Loyalty

Stunned. Remorseful. The emotions felt by Rainbow Dash. Her mind wandered back to a certain filly who woke up after a stormy night. Could Scootaloo be hiding the fact that she is homeless? If so, why? Is she embarrassed about it? Rainbow Dash had hundreds, if not thousands, of questions bombarding her mind. She stood there, in shocked and paralyzing silence. Each pony around her looked questioningly. As each read the passage that Dash had just read, each let out a gasp, only to hurt the emotions felt by the cyan pegasus.

This continued for some time until Twilight broke the silence. "Umm.....Rainbow? You okay there?" She waved her hoof in front of her paralyzed friend. "Rainbow?" She slapped her.

"Ow! What was that for?" Rainbow had asked, feeling the burning sensation of where she had slapped.

"You seemed out of it," she replied.

"So, I can't think now? Just because I'm not an egghead like you doesn't mean I can't think," Dash replied jokingly.

Twilight smiled back sheepishly. "Sorry about that," she replied.

"So, what do you propose we do about Scootaloo?" Rainbow asked, trying not to avoid the subject.

"What do you mean?" Twilight inquired.

"Did you not just read that? She has no parents and no home! She sleeps in the streets, or the clubhouse! Who knows! We need to find her an actual home!" Rainbow could sense frustration rising in her heart.

"Rainbow! Get a hold of yourself! You don't know that she is on the streets! She could be in an orphanage for Luna's sakes!" Twilight seemed annoyed.

"Then why wouldn't she tell me that she is in an orphanage?" Rainbow had wanted to ask as many questions as possible.

"Maybe she is embarrassed! I would be too!" Each pony was stunned that Fluttershy had actually said something that could be heard in the entire room. "Oops.....sorry," Fluttershy responded when all eyes were on her.

"Anyway, why are you concerned so much about her Rainbow?" Rarity jumped into the conversation now.

"Because......because....," Rainbow was unable to come up with an answer. She really didn't know. She did know that maybe her past had something to do with Rainbow's want to get Scoots a home.

"What if we tried to find out where Scootaloo is first. We could possibly ask her where she sleeps every night. It won't do us any good just thinking about it," Twilight said. Each pony muttered in agreement, all except for the Element of Loyalty. Once all ponies were out of the library, Twilight spoke again. "Rainbow............why don't you tell me why you really are the most concerned for Scootaloo. You really didn't care before."

Crap. She really wanted to avoid this. She never wanted to get this out. "Because........my parents left me as a filly."

"What?!" Twilight was absolutely stunned.

"Yea. I had a whole letter and everything left for me one morning. My parents promised they would come back from Las Pegasus when I was older. Twenty years later, here I am. I don't even know what my father looks like anymore. Anytime I think of him, I think of that night," Rainbow explained, as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Rainbow.................I-I........I'm so sorry......" Twilight too was crying.

"I never want any pony to ever have to go through what I had to go through again. I never did stay in the orphanage. Fluttershy was there and she said it was horrid. She flat out told me to never go there. So I lived on my own, in my parents cloud home. I took care of myself. It was the worst feeling ever. Whenever I was bullied at school, which was practically every day, there was noponies shoulder to cry on. I could only cry myself to sleep.." Rainbow was now close to a full sob.

"Why didn't you ever tell anypony that they bullied you?"

"Because......they would want to speak to my parents.....I never wanted to go to the orphanage. So I kept my parents whereabouts under wraps. It really wasn't so bad. The only bad part was waking up on Hearth's Warming Eve having nobody to be with, staring out at the fillies playing with their new toys. It was awful. But it still beat the orphanage. I did everything alone..." Rainbow now turned back to Twilight. "Nopony ever deserves to live the way I did.....if I have too, I will go to the ends of Equestria to get Scootaloo a good home. The question is.....who will mother her?"

"Why don't you do it Rainbow? Scootaloo always looks up to you!"

Rainbow hadn't thought of that. Could she really mother Scootaloo? She already loves Rainbow with a fiery passion, so why not? She contemplated the idea. As she pictured herself as a mother, another pressing matter came up. "I can't afford a child," Rainbow said. She sounded calm but the insides of her were screaming in agony. She really wanted the best for Scoots. She would give her anything, travel to the ends of the world. But being a weather pony in Ponyville didn't exactly make you a millionaire.

"Do you know anyone who could help you pay for her?"

Rainbow knew what she meant by that. Marriage. The answer was no. The cyan mare attempted to figure out other ways to get money. She could always take up a second job. The only problem was, who would take care of Scootaloo? If she wanted to adopt her, then she would have to give her tons of attention. Plus, she never wanted to give Scoots up. Deep down inside, she believed Scootaloo was her child. No. She IS her child. She saw Scootaloo since she was a foal. She was alone all the time, even then. How she got that scooter is beyond her. Rainbow became her big sister after the camping trip. This was a possibility. But one problem.

"I gotta find Scootaloo," Rainbow said, and with a dash, she was off.