The new Dash

When Morning finally came, Rainbow Dash was still asleep. She wasn't used to waking up early. She bolted up again when she was prodded once more by Scootaloo. This time, however, she managed to slap the little filly as she rose.

"Sorry about that," Rainbow Dash said, "You ok?".

"That actually kinda hurt," Scootaloo said, rubbing the left side of her face.

"Sorry," Rainbow Dash said, stretching, "You hungry?".

"I already ate," Scootaloo said, "Just wanting to let you know I'm heading to school so you don't worry about me".

"Oh, well have fun," Rainbow Dash said.

"I will," Scootaloo said, "Oh, and thanks for spending the night, it was pretty fun".

"Yeah, yeah, just get yourself to school already so you're not late," Rainbow Dash said.

As Scootaloo left, Rainbow decided to take care of a few things. First things first, she needed to take Tank home. After that, she was going to head right for Ponyville town hall to talk to Mayor Mare about adoption. She wasn't about to let Scootaloo live this way for longer than she had to. Even if the filly wouldn't admit to it, she hated it here, she was hurting, and Rainbow was determined to fix that.

"I'm sorry, but unless her parents are present to sign the papers, then there's no way I can let you take custody of the filly," Mayor Mare said.

"Her parents aren't around anymore, she's living on her own," Rainbow Dash said.

"I really hope you don't actually expect me to believe a filly is able to sustain themselves with parental assistance," Mayor Mare said.

"I'm just wasting my time here, forget it," Rainbow Dash said.

"You wouldn't have to waste time if you would just follow regulations," Mayor Mare said.

"Screw your regulations!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "There's a filly out there, living on her own, and your obviously don't care!".

Rainbow didn't even give Mayor Mare a chance to say anything else before she turned and walked right out of the room. She knew she wasn't going to get any progress here, so she turned her sights on the next best place: Canterlot castle. If there was a filly who needed a good home, Princess Celestia or Luna would allow it to happen however it needed to. She took to the sky and headed right the castle.

On the way to Canterlot, Rainbow kept think of ways to give Scootaloo the good news. She could just walk up and tell her, but that was just too simple. She wanted to make the moment special, but she just couldn't think of how to make it so. She was too deep in thought to even notice she had reached the castle, until she slammed right into it that is. Pulling herself away from the wall, Rainbow then turned her thoughts towards how to handle the adoption with Princess Celestia. No matter what, she wasn't taking no for an answer this time. She flew to the entrance and composed herself before going in.

It took a bit, but Rainbow finally managed to reach the throne room. When she did, she bowed then moved forward to speak.

"Hello there, Dash," Celestia said, "Whatever brings you here?".

"I'm here for an adoption," Rainbow Dash said.

"You do know you didn't have to come all the way to me to do that, right?" Celestia asked.

"You're the only one who'll help," Rainbow Dash said.

"And what brings you to the conclusion?" Celestia asked.

"There is a pegasus filly in, or actually on the outskirts of, Ponyville. Her name is Scootaloo, and up until yesterday, I had no idea she was an orphan. She doesn't live in an orphanage, but instead in a run down shack near the Everfree Forest," Rainbow Dash said, "She needs a good home, but Mayor Mare doesn't seem to care about that".

"She lives on her own?" Celestia asked, "I am sorry, but that is just a tad hard to believe".

"She said her mother died when she was just a small foal, and her dad never came back after being away on guard duty about two years ago," Rainbow Dash said, "I also spent the night with her last night, and it was just us all night, so I'm pretty darn sure she's been alone this whole time".

"None of my guard stationed in Ponyville have ever had foals," Celestia said, "So either the filly is lying, or the pair she thought of as her parents took illegal custody of her at a very young age".

"I don't think she's lying," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, let's go find out who her real parents really are," Celestia said.

With that, Princess Celestia started to head towards the throne room doors, followed immediately by Rainbow Dash. Nothing was said on the way to the registry. It was obvious, however, Rainbow was worried. If Scootaloo had in fact been taken into illegal custody, and her real parents were still alive, how was she going to break the news to the filly? It'd be quite a delicate situation for sure, and one Rainbow didn't think she could handle. Still, she kept moving forward seeking answers. All she really wanted was for Scootaloo to get a better home, no matter what.

When Rainbow and Celestia finally reached the registry, Rainbow could help but tense up. She was about to get an answer she probably did not want. With a little coaxing, she got over it and pushed on through the door.

"I need you to pull up a file on a pegasus filly in Ponyville named Scootaloo," Celestia said after approaching the desk.

The pony behind the desk simply nodded and turned to get the file. After a couple of minutes, the pony returned with the file and laid it down in front of Celestia and Rainbow. As Celestia opened the file, Rainbow prepared herself.

"Scootaloo, born August 15, 2006, daughter of Lily Spring and Bolt Thrasher," Celestia said as she read off what was on the file.

"Are they still alive?" Rainbow Dash asked, "That's what I want to know".

"Go see if you have any death certificates for either Lily Spring, or Bolt Thrasher, please," Celestia said, giving Scootaloos file back.

After the pony behind the desk took the file and went to go check for death certificates, Celestia sighed and turned to Rainbow.

"Before he comes back, I need to know one thing," Celestia said, "Just how ready are you really to take on the responsibilities of motherhood?".

"I'm not aiming for any 'Mother of the year' awards, but I aim to do my best," Rainbow Dash said, "That kid deserves to have a better life than the one she has now".

"Just remember one thing: if at any time you feel like you need some guidance, my door is always open," Celestia said, "And I know Rarity and Applejack will be able to help as well seeing as how they've helped take care of their younger siblings".

The two remained quiet from then until the pony returned with two files. As he laid them on the desk, Rainbow felt like she could breathe again. Instead of a death certificate, they had gotten whole files, meaning Scootaloos real parents were probably still alive. Boy, would they be happy to find out their daughter is alright. After looking through the files and finding out where the two last took up residence, Celestia gave the files back. Rainbow bowed while letting Celestia know how grateful she was for the help, and then turned and walked out of the room. She knew where Scootaloos parents were, and she was going to give them some good news. After school was let out for the day, she was also going to head to Ponyville, tell Scootaloo the news, then take her back to her real parents where she belonged.

"Who are you?" A stallion asked.

Rainbow finally found the house where Scootaloos parents lived. It took her some time with the crowds, but she was determined, and it paid off in the end. Now, she was face to face with Scootaloos father, or so she hoped.

"My name is Rainbow Dash, and I'm here about your daughter," Rainbow Dash said.

"I don't have a daughter," The stallion said.

"You are Bolt Thrasher, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, that's me," Bolt Thrasher said.

"And do you have a wife named Lily Spring by any chance?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Care to tell me why you're really here?" Bolt Thrasher asked, a little irritated.

"Then you do have a daughter. Orange pegasus filly with a dark pink mane and tail. Her name is Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash said, "Ring any bells?".

"So, the little disgrace is still around, huh?" Bolt Thrasher asked.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Rainbow Dash asked, obviously shocked at what she just heard.

"I know that little filly, but she's not my daughter," Bolt Thrasher said, "No daughter of mine has the inability to fly".

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked, anger slowly raising in her voice.

"When she was born, the Nurse said she'd never fly because of something in her wings stunting their growth," Bolt Thrasher said, "That's not a trait of a pegasus who deserves to be called my daughter".

"You had better be joking right now," Rainbow Dash said, quite obviously ticked off at this point.

"I will not have my family name disgraced by a pegasus that can't fly, that's just not going to happen," Bolt Thrasher.

"And what about your wife, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I back him up a hundred and ten percent," Came a voice from inside the house.

"That's just... just... I just can't believe this! She's your flesh and blood daughter for Celestias sake! How can you honestly say this without a second thought!?" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"A family of natural born flyers can't accept a dysfunctional pegasus into their family," Bolt Thrasher said.

"If we did, it'd only tarnish our family name," Said the voice.

"You two are the absolute worst. Scootaloo could wilt away and you wouldn't even shed a tear... that's just... you just make me sick," Rainbow Dash said.

"Now, if that's all, we need to get back to our food," Bolt Thrasher said.

"First, since you're both still alive, you're going to come with me to sign the adoption papers so I can give Scootaloo a good home," Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh? And how do you figure this?" Bolt Thrasher asked.

"You don't want to be affiliated with her, right?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Signing those adoption papers will make it so she won't be any longer".

"Well, that's as good a reason as any," The voice said, "But do let us finish eating first".

"We can eat when we get back, Lily," Bolt Thrasher said, "The sooner we sign those papers, the sooner we get to cut all ties with that little thing".

"At the very least address her by her name," Rainbow Dash demanded, "Or is that too hard for you?".

"Just lead on to where we need to go," Bolt Thrasher said.

"It deeply saddens me to know you would think this way about your own kin," Celestia said.

After leading Scootaloos parents to the castle throne room, Rainbow told Celestia what she herself had been told. After getting confirmation, Celestia was less than pleased. She knew ponies like this existed, but she had never had to deal with any face to face before.

"What do we need to sign already?" Bolt Thrasher asked.

"Just sign these, and you may leave," Celestia said, levitating a few papers to the couple.

The two ponies signed where they needed to and gave the papers back. Satisfied, they turned and left. Celestia then gave the papers to Rainbow so she could sign off that she had agreed to be Scootaloos new legal caretaker. After doing so, she gave the papers back to Celestia with a smile. After finding out what Scootaloos now former parents thought of her, she was more than happy to ensure they never even laid eyes on the filly again.

"And Princess, could you gift wrap the adoption certificate?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Whatever for?" Celestia asked, a little puzzled at the odd request.

"Scootaloos birthday is in a week, and I wanna give her the best birthday present she's ever gotten," Rainbow Dash said.

"I see," Celestia said, pondering the odd request a little, "Well, what are you going to do until then?" Celestia asked.

"She's going to need a nicer home than a rotting shack. Also, since she can't fly, it'd be pretty pointless to have her live in my cloud home," Rainbow Dash said, "So, I'm going to sell my home and use the bits to buy a nice house in Ponyville, then work all week to get it all nice and set up".

"Was not your plan to do this from the get go?" Celestia asked.

"It was, then I found out when her birthday is and I also actually adopted her," Rainbow Dash said, "I'll take off from fixing up the house to spend some time with her, and keep her company, but I still want this to be a complete surprise for her birthday".

"Well, as long as you don't abandon her or anything, then I don't see the harm," Celestia said.