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                       The 'M' Word                        
                         -by Cxcd-                         
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The Accidential Verbal Slipppage of the Word Infamously Dubbed the 'M' Word
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The Accidential Verbal Slipppage of the Word Infamously Dubbed the 'M' Word
The day in which the accidental use of the ‘m’ word happened was a day like any other.
The sky was nearly completely spotless, with only the occasional drifting rogue cloud breaking up the otherwise unremarkable skyline. Ponies were bustling to and fro during the early mornings. Dew was still lingering on the trees, and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, making the lands feel slightly cold.
Rainbow Dash set Scootaloo on the ground, a good distance away from the Ponyville Schoolhouse. As to why Scootaloo was being delivered by Rainbow Dash- that’s one long story.
The story of Scootaloo was quite a tragic one. At least, in Rainbow Dash’s eyes, as tragedy by her was only viewed through descriptive novels giving villains tragic backstories. Through files held in the Ponyville town hall, Rainbow was able to deduce that Scootaloo, a very long time ago, was abandoned by her parents. Foal services, in fear of culture-shocking Scootaloo, opted to bounce her between foster homes throughout Ponyville instead of sending her away to a larger city, like Manehattan.
When Rainbow Dash discovered this information, she went straight to Scootaloo to convince her the life of crime was not the correct answer to her problems. Of course, it took a scolding from Twilight to realize that not every orphan turns into a super-villain, and it only happens in her fiction books. But still, that day, Rainbow’s connection to the orange filly grew tenfold as she fought her hardest to be the big sister she never had.
“Do you have your school lunch?” Rainbow asked as Scootaloo dismounted from Rainbow’s back. Rainbow crouched lower to the ground and extended her wing for Scootaloo to clamber off of it easier. She hit the ground with a thump, rolling her eyes at Rainbow.
“Yes, I have my school lunch.” Scootaloo said monotonously.
“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked. After Rainbow learned of Scootaloo’s foster care nature, she had taken it upon herself to be there for Scootaloo as much as physically possible. If it was up to Rainbow (and by extension Scootaloo,) she would’ve even slept in the same house as her. But unfortunately, Foal Services doesn’t work out that way.
“Yes! It’s right here, see?” Scootaloo wormed her hooves around the saddlebags on her back, producing a tin box with the insignia of the Wonderbolts on it. “You made it for me, and then handed it straight to me.”
“I’m just making sure, okay?” Rainbow smiled nervously. Despite Foal Services being less than willing to hoof over the responsibility of guardianship to Rainbow Dash, that didn’t mean the foster families Scootaloo housed with every month weren’t happy for Rainbow to at least try. Currently, Scootaloo was bunking with The Cakes, and by extension, Pinkie Pie.
Rainbow loved her pink Earth-pony friend, but even she could get a little tired of Pinkie’s antics. She couldn’t imagine being forced to live with her for an entire month, even if Scootaloo insisted that ‘It really wasn’t that bad.’
“Yeah, okay.” Scootaloo slid the tin box back into her saddlebags, clamping them shut. “We’re still doing flying lessons after school, right?” Scootaloo asked.
“Of course. I wouldn’t leave my sister hanging, would I?” Rainbow teased, quickly ruffling Scootaloo’s mane. The filly giggled, ducking away. Rainbow was relatively certain that Scootaloo was suffering from some sort of undiagnosed disorder that made her wings several sizes too small. Twilight had a much longer explanation about Pegasus Magic and Thermodynamic complexities or something.
Rainbow had brought it up with Scootaloo in the past before, but Scootaloo’s response had always varied from ‘Ehh, I wouldn’t worry about it.’ to ‘I gotta at least try, right?’ But if Scootaloo was happy, then what really was the issue?
“Alright, Scoots. Have a good day at school, okay?” Rainbow said unusually softly. Scootaloo responded by giving yet another playful eyeroll, turning around and beginning her brisk trot.
“I will.”
“Bye, Scoots!”
“Bye, Mom.”
"MOM."
"MOM."
"MOM."
The birds that were chirping in the trees stopped.
The ponyvillians, who were several hundred yards away, felt a strange energy ripple through their fur.
Fluttershy, who was tearing open a feeding bag, looked around in confusion as every animal paused what they were doing to stay completely quiet, ears alerted.
Celestia sneezed.
Both Scootaloo and Rainbow completely froze in their tracks. The deathly silence only exasperated the sounds of Rainbow’s heart beating in her ears. Slowly, Scootaloo turned around to look at Rainbow with a painfully forced smile on her face.
Rainbow stared back with an expression of pure, unadulterated shock.
For a painfully long period of time, nopony moved. Nopony said anything. Not a single muscle flexed or twitched, and nopony even blinked.
And then the bell rang.
“Uh-” Scootaloo couldn’t even finish her thought as Rainbow Dash, without warning, took off into the skies, shaking the ground around her and billowing up a plume of dust. Scootaloo didn’t wait another second, either, and immediately booked it as fast as her legs could carry her.
Rainbow Dash threw open the door to her cloud manor and flew in hastily. She wasn’t even sure why she used the front door- honestly, it would’ve just been quicker to fly in through the wall, as it was made entirely of cloud. But it was less dramatic that way, anyhow. Nonetheless, she zipped around the staircase, gliding down the halls, and eventually, after a few more doors being flung open, landed onto her cloud bed.
Her blanket, in less than half a second, was ontop of her. She covered her entire head with it, shaking slightly with only the purples of her eyes peering out to the rest of her bright room.
Something electric went through her spine and into her central nervous system when Scootaloo mentioned the M word. It was like synapses fired at maximum capacity for a mere moment of time, making her entire body shut down temporarily as it struggled to process it. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.
“What am I going to do…” Rainbow mumbled, burrowing her muzzle into the cloud bed. That was, however, when she heard the slight buzzing of a propeller. Rainbow looked past the edge of her cloudbed and down at the floor. There, pawing like a dog, was Tank, with a sad expression on his face. Rainbow sighed and picked him up, letting the blanket drape around her withers like a cape. She hugged the turtle-tortious to her chest.
“It’s gonna be so awkward now!” She mumbled. Tank blinked slowly, which was clearly a sign that he was listening. “I mean- ever since I figured out she was, uh- you know… an orp-han, I promised I would take care of her.” Rainbow rested her chin directly onto Tank’s shell. “But not like, take-take care of her! I meant, like, you know-!” She leaned over, falling onto her side, her head now on the pillow.
“Tank, do you know why the M word is even in Scootaloo’s vocab?” She asked. Tank yawned, apparently satisfied with the new position and resting his head on the cloudbed below him. “She lost her parents when she was really young. Why is that even a word she knows? Well- not like- of course she’d know what Mo- I mean, the M word is. But like, why did she use it?”
Tank said nothing.
And that’s about what Rainbow Dash felt right about now.
Eventually, she’d have to see Scootaloo again. And right now, she was dreading having to face the little filly again. Not only did Rainbow not want Scootaloo to see her as a mother figure, but more than that, Rainbow had a burning feeling that she hadn’t earned it.
Moms went through- you know… nine months pain for the title. They had to wake up at 4 in the morning to a crying foal, and miss out on hours and hours of sleep. They had to deal with dirty diapers, potty training, signing them up for school, feeding them, working to make sure they didn’t run out of money to buy any of those things. Only when a pony went through all of that, did they get to see their little foal grow into a big pony.
Rainbow felt as if she skipped all of it.
Not only that, but she was NOT mom material. Nor did she want to be. Rainbow was perfectly happy not being mom and staying sister forever. That was fine by her.
“Ugh…” Rainbow moaned, flopping onto her back. Tank barely reacted, already having fallen asleep. “It’s gonna be so awkwaarddd.” She rubbed her eyes with her hooves. “I donnnt wannnaaa…”
Then, suddenly, Rainbow jumped up. Tank looked, as much as a turtle could look, startled.
“I know!” She said loudly, hopping off her bed. “I’ll go talk to Rarity!” She turned back to Tank, who now that he had been rudely interrupted from his nap, was immediately getting comfortable falling asleep again. “She’s basically had to raise Sweetie since she was born, right? Her parents are never around, so- I mean, what do you think, Tank?”
Tank was asleep.
“I knew I could count on you!” She said happily. This time, she didn’t use the door, instead opting to launch herself out of her bedroom window. Her wings caught the air, and she began into a steady glide down.
Her house wasn’t positioned ridiculously far away from Ponyville, or anything, but it was still a decent flying distance away, as Ponyville required any cloud home to be outside of city limits. When asked why, the best the town hall could come up with was something-something, falling objects, disposal and waste- it was all a bunch of hoopla.
But, nonetheless, it took less than a minute for Rainbow to (somewhat) gracefully plant her hooves in front of Rarity’s house. She took one long look at the exterior of the house- a great big blue, purple, and white home in the shape of a tent, and put on her best dashing smile. Quickly, she trotted to the door, and without knocking, she trotted into-
BAM.
Rainbow retracted, rubbing her nose softly with a hoof. Right on the front of the door was a great big sign that said “CLOSED.” It seemed that Rarity was out today, and unfortunately, had locked the door behind her. Rainbow let out a silent curse, trotting back to Rarity’s front lawn, and pondered.
Rarity was out of the question, now. She could either be anywhere in Ponyville, or in the Spa. If she was in the Spa, then it was a lost cause. No way, no how was Rainbow stepping a hoof inside of that horrid place.
The only other pony that Rainbow could talk to was Applejack, seeing as she had quite a tight relationship with her little sister. With Applejack’s parents dying when Applebloom was nearly one years old, it seemed like Applejack, and by extension the other remaining members of the Apple family really stepped up into raising Applebloom.
But, then again, maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to ask Applejack about how she feels about Applebloom. It was bound to be a tough conversation, maybe even tougher by the fact that her parents were dead. It might be touchy, and Rainbow was not very well known for being the feeling type.
Then… who else could she talk to? Perhaps Derpy and Dinky? Well- that was different, as Dinky was Derpy’s biological kid. The only way Derpy could relate to Dash’s situation was from the perspective as a single mom. But even then- the problem still persisted. Rainbow wasn’t a mom- she needed help with that. Not single-mom problems.
Who was a pony that Rainbow could talk to? One that had a relationship with a sibling that seemed to border on parent rather than sibling? Who could possibly…
…
Did… Twilight and Spike count?
Did they? Spike- who even was Spike? He was Twilight’s younger brother, right? But from the stories Dash had heard, Twilight had raised Spike since he was a baby. Logically, he’d be her son, right?
So, with her mind set, Rainbow took off once more, soaring through the sky. It didn’t take long for her to touch down in front of the massive tree in the middle of town, also known as the Golden Oaks Library. Without knocking, she pushed the door open and trotted into the main library room, a sizable area full of books in every nook and cranny. She looked around for any sign of life. Of course, this place was lived in, seeing as there were a few books scattered on the center table, as well as all of the shelves being dusted. But she continued onwards in search of anypony alive.
Instead of trotting up the stairs, she flew. There really wasn’t a reason on why she did it, other than flying may or may not be faster. But she wasn’t sure, as she hadn’t ever taken the time to measure the time difference between trotting up the stairs or flying up the stairs.
Nonetheless, when she entered the upstairs hallway, she paused as she heard a slight humming noise. A sign of life. Quickly, she trotted forwards, peeking her head into the first doorway on her left.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t Twilight.
Fortunately, it was Spike.
He was in the kitchen, (Something Rainbow didn’t even know the Golden Oaks had.) He was perched ontop of a small three-legged stool, wearing a pink apron as he gripped a spatula, flipping what looked like a pancake on a white gas stove.
“Hey, Spike.” Rainbow said, trotting further into the kitchen. Spike gave a jump, but looked over his shoulder at her.
“Oh- hey, Rainbow!” Spike said, turning back to the stove. “I didn’t even hear you come in.” He used his spatula to get underneath a pancake, flipping it and landing it on the other side. “What’s up?” He asked.
“Oh, nothing.” Rainbow trotted until she could rest on the kitchen island, putting both hooves in a crossed shape and putting her weight down. “Well- I mean- you could say that- uh-” She cleared her throat as a thought hit her. What was she supposed to say to Spike? Should she even say anything? What kind of insight could he possibly…
…
“Spike, have you ever accidentally called Twilight Mom before?” She asked.
Spike retracted his neck at the question, putting down the spatula, putting a claw on his waist, and turning his entire body to face her in a sassy manner.
“Excuse me?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Well-” Rainbow chuckled nervously. “Here’s the thing, okay? I was taking Scootaloo to school today, right?” She asked, checking Spike to see if he was listening. He sure was, and still looked slightly offended. “I dropped her off, and did the things I usually do. I asked her if she had her lunch, homework- you know, the sorta thing I usually do.” Spike still stared. “Okay, so, then, when she’s walking away, she says ‘Bye Mom!’ like it was nothing!”
Spike kept staring for a moment longer. But, eventually, he sighed, rubbing his claw against the stove.
“Alright- promise you won’t tell Twi anything I’m gonna say?” Spike asked in a hushed whisper. Rainbow took the incentive, lowering her head closer to the ground and nodding. “Alright. I- okay-” He sighed out. “It was a year ago, and I was talking to Pinkie about Twilight, and it just- it just kinda slipped out.”
“So you did?!” Rainbow yelled. Spike raised a finger to his lips and shushed. Rainbow lowered her head back down. “So you did?” She asked, quieter.
“I swore Pinkie to secrecy.” He explained, fumbling with his claws as he remembered it. A faint blush grew on his cheeks. “I was so embarrassed. I’d never done anything like it before, you know? Twilight’s like, my sister.”
“Same with Scoots!” Rainbow said quickly. “I’d always- we’d been close, right? But, like, not that close, if you know what I mean.” She leaned further over the counter. “What compelled you to do it? Like- did- what- what happened?”
“Nothing.” Spike shrugged, still playing with his claws. If he had a ring on, he would’ve been playing with it. “It just happened. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t even mean it. It happened, and it-” Spike shivered. “I don’t wanna talk about it anymore, really.”
“Just one more question, okay?” Rainbow said.
“Nah. I’d really not-”
“Please?” Rainbow asked. She flattened herself out on the island, looking up at Spike with the biggest pouty face she could muster up. She even managed to push out a tear from her eye. Spike looked down at her, and after a solid ten seconds, he couldn’t keep it up.
“Fine.” Spike sighed out. “But only one more.”
“What does Twilight mean to you?” Rainbow shot back up, resting her chin on her hoof as if she was listening to somepony tell a story by a fireplace.
“What does Twilight mean to me?” He asked, tapping his chin. “What do you mean by that?”
“What do you see Twilight as?” She readjusted. “Like- is she your big sister?” Spike took a minute, tapping his chin in thought and staring blankly somewhere above him.
“Well, yeah?” He ventured. “We’ve always been together. I mean- I never really saw Twilight’s Mom and Dad as mine, because she raised me in the castle while studying under Celestia. Of course, they helped out when they could- if Twilight had to take a test, or was off for summer break, but… I mean, most of the time it was either her, Shining, or Cadence.”
“So…” Rainbow spread her hooves. “You see her as…?”
“A big sister.” He nodded. “Definitely. She and Shining treated me as a little brother, and I mean, even though Twilight’s Mom and Dad helped, I still don’t think of them as parents. I guess the closest thing to a mom I have is Twilight, but it just feels wrong to call her Mom.”
“Let me get this straight.” Rainbow took a moment to rub her eyes. “So Twilight… She, alongside studying under Celestia, raised you?” She asked. Spike nodded. “So she- let me get this- she changed your diapers?” Once again, Spike nodded. “She taught you the alphabet?” Spike hesitated for a moment, but nodded anyways. “You learned how to walk from her? Potty trained from her? Learned to talk?” Spike, with even more hesitation, nodded. “And she’s still your big sister?”
“Yes.”
“Spike-” Rainbow made a sound, somewhere between an exasperated sigh and a cough. “Spike-” She rubbed her eyes again. Then, she let out an actual, real sigh. “Spike.” She looked at him. Her eyes expanded slightly as they refocused to behind him. “Spike.”
“Yeah?”
“Pancakes burning.”
“Wha-?” He turned around. True to Rainbow’s word, there was black smoke billowing out from the pan. “Oh- shoot!” He quickly yanked the pan off of the stove, and placed it on the un-burning-burner next to it. “Shoot! I was so gonna eat that, too!”
“Whelp-” Rainbow pushed herself off of the island. “I gotta go talk to Twi, so, I’ll see you around, okay?” She asked.
“Yeah, see ya, Dash.” He said, not looking at her as he waved a towel around, trying to dissipate the black smoke quicker. Rainbow nodded, ducking back into the hallway.
That conversation told her exactly zero things about her current predicament with Scootaloo. Well- maybe that was a lie. She learned that sometimes even Spike slips up, which was somewhat surprising to her. She also learned that, despite Twilight literally raising him since he hatched, he still considered Twilight a big sister, and somehow, her parents were demoted to simple babysitters.
If Rainbow simply told him face blank exactly what she was thinking, it would’ve probably blown the small drake’s mind. To Rainbow, Twilight was his mother, followed by Twilight’s parents being his grandparents. Which would make sense, as when Rainbow was a foal, her grandparents would look after her whenever her parents needed to go somewhere without her. Rainbow couldn’t comprehend simply why Spike thought that way, though. Surely Spike had a phase where he called somepony “mama,” right? And surely that somepony was Twilight?
As Rainbow traveled further into the library, the sounds of Spike frantically clearing smoke from a burning stove gradually dissipated, until it was entirely replaced by a much more pleasant sound. That, of the gentle wafting of sweet summer air.
Rainbow trotted towards the center of the loft. It was a one room area where Twilight’s personal library, personal study, and bedroom were. It was quite impressively expansive, even giving Rainbow’s manor a run for it’s money. After all, this place was built out of real, tangible wood, and not puffy clouds.
Sure to what Rainbow expected, Twilight was nearby, sitting on a dainty chair and leaned over a desk facing an open window. Her magic gripped a quill, and it was rapidly dancing over a clean-cut piece of parchment.
The look on her face. Her scrunched eyebrows and determined frown. It was an expression that Rainbow, as well as the other girls, knew very well. Twilight was full study mode, whether Rainbow wanted her to or not. It was a state of being that had destroyed many picnics in the past, with not even the most loud distractions being able to snap her out of it. Maybe physical force could, but that not only seemed quite rude, but also always made her jump, which made Rainbow feel bad.
So, she did the next best thing.
Rainbow took flight, which was easy considering the large open space. She maneuvered her way over to a bookshelf that was no taller than two ponies, and grabbed the first book she could find. A bibliography about somepony who was probably important once.
Rainbow held it in her hooves. It was a hefty book, and probably twice her age.
She dropped it.
It landed on the floor with a thunk, and just like that, Twilight let out a shout of surprise, whipping around in her chair. Her eyes immediately landed on the book. Of course, the poor thing had barely sustained any damage. If anything, the floor had taken more damage than the book. Nonetheless, Twilight quickly got up from her chair, levitating it upwards and off of the ground, examining it closely.
“Rainbow!” She shouted angrily, landing the book in her hooves. She turned it around, brushing her hoof across it’s cover. “What the hay is wrong with you?!”
“You were studying!” Rainbow said, quickly landing back on the ground. “It’s not my fault you lock in like that.”
“So you damaged a book?” Twilight sighed heavily, turning around and dropping the tome on her desk. With a flick of her mane, she turned back to Rainbow, giving her a dead stare. “What? What do you want?”
“Right.” Rainbow sighed herself, looking around the library. “I need to ask you a personal question-”
“A personal question.” Twilight interrupted, scoffing. “After dropping a book on the ground? You want to ask me a personal question?”
“Twilight, please.” Rainbow begged in an uncharacteristically desperate voice. Twilight kept a frown on her muzzle, but was surprised at the tone nonetheless. A tone that Twilight had very rarely seen on display of such a brash Pegasus. “Alright… I, uh, I got called-” Rainbow’s words died in her mouth. Somehow, it was easier talking to Spike. “I got called the M word today.”
“The M word?” Twilight asked. Rainbow slowly nodded, while Twilight’s frown was slowly overcome by confusion. “Is that bad?”
“It’s really bad.” Now, Twilight’s confusion was replaced with concern.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked. “What’s the M word?”
“It’s M-” Rainbow paused. “It’s Mo-” She paused again, turning to the side to cough. “It’s, uh, it’s Mom.” She whispered.
“Oh, Celestia-damnit, Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. “I thought something bad happened! Like somepony called you a bad word! Not- whatever-” Twilight groaned loudly, rubbing her face. “The worst part is, that wasn’t even a question! You said you wanted to ask me a personal question, and-” She removed her hooves from her face. “What, Rainbow? What is your personal question?”
“So I was taking Scootaloo to school today-”
“I don’t-” Twilight raised her hoof. “I don’t need to hear about your whole day. I just need you to ask me the question.” Rainbow looked apprehensive, but after a moment of deliberation, simply shrugged her shoulders.
“Alright, uh, why don’t you see Spike like a son?”
Twilight’s face, once more, shifted back to the surprised expression she dawned earlier. Except this time, it didn’t fade. If anything, she looked even more confused than before. Gratefully to Rainbow, her expression was not replaced by anger, instead, she looked as if she was begging her to continue, give her more information. So that’s what Rainbow did.
“I was taking Scootaloo to school today, and out of nowhere, she called me mom! So that got me thinking: Who else takes care of somepony like they were their kid, but doesn’t act like it? My first thought was Rarity, but she wasn’t home, and I was gonna ask Applejack, but I think it would be- you know- rude to ask? Especially when her parents are, you know? So I came here to ask you. Why don’t you see Spike as a son?”
“Takes care of somepony like they were their kid?” Twilight repeated. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, a thing that Rainbow immediately noticed. “Rainbow, I don’t really take care of Spike. He’s an independent drake. He does chores around the library in exchange for food and shelter. It’s a fair trade.”
Rainbow pondered her for a moment. She raised an eyebrow, staring Twilight up and down. Once more, Twilight adjusted uncomfortably in her seat, and once again, Rainbow picked up on it like easy pickings.
“Yeah, I don’t buy that.” Rainbow said. Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but Rainbow sat down on the library floor and began talking over her. “You’re talking like he’s an employee, Twilight. I just talked to Spike- you raised him.”
“Well-” Twilight blushed, which made Rainbow raise her eye even further. “I mean- Celestia helped out a lot. So did my parents, and Cadence and Shining. It was kinda like an assignment for the Princess. I wanted to make her-”
“I know you don’t see Spike as an assignment.” Rainbow interrupted.
Then, a thought dawned on her. A thought that made her suspicious expression soften by quite a margin.
“Twilight?” Rainbow asked. “Are you, like, okay?”
“Okay?” Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side. “What do you mean ‘okay?’ I feel fine.”
“No, like-” Rainbow lowered her voice. “Raising a baby is a lot of effort, even for full grown adults. How old were you when Spike hatched?” She asked. “Ten?” Twilight’s mouth fell open, but she shook her head. “Eleven?” Once again, Twilight shook her head. “Nine?” Twilight nodded. “Twilight- you were raising Spike as a nine year old. I’ll ask you again- are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Twilight shouted. “If I knew this personal question would be this personal, I wouldn’t have even entertained the idea!” She shook her head. “Like I said, Celestia and my family helped out raising Spike. It’s not like I was alone, or anything. You’re acting like I have some kind of built up trauma!”
“Fine, fine!” Rainbow relaxed her body, pulling herself back so she was sitting more on her tail and creating distance between her and Twilight. “Fine. I still want to get back to Spike, though.” Twilight frowned. “Like I asked- why aren’t you two mother-son? Why are you sister-brother?”
“Because that’s not what we are.” Twilight responded. “Just because I hatched Spike doesn’t mean-”
“What does that even mean?” Rainbow interrupted. Twilight flashed her another frown. “You keep saying ‘hatched’ Spike, and I mean, I kinda get what it means, but like, run it by me again? Why was there an egg in the entrance exam? A dragon egg?”
“Oh!” Twilight, for perhaps the first time today, smiled. “Oh, this is a really interesting story!” Twilight said, slowly swiveling her chair back and forth in excitement. “So, as you know, to get into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, every Unicorn has to pass the entrance exam, right?” Rainbow nodded. “One of the tests was attempting to hatch a dragon egg. Of course, every foal failed the test. Because it was a trick test- the egg was never meant to be hatched. It was supposed to test how students approach a task like that.”
“But-” Rainbow turned around, looking towards the doorway and down the hall. “-but Spike’s here. If the egg was never meant to be hatched, then how in the hay is Spike here?”
“That’s very interesting!” Twilight said quickly, recapturing Rainbow’s attention. “Spike’s egg is actually pretty old. I found documents dating Spike’s egg back to the founding of the school, around two-hundred years ago. His egg was abandoned and unfertilized, making it the perfect candidate for a test!”
“Spike is two-hundred years old?!” Rainbow shouted. “I thought he was, like, twelve!”
“He is twelve.” Twilight responded, shooting Rainbow a glare. “You start counting when a dragon is hatched, the same way you start counting when a foal is born.” Twilight shook her head. “Anyways- I tried to hatch Spike’s egg, but much like everypony else, I couldn’t do it. That was, of course, until your Rainboom.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you know the story by heart now, Rainbow. Your Rainboom caused my magic to hatch the egg, and-”
“No- I need more detail.” Rainbow inched forwards. “Pretend I’m not Rainbow Dash for a minute. Pretend I’m a student, or something!” She inched forwards again. “Tell me- how did your magic hatch an unfertilized egg?”
“Well…” Twilight tapped her chin. “I think that’s easy enough to explain. The way I was trying to hatch Spike’s egg was via my own method. It was a modification of a spell two mares would use to conceive a foal. All it required was a DNA-giver and a host. The egg was the host, and I was the giver. But I couldn’t do it. At least, not until your Rainboom. Once Spike’s egg accepted my DNA, and plus your magic, and the fact the egg had been waiting two-hundred years, Spike hatched quite quickly, and- Rainbow, why are you looking at me like that?”
Rainbow hadn’t even realized her jaw had hit the floor until Twilight pointed it out. She quickly closed it, cleared her throat, blinked harshly, and looked at Twilight.
“You’re telling me… that Spike has your DNA?”
“Yeah?”
“Spike- like, the dragon Spike has your DNA?”
“Uh-huh.”
“...So he’s half-pony?”
“Yeah. Well- technically.” Twilight shrugged. “He’s never physically gained any pony traits. Physically, he’s one-hundred percent dragon.”
“Okay. He’s half-pony. Cool.” Rainbow clapped her hooves together. “But he has your DNA. Just like foals have their parent’s DNA. He has your DNA. Like a foal.”
“I know it sounds weird, Rainbow.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I can see where this is going. He’s not my son. He’s my little brother.”
“Biologically, you’re wrong!” Rainbow shouted. “If he has your DNA, he’s literally your kid!”
“It doesn’t matter what he is, Rainbow!” Twilight shouted back. “He’s my little brother! Our relationships in life- it doesn’t matter if we’re related, it doesn’t matter if we’re not. It doesn’t matter if we’re different species, and it doesn’t matter if we’re clones! If we both decide we’re siblings, then that’s it! That’s final! It doesn’t- none of this matters! This is a pointless conversation! We’re learning nothing by having this conversation!”
“Because-” Rainbow groaned aggressively, gripping her mane. “What does that make me and Scootaloo, then?!”
Twilight was about to retort, before she paused, letting her brain play catchup.
“I- I forgot this was about Scootaloo.” She sighed. “I have no idea. Why the hay are you even talking about Spike if this was about Scootaloo?”
“Because you’re in the same spot!” Rainbow said. “You say Spike is your little brother, but you’re more like a mom to him!” Rainbow sounded exasperated. “I- I guess I say I’m Scootaloo’s sister, but- I guess- I’ve been kinda more like her mom for the past however many months.”
Twilight, who had been getting aggressively more and more angry in the past couple minutes, took a few seconds to breathe. She paused, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath in. In through her nose, out through her mouth. Then, slowly, and recentered, she turned back to look at Rainbow.
“Have you tried talking to Scootaloo about this?” Twilight asked, calmer.
“Well… No.”
“Why not?”
“Because-” Rainbow paused. “Because-” She paused again, squishing her eyebrows. “...I mean, she’s in school right now?”
“Okay.” Twilight clapped her hooves together. “When she gets out of school, go talk to her. You could ignore this for the rest of your life, but then you’d never have a normal conversation with Scootaloo ever again. Do you want that?”
“I don’t want that.”
“Then go talk to her.” Twilight hesitated. “...after she gets out of school, I mean.”
Rainbow took a second, rubbing her leg nervously.
“That’s it? I just… talk to her? No dramatics? I mean- maybe I should talk to Rarity. O-Or Applejack. Maybe she wouldn’t mind-”
“Just talk to her.” Twilight interrupted.
“I-” Rainbow sighed. Twilight was probably right, as she was usually right about these things. For apparently being an anti-social book nerd during her formative years, she seemed to develop a natural knack for these kinds of things. “Alright. Fine. I guess I’ll go talk to her.” Rainbow stood up from the floor. She had been talking for nearly 20 minutes- perhaps the longest she had ever gone sitting in one spot, excluding the times she’d been asleep for.
“Great!” Twilight said. “And- maybe- uh- sorry for getting so angry at you, Rainbow.” Twilight apologized. Rainbow raised her eyebrow, not expecting such an apology from her. “I really need to finish this report for Princess Celestia, and I guess you dropping a book kinda sent me over the edge.”
“It’s fine, Twilight.” Rainbow, instead of going back downstairs, decided to trot towards an open window. She, quite gracefully, climbed up onto the window sill and momentarily perched like a bird. “I guess I gotta go talk to Scoots now. See you around, Twi.”
“Bye!” Twilight said, just as Rainbow dipped out.
The clock was ticking painfully fast. Usually a foal Scootaloo’s age would be complaining that the clock was ticking too slow, but for today, that simply wasn’t the case.
Miss Cheerilee was on the subject of Equestrian history, and surprisingly, most of the foals seemed to be enjoying it. Their attention was raptly kept as the teacher began explaining different wars across history. And for any other day, maybe Scootaloo would’ve even been interested, as crazy as that sounds.
But no. Today was not a day that Scootaloo would be paying attention. Instead, her attention was keenly focused on the windows surrounding the classroom. More descriptively, what was happening outside of the classroom. Which was nothing. And that was concerning.
Rainbow Dash usually picked her up from school, and considering the situation that happened earlier today, Scootaloo was not looking forwards to it. The rush of awkwardness she had felt in that moment left her feeling horrifically bad for the rest of the day. Calling somepony the M word – what was she thinking? There was absolutely no justification for her action, and it was absolutely eating her inside.
Of course, Sweetie and Bloom had both noticed her distress the entire school day, but with Scootaloo’s reluctance to say anything to either of them about the situation left their options to provide help quite limited. The most they could do was beg Scootaloo to tell them what happened, and the most Scootaloo could offer was non-verbal grunts of disagreement.
But, what Scootaloo was dreading, had happened. Cheerilee took a wayward glance at the clock above the blackboard and sighed, setting her chalk down on the little ledge and turning to face the class.
“Well, it looks like we’re all out of time today, class.” She said. “Remember: Class Monday is a half-day, so if you need the school to provide you a lunch, and haven’t turned in your forms yet, do that before class starts next week. Have a good weekend. Class is dismissed-”
Before she had even finished her sentence, the foals bolted out the door. A whirlwind of moving colts and fillies made the whole place kick up a lot of dust, giving the impression that the foals had quite literally left a silhouette of dust where they were last. All foals had left, except for of course, the three Crusaders.
“Are ya’ gonna tell us, or are we gonna have to beat it out of you?” Apple Bloom asked, turning to face Scootaloo on the other end of the school house and waving her hoof threateningly. Although Scootaloo knew she was joking, she swallowed the spit in her mouth nervously.
“Apple Bloom, that’s enough!” Sweetie-Belle glared at her from her spot, also on the exact other end of the school house. Cheerilee had eventually gotten fed up with their shenanigans, and had banished the three of them to sit as far away from one another as possible. “Scootaloo, we can’t make you feel better if you don’t tell us what happened!”
“Really, I’m okay, guys.” Scootaloo lied. “Listen- I just, uh, have something to do after school, alright?” Scootaloo quickly got up from her desk, grabbing her saddlebags from under the desk with her mouth and placing them on her back. She took a nervous glance out the window. Thankfully, still no sign of Rainbow Dash.
“Is Diamond Tiara blackmailing you again?” Apple Bloom asked. “Because ah’ll get my sister to go straighten her out-”
“Applejack would never hurt a filly!” Sweetie-Belle argued back with an agape mouth.
“Ah just said she’d straighten her out, not that she’d hurt her!”
“How would Applejack straighten her out without hurting her? Like- a bench press, or somethi-”
“Girls.” Cheerilee interrupted their bickering. Immediately, they both turned to the front of the room, where Cheerilee was sitting at her desk with a pair of glasses on, holding up a stack of papers. “Class was dismissed four minutes ago. If you’ll excuse me, I need to grade these papers.”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie-Belle sighed, and gathered their things together. A few moments later, they both had their saddlebags strapped to their backs, and began trotting towards the door.
“Wait a minute…” Sweetie-Belle stopped, looking down the rows of empty seats. “Where did Scootaloo go?”
Scootaloo was about half a mile down the road. And she was running.
She cursed the fact that Rainbow was the one to drop her off at school, therefore she didn’t have her trusty old scooter with her. With that thing, she would’ve been halfway through Ponyville by now. But instead, she resorted to galloping, her saddlebags bouncing up and down on her back and making her tiny wings quite uncomfortable.
So far, so good. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. She would eventually have to face her. Technically, she was bunking with the Cakes, and Pinkie had prepared a room for her. But Pinkie and the Cakes both knew that she would be spending most, if not all of her time with Rainbow. But still, at least she had somewhere to go, away from Rainbow-
*Thump.*
Scootaloo barely had time to react. One moment, she was galloping down the dirt path, the next, there was a familiar blue Pegasus suddenly standing directly in her way. The most Scootaloo could do was let out a yelp of fright, before her face met Rainbow’s blue fur.
Rainbow wrapped her hooves around Scootaloo, pulling her in tight for what seemed to be a hug. Before Scootaloo could break it, however, the feeling of the ground left her hooves, and the wind picked up in speed significantly. About four seconds later, Rainbow let her go, and Scootaloo was in a completely unfamiliar environment.
“Wha…” Scootaloo shook her head, looking around. It was a small clearing deep in the Whitetail Woods. A creek flowed, gently filling the area with a pleasant rushing water sound. The green grass was very thick and lucious, almost as if somepony had been maintaining the area. That, or an Earth-pony used their magic in this area.
“D’ya like it?” Rainbow asked. Scootaloo’s response was a yelp, turning to face her.
“Wh- Ah- H-Hi, Rainbow!” Scootaloo nervously stuttered, taking a few steps back from the blue Pegasus. “I- Uh, I didn’t see you- or, um-”
“I used to come to this place all the time to relax.” Rainbow continued, taking a few steps towards the filly. Scootaloo tensed as Rainbow got close, but all she did was sit down next to her, staring towards the creek. “Yeah, I have no clue why this place is so nice. I think it might be somepony’s property, I don’t know. It’s a great napping spot, though.”
“I- um- Mm-hm!”
Rainbow Dash sighed out, picking a hoof up and rubbing her eye. She turned to face the filly with a strange look on her face.
“Look, kid, uh, we gotta talk about what happened today.” She said. Scootaloo blushed and looked away. “We gotta talk about it, or it’s gonna end up eating us up.” Rainbow sighed, looking away from the little Pegasus. “I talked to Twilight and Spike about what happened-”
“You told them?” Scootaloo quickly interjected. “Why would you do that? Just to make me more embarrassed-?”
“Because Twilight and Spike are kinda similar to us.” Rainbow interrupted, turning back to face her.
“...I’m not a dragon.”
“And I’m not a Unicorn. Still.” Rainbow took a small moment to shift her entire body on the grass, so instead of facing the creek, she was now facing Scootaloo, who had yet to sit down. “Twilight and Spike are brother and sister, despite everything about them saying they’re more like mother and son. At least, to me.”
Scootaloo eyed her, but said nothing.
“Twilight takes care of Spike like he’s a foal. She hatched him from an egg, she taught him how to walk, to read, she schedules his doctor’s visits, she buys food for him. But, even though she’s mothering him, they still consider each other siblings.”
Scootaloo stayed silent.
“We can stay siblings, Scoots.” Rainbow laid down so she was eye-level with her. “I accept the fact that I might do more than a normal sister does for their sibling, but I also accept the fact that we’re not exactly normal siblings. I might act more like a mom to you than I used to, but we’re sisters, Scoots.”
Scootaloo’s bottom lip twitched.
She made a small frown and looked towards the ground. Slowly, ever-so-slowly, Scootaloo sat down onto the ground, and kept the frown up. Her brows furrowed as if she was in intense thought. After a few tense moments, Scooaloo looked at Rainbow in the eyes.
“You’re not my mom. And you’re not really my sister, either.” She let out a deep sigh. “You’re like… I don’t know… a guardian, or something.” Her mouth opened and closed as she stared at Rainbow, as if she was having a hard time finding the correct words. “I- I don’t know what you are to me. You’re not my mom, but you’re not my sister.”
Rainbow was silent for a moment. She slowly rubbed a hoof up and down against her cheek as she stared at Scootaloo.
“We should invent a new word.” Rainbow eventually suggested. This caught Scootaloo by surprise, and she jolted her head to the side, eventually resting on a slightly tilted position, her ears perked and intently listening. “Mom. Sister. Something between. Got any ideas?”
“I-” Scootaloo seemed quite confused at the notion, but none the less, furrowed her eyebrows and looked to the creek next to her. “I’m not very good at, uh, inventing new words? I don’t know.” She pursed her lips. “...Tiger?”
“Tiger?” Rainbow guffawed. “Eh… No thank you. I’m okay. How about something simple? I know Mom and Dad are only three words, so… Uh… Faf?”
“Faf?”
“Eae.”
“What…?”
“Ioi.”
“I don’t know what you are saying.” Scootaloo paused, thinking intently. “How about…. Aba.”
“Aba?” Rainbow said. She straightened up. “Aba.” She tested, again. “Hm. I mean, it might mean a nasty word in another language, but for the time being, I think that’ll have to do.” Rainbow carefully stood up from her spot on the ground, shaking slightly to wake up her joints. Scootaloo soon followed, as well, turning to look at the creek again. “C’mon, Scoots. I think I need some ice cream after this whole ordeal, what do you think?”
“Only if Pinkie is making it.” Scootaloo mumbled, following behind her. “And, uh, Aba?”
Rainbow paused her walking, turning to look down at Scootaloo.
“Thanks for, uh, not being weird about all of this. And not panicking.”
“Hm.” She smiled. “No problem, kid.”