Scootaloo turns, she's ahead of the pack, she's going to win! This amazing little Filly has come from behind to take the win, the crowd is going wild!
At least, that's what I'd imagine the announcer would be saying if I was actually in a race, really I was just riding my scooter through Ponyville, weaving in between Ponies as I went as I headed home for dinner.
As I turned the corner, I nearly ran into Rainbow Dash before swerving out of the way, though there was something weird about her today.
"Hey Squirt, you're getting faster and faster every day," the cyan Pegasus said with a weak smile. "Where are you running off to so fast?"
"Home, its almost dinner time," I said with a smile. "You know how it is, my parents are expecting me back home."
"Yeah..." Rainbow said softly.
"Rainbow, are you okay?" I asked, looking concerned at the older Pegasus, you know it was weird, I had tried to talk to her about her family before, but she always dodged the question.
"I'm fine... hey, I'll see you tomorrow for Flying Practice, okay?" Rainbow said, though I didn't completely believe her.
"Okay Rainbow Dash," I said with a tilt of my head. "Are you sure that..."
She didn't answer, she just ran off before I could get any more answers out of her. Maybe she'd be more willing to talk tomorrow, or I could ask some of the other Ponies around town if they knew anything.
That's when the clock struck 6, I had to get going, I jumped back on my scooter and went off towards home.
00000
"So how was your day today, Scootaloo?" My mom Wild Wind asked as she put the plate in front of me.
"It was good," I said. "After class I went with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to talk to Twilight about ways we can help Ponies."
"That's great," my dad Cruising said with a smile. "I'm glad you and your friends have been having fun."
I smiled and nodded, something about today was still bugging me though. My parents worked with Rainbow Dash as weather ponies, maybe if I asked them they would be able to give me some clues as to her behavior.
"Hey mom, dad, can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Sure, anything sweetie," Mom said.
"Do you know anything about Rainbow Dash's family?" I asked. "She's always kind of avoided the question, and today she was acting really weird."
My parents looked between each other as if they were trying to decide exactly how to answer my question.
"That's, probably something you should ask her about," Dad answered, I thought they probably knew something, but they weren't going to give me any answers. "Don't you agree Wild?"
"Yeah," Mom said with a nod. "If she wants to tell you, she will."
I sighed and went back to eating, something about this whole thing was weird. I had to find out more about this tomorrow.
I really hoped that I could get some answers, Rainbow Dash was like a big sister to me, and if there was something wrong, then I wanted to know what it was.
I went back to eating, I was going to find out what was wrong tomorrow, no matter what.
00000
Today was Saturday, so I didn't have to worry about going to school, instead I headed to Fluttershy's Cottage. Since she had known Rainbow Dash growing up, she was the most likely Pony to know what was bugging Rainbow.
I knocked at the door and Fluttershy quietly opened the door with a small smile. "Oh, hi Scootaloo, can I help you?
"Yeah, I was wondering if you could tell me about Rainbow Dash's family," I said, hoping that the shy Pegasus could help me.
Fluttershy's answer was so quiet that I couldn't even hear it. "Umm, what was that Fluttershy?"
"I don't know..." She said a little louder. "I, never met her parents when we were fillies and she never told me about them."
I found that odd, Rainbow Dash hadn't even told her friend about her parents? Fluttershy was a nice Pony and probably could've kept a secret, why wouldn't she be trusted with whatever it was?
"Did you ever try to ask about her?" I asked, Fluttershy shook her head.
"Well, yeah, but she always dodged the question," Fluttershy said. "I'm sorry Scootaloo, I wish I could help more."
"Its okay Fluttershy, if you remember anything, could you please tell me?" I asked.
"Umm, why are you asking anyway?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, she was acting kind of weird yesterday, so I wanted to see if I could find anything out," I said, an idea was starting to form in my head, but it wasn't going to be easy to pull off. "Thank you, Fluttershy."
"Any time Scootaloo," Fluttershy said with a nod before going back inside, I headed out to see if I could find answers.
00000
Since I had started getting closer to Rainbow Dash, she had made a ladder out of cloud materials so I could make my way up to her Cloud Mansion. I wished I could fly, Rainbow Dash had been trying to help me, but it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere sometimes.
I looked up at the cloud, the ladder was rolled up, but still visible from down here, I just had to figure out how to get it down from here without asking for anypony's help. I spotted a rock lying nearby and tossed it with all my strength, but it missed the ladder.
I cringed as I heard the sound of breaking glass, half expecting to hear Rainbow Dash yelling at me for breaking her window, but it didn't come. Oh that's right, she's working with the Weather Teams today.
I looked around and found another rock, this time I aimed more carefully and threw it at the ladder. This time it hit and knocked over the ladder as it fell down.
"Okay, lets see if I can get any answers..." I said and climbed up the ladder and headed into the Cloud mansion.
00000
Well, its not like I expected there to be a big sign lying out that said, "Clues to Rainbow Dash's past here," but it would at least be nice to have some sort of clues. I didn't know how long I had before she got here, so I had to make sure that I found them quickly.
I made my way into her bedroom and carefully checked all the dresser, it was pretty ordinary at least. Finally I found something interesting, it was a picture of Rainbow Dash as a filly with two older Ponies, one looked kind of like a male version of her, the other was a pink color with a purple mane.
"Hey, this must be Rainbow and her parents..." I said as I examined the picture, they looked happy, what had changed?
"Squirt, why are you in here?" Rainbow's voice said from behind me, making me jump.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash... I'm so sorry, I was just really worried about you and I wanted to know..." I said quickly, trying to explain my actions.
Rainbow sighed and wrapped her leg around me. "Scoots, its okay... I'm sorry I've been acting weird lately..."
"Is it about your parents?" I asked, Rainbow looked sad, I knew I had hit the nail right on the head. "Oh... I'm sorry."
"Its okay, they died a long time ago... when I was around your age," Rainbow said sadly. "Sorry Scootaloo, I shouldn't be dumping all of this you."
I looked up at the Pony who had been both my mentor and my big sister for awhile now, I wished there was something I could do to help. I gave her a hug, it was a small act sure, and normally I wasn't one for hugs, but I felt she needed it.
"Thanks Scoots..." Rainbow said as she hugged back. "Come on, lets go do some flying practice."
"Okay!" I said happily as we headed out of her Cloud Mansion.
00000
Flying practice went about as well as it ever did, I still couldn't do more than hover, but still, it was good to see Rainbow Dash happy again.
"You're doing great Squirt, keep this up and you'll be flying better than even me," Rainbow said as we finished up.
I couldn't help but smile, Rainbow Dash always knew how to cheer me up and make me feel better, I just wished that there was something I could do to...
An idea was starting to form in my mind, but it wasn't going to be easy, I'd have to talk to my parents and if they agreed I could probably get Twilight's help to get it worked out.
"I'll see you later Rainbow, take care," I said as I got on my scooter and headed home, I just had to hope my parents would be willing to listen.
00000
It took a few days but everything had been worked out, thankfully Twilight was able to cut through all the red tape, being friends with a Princess sure had its perks.
I invited Rainbow Dash to join my family for dinner that evening, she was happy to accept, it was nice actually, she had never really come over before.
"Thank you for the amazing dinner Mrs. Wind," Rainbow said with a smile as she pushed her plate away. "I haven't had a meal that good in forever."
"Yep, mom is the best cook in Ponyville," I said with a smile.
"Aww Scoots, I'm not that great," mom said sheepishly. "But I'm glad you liked it, Rainbow."
"Thanks for inviting me to dinner," Rainbow said. "I, guess I should probably get back home."
"There's one more thing we have for you," Dad said and nodded to me. "Scootaloo, why don't you go get it?"
"Okay!" I said, trying to contain my excitement as I ran into the other room, this was exciting, I had worked really hard to get this ready. I came back in a few minutes later with a piece of paper in my hoof and set it on the table.
Rainbow opened it and her eyes went wide, she hadn't expected that at all. "Are you sure you want to..."
"We know you're a bit old for adoption, but with the way you've helped Scootaloo, we'd be happy to have you in our family," mom said with a nod. "If you want to of course."
Rainbow looked at me with her eyes still wide, she looked like she was going to cry. "Thank you..."
We hugged tightly, I had gotten what I always wanted, Rainbow Dash was my big sister, not just honorary anymore, but for real.
But more importantly, Rainbow now had a family again.
Author's Note
Yeah, its short, but it was something I wanted to write, I've seen a lot of fics where Rainbow Dash (or her family) adopts Scootaloo, so I thought it might be interesting to write one where the reverse happens, sort of.
