilight. Some things are better left unknown after all. And I really don’t think he’ll ever tell anypony about what happened.”


To this, Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Have you met me before?” Despite everything, Twilight couldn’t help but allow some humor to be carried along with her voice. She took a breath in order to gain some control. “Scootaloo that was a baron. He-” At that moment, there was a knock on the castle door again.


“Heh, guess he came back for round two,” said Scootaloo with a smirk as she made her way to the door. “Tougher than he looks.” Twilight watched as Scootaloo opened the door, expecting to see a semi cleaned baron who had come back to his senses. What she did see was something that caused all the breath in her lungs to become trapped. It was a blue unicorn stallion that she had known all of her life. Her father, Night Light, was standing there looking down at Scootaloo.


The world seemed to pause in that moment. All Twilight could register was that her father was there, staring at Scootaloo with an unreadable expression. It was odd in a way. Twilight had expected him to look at her younger sister with a snarl or narrowed eyes. She thought he’d be anger to see the little filly. That or he would ignore her. Instead, he just looked at her as if he didn’t know what to feel with his mouth somewhat open. As for Scootaloo, the filly just stared back at him without knowing who she was looking at.


Finally, Twilight broke the silence. “Dad?” When she said that, Night Light jerked his head up to look at his daughter while Scootaloo quickly turned her head to look at her. Twilight could see the understanding in her eyes now as she became nervous.


“There you are!” yelled a voice very familiar to Twilight. Before anypony could move a muscle a whitish blur shot past Night Light towards Scootaloo. The blur took a hold of Scootaloo before stopped to reveal Twilight Velvet, smiling as she held Scootaloo who had gone from nervous to freak out. Twilight found herself at a loss for words as this was, once again, not what she expected. She had expected denial or ANYTHING other than this! As Velvet began to rub her cheek against Scootaloo’s, Twilight looked over at her father to see that he looked exasperated by all of this.


“Sorry,” came the voice of Shining Armor as he and Cadence came running up to the door. Flurry Heart was naturally with them, held in Cadence’s magic as she sucked on her hoof. Once they had stopped, Night Light looked over at his son who had begun to scratch the back of his head with his hoof, ears flat as he did so. “She managed to break through one of my shield spells before I had a chance to reinforce it. Guess I should have used a stronger spell.” He then looked over at his mother. “Hey, is that Scootaloo? Wow, she’s gotten so much bigger than the last time I saw her.”


“Wait! What?” cried Twilight as her eyes went wide and pupils became tiny. The princess could feel her mane beginning frizzle out a tad as all the other ponies in the room ignored her.


“I thought you were gone forever!” said Velvet as she tightened her hold on the pegasus filly. Said filly was now trying to push away after getting over her shock.


“I wanted to ease her into all of this,” Night Light said as he looked at his son. “We’ve been trying to keep your mother from doing something like this ever since we found out Scootaloo was still alive.”


Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “I know that dad. That’s why we locked her up in the dungeons for the last few days until she escaped. Also, do you have any idea who had it is to maintain a spell like that for an entire train ride. I haven’t had any rest because I had to constantly keep reinforcing it. Shielding an entire city was easier.”


“WOULD EVERYPONY LISTEN TO ME!?” shouted Twilight while jumping into the air. The room became quiet instantly as everypony in the room looked at her. The only exception was Flurry Heart who, thankfully, didn’t start crying. Instead she giggled before breaking out of Cadence’s magical hold and floating over to Shining Armor. Once she was close enough, little Flurry clung onto the back of her father’s neck. As Twilight took a deep breath, ready to find out what was going on, the door to the kitchen opened revealing Spike in a flowery apron. He looked around at the scene before him and sighed.


“Looks like I have more food to prepare,” he grumbled.


-x-


“I’m so sorry for all of this,” said Night Light. He and every other pony were now in the library, seated in a circle of chairs that Twilight had arranged with her magic. Sitting next to Twilight was Scootaloo and beside the pegasus was Velvet who seemed to refuse to let Scootaloo get too far away from her. Next to Velvet was Night Light which allowed Shining Armor and his family to fill in the gaps. Spike, despite Twilight’s offer to send out for food so that he could join them, was still in the kitchen. “I really wanted to write down everything that was going on and keep you both in the loop. But there was so much to do in the Crystal Empire that we didn’t have much time for anything besides a short note.”


“We’ve been talking to lawyers and going over the legal system to see your family held any claim towards Scootaloo’s custody,” said Cadence. “That and making sure your mother didn’t trample over everypony in her path towards Ponyville. We had to lock her up in a cell to keep her from heading on the first train here and she managed to escape. Twice!”


“Can you blame me?” asked Velvet. “I thought Scootaloo was dead!”


“Hold on, hold on,” said Twilight, fanning her wings as she spoke to get everypony’s attention. Once she saw that she had it she took a breath. “Can…Can we please start from the beginning. Like who is Scootaloo’s father.”


“And why was I left in an orphanage?” added Scootaloo.


Velvet turned to look at Night Light who only gave a short nod before returning to look at her two daughters. “Yes, I believe we should have started there. This all started back when I was a much younger mare, nothing more than a fresh recruit for the Equestria Special Forces at a time when I was just old enough to join. Alongside me was the only other mare to join, a pegasus by the name of Slip Stream. Neither of us wanted a job that consisted of standing around in one spot all day, doing nothing. We wanted to travel, fight monsters, and kick some major flank. Not to mention we both wanted to show those stallions how a mare gets the job done.” Velvet paused for a moment, closing her eyes as she remembered those times. “We had such dreams back then. We both pictured a future of the two of us exploring new lands or infiltrating enemy territory in the name of Celestia’s crown. But we were over eager at times. We got hurt. We got into trouble.” For a moment, Velvet paused as if she were remembering fond memories. During this time Twilight and Scootaloo glanced at each other. Their short gaze shared the same question they both had: where was this going?


“In the end, we passed basic training and were kept together in the same unit. From there our lives were one big adventure together. There was never a dull mission nor one where I felt unsafe. Together, we trekked through the densest jungles and wadded through the sands in the middle of the desert. Even simple recon missions were fun because I had Slip along for the ride. Of course, that didn’t mean that we only had our missions to keep our hooves occupied. The two of us had lives outside of the Special Forces. Slip was an avid Wonderbolts fan who dragged me along to their shows whenever they were near us. That’s actually how I met Night and, when we were married Slip was the Best Mare.


“Eventually, my time in the Equestria Special Forces came to an end. Me and Night Light had decided that we wanted a family, even though it meant slowing down of a while. Slip, well, wasn’t happy about it. She seemed to think that I was betraying and abandoning her. After we had a fight that ended with me have a black eye and her limping home, neither of us spoke again until Shining Armor was born.” Velvet let out a good natured laugh. “I can still remember how she, the mare who had once charged headlong into a shower of spears and arrows with a cocky grin was petrified at the thought of holding a foal. She was so scared that she might drop him or hurt him that her entire body began to shake. Little Shiny giggled and laughed, thinking it was some sort of ride or game.” Velvet then grinned as she looked over at Shining Armor. “In fact, I think she might be the reason for why you get air sick. When you were two, she came over to catch up and you wanted to play. So she took you for a ride on her back, forgetting that non-pegasi foals aren’t used to such high speeds or stunts.”


“That explains so much,” said Shining dryly as Cadence lightly giggled.


“Wait a moment,” said Twilight. “If she was so important to you then how come I never met her before?”


“Slip Stream was almost always away on missions,” replied Velvet sadly. “She’d be gone for months on end until her assignment was completed before she could return home where she’d pick up her next one. Sometimes I didn’t see her for a year or more. And you did see her a few times after you were born. You were just quick to put your nose back into your books.” At that, Twilight blushed before hiding her face behind one of her wings knowing it was most likely true.


“Now then,” continued Velvet as she looked at Scootaloo. “One day Slip came to my door with her husband, Barrel Roll, to ask me for a very important favor. They had decided to start their own family, but were having trouble. Back when we were in training, one of the other cadets got angry that he was shown up by a couple of mares. A fight broke out resulting in Slip getting stabbed by a spear. Of course she lived, but the injury destroyed her womb entirely meaning she’d never be able to have foals of her own. So…”


Twilight gasped as her eyes filled with understanding. “You were a surrogate mother!” she exclaimed. “The doctors teleported some of Scootaloo’s father’s sperm into your womb.”


Velvet nodded. “I was happy to help out my friend. At the time, Twilight had just left to stay at Princess Celestia’s School and Shining was spending more time out of the house. I guess it was a small case of the empty nest syndrome. Later on, when my pregnancy began to show I told Shining Armor.”


“Ok,” said Scootaloo as she got out of her seat. “So that explains how you’re my mother, but it doesn’t explain why I grew up in an orphanage my entire life. If Slip Stream wanted to have me so much, then why was I left in Ponyville? And why didn’t you come looking for me?” As Scootaloo spoke, there was no anger in her words. Instead, she sounded desperate to know the truth.


Velvet got out of her seat to slowly approach the filly. When she was close enough the older mare got down as far as she could to look the filly in the eye. “Scootaloo, we…we thought you had died along with Slip Stream and Barrel Roll.”


Scootaloo took a step back. “What?”


Velvet, who had not moved from where she was, nodded sadly. “While you were still in my womb, your parents were living in a small apartment in Canterlot. Barrel Roll was a stunt pony who never could make it into the Wonderbolts and instead became a weather pony for the area around Canterlot. With you on the way, both he and Slip Stream wanted what was best for you. They both agreed that in a city where the majority of ponies were magic users, it would be harder for you to fit in. So, Barrel went looking for another job and eventually landed one in Cloudsdale. Slip Stream used all of the money she had saved up over the years to buy a nice house by the Cloudsdale Stadium. By the time you were born, everything was finalized and set. Me, Night Light, and Shining Armor saw the three of you off.”  Velvet paused as a tear appeared in her eye, wiping it away with her hoof. “The next day, I found out that your parents were dead.”


Twilight watched as Scootaloo’s flank landed on the floor. The filly’s face had lost a shade of its color while also losing all expression. To Twilight, it looked like Scootaloo didn’t know what she was supposed to feel in this situation. That she was so utterly lost and confused beyond her ability to process all of this. Getting to her hooves, the princess walked over to her younger sister before wrapping a wing around her barrel. Scootaloo flinched at this followed by looking up at Twilight, still appearing lost. Feeling lost herself, Twilight did the only thing she could think to do in this situation and didn’t let go of her younger sister.


After a moment, Scootaloo looked back at Velvet. “How…What happened?” When she asked this, her voice was almost hollow.


“There was an accident at the weather factory,” said Cadence before Velvet could. “I remember Aunt Celestia talking about it when it happened. Nopony knows how it happened exactly, but a powerful storm intended for the western area of Equestria escaped while Cloudsdale was in the heart of Equestria. It spilled out everywhere, taking everypony by surprise. The weather ponies did their best to take care of it, but the storm was just too powerful. Its sudden appearance created powerful winds that were powerful enough to knock down entire trees that went in all directions. It was like a tornado suddenly appeared. Then there were the lightning strikes that destroyed several homes.”


“When Slip and Barrel’s moving chariot was found, it was in pieces across several miles,” said Velvet. “Not too long after, they found their bodies. But not yours Scootaloo. We looked all over the area where they were found, but there was no sign of you there. We never thought to check around Ponyville or its surround areas since it was in the complete opposite direction. If we had known…”


As Velvet began to tear up, Night Light got to his hooves. Calmly he walked over to his wife and comforted her. “The officials helped as much as they could,” he said. “But they didn’t hold out much hope. If two adult pegasi couldn’t survive that then there was little to no chance that a newly born filly could. In the end, we had to accept the possibility that you had passed.” Night Light then looked at his daughter. “We decided not to tell you about this Twilight. You had had a stressful semester, taking all of your classes while also raising Spike on your own. We were afraid how this might affect you.”


Twilight was barely paying attention at this point. Instead her mind was ablaze with the new information she had received. She remembered the documents regarding how Scootaloo had been found the night after a horrible storm. Specifically she was found in a cloud carrier. While there was no description of the carrier, after hearing this story Twilight had a hunch that it was the Grebes model. Twilight remembered researching it alongside Princess Celestia years ago. It had been specifically designed and enchanted to safely lower a foal to the ground in the event of an emergency. At the time, Twilight had felt a sense of pity that the line had been discontinued due to the high costs as well as the need to have the spells recast every six months. It had been, in her mind, a real shame to let such a magical product go to waste.


If it had been the Grebes model, it would explain how Scootaloo survived that night. The Princess of Friendship could almost see it clearly in her mind what might have happened. A family moving across Equestria when a sudden, unexpected storm appeared. Heavy winds blowing in every direction while they pulled their chariot. Maybe they had tried to detach it so it wouldn’t weight them down or perhaps they were going to land on the ground so they could wait out the storm. But they never got the chance. Twilight could see a pegasus mare reach for the foal carrier, removing it from the rest of the chariot so that the foal inside would at least have a chance. Perhaps even her husband telling her to take the foal and try and fly her to safety. In the end, however, she never got the chance. Slip Stream probably pushed the carrier away from the chariot at the last moment where it was carried off by the wind in a different direction. The truth was that they would never know.


-x-


It was some time later and Scootaloo was in her room looking out of her window without really looking at anything. After hearing about how her parents died she had simply asked to be excused and left the room. Nopony had tried to stop her, allowing her time to grieve or whatever. That was maybe two hours ago. Or it could have been two minutes. Scootaloo didn’t really know right now. She didn’t know what she was looking at right now as she tried to sort out this uncomfortable feeling she had inside of her.


There was a knock on her door that Scootaloo barely heard. She did, however, hear the door open behind her. Taking a deep breath, Scootaloo turned to see Twilight standing behind her looking worried.


“Some day,” said Twilight with a brief smile. It faded quickly as she approached the small pegasus and sat down next to her. “How are you feeling?”


“Weird,” muttered Scootaloo as she looked out at the scene outside the window. It looked like just another average day in Ponyville.


“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Twilight.


At first, Scootaloo didn’t say anything. Time seemed to slow down as she considered talking to Twilight about this. A part of her didn’t want to or, rather, she was afraid to. Afraid of what Twilight might think of her if she told her everything she was and wasn’t feeling right now. Afraid that Twilight would think of her as a monster or something. But as she looked over at her older sister, Scootaloo saw her waiting for an answer. She’d probably wait there for any answer and if Scootaloo said no thanks that would probably be it for now. Yet Scootaloo knew Twilight well enough that the alicorn would dwell on this matter, bringing it up from for time to time until Scootaloo talked about it. Until she did, Twilight would worry herself sick as she checked her books looking for something that might help her. Realizing this, Scootaloo let out a sigh.


“I always hoped that my parents were dead,” said Scootaloo finally, Twilight’s ears perking in order to give the filly her full attention. “When Spike asked me about it, I told him about how uncool it was to hope that your parents were alive and they’d whisk you away to some fancy castle or mansion before living happily ever after. It’s better just to hope they were gone rather than to know that they didn’t want or even love you.” Scootaloo then turned to look her sister in the eyes, feeling her heart race a little as she did. “I feel a little happy that they didn’t abandon me. I’m also sad that they’re dead. B-But not as sad as I think I should be! Shouldn’t I be crying my eyes out now?!? Shouldn’t I be overcome with grief? I feel sadder for our mom than I did them and I hate myself for that!”


“Scootaloo, its ok,” said Twilight gently as she moved her wing around Scootaloo again. However, Scootaloo pulled away while shaking her head.


“No it's not ok!” said the filly as she looked Twilight in the eyes. “Shouldn’t I be feeling more right now? I feel like a couple of strangers just died! Why am I-” Before Scootaloo could finish, Twilight had moved to wrap Scootaloo in a hug. Caught off guard, the filly could only stare at Twilight’s barrel for a moment as she felt her sister’s warmth surround her. She felt safe like this. As if it was ok to be vulnerable. That there was no need to impress Twilight or act cool. So Scootaloo began to cry. “I’m horrible.”


“I don’t think you are Scootaloo,” replied Twilight as Scootaloo felt the alicorn’s hoof rub her back. “And I’m sure nopony in this castle thinks so either. Everything is just happening really quickly. Just give yourself some time to process this.”


Scootaloo pulled back a bit so she could look Twilight in the eyes. “But, what if I never see them as anything more than just Slip Stream and Barrel Roll? Just two ponies who died but I can’t remember anything about them?”


“If that happens then we’ll deal with it together,” replied Twilight instantly. “Your BSBFF won’t let you go through this alone.” Despite herself, Scootaloo couldn’t help but smile while rolling her eyes at Twilight’s acronym. Hearing her say that helped the filly calm down more than she thought it would. “Now then, let’s go downstairs. Spike should be almost finished with dinner. I’m sure after all of that you must be famished. Plus this is a good opportunity to get to know mom.”


Feeling her stomach rumble slightly, Scootaloo nodded. “Sounds great,” she said before wiping away the tears from her face. The two began to make their way to the door, before a new thought popped into Scootaloo’s head. “So, ah, what happens now?”


“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.


“Well, about what your dad said,” replied Scootaloo calmly. “About the lawyers and-”


“Oh right, that,” interrupted Twilight with a hint of a smile on her face. “Well, according to the Equestrian legal system, custody falls to the next of kin which would be our mother or any relatives on your father’s side. So, naturally, mom has already filled out the paperwork and it helps that you already started living with me. Cadence and Shining Armor have their ponies looking for ponies on your father’s side as we speak. If any of them wish to take you in, we can either go before the courts or ask Princess Celestia. However, I’m personally hoping that it won’t come to that. We might be able to settle things outside of court so that everypony wins.” Twilight stopped in her tracks before glancing down at Scootaloo. “Unless, what you want is to-”


“No, no,” said Scootaloo quickly, understanding what Twilight was trying to say. She had to admit that she was curious about her father’s side of the family. However, this was her home and Twilight was her older sister. She didn’t want to give that up for all the bits in Equestria. “I’d rather be here.”


“You never know,” said Twilight with a playful smile. “They could be really, really cool. Probably much better than your geeky older sister and her friends.”


Scootaloo laughed at that. “I doubt that,” she said. “They probably don’t go on adventures every week.”


-x-


“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us to Canterlot?” asked Velvet. It was later that evening and the sun was dipping below the horizon. The entire family, including Spike, were now at the train station in front of a train ready to depart to the capital. Most of their things had been taken on board by Night Light and Shining Armor…only to have Flurry Heart dumping it out with her magic while giggling. Cadence did her best to keep the foal under control; however Flurry just kept flying out of her reach.


“I…I’m sure,” said Scootaloo, feeling and looking uneasy as she said this to the mare that was her biological mother. “I mean, I’m sure Canterlot is a great place with a lot to do. But…” Her voice trailed off as she looked over at Twilight before looking back at Velvet. Said mare looked somewhat hurt. “It’s just that all my friends are here.”


For a moment, Velvet said nothing before letting out a deep sigh. “I see,” she said while lowering her head. Scootaloo’s wings rose as she looked around in a panic. The last thing she wanted to do was upset another member of her family! Not knowing what to say or do, Scootaloo only took a step forward before Velvet raised her head. The older mare was now grinning like mad. “Well then, looks like I’m going to be taking more trips to Ponyville then! It’s only a train ride away after all. We’re also going to have to have more family trips!”


As she said this, both Night Light and Shining Armor became very still as if they had been hit by a freezing spell. Their awkward positions, both of them had been standing on their hind legs trying to grab their things, caused them to fall over. After hitting the ground they both quickly got to their hooves before rushing over to Velvet. Both of them looked a little more than scared for some reason.


“Dear, before you start planning anything,” began Night Light who paused to gulp loudly while Velvet shot him an annoyed look. “Maybe we should sit down and consider things that are more appropriate for her age than some of our…usual family fun.”


“Like, for example, no hang gliding or swimming with the sharks…again,” said Shining Armor quickly causing Velvet to let out a huff. “Maybe something like a nice, safe, completely calm-”


“Wait, you like to hang glide?” asked Scootaloo as she jumped into the air. “What about zip lining or white river rafting? Or how about bungee jumping? Oh, and what about that thing where you’re in a barrel and dropped off a waterfall? Have you ever done that because I would totally do that!” Both stallions looked at Scootaloo, their jaws dropping in unison as Velvet stepped closer to Scootaloo with a big grin on her face.


“You know, there’s this big bungee jumping event going on in two weeks near the Foal Mountains,” said Velvet as she wrapped a hoof around Scootaloo. “It would make the perfect bounding experience.”


“That sounds AWESOME!” shouted Scootaloo as she looked at Velvet in a new light.


“I don’t know,” said Twilight as she brought a hoof to her chin. While the two stallions looked relieved to hear this, Scootaloo felt her heart sink a bit. As her ears flattened against her skulls, she couldn’t help but wonder why Twilight would say something like that. She was preventing her from getting to know her mother in perhaps the most awesome way ever! Was this because of her grades again? Because, if that was the case, she had two weeks to bring them up or at the very least put more of an effort into them!


Velvet seemed to agree as she walked over to her elder daughter with a frown on her face. “Are you telling me I shouldn’t spend time getting to know Scootaloo?” she asked firmly.


“What?” said Twilight, her eyes growing wide. “Oh, no. that’s not what I meant at all! It’s just that Scootaloo has a doctor’s appointment for that study I was telling her about in two weeks so I don’t know how her schedule is going to be affected.”


“Oh that’s right,” said a calmer Velvet as Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief. She found it odd that she had forgotten something so important.


As Twilight and Velvet began to talk, Scootaloo looked around herself once more. Spike was over by himself, reading a comic he had brought along but occasionally glancing around to see what everypony was doing. Shining and Night Light were back to work putting their things into the train with the heads low. The only difference now was that Cadence had taken control of Flurry Heart, making sure the filly wouldn’t interrupt their work. As she looked back at Twilight, a smile crossed the filly’s lips. This was her family now and she was excited to see how well she fit in with them.