Realizing Something

Rainbow cracked open an eye, her consciousness slowly returning. She scanned the dimly lit room as her memory started to work on the night before. She smirked at some of the thoughts that came to her brain, but one very specific memory made her sit up slightly in her bed. It was at this point she realized that Scootaloo was still huddled close to her side, the little filly had her head buried as far into Dash’s chest as her rib cage would allow. Dash smirked down at the small pony, bringing a hoof up to ruffle her mane a little, but not so much as to wake her.

She was still deep in thought about the previous night, still wondering why Scootaloo had been acting so odd. She considered the letter she’d scanned over the night before, remembering a vague signature on the bottom of the parchment. Rainbow felt a little nervous about it, but she had already agreed with Soarin on the idea of writing something for Scootaloo to take back to whoever it was that cared for her. She hoped the signature would be a pony she knew, which would eradicate all of Rainbow's current concerns as well as the bonus of Scootaloo perhaps coming for visits a little more often. Since this had really been the first time since the camping trip where the two had interacted closely with one another, Rainbow had really missed the joys of having Scootaloo around.

As Rainbow came out of her thoughts, she suddenly realised that while thinking her hoof had begun stroking Scootaloo’s mane in slow motions. The pegasus could feel her face flush with nerves and embarrassment that she’d been performing the act without knowing. However, she couldn’t deny that she liked being this close to Scootaloo. As Rainbow slowly drifted into her thoughts once more, she failed to notice the filly’s eyes beginning to flutter open as she too began to wake up. Scootaloo had only ever woken to such a wonderful feeling before a couple of times, her eyes showed her a wonderful scene of a plush cloud bed with her hero in it, stroking her mane softly with a large wing wrapped around her back. She quickly came to the conclusion that the scene she was seeing must be a dream. Gazing over at Rainbow, her sleepy words began to fall out, “This is awesome, so… awesome.”

“Glad to hear it, squirt,” Rainbow replied cheerfully as she stopped stroking her mane and began to get herself out of bed.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened quickly at the response. Her brain suddenly switched on as she realized that what she was seeing was indeed the real world.

“I… um,” Scootaloo could feel the heat rising to her cheeks in embarrassment, “Hey D-Dash, good morning!” she said happily, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible.

Rainbow couldn’t help but giggle a little at the filly’s reaction, “Morning, Scoots,” she replied happily. The two shared a look of content for a few more brief moments before Dash continued. “Say, how’s about we go down for some breakfast?” she asked, getting onto her hooves and cantering around towards the hallway. Scootaloo nodded happily, launching out of bed faster than Dash had expected, "Woah, you must be hungry," she laughed.

Scootaloo giggled in response. "Well I am a little, what's there to eat?"

Rainbow began to think, but could only shrug in reply as the pair continued to make their way downstairs, “I think we still have some cereal, but that’s only if Soarin hasn’t got to it first,” she replied.

The pair descended the staircase, spotting the stallion in question already muzzle deep in some cereal in the living room. The two shared an amused look at one another, giggling at the sight of the stallion as he raised his head at the noise

“Morning,” Soarin said happily, the milk clearly visible on his muzzle.

“Mornin’, Soar,” Dash replied cheerfully to him as Scootaloo made her way into the living area to make herself at home on one of the couches. Rainbow came up close to the Wonderbolt, leaving a small peck on his cheek, “You’ve got a little somethin’...” she said with a smirk, indicating her own muzzle with a hoof

Soarin squinted his eyes as he noticed the substance on his face, and quickly licked it away with his tongue before beaming at his marefriend with a toothy smile. Dash simply rolled her eyes, and headed into the kitchen.

“I left some cereal for you and Scoots on the table!” Soarin called after the mare.

“Didn’t think you would,” Dash replied as she took the box of cereal from the table, “thanks,”

“Anything for you Dash,” Soarin replied with a wink. Scootaloo didn’t seem to pay attention to the words of affection the couple shared.

Dash poured two bowls of cereal before adding a light splash of milk. She took the items onto her wings, taking both through into the other room where Scootaloo and Soarin were still seated.

“There you go, Scoots,” Dash said, giving Scootaloo the bowl, which she happily took. The mare then sat down next to the filly, gladly digging into her own food. Silence fell upon the house once more for a few more moments as the three ate up their morning meals.

Already halfway through hers, Rainbow spoke up, “So, Soar, you doing anything today?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The stallion pondered before shaking his head, “Nothin’ today; just relaxing. You need me to take Scootaloo down?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“Nah, I’ll take her down a little later,” Dash replied with a smile, turning towards the filly, “that alright with you, Scoots? Or did your folks want you home earlier?”

Scootaloo finished up her cereal, swallowing a mouthful. “I don’t think they will mind,” she answered.

Dash turned back to Soarin, the two exchanging concerned glances for a moment. Rainbow wanted to pursue the question a little further, but last night proved that the filly really didn’t like the subject being the center of attention. Remembering about the note she had left in the kitchen from last night, she made her opportunity.

“I’ll go wash the bowls while you two have some fun,” she said with a smile, taking both Scootaloo and Soarin’s empty bowls with her into the kitchen. Once there, she placed the bowls into the sink before turning and spotting the note where she’d left it on the table the night before. Picking it up, she read through its contents once again.

“Dear Miss Dash, I’m okay for Scootaloo to come over for the night, If she has any problems don’t hesitate to bring her back, yada yada. Signed… Sky Heart?”

The name seemed to ring a few bells, but she couldn’t remember for the life of her where she’d seen it before. Struggling to come up with an answer, she decided to try and ask Twilight before she wandered around Ponyville looking for an unfamiliar mare. However, she knew that leaving the house on a mission like this would require Scootaloo not knowing. Dash quickly came up with an idea, but first she had to discreetly get Soarin’s attention. She couldn’t risk calling the stallion over; it might grab the attention of Scootaloo as well. She quickly searched around for something, finding a bowl of fruit with a few grapes sitting at the bottom. Taking one, she threw it over to the stallion, the small object hitting him squarely on the back of his head, which caused him to look over at the kitchen. Rainbow held the letter up, pointed to herself, and then to the door. Luckily, Soarin understood exactly what the mare meant, nodding gently as he returned to watching the television with Scootaloo.

The small filly let out a soothing sigh as she leaned into the couch. On the television in front of them there was a program running on a newschannel about the Wonderbolts recently successful tour in Manehatten and Fillydelphia. The pictures of Soarin caught the filly’s attention as the news reporter started commentating.

“I was interviewed for hours by that mare,” Soarin said with an amused smile as he watched on.

Scootaloo turned to the stallion in question, “It must have been cool though, being interviewed.”

Soarin thought for a few moments before responding, “At first, it was awesome,” he explained, “but as the interviews and questions go by, you start to see the same ones popping up all the time. That gets a little boring. But it keeps appearances up," he replied, with a wink.

“Do you think… I might become a Wonderbolt someday?” Scootaloo asked with a hopeful tone, looking over at him.

Soarin turned to the filly, giving her one of his winning smiles, “Of course!”

“What about my wings though?” Scootaloo interjected as she looked back at her feathers.

Soarin could tell where the conversation was leading. He got up and trotted over to the filly, sitting down next to her, “Hey, don’t worry about your wings, they’ll get better the more you learn and train. There’s more than one aspect to becoming a Wonderbolt, Scootaloo, and you’ve already got the less obvious talents that many ponies leave out,” he said proudly.

Scootaloo pondered on the stallion’s words. “I don’t get it, what do you mean?” she asked.

“You’ve got the personality, Scootaloo. You’ve got the determination, drive and best of all the passion!” the stallion explained, making Scootaloo blush momentarily from the praise.

“T-Thanks, Soarin,” Scootaloo replied happily, elated that a Wonderbolt was appraising her.

“Call me Soar,” the stallion responded with a more gentle expression, patting her on the shoulder as the two quietly went back to watching the television. By now the program had moved on and was talking about the next tour the flying team would be embarking on. As the list came up onto the screen she noticed one venue in particular.

“You’re coming to Ponyville?” she asked, looking up at the stallion, her eyes glimmering with excitement.

Soarin nodded, “Yeah! After Ponyville shot up in the news it's become a really popular destination. So after a few strings were pulled we decided to have a venue here. We can build a small stadium at the running track near the forest. I’ll be able to get you and Dash some front row seats, too!”

“Really?!” Scootaloo replied excited.

Soarin nodded his head, “Yep! It’ll be awesome!” he answered with a beaming expression.

Twilight had been enjoying her day so far. Her books had been re-shelved on time, quills and ink resupplied, and not to mention everypony had been handing their books back. The newly crowned Princess was writing out her latest research when a knock on the door roused her attention. With her horn lighting up, she opened the door to reveal Rainbow posing coolly next to the door frame.

“Hey Twi,” Dash said casually, cantering into the new building, “Not been in here much, but the place is kinda cool!”

Twilight took a moment to gaze around the interior herself; having most of her attention on work, she hadn’t really taken a good look at the place, “It’s rather like something from the Crystal Empire. I do like the architecture.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes playfully, before turning to her saddle bags and collecting the item as she brought the conversation to the reason she came over, “I had Scoots over last night.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she looked towards her friend, “Oh, really? How’d that go?” she asked curiously.

“Good!” Rainbow chirped as she brought out the small piece of parchment from earlier, “But I had a little bit of an issue…” she trailed off, holding the letter in her hoof.

“What kind of issue?” Twilight asked, her expression suddenly changing to one of concern as her eyes dropped to see the piece of paper.

“Well,” Dash started, taking a hesitant glance at the paper, “I asked Scoots to get me a letter from her parents, but I don’t think I’ve seen this pony around town before,” she said. Twilight giggled a little as she took the parchment in her magic and lifted it over.

“What’s so funny?” Rainbow asked.

“How would you know everypony in town?” Twilight retorted.

“Uh… because I’m awesome?” Dash replied with a hopeful tone, causing Twilight to let out another small giggle as she opened the parchment. Dash rolled her eyes as she watched the alicorn look over the words written down, but when she saw Twilight’s expression become more confused, she felt her heart beat start to hit her chest a little harder.

“Is everything okay, Twi?” Rainbow asked, more to reassure herself than anything else. A few seconds of silence passed as Twilight continued to study the paper.

“I’ve got it!” Twilight exclaimed happily as she smiled, “It’s Sky, from the Orphanage! I met her to discuss plans a while back for the hoofball match a few days ago,” she explained causally as Rainbow suddenly went a bit cold.

“H-How would…” Dash stuttered a little, not really knowing how to word her sentence.

“Why would she write a letter for Scootaloo, though?” Twilight said, not seeming to notice the sudden deterioration of Rainbow’s mood.

“Scootaloo was at the game,” Rainbow said bluntly, leaving the words to resound around the walls for a little while. Twilight turned to look at her friend, slowly coming to the same realization herself. It wasn’t for a little while that either spoke up.

“I think we should pay Sky a little visit about this,” Twilight said as she got up, dusting herself down a little. Rainbow only gave a nod in approval with the one million odd thoughts rushing through her mind. She didn’t like the critical coincidences of Scootaloo happening to turn up at the game or even not wanting to be taken home in the dark. Rainbow’s heartbeat had now been replaced with a rather painful pang as she continued to think about these ideas, but before she knew where she was, she and Twilight were already trotting towards the front door.

“What are you thinking?” Twilight asked, turning to Rainbow like she’d just seemed to read her mind.

“I… I dunno,” Dash said, bowing her head low, “I guess I don’t really want to consider this as an answer.”

“Listen,” Twilight said, putting a hoof on Rainbow as the two stopped in their tracks, “We don’t know the truth yet, let’s just go and see what Sky has to say.”

Rainbow wanted to protest, but she knew Twilight was right. Nodding her head, the two ponies started off again with Twilight directing them into Ponyville and through the town itself. It didn’t take very long for the two to reach the other side of town, where the bustling streets gave way to a nice little countryside walk. The small hills overlooking Ponyville had many buildings built within their grounds such as the hospital and the school. Not far out was also the Ponyville orphanage, a nice house-like building overlooking the nice view of the grassy land.

“You sure she’ll be here?” Rainbow asked, turning to Twilight as the building came into view.

“Well, it’s mid-day, so I’m sure Sky will be working,” Twilight answered.

“Alright then,” Dash said, flapping her wings as she ascended into the air to hover next to Twilight, “Why don’t you use your wings?” Dash questioned, “It saves you getting sore hooves you know.”

Twilight shrugged, “I think it’s because I still haven’t really gotten used to these wings yet, despite the odd time I’ve managed to fly well.”

“I guess we still have a few lessons to go over,” Dash said with a nervous giggle, the two ponies reaching the door of the home.

Twilight stepped forward and knocked the door, which was quickly opened by a light pink mare with a pale pink mane. She smiled at the Princess before speaking, “Hello Princess.”

“Twilight is fine, Sky,” the mare replied with a light hue of pink showing on her cheeks. “Me and Rainbow just wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure thing,” the mare said, noticing Dash as her smile broadened, “The kids loved the hoofball match, by the way.”

“It was nothin’,” Dash said, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.

“So,” Twilight started, bringing out the note, “We were rather confused by this letter; we wondered why Scootaloo would have you write her something.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Sky Heart said happily as both Twilight and Rainbow cringed, fearing the worst, “She’s my cousin! She lives with me since her parents both work out of town; somewhere in Fillydelphia I think...”

Dash seemed to sigh mentally in relief, while Twilight still looked rather confused.

“So, how long have you been taking care of Scootaloo?” The Princess asked curiously.

Sky put a hoof to her chin as she pondered for a moment. “Hm, about… three years now,” she replied with a nod to herself. Twilight and Rainbow shared a look of confusion. Why would parents leave their child to a cousin’s care for years?

“It’s not too bad,” Sky Heart interjected, fearing the two were a little unsettled by the whole thing, “I mean, it is what I do for a living,” she said with a slight chuckle.

Twilight smiled, “It’s alright, me and Rainbow were just… uh, curious to why.”

Sky raised an eyebrow, “You mean she’s never spoken about me?” she asked. Both Twilight and Rainbow gave solemn looks as they nodded.

“I’m sure that’s through no fault of yours though,” Twilight replied in a hopeful voice.

Sky slumped at the door frame, “I wouldn’t blame her, I mean I give her the basics of what she needs; a home, food, schooling, but with this job I have to care for her like I care with the kids here… I guess she just wants what all these kids want; a proper family.”

While Twilight continued with the conversation, Rainbow had detached herself, her mind thinking back to the night before. The thought of her, Soarin and Scootaloo being a family began to creep back to the front of her mind. To think of the filly wanting something Rainbow could provide made the pang return to her chest shortly after the thoughts crossed her mind as well.

“Was the sleepover good, Rainbow? I hope Scoots didn’t give you too much trouble,” Sky asked, oblivious to Rainbow’s inner monologue. The pegasus shook herself a little to get back on track with the conversation.

“Yeah, it was totally awesome!” She replied with a slight chuckle.

Sky smiled, “Well, she’ll probably be asking to come over more often then!” she said with a laugh of her own, “Can’t keep that filly away from you.” She started. Dash smiled sheepishly as Twilight put a forehoof over her mouth to muffle a giggle. “Well I guess you’ll be bringing her back soon then! I should probably give you directions to my house...” the mare said, popping back inside the home for a few moments leaving Dash and Twilight alone.

“Well, that was… something,” Twilight said as she looked at the pegasus, “You okay?” she asked.

Rainbow nodded happily, “Yeah... I mean at least the squirt has a home and isn’t living out in the cold. I-I guess I could talk to Soarin and see if we could help Sky out, but I’ll need to talk to Scootaloo about this whole thing first,” she replied, Twilight giving a nod in approval.

“I’m sure Scootaloo would be happy to spend more time with you, Rainbow, I’m sure she was just nervous about telling you,” the alicorn replied knowingly.

Rainbow nodded, “Yeah, but she’s practically my sister… I don’t want to keep any secrets between us.”

Twilight gave an affectionate smile in return before Sky Heart showed herself at the door once more. Holding a piece of paper in her mouth as she passed it onto Rainbow’s hoof, “That should help you find my house. I’ll be leaving here around seven-ish so I guess that would be a good time to bring Scootaloo back,” the mare informed as Rainbow secured the letter inside her saddlebag.

“Well it was nice meeting you again, Sky,” Twilight said happily as she shook the mare’s hoof.

“The pleasure’s all mine, Miss Sparkle,” Sky said happily as gave a nod to Dash. The ponies then parted ways, with Dash and Twilight now making their way back to the town of Ponyville while Sky headed back into the home to continue her job.

“Well, I guess you’ll want to get going,” Twilight said happily as she looked to her friend.

Dash nodded, “Yeah, guess I have a few things to discuss back home. Thanks, Twi, I knew I could count on you to help me out there.”

“No problem, Rainbow,” Twilight replied. The two shared a friendly hoof bump before Rainbow left Twilight to go about her business, soaring up into the air and heading back towards her home in the sky.

As she flew through the cold air, Rainbow couldn’t help but let her mind wander again, it was as if all she could think about over the last few days was Scootaloo. Why she would keep something like this did make sense, but Rainbow was still unsure about talking to Scootaloo about such a sensitive subject. Swallowing her nerves, she decided to talk to her the moment she came home while the subject was still fresh in her mind. Coming into view of the large home, she touched down and quickly made her way up to the entrance. However, before she opened it, she could hear laughter and play coming from the interior of the building. Raising a curious eyebrow, she opened the door to the home.

“Alright guys, what’s-”

Dash didn’t get to finish her sentence as her throat tensed along with the rest of her body, her eyes scanning over the home, everywhere things had been thrown, ruined and stained. Finally her irises laid upon Soarin and Scootaloo, both with loaded items in their hooves, ready to attack.

“Busted,” Soarin and Scootaloo chorused.