“Rarity!”
Her inspiration shattered, Rarity sighed and put down the quill she was levitating. “Yes Sweetie Belle?”
“Can the Crusaders have a sleepover here at the boutique tonight? Please?”
Rarity had already made the mistake of looking directly into her sister’s eyes. She closed her own eyes and tried to will herself to decline. Her new spring fashion line wasn’t going to design itself, after all. “To be honest, I’m very busy designing right now. Could it wait until next week?”
“But that’s what you said last week,” Sweetie Belle pouted.
“Indeed, I did.” Rarity frowned, lost in thought. “And I suppose I don’t spend nearly enough time with my dear younger sister.”
“Definitely not as much time as Applejack spends with Apple Bloom. Even Rainbow Dash spends more time with Scootaloo and she’s not even her real flesh and blood sister!”
Rarity cringed – it was bad enough to be unfavorably compared to Applejack, but to come out behind both Applejack and Rainbow Dash? That was a travesty she needed to rectify. “Very well then. Go ahead and invite your friends over tonight.”
“Yay!” The younger unicorn quickly ran out of the boutique to go tell the good news to her friends.
“It’s not like I was going to get back into the creative zone anyway.” Rarity crumpled up the sketch she had been working on and unceremoniously dumped it into the trash.
“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle poked her head back into the shop. “I’m going to Sweet Apple Acres to tell Apple Bloom the good news! Could you go tell Scootaloo for me?”
Knowing full well she would never get any peace unless she agreed, the elder unicorn nodded. “Of course, Sweetie. Now you run along now.”
“Yay! You’re the best big sister ever!” Sweetie Belle wrapped her forelegs around Rarity in an embrace. She then dashed out the door yet again giggling. As she watched her younger sister canter down the road Rarity felt a sinking sensation in her stomach as she realized she had no clue where one of her sister’s best friends lived.
“Oh dear. Well, Rainbow Dash simply must know. I’ll just find out from her, for Sweetie Belle’s sleepover must not be ruined!”
Rarity trotted out of Carousel Boutique, levitating the sign to ‘closed’ as she did. Finding Rainbow shouldn’t be challenging – at this hour of the afternoon she was usually napping on a cloud above town or napping in a tree on the apple farm. Of course there was an off chance she was visiting with one of their other mutual friends.
As luck would have it she was on her normal nap cloud floating over Ponyville’s park. “Rainbow, darling, could I have a word with you?”
Rainbow cracked an eye open. “Fine, Rarity. You get one word. Make it count so I can go back to sleep.”
“Scootaloo.”
Both of Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened at the name of her honorary little sister. “What about Scootaloo?”
“Sweetie Belle is hosting a sleepover for her friends at the boutique tonight and she sent me to get Scootaloo. And then it dawned on me that I actually have no idea where the little darling lives.”
“What time does she need to be there by?”
“I’d say no later than seven o’clock.”
“I’ll make sure she gets the message.” Rainbow Dash launched off the cloud and took flight.
“Well, that settles that and saves me a trip to boot. Bonus!” Rarity trotted back towards her shop but paused before long. “What if there’s an accident tonight and Scootaloo gets hurt? I still don’t know how to contact her parents. No, no, no, this simply won’t do. I suppose I could ask Cheerilee. She must have that information on file. But is she allowed to divulge it, I wonder?” She turned in the direction of Cheerilee’s home. “No harm in trying, now is there?”
As she continued her walk through town she decided to take a quick detour to Sugarcube Corner – the fillies would no doubt enjoy having some tasty treats to snack on throughout the evening. Pinkie Pie greeted her the instant she walked in the door, a giant smile plastered on her face as normal.
“Hi Rarity!”
“Good afternoon, Pinkie. I’d like a mixed assortment of cookies, cupcakes, and doughnuts please.”
“Oh! Sounds like somepony’s having a party! Can I come?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but there’s no party. Actually, Sweetie Belle is having her friends over for a sleepover tonight.”
“That still sounds like fun! I’ll bring my sleeping bag!”
“That won’t be necessary, Pinkie, darling.” Rarity needed a distraction, fast, before she had an additional party crasher to deal with. “However, you might be able to help me with another problem I’m having.”
“I Pinkie Promise!”
“No need for a promise, it’s just a simple question to answer – I just need to know where Scootaloo lives and who her parents are. And since you know everypony in Ponyville I figure you’re the mare to ask.”
Pinkie gasped more intensely than Rarity had ever seen her do so before. “I don’t know where she lives either! This is horrible! Do you know what this means?!?”
“That you can’t help me?”
“No, much worse than that! That means I must not be one of Scootaloo’s closest friends! I have failed her! And I failed you too. And by failing you I also broke a Pinkie Promise! Oh no! That’s like a whole bunch of worse things!” She gasped again. “I’ll get you this information immediately! I won’t rest until I do. I won’t even snack! Okay, I reserve the right to snack a little.”
Pinkie Pie rushed out of the bakery at top speed, leaving Rarity spinning in place before eventually collapsing on the floor in a heap. Before Rarity could get to her hooves the pink mare reappeared behind the counter seconds later and placed the pastries Rarity had ordered on the counter. “Silly me, I almost forgot these!” She then jumped over the counter and prone unicorn on the floor in one leap and bounded out the door once again.
“Where do I start? Oh! I know! Twilight’s like really, really smart! She’ll know what to do!” She bounded over to the library and pounded on the door.
“Coming.” Spike grumbled as the knocking continued. “Nopony around here has any patience.” The dragon opened the door but to his surprise saw no one on the other side. As he was about to shut the door he jumped. The door had been painted pink. And then the pink started moving…
“Gotcha!” Pinkie Pie booped Spike’s nose as she hopped off the door. “Is Twilight here?”
“Uh, yes. She’s working on some genealogical research right now. Follow me.”
“Oh! The study of magic lamps!”
“Not quite, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said as Spike led the pink party pony into the library. “Genealogy is the study of family trees.”
“Families grow on trees?” Pinkie cocked her head and looked at Twilight skeptically. “So Rainbow Dash was right when she called Fluttershy a tree?”
“No, it means you can see who a pony’s relatives are.”
“Oh! That’s perfect! I came here to find out who Scootaloo’s parents are!”
“That’s…actually something we can research using genealogy.”
“Yay! I get to play with the Theory of Relativity!”
“Uh, sure. Keep telling yourself that…”
Pinkie Pie unfurled the nearest scroll and quickly read through the list of names. “A-ha! Scootaloo is the daughter of a pegasus from Cloudsdale by the name of Honolu-loo! Oh! And she has an older sister!” Pinkie pulled on the end of the scroll and it rolled back up like a window shade.
Pinkie bounded across town, letting nothing distract her from fulfilling her promise to Rarity… except for a few quick trips down the slide in Ponyville Park’s playground, smelling the freshly bloomed roses in Roseluck’s garden, and winding up all the alarm clocks in the general store to go off in five minute intervals.
Eventually she arrived in front of a nondescript two-story house that looked nearly identical to all of the homes around it. Much to her surprise she found Rarity and Rainbow Dash already outside the home, the unicorn’s aura firmly grasping the pegasus’ multi-hued tail.
“Rainbow, darling, are you going to tell me what I want to know or are you going to volunteer to be my new model for the spring fashion line I’m working on?”
Rainbow was conflicted – her loyalty to Scootaloo was being played against her reputation. “This isn't fair. And you know it.”
“Nopony ever said life was fair, Rainbow. And did I mention that ruffles and frills are in this year?”
“Hey girls!”
“Saved by Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow smirked.
“For now,” Rarity whispered back.
“Pinkie, darling, to what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Well, I came here to confirm the information I just found out. The information you requested earlier.”
“Oh? So you mean I don’t need to beat it out of this ruffian?”
“Ruffian? What ruffian? I only see Dashie.”
“Oh dear, the ruffian must have escaped.” Rarity plastered a fake smile on her face. “You were supposed to be looking after the ruffian, Rainbow. Darling.”
“I'd pursue the ruffian but somepony still has a magical grip on my tail.”
“Oh, so I do.” Rarity did not release the rainbow follicles from her grasp.
“Anyways! You’ll never guess what I found out! Scootaloo is the daughter of Honolu-loo!”
Rarity blinked. “Okay? And where does this Honolu-loo live?”
“Cloudsdale.”
“But that wouldn’t explain why Scootaloo attends Ponyville Elementary. It would be a long commute, especially for a pony in her… condition.”
“Oh! That’s because she probably lives with her big sister here in Ponyville!”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes bugged out. She silently willed the pink pony to shut up.
“Do tell,” Rarity said, putting on her biggest smile. She gently started combing the knots out of Rainbow’s tail – she was going to have to look her best for that modeling session, after all.
“It turns out Scootaloo’s big sister is Cheerilee!”
“So that’s what you were doing in Cheerilee’s house.”
Rainbow Dash stared at the ground. “I promised you I’d tell Squirt about the sleepover so I came here right away. And then we got to talking and well… you showed up before I could leave.”
“You get bonus points for trying to sneak out the upstairs window. But really, darling, you forget I have an eye for detail. And that your color combination sticks out like a sore hoof.”
Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly. “Well, anyways, I guess Scootaloo’s secret is out.”
“Why’s it such a big secret anyway? Family is for celebrating!” Balloons and streamers appeared from nowhere at the mention of celebrating.
“You know what, why don’t we all go inside and she can tell you in her own words.” Rainbow Dash knocked on the door to the house.
Cheerilee opened the door. “Back so soon? And…you’ve brought company.”
“Pinkie Pie figured out your secret.”
“Oh dear. Scootaloo is not going to be happy about this.” She called up the stairway. “Scootaloo, it’s for you!”
“Rainbow Dash! Yes! And… Pinkie Pie? And Rarity?” The look of betrayal she shot Rainbow Dash was enough to turn the blue pegasus’ blood cold.
“Pinkie Pie put two and two together. I’m not exactly sure how.” Dash stared at her hooves.
“Theory of Relativity!”
“Oooooo-kay. So anyways, before they blab everything to all the ponies in town, I figured you might want to explain to them why you’re so secretive about this in the first place.”
“Rainbow, darling, a lady does not blab. She sometimes partakes in the current news, but a lady never ever gossips.”
Scootaloo looked up at the adults with big tear-filled eyes. “Oh please don’t tell anypony about this,” she begged. “I already get picked on because I’m a blank flank, and the bullies have even started teasing me about my disability too. I can’t help it that I can’t fly – that’s why Mom sent me here to live with Cheeri. Cloudsdale’s educational system is set up specifically for flight instruction first, everything else second. And if they knew I was their teacher’s little sister, I’d be called a ‘teacher’s pet’ or worse!”
While the others talked, Cheerilee slipped into the kitchen. Her sister was perfectly capable of explaining her reasons, silly as they may be, to the others.
“My primary concern was that should you be injured while attending tonight’s sleepover, I needed to know who to contact. Now that I know to get in touch with Cheerilee, your secret is safe with me.”
“And with me! Pinkie Promise!”
“You can’t even tell Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom. Or Applejack.”
“Applejack really should know, Squirt.”
“But she’s too blunt and honest. If Apple Bloom asks she might tell. Just tell her to get Rainbow Dash in the event of an emergency.”
Cheerilee walked back into the living room carrying a tray of cookies and lemonade.
Later that night at the boutique, Sweetie Belle pulled her sister aside. “So you know where Scootaloo lives?”
“Of course, darling. Why wouldn’t I?”
“’Cause she hasn’t even told Apple Bloom or me.”
“I’m sure she has her reasons.”
“The annoying part is we’ve been to her house before. We followed Rainbow Dash there once, but we must’ve forgotten which house it was because when we went back a few days later we saw Miss Cheerilee inside instead. So please tell me?”
Rarity had already averted her gaze elsewhere in the room. “When the time is right Scootaloo will tell you herself. In the meantime, why don’t you go enjoy your sleepover. You are the host, after all.”
