A solid knock knock knock from the front door caused Windy Whistles to pause the raging battle she was having against the monumental obelisk of dirty dishes. It had been the chore that the blue pegasus had pushed off as long as possible at that point. Despite being a seasoned veteran when it came to cleaning, she still detested the visceral gross feeling she got from touching wet food remains. Windy was almost darn sure that Faust might have favored unicorns since they could use magic to clean rather than having to use their hooves and using her dexterous wings was out of the question. She had managed to do what little laundry she and her husband accumulated throughout the week, completed all of the gardening work, and even swept the entire house twice. Though admittedly, she had cleaned it twice since she had entirely forgotten she was covered in cloud dust from gardening.
No matter what other chores she preoccupied herself with, she could still hear an ocean of dishes taunting her in her mind. Unable to avoid her fate any longer, she summoned all of her courage and began to clean the evil plates left and right. That is until she came face to face with her most dreaded foe, the baking pan stained with red with clumps of red tomato sauce from the parmesan eggplant. Having spent nearly 10 minutes trying to scrape off the stubborn chucks, the pan mocked her willpower as the final boss. Rather than letting the stubborn villain get the best of her, she decided to give the pan a little time out by waterboarding it with some warm water with a layer of soapy white foam sitting on top of it. But while she waited she still left a small mountain of dishes in the sink that were begging for her attention. So she had been more than happy to take the impromptu deus ex machina and be whisked away from her burden of dishes to see who was at the door. Although she didn't expect to have any visitors today, hopefully, it wasn’t somepony wanting a spontaneous dinner party…there weren’t any dishes available at the moment.
Drying off her hoofs the best she could, Windy zipped to the door with incredible speed and grace not wanting to keep anypony waiting. Pausing at the foot of the entrance, she collected herself not wanting to seem a tad too excited to be getting out of doing chores. So she took a deep breath in and she landed on the ground before opening the door. “Hellooo~...ho?” She asked in a sing-song voice as the door opened, only to be greeted by a gust of clean crisp wind. Looking from side to side she didn’t see any pony there, leaving her to think maybe she was hearing things. Maybe cleaning dishes was bad for one's own mental health or it could have been that she was just that eager to get out of dishes.
“Hiya Mrs. Rainbow Dash's mom!” A high-pitched tomboyish voice called out, surprising the mare since the sound had come from below her peripheral vision. Looking down, she was greeted with the sight of a tangerine pegasus filly with a pair of short wings sticking out of her back. The girl had a white-striped purple helmet strapped on her head and beside her laid a rudimentary blue wooden scooter, which had left wheel marks all over the front cloud yard. Thankfully, the small extreme skater had avoided the bright pink daisies that Windy had finished planting that day. Though replanting them could have given her another task to do that day before returning to the mountain of dishes begging to be done.
“Hiya, Scootaloo!” Windy replied, her eyes sparkling with excitement at seeing her daughter's number one fan. Well…one of her top three number-one fans, as Windy and her husband definitely couldn’t give up that title easily. But the married couple was more than delighted to share the title with the filly. For as long as she could remember, Scootaloo had always admired her daughter as her role model/hero and even had created the first official fan club in Ponyville.“I didn’t know you were planning on coming over today! And it seems that you took the time to practice some neat tricks in my front yard.” Windy said with a warm smile.
“Haha, sorry I was just so stoked to be here and…Oh yeah, I came to deliver a letter asking if I can come over!” Scootaloo said with glee, unclipping her helmet and freeing her purple mane that instantly fluffed up into a wild mohawk. Digging around her protective gear, she pulled out a white envelope sealed with a sticker of a cloud that had a rainbow-colored lightning bolt striking out of it and handed it over to Windy. The older mare instantly recognized her daughter's cutie mark in sticker form, though she was unaware that they had begun to make merchandise of Rainbowdash. Had she known sooner, she would have already overflowed the house with her wonderbolt’s paraphernalia.
“Thank you Scoots,” Windy said as she grabbed the envelope and carefully opened it, not wanting to damage the sticker. If the adult pegasus could manage it, she would transfer the sticker to her daughter’s baby book and show it off to the whole neighborhood. “I might have the dishes done in time for a big dinner party had I known you were coming over.” She joked, chuckling to herself. Pulling the letter out of the envelope she began reading its contents out loud with the gusto of a royal announcer:
DearMr&MrsRainbowDash’sparents,
Hopefully,you guys are havinganawesome day!Anawesome dayfortheparentsofthemostAWESOMEPONY TO EVER EXIST!I’mwritingtoseeifIcancomeovertodayandhearmorestoriesaboutwhenRainbowDashwasmyage.IknowI’llneverbeasawesomeasherbuthavingsomekindofbartoreachwouldbeabiginspirationtome!
Thanksamillioninadvance,
Withlove,Scootaloo♥
RainbowDash’s#1fan.
The letter was short, sweet, and very well written in fancy cursive for someone Scootaloo’s age. Each and every letter was written in a different color making it look like a rainbow had thrown up on the letter making it just a little harder to read. Just as she leaned the letter slightly to admire its creative splendor, silver glitter rained off the paper revealing drawn pictures of rainbows and suns all wearing sunglasses filling up the entire sheet. Unable to process the fantastical display of colors, Windy’s heart filled with an overwhelming sense of warmth. The creative antics only seemed to bring back sweet memories of similar kinds of mischief Rainbow Dash would get into when she was about the same age. Beaming with a smile, she gently folded the magnificent letter up and slipped it back into the envelope before pocketing it in her orange jacket for safekeeping.
“Well Scootaloo, you certainly went above and beyond with the awesome presentation! But honey, you’re more than welcome to come over at any time,” Windy said, moving out of the way of the door and ushering Scootaloo inside. “But why personally deliver the letter yourself when you were already coming over dear? You could've just knocked and asked to come inside.” She said with a motherly chuckle, making Scootaloo pause midstep.
“Huh, I didn’t think about that,” Scootaloo said, furrowing her eyebrows and bringing her hoof to her chin as she was lost in thought. “Guess I was too excited to wait for the mail to be delivered here haha. So um…are you sure it's still ok if I can come over anytime?” She asked looking up with a sheepish smile, a high-pitched squee sound coming from somewhere.
“Heck yeah, it is!” Windy said, reaching her hoof over and pushing the girl into the house. “I just did a bunch of cleaning and I just gotta have somepony here to appreciate it!” She exclaimed as she shut the door behind them. “Can I get you anything Scootaloo? An apple fritter, chips, a daisy sandwich, cream soda, blueberry pie, or maybe some of my famous leftover eggplant parmesan?” She offered wholeheartedly, as though she needed another pasta sauce-stained dish monstrosity to deal with. Regardless, Scootaloo must have come a long way from Ponyville and she was going to be darn sure that she felt right at home.
“Nah, I'm not really hungry. Thank you for the kind offer though, Mrs. Rainbow Dash’s mom.” She said with a beaming smile as they both walked towards the kitchen. “But if you've got a band-aid to spare I would really appreciate it.” The girl requested as she stopped and held her leg up. “I might have tripped several times during the journey up here. I'm still not used to skating up here in Cloudsdale with how windy it can get. I really thought clouds were supposed to be softer to land on…guess I was wrong. She said, with a weak chuckle.
At first, Windy didn’t think much of it sinceScootaloo was a lot like her dear Dashy. A bit wild, rambunctious, and often prone to taking a tumble or fall from time to time. But taking a closer glance at the scrape that stretched across the girl's leg, made her wince with motherly concern. Looking up at Scootaloo, she noticed that despite her brave smile she had a few shimmering tears in her eyes. Internally reproaching herself for not noticing it sooner, being delighted by her sudden visit, she needed to take care of the injury right away lest it gets infected. Windy had no idea how the filly managed to get such a bad ouchy from crashing into some clouds, but that didn’t matter at the moment.
“Oh my Celestia, Scootaloo!” She gasped, hoisting her up by her front legs into a tight hug. Wasting no time, she rushed over to the blue couch in the living room and gently sat her down on it. “Deary that must have been one heck of a tumble and a simple bandaid just ain't gonna cut it,” Windy said, trying her best to maintain her composure and not scare the filly even more. “We need to make sure that it doesn't get infected!” She said before zooming off in a blue blur to the bathroom and digging in her medicine cabinet. The sound of bottles being thrown about in the bathroom could be heard from the living room as Scootaloo sat on the soft couch.
“Mrs. Rainbow Dash’s mom, it's really not that bad!” The girl tried to reassure, but as she attempted to move her injured foot she winced and a tear rolled down her cheek. The pain wasn’t as bad as it had been when she fell off her scooter and scraped her leg. However, she might not have paid it much attention, since she was just excited to see her hero’s parents. She had done her best to ignore the pain and even managed to pull off some sweet stunts all the way to the house. When Scootaloo arrived at the front door, all she needed was a few moments to gather herself before knocking with a huge smile. Which totally didn’t involve any tears or muffled crying. She was thankful nopony had seen in that state and either way she would have denied it. Now it was just a little sharp sting that only happened as she moved the leg.
“Scootaloo, just call me Windy. You come over so often that you are practically family at this point.” The adult said, with a twinge of weariness in her voice as she flew back into the living room carrying a load of medical supplies. It had been a while since Windy’s motherly instincts had kicked into full gear and almost caused her to panic with worry. But this wasn't the first serious boo-boo she had dealt with and it wouldn't be the last especially since Scootaloo was the child embodiment of Rainbow Dash. “And don’t tell me that Scootaloo, that probably hurts a lot. I know you are trying to keep a brave face but I would rather you be honest with me. Admitting that you are hurt or even crying because of it is completely ok and not a sign of weakness. Even strong heroes know not to bottle up their pain and emotions, afraid of what somepony might think of them, especially in front of their family. But we gotta get that injury cleaned and wrapped up.” She sighed, her eyebrows furrowed with paternal concern as she moved in front of Scootaloo and looked her straight in the eye. Dropping some gauze pads, a roll of bandages, and a brown bottle filled with hydrogen peroxide next to her preparing for the procedure ahead.
Scootaloo looked at Windy a bit shocked, though not from being told to call Rainbow Dash’s mom her name since that wasn’t the first time she had been told that. But at how persistent and overprotective the older mare was, even going as far as to lecture her. Most anypony else would have just taken Scootaloo’s word and let her go about her day without a second thought. She had always tried to mirror Rainbow Dash’s cool and brave demeanor of being able to do anything out in public. So having somepony treat her with this level of paternal concern was completely new to her. Ever since her own parents had forgo–er…left her with her aunts in Ponyville to attend school, she had never had anyone treat her with this level of care before. Just like her parents, Scootaloos’s aunts would rarely pay attention to her. Leaving her to spend most of her days wandering around Ponyville practicing extreme stunts, going on adventures with the cutie mark crusaders, and or having sleepovers at their houses. Plus being confronted by the normally excitable mother of Rainbow Dash in a stern and serious manner would cause anypony to be immediately whiplashed into shape.
“I-I mean, if you’re sure it's no p-problem…thank you.” She said in a timid tone, nodding her head and holding her leg out as best she could.
“You’re welcome Scoots,” Windy said with a kind smile as she poured the contents of the brown bottle onto the gauze pad. The clear liquid instantly soaked into the gauze and filled the room with a bitter scent that made Scootaloo’s nose wrinkle. “Now this might sting a little, well…a lot actually. It's an antiseptic and it's going to clean out anything bad out of that wound. So I need you to be brave for me just a little longer, take a deep breath in, and brace yourself.”
Taking the order as if she were a soldier in the Canterlot army and being instructed by a commander, she braced herself for the worst. She took a deep breath in, puffing her chest out, her cheeks ballooning as she held her breath, and gave a confident head nod. ‘This couldn't hurt more than the crash and burn she had moments ago outside…right?’ She thought to herself, scrunching her face into a grimace.
“Ok, we will do this on the count to one alright? Three, two…” Windy said, pressing the gauze onto the filly’s wound, not finishing the countdown to catch Scootaloo off guard. She had clearly picked up a first-aid trick or two from needing to patch up her own daughter countless times during her youth. She had learned that the anticipation of the pain only served to amplify a pony’s fear towards it, rather than helping them brace for it. Immediately the filly flinched as the soaked gauze was pressed against her leg and Windy began gently to dab it across the wound. But past it being a little cold, Scootaloo was surprised that the anti-whatever it's called didn't really feel all that bad.
“That’s it?” Scootaloo asked with an incredulous tone, smirking at the adult as she released the excess air she was holding onto for dear life. If that was supposed to cause some kind of pain, the orange pegasus hadn’t really felt anything at all. Maybe that meant she was becoming just as strong and resilient as her idol?!?“Huh…That wasn’t so bad! Maybe-AH! Owowowowowowowow!”
Suddenly the gauze being dabbed against her leg went from feeling cold and wet to suddenly feeling like a thousand needles were being jammed into her skin. The flightless pegasus ripped her leg away and hugged it close as she kicked her bottom legs. A chorus of whimpers groans, and squeaks forced their way out of the girl as she kicked her bottom legs.
“I know Scoots. This is not the most pleasant feeling but we are almost done” Windy cooed in a sympathetic tone, wrapping her wings around her and gently pulling her into a hug. “It may not feel like this is doing anything to help but trust me, deary, this is better than letting it fester and get worse.” She said to the filly, who had her eyes sealed shut as tears flowed down her cheeks and held onto Windy tightly. Seeing the stream of tears coming from her face, Windy reached over to the wooden table next to them and grabbed a blue box of tissues. “Thank you for being so brave for me, my little hero,” Windy said, doing her best to wipe away Scootaloo’s tears. “We’re almost done, and this last part won’t hurt as much as the cleaning.” She promised as she released the filly from her hug and placed the box of tissues next to her for easy reach. “Here.”
Settling back into a sitting position and gently taking Scootaloo’s leg once more, she began to wrap it with the brown cloth-like bandage roll. Thanks to the reassuring words and the loving embrace she had received, Scootaloo had finally been able to stifle her tears and sniffles. Though her chest still puffed out in quivers as she took deep breaths to calm herself and her light purple eyes were tinted slightly red from her resurgence of tears.
“There, all done!” She said, grabbing a snow-white tissue from the box and using it to help clear the filly's face of any remaining tears and blow her nose.
“T-thanks, Windy…” She said, blushing a bit at openly being able to use the mare's name. It was such an awkward and foreign feeling to her since she didn't feel worthy enough to have the privilege to address her so casually. But she would be crazy to deny this blessing from one of the coolest moms in all of Equestria. “You won’t tell Rainbow Dash about this, right? I don’t want her thinking I’m a wimp or an uncool honorary sister.” She said, her shimmering purple eyes reflecting her very soul pleading her for deliverance from her shame. She had worked so hard to get where she was with Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo didn’t want to be twenty percent less awesome.
“Don’t worry, Scoots. It will be our little secret.” The adult promised, giving the child a wink as she tossed the tissue away. Windy would have to eventually have to ease those worries out from Scootaloo and teach her not to fret over the opinions of other ponies. Besides, she made a similar promise with Rainbow long ago and she knew for sure the two would only grow closer if they were more honest about their insecurities.“But since you were so brave and held on for as long as you could, you deserve a treat!” She said, her wings fluttering as she lifted off the ground heading towards a secret cabinet in the kitchen. It was all a part of the process that Windy had gotten quite used to with her daughter. Rainbow would often crash trying to break her personal speed record, get first-aid treatment from her loving mother, tears would be shed, reassuring hugs & kisses would be given adamantly, finally resulting in a delicious sweet treat being given by the end. Windy half suspected her daughter got scrapped more often than not just to try one of her famous apple-cider cinnamon cookies. Although she wasn't a famous baker like her friend, Mrs. Cake, she was quite proud to have her own secret recipes nopony knew about.
Moving aside the blotched green painting above the dining table, revealed a hole inside of the wall containing a glass jar about the size of a football. Reaching a hoof inside of the taciturn treasure, she pulled out a sparkling large tan cookie drizzled with cinnamon and a dozen little chunks of baked apple on it. Bringing the sugary treasure back to Scootaloo, Windy sat next to her and offered her the rightly earned treat. Still a bit shaky with sniffles, Scootaloo gingerly accepted the gift, giving Windy the biggest hug she could manage.
“Umh… thanks,” Scootaloo said tenderly, taking a moment to inspect the sugary confection while Windy still held her unto her a comforting embrace. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but Scootaloo could have sworn that angelic light was radiating from the cookie. It looked like such a simple treat, yet at the same time, something told her that it had been made with all of the love in the world. The moment she took a bite, her eyes began to swell with tears as she felt a warmth envelop her. A warmth that filled her very soul with the love only a mother could give to their child. Leaning her head against Windy, she continued to savor every single bite with a smile and a few joyous tears. In that singular moment, Scootaloo felt as though she had found that one thing she had wanted all of her life…a parent's love.
“Now let's see here, you wanted to talk about Dashie, right?” Windy asked, wiping away the remaining tears on Scootaloo's face. Not taking a break from eating the delicious cookie to talk, she nodded her head enthusiastically. Looking up at Windy sparkling excitement was practically pouring out of the filly’s eyes. “Well then, you are in luck cuz I happen to have the coolest, most awesome, amazingtastic stories of Rainbow Dash when she was about your age!” She exclaimed, throwing her spare hoof dramatically into the air. Seeing Scootaloo's tiny wings fluttering with elation at the prospect of hearing such tales, made her let out a giggle in response. “Ok, where to start? Hmmmmh…I know! How about the story of Rainbow Dash making a bowl of cereal for the first time?” She asked, soliciting an eager nod from Scootaloo. “Now how does this one start again? I believe that both Bow and I had come home exhausted from cheering Rainbow Dash…” Windy started to recount the tale.
The story, which should have taken mere minutes to narrate, ended up blossoming into an epic saga full of drama, betrayal, grief, and a harrowing victory against all odds. Well maybe not that crazy, but Windy sure knew how to make a simple story about learning to make cereal so exhilarating. Besides, much like every aspect of Rainbow Dash’s life, such ordinary events were filled to the brim with adventure.
“Thankfully the firefighter ponies were able to put out the fire before it got to our Rainbow Dash memorabilia collection and the rest of the neighborhood!” Windy guffawed, her boisterous laughter causing her to snort and wheeze a bit. “And poor Dashie’s mane hahaha…she had nearly burnt all of it off along with her eyebrows. It took us ages to get the smell of smoke out of it and we needed some extensions so it would look like a proper rainbow when she zoomed!” She said before letting out a little sigh, a million-dollar smile on her face as she thought about that endeavor. But looking down at the little filly, who was supposed to be listening, Windy let out a tiny gasp at the precious sight before her.
Having been too captivated by her own story, Windy hadn't noticed when Scootaloo had fallen asleep with her head resting against her and front hooves wrapped around her forearm. The little filly had a soft smile on her face as her shoulders steadily climbed and dropped with each serene breath. Sound asleep and oblivious to the world around her, Scootaloo rested in earnest, finally feeling at home.
Windy figured that the roller coaster of emotions the filly had gone through and her awesome storytelling skills had zapped the energy right from the apricot-colored pegasus. However, being the mother of one of the most energetic pegasus in all the land this didn't really surprise her. Dash had always been a particularly gold star napper, taking playing and resting to the extremes. She was always amazed at how she was able to sleep just about anywhere and snore just as loud as her father. But it seemed like Windy would have to prepare a silver star napper award for Scootaloo, since she had managed to fall asleep in such an adorable fashion.
“I guess you've had quite the exciting day, huh honey? Or maybe that tale is just a bit too much for some ponies to handle haha,” Windy softly whispered, using her spare hoove to grab a red and white blanket that hung from the backrest of the couch. “There…all warm and cozy. Wouldn't want you to catch a cold under my watch. Oh well, I guess I can't delay the inevitable anymore. It’s time to tackle those dishes and show them who's boss in this household.” She sighed, covering the girl in the blanket, and slowly attempted to free herself from Scootaloo's snuggling grasp.
“Mm…” The girl grunted as she felt the blanket cover her and mumbled out, “Thanks, Mom.” She said, nuzzling her head against Windy. Hearing Scootaloo utter that singular word…Mom…Windy stopped her escape, tears glistening in her eyes. Settling back down and letting Scootaloo rest her head on her lap comfortably, Windy did her best to stifle her tears and sniffles. In that one precious and singular moment, Windy knew that Faust had blessed her with another child.
“Well...sniff…I guess the dishes can wait for several more hours…or a day” She said with a chuckle, as she heard the front door open. Rounding around the corner her husband, Bowhotfoof, had come back from a long day at work.
“Honey I'm ho–” Bow began to say, before being seeing Windy hold up a hoof to her lips shushing him. “Ops…sorry. What's going on?” Bow asked in a stage whisper, taking off his white hard hat and coat and hanging them on a coat hanger. Slowly making his way to the couch for a better look, he smiled when seeing who had come to visit and was now sleeping peacefully next to his wife. “Ah, I see, the third number-one Rainbow Dash fan decided to pay us a visit. That explains why the scooter outside looked so familiar…for a second I had thought you had rekindled your passion to participate in extreme sports.” He remarked in a hushed tone. “Knowing you two, I'm sure you both spent all day having fun and telling stories about our Dashie. I would've called off work had I known haha! But knowing you sweetie, I bet that you also used her surprise visit as a way to avoid finishing up the mountain of dishes in the sink.
“I didn't want to get up and disturb her. Besides, look how cute she is snoring like an angel” Windy countered with a sly smirk, conveniently leaving out the fact she had just noticed Scootaloo was asleep.
“Don't worry though…I would've done the same” Bow said with mirth, coming up to Windy and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“But now that you are here aanndd seeing how you don’t have somepony using you as a pillooow~” She pointed out with a sing-song voice and a little wink.
“True and true.” He chuckled, getting the obvious hint. Reaching over and gently caressing Scootaloo's head with his wing, the filly’s smile grew a bit. “I’ll go ahead and defeat those pesky dishes for you then.”
“Before going off alone on your quest my dear dirty dish saviour, first take this.” She said, reaching into her orange jacket and pulling out Scootaloo’s letter. Glancing down at the letter she smiled, feeling another wave of joyous tears swell in her eyes, before handing it over to her husband.
“That is an awesome sticker! Should I place it into the Rainbow Dash album?” He assumed as he took the letter, already trying to figure out a way to get the sticker off the paper unharmed.
“Yes, but also maybe find a place for the letter in our Scootaloo album.” She said, getting a wide smile and a nod from her husband in return before trotting off to his mission. Leaving Windy and Scootaloo to enjoy the precious moment as mother and daughter.
