“Hurry up, Scootaloo. We’re gonna be late!”

Applebloom was bouncing up and down as much as she could without losing her balance. Her orange pegasus friend was pulling the red wagon hitched to her scooter at a slower than normal pace. The ponies of Ponville didn’t even have to jump out of the way as the trio made their way steadily down Mane Street.

“Is everything alright, Scootaloo? You seem a bit... subdued.” The white filly inquired.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just tired is all.” Scootaloo sighed as her short wings made a low buzzing sound.

“How can you be tired? It’s free milkshake day at Sugarcube Corner!” The yellow filly piped up as she held onto the shoulders of her friend in the wagon.

Scootaloo stopped flapping her little wings and let the scooter and wagon roll to a stop in front of the bakery. Sugarcube Corner always brought a smile to the face of any pony who walked by, especially if they decided to stop in and sample the sweets. But Scootaloo simply took off her helmet, placed it in the wagon, and walked into the store with her head down.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle left their helmets in the wagon as well and shared a nervous glance as they followed their glum friend in silence.

~~~

“And then Mr. Cake said we had like a thousand orders to fill for tomorrow and I was like ‘WHAT!?’ and he was like, ‘We better get started’ and so I DID. But then when he came down this morning and saw that I had stayed up all night and made all of these bowtie candy cupcakes he said I should stop because he was ‘egg-saturating’. Which doesn’t make any sense because bowtie candies don’t even need eggs in them. And I don’t see how we’re going to make a thousand of them before tomorrow if I’m not helping, and if he’s not helping, and if Mrs. Cake isn’t helping and Pound and Pumpkin aren’t helping and and- WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?”

The trio of fillies watched with blank stares as the pink on pink mare in front of them held her head in her forehooves and began to sob on glass display case. There was a veritable mountain of cupcakes neatly stacked behind her with little multicolored candy bow ties atop every one. The young ponies shared a brief look.

“Umm, we just came for the free milkshakes, Pinkie Pie.” Applebloom said.

Pinkie Pie rose up and parted some curly hair from her teary eyes.

“And I think what he meant was ‘exaggerating’, Pinkie Pie, it means he didn’t literally mean a thousand. He was just being dramatic, like Rarity!” The white unicorn filly beamed hopefully at the older mare, hoping that a vanilla milkshake was still in her future.

Scootaloo just sighed and looked at the stack of cupcakes forlornly.

“OOOOoooooooh!” The pink mare perked up, “So I guess it’s like that time when Twilight said she had read EVERY book in her library and I said that was impossible because I was carrying my personal cookbook to ask her about alicorn food and then she said that alicorns ate the exact same food and then I said that’s also impossible and more importantly gross because if somepony already ate it then it would have to be all barfed up and—”

“Augh!” Applebloom interrupted the hyper mare, “Pinkie, if ya don’t mind, can we please not talk about that? We came here for milkshakes, not to be grossed out.” The yellow filly held onto her squeamish white friend as she held a hoof over her face that somehow managed to get even paler.

Scootaloo had simply retreated to sit at their favorite table by herself and was resting her head on a hoof.

“Oh no! Somepony’s sad. It’s time to turn that frown upside down!”

With a blur of activity the two remaining fillies were placed at the table with Scootaloo and three milkshakes were produced in front of each of them, whipped cream, cherry, and straw included. Pinkie sat across from Scootaloo and smiled at her hopefully.

Scootaloo extended her lips and glumly sipped her chocolate milkshake.

Pinkie Pie frowned and rubbed a hoof to her chin as she considered the sad filly. With a gasp, she zipped into the kitchen to the sound of clattering pans.

Applebloom addressed her friend first, “Scootaloo, seriously, what’s the matter? You didn’t even call Sweetie Belle a dictionary and you had the perfect opening!”

“Yeah, Scoots, you never pass up a chance to egg me on!” Sweetie Belle said with a subtle voice crack when she spoke.

Pinkie poked her head from the kitchen as flour burst behind her. “Egg-saturation!” She announced, before disappearing once more to the sounds of hammering, wood sawing, and power tools.

Scootaloo seemed unphased by Pinkie’s antics as she just continued to sip on her milkshake. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked to their friend and sighed as one.

The bell chimed above the entrance to Sugarcube Corner.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Chubbie Belle, Apple Flank, and Scootabutt eating away their sadness again.” The pink filly spit out as if each word was distasteful.

“Like, yeah, you should be careful. You don’t want your special talent to be eating sweets, do you?”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon laughed as one while the two fillies on the sides pushed their milkshakes away before even touching them and frowned. Scootaloo just continued to sip hers without raising her eyes to acknowledge the bullies in front of her.

“Looks like this little birdy isn’t too worried about fattening up.” Silver Spoon narrowed her eyes as she looked at Scootaloo with malice.

“What’s the matter, chickenwing? You worried about tomorrow? Another Father’s Day presentation at school with no daddy to be there for you. It must be so difficult to sit there and see everypony else and their dads showing off and being happy while you get to sulk in the back and pretend to ‘nap’ like always!” Diamond Tiara began to laugh once more as the orange pegasus simply continued to drink her milkshake in silence.

Pinkie Pie emerged from the kitchen with a big cake on her back. “Who’s ready for an impromptu ‘makemyfavoritelittlepegasusbesidespoundcakehappy’ party!” Pinkie gasped when she saw the two young bullies in the shop glaring at the crusaders. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were holding onto Scootaloo from each side protectively, afraid their pegasus friend would succumb to the extra attention she was getting from the duo of rotten earth ponies.

“Hey! Are you two being Meany McMeanpants again? Just wait until I tell your moms about this!” Pinkie Pie threatened.

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes at the threat and smiled at Silver Spoon. “Hah! You losers enjoy your little party. I’m going home to my daddy who just got done making lots of money. I wonder what he bought for me today?” As she turned to leave, her sidekick Silver Spoon did as well, turning only to blow a raspberry at the occupants of the bakery as she left the door.

“Don’t listen to those Jerky O’Jerkfaces Scootaloo! Whatever they said can’t be fixed with a hug, kind words from a friend, and lots and LOTS of sugar!” Pinkie Pie began to vibrate in excitement as the cake was shifted from her back and onto the table next to the milkshakes.

Scootaloo had finished hers and looked up from the glass which held only an uneaten cherry. The cake was adorned with a frosting picture of an orange pegasus filly lying on a cloud and smiling happily as she watched little cardboard cutouts of wonderbolts rock back and forth on springs. Bright sparklers shot out from the party candles burning behind them.

Scootaloo sighed and looked at the treat with a blank expression. “I’m sorry girls, but they’re right. The Father’s Day Fair at school isn’t exactly fun when you can’t participate.” She dropped off the stool she was sitting on between her best friends and walked out of the shop, pushing the door open with a lowered muzzle as she watched the ground in front of her hooves.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle watched in stunned silence, not knowing what more to do to cheer up their friend. After all, if Pinkie Pie couldn’t make you smile, then who could?

~~~

“Twilight! Twilight! Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!”

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she pressed the levitating tomes to her ears harder. She struggled to remain focused on the book in front of her as the pink mare was bouncing to and fro at every single window in the library to get her attention. It had been going on for over three minutes straight. But even Princess Twilight Sparkle had her breaking point.

“WHAT!?” The lavender alicorn shouted. “What is it now Pinkie? I have told you already that I am too busy finishing a report for Princess Luna and have no time for parties!”

Pinkie Pie was hovering outside the second floor window and looking abashed as Twilight stared at her energetic friend. “Can you please let me in? It’s an emergency! A super-duper friendship emergency! And I figured since you are the princess of friendship, you would be the perfect one to go to.”

Twilight watched as Pinkie continued to defy physics with her pinkie-ness and hover outside the second floor window like a pegasus. She wasn’t surprised. Pinkie just continued to smile as sweat started to slowly drip down her forehead.

“Fine, I’m unlocking the door, but don’t mess up any of my research papers. This is very important work for Princess Luna and I can’t waste any more time on whatever this—” Twilight was interrupted as her telekinetic glow unlocked the front door in front of her and Pinkie Pie tackled her from behind. The zip and whoosh disturbed the neatly organized stacks of paper spread out all over the library floor as the pair of purple and pink ponies landed in a pile.

“Whatever fancy shmancy princess business you have is superseded by this friendship crisis! Scootaloo is sad!” Pinkie Pie was breathing heavily into Twilight Sparkle’s face from above as she held her pinned down.

“Pinkie, can’t you just do what you normally do to make ponies happy? It is your special talent, isn’t it?” Twilight teleported from underneath the panicked mare and began to magically levitate and reorganize her sheafs of paper that were blown into disarray by the pink force of nature.

“But that’s just it, Twilight! I’ve tried everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! I made silly faces. I gave her free hugs. I spoke kind words and complimented her. I performed a song and dance. I gave her ice cream and cake. I even got out my beach ball and started riding it around on my hind legs saying ‘James Baxter’ over and over and it STILL didn’t work! IT DIDN’T WO-O-ORK!” Pinkie Pie was shaking Twilight as she became more and more upset.

“James Baxter?” Twilight asked, genuinely confused.

“You have to help me, Twilight!” Pinkie pulled the alicorn muzzle to muzzle and pushed her eyeballs out, almost touching Twilight’s own eyes.

“Ugh, whatever, fine. Let us begin then Pinkie.” Twilight slipped into her pedagogical tone as she cleared her throat and addressed the mare in front of her. “The first step in diagnosing any problem, friendship or not, is to understand the problem. Now, what seems to be the issue?”

“Scootaloo doesn’t have a father!”

Twilight blinked.

“Well neither of us are stallions, Pinkie, so I don’t think either of us can help in that regard.” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes and got back to work on her tax law revisions for Princess Luna. They were a thousand years out of date and didn’t even take into account modern communication and transportation. Her work was halted as Pinkie grabbed her cheeks and turned her once more to face her.

“Twilight Sparkle, this is serious!” Pinkie’s hair was deflated and her eyes moist as she looked at her dear friend and princess. “If we can’t help her, we need to find somepony who can. Please, Twilight, you have to do something. No pony should feel alone on any holiday, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Nightmare Night. Every pony deserves to have candy no matter how silly their costume is.” Pinkie Pie released her grip on the royal mare and sat on her haunches as she wiped away a tear.

Twilight Sparkle thought briefly of a bubbly pegasus mare wearing paper bags and smiled. It was amazing how the eccentric Pinkie could be so wise at times, even if the allegorical metaphors and anecdotes always came back to sugar or parties in some way. Twilight giggled to herself, then sobered up and realized that Pinkie really did have a point. “Okay Pinkie, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll write the Princess and ask for advice. But for now I think the best solution, as always, is to provide her with companionship and speak to her. If she really is feeling alone, then it is our duty as friends to be there for her.” Twilight smiled and hugged Pinkie as she began to levitate a quill and some parchment.

Pinkie smiled. “Thank you, Twilight. Little Scootaloo’s BFF’s are doing just that.”

Twilight nodded in approval.

~~~

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle approached their friend slowly. Scootaloo had been sitting on the hill watching the sunset for a long while after Rainbow Dash had finished practicing.

“Hey, uh, Scootaloo. How ya doing?” Applebloom broached.

Sweetie Belle slugged her farmer friend on the shoulder and set her a frown. Applebloom looked back at her and pouted as she rubbed her shoulder.

Scootaloo just stared at the sun as it dropped below the horizon.

“Look, what I mean to say is that we’re worried about you Scootaloo. We’re your friends and we want to know how we can help.” The farmfilly came up to her friend and sat down next to her.

“I know we never asked you about it, and maybe it was rude of us not to, but maybe if you wanted to talk about your father you could.” Sweetie Belle joined her friends and set on the other side of Scootaloo and leaned into her with comforting pressure as well.

“Yeah, Scoots, ya know ya can trust us with matters o’ the heart an’ all.”

Scootaloo slumped forward and lay down. “Well you better get comfortable, it’s a long story.”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other and leaned down together to lie next to their friend. They were glad to see that progress was being made.

Scootaloo began her tale. “My mom and dad didn’t ever plan on having a family, I was a surprise. I live here in Ponyville with my adoptive family. It’s been over a year since I saw my dad.” She stopped talking and looked once more to the sunset.

The yellow and white filly waited a minute longer. Their pegasus friend did not continue.

“So... uh. Is he dead?” Sweetie Belle was slugged extra hard by Applebloom.

“T’ain’t appropriate for ya ta ask like that!” She turned to Scootaloo and spoke more softly. “It’s ok, Scootaloo, I know what it’s like not having my pa around too. It ain’t been easy, but AJ, Macky, Granny, and I do just fine.” She smiled hopefully at her friend. But her curiosity got the better of her. “Um, so, is he still, you know, with you?”

Scootaloo stood up and chuckled sardonically. “Yeah, he sends me postcards when he travels all around Equestria for work. But he’s married to his job, it’s apparently ‘too important’.” She looked hard at the sunset and frowned, her grinding teeth were audible. “Both of you are so lucky. You have brothers, or sisters, or parents, or grandparents. What do I have? A surrogate sister who lets me cheer for her? Adoptive parents who can’t have a child of their own?” Scootaloo began to walk away towards Ponyville. Her friends rose and followed her at a trot.

“But you love Rainbow Dash! She’s just as good as family!”

“No, Applebloom, she isn’t. She doesn’t pick me up when I fall off my scooter. She doesn’t drop me off or pick me up from school. I don’t go up to her cloud house every night and get tucked in by her. I don’t get told bedtime stories by her. And I most certainly do not get woken up by her every morning with the smell of breakfast.” Scootaloo spoke every sentence with growing frustration. She began to trot faster to outpace her friends as they flanked her down the hill, watching her with worried looks the entire way. They didn’t know what to say.

“She’s just a role model to me,” Scootaloo continued, “and even then she spends more time at the Wonderbolt Academy or practicing her moves than she does with a dweeb like me.”

“That’s just not true Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, moving to stand in front of her friend. “You have been getting flying lessons from her twice a week, on this very hill!” The little white unicorn began to shake as she blocked her angry pegasus friend from reaching her scooter.

“She’s right, Scootaloo, be reasonable. We’re just trying to talk to you. Please, don’t walk away again.” The earth pony pleaded as she locked her golden gaze to the magenta ones of her friend.

Scootaloo clenched her eyes and pushed past them. She got on her scooter and buzzed off as fast as she could. She left her problems behind her like she always did, she just wished she could go fast enough to leave them in the dust forever. They always seemed to catch up to her.

~~~

Scootaloo was walking her scooter down the street towards her house when she was accosted once more by her least favorite pony.

“Oh my, what’s this? The flightless pegasus is all alone now, doesn’t even have any friends to speak up for her.” Diamond Tiara was by herself this time but it didn’t curb her attitude. She was just as vicious without her minion.

Scootaloo father’s words rang in her head as they did every time she felt threatened. Fight or flight, my Little Wing. Remember, it’s always better to live to fight another day when the odds are stacked against you.

Scootaloo felt her cheeks turn red as she imagined how her present enemy would twist that saying against her. She knew that literal flight would never be an option in confrontation. But this was a battle she knew she could win.

“What do you want?” Scootaloo spat out as the anger built in her.

“I think it would be best if you just didn’t show up to class tomorrow, don’t you? I mean, it’s just so embarrassing and awkward for everypony else to be celebrating something that they know someone else next to them doesn’t have. I think it would make us all a lot more comfortable if the outcast of the class just did what she was supposed to, stay cast out.” The pink filly laughed to herself. Her light violet and white hair waved as her head bobbled in mirth.

The sight made Scootaloo sick with anger.

“My dad is a million times better than yours! You better shut your dumb mouth if you know what’s good for you!” Scootaloo threw her scooter against the mailbox in front of her house.

“Ooh, is that so? What’s he going to do, show up and make me apologize?” The bully laughed once more as she matched Scootaloo’s look of anger with a confident smirk.

“My dad could kick your dad’s flank! You better watch what you say you stupid jerk!”

Diamond Tiara giggled as her victim fumed before her. “My daddy makes more money than any pony in this town, combined. Even the mayor has to come to him for advice. What does your dad do, huh? What makes him so great? As far as I know, the only thing your dad is good at is being invisible!”

“Shut up!” Scootaloo threw her helmet to the ground and turned on her forehooves, she took a second to visualize how she saw Applejack do it and then prepared to buck Diamond Tiara’s teeth in.

Just then a golden glow surrounded Scootaloo and two mares galloped out of the house to see what the commotion was.

“Scootaloo! What’s going on?” The cream colored earth mare asked.

Scootaloo looked up to see her adoptive parents looking at her with worried glances. She stared for a moment in stunned silence as she realized what she was about to do. When the filly turned and looked behind her through the golden glow she barely caught a glimpse of Diamond Tiara galloping off into the distance laughing the whole way.

Scootaloo felt the magic drop from her and ran forward to hold her family. She pressed her face into the soft cream colored fur on the neck of the mare in front of her and began to cry.

“Come on, let’s get you inside.”

The blank flank filly was lead inside by the caring hooves of an earth pony mare with three candy treats for a cutie mark. A unicorn mare with a lyre for a cutie mark followed them in as she levitated the helmet and scooter in a golden glow.

After the door to the house had been closed, the sounds of a sobbing filly were slowly replaced with the gentle tunes of a lyre playing a lullaby.

~~~

Princess Celestia was awake later than usual, the workload wasn’t getting any lighter, especially after the Crystal Empire had returned. She sipped fresh tea in front of the fireplace in her chamber and worked her magic to finish writing several letters to ambassadors of foreign nations about the upcoming shift in power that a new Equestrian princess would represent.

As the stack of letters besides her drawing board grew shorter, the moon rose higher, and the fire burned lower. She levitated one more log into the hearth and then levitated her final piece of business for the day onto her drawing board.

It was a letter from her most faithful student.

“My, it has certainly been a long time since I have received a friendship report.” She spoke to herself as she smiled and broke the wax seal of her pupil.

As her eyes scanned the letter her smile grew tenuous. Her gaze became downcast and the mane that swirled behind her seemed to flag a bit in the ethereal breeze. She read the letter once more, and then closed her eyes and looked up in remembrance as she pressed it to her bare chest, where her golden peytral normally rested.

“It’s been too long.” She whispered to herself.

Celestia levitated seven pieces of paper from her supply drawer along with seven quills. She began to furiously write all of the letters of correspondence at the same time as she rose with a look of determination on her face. The scraps of paper were rolled and neatly tied with a ribbon and stamped with the royal seal on the wax binding. She turned and opened the door to her chambers.

The lone guard at Celestia’s chamber entrance turned at the sound of the opening door and looked to The Princess of The Dawn. He straightened his posture and smiled genuinely at the matriarch before him. He was the only stallion she trusted to protect her after the sun went down. And while standing watch over a door at night was not a glamorous job and far beneath a soldier of his rank, it brought him closer to the thing he held most dear. He would lose every hour of sleep necessary for his princess.

“What is it, My Princess?” The guard said as he made eye contact with the ruler of the nation standing bare without her regalia. His gaze bore only concern as he read her expression with ease. Her mane was hanging lower than normal, her neck was bowed low and her eyes were weaker from more than fatigue. She was sad.

Celestia looked to her most loyal defender and regretted having to give him this task. She always felt comfortable knowing that he was near her at night, even though they were bound to be separated by their duties and a door. “Please deliver these letters with utmost haste to the fastest pegasi couriers we have. They are to get to their recipients immediately.” The princess commanded softly. She knew her orders would be followed by this stallion to the letter and did not speak harshly. Celestia enjoyed having someone to treat as a confidante, she had known this guard long before Luna returned.

The white coated pegasi guard nodded his understanding. “Of course, my Princess, by your command.” His golden armor shone in the light that stretched from the hearth in the bedchamber through the door the Princess still stood in. He held her gaze as long as she provided him with hers. She had not dismissed him yet.

Celestia continued to stare into the blue eyes of the guard and wished, as she always did, to see them unchanged by magic. She inhaled audibly and looked to her hooves once more. “it’s... it’s about her.” Celestia looked up and saw a wave of joy roll over the guard’s features.

The guard beamed at his princess and saw her mane shimmer briefly in happiness. Any mention of her always brought a ray of joy into a cloudy day.

Celestia looked down to her hooves for a brief moment before looking back to the guard. She smiled faintly at the stallion before her.“I... Will require your assistance in a more personal matter as well. Please return to your post with due haste once you have finished with this task.” She held a bare hoof forward and traced the jawline of her most trusted pony, “Dismissed, my Captain.” Celestia turned and strode back into her chamber with a skip of anticipation in her step.

It’s been too long, she thought.

The door handle was illuminated with a golden glow and closed once more.

The captain looked at the large doors wistfully. The exquisite hand carved mural on it never seemed to do enough to glorify his princess. Yet it always stood as a constant reminder of the responsibilities and duties that forced them apart. He sighed to himself as he turned and looked at the recipient addresses for all of the letters he held. Two for Ponyville, two for Cloudsdale, two for Canterlot and one for... Boulder? He raised his eyebrow at the city name he had never heard of.

He shuffled the letters back to one of the ones addressed to Canterlot and tucked it into his armor. He bore the other six to the barracks as he leapt to the air and spread his wings. He flew with peerless haste to the barracks. His princess would be waiting.

~~~

The next morning.

~~~

“Spectrum!”

The pony being addressed looked up from his clipboard in alarm. When someone yelled his name in the weather factory it was usually because a rainbow tornado was going to ruin his day. His relief at not seeing a manufactured force of nature bearing down on him was only slightly alleviated when he saw the next worst thing bearing down on him. His white lab coat and helmet did little to protect him from the crushing hug the large golden pegasus gave him.

“Augh! Nimbus, please, could you- ACK! Lighten up!” The much larger stallion smirked under his thick red mustache as he released the lighter violet pegasus to the clouds below.

“What are you still doing here? Didn’t you get the letter!?”

Spectrum shook his head as his eyes came back into focus. He blew a tuft of rainbow mane out of his vision as he took wing and looked at his friend. “What, you mean the one the royal guard just handed me not five minutes ago? Nimbus, I run the R&D department at the weather factory, okay? Just because some courier comes in here with a fancy gold scroll doesn’t mean I’m going to drop everything for some light reading.” The smaller but by no means weak pegasus folded his fore legs and looked to his friend with a frown. “You know I don’t care for light reading.”

Nimbus chuckled heartily as he grabbed his friend and flew over to the managers office above the factory floor. The rest of the employees in the factory looked a bit shocked at the loss of their floor manager but decided not to speak up about it. It wasn’t every day the Mayor of Cloudsdale came in through a window and glomped your boss.

“Open it.”

Spectrum was sitting in his cloud chair behind his cloud desk as the stallion who ran Cloudsdale hovered in front of him and forced a scroll into his face. They had a long history as friends since their days on the Cloudsdale University hoofball team together, but he had never seen him smile quite so wide. Aside from when they beat Canterlot University for the championship maybe. The pegasus sighed and began to read. His eyebrows rose ever higher.

“A royal order? As in, from the Princess?” The cooler toned stallion asked.

Nimbus flexed and laughed. “Hah! Can you believe it? The perfect excuse to get a day off, and what a day to get off, eh? When was it you last saw her, The Best Young Flyers Competition?”

Spectrum placed the letter on the table and remembered. It had been a while.

“Welp, no time to lose!” Nimbus grabbed Spectrum in a crushing hug once more and literally smashed through the cloud wall of the corner office like it was the offensive line of Can U. Outside was a stretch chariot used for taking the mayor to important appointments being carried by the finest pegasi chauffeurs bits could buy.

“Colts, Take us to Ponyville! My little Fluttershy is in for a surprise.”

~~~

There was an explosion.

“Nighty, what was that?” The cloudy white mare raised her voice to ask from her greenhouse towards the noise. The plants she was tending to were all quivering in fear as the sounds of culinary warfare were coming from the kitchen.

“Just! Ugh- trying to... uh. Make this... breakfast!” More grunting and clattering was followed by a shout of pain. “Dear!” was added as an almost polite afterthought as the stallion addressed his wife.

Twilight Velvet sighed and stood up, the plants all stretched towards her in fear. They didn’t want their caretaker to come to harm. She gently caressed them all with her sky blue magic and smiled at them with her likewise colored eyes as she left her sanctuary and entered chaos.

Night Light was hanging upside-down cocooned in plastic wrap above a gas burning stove with all burners set to maximum. He was using his horn to levitate several frying pans and was smacking the grate over the flames to try and snuff them out.

Twilight Velvet held a hoof to her forehead.

“Dear, what were you trying to make this time?” She asked calmly as the calamity before her unfolded.

The blue stallion smiled sheepishly and said, “Um... toast?”

Twilight Velvet looked to the corner of the kitchen where on a counter the toaster lay untouched and pristine and sighed once more.

There was a knock at the front door.

“Just a minute!” She turned to leave the kitchen and answer the door.

“Wait! Don’t leave me like this! Honey, please, help! HELP! HEEEEEEEE—” The sound of a grown stallion screaming for help from the kitchen were muffled as the door was magically shut behind the mare who passed through it.

The front door was opened to reveal a royal courier holding a scroll with a golden ribbon in his magical field. He looked a bit nervous as he heard the sounds of a mare in distress coming from within. “Is everything alright ma’am?”

Twilight Velvet levitated five bits from her coin purse into the jacket pocket of the stallion in front of her. “Thank you, kind sir, for delivering this missive. And I do appreciate your discretion.” Twilight Velvet spoke without breaking eye contact as the stallion nodded and saluted to leave. The mare turned to head back inside while unfurling and reading the note. She looked a bit concerned as her studious eyes followed each and every word but was drawn out of her third analysis of the letter by the sounds of water.

Her husband was attempting to put out the gas stove with the spray nozzle on the faucet again.

Twilight Velvet breathed a calming breath and smiled “Nighty, I’m packing your bags for you, the next train to Ponyville leaves in 45 minutes and I expect you to be on it!” She opened the door to the kitchen and watched as the cupboards were being opened by the deep blue magical glow of her one true love. Salt, flour, sugar and the entire spice rack was being dumped onto the stovetop to smother the flames.

“What!?” Night Light was still hyperventilating as he struggled against the plastic wrap bonds that held him precariously on the glasses rack above the island countertop and stove.

In a concentrated burst of magic, Twilight Velvet cleaned up the entire mess and levitated her husband to the tile floor of their now immaculate kitchen once more. It was the third time this week.

“It’s Father’s Day and you are going to visit your daughter. Princesses aren’t allowed to be alone on Father’s Day.” Twilight Velvet finished fussing over his mane and then delivered a quick peck on the muzzle. She turned and began trotting upstairs to begin packing the essentials her absent-minded husband would need for his perilous journey. “Oh, and it’s a royal order so don’t be late or Luna is going to be mad at you and make you count all the stars in Orion, again.”

Night Light paled at the thought of more tedious work at the Canterlot Royal Observatory before he paled even further at the thought of what day it was. “That’s today!?” Night Light shouted.

Twilight Velvet rolled her eyes and smiled wistfully.

~~~

“What in the great fires of Tartarus is this nonsense?”

“Pickington!” A bespectacled mare fixed the stallion with a harsh glare.

“Forgive me, Pebble, but we don’t get stallions from Canterlot flyin’ all the way out to rock farms in Boulder.”

The old brown earth pony ran his tired amber eyes over the letter once more, grumbling the whole while.

His wife coughed into her hoof politely and looked over her reading glasses at him. “Sweetheart, it’s from the princess, and she sent a chariot. Best do what she says, probably about the safety of Equestria and all.” She smiled lightly and looked to her love once more.

“Hmph,” Pickington Pie looked at the letter one last time before turning his gaze back up to the chariot in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at the bored pegasi as they munched on their meals from the long journey to Boulder. Then he looked out to the field and watched as his two eldest daughters were hard at work rotating the rocks to the east field.

“I don’t know, Pebble, it’s the middle of harvest season and the feldspar is just now starting to ripen up, I just don’t have the time to—” He was cut off as a firm hoof moved to his shoulder.

“The feldspar will keep, dear.” The mare fixed him with a stern look that brook no argument.

He sighed and tilted his hat back to reveal his balding head. He scratched at his long grey sideburns in nervousness. “Well, I guess it’s about time I paid Pinkamena a visit.”

Pebble smiled at him and gave him a tight squeeze and a kiss on the cheek as he moved to the back of the chariot and looked at it in trepidation.

“Ye colts better not drop me, I ain’t ready to return to the earth just yet.”

The duo of pegasi royal guards smirked and shared a brief mischievous look as they flexed their wing muscles.

~~~

Applejack was sitting on the far side of Ponyville lake and staring wistfully across the gleaming calm surface of the reflective waters. She came here every Father’s Day to remember her pa, old Russet Apple. It was still early morning and the sun had barely crested over the horizon, but today was most certainly a day of rest. She closed her eyes and chewed the sprig of wheat in her mouth thoughtfully as she raised her head and enjoyed the cooling breeze and the smell of nature.

A large red pony plopped down next to her and pulled a sprig for himself. “Show started yet?” He asked.

Applejack chuckled as she opened her eyes. “Heh, not yet McIntosh.”

The brother and sister watched the waters in calm silence as the wind rustled the leaves of the large apple tree behind them. The great big branches reach far and wide, providing comfortable shade on the dryest of days at Sweet Apple Acres. But apples loved the dry heat, it was the sort of thing that brought out their true flavor, their true character. For every apple knew that honest hardship begets honest greatness. And Sweet Apple Acres apples were the best.

There was nothing to say, it was just two ponies relaxing by the side of a lake under the shade of a giant apple tree. They shared a silent and ineffable moment, re-affirming a bond that expanded time and space, reaching beyond to whatever lay next when a pony returned to the earth. They both closed their eyes and remembered their father. The stallion he was, and would always be; Watching over his orchard, waiting for his little seeds to join him in the earth.

A high pitched whine sounded across the pristine waters.

Applejack and Big McIntosh opened their eyes at the same time. The entertainment was about to begin.

~~~

“Father, I am most certainly not going to wear that ridiculous hat!” Rarity whined as she levitated the fishing rod behind her, careful that the line or hook get nowhere near her tail or mane. She didn’t want a repeat of last time.

Magnum rolled his calm eyes and looked at his eldest daughter as they both walked out onto the dock behind the house. It was Father’s Day again, and he knew that getting Rarity to spend some time with him was going to be like pulling teeth. Any father-daughter time they spent together usually involved her trying to burn his haywaiian print shirts or trim his mustache.

But Magnum knew how to coerce his dramatic daugher. A simple appeal to her sense of generosity, “Come on, Rarity, don’t you want to wear your pa’s favorite hat? Just for today? It would make me so happy. It is father’s day, after all.” He knew that his daughter would cave to the guilt. He may have nothing in common with her knowledge of fashion but he certainly knew how to be charismatic.

Rarity cringed as she saw the straw hat being levitated towards her. She could only imagine her beautiful purple mane being tangled in it like a birds nest at Winter Wrap Up. She shook her head before her imagination could run any wilder than frayed ribbons and avian excrement being anywhere near her beloved coiffure.

“NNnnhhhh, fine!” She acquiesced. “But only because I love you.”

Magnum smiled, it worked every time. “That’s my filly, my little Rarity, so precious.” He looked on as his eldest daughter bit her lower lip and clenched her eyes shut as the straw item was gently placed onto her hair and covered her horn. “There, see, you look cute, a real Ponyville gal.” Her father smiled with pride as he looked at his little filly. Rarity always did have a hangup about her appearance.

“I look like a scarecrow.” Rarity pouted.

“Nonsense, you look like a real knockout, a cute little unicorn gal from the country ready to be rescued by a city slicker. Any stallion would go crazy for ya.” Magnum smiled once more at his daughter.

Rarity smiled back and blushed a bit as she adjusted the straw hat and tucked in a few loose bits and corrected the weaves. “You, really think so?” She loved male attention, that was no surprise, but it was hard to let her mane down around stallions. Spending time with her father, just the two of them, was always just a pleasant and refreshing experience. Father’s Day had a certain tradition that made her almost regret it however. Something always went wrong when they had their annual Father’s Day fishing trip to the dock behind the quaint cottage she grew up in.

“Oh! But father what are we going to use for the fish? Sweetie Belle is still inside preparing breakfast with mother.” Rarity looked around at the foreign objects her father had brought out with them. A couple more rods, a tackle box, and a cooler. Rarity kept searching for the plate of “toast” that he usually used for this barbaric sport.

“Ah, fret not my little jewel, I have just the thing.” Magnum opened the cooler to reveal a small plastic container with a picture of a smiling happy worm on the top, poking its head out of an apple.

Rarity looked at it in disbelief. “I am most certainly not going to touch that.”

“Ah come on Rares, it’s just a little worm, birds eat em all the time, fish eat em too. We’re just gonna put it on the hook and catch us a little fishy and then throw him back. He gets breakfast, we have fun, it’s all a part of the circle of life.” Magnum smiled at his daughter who continued to look at the can of worms.

She slowly leaned further away from the offending object.

Rarity could not even gather the mental focus to argue about how tricking a creature into fearing for its life for sport was anything but how the circle of life should work. She was too entranced as she imagined the worms squirming in that plastic container, the writhing slimy mass of them all cramped inside a plastic bin full of cold, wet, dirt.

Rarity dropped her fishing pole to the dock and stood before turning away from her father.

“Absolutely not! I refuse to take part in such inequine ceremonial sacrifice.”

Magnum sighed and looked to his little filly. “Just please come over here and sit down, Rarity. I’ll do the first one, and then you can do the next one. It’s easy.”

Rarity felt her eyebrow twitching, she vowed to resist this time, even if he used that word.

“Would ya do it for daddy? Please?”

Rarity squeezed her eyes shut and crumbled under the weight of her father’s affection. I’m just a big dumb softy, she thought. A stupid little emotional marshmallow that couldn’t stand up to her... best dad in the world. She opened her eyes once more and briefly asked Celestia for strength.

“Fine.”

“Thanks, Rarity, you’re my best little filly.” Magnum lifted his hat off his daughters head a bit and then kissed her on the forehead. Rarity blushed once more. But before she knew it there was an open can of worms and the first victim was being stretched out on the wooden boards of the dock like it was a torture rack.

“Now ya see, you just gotta place the edge of your hoof just a third of the way down the body. Be sure to hold em nice and tight with your magic.”

Rarity watched in awe as the little pink creature squirmed and writhed under the telekinetic grip of her father. She felt her stomach churning, she was glad she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, she would just be losing her appetite instead of her meal.

“Then,” the unicorn stallion continued, “You roll your hoof and cut em in half.”

~~~

There was a scream that could be heard across the lake.

Applejack and Big McIntosh shared a short chuckle and continued to chew their sprigs of wheat. It was just starting to get good.

~~~

“It’s still alive! It’s still moving! Make it stop! Kill it! Kill it!” Rarity was in hysterics as the two halves of what used to be a single disgusting living creature became two disgusting living creatures with blood and intestines leaking out of one end. She started hyperventilating as she thought back to parasprites and how they duplicated themselves.

Magnum looked to the sky and prayed for strength, “Rarity, come on now, calm down. I know it’s not burnt pancakes or bread like normal, but this is how ponies have been fishing for hundreds of years, okay? Stay with me here.” Magnum looked on in genuine concern as his eldest daughter began fanning herself with the straw hat in the already cool morning air.

“Father, I love you, but this is too far. This is cruel and unusual punishment.” Rarity stomped her forehoof, making sure to keep it from landing on the now gore covered section of the dock.

Magnum decided it was time to turn up the guilt. Foregoing the usual burnt pancakes for the worms was a huge mistake, he was realizing. “Rarity, it’s Father’s Day, just please do this for me? I’m not asking for much, just, get your hooves a little bit dirty with me, once a year.” Magnum gave her the pouty eyes and his mustache seemed to turn down with the corners of his mouth.

It wasn’t fair. Rarity hated being on the receiving end of that sort of appeal. And the facial hair made it all too perfect. She secretly hated how effective mustaches were at making her change her mind about anything.

Rarity sighed explosively. “Next year, we are using bread. And not the burnt bread a la Sweetie Belle that you always use, but some nice prench bread. After all, I can empathize with these aquatic prisoners! I don’t want to be treating these poor unfortunate fish that are trapped in this small pond any worse than I would treat myself. A mare who is just a big fish trapped in the small pond of Ponyville. They deserve better, and I will give them a real taste of the ‘upper crust’! So to speak.” Rarity giggled at her own humor and closed her eyes. She raised her muzzle as she struck a pose.

“Aww, that’s my little Element of Generosity.” Magnum gushed and removed his hat from her head and began to rub his hoof all through her mane.

Rarity blushed and cringed as the unshorn fetlocks of her fathers drab coat mixed with her royal purple mane, ruffling the curls.

The color was removed from her cheeks once more as the can of worms was levitated in front of her. Rarity gulped audibly and removed the straw hat completely, setting it aside as she began to focus on the task at hoof. Her horn lit up and a single worm that was squirming along the surface of the mud began to wiggle even more as its ‘head’ was grabbed by unicorn magic.

Rarity pulled on the worm, it just kept stretching. It stretched for four inches, six inches, eight inches, ten! She couldn’t believe it, the thing was endless. The slimy pink creepy crawly emerged from the mud until a foot was visible. She pinched harder on the end she held it by and gave a final tug. It popped out.

The worm coiled and spasmed as it rolled up and down in front of the cosmopolitan mare. The fashionista watched in horror as it stretched out and searched with its unseeing tail. It reached and reached, and finally, it touched her muzzle.

What happened next was unclear to Rarity but she realized she was screaming and that she was no longer holding anything with her magic.

Magnum’s eyes followed the can of worms as it went up and down. It rotated a slow 180 degrees and became impaled on an alabaster horn, amidst a rolling field of purple. There was a squelching sound and then silence.

Rarity could hear them. The worms were on her head, in her hair, crawling around her horn. She held her breath and her pupils shrank to pinpricks. Then a worm began to explore one of her ears.

She screamed.

~~~

Big McIntosh and Applejack were in stitches.

They saw the prissy white mare flail her hooves and hoot and holler as her father tried to calm her down. She took a wrong step in her blind panic and fell off the dock straight into the lake. She emerged gasping and shaking her mane. After taking a deep breath, Rarity continued to scream. She was treading water with her hind legs as fast as she could and wiping off every last trace of mud and worm from her head. The mare continued to scream for a good long minute before her father finally jumped in and swam her to shore.

Applejack and Big McIntosh smiled. It was another good Father’s Day.

~~~

Pearl walked out of the house to the sight of her eldest daughter and husband who were soaking wet, covered in algae, and tracking a trail of filth across her garden path with muddy hooves. She levitated two large pink towels to the duo of adventurous ponies.

“How many did you catch before falling in this time? Three? Two?” The mother asked with a frown.

“We didn’t even get to cast!” Magnum responded with a hearty chuckle. He gave his shivering and mud-coated daughter a fatherly one-legged squeeze. “Come on, Rarity, let’s get you cleaned up and then we can get you some breakfast.”

Rarity remained silent and held onto her father. The mare shuddered as she kept feeling the slimy sensation of worms in her mane and on her precious horn. Bubble baths were in order, hours of bubble baths, and spa visits, and possibly therapy.

~~~

Scootaloo was sitting at the park bench by herself. She knew she should have been in school right now getting ready to listen to Sweetie Belle’s dad, Pipsqueak’s dad, and all the other dads ramble about their boring jobs. But she couldn’t stomach the thought of listening to Filthy Rich gloat about his money and have his spoiled brat of a daughter watch her simmer in anger. So Scootaloo ditched class, and came to the park. She wasn’t hiding, per se, she was just preparing for the next battle. Fight or flight, she thought, there would be many more battles.

“Hey, squirt, aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

Rainbow Dash came swooping in to sit next to the little pegasus as she sat on the bench like her adoptive mom always did, kicking her hind legs as she slouched.

“Pffft, whatever, I don’t need some stupid school.” Scootaloo frowned and folded her forelegs and turned away from her idol.

Rainbow Dash looked shocked.

“Woah! Now that isn’t cool! Only losers drop out of school, squirt, and you aren’t a loser are you?” She raised an eyebrow and poked at the filly.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and muttered, “Maybe I am...”

Rainbow Dash had heard all she needed to hear. She grabbed up the filly in a tight grasp and zipped her over towards Twilight’s library as quickly as she could. The impromptu flight from her idol and surrogate older sister did little to stop the orange filly from flailing around, squirming and being a pain in the flank on the way there.

~~~

Twilight Sparkle heard a commotion and knocking on her front door.

The alicorn looked up from her ‘thank you’ response letter to Princess Celestia and walked to the door to open it. Outside was an interesting sight.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing to Scootaloo?” Twilight inquired.

The sky blue mare was holding the little filly by her hind legs upside down as she hovered in the air. The little pegasus below her was trying to swing at the larger pegasus above as the tiny wings on her back vibrated in anger. “Let me down, you big dingus!”

“No can do, kiddo, you’ve got a royal self-esteem issue and that means we are getting some royal help!” Rainbow Dash announced as a crowd began to form around the two notoriously troublesome pegasi.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy arrived as the crowd formed outside of the library.

Pinkie Pie gasped as she watched Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo in the air. “Oh my gosh! Is this some kind of pegasi only wrestling? Is this cloud wrestling!? It looks like the most fun-a-fun-fun thing ever! Ooh, Twilight, give me wings so I can wrestle Rainbow Dash too!” Pinkie vibrated in excitement as she invaded Twilight Sparkle’s personal space.

Twilight blinked as her brain processed the amount of logical leaps Pinkie Pie was taking to construct that sentence.

“Oh! But you have wings now, so that means YOU can wrestle Rainbow Dash. Oh my gosh, it would be so super-super fun to watch. You both could get all tangled up and rolling around on the cloud and changing positions and grabs.” Pinkie began to perform a mock full-neighlson on Fluttershy. “You would be pounding each other into the fluffy cloud. And Dashie would have you all pinned and asking you to say ‘uncle’ and you would be all ‘No!’ and then she would start grinding into you to make you submit. Then you would use your magic to totally flip the tables and pin her down and REALLY start working her over with that horn of yours as you both get all wet and it starts to rain.” She finished with an excited squee.

Fluttershy blushed profusely and could only offer a quiet, “Oh my.”

Rainbow Dash stared wide-eyed at the Pink mare and sputtered in shock. The filly she held onto went stock still and looked horrified.

Twilight Sparkle took a calming breath and waved a hoof.

“Maybe later Pinkie.” She said as neutrally as she could manage, given the awkward stares that nearly all of Ponyville were giving her. She thanked the stars that fate would bring all of her friends together when she needed them but regretted that it always have some strange or awkward circumstance that made her confused in more ways than one.

Pinkie Pie settled down from hopping in excitement and said, “Okie Dokie Lokie!”

“Now girls, I’m glad I have you all here. We have a very important task from Princess Celestia that I need you all for.” Scootaloo groaned in frustration. “That includes you as well, Scootaloo, now if you would please all follow me. I’ll explain on the way.”

~~~

Scootaloo was standing next to Rainbow Dash at the train station with a frown on her face. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle were all milling about as well.

“This is dumb.” The little filly protested.

Rainbow Dash was chilling with her shades on. “Yeahhh... gonna have to agree with you squirt. This sort of thing is like a whole new level of sappiness.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted, “We’re doing this for Scootaloo. She couldn’t have a father present for her Father’s Day presentation at school, so we are going to be providing one for her. I asked Celestia to pass along a message to my dad to come down and visit us today and speak for Scootaloo.” Twilight smiled at the little filly who just turned away and pouted even more. “I’m sure the students in your class would love to hear about an astrophysicist at the Canterlot Royal Observatory!” Twilight beamed hopefully at the little pegasus who was now sitting on her haunches at the train station.

Scootaloo mumbled something under her breath.

Before any of the other ponies present could engage the little pegasus, Pinkie Pie gasped. She began to vibrate up and down, even more so than she did when she was normally excited. All four of her hooves left the ground at once. Hey eyes rattled in their sockets. Her tail and even her mane and ears became a blur as she began to convulse bodily.

Fluttershy looked on in fear, “Oh my, I think it’s another doozy.”

There was a keening sound from above. A chariot came into a screeching landing at the Ponyville train station and an old brown earth pony dove out and began kissing the ground.

“Land! Oh, sweet beautiful earth, I will never leave you again!”

Pinkie Pie moved so fast from Twilight Sparkle that she appeared to change to a deeper shade of red. The volatile ball of excitement known scientifically as Pinkieus Pieicus collided with the stallion known formally as Pickington Pie at relativistic velocities.

“PICKY PIE!”

The stallion was floored and crushed under the strong embrace of a wild earth filly. He gasped for a moment before he realized that it wasn’t just any wild earth filly. It was his wild earth filly.

“Well, hello to you to, Pinkie.”

Pickington Pie and Pinkamena Diane Pie held each other in a loving embrace. It had been too long.

Twilight was surprised, she had only asked for her own father to show up. This must just be a happy coincidence she reasoned. As the baker and the rock farmer continued to hug and laugh, Twilight and Fluttershy smiled at the sight of the happy reunion.

Rainbow Dash only shrugged at the sight and gave Scootaloo a noogie. “Yeah, no big deal, squirt, just stick with me and this sappiness will all be over in a minute.”

The friendship express chose that moment to pull into the station with a burst of steam. When the resulting cloud cleared away a deep blue stallion was standing and looking confused at a piece of paper he held with him. His mumblings could be heard over the sounds of other passengers getting off the train from Canterlot.

“Ok, ‘get off train’. Done, um, next is ‘hug daughter’.” He paused and looked at the sheet, he backtracked a few steps and gasped, “But that can’t be right, this step-by-step instruction is flawed! I have to find her first!” Before the absent-minded astrophysicist could get lost in space he was hugged gently by a princess.

“Hey dad, glad you could make it.”

Night Light looked shocked for a minute and dropped his wifes very detailed instructions as he melted into the embrace of his daughter. “Hey, Twily, how’s my little shining star.”

Twilight couldn’t hold back the emotion any longer as hugged her father tighter and shed a tear. “Thank you for coming, dad. I love you.”

“I love you too, Twily. I wouldn’t miss this for the world, thanks for asking me to be here. Now let me get my bags and let’s go give a lecture.” He smiled down at his unicorn turned alicorn daughter with pride. Twilight wiped her eye with a hoof and looked at the ground around her.

“Umm, dad, you don’t have any bags?”

Night Light blinked and the gears could almost be heard as they turned in his head. A loud steam whistle sounded as the train began to start up again.

“My bags!”

Night Light ran back onto the train past the conductor and Twilight Sparkle sighed and smiled.

Fluttershy was having trouble drying her face as the quiet cries of joy from her at the sight of two of her friends being reunited with their fathers became too much for her.

Scootaloo cracked a smile and Rainbow Dash adjusted her glasses. “Yeah, whatever, no big deal kiddo. Us tough ponies don’t get all misty eyed at something like that. Pshh.”

“Where’s my filly? Take me to her right now!”

A loud voice boomed across the train station as Mayor Mare was struggling to keep up with a large golden pegasus stallion with a bright red mane and tail. His posture exuded confidence and authority, but not nearly as much as his mustache. It was probably a good thing Rarity wasn’t nearby or she might have needed her fainting couch.

Fluttershy squeaked and looked for somewhere to hide. She settled for a small hat box lying idly in the middle of the station.

The quivering ball of pink hair and yellow fur was eclipsed by a great shadow. One eye opened and peered through the mane of the mare it belonged to as it regarded the stallion above it. There was a squee of terror as the grown mare was wrapped up in powerful forehooves and hoisted into the air in a powerful bear hug.

“There’s my little ray of sunshine! Oh, my little filly, I’m so glad to see you. Have you been taking care of all the animals like you told me about?” Nimbus held onto his daughter and spun happily in the air. His assistants and Mayor Mare all collectively breathed out a sigh of relief as the loud and demanding stallion seemed to have focused his energy on the weakest target in sight, his daughter.

Fluttershy whimpered as she choked back sobs. “Y-yes...” she spoke softly into her father’s thick red mane. No matter how quiet his daughter got, he heard her, he always did.

“And what about your friends, are you still visiting them?”

Fluttershy hugged her father back. “Y-yes...” she whispered as she enjoyed the warmth of his embrace.

“And what about little Angel, is he being a good bunny?”

Fluttershy held onto her father tighter. “Y-yes...” she squeaked as they continued to spin lazily through the air above the station. A long pink tail twirling alongside a vibrant red one.

Nimbus lowered himself to the station platform and calmly asked his daughter. “And are you happy, Fluttershy?” He cast the gaze of his powerful blue eyes into the teal eyes of his only child.

“Oh YES! Daddy I’m so happy, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Fluttershy couldn’t help but remember how worried her father had been when she had first moved to Ponyville. Nothing made her happier than to know that he was always supportive of her choice to leave Cloudsdale.

Nimbus was happy that his daughter was happy. As he held her tight and let her cry he began to sing quietly enough that only his little filly could hear him. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...”

Scootaloo couldn’t hold back the lump that formed in her throat as the mare that occasionally took care of the crusaders was embraced by her father. Fluttershy was one of the few pegasi in Ponyville that spent almost as much time on the ground as she did, and almost as much time alone; but her father loved her too. Scootaloo was happy for her.

Rainbow Dash began coughing into her forehoof and adjusted her dark tinted sunglasses a few more times. “Eh.” Rainbow Dash began before coughing once more and clearing her throat. “These fillies are wimps, right squirt? I mean, look at us, real macho mares, none of this namby pamby crying stuff, totally lame if you ask me.”

A stallion cleared his throat behind the sky blue and orange pegasi.

“Pardon me, but I’m looking for a future Wonderbolt, maybe you know her? She’s got a big mouth and loves to nap on the nearest clou—” The stallion couldn’t finish his sentence because he was grabbed bodily by the mare with the prismatic mane and carried into the stratosphere. Scootaloo turned skyward to watch the receding pair of ponies that left a Rainbow Contrail in its wake and smiled, it was too much, she shed a single tear of joy.

A vibrant sonic rainboom lit up the sky above Ponyville.

Every pony in Ponyville looked up to smile at the beautiful sight: Pinkie Pie and Picky Pie smiled, Twilight Sparkle and Night Light smiled, Fluttershy and Nimbus smiled, Rarity and Magnum smiled, and even all the way out at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres an orange mare under a large apple tree smiled.

~~~

About a mile above Ponyville a filly and her father were embracing on a cloud.

“Hey, Rainbow, shh shh, it’s ok. Daddy’s here.” Spectrum held his only child close as she hid away her face in his neck. It was never easy to be there for her as a single parent, but these moments made up for all the hardship.

“What did I tell you about sneaking up on me?” The mare mumbled as she rubbed her eyes into the soft violet coat of the stallion that raised her.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, I know it was unfair.” Spectrum said as he held the quivering athletic filly close. She always got upset when he cheated and broke the rules. “I’ll be sure to give you plenty of warning next time. Then maybe you won’t scare me half to death by giving me an impromptu trip past the sound barrier and back.” Spectrum smirked and looked into the magenta eyes of the most important thing in his life.

“Are you crying Dashie?”

“Pfft, no, it’s just raining on my face, that’s all.”

They shared a laugh and hugged once more.

~~~

Scootaloo was sitting in the desk that was assigned to her in the schoolhouse. She was happy, but it was bittersweet. Four different stallions had come to Ponyville from all across Equestria to speak about their jobs and their families because her’s couldn’t be present. And even though they were standing next to their own daughters, they all made sure to let Scootaloo and her classmates know that they came by request for her. An astrophysicist from Canterlot, a theoretical climatologist from Cloudsdale, a rock farmer from Boulder, and even the Mayor of Cloudsdale himself showed up. Even the local, Rarity’s dad Magnum, made special mention of the little orange pegasus and her relation to Sweetie Belle. They all mentioned their older daughters connection to Scootaloo. Each had shared a brief story they learned second hand about how the troublesome filly had brightened the day of one of the Elements of Harmony.

Scootaloo smiled appreciatively at each and every one but no speech - no matter how impressive - was enough to wipe the smug grin off of Diamond Tiara’s face that had been there since Scootaloo walked into class late.

“Well, students, that seems to be all the presenters for this ‘Father’s Day Fair’, and what an exciting one it’s been! Now we only have a few minutes before class is supposed to be dismissed, but I think that in the spirit of generos—” Cheerilee was interrupted as a loud crash startled every pony in the room.

The door to the classroom was bucked open and in the doorway stood the silhouette of an armored pony. As he strode slowly into the room, Rainbow Dash rose defensively to stand in front of him.

“What’s the big idea, huh!?” She pawed a hoof against the wooden floor and growled at the armored figure standing nearly a head taller than her.

The stallion leaned forward and pressed his armored forehead right back into the sky blue mare. He blew out a powerful blast of air from his nostrils. His golden barding clanked on his figure as he continued to walk into the classroom full of completely silent ponies.

Rainbow Dash backed away from the hulking stallion with his deep blue eyes and short cropped blue mane and tail. She fluttered her wings as she recognized a royal guard. But not just any royal guard. His chest bore the aegis emblazoned with Celestia’s cutie mark, rather than the blue star of Canterlot. This was a member of the Solar Corps. Then Rainbow noticed the two bands across his shoulderplates, he was a Captain. Dash felt herself get weak in the knees as she watched him flap his wings once, powerfully. This stallion was built like a Wonderbolt, but stronger.

He paused and turned to face the classroom, scanning the eyes of every filly, mare, and stallion present. He locked eyes with the stunned but hopeful eyes of an orange pegasus filly in the corner. With a relaxed motion he brought a hoof to his forehead and removed his helmet. The spell changing his iris color and mane color to protect his anonymity was removed.

He smiled down at his daughter.

“Hey, Little Wing.”

Scootaloo began to choke up before she even reached him. Her small wings flapped and buzzed as hard as they could to lift her from her desk and take her to her father. She latched onto his neck and embraced him. He nuzzled her back as she rolled herself on top of him and settled herself between his wings and hid her tears in his fuchsia mane. It was a mane that was so similar to his daughter’s.

“I apologize for the interruption, miss Cheerilee, but I believe there is one more presentation to give.”

Cheerilee felt her forelegs twitch and knock some pencils off of her desk inadvertently as the stallion addressed her. He smiled at her softly with a look that smoldered like a hearth on a winter’s night. Cheerilee could only mumble unintelligibly while nodding.

The royal guard nodded and set his heavy helmet on Cheerilee’s desk with a thud that only made her quiver even more. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but drool.

“Well, my little ponies, my name is Wind Shear, and I am Scootaloo’s father.” He paused as a few murmurs and excited whispers bubbled through the assemblage. “I am also the captain of the Solar Corps branch of the Royal Guard.” The captain turned to stare down a stallion he recognized as Filthy Rich. The earth pony began loosening his tie instantly.

Snips and Snails both yelled, “No way!”

“Yes, way.” Wind Shear replied as he slowly broke his gaze from the now sweating brown earth pony.

The two colts began to whisper and shuffle their hooves in unrestrained excitement. “Tell us a story!” Snips shouted.

“Yeah, tell us a story!” Snails added.

There was soon a murmuring of agreement sweeping across all the colts and fillies which was soon added to by the mares and stallions, the loudest of which came from the prismatic pegasus mare who was pushing her friends aside to get a closer seat on the floor in front.

Wind Shear gently stomped a forehoof against the floor of the old schoolhouse. There was utter silence once more. He stroked his chin in mock contemplation as he looked up to the left and smiled. “Well, I suppose I could tell you the story of how I snuck into a changeling hive and single-hoofedly stole the plans for an attack on Manehattan. Or maybe I could tell you about the time I beat a Hydra in single combat.” He continued to shift his eyes in mock indecision.

There was complete silence as every pony in the room had their jaw almost hit the floor.

He fixed his gaze once more directly at a stunned pink filly wearing a tiara, “That is, of course, if everypony present is mature enough to handle it.” He briefly let his wings twitch and shifted his armor. He knew this filly well from his daughter’s correspondence.

Diamond Tiara shrank down in her seat and hid under her desk.

“Both!” shouted Scootaloo.

~~~

“That... was... SO AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash was the last to leave the schoolhouse well after the day was supposed to be over for the students. Wind Shear had told his Changeling and Hydra story, and then was convinced to tell his Sphinx story and Chimera story.

Twilight Sparkle smiled at Rainbow Dash as the rest of the elements of harmony left the building with their fathers, siblings, and friends. “Yeah, it was pretty amazing. I didn’t even know who Scootaloo’s father really was. But I guess Celestia knew since she somehow managed to get him, as well as all of our fathers to be present for this.” Twilight leaned into Night Light once more briefly as he smiled.

Applejack looked towards Twilight, “I can’t believe the princess would know something like that. I mean, I get that she’s a powerful alicorn an’ all but she ain’t all knowin’, right?”

“She must care for you trio of troublemakers much more than she lets on. I can’t imagine just any little filly getting that kind of attention.” Rarity said before instantly switching into her Canterlot snob voice, “Just another perk of being connected to me and my friends I suppose.” She stage sighed and dramatically waved her hoof to indicate that everypony around her was her entourage. Her friends giggled at her over-the-top impression.

Twilight could only shrug.

“And besides, if Scootaloo’s dad is some kind of super-stallion who beats up monsters for a living what do you think her mom does?” Asked Applebloom.

The assembled group of ponies paused in front of the schoolhouse. They shared glances and thought of their own ideas. Some thought of a Wonderbolt. Others thought of a doctor. A few thought of an engineer. One thought of a teacher. Another thought of a politician. But only one of them had a hunch that was correct.

Twilight Sparkle looked away from her friends to where Scootaloo was standing with her father on a low cloud in the distance. As she watched the daughter and father talking and sharing another brief hug, there was a large winged silhouette that dropped from high above to join them. Twilight’s eyes widened as she could make out the multihued mane of cyan, pink, viridian and periwinkle blowing in an ethereal breeze.

The large silhouette leaned her muzzle down and shared a long embrace with the significantly smaller flightless pegasus. The father stood back and watched as the mare and filly held each other for a moment. The last rays of the sunset framed the three ponies as Father’s Day came to an end.

Twilight looked away from the sight and wistfully curled her lips into a knowing smile.

“We may never know.”

Author's Note

This was submitted to EQD for Flash Fanfiction Event #3 - Father's Day on 6/18/2013

I did my best to keep this in the same continuity as my other (slightly) Scootaloo story, Follow the Sun.