On Azure Wings

“This is where you live!?”

Rainbow Dash gestured proudly to her cloud house, though a better term to describe it was a Citadel rather than a house. It was a masterpiece of pegasi architecture. From her vantage point on Rainbow Dash’s back Scootaloo could see the main structure was formed out of magical crystallized rainwater, the tower wreathed in wisps of clouds sculpted for decoration. True to her namesake, three fountains poured artificial rainbows that oozed the viscous liquid into pools on the clouds below. The filly’s mouth hung open in awe. Every detail had been constructed with the care and attention of an egotistical perfectionist.

“Yes, I actually sculpted this myself out of clouds,” Rainbow Dash said proudly. “It took awhile, but I only accept the best.” She folded her wings, and looked back at her passenger with concern. Scootaloo was staring at the clouds beneath Dash’s hooves, her eyes wide with fear. “You okay back there?”

“I... I’ve never walked on clouds before,” she admitted.

Rainbow Dash gaped at her, but it made sense. Despite being a mare Scootaloo still couldn’t fly and she hadn’t told anypony that she was an orphan, so she would never have been in the clouds before. Rainbow smiled at her. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to it,” she reassured her. “It’s no different for us pegasi than walking on the ground.”

Scootaloo gulped, gingerly dismounting from her back. She tested the cloud surface with a single hoof, it should have passed right through the wispy substance but it felt as solid as dirt. “H – How is that possible?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “No idea, it’s magic, I guess.”

Scootaloo put all four of her hooves on the clouds, it felt bouncy, like as if she was on a trampoline. She followed Rainbow Dash to her doorstep, where she unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping into her home’s lobby. Oh Celestia! Sootaloo thought. Her home’s so big she has her own lobby!

Scootaloo giddily followed her inside, barely containing her excitement at the prospect of finally seeing her idol’s home. “It’s good to be back,” Dash said, turning to her. Her brow furrowed in concern, and she put a hoof up to the filly's face. “Oh my, I didn't realize this before, but Scootaloo you’re a mess!”

Scootaloo hadn’t even realised that she still had the bruises and bloodied nose from her fight with Gnasher. “That colt got a few lucky hits in,” she muttered.

“Well he’s lucky I wasn’t there, or he’d have more than just broken wings,” Rainbow Dash growled. “Follow me, Scoots, you should get yourself cleaned up.”

Scootaloo followed Rainbow Dash up the spiral staircase to the shower room on the first floor. She opened the door, letting Scootaloo trot inside. “Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Dash said, standing in the doorway. “Come see me in the kitchen on the floor above when you’re done.”

With that Rainbow Dash trotted up the stairs to the kitchen. Scootaloo awkwardly glanced about the room. Unlike pegasi and unicorn showers, there was no mechanical assistance to speak of. Two clouds jutted out of the wall, kind of like taps so she supposed that was what she was supposed to use to operate it. She trotted over to the tap-shaped clouds, but noticed a door in the corner. Curious, she opened it, and found that it led into an exercise room with all manner of high class workout equipment and weights, no wonder Rainbow Dash was always able to keep in such athletic shape.

Walking back to the shower, she reached down to the tap shaped cloud on the left and gently turned it with her hoof. A spark of lightning ignited in the cloud above her, making Scootaloo nearly jump out of her skin. Her hoof turned too far, sending a torrent of icy cold water onto her head. She yelped, leaping out of the stream. A few tries later, she finally managed to get the temperature right and allowed herself to relax under the stream of water.

Finally, with some time to think, the reality of what had transpired started to dawn on her. She couldn’t believe her luck. She should have been homeless, an orphan who was too unruly to keep around, too violent for society, and too ashamed to seek help from anypony out of her own stubborn pride. Yet she had been adopted, after so many years of waiting. But it wasn’t just by anyone, of all the mares in the world that could’ve been her new parents Rainbow Dash had chosen her. She was her idol and the one pony who she loved more than anypony else in Equestria.

She began to wipe the dried blood off her snout, being careful to not agitate her nose. She didn’t want it to start bleeding again. She rubbed at her sore bruises, Gnasher had hit her hard but at least nothing was broken. She sighed. Scootaloo hated that colt more than anypony else, and was glad that she had been the one to finally put him in his place, maybe he wouldn't bully the other fillies and colts at the orphanage so much anymore. She was also responsible for ruining his life.

For the rest of his life he’d be a cripple, mocked and laughed at by ponies as mean spirited and cruel as he was. Maybe if Scootaloo hadn’t fought him, he someday might’ve grown out of being a bully and become a good stallion, or maybe somepony much worse and had gotten exactly what he deserved. Maybe he might learn something from all this. No matter which way she sliced it, she had permanently grounded him before his life even began. Not that she’d want to, Scootaloo would most likely never see that colt again to see the result. Despite her injuries and all that bastard had put her through, she felt guilt throb in her stomach at the thought of committing what many pegasi would consider just as bad as murder.

"No, he was bully," Scootaloo told herself, clenching her eyes shut as if trying to hide from the guilt. "He doesn't deserve pity, I gave him exactly what he deserved." It was a poor excuse, but at least it eased her regret. The water poured over her mane, washing out the dirt and dandruff that had gathered over the weeks of neglect, and turned off the water. Soaking wet, she trotted over to a cloud at the other side of the bathroom and prodded a cloud jutting out the side of the wall. A stream of soothing warm air blew over her, drying her coat and mane. By the time she was dry again, she was the most refreshed she had been in months.

She put Gnasher to the back of her mind, Rainbow Dash was all that mattered now. Scootaloo left the bathroom and trotted up the staircase to the kitchen, where Rainbow Dash was waiting. Despite Dash’s home being in the clouds, the kitchen and the adjacent living room at least had a sense of normalcy. The delicious smell of dandelion and tofu-cheese pizza wafted into her nose. It may have been just a common household treat but to her, it might as well have been the finest cuisine. “I’m not the best cook,” Dash admitted. “So I usually just order takeout, I hope that’s alright.”

“It’s more than alright,” Scootaloo beamed at her. “At the orphanage all they gave us was a daily serving of hay and oats.” She gulped, eyeing the pizza hungrily. “Um, can I have a slice?”

“Scootaloo, you can have the whole thing,” Dash laughed, pushing the box towards her. “I’ve already had dinner.”

Scootaloo hesitated. She had never asked anypony for food before, and had always declined offers with excuses that she was full or had food waiting for her at a home that didn’t exist, even if she was starving at the time. "The whole thing? Dash, I -"

"Scootaloo, I've got a stable government job at the rainbow factory," Dash said. "I've got plenty of money, you're not a burden." She gave her a sympathetic look. "Is that why you always said you weren't hungry at your sleepovers with Applebloom and Sweetbelle?"

Scootaloo anxiously pawed at the pizza's crust. "I... I never did want to be a burden on anypony," Scootaloo said. "I guess you could say that I felt ashamed."

"Kid, being an orphan doesn't make you less of a pony than anypony else," Dash said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "You're staying with me now, and I'm not going to let you starve."

Stomaching her pride, Scotaloo picked up the doughy food in her hooves, anxiously she brought it to her lips, taking a bite. Her mouth felt like it was exploding with flavour. The pizza was unlike any food the orphanage had ever offered. The warm, sticky taste of melted cheese, the tingle of dandelions and sunflowers, such a simple thing, but it was the greatest thing she had ever tasted.

Rainbow Dash chuckled as the filly scoffed down the whole thing like as if she had never eaten before. It was adorable. Usually a full pizza was meant to serve three ponies, Scootaloo finished the entire thing in under a minute. "I can see you liked that," Rainbow said, beaming at her.

Scootaloo gave her idol a sheepish grin, "yeah, best thing I've ever tasted," she admitted. Rainbow Dash folded up the box and tossed it into the bin by the fridge. "Thank you, I don't think I would have accepted food from anypony else."

"As long as you're staying here, my home is your home," Dash said, patting her affectionately on the back. "Say, I'd like to show you something, I think you'll love it."

Scootaloo trotted with her out of the room and followed her up the spiral staircase to the next room. Rainbow Dash opened the door, and stepped inside, gesturing proudly. Scootaloo’s jaw dropped as she walked inside, glancing about the room. All around her, glittering in the artificial light of a solar core globe was the largest collection of trophies and medals she had ever seen. Dozens of platinum and gold trophies glinted in the light like little monuments attesting to their owner’s talent. Behind each one was a story of crowd stupefying stunts, aerial acrobatics, or cutthroat races all won before thousands of jeering fans. Each time the mare who had never graduated from flight school proved that she was the fastest and best of all of Equestria.

“You won all these!?” Scootaoo exclaimed. “That’s awesome!”

“Winner of Best Young Fliers Competition three years in a row, winner of Best Adolescent Fliers Competition four years in a row, winner of Best Stunt performed at the Royal Equestrian Air Force Air Show two years in a row, I could go on,” Rainbow Dash said proudly, puffing out her chest. “Just in case you had any doubts you had the coolest parent in all of Equestria.”
“I don’t think anything could make me doubt that,” Scootaloo said, grinning.

Rainbow Dash ruffled her mane affectionately. “Well I better get to sleep,” she said. “I’ve got an early shift at the rainbow factory tomorrow morning. Last time I overslept I nearly fell into a vat of Spectra.”

“That’s okay, I’m pretty tired myself,” Scootaloo said. “Do you have a couch or something I can sleep on?”

“Oh Scoots I can do better than that,” Rainbow laughed. “Follow me.” Scootaloo obediently trotted after her to the bedroom, noting that she uncharacteristically had a bookshelf loaded with a books from the Daring Do series and its many spinoffs from the same author.

Adjacent to her bedroom was a guest room. It was a quaint, humble abode but at least a clean one, not like the bunks back in the orphanage that offered no privacy from the other fillies. Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash with teary eyes and hugged her. “Thank you, thank you so much for all of this, Dash.”

Rainbow Dash hugged her back. “Consider this payback for all the times I’ve ignored you, and all those times I made you feel like I didn’t care.” She ruffled her mane affectionately. "Sleep well, kid." With that, she closed the door behind her.

Rainbow Dash stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep, unable to fight down the guilt. She should have known that something was wrong with Scootaloo, she shouldn’t have treated her like a mere nuisance all these years. The young filly had always looked up to her, always wanted to be like her, and yet she had never taken her seriously. Rainbow Dash knew what it was like growing up without parents. She considered herself lucky, when she dropped out of flight school she should've been a shunned failure of a pony, but her skills in both racing and weather control had allowed her to land a stable government job at a young age. Poor Scootaloo hadn't even been able to fly yet, and she still didn't have her cutie mark despite years of searching for it.

The most curious thing was that despite her age, Scootaloo still couldn't fly. Pegasi were usually able to fly by the time they were able to gallop, but Scootaloo's wings couldn't even lift her off the ground. Rainbow Dash suspected a disability was at work there, pity the orphanage hadn't cared enough to look into it. Maybe she could take her to Doctor Stable and see what he had to say. Either way, all these questions would just have to wait for tomorrow. M She closed her eyes, and soon drifted off to sleep.

Authors note: This story can go effectively anywhere from here so I would like you dear readers to sound off in the comments of where you would like it to go next :3