Author's Note

Thanks to Xowatle for proof reading and editing this story :)

The Concert

Scootaloo grumbled as she lay on the floor of the Cutie Mark Crusaders base, her nose wrinkling and threatening to shoot off a sneeze as the dust attacked her. Normally, she and her friends would have been there together trying to figure out how to help other ponies with their cutie mark problems. But there wouldn’t be any pony there that night besides her. All of Ponyville had somehow managed to get tickets to Countess Coloratura’s concert…everypony except her that is. It wasn’t as if the tangerine filly had bits pouring out of her ears to afford such common luxuries.

Being a Cutie Mark Crusader was a great honor and she wouldn’t ever give up trying to help ponies find their Cutie Marks. After all, assisting others to discover the meaning behind their cutie marks had blessed her with her own cutie mark. However, it didn't really come with a stable source of income, unless you counted smiles and joyful tears as bits. She was gonna have to bring that up at the next meeting. The only reason her two best friends had been able to go was because of their families' help. Sweetie Belle’s sister, Rarity, was working the event as Countess Coloratura’s costume supervisor, and Applebloom’s older sister, Applejack, was the star’s fillyhood friend so she managed to snag a couple of tickets for her family like that. Both her besties had even wreaked havoc around town trying to get her a ticket to come along or find a way to sneak her inside, saying that the Cutie Mark Crusaders should never be apart.

“Oh don’t worry gals, have fun. I’ll stay and file paperwork to plan out our next crusade!” Scootaloo said in a high-pitched mocking tone, reenacting her conversation with her friends. Lifting her arms up with exasperation and slamming them down, causing a grey dust storm to rise up. “Cough, cough…maybe I should have volunteered to dust instead!” The pegasus said, starting to cough and wheeze as she sat up, her eyes watering a bit.

“Urg, maybe I should just go home.” She sighed as she pushed herself up from the ground, shaking her body free from the dust bunnies making their home on her mane. The logic was sound though. At home, she had a bed to mope on and tons of more snacks besides Applebloom’s complimentary Apple Acer’s trail mix. That consisted of three different kinds of dried apples, apple seeds, and apple sauce taffy. If an apple a day kept the doctor away, then the Cutie Mark Crusaders were set to not see a doctor for the rest of their lives, thanks to the apple-themed snacks they feasted on in the treehouse.

“No…” She huffed as she sat down near a brown oak table by the window for some fresh air, letting her chin crash against it as she stared at the open doorway. She was gonna want to hear all about the concert and if she went home she would just stay up all night wondering what happened. The Countess was famous for her amazing dance moves, cool displays, mesmerizing light shows, and the unique way she sang with divine prowess. How would she be able to sleep without knowing or worse yet, sleep knowing what she missed out on?!

“Eeerg…” Scootaloo groaned as she brought her front legs up and let them lazily flop on the table too. “I guess I should start that paperwork.” She said with hopelessness, which spoke volumes to how bored the filly truly was. Paperwork was probably the last thing in the world she wanted to do right now, but it was better than just stewing in self-pity for the next hour or so. However, despite having declared her out loud to no one in particular, Scotaloo’s body stayed frozen still as a statue.

“I JUST WANT TO GO TO THE CONCERT!” The filly cried out to the empty room, wishing that someone or Celestia herself would deliver her from this tribulation. But as somepony loudly cleared their throat, Scotaloo felt a chill run up her spine as she whipped her head around. Just for her gaze to be filled with the cyan and rainbow colors of her hero/big honorary sister/mentor flapping her wings in the doorway.

“I gotta give it to ya Scoots, you are one hard pony to track down haha!” The cyan pegasus said as she floated through the doorway and she looked around the clubhouse. “But guess I should have started here.” She pointed out with a chuckle, before looking down at her little sister. “Also, since when were you so interested in concerts?” She asked, landing on the wooden floorboards of the clubhouse.

“Oh I'm not ... I mean I do…I mean…” Scootaloo struggled to stammer out, immediately trying to explain what she meant as she stood up. She didn’t want her hero to think she was some soft frilly pony obsessing over cute things like everypony else, instead of hardcore extreme sports like her.

I-I err…um y-you see w-with that it… uh” She said matter of factly, blabbering complete eloquent nonsense as her cheeks grew warm with crimson and she felt her heart pounding a thousand miles per second. “H-hoo boy, is it h-hot in here?!” She asked, sweat forming on her brow as she did her best to avoid looking into the questioning glare of Rainbowdash.

“Ptttth hahaha! You should see your face right now!” Rainbow Dash laughed seeing the filly freak out. “Trust me, Scoots, I don’t blame you for wanting to be there. Anypony would not want to miss the Countess’s singing for anything in the world.” Rainbow Dash explained as she reached over with her wing and pulled the tangerine ball of feathers, lovingly tossing her mane.

“Eh yeah, it would have been cool to go to.” Scootaloo sighed as she was released from the embrace, falling back on her bottom and finally resting her head against her hero. “But I couldn’t get a ticket…and security was too tight to sneak past.” She mumbled pouting, whispering that last part with a bit of annoyance.

“Yeah, that would stink not being able to attend such an awesome event,” Rainbow Dash said, keeping her wing around her little sister for comfort. “Too bad you don’t have somepony to pay for your ticket. I wonder if there are any still left at the booths” She pointed out, her magenta eyes looking up at the ceiling in sad contemplation.

“Well I do, but…they are hardly ever here.” Scootaloo moped, her eyes lightly glistening with teardrops. “Mom and Dad are…out doing their thing around Equestria most of the year. They are hardly around anymore, except to pass by. I wish they would spend more time with me, instead of focusing on work. There are so many fun things I want us to experience as a family together with them but…maybe one day I will be able to matter more to them than work.” She said with a little tremble in her voice, doing her best to not cry.

“Hey Dash, do you think I could come with you and your parents to Cloudsdale next time there's another festival or a carnival so I won't have to be all alone?” She said, her voice filling up with melancholic hope as she looked up at Rainbow Dash. Her grayish-purple eyes sparkled under the light filled with tears and longing that threatened to make Rainbow Dash’s own heart shatter into tears as well. Ever since Rainbow Dash and her parents, Bow Hothoof & Windy Whistles, learned of the neglect Scootaloo had been suffering they've made it their personal mission to be there for her whenever they could. Which granted, was not as often as they would have all liked.

Scootaloo always looked forward when she got to hang out with them, thinking of fun stuff to do together, especially the stuff she never got to do with her own parents. When the four of them finally got together, they never seemed to make a dent in the list of things Scootaloo wanted to do with them. It was probably time to start crossing out some of the things on the list of when she was younger. Having a patty-cake contest lost its adorable charm a few years back.

“Uh, come on Scoots, I was here to mess with you a bit. But now you’re making me feel bad with all this serious emotional stuff.” Rainbow Dash sighed, feeling like a little bit of a jerk on the inside for her poorly planned teasing.

“I-I’m sorry!” The girl gasped, fearing she had insulted the pegasus. “I didn’t mean to–!” She had begun to say before Rainbow Dash reached behind her spare wing that wasn’t covering the filly and pulled out two laminated pieces of paper connected to dark blue lanyards. V.I.P. has written on the papers with Countess Coloratura’s signature red ‘hoovesey’ stamped over them.

“Gotcha a surprise.” She said, smiling down at the girl, whose maw hung open in disbelief and rapidly shot to and fro between the tickets and Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, I know, prrreeeettyyy awesome, huh? Pulled a few strings and got a couple of V.I.P seats for me and a plus-one.” She said before pretending to look around, her rainbow mane lagging behind her. “Know anypony who might want to be interested in being in…row 2 seats 29 and 30?” She asked, bringing the paper closer to her face to read where the empty seats were listed on the back. “Was thinking about maybe asking you, buuuuuut you seem rather happy hanging out in this dusty room all on your own.”

“No! I’ll go! Please take me!” Scootaloo begged, getting on her legs and planting her front hooves on Rainbow Dash’s chest. Her eyes were now wide and filled with excitement, even tilting her head as a high-pitched squee came from the grinning filly.

“Well…fine…but only cuz you insisted!” Rainbow Dash said with a smile on her face, using her wing to gently push the girl back to the ground. The filly instantly started to prance in place as she squealed excitedly.

“My first concert! Eeeeeeee! And it's with the one and only Rainbow Dash!” The girl cheered before crashing into the grown pegasus in a hug.

“Your first concert, huh?” She asked, ruffling the filly’s purple hair. “Well, then I’m glad I got the V.I.P passes then!” She said, proud that she had the foresight to get this little gift for her.

“H-how did you manage to get tickets anyways?!?” Scootaloo asked, trying to look up at her hero, but the continuing hair ruffles made it difficult. “The tickets got sold out within the first few hours! The V.I.P. ones were like the first to go!”

“Like I said, I pulled a few strings. Don’t worry about it, I can be very resourceful when I want to be.” The cyan pegasus assured the orange filly. In reality, she just had asked her friend Applejack if she could get a couple of more tickets in exchange for doing chores at the farm for a week…but the filly didn’t need to know that.

“So, let's get going! The show is about to start!” She said, lowering herself down to allow Scotalloo to hope on her back. Needing no invitation, Scootaloo hopped on the grown Pegasus' back ready for the flight of her life. “Hold on!” Rainbow Dash ordered, bracing herself before shoving off the ground and dashing out of the clubhouse in a blur.

A rainbow and orange-colored bolt could be seen careening through the skies of Ponyville and stopping over the concert area. Dozens of ponies were already in their seats and dozens more were outside still trying to get their tickets verified. It looked like not only was everypony in Ponyville present, but numerous other creatures across the lands had made their trek to see the pop star’s performance.

***

“I can’t believe I’m here!” Scootaloo said, her eyes wide as the two landed and she jumped off Rainbow Dash’s back. Her eyes filled with wonder as she looked around the colossal stage that had been built and the numerous fans mingling about.

“Well, believe it Scoots.” Rainbow Dash said, playfully bumping into Scootaloo before dropping the lanyard around her neck. The filly’s eyes grew wide as she smiled and another high-pitched squee sounded off of her as she jumped up and down excitedly. She brought her hoof to the pass as if she needed to touch it just to make sure that it was real and not the coolest, most awesomest dream she ever had.

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” The filly cheered, bouncing around the Pegasus before she rested her head against her hero and older sister. “I-I’ll do whatever I can to pay you back! I’ll sweep your whole house! I’ll do your laundry! Wait, you don’t have laundry…oh, I’ll make you clothes so you'll have laundry for me to do!”

“Nah, don’t worry about it kid.” Rainbow Dash, trying to act cool, looking at a hoof, blowing on it as if it were dirty. “It’s a gift to you. Let’s say it’s thanks for being an awesome number 1 fan for all these years.”

Looking down at the little filly, Rainbow Dash dropped the cool look as she looked at Scootaloo and was completely caught off guard by her expression. Scootaloo’s pupils had enlarged, looking like black saucers in her eyes with a purplish outline. The Cutie Mark Crusader's mouth was practically touching the floor completely awestruck, not breathing for a solid minute.

“Scoots, you ok?” Rainbow Dash asked, reaching over and trying to close the girl's open maw. But when she moved her hoof away the filly's mouth dropped back down. “Oh no, I think I broke her!” Rainbow muttered with slight panic, looking around the venue in hopes of finding a medical tent. There had to be at least one medic pony around, right? But thankfully, Scootaloo took a deep sharp breath in before Rainbow Dash could rush to the hospital.

“RAINBOW DASH SAID I’M AN AWESOME FAN!” She squealed out, her legs going crazy as she stomped in place and she spun in a circle. Her ear-piercing squeal was at least four times as loud as the squeal she let out when learning she was going to the concert. The soundwaves emanating from the tiny filly were so powerful that some stage lights had begun to shatter. Everypony paused and turned to look at them with a mixed look of astonishment and concern, mainly due to wondering how such a loud noise had originated from the tiny filly.

“Don’t worry everypony, this is normal for her! I….think.” Rainbow Dash assured everypony, getting on her hind legs and waving her front legs placatingly. But everypony’s attention went back to their chatter as fast as it was taken away and thankfully Scootaloo’s squeals also died down to a more manageable level. “Feeling better now that you got that out?” Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, her ears still lightly ringing from the sound blast.

“Uh huh!” She said, a beaming smile on her face. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash! T-this is like the second-best day of my life. The best day ever was the day you took me under your wings!”

“Well, you know…” The older pegasus said, smiling and doing her best not to meet Scootaloo’s eyes. She didn't want her number 1 fan to break down into a blubbering mess, she needed to be the cool older loving big sister Scootaloo always deserved “I know it must be pretty awesome to–.” She continued on before somepony else’s voice cut through the air.

“I told you that scream was hers, I'd recognize that fanpony shriek just about anywhere.” A high-pitched but firm voice said as a white pony with pink and purple hair came into view. It was Sweetie Belle, one of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders and one of Scootaloo’s best friends. Behind her a yellow filly with a red bow followed, expertly dodging in between the legs of the adult ponies twice her size. “Scootaloo, I thought that you weren’t going to be able to make it?” The marshmallow-looking pony pressed as she stopped in front of the tangerine pegasus.

“Hey, watch it ya’ll. Pint-sized cattle moving through!” The southern-coded filly hollered out as she popped out beside Sweetie Belle.

“I wasn’t!” Scootaloo said, dropping down to the ground and wagging her backside back and forth as if the spirit of a cat suddenly possessed her. “But the coolest, most awesomest pony in all of Equestria came over and gave me, not only a ticket, but a…V.I.P PASS!” She cheered, smirking as she held up the laminated paper for her friends to see. The flightless pony failed to notice identical lanyards hanging from the necks of her friends. “Read it and weep girls. V.I.P! Very Important Pony! And that's what I am to Rainbow Dash! She said so herself before this whole crowd. I’m and I quote, ‘an awesome number 1 fan’!” She said jumping up and down.

The other CMC members just looked at each other, amusement glistening in their eyes. Only Scootaloo would spin a V.I.P. pass into some Rainbow Dash related. It wouldn’t have been a shock if the pegasus forgot that they were at a music festival.

“Uh-huh, that's cool, Scootaloo. We are just happy that you were able to make it after all. Only Celestia knows how hard we tried to help get you inside” Sweetie Belle assured her friend as she brought her hoof over and checked her friend's seats. “Oh great, you can sit with us!” She squeaked out, bouncing in place. “Come on, follow us, we can have some fun before the show starts in a few minutes!”

“Yeah, coming!” The tangerine pony cheered, getting ready to dash forward when she remembered there was somepony else there. A special somepony that got her the tickets and the opportunity of a lifetime. The realization made the girl’s body go still as her tail shot straight out, completely freezing mid-stride. “I mean, err…” She said, her tail drooping as she kicked the ground with a hoof before looking between Rainbow Dash and the Crusaders trying to decide what to do. She was torn between choosing to hang out with her hero, who gave her the most totally awesomeness & fantastical gift in the world, and her friends, the crew that had been there for her long before Rainbow Dash even noticed her.

“Whatcha waiting for, Scoots?” Rainbow Dash asked, her magenta eyes doing a barrel roll in her eyes before reaching over and giving the filly a gentle nudge. “It’s your first concert, go hang out with your friends! Make some memories, or whatever it is you’re supposed to do at these things.”

“B-but what about us hanging out!” Scootaloo said with tears shimmering in her eyes, turning around to look at her with sad puppy eyes and her bottom lip quivering. “I-I don’t wanna take a V.I.P. pass and dash! That doesn’t seem like something an awesome number-one fan would do!”

“We’ll hang out afterward, don't you worry. I’ll get you a hay burger meal or something.” She promised the filly, reaching over and ruffling the girl’s purple hair. “Have fun and besides, I’m gonna be sitting in the seat next to you during the concert !” She said, sticking her chest out and winking at the girl. Scootaloo let out a little squeal before turning and trotting away. But the filly only got a few steps away before turning around and tackling the cyan pegasus in a hug.

“Thanks, Rainbow Dash,” She said, nuzzling her head into her chest. “You really are the best sister I could have ever asked to exist.” She said with admiration, looking up with a beaming smile at the older pegasus.

“Oh, and there you go with all that mushy stuff again.” Rainbow Dash huffed, her cheeks suddenly feeling warm as she looked up to avoid the filly’s gaze. Wrapping a leg around Scootaloo and accepting the hug, staying there for a few seconds. “Now get going!” She ordered, playfully shoving the girl away. Making the young pegasus giggle as she darted away into the crowd with her friends.

***

“That was the best concert ever!” Scootaloo cheered as she sat at the end of a wooden picnic table. Her front hooves excitedly tapped on the table as her short wings fluttered about as if she were getting ready to blast off. The little pony’s eyes were shimmering to the point that they were practically glowing in the dark.

Rainbow Dash held off the urge to tell the filly that it was her first concert so she was probably going to be a little biased in that option. But then again, who was she to ruin her adorable excitement? So she just sat on the opposite side of the table and listened to the girl gush about the songs, taking sips of water as Scootaloo went on and on about every little thing she could. As promised she had brought the girl to the local diner, which had opened its doors as soon as the owners could get back from the concert. It was a good call on the owner's part, clearly trying to profit from the influx of visitors and tourists the concert had brought. Looking around the establishment, Rainbow Dash saw that almost all the seats were filled. They had been lucky to find a place to sit down in the outdoor seating area before the rest of the crowd meandered back into town. Normally Rainbow Dash would have just gotten the normal hayburger, but seeing how this was a pretty big night she opted out to get her and Scootaloo the double stack hayburgers and a side of fries. Their waitress had already gotten their order and now they just needed to kill time until they got their food.

“A-and I think the Countess looked right at me! We made eye contact!” The girl squealed, bouncing in her seat and making the bench squeak. “I even got lucky enough to get this!” She said, waving her hooves to her chest to the white T-shirt that had a giant version of the singer’s signature Hoovesey on it. The V.I.P. lanyard she had worn had been also replaced with a necklace that looked like the Countess’ Cutie Mark. A star made of gold with gemstones of different colors that formed into music notes shimmered in the moonlight as it dangled from Scootaloo’s neck.

Those were just a couple of pieces of merchandise the V.I.P. The bag that Scootaloo was given after the show when she and Rainbow Dash went backstage to meet the singer herself. The backstage area had been filled with dozens of things ranging from Countess Coloratura pencils, coffee mugs, stickers, and other items that had been stuffed into the filly’s sack. Rainbow Dash was also offered all of those things since they had been included with the benefits of exclusive tickets. But none of it was Wonderbolt merch so she had no need for the trinkets and why in Celestia’s name would she ever wear a shirt without wing holes? Maybe if she wanted her wings to be restricted and or use it as a sleep shirt then she would have gotten one. Otherwise, she was going to stick to being able to fly freely whenever she wanted unless it was a Wonderbolt uniform tracksuit.

“Thank you so much for tonight Rainbow Dash!” The filly said to the older Pegasus once again, getting on her hind hooves and leaning across the table. “This was really one of the best nights ever!” She cheered, waving one hoof wildly in the air.

“Eh, it’s no problem, Scoots.” The cyan pegasus assured the filly, resting her front hooves behind her head, leaning back slightly trying to look extra cool. It was as if boasting that managing to get V.I.P. tickets to an extremely popular concert was just a normal kind of thing, like finding a stray Bit on the ground. Smirking, she clapped Scootaloo’s hoof with one of her own in a highhoof nonetheless. “Glad you had fun.”

“Tons and tons of fun! I don’t know if I’ll even be able to sleep tonight!” She cheered as their waiter stopped at the table and set a red plastic basket filled with gold-colored fries between the two and two huge hayburgers between them. The burgers had been so stuffed with delectable goodness that they were almost as big as the tangerine filly’s head and looked ready to be devoured in a flash.

“Ok, well you might not go to sleep, but I gotta get you home at some point tonight before it gets too late.” The older Pegasus informed the filly, showing the small responsible side of the pony. “So eat up.” She cheerfully ordered the filly, grabbing her own burger and taking a big bite out of it. A flood of red ketchup shot out of the buns as Rainbow Dash attacked the bun, smearing her lips.

“Yes, mam!” Scootaloo said, puffing her chest out and giving her hero a salute before she crashed back onto her bottom and started to dig in. Unlike the adult pony, who was managing to get her mouth over the hay, the filly was struggling to bite chunks out of it. Scootaloo tilted her head and tried to tackle the monster of a sandwich using different methods, each varying in different results. After her third failed attempt to bite a good bit into the sandwich, the filly just shrugged her shoulders before shoving her whole face into the middle, not bothering to try and copy the way her big sister was eating. Although this was quite an effective method, this tactic soon had the girl’s entire muzzle, face, and forehead covered in dark red ketchup.

“Ptth.” Rainbow Dash scoffed, watching the adorable spectacle. Making Scootaloo stop mid-bite and face her older sister with a smile. “I like the makeup, Scoots.” She said, with a proud mirthy smile.

“Thanks!” She said, before frowning and trying to figure out what her hero had meant. She hadn’t put on makeup that night, she didn’t have time to do that for the concert. AND OF COURSE, SHE WOULDN’T WEAR MAKEUP! That wouldn’t be cool and Rainbow Dash almost never wore it so why would Scootaloo? She wouldn’t ever do something like that and look all froufrou and delicate in her hero's eyes. Not even that time she went to Sweetie Belles for a tea party, she definitely wasn’t wearing eyeshadow. That was just…bruises, yeah. She ran into a doorknob, twice, and only the outside of her eyes got bruised…yeah that was it. Tilting her head still trying to figure out her comment, she reached to touch her face and blushed when she felt all the ketchup decorating her orange coat.

“Whoops.” She said with a sheepish giggle. “Looks like I need to ketch-up on some cleaning!” She joked, reaching to a silver napkin dispenser waiting to be used, and pulled out a few napkins to clean the mess off of her.

“Urgk.” Rainbow Dash gagged and rolled her eyes. “That pun was so bad I’m relishing the fact it was only one!” She joked, smirking at Scootaloo.

“Nice one.” The filly giggled as she finished cleaning herself off before going back to her burger. This process of eating, telling jokes, and getting plastered with condiments repeated throughout the night as they continued to enjoy their meals. Both of them would get a few bites in before needing to take a breather to clean off their faces from the revolutionary makeup statements they put on display. Who knew eating food twice the normal size was so much work and fun at the same time?! But after some time and with the restaurant cleared of any other patrons, the filly finally finished her gigantic meal causing her to have a rotund potbelly…well as much as she managed to stuff down anyways.

“Whew…” Scootaloo sighed with a slight burp, a hoove landing to rub her belly as she looked at the two ketchup-soaked buns and the thin line of hay remaining from the burger. “I can eat another bite!” The filly informed her hero, looking at her with a tired satisfied smile.

“No shame in that, I barely finished mine.” Rainbow Dash responded back, despite having clearly cleaned off her place entirely and still popping fried into her mouth. “Anyways, let's get you home. I feel like the owner is just waiting for us to finish soon. If we dilly-dally any longer they might just kick us out anyway for loitering.” She said, turning to the open window to peer inside the restaurant. A trio of pony staff were shooting the duo sharp glares, clearly not happy that they would have to stay late to clean the huge mess they both made in the outside seating area. made outside. “Sorry!” She called out before leaving a small pile of bits on the table as a peaceful offering.

“Hop on Scoots.” She ordered, going over and crouching down for the girl to hop on. It was already so late at night and she needed to make sure she got home safe. Besides, seeing the adorable half-asleep eyes of her little number 1 fan was hard to resist. Even if she was a strong and brave filly, the thought of her sleepily tumbling throughout town bothered her to no end. “I think it's way past your bedtime sis, no? You look ready to fall asleep face first into the table any second now.” She asked with sisterly concern, making Scootaloo shake her head in denial.

“W-what? No, of course not! Don’t be crazy” The girl blushed, puffing her cheeks out. “I don’t even have a bedtime!” She assured Rainbow Dash with a sleepy gaze, still doing as she was told and climbing onto her back.

“Ok, I guess today has just been filled with too much excitement for you to sleep huh? You remind me of myself when I was your age, fighting off sleep just to enjoy more of the day..” She laughed, flapping her wings and lifting off the ground. She didn’t dart off in a rainbow blur this time, figuring the pony on her back was gonna be catching Z’s at any moment. She remembered being Scootaloo’s age and seeing her first Wonderbolts live performance. She had been running and flying around afterwards trying to do all the tricks back at her house. She remembered launching herself off the sofa in her parent’s living room at a hula-hoop she managed to hang from the ceiling before blacking out. She woke up a few hours later in her bed, her parents having moved her there after they found her fast asleep on the ground.

Despite Scootaloo’s protest, Rainbow Dash was right and by the time she opened the door to the filly’s home, the tiny pegasus was happily snoring on her back. Just when she was about to knock on the door, she realized that all the lights in the house were turned off and it looked like no one was home at the moment. Scotaloo lived with her aunts here in Ponyville, but it seems they might have gone out or something. Even if her aunts were around more often than her parents, they still didn't do a good job keeping tabs on her as any responsible guardian should.

“Ok, fine, I’ll take care of it.” She sighed, not wanting to wake up the sleeping filly. Reaching for the key under the doormat, she opened the door and started to look around for the filly’s room. Thankfully it was easy to spot since it was the only bedroom that was overflowing with Rainbow Dash merchandise. If her parents ever caught a glimpse of the tangerine pegasus’ room they would probably realize they had some serious competition for being the number one Rainbow Dash fan. In the light of the moonlight, the adult pony could make out stuffies of her, action figures, and a banner hanging above Scootaloo’s bed depicting her doing her own Sonic-Rainboom. The Pegasus was sure there was much more memorabilia that was hiding in the veil of the darkness that she couldn’t see, but she wasn’t too concerned about that.

“Ok, easy does it.” She said, carefully using her wings to lift and delicately depositing Scootaloo on her bed. “Glad you had fun tonight Scoots, sleep tight.” She whispered to her before tucking her and turning to head to the door leading out of the girl’s room.

“Wait…Rainbow Dash.” The small pony groaned, making Rainbow Dash look back to see that her number 1 fan tossed about and was flapping her wings as fast as she could. “Don’t… leave me…behind.” She begged, reaching out to her as if in a dream, grinding her teeth together in the immense effort it was taking to try to lift off her bed. It was clear the girl was just dreaming, but seeing her in pain made Rainbow Dash’s heart wrench and she sighed, trotting back over to the girl.

“Hey, kid, don’t worry,” She whispered, gently stroking her head trying to soothe her worries. “I’m not leaving ya in the dust, I promise. I will always be there for you little sis, no matter what.” She tenderly said to the filly, sighing in relief seeing that she was beginning to calm down.

“Thanks fer…comin back…” Scootaloo muttered, her wing flapping slowing down, finally free from the nightmares that haunted her. “You da best…” She sighed in relief, nuzzling against her pillow.

“Well, it looks like I’m spending the night. I can't leave the best little sister and number 1 fan in the world hanging,” Rainbow Dash snickered to herself, tucking Scootaloo back in and laying to rest on the floor. Thankfully, the bed had been made so low to the ground that she would still be able to keep one wing protectively draped over Scootaloo like a fluffy feathery blanket. Was it comfortable? No. Was her wing going to be sore in the morning? Yes, though she would do anything for her number 1 fan, even sleeping on a dusty floor for the night.