Talking
Scootaloo groaned as the first rays of light touched her muzzle and penetrated through her eyelids.
“Hey, squirt, wake up!”
“Just a few more minutes,” the orange mare grumbled back, shifting into another position.
“Get your flank out of the bed or you'll be late for work!”
With those words, her eyes shot open — she was never late! Growling and rubbing her eyes, she took in her room and more importantly, the cyan mare with the rainbow mane: the one that was looking irritably at her.
“I told you that it was a bad idea to drink that much with your friends over the weekend,” Rainbow chuckled.
“You said you would've joined us if Twilight hadn’t ordered you to her castle,” Scootaloo replied skeptically.
“Heh, got me there, squirt. Now move! You have time for a quick shower and some pancakes,” Rainbow replied before turning and leaving the room.
Scootaloo sighed and laid her head back on the soft cushion of her cloudbed. It had been three years since she’d moved in with Rainbow after her aunt had left Ponyville for an opportunity in Phillydelphia. Scootaloo hadn’t wanted to leave Ponyville and her friends, and luckily Rainbow had offered to take her in.
“Three years and I’ve never told her. Maybe today?” she said to herself. “Why is it so hard to tell Rainbow my feelings?”
She’d been asking herself these same questions for three years. She hadn’t been able to answer them this whole time, and asking them again wouldn’t magically produce answers today, so she got up and made her way to the bathroom for a quick shower. It relaxed her and brought peace to her mind, at least for a moment.
As she entered the kitchen, all those thoughts came back with a crash.
“I made your favourite with apples.” Rainbow gestured to a stack of pancakes on the table.
“You’re the best, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo cheered and hugged Rainbow before sitting down and gobbling the pancakes up.
“Heh, and don't you forget that, squirt.”
“When will you stop calling me squirt? I'm not a little filly anymore!” Scootaloo complained.
“Just because you’re eighteen now, I’m not going to stop calling you squirt!” Rainbow smiled.
The orange mare groaned, but quickly finished her pancakes before getting up and grabbing her saddlebags. “You’ve got training today, right?”
“Yeah, Spitfire wants to practise some new manoeuvres, so you'll probably be back before me this evening,” Rainbow replied.
“Alright, see you then, Rainbow.”
“Have fun, squirt!”
As soon as Rainbow heard the ruffle of wings growing silent, she looked out of the window and made sure that Scootaloo was gone, before sighing loudly. “Damn Scoots, you're making it hard to tell you everything. You’re still the little filly I began to love, and that's not helping.”
Looking at the clock, Rainbow noticed that she only had an hour to get to Headquarters. “Buck it, I'll tell her at the right time.”
***
“Scootaloo, what the hay is wrong with you today?” Cloudchaser yelled as the orange mare seemed to daydream again. “Do your work and stop dreaming!”
“Uh sorry, Cloud… I just got distracted.” Scootaloo snapped out of it and continued to push the rainclouds to the right position.
“What is wrong?” Flitter asked from her side. “Is it about Rainbow again?”
Scootaloo nodded. “I just can't find the strength to tell her. Every time she looks at me I just see… I just see this awesome mare that’s saved Equestria more time than I can count. And I’m… I’m nothing more than a little filly who barely learned how to fly.”
“You know that age doesn't matter if you love somepony? Just look at Blue Cloud and April Showers over there. April is ten years older, but it doesn’t bother either of them. They don’t let it interfere with how they feel,” Flitter replied.
“It's not that easy. For all these years she’s been like a sister to me, and I doubt that she has any more feelings for me than that.”
Flitter cuffed her friend lightly upon the head. “You can't know for sure without asking, silly!”
“So I should tell her and risk everything?”
“No. You should tell her before your heart slowly tears itself apart. You're not happy, and everypony can see it… even Cloudy — she talks about it after work some days. No matter how harsh she is to you, she wouldn’t want you to give up,” Flitter smiled. “If Rainbow says no, then at least you know your answer and can stop chasing after her and find true love with somepony else. And if she says yes… well then…”
“This sounds like an either-I'm-lucky-or-unlucky game,” Scootaloo growled.
“Love isn't easy — just look at Cloudy at me. It took us years to find it, but when we did....”
“Yeah, but that's only because she is your sister.”
“Scootaloo, real love knows no limits. Try it and talk to Rainbow, or you'll continue to suffer,” Flitter said before continuing her work, leaving a slightly speechless orange mare behind.
Maybe she's right and I should just talk to Rainbow and come what may, this will finally be behind me, she thought.
She had no idea how to do it, but maybe it was the best for both of them. All she feared was the answer she may get.
***
“Rainbow, that's the third time you’ve missed your cue to fly in!” Spitfire shouted and stomped onto the ground. “You never do that, what's going on?”
“Sorry, Captain. I think my head’s not in good shape today,” Rainbow replied, her ears flat against her head.
“Damn it, rookie, what is it?”
“Still the same topic,” Rainbow whispered.
“Okay, so why don't you finally tell her?”
Rainbow flinched. “I'm her idol and she’s always seen me as her big sister. I can't do that!”
“You're being dumb now. Rookie, if you don't tell her and ask if she feels the same way, it'll destroy you and everything you’ve worked for in your life. Don't make the same mistake I did. Talk with her,” Spitfire said. “It may sound weird from me, but a broken heart is better than a broken mare. With a broken heart, you can move on and find new love. A broken mare will simply destroy herself.”
“I don't know if I can do that, captain.”
“Don't be a chicken, Rainbow — the look doesn't suit you. Be brave and talk to her. You'll feel better no matter what answer you get, even if it takes time to get over it.”
“It's not that easy.” Rainbow scowled.
“It is. You're just too blind to see it,” Spitfire chuckled.
“Hardy har.”
“Rainbow, I get that you're not a mushy pony or a mare of strong emotions, but you’re caging yourself up. That's not the right thing to do,” Spitfire said before grinning. “Besides, I thought you wanted my position?” Rainbow nodded and Spitfire continued. “Then move on. Talk with her to get this topic out of your mind. It will help and stop distracting you, because with the abysmal performance today, you’ve still got a long road ahead, rookie.”
Rainbow pinned her ears back before nodding. “I just don't know how.”
“Just do it. Be honest, and she'll understand and give you an honest answer.”
She has a point there. Maybe it’s finally time to be honest and talk to Scootaloo, Rainbow thought with a sad smile. I just hope I get the right answer.
***
Rainbow hurried home with a full bag in her muzzle, trying to get back as quickly as possible. She had a plan — a plan that should help her talk with Scootaloo. She just had no idea how the orange mare would really react. Nervously, she placed the bag on the kitchen counter and sorted through the items.
“Hmm… all the ingredients I need to make a great dinner. I know how much she loves spaghetti,” Rainbow mumbled before looking at the clock. “But damn, I have to hurry!”
Rainbow quickly set the noodles up before mixing the tomato sauce, hoping she was doing everything right. It was an easy recipe, but something she knew Scootaloo loved to eat as much as apple pancakes.
Sadly, fate interrupted as the orange mare came home earlier than expected.
“Rainbow, I'm home!” Scootaloo called out a greeting, before stopping at the door to the kitchen. “Mhh, that smells good. What are you cooking?”
“Spaghetti — thought it would be nice to cook dinner for once instead of ordering pizza,” Rainbow smiled awkwardly.
“Rainbow... I have to talk with you after dinner. It's important,” Scootaloo said hesitantly.
“Yeah, I have to talk to you too.”
“Alright… heh, I'm just taking a quick shower… and then… we'll eat and talk!” Scootaloo blurted out before darting up the stairs to her room.
“I wonder what she wants to talk about. I just hope Cloudy didn't fire her,” Rainbow whispered to herself.
The rest of the time went by quickly as Rainbow finished cooking and served the dinner. As soon as everything was laid on the table, Scootaloo was back down, her mane still damp from the shower.
“Wow, thanks, Rainbow. It smells great!” the younger mare cheered before digging into her plate. “And it tastes great too,” she added with a full muzzle.
“Heh, glad you like it, squirt.” Rainbow laughed a bit before quickly starting on her own plate.
They ate in silence, slower than they normally would have, each trying to avoid the talk for for as long as they could. But eventually, the plates were empty and their bellies were full.
Exchanging awkward glances, Rainbow sighed. “So, what do you want to talk about?” she asked slowly.
Scootaloo blushed and folded her ears back. “You know, it's silly. I’ve thought about it for a long time and…” She saw Rainbow listening carefully to her and quickly ducked her head. “You know, maybe it was a bad idea after all, forget that I even said anything,” she quickly added.
“You know you can talk about everything with me, squirt,” Rainbow started, just to be cut off.
“That's the problem! I am and will always be just your little squirt!” Scootaloo screamed before running off to her room under tears.
Rainbow sat there, shocked. That was something she hadn't expected and knew she had to fix. Slowly, she got up and followed Scootaloo into her room, where she found the mare sobbing on her bed. “Can I come in?”
“Leave me alone,” the mare sobbed back.
Rainbow hesitated, but went in nonetheless and sat at the end of the bed, reaching a wing over to gently touch the orange mare. “I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you,” she said before starting to move her wing in a soothing motion.
Scootaloo continued to sob, but looked up to see a warm smile on Rainbow's muzzle. Then something she never expected happened: Rainbow crawled up and pulled her into a tight embrace with her wings, stopping Scootaloo's mind dead in it's tracks.
“You can talk with me about anything. I'll always be there for you,” Rainbow whispered.
Scootaloo just stared into the eyes she loved so much before noticing that Rainbow's muzzle was extremely close. Before she could stop herself, she pressed forward, her lips meeting Rainbow's.
Rainbow opened her eyes in shock. She had never expected this to happen, but suddenly she felt Scootaloo’s soft lips on her own, just like she’d dreamed. She wanted to dive into the kiss, but it stopped abruptly.
Scootaloo's eyes teared up again. “This was a dumb idea! I'm sorry! I never wanted this, but I love you and just can't deny my feelings for you, I—”
Scootaloo was stopped as Rainbow pushed forward, this time her lips forcing on the younger mare’s, silencing the sobbing rant. This kiss lasted much longer than the first, and both mares pushed into it, trying to put every single built-up emotion from the past years into it.
As they broke apart, Rainbow smiled lovingly. “Scootaloo, I love you. It took me a while to understand how I felt around you, but now I know. That was what I wanted to talk with you about today, because it’s been driving me crazy.”
“You… you do?” Scootaloo asked before cheering, “I love you too, Rainbow! And it was the same thing I wanted to talk about with you. I was just too scared and thought you could never love me! Not like that.”
“Calm down, squirt,” Rainbow winked before continuing. “What about a real date since this is settled now?”
“A real date?”
“Yep, a real date. We go out and party,” Rainbow smiled.
“I thought first dates were usually to a restaurant or something like that, but sure, why not?” Scootaloo smiled back.
Both mares simply laid in each other's embrace, smiling because something they’d each thought would be hard, turned out to be so easy. They were glad that it had worked out, with them ending up in each other's wings and hooves. Lost in each other’s eyes, they both met for another kiss, enjoying the other's presence.
It was something they had each longed for, and now that they had it, they had no intention of letting go. No matter how rocky the road before them would be.
Author's Note
There it is^^
Small commission for my usual editor ForgottenExistance 
