A Night of Change
Staring longingly at the moonlit sky out of her window, Scootaloo sighed heavily, letting her head fall onto the soft cloud pillows beneath her. It’d been a long day, but crusading with her friends after school had given her something to be joyful about. She’d been brought back home by Fluttershy after the three had wound up trying to get cutie marks in bridge building, only to have the shy mare’s walkway completely destroyed a few moments later. She’d forgotten to tell her the house was completely empty, but these days it usually was.
It was Scootaloo’s usual routine, waking up to a readymade breakfast with a note hanging off the cereal bowl saying ‘Have a great day’ or finding Rainbow or Fluttershy in the schoolyard with instructions to look after her for the night. It’d been a long time since she and her mother had spent more than just a few hours together, but with the latest Wonderbolt tour around the corner she knew it wasn’t long until she’d have to go spend the week in somepony else's house. She felt the oncoming tears begin to sting, wiping them off with a forehoof. While it was fun being able to hang with her friends whenever she wanted, or even being alone at times to think, she felt empty without her mother. Years ago before the Wonderbolts, they’d both spend every waking moment together. Scootaloo smiled to herself as she remembered all the times they’d use to play hide and seek in the house, huddling up in the clouds and running around after they’d been caught. To her, they were the good days.
Suddenly, the distinctive sound of a door opening and hooves trotting in alerted her to another pony. She knew exactly who it was, but while there was a sudden urge to jump out of bed in excitement and head downstairs to greet the pony, the anger which had resided within her previous thoughts only fueled her not to. Scootaloo huffed, she wasn’t going to give her mother the satisfaction.
She tucked herself in tightly before pulling the covers of her bed over her. Putting her head on the pillow, she kept an ear pointed to the sky, hearing the sound of the hoofsteps as they began to grow louder. She felt her heart begin to beat a little faster with every step the mystery pony took, it wasn’t long before she heard the door being pushed open. Scootaloo tried to act out her sleeping as best she could. There were a few moments of silence that passed before Scootaloo began to hear her mother trotting into the room, going around the side of her bed where her back was facing. Without warning, Scootaloo felt a familiar hoof begin to rub her shoulder gently. She immediately flinched to the touch, it wasn’t much, but enough to have the hoof retract immediately. Scootaloo hoped her mother had gotten the message, but then suddenly she heard that voice.
“Honey? What’s wrong?”
Her mother's voice was soft, but with the angelicness it also carried a concerned tone behind it. Scootaloo suddenly began to feel the guilt fill her stomach, wrenching it slightly as she tried her best to stay quiet over the flood of tears ready to break loose. She refused anything more than a small whimper. She heard the hoofsteps again as the mare trotted around to the other side of the bed. Scootaloo didn’t resist looking up to see her mother come into view under the moonlight. Her arctic blue coat with a white windswept mane were only slightly visible, but those violet eyes she shared with her shone through, looking down at her with both worry and concern.
The mare carefully sat her flanks down on the bed, becoming more visible to her as she kept her eyes trained on the filly. She lifted her hoof and brought it down this time on Scootaloo’s own mane, stroking it calmly as the two stared at one another for a time.
“What’s wrong?” she asked again, this time a lot more concern had filled her tone.
Silence filled the room once more with an unsettling tension. The mare chuckled as she tried her best to dispel it. “Come on honey, you always stay up this late to say goodnight to me,” she joked.
Scootaloo felt compelled to answer, but in her current state she gathered up what little voice she had left to reply, “I-It’s you,” she stated bluntly.
She watched for a moment while Fleetfoot’s posture dipped slightly as she nodded in return, “I understand, sweetheart, I know it’s hard with me not being around lately but-”
“No!” Scootaloo exclaimed, slightly louder than she’d intended to be. Stopping her mother, she began to continue, “Y-You don’t understand, I never get to see you. I want to see you, Mommy.”
With that, her eyes began to falter as the dam holding her tears begins to break loose. She felt the hot, salty tears begin to stain her cheeks as she cried. Fleetfoot immediately leaned over and wrapped her wing around the filly, pulling her close to her mother's chest tightly. Scootaloo quickly threw her forelegs around her neck and buried her muzzle into her shoulder while Fleetfoot proceeded to rub the space in between her wings. The two sat there for a moment content to be in their tight huddle while Scootaloo calmed down.
“I know you want me to be around, Scoots,” Fleetfoot explained, “I want to be around too. I feel bad not being able to pick you up from school or seeing you at the table for breakfast.”
Scootaloo nuzzled into her mother's neck, not wanting to break the contact as she spoke, “Why can’t you just stop?” she asks, her voice muffled slightly.
Fleetfoot chuckles slightly at her innocence, rubbing her daughter’s back softly, “I would trade it all in a heartbeat if I could, Scoots.”
“Then why not!” Scootaloo asked tentatively.
“It’s my job, honey, Mommy has to work.”
Scootaloo only nodded silently in response.
“How about I make you a promise?” Fleetfoot asked. Scootaloo looked up at her silently while she continued, “I’ll take some free time off next weekend and we can go do anything you like.”
The prospect was exciting to the ears, Scootaloo felt herself begin to get all giddy at the thought of spending a whole weekend with just her mother. Though the reality hit home fast, making the filly moan in disappointment, “But that’s a whole week away!”
Fleetfoot nuzzled her cheek softly in return, “I’m sorry baby, but I need to go to work. Spitfire will have my flank in a meat grinder if I don’t finish what I need to before the tour.”
Scootaloo’s posture slumped in her mother's tight hold, but she nodded solemnly at her explanation. The pair stayed silent for a moment before Fleetfoot spoke up once more, “Say, how about you sleep with Mommy tonight?” she asked quietly, giving her filly a loving smile. Scootaloo looked over to her, seeing that smile and the offer was so tempting, but one fact remained certain.
“You’ll only be gone in the morning,” she mumbled, giving her mother a look that seemed to break something inside her.
Fleetfoot stayed silent for a few more seconds, she then proceeded to lay her filly back down on the bed before swiftly getting up and trotting out of the room. Scootaloo quickly looked back to the empty doorway, wondering if she’d upset her in some way. Before she could call out though, the sound of hoofsteps soon returned as her mother came back into the room. She spotted her carrying a book on her back, which she took off and sat down with as she began to open it up to the correct page. Scootaloo sat up with her, sitting next to her mother as she made out what the book was.
Fleetfoot’s diary wasn’t one of tales or great adventures like she would write in her own, it was packed full of events; training, fitness schedules, races and more. Each had its own time throughout the day and only a few spaces were ever left bare. Suddenly her mother stopped at a certain page, by the date Scootaloo could quickly work out it was this week.
She failed to notice that her mother had also brought a quill with her as well. She watched curiously as the mare lifted the feather over to tomorrow’s date, finding the whole day to be packed full like the rest of them. Suddenly, Fleetfoot brought the quill down, drawing a large cross over the whole day, much to Scootaloo’s shock. She then began to write something underneath that Scootaloo couldn’t quite see, but once the mare was done she lifted her diary up for the filly to gaze upon.
The words it read were ‘Just me and Scootaloo’.
Reading the words over and over, Scootaloo couldn’t begin to describe how she felt inside. Her mother had discarded everything important in her work day just for her. Suddenly she began to feel her previous excitement return fully. All the things she could think of doing with her came rushing forth; flying, playing, exploring, even just curling up to read another Daring Do book on the sofa. Her brain became packed with ideas, she couldn’t wait to act them all out.
“So,” her mother started with a grin as she put the diary onto the bed before coming closer to her filly, “You wanna come with Mommy or not?”
Scootaloo couldn’t think of anything in the world she’d rather have than this moment. She nodded frantically, “I think that’d be awesome!”
Fleetfoot giggled and proceeded to wrap her filly up as she took her into a loving hug. The two shared a relaxing moment for a while in each other’s hooves before Fleetfoot began to pull her daughter out of the bed as she began making her way to her room. The two trotted down the hallway of the dimly lit house before coming across the place in question. This one unlike Scootaloo’s own held many pieces of Wonderbolt memorabilia and photos, many of which Scootaloo recognized. Her mother's Wonderbolt suit laid neatly folded by the wardrobe, while her goggles hung from one of the bed posts. Suddenly her mother’s giggles cut her from taking a look around the rest of the room as she was playfully thrown onto the plush bed, Scootaloo bounced a little to her delight as she suddenly came face to face with the mare, who had a mischievous smirk covering her muzzle.
“Looks like there's a tasty little filly for the bed monster,” Fleetfoot growled playfully as she advanced like a predator towards the bed.
“Mom!” Scootaloo whined, embarrassed by her mother's use of a totally lame creature.
Fleetfoot only proceeded to giggle in return as she began to tickle the filly, pretending to nibble on her ears as Scootaloo roared in laughter. The two tossed and turned on the bed, each fighting over one another as the mother continued to assault her filly with little tickles. Scootaloo tried her best to fight back against her mother, but after a while she began to feel out of breath. Fleetfoot noticed her daughter's fatigue lifted her forehooves away and began wrapping her wing around the filly’s midsection instead as she pulled the covers over them. Scootaloo sighed contently to herself as she snuggled closer to the warm, soft fur of her mother. She took a glance over to the side of the bed, noticing a small picture resting there. The small photo was of her and Fleetfoot years ago, specifically when she was born. Fleetfoot was holding her as an infant, kissing her forehead while she smiled back happily. The scene instantly made Scootaloo’s heart swell, she knew job or not that her mother loved her dearly.
Scootaloo suddenly felt her mother kiss her forehead softly, the cuddle tightening ever so slightly.
“I love you Scootaloo,” Fleetfoot whispered in her ear.
Scootaloo smiled as she looked up to her, “I love you too, Mommy.”
Fleetfoot proceeded to nuzzle the filly’s ear as they began to fall asleep. Scootaloo only had one thing on her mind as she began to drift off.
Tomorrow was going to be a good day.
