The sun slowly rose over the sleepy town of Ponyville, and the ponies inhabiting the town slowly rose out of bed and trotted out into the streets to begin what seemed like another peaceful, warm, cloudless day, thanks to the weather ponies. The morning fog faded away, and the air was cool and slightly damp, with a light breeze enough to comfort any pony who got in it's way. Towards the outskirts of town, there was a perfectly normal stone and wooden two-story house, which belonged to a mare, and her little filly.
The filly heard the rooster crow, and quickly jumped out of bed. She was a small orange pegasus filly, with a curly pink mane, but had no cutie mark.
"Finally, it's Friday!" The filly said in a cheerful voice, her wings fluttering enough to get her off the ground for a brief moment. She then raced down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she quickly made herself a bowl of cereal, and sat down at the table and ate. The filly was soon followed by a light pink pegasus mare with a curly auburnish-brown mane.
"Good morning, sweetie!" The mare said, smiling and kissing the filly on the forehead.
"Morning, mom!" The filly said, eating at a fast pace.
"Careful, Scootaloo. If you eat too fast, you could end up choking," the mare said as she poured some milk into a glass.
Scootaloo then finished and gulped a couple of times to swallow all of the cereal. "You always say that, mom!"
"I know, but it's true. I only say it because I'm concerned when you do stuff like that. Why are you in a hurry anyways?" The pegasus mare asked, starting to drink her milk.
"It's Friday! After this, just a weekend, and Monday is the last day of school!" Scootaloo replied, squirming due to excitement.
"Oh my, that's right," The mare said back, setting down her glass of milk and hugging the filly, who hugged back. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks, mom. But, I should probably get ready." Scootaloo said.
"Oh, of course. I'll get your lunch, go take a bath, alright?" The mare said, pulling back.
"Alright, mom!" Scootaloo said, before racing off in an orange and pink streak, and the mare giggled slightly, before grabbing the filly's lunch box and putting her lunch in it.
After taking a bath, Scootaloo dried herself off, brushed her mane and combed her teeth-...wait what? She then ran downstairs to her mother, who was standing by the door with the filly's saddlebags and lunch box.
"Ready to go, sweetie?" Her mother asked.
"Yep!" Scootaloo bounced in the air, fluttering her wings, and slowly floating back down.
The two then walked out of the house and to the school house, which wasn't far away. At that time, other parents were bringing their foals to begin their day, some playing around, some crying and clinging onto trees so they can avoid going in to start yet another simple but boring school day.
"Have a great day, Scootie," Scootaloo's mother said, hugging her little filly.
"Moooom, don't call me that in front of my friends!" Scootaloo blushed in embarrassment, then turned and looked at her best friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who pretended they didn't hear what her mom said.
"But, you are my little Scootie, you'll always will be," she knelt down and smiled, then the two nuzzled before the bell rang.
"See you later, mom!" Scootaloo said, running inside with her friends, the other mares and stallions present waving goodbye to their foals.
A few hours later, everypony in class watched the clock tick closer to one o'clock, which was when their recess started.
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Monday, is bring your father to school day!" Cheerilee said cheerfully. "That is the day where we all get to learn about each others stallion parent. Who in all is bringing their father?"
After she finished, most of the class raised their hooves, all except Scootaloo, and another colt.
"Er...Scootaloo?" Cheerilee asked, sounding concerned.
"Miss Cheerilee, I...what?" Scootaloo replied.
"Don't you want to bring your father in on Monday?" Cheerilee asked, walking up to her desk.
"I...don't know." Scootaloo said back, her little heart starting to race faster than the Wonderbolts inside.
"He doesn't have to come in if he doesn't want to, or if he's too busy." Cheerilee said. "What about you, Rockhound?"
"Hmph. My father thinks school is stupid and that we don't need it, so no. He is not coming in," an earth pony colt said, crossing his hooves and pouting.
Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "Tell your father I want to have a word with him," she said, before walking back up to her desk and resuming class for a few more minutes, before the recess bell rung, and the class quickly cleared.
Outside, Scootaloo sat by a tree as the others played in the warm sun, stuck in a deep thought in her mind.
"Where is my dad? I-I don't think I've ever met him. That, or I just don't remember him." Scootaloo said to herself, before her thoughts were interrupted.
"Hey, Scootaloo. What's wrong?" A white unicorn filly with a purple-pink poofy mane said, trotting up to her alongside a light yellow earth filly with a red mane and pink bow.
"Oh, erm, nothing. Why?" Scootaloo said, regaining her senses.
"You seem distant today, what's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked.
"It's nothing, really," Scootaloo replied, smiling, trying to hide her lies.
The fillies raised an eye brow. "Uh huh...well. Wanna play tag?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Oh, sure! I'd love to," Scootaloo said, standing up and tagging Apple Bloom with her tiny wing. "You're it!" She giggled and ran with Sweetie Belle, as Apple Bloom chased them around. While playing, Scootaloo ran behind the school house and slowed down, entering another deep thought, when suddenly...
"Scootaloo, look out!" Sweetie Belle yelled, and Scootaloo looked up, and before she could think, she ran into a large tree trunk, and fell onto her back, her friends running up to her.
"Scootaloo! Are you alright?!" Apple Bloom asked, looking down at the filly.
Scootaloo shook her head, and held her hoof at the side of it. "Ow...I-I think so."
"You ran into that tree pretty hard, Scoots." Apple Bloom said, watching Scootaloo stand up.
"I did, didn't I?" Scootaloo said, looking away.
"Okay, what's wrong? You've been like this ever since recess started." Sweetie Belle said sitting down, Apple Bloom soon following.
"It's nothing, I swear!" Scootaloo said.
"It's something. We're your friends for Celestia's sake, just tell us what's wrong! We can help! We're the cutie mark crusaders," Sweetie Belle said.
"Have a great weekend everypony! Remember, Monday is bring your father to school daaay!" Cheerilee happily said, as fillies and colts darted out the door and to their parents, but Scootaloo, normally the first to leave, was the very last. She looked around for her mother, but could not find her. She sighed and sat down, before she felt hooves hug her.
"Hi Scootie! How was school?" Her mother asked, smiling at her.
"Oh, uh...um...it was...good." Scootaloo said, hesitating to speak.
"Something wrong dear?" The light pink mare asked, standing up and walking away with Scootaloo.
"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just..." Scootaloo stopped, and faked a yawn. "I'm tired, that's all."
The mare giggled lightly. "From all that running around earlier, huh?"
"Yep." Scootaloo said back, smiling, managing to hide her feelings.
"Come on, let's go home, my little Scootie," Her mother said.
"Mom, please, stop calling me Scootie."
Now back at home, Scootaloo relaxed on the couch, while her mother cooked mashed potatoes for dinner. Still, Scootaloo could not get the thought of her father out of her mind. She mentally fought with herself, thinking whether she should bring it up to her mother or not. She then facehoofed herself afterwards, before sitting up and looking over the back of the couch at her mother, who was humming quietly as she cooked.
"Mom?"
"Yes sweetie?" Her mother replied
"Uh...well...Monday is bring your father to school day...and uh...h-how do I bring this up to you...um...where is um....where is daddy?" Scootaloo nervously asked, hiding her muzzle behind the couch.
Suddenly, the world around them came to a halt, and her mother came close to dropping onto the floor. Before she could, she turned off the stove burner and put the mashed potatoes in bowls for them to eat later, then she looked over at Scootaloo, looking very depressed suddenly. Her cheerful mother before, now looked like an empty, depressed zombie. She slowly walked over to the couch and sat next to Scootaloo, and begun sobbing, seemingly out of nowhere.
"M-mom? I've...n-never seen you cry before." Scootaloo said, holding her hoof, her mother crying into her other hoof.
After a two minute breakdown, Scootaloo's mother finally calmed to simple tears, but her eyes remained closed as she sniffled.
"Mom?"
"Y-yes dear?" Her mother replied, looking at Scootaloo and smiling, but with teary eyes.
Scootaloo sighed. "Can you tell me about daddy, please?"
"I can't...you're too young, you wouldn't understand."
"Please, mom. I will understand. I just want to know. Please." Scootaloo said, starting to tear up.
Scootaloo's mother looked down at the filly, tears building more and more as she stared, then closed her eyes. "Fine." she sniffed again.
"Your father, was a very brave stallion. He is one of Celestia's most respected royal guards, and has been loyal to serving her most of his life. When I met him, I think he was just a corporal or something like that, he...once I saw him, I fell in love. I had always had a thing for guard stallions, their strength, when they act tough, everything about them. Me and a couple of my friends were in Canterlot on a girls vacation, and we decided to go out one day to a major traffic area for guards, and we admired them as they passed. They all ignored us...all...but one. One stallion, a white pegasus, eyed me for a few minutes, and passed us by many times, before coming up to us, and going from a tough guy, to a real sweetheart in thirty seconds, and when we made eye contact, we knew we loved each other."
"D-Daddy...w-was a guard?" Scootaloo said in a broken voice, tears building in her eyes.
"Yes...he was. He sat with us, of course he leaned closer to me, and my friends were jealous. They wanted to leave. I had one choice, go with them...and lose the stallion of my dreams, or...go with the stallion of my dreams...and lose...my best friends."
"What did you choose, mommy?"
"I chose...both. I wanted my friends, but I wanted that guard too. Out of nowhere, he... asked me out to dinner. I told them to go back to the hotel and that I'd be back later. I went out to dinner with him after his shift, he kept his armor on because he had a sense that I loved it on him. We had dinner, his treat of course, and he kept his name a secret for most of the night. He finally told me."
"My name...is Chrome Blade," The stallion said, smiling at the mare.
"Chrome Blade...that's...a really...f-fitting name." The pink mare said, looking as if she was on the brink of fainting.
"I thought I was dreaming. Lucky for me, I wasn't. It was the best night ever. It was, until I went back to the hotel. I found that my key didn't work, and a note was left on the door. My friends had left it. They...didn't want me around. They left without me, and locked me out of the room. My things were still inside. I finally got the hotel manager to unlock the door long enough for me to grab my things, but I had nowhere to sleep. I carried my things around town with me, then...a miracle happened. I ran into him... I told him what happened, he gave me a warm shoulder to cry on..."
"You can stay with me at my barrack, if you'd like."
"R-really? Y-you'd do that...for me?" The pink mare smiled, tears in her eyes.
"Of course, it's the least I can do." The stallion said back, smiling at her.
"He brought me to his barrack...his bunk mate let me sleep in his bed while he slept in a vacant one, I got the top bunk of course. He fed me, he took care of me. Chrome was really the stallion of my dreams. After the first night, I snuggled in bed with him, he had the softest and warmest chest, I hadn't slept that well in years. Then, my time was up there. I got on the train back to Ponyville, leaving him behind, without another word. I cried the whole way home, I never wanted to leave, but I knew I had to. Then, the following week went along...then somepony rang the doorbell. I walked to the door, the peep hole was blacked out for some reason. I opened the door, and I couldn't believe my eyes. There he was, Chrome. Without his armor, standing right on my doorstep, smiling, like some sort of guardian angel, literally... He then said the sweetest thing after a night of talking."
"Melody...I love that name. You are the melody to my song, you're the sugar to my honey. I-I know this sounds cheesy, but...I...really love you."
"Aww, Chrome! I love you too," Melody smiled, just before the two entered a minute-long romantic kiss.
"I want to start a family with you...it's a little early to say that, but...I haven't met a mare like you, until now." Chrome said, smiling.
"So...we dated more and more, then one day...he proposed. Surprised me out of nowhere, at the gala. I said yes, and everypony cheered for us. Then, one day...we got news. Something had happened in the griffon kingdom, and he had to go overseas for Celestia knows how long. I was scared, because I knew I could lose him. Just before he left, we had the greatest time of our lives. Then...the day before...I found I was pregnant with you. We couldn't be happier, but we were also very sad, because with the impending war, there was no chance he'd see you grow up. I'm sure, he's probably watching over you now, making sure you're safe. The last time I heard from him was two weeks after he left...a-and that was nearly seven years ago."
"S-seven years?"
"Yes, Scootie..." Melody said, starting to cry again. "I-I'm so sorry...I wish he was here as much as you do..." she said, hugging Scootaloo tightly, who also started crying.
"It's not your fault mommy... If he is watching over us...I'm proud of him... He gave his life for others...for us..."
"I know...I'm proud of him too, Scootie."
"I am so sorry, my little Scootie... Y-your father... was a great stallion... I miss him so much... I wish he could have seen you grow up, he would be so proud right now."
"Proud of what? I-I'm just a worthless, blank-flank, flightless filly. He should be proud of himself...he's a big, strong stallion...am I...even related to him?"
"Don't you say that, Scootaloo. Of course you are. When you grow up, i'm sure you'll be as strong as him."
"Mom...thank you for believing...but...i-i'm not like daddy..." Scootaloo said, before running off of the couch and upstairs.
"No, Scootie! Come back! Please!"
Before Melody said anything else, the sounds of a door slamming were loud enough to shake the house, and she collapsed onto the couch, drenching the couch cushion in infinite tears.
Upstairs, Scootaloo followed suit. She jumped onto her bed, and hugged her pillow as she sobbed into it.
"I-I just...w-want to meet...my d-daddy..."
"Scootaloooo."
"Wha..? Wh-who's there?"
"Scooooootieeeeee."
"Hey...wh-whoever's saying that....only my mom calls me Scootie..."
"I'm over here."
"Where?"
"Behind you."
. . .
"I don't see you. Who are you?"
. . .
"Hello?"
"I'm right here, Scootaloo... I haven't gone anywhere."
"Who is talking? Please tell me!"
"Look up."
Scootaloo then looked directly above her.
"D-daddy?!"
"I'm right here...Scootie..."
"But...wha...h-how?!"
Before she could finish, the white stallion standing above her sat down behind her, Scootaloo still in between his large hooves.
"Listen, I need to show you something."
"W-what is it?"
"Get on my back, let's go for a little ride."
Scootaloo then hopped on the stallion's armor-shielded back, his wings opening to their full length, and before she knew it...
"W-we're...flying?"
"Yes, Scootie... This is what it is like to fly."
The little orange filly then sat up, and opened her tiny wings, the cool breeze ruffling her feathers as her and the stallion flew on. Suddenly, a light started to get brighter and brighter as they flew up, and Scootaloo had to close her eyes to avoid being blinded. When she opened them, she couldn't believe what she saw. They were over the clouds, and the sky above them was beyond magnificent. Hundreds of thousands of stars, some in colors other than white, dotted the sky, a shooting star zipping by far above the earth.
"Daddy...this is...amazing."
"It is, isn't it?"
The two then landed on a cloud, Scootaloo hopping off of the stallion's back, and sat down next to him and smiled as they looked up at the stars, together. Then, she felt a new sudden feeling. A warm, soft, yet strong wing, wrap around her and slide her against the stallion's side, wrapping around her like a white, feathery blanket.
"I love you, Scootaloo."
"I-I love you too, daddy. W-when are you coming home?"
. . .
"Daddy?"
. . .
"Daddy!"
"Scootaloo! WAKE UP!"
"Daddy! No! Come home!!"
"SCOOTALOO WAKE UP!"
The orange filly then hugged her sheets, and screamed loudly at the sight of two other fillies, one unicorn, one earth pony, half-climbed onto her bed.
"AAAAAAH!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
They all soon stopped, and panted.
"What do you two want?" Scootaloo grumbled, then hugged her teddy bear and turned over facing away.
"It's Monday, Scoots. It's father appreciation day." Sweetie Belle said.
"Good for you."
"Aren't ya comin' to school?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Nope. Don't need to. Why did they make our last day on a Monday anyways?! Why couldn't it be on Friday?"
"I don't know, but today is just a relaxation day."
"Well, good for you. I'm not going."
"But...why not?" Sweetie Belle asked.
. . .
"Scootaloo?"
"What?"
"Why don't you wanna go?"
"I'm sick."
"You are not, stop being a stick in the mud."
Scootaloo then coughed, faking it of course.
"S-see?"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle rolled their eyes. "Whatever, guess we won't be all spending the last day of school together." They said, trotting away.
Scootaloo sat there for a moment. "Wait!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had already walked out, but peeked back into her room, and Scootaloo had hopped out of bed.
"I'll tell you later, but...Let's go have fun...together." Scootaloo smiled.
"Yay! Cutie Mark Crusaders forever!" They all cheered, and high-hoofed each other, then darted off to school.
"Now, who would like to go next?"
Only a few of the foals in the class raised their hooves.
"Hmm... Apple Bloom!" Cheerilee said.
"Miss Cheerilee...um...I never...met my parents." Apple Bloom said, sounding very sorrow.
"Oh...i'm...very sorry to hear about that. What about you Scootaloo?"
Scootaloo then looked up, her little heart racing once again, then she looked around at everypony else, who was eying her closely. She was on the brink of panicking, but instead, she took a deep breath.
"My father...I never met him...but...He was a royal guard who was deployed before I came into existence, and has been gone ever since. I never knew him, and I probably never will. So...if you would please...move on..." Scootaloo said, sounding very proud at first, but lowering her head to her desk and shedding a few tears.
Cheerilee looked around, feeling terrible for the filly. "Your dad sounded like an amazing stallion, Scootaloo. I bet if he's watching over us right now, he's smiling."
"M-maybe...but please...let somepony else have their turn."
Cheerilee sighed, then chose a colt who's father had yet to have a turn.
Scootaloo continued to look down at her desk, a drop of tears splashing onto it, rolling down onto the floor moments later.
"I love you daddy..." She quietly said to herself.
"I love you too, Scootie."
Scootaloo gasped, and looked up. A large, white, pegasus guard stallion stood at the door, smiling at Scootaloo. The whole class gasped, as the stallion removed his helmet to reveal a darker-shaded red mane, then he removed two of his hoof guards.
"DAD!" She yelled, as Scootaloo got up from her desk crying, running up to the stallion and hugging him with all her might.
"I can't believe it...You've grown so much, my little Scootie." Her father said, his voice breaking up. The stallion, like mentioned in her mother's story, went from a tough tone, to a mushy, happy, warm mood.
The whole class then clapped, Cheerilee starting to cry as she smiled, watching the two embrace. Some of the students also cried for joy as they watched them hug each other for the first time.
"My daddy is home..."
