A New Family, A New Life

Chapters

New Beginnings
Sparkling Conversation
Bella Notte
Boredom and Storytelling

New Beginnings

After leaving Sweetie Belle, Ditzy started on her way home. The newly created young pegasus enthusiastically bounced at her side, giving her best impression of a large, orange ping-pong ball. Watching her, Ditzy found herself reflecting on the strange events of the previous day.

She'd intended nothing more than basking in the sun for a while while Dinky was away. Then she had gotten sucked into the game Sweetie Belle had been playing. She had clearly been bored and lonely, and Ditzy had been glad to oblige.

And, of all things, Sweetie Belle had burst into singing "Ease On Down The Road", a song she was intimately familiar with.

It's been a long time since I thought about that musical, Ditzy reflected.I'd actually auditioned for the position of Dorothy, in fact. They just stuck me with the role of the Scarecrow because they figured that the way my eyes looked and my clumsiness meant I was dumb.

Of course, she thought wryly, they had completely missed that the Scarecrow was the most intelligent of them all, all along, and just didn't have a diploma.

Ditzy let out a sigh, thinking about it in retrospect.

Not unlike myself. Maybe it had been appropriate casting, after all.

Not that she hadn't done foolish things in the past, of course. The events that had led to her being a single mother had been very foolish indeed, not that she regretted having Dinky. And now Dinky's father was even finally acknowledging her existence. A bit too late, in her opinion, but she certainly wasn't going to stand between them getting to know each other.

And she'd taken in Sparkler, too, for a few years, when she'd found out she'd been stuck alone in an orphanage. She'd moved back out on her own now, after graduating, but they were still very close.

And now she'd taken on a new one. She glanced over at the orange filly bouncing up and down beside her with amusement. No, I don't think I'll regret this one, either.

It did mean that right as her budget loosened up, another filly would depend on her. She could live with it, though. She pictured the young pegasus next to her living in a cardboard box on the streets, or over in some cold, heartless orphanage, and shivered.

She was sure there'd be a lot of things to work out with taking her in, starting with any issues related to her origin. She certainly acted like a normal filly, and Ditzy would give her the benefit of the doubt on that one. She had just appeared in a burst of accidental magic, though. Would she disappear the same way after a while? She didn't think so, but she wasn't an expert. She wasn't even a unicorn.

Still, first things first. She needed to get her home, and into a bath, which wasn't an easy task with anypony her age. They also needed to pick out a name. It was awkward not having something to refer to her by. She'd seemed agreeable to 'Scoots' as a nickname for the moment, though.

Afterwards, maybe they'd make a quick trip to Sparkler's. Having just gotten out of school, she wouldn't necessarily know that much about magic. Ditzy knew she could trust her, though. It's not like there were many unicorns knowledgeable about magic in town, and with the library closed until Jotted Note gets replaced, she wasn't left with many options.

"Ditzy?" A voice asked hesitantly. She looked up in surprise, almost stumbling over her own hooves.

Seeing big purple eyes looking up at her, she realised she'd spaced out. It wouldn't be the first time she'd gotten so wrapped up in thought as to forget the world around her. She'd even walked straight into a lamppost one time, both eyes wide open, and even pointed in the same direction for once. It certainly hadn't helped her reputation any.

"I'm sorry, my mind must have been wandering." She shook her head, as if to clear it. "What's on your mind?"

"Where's your home at?"

"Well, m– our home isn't that far from here, actually. If we keep going straight, this street will take us most of the way there."

"Okay," she said, then lapsed back into silence.

"After we stop there and get a bath, I was thinking we could head over to Sparkler's and introduce you."

"Sparkler?"

"My older daughter. She moved out a few months ago, leaving me with just Dinky." Ditzy took a deep breath. "Dinky's visiting her father right now, though, so you won't meet her till tomorrow."

"Dinky... I think I've seen her once or twice when playing with Sweetie Belle. I think she's a unicorn with a light purple coat, and a year younger than us." She looked down. "Well, younger than Sweetie Belle, anyways."

"She is a bit younger, and generally different age groups don't mingle much in school, so I doubt you would know much about her."

"I don't think I... I know much about anything."

Ditzy patted her side reassuringly, avoiding spots of tree sap as best she could. "Don't worry. You'll learn more as time goes on."

"I... Guess so." The orange filly seemed lost in thought.

"Earlier, as part of the game we were playing, I claimed to have the evil eye. Obviously, I don't, but I do have a vision problem you should know about." Since it was one of the first things most ponies noticed about her, Ditzy felt she should broach the subject.

"Oh, yeah, that sounded like it must suck. How bad is it?"

"Well, my condition would be technically classified as strabismus." She launched into lecture mode. "Basically, one of my eyes doesn't focus right, and I occasionally get double vision, and don't have very good depth perception."

"Depth perception. That'd be a problem flying, wouldn't it?"

Ditzy mouth scrunched up for a moment. "Yes, though less so in areas I know well. It is part of why I've got a reputation for crashing a lot, though."

"What about reading?"

"That I can manage, though I get headaches if I stare at a book for too long." Ditzy said. "Though many ponies seem to assume I'm next to illiterate."

Looking at the street ahead, she realized they were almost home.

"Ok, let's make a left here."

They turned down a series of side streets, and arrived at a series of houses that all looked fairly similar. Ditzy stopped at one with familiar brown curtains and turned to the filly next to her, who seemed to have calmed down somewhat from her earlier enthusiasm.

"And this is our home." She pointed at one of several decorative rocks. "If you ever get locked out for some reason, there is a spare key under there, though it's really only meant for emergencies."

Ditzy fumbled through her saddlebags, and pulled a brass key out. She unlocked the door, then dropped the key back in. Wiping her hooves on the welcome mat, she opened the door and stepped in.

Ditzy gestured at her young companion. "Wipe the mud off your hooves before coming inside. It can be pretty difficult to get out of the carpet."

Grumbling, the orange filly carefully wiped off all four of her hooves before entering. She started to head towards one of the cushions there, but a stern glance from Ditzy warned her off.

"First things first. You've got mud and tree sap all over you, and I'm not in much better shape at this point. It's time for a nice, hot bath for both of us." She pointed towards the bathroom door.

"Awwww..." The pegasus complained before she begrudgingly headed in, more than ready to do something about her matted, sticky fur, which even had twigs and leaves sticking out of it in places.

Ditzy headed over to a large bathtub to one side of the bathroom. She'd heard of ponies washing foals in as little as a large wooden bucket before, but that, she felt, would take all the fun out of it. She turned the handles, starting the water flowing.

She ran one hoof under the flow of water, then adjusted the temperature. Once it felt about the right warmth, she put a plug in the drain, and started the tub filling. Then she grabbed a few bottles and containers from the cabinet. The pegasus at her side watched in fascination and she mixed various soaps and bath salts into the bath water.

"I've... I've never seen any of that when Sweetie Belle takes a bath..." She said, as bubbles started floating up from the bathtub.

Ditzy sighed. "That's a shame. I bet some of this would look familiar to Rarity, though."

Rarity would in fact, be surprised if she saw them, but not because she was unfamiliar with the bubble baths and salts in question. Rather, what would have caused her eyebrows to rise would have been seeing large containers filled with bubble bath mixtures you could usually only get in small expensive bottles from the spa or specialized shops.

This was simply because Ditzy made them herself, and she was the shops and spa's supplier, though most ponies in town would have been surprised to hear it. It was one of the facets of her cutie mark talent. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't the most important aspect.

Far too many people assumed that the superficial aspects to a cutie mark were all there was to it. Silly, really. Why would a mark symbolizing what you were good at only have one meaning? She'd been set to write her thesis on it a long time ago before... Life got in the way.

Seeing the water just starting to rise higher than it should, she quickly turned it off. She tossed in her favorite rubber duck. After all, one's never alone with a rubber duck. Testing the water with one hoof, she nodded to herself.

"All right, kid, in you go."

The young filly eyed the foamy, bubbling water for a moment, grinned mischievously, and jumped in, splashing soapy water all over Ditzy.

"Why, you..." She gratefully immersed herself in the bubbles herself, and then splashed a large wave at the filly, leaving water and foam dripping from her mane. The two engaged in an all out splash war that only ended when they were both sopping wet from head to tail.

Then Ditzy grabbed the scrub brush, and thoroughly scrubbed her down. 'Scoots', as Ditzy had dubbed her earlier, giggled and tried to squirm away. After giving the giggly young filly a vigorous scrubbing, Ditzy started on herself as well, getting out some of the spots of mud and tree sap that had mysteriously stuck to her fur during the course of the day.

Once she had most of the gunk out, she playfully blew a few bubbles at the pony next to her, prompting the second war of the tub; a bubble war. Afterwards, she shampooed up her magenta mane, being careful to avoid the eyes, then rinsed it out, washing her own afterwards.

Ditzy then batted the rubber duck floating in the oversized bathtub towards her companion playfully. She looked down at it.

"It's just a rubber duck."

Ditzy frowned. "Now, none of that. You'll hurt Mr. Flibble's feelings."

She emphasized her words by pressing the squeaker on the duck.

"Fine. But it's still just a duck."

Ditzy, seeing that this was going nowhere, sighed. "All right. The water's starting to get cold, anyways. Time to dry off."

She heaved herself out of the tub, and grabbed a green towel from a nearby rack. After patting herself down with it until she was no longer dripping all over the floor, she lay a second towel out. Grabbing a suddenly protesting young filly from the water, she wrapped her in the towel and started rubbing vigorously.

A muffled voice came from within the towel, but was totally unintelligible. Ignoring it, she finished drying the filly off, then removed the towel to reveal a large ball of orange and magenta fur and feathers sticking out in all directions. Her mouth quirked as she did her best not to laugh.

Draining the tub, Ditzy grabbed a brush and comb, and worked on turning the giant ball of orange fluff in front of her back into a young filly. Afterwards, she worked on taming her own mane and fur as well.

They exited the bathroom, both slightly damp. This time when the young pegasus hopped on a pillow the same color as her coat, Ditzy gave no objection, and set herself down on the couch next to her.

"So what do we do next?" she asked, a bit of bounce coming back into her.

"Well, I was thinking we could visit Sparkler, and there were also some things we needed to discuss," Ditzy said.

"Why were we going to see Sparkler again?"

"Well, among other things, I wanted to tell her about you," Ditzy replied matter-of-factly.

"That I'm living with you now?"

"That's part of it. You'll be living in her old room, after all," Ditzy said. "Also, I wanted to see if she knew enough about magic to be able to tell us a bit about what happened."

"Um... Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked, sounding rather skeptical.

"I trust her, and not getting advice would be a bad idea. I'd like to know if you're liable to suddenly find yourself sucked back in Sweetie Belle's mind," Ditzy commented, trying to get across the potential problems.

Her eyes widened, and she suddenly looked rather frightened. "That can't happen... Can it?"

"I hope not. I don't think so, but I'd rather find out ahead of time," Ditzy said, then changed the subject. "I also think we should pick out a name."

"Yeah," she said, half to herself. "I don't even have that."

Then something occurred to Ditzy. "How long have you been friends with Sweetie Belle, anyways?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "A few months?"

"And she never came up with a name for you?" Ditzy asked.

"Oh, a few, but they were always different names depending on the adventure we were on," Scootaloo said. "None of them would work for a permanent name, though."

"Alright," Ditzy said. "That makes more sense. So, any ideas?"

"Well, we talked about Scoots, but that really would just be a nickname." She looked up at Ditzy. "What type of names do ponies usually have? Dinky, Ditzy, Sparkler..."

"That's technically Amethyst 'Sparkling' Star, Dinky Doo, and Ditzy Doo. A lot of ponies call me by the nickname 'Derpy', though. It's kind of a mean-spirited one, but they don't mean anything bad by it." She frowned. "Well, some of them don't."

"So, Scoots Doo, then?" The filly asked, then shook her head before Ditzy could respond. "Nah, that doesn't sound right. Scoot Doo. Scoota Doo?" She played around with the different combinations of sounds.

"Well, keep in mind the Doo doesn't necessarily have to be in there. For adoption papers, it might be easier if that was added later, actually." Ditzy frowned. She was going to have to think about how to deal with those, given no record of the filly in question being on file anywhere.

"Yeah, I suppose. Hmm... Scooty Doo?" She ran the names together. "Scootadoo. Scootaloo? That might not be bad."

"That would work. It'd let you keep the nickname, too," Ditzy said.

Something then occurred to her. "Would it be Scootaloo Doo, then? Because that's kinda silly."

"Well, Sparkler never added Doo to her name, and many ponies rarely use their full names, anyways," Ditzy said, smiling.

"So, only the cool ponies like Rainbow Dash use their full name?" She asked, a clear trace of idol worship in her voice.

Well, Ditzy knew how to handle this one. "Rainbow Mariam Dash certainly does not use her full name. She hates it if anypony mentions it, in fact."

"Oh." She said, nonplussed. "I hadn't thought about a middle name. Scootaloo... Awesomesauce Doo?"

"Now you're just being silly." Ditzy ruffled her mane. "We seem to have settled on Scootaloo, at least."

"It's growing on me."

"All right. Let's go pay Sparkler a visit, then, Scootaloo," Ditzy said, deliberately using her new name. Scootaloo didn't notice.

"More walking?" Scootaloo hopped off the cushion. "Well, alright, I suppose."

"Actually, let's try a different route." Ditzy got down from the couch, and led her into the hallway. Then they cut through her workshop quickly and went out the back door into her backyard.

Alongside the house was a garden, with neat patches of various herbs and vegetables. There was a large area of nothing but grass. A fence bordered the yard, and a tree was growing high near one section of the fence. Looking up, Ditzy didn't see a pegasus in the sky - at least, not nearby. Perfect.

"Ok, Scoots, you seemed tired of walking," Ditzy said. "Climb on up."

"Huh?" Scootaloo said, looking confused.

Ditzy grabbed ahold of the orange filly and pulled her on her back.

"Now hold on to my neck." She trotted over to the far end of the yard. Once she felt Scootaloo's forelegs wrapped around her, she started running and leapt into the air, spreading her wings. Then, as she got up to a decent altitude, Ditzy started slowly gliding towards her destination.

"Scootaloo, I'll need you to keep a lookout." Ditzy said. "Say something, or tug on my mane if there's anything in my flight path. I'll probably notice it anyways, but I'd prefer not to crash with you on my back."

"Like that pegasus in front of you?"

Ditzy swerved left, seeing Blossomforth ahead of her. Blossomforth waved at her as she went by.

"Exactly. It'll only be a few minutes, though."

She set course for Sparkler's new place, and arrived in the general vicinity without any issues. Alright, now let'slower myself into that patch of grass gently, carefully...

Thud. Not the most graceful of landings.

"You okay back there?"

"Yeah. A little shook up." She loosened her grip. "Um... Is that a normal landing?"

Ditzy sighed. "For me it's not that uncommon, unfortunately. Bad depth perception, remember?"

"Right." She hopped off Ditzy's back. "So, this is where Sparkler lives? It looks like a jewelry store."

They were, in fact, a short distance from a store with a new sign above it proclaiming it to be "Amethyst Star's Fine Jewelers". Ditzy nodded.

"Yes, this is actually her new store. She got a business loan from Filthy Rich to open it, but still has to watch costs, so she's just living in the back room of the store for now. I was willing to let her keep living with me until she could afford something, but..." She shrugged.

"So we should just head right into the store, then? Looks like she's there right now." Scootaloo said, glancing through the window.

"I think it's right near her closing time, so that shouldn't be an issue. Let me go first, and go behind me, though."

"Why?" Scootaloo asked, puzzled.

"That way I can introduce you, and she knows you're with me," Ditzy explained patiently.

"Oh! Ok."

Ditzy headed through the door, making sure to leave it open enough that Scootaloo could get through as well.

The store was laid out with display cases all through the store, with jewelry of all types on display. There were necklaces, gemstones, a tiara or two, horn rings, and earrings, ranging from extremely pricy to cheap enough for a young filly to buy from her allowance. The cases were sparsely populated, though, presumably due to the store having only recently opened.

By the back wall was a counter and cash register, and behind it, a unicorn with a light magenta coat and a violet and purple mane looked up, hearing the bells ringing on the door. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Ditzy enter.

"Ditzy!" she exclaimed, running over and enveloping her in a big hug. "I didn't expect to see you until at least tomor-"

She looked over Ditzy's shoulder questioningly at Scootaloo. "Wait just a moment."

She disengaged from the hug and walked over to the orange filly.

"Hello, welcome to Amethyst Star's Fine Jewelers. I'm Amethyst Star, but you can call me Sparkler." She smiled. "Is there something I can help you with? I could show you some bracelets or necklaces that might be in your price range-"

As she took in Scootaloo's lack of any sort of saddle bags or anything to carry any sort of money, Ditzy cut in. "She's with me, actually."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She eyed the new arrival speculatively. "I don't think we've met. What's your name?"

"I'm Scootaloo!" she said, hopping around enthusiastically. "Though we were talking about making it Scootaloo Something Doo, but I haven't really made up my mind yet, so..." Ditzy's foreleg quickly met her forehead.

"You're taking in another one? Really?" Sparkler raised one eyebrow. "I remember how tight it was with me and Dinky. Are you sure you'll be able to afford it? I know how generous you are, but you have to know your limits. You can't can't just go taking in anypony that looks up at you with big sad eyes..."

As she continued to speak, Scootaloo stopped hopping around, and her ears and mane drooped. She slumped down on the ground. Seeing this, Ditzy went to her side, and put one hoof on her shoulder to reassure her.

"Amethyst Sparkling Star," Ditzy said firmly. "How many times have I talked to you about jumping to conclusions before you have all the facts? Or about considering other ponies feelings?"

She tilted her head in Scootaloo's direction, and seeing her reaction, Sparkler immediately stopped her diatribe.She headed back over to the filly, and tousled her mane. "I'm sorry, squirt. Let me finish closing up shop, and then the three of us can talk, all right?"

"Yeah..." Scootaloo said slowly, getting back up. "Sure."

Sparkler walked over to the door, and flipped the sign to closed. She then grabbed a clipboard, and walked around, checking what she had on display against a piece of paper. Satisfied, she quickly tallied up her register, and then invited them in back.

"Excuse the mess. I have more stashed away in here then I really should." She tried to inconspicuously shove a few empty takeout boxes in the trash. "I'm not totally done with unpacking, and I think I may have forgotten a few things back home in my rush to get moved."

That was really a bit of an understatement. There were a few cushions scattered around, a bed in one corner with a stack of books by it, a record player and some records in another corner, and plenty of boxes, some of which were open.

Ditzy entered the room and cleared out some space in the middle of the floor. She grabbed a few cushions, and set them up where the three of them could easily sit together and talk. Sitting on one of them, she started to tell her story.

"I was sunbathing out by the pond today, when a young unicorn by the name of Sweetie Belle approached me..."

Sparkling Conversation

"Ok. Let's see if I've got this right," Amethyst Star said while pacing back and forth. "You were playing games with a filly, and then she tried to cast a spell, but screwed up."

"That sounds about right," Ditzy stated.

"She managed to halt the spell and collapsed. And afterwards another filly who looked exactly like her imaginary friend appeared in the area the spell hit?" She said, taken aback.

"Looked like, nothing. I am Sweetie Belle's best friend!" Scootaloo exclaimed, still somewhat miffed about Sparkler's initial reaction to her.

"No, no, I'm not doubting you. It just doesn't make much sense to me," Sparkler said. "I'm not the most knowledgeable pony about magic out there, but let me see what I can find out."

A violet aura glowed around various boxes in the room as items flew out and back in them, until eventually an old saddlebag flew out of a box. It opened, a textbook titled Beginning Magic: A Unicorn's Primer Guide floated over to Sparkler, and everything else dropped to the ground.

Sparkler opened the book and skimmed the table of contents. "'Chapter 10: Accidental Magic and When Spells Go Wrong.' Well, that sounds promising..." She flipped forward to that section, and read over it briefly.

"Well, according to this, accidental magic is typically either transfiguration, which has to be reversed, or illusions and conjuration, which fade under normal circumstances after a few minutes."

Hearing that, Scootaloo began trembling. A few minutes!

Sparkler looked at her and frowned. "How long ago was this accident?"

"Just long enough for us to have gone home, gotten a bath, and come over here." Ditzy spent a moment in thought. "An hour or two?"

"Let me try something." Sparkler pointed her now glowing horn at Scootaloo, who quickly hid behind Ditzy, looking frightened.

"You aren't going to try to reverse the spell or anything, right?" Ditzy asked her.

"Of course not! She seems like a nice young filly, and I'd prefer for her not to vanish in a cloud of smoke while we're talking." Scootaloo glanced in her direction from behind Ditzy. Sparkler continued on. "There's a magical diagnosis spell here I want to try that looks easy enough, though. It's a more complicated version of a spell I use on gemstones, so I should be able to pull it off."

Scootaloo hesitantly walked back out. She was trembling all over, as if she expected to be vaporised at any moment. A violet beam from Sparklers horn slowly scanned over her entire body, and caused a tingling sensation as it went by.

"Huh." She flipped through a few more pages, and studied one of them briefly. She tapped on one section of the page and nodded. "Well, let's do this first."

She fired off a quick magical bolt. Scootaloo staggered as it hit and wondered if she should have run for it after all.

"Hey! What was that?" She stomped one hoof. She felt like something was different, and tapped the side of her head experimentally. "That's weird. I feel a little... More solid, I suppose."

"Good," Sparkler said, with a smug look on her face. "That spell is supposed to boost the life of preexisting spells it comes into contact with. That should give us at least a week or two to figure this out. Now, let's see what we've got."

She closed her eyes, then when she opened them, they were glowing violet. She closely examined Scootaloo.

"What a mishmash of spells," Sparkler said with a sigh. "Ok, this is definitely way out of my league."

"You couldn't find anything?" Ditzy asked, disappointed.

"I found all sorts of stuff. That's the problem. " She blinked and shook her head. "Her body is mostly made of magic with one unicorn's signature on it, probably Sweetie's. There's even a magical cord going back in what's likely her direction."

She paced back and forth, looking Scootaloo over. "She registers a decent amount of lifeforce, meaning she's alive and not some sort of puppet, even if it isn't quite as much as a normal pony would have. She barely has any magic reserves right now, but that isn't a big deal for a pegasus that hasn't started flying yet."

"Well, that's a start, at least."

"Yeah, but there's this tangled mess of spells from both the conjuration and transfiguration school I can't make heads or tails of." She paused in thought. "It's almost like, I don't know, something was transfigured and expanded on with conjuration because there wasn't enough mass for just transformation. Maybe."

"Er... Ok. No idea what you're talking about," Scootaloo said, baffled.

"Well, I'm not good enough to fix you up permanently, and we need somepony who's a real magical ace to look at you," Sparkler said. "I can stabilise things once a week until then, though."

"What happens if you don't?" Scootaloo asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"The spells start falling apart and unraveling," Sparkler said, making Scootaloo cringe. "After that... Well, I'm not sure, but it can't be good."

"And there's nothing else you can do?" she asked, a quiver in her voice.

"Hey, I'm a jeweler, not some high-powered mage. I've played with some of this before, but it's not like I've gone to that school in Canterlot for bigshot magicians or anything," Sparkler said defensively. "Trouble is there aren't many unicorns in town, let alone ones good at magic."

"So, we need to travel to a far off city, and seek out a great and powerful wizard." Ditzy smiled. "Is a yellow brick road involved?"

"Mom!" Sparkler groaned.

"Seriously, though," Ditzy said. "Is there anything else you can tell us about Scootaloo's condition?"

"Well, I'm still sorta curious about that cord connecting her to her friend." Sparkler frowned. "Not sure if that's drawing energy from her, or mentally connecting them, or what that's about."

"Which means breaking it could cause problems," Ditzy said.

"Or solve them, but only if done the right way. It'd be too risky for me to try," Sparkler replied. "Also, that meeting in the park tomorrow is so not happening."

"Why not? Sweetie Belle and Scoots were looking forward to it." From the crestfallen look on Ditzy's face, Scootaloo could tell she had been as well.

"Well, all ponies have a magical reserve. The trouble is that most of Sweetie Belle's is currently standing here making puppy-dog eyes at me." Sparkler glanced down at the filly, who was indeed staring up at her intently with big moist eyes. "If she used that much of her magic in one place, she clearly is going to have a bad case of magical exhaustion. Her parents should have spotted that, and she'll probably be on bedrest for a week or two."

"Magical exhaustion?" Ditzy said blankly.

Sparkler rolled her eyes. "Mom, this is covered in Unicorn Health and Safety 101. A unicorn mostly runs on magic, so if their reserves are exhausted, they won't have any stamina at all, and will need bedrest until they recover sufficiently. Well, bedrest and chocolate, actually, because chocolate helps the regeneration process."

"In that case, I hope she got home safely. She had seemed fine afterwards, though a bit tired."

"It doesn't really kick in until whatever she had left of her physical reserves is gone and her body can't replenish it," Sparkler said. "It has different effects on pegasi and earth ponies, too. Pegasi are just rendered flightless, and unable to walk on clouds, for example."

"She should be able to make it. Her home isn't that far from the pond." Scootaloo spoke up, as the conversation finally got to something she knew about. "We just took a long route there because it was supposed to be an adventure!"

"You know, Scoots, you're supposed to have some sort of connection to her," Ditzy said. "I wonder if there's any way you could check on her through it?"

"Um... How exactly would I do that?" Scootaloo asked, mind whirling.

"Well, if it's possible to do, I think what you'd do is first close your eyes and clear your mind," Sparkler said, closing her own eyes as she spoke. "Then picture a line between you and Sweetie Belle, try to follow it, and see if you can get any sort of impression of your surroundings."

"Alright. Clear my mind. Well, that should be easy. I hardly have anything there." She frowned. "Wait, that didn't come out right."

Sparkler let out a giggle at this. Ditzy, having a bit more self control, merely smiled a bit wider. Scootaloo ignored this, and closed her eyes.

She tried to get a good mental image of Sweetie Belle in her head, which wasn't exactly difficult - she barely had any memories that didn't feature her. Sensing a cord going from her in one direction, she mentally followed it.

A few minutes later, she was surprised to find herself in a very familiar place. She was standing in Sweetie Belle's bedroom. She wasn't actually there, of course. She could still feel her body somewhere back off at the other end of the cord. This was more like, well, every other time she'd been in her room, actually.

Next to her bed, a bunch of chocolate wrappers and an empty tea cup lay discarded on an end table. Sweetie Belle lay curled up in her bed, partially covered in blankets. She appeared to be fast asleep, her front hooves and forelegs twitching occasionally.

Smiling at the sight, the orange pegasus started to leave. Then she heard Sweetie Belle murmur something. She leaned closer to listen.

"Scootaloo..."

Did Sweetie Belle know she was there?

"Run! Rarity is on a fashion rampage!"

Oh. Scootaloo whispered into her ear. "Quick, behind Opalescence! She'll protect us!"

She contemplated messing with Sweetie Belle's dream further, but she thought she could hear something in the distance. She hauled back on the line she'd followed to get there, and got a surprise when she arrived back.

She could see her body just standing there in the back room, eyes closed. She'd figured that'd be the case. What she wasn't expecting was the way she could see right through it. She was sure it shouldn't be transparent.

"Scootaloo!" She whirled around when she heard Ditzy yell her name. Next to Ditzy, Sparkler was leveling her horn at her. Well, the other her, anyways. Being in more than one place was really confusing.

As Sparklers' horn started to glow, she found herself panicking. She liked her body, and wasn't quite ready to part with it yet. She turned back to face it, and flung herself forward.

Feeling whole again, she opened her eyes and let out a yelp. A bolt of magic was coming right at her! Scootaloo quickly rolled aside, and it hit the wall behind her. Looking down, she was looking solid again, at least.

Sparkler adjusted her aim, and her horn began glowing again. Scootaloo ran through the open door of the room back into the shop in a panic. She darted behind one of the display cases, and stopped to catch her breath, shaking all over. Sparkler could have been trying to help her, but that had been really scary.

She supposed she should do something brave and adventurous, like she remembered doing so many times before. But that was when she hadn't had anything to lose. This was real life, and real life was the scariest thing she'd had to deal with yet.

From the other room, she heard some loud voices arguing and some scuffling around. A few minutes later, she heard hoofsteps coming into the room, and her name being called softly. Sticking her head out to look, she saw Ditzy slowly walking into the room, alone.

She was sure she should go out to meet her. She really should. But, still paralysed with fear, she just stayed where she was. A few minutes later, Ditzy circled around the display case until she was standing right over her.

"Don't worry, I talked to Sparkler, and she won't cast any more spells at you without your permission," Ditzy said, sympathy in her voice. "Are you alright?"

Scootaloo forced herself to stand back up, and looked herself over. One of her hind legs looked scraped, and she was still shaking uncontrollably, but she seemed in one piece otherwise.

"I- I t-think so. S-She's going t-to stop t-trying to b-blast me?" she asked, stammering.

"There won't be any blasting involved. She said that was another version of the stabilization spell she used earlier, and you look back to normal. Why don't you come on back in with me and we'll talk about it?"

Scootaloo didn't resist as Ditzy scooped her up in her forelegs. Ditzy engulfed her in a large hug, and it felt like a dam burst inside her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and fell onto Ditzys fur. She rubbed Scootaloo's back in circles for a few minutes and stroked her mane comfortingly until they stopped falling. Scootaloo sniffed.

"I'm s-sorry. I- I rem-remember b-being brave and b-bold and d-daring, not like this. I- I j-just don't know... H-how c-could this..." Her words cut off as Ditzy continued to cradle her soothingly. After a while, she spoke.

"Don't worry if you aren't acting the way you remember being. With a new body, your pituitary gland probably isn't regulating things properly yet..." She trailed off as she saw Scootaloo's eyes glazing over. "Your body probably isn't used to who you are yet. Give it some time."

"Time." Scootaloo sniffed again. "Okay."

"Now, feeling brave enough to go into the back room with me?" Ditzy asked.

"I-I s'pose."

Ditzy gently withdrew from the hug, dried off Scootaloo's tears, and swung her around onto her shoulder blades. She walked back into the room they'd left. Sparkler was slumped in one corner, looking miserable. Ditzy plopped Scootaloo down on a cushion where she sat, feeling like a target.

"Sorry about that, squirt." Sparkler walked over to the cushion, and wrapped Scootaloo in an awkward hug with one foreleg. "I saw you fading out like that, and it totally freaked me out. What happened?"

Scootaloo did her best to explain with Sparkler's foreleg clamped around her chest. "Well, clearing my mind was real easy, and I followed that connection to Sweetie Belle, and then I was there, but wasn't there."

"That's about as clear as mud, kid," Sparkler said, loosening her death grip slightly. "Come again?"

"Well, I was in her room, but I was also back here, and when I was in her room, it was more like back before I got a body," Scootaloo tried to explain. "Not having my body there didn't matter, though, because she was asleep and dreaming. Of me, actually."

And something was bugging her about that. She wasn't quite sure what, though.

"Well, sounds like she made it home safely, at least," Ditzy said, relieved.

"Yeah, and there were a bunch of empty chocolate wrappers by her bed, too."

"I guess her parents must know how to treat magical exhaustion as well," Ditzy said.

"As I said, Mom, Unicorn Health 101. Though, you know, thinking about it, they pulled the class into three different groups at the time: unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Maybe they only taught unicorns about that?" Sparkler said, finally letting the orange pegasus go. "I'm still wondering about Scootaloo turning all see-through. I'd assume it was because she wasn't in her body, though."

"That sounds likely, but I wouldn't think that'd be normal."

"It's not. I'm thinking that mess of spells holding her together relies on her mind being in her body," Sparkler speculated. "I think we should probably avoid messing with it more."

Just then, Scootaloo realised what had been bothering her.

"Wait a minute," she said. Ditzy and Sparkler looked in her direction. "When Sweetie Belle was dreaming, she called out my name. I didn't choose the name 'Scootaloo' until after we left, though. How could..." She stopped there, unsure of what else to say.

Ditzy and Sparkler looked at each other.

"Beats the hay out of me." Sparkler said bluntly. "Maybe information is going both ways over that connection subconsciously?"

"Or maybe I'm still just a figment of her imagination, just more active and solid than before." She hung her head down, a horrified look on her face.

"Oh..." Scootaloo trailed off for a moment while she searched her vocabulary for something suitable to express her feelings. "Wait a minute, why don't I know any swear words? Pony fur? Hoof clippings?"

"Well, if you don't know any, I'm certainly not going to teach you. You can learn them the same way as anypony else." Ditzy said.

"From your big sis?" Sparkler teased.

"Amethyst Star!" Ditzy said sternly.

"Kidding! Kidding!" Sparkler said hastily.

"Big sis?" Scootaloo asked.

Sparkler looked at Ditzy. "You said you were taking Scootaloo in to live with you, right?"

Ditzy looked down at the hyperactive pegasus. "Of course I am."

"Well, that makes you my other little sister, along with Dinky, then."

"Wouldn't I have to be related to you?"

Sparkler had a hard expression on her face for a moment. "Blood relationships are overrated. The family you make for yourself is what's important."

Ditzy looked at her thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I'd go that far. Both can be important."

"And how many members of your family that are actually related to you are you on speaking terms with? Aside from Dinky?" Sparkler said.

Ditzy sighed. "As many as you, I'm afraid. I'm just not willing to write them totally off."

"I am," Sparkler said.

"I know," Ditzy said sadly.

Scootaloo sat there, trying to figure out what they were talking about. "But I'm a member of both of your families?" she asked, feeling like that needed clarification.

Ditzy and Amethyst looked her way guiltily, having forgotten she was there.

"Of course you are!" Ditzy exclaimed.

"Well, you're growing on me, Scoots," Sparkler said. "Sure. You, Dinky, and Ditzy are family enough for me."

Ditzy threw a glance in her direction at that last, but she ignored it.

"And would Sweetie Belle be part of my family too, then?" Scootaloo asked, still not totally clear on the whole family concept.

"Well, she'd have more claim than most, since she's literally responsible for your existence," Ditzy said, mulling it over. "Though I'd stick to saying she's your best friend when anypony that doesn't know how you came to be is nearby."

"Right," Sparkler agreed. "Best friend is practically family, anyways."

Scootaloo's stomach suddenly let out a loud rumble.

Sparkler perked up. "Do you know what that means?"

Ditzy looked puzzled. "Generally that it's past some little fillies dinnertime in my experience. Maybe we should get something to eat?"

"No, no." She shook her head. "Well, yes, I suppose so, but that's not what I was thinking of. Magical constructs don't generally get hungry, so that's a good sign that she's real."

"Real hungry, anyways," Scootaloo piped up.

Ditzy smiled. "Well, of course you are. You haven't eaten since-"

"Ever," Scootaloo said.

"Right. Take-out?" Sparkler asked.

Bella Notte

As it happens, their search for something to eat didn't take them far. While they didn't do takeout, there turned out to be a little bistro tucked away around the corner from Sparklers shop. Eating out was probably a better idea anyways, since Sparklers back room had been pretty cramped.

They walked under an inviting red awning, and were quickly seated at a large booth near the back of the restaurant. Grabbing the menu in front of her, Scootaloo studied it for a minute, frowned, and then turned it right side up. Then she set it down with a sigh.

"I don't even know..." she said despondently. "I'm not sure what any of this stuff is."

"That's alright," Ditzy said. "Why don't I order for both of us, then?"

"Sure!" Scootaloo said, cheering up.

A mustached tan unicorn trotted up to their table with a pad of paper and pencil.

"Would you like anything to drink while you decide on your order?" he asked politely.

"I'll have a glass of orange juice," Ditzy said, then glanced at the filly next to her. "And how about some lemonade for Scootaloo?"

"Very good. And for you, ma'am?" He turned to Sparkler, who seemed to be poring over the wine list. Ditzy cleared her throat meaningfully, and nodded towards Scootaloo. She sullenly lay the list down.

"I suppose I'll have a glass of hibiscus ice tea," she said, disappointment in her voice.

"An excellent choice. I will be back with your drinks shortly." He turned away, and trotted back towards the kitchen.

"After all the excitement today, I really could have used something to drink, too." Sparkler grumped as the waiters chestnut mane went out of sight.

"Well, you do have an example to set, you know," Ditzy said. "And I think Scootaloo would practically be the definition of impressionable.”

"I certainly am!" Scootaloo puffed herself up proudly. "Um... What's im-pressionable?"

"It means you are likely to imitate others around you. And she's probably right." Sparkler smiled. "Yet another young and innocent filly, corrupted by my nefarious ways."

"Wait. Your nefarious ways?" Scootaloo stood up and struck a pose. "Avast, foul villain! I shall vanquish thee!"

Ditzy caught the young filly by the scruff of her neck before she could actually get out of her seat, and held her in place as she struggled to get over to Sparkler.

"I was kidding, Scoots!" Sparkler quickly said. "The most nefarious thing about me is that I like listening to really loud music and dancing."

Scootaloo stopped struggling. "Well, that doesn't sound too bad..."

Ditzy let go of Scootaloo, discretely removed a few orange hairs from her mouth, and sat back down. "Sorry, Scoots, but no vanquishing villains during dinner. I'd prefer not to be escorted out of here."

"Aww..." Scootaloo whined.

"How is it that you know words like 'nefarious' and 'villainous', but not 'impressionable', anyways?" Sparkler asked.

"Well, I remember hearing and using 'nefarious' and 'villainous'. Don't think I've heard 'impressionable' before. 'Impressive', sure," Scootaloo said.

"Are you ready to order, or do you still need a few minutes?" The tan stallion was back at their table, and drinks seemed to have materialized in front of them at some point.

"Well, first of all, why don't we get a basket of garlic bread?" Ditzy looked up. "And two fresh garden salads."

"Make that three," Sparkler said, while quickly looking over the menu.

"And what type of dressing on the salads?"

"We'll have honey mustard on ours." Ditzy flipped through the menu herself.

"I'll have a red wine vinaigrette," Sparkler said, determined to get some sort of wine in the meal. "And how about some of your gnocchi?"

"And for you, madam?"

"We'll both have spaghetti," Ditzy said, figuring that that would be simple enough, and if they had the same thing, Scootaloo could watch her while she ate.Though she was dreading the cleanup afterwards. "And some extra napkins, please."

"Was there anything else, or will that be all?"

Ditzy glanced at Sparkler, who shrugged.

"That should be all for now," Ditzy said.

"Very good. I'll be back with your orders."

He walked away so silently that Ditzy found herself wondering how much of Scootaloo's scuffle he had seen. Her cheeks flushed slightly, thinking about it.

"Just for future reference, Scoots, please don't try to fight villains when we're going out to eat," She instructed Scootaloo. "Restaurant owners tend to frown on that sort of thing."

"Wouldn't they have more trouble if a villain tried to take over their restaurant, then?" Scootaloo scratched her head.

"Villains don't target them much, and don't actually come to Ponyville too often, anyways."

"Oh." Her ears drooped.

"Just try to keep in mind the difference between what's happening in your imagination and reality," Ditzy continued.

"Yeah," Scootaloo said gloomily. "But... All I really know is from my imagination."

"Having an active imagination isn't a bad thing," Ditzy said. "It's just a matter of not letting it disrupt people around you. Much, anyways."

"Yeah. We can have a proper villain fight another time if you want, just not at dinner," Sparkler interjected with a wink.

Scootaloo's ears perked back up, and she smiled slightly.

"So, going to have the squirt crash in my old room?" Sparkler asked, motioning with her head towards Scootaloo.

"That was the plan, since it's my one free room, and you aren't using it any more," Ditzy said.

"You might want to check around in there before getting Scootaloo settled, then." Sparkler looked down. "I may have left a few things in there accidentally. I'd offer to come over and do it myself, but there probably isn't enough time left in the day for me to go there and back."

Scootaloo cut in, confused. "Weren't you against my moving in?"

"No wonder you thought I was a villain," Sparkler replied. "Ditzy has a habit of taking the world on her shoulders when she can't afford to, and I thought she was doing that yet again. Unfortunately, she's often right."

"Huh?"

"Now that I know the full story, I have no problem with her taking you in. Besides," she continued, voice lowering. "you've kinda grown on me, kid."

Scootaloo grinned, and suddenly scooted forward, clamping onto a piece of garlic bread from a basket on the table that hadn't been there a minute ago. With her prize proudly sticking out of her muzzle, she sat back down.

"Just a moment." Ditzy quickly unfolded a napkin, and put it under the filly as crumbs started falling down.

This ended up being the cue for all of them to start in the garlic bread, delaying their conversation for a while. And by the time the garlic bread was gone, their salads had arrived.

The salads consisted of a mix of salad greens, dandelion leaves and flowers, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, croutons, and a sprinkling of green onions, with salad dressing on the side. Ditzy dove face first into hers, mouth watering, quite forgetting about the filly next to her.

Scootaloo, naturally, took this as an indication of the proper way to eat hers as well, resulting in lettuce and salad dressing in her mane. Ditzy sighed, took her over to the restaurant's restroom, and got her cleaned up. By the time they emerged, the rest of their dinner was on the table.

Sparkler was happily chewing on gnocchi stuffed with potatoes, onions and lily petals. Sitting at their places were two large plates of spaghetti, steam rising off of them. A grinder full of hay had been placed in the center of the table.

Ditzy ground out a sprinkling of hay on top of both their plates, appetite returning when she saw the liberal amounts of basil, oregano, garlic, and crushed red clover flowers mixed in. She reached over to Scootaloo's plate and cut up the noodles, to make it easier for her.

In the background, music drifted from near one of the other tables. It sounded like some lucky couple was having a romantic dinner out.

"Oh, this is the night, it's a beautiful night, and we call it bella notte..."

Ditzy smiled, and sucked down a strand of spaghetti. Scootaloo, trying to imitate her, slurped down a strand of spaghetti, and had half of it hit her square in the face. Ditzy winced. Scootaloo just grinned and licked it off.

As the meal continued, the conversation slowly picked back up.

"'This spa'etti 'sgood!" Scootaloo tried to say around a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Finish what you're eating before talking, dear," Ditzy admonished. Scootaloo swallowed what was in her mouth and tried again.

"This spaghetti is good!"

"Homemade is better, but, yes, they do have fairly tasty spaghetti here." Ditzy pulled a strand of it that had somehow gotten on Scootaloo's right ear off. "Though it's preferable not to wear it. How's your gnocchi, Sparkler?"

"Wonderful," she replied. "The sauce goes perfectly with it."

"So, regarding our other problem," Ditzy started. "I know there aren't too many unicorns around Ponyville. Are there any you think might be able to help us?"

"Well, as I said before, there are hardly any powerful magicians in town," Sparkler said contemplatively. "Otherwise, they'd have repealed that racist 'no magic' rule for Winter Wrap-Up long ago."

"Hmm... I don't think Sweetie Belle's sister would be able to help us on this, and I am not sure how much magic her parents know."

"I don't think I've seen them use it other than for moving things," Scootaloo said, trying to stay in the conversation.

"Lyra has some talent. Trouble is she's a bit of a flake," Sparkler said. "We could try her, but it'd be a last resort."

"I've heard of her... Eccentricities."

"Actually, we do have the Summer Sun Celebration coming up in two weeks, and Princess Celestia is supposed to be coming to town personally for it," Sparkler remarked. "Isn't she pretty high powered, magic-wise?"

"She'd have to be to raise the sun," Ditzy said.

"I... Think she'll accept petitions at the end of the celebration," Sparkler said hesitantly. "Maybe we could go to her for help?"

Ditzy seemed to be lost in thought for a minute. "When I was in Canterlot last, I heard that she had taken on a personal student. She's supposed to be pretty powerful. I wonder if she's coming with Celestia?"

"I don't see why she wouldn't be." Sparkler's eyes gleamed. "The Summer Sun Celebration is sounding better and better, and my spell ought to hold until then, as long as I remember to reapply it next week."

"If nothing else, it should be fun," Ditzy remarked. "It hasn't been held in Ponyville since I moved here."

"It'd be better if they'd gotten DJ P0N-3 for it," Sparkler said grumpily. "I'm sure Fluttershy's birds are well trained and all, but a few birds generating all the music seems pretty lackluster for such a big event."

"Not everypony's into raves as much as you are, dear," Ditzy said. "Still, having a few musicians to back her up would be nice. Lyra might be odd, but her lyre-playing's wonderful."

At this point, they'd all finished their food, so Ditzy carefully removed the napkin from under Scootaloo. Grabbing another one, she dabbed at Scootaloo's face. While she was doing that, Sparkler looked at the bill, and started pulling out bits to cover it.

"Oh, you don't have to do that!" Ditzy protested.

"Don't worry about it, mom," Sparkler said. "Business is going well, and I'd rather take care of it myself, especially since you have a new mouth to feed. You can take care of the tip, though."

"I'll have to make sure it's a good one," Ditzy said. "Our waiter's been unobtrusive, and the service has been very timely."

"Maybe he's a ninja?" Scootaloo asked.

Ditzy tilted her head to one side. "Doubtful. What would a ninja be doing as a waiter?"

"It'd be a great cover!" she persisted.

Ditzy ignored her, and set out a generous tip. The waiter appeared, and collected the bill from Sparkler.

"Thank you ma'am." He then looked at Scootaloo. "And, for your information, I am not a ninja."

He then vanished up front.

"Yeah, but that's just what a ninja would say..." Scootaloo said doubtfully.

"Come on, let's go before we antagonize anypony here," Sparkler said.

Standing up, they headed back outside as a group. The sun had set while they were having dinner, and a cold wind was blowing to the north. Scootaloo shivered.

"Well, I hate to break this up, but I'd better get back. I take it that I can expect Scootaloo along with Dinky next time I foalsit?"

"I'd greatly appreciate that," Ditzy replied.

"Well, it should make for interesting times." Sparkler turned back towards her shop. "Catch you later, mom, Scootaloo!"

She waved, and headed off into the distance.

"Alright, unfortunately we'll have to walk on the way back, since my visions worse at night," Ditzy said.

"O-Okay..." Scootaloo said, teeth chattering.

Seeing this, Ditzy pulled a long multicolored scarf out of her saddlebags, and wrapped it around the young filly. Her shivering subsided. Remembering how tired of walking she had been earlier, she pulled Scootaloo onto her back and headed home.

*****

Once they arrived home, Ditzy bent down, and Scootaloo jumped off her back, having regained some of her energy.

"So, what do we do next?" she asked, bouncing up and down next to Ditzy.

Ditzy shook her head. Celestia save us from ponies with short attention spans. "Well, why don't I show you around the house, so you know where everything is?"

"Sure!"

"This is the living room, and also doubles as a dining room. Over there," she said, pointing at a table and cushions on one side of the room. "Is where we'll normally eat when we don't go out."

"Right."

"There's a couch and cushions over here when you just want somewhere to relax. And against the wall, those bookcases have some books and board games, in case you need something to do," Ditzy hesitated for a moment. "Are you able to read?"

"Of course I can!" Scootaloo stuck her chest out proudly. "I can read just as well as Sweetie Belle."

Then she deflated. "Well, I think I can... I remember being able to read, for what that's worth."

"That should be easy enough to test, I suppose. Anyways, you remember where the bathroom was. The kitchen is over there." Ditzy waved vaguely at a doorway. "Just ask me first before grabbing something as a snack, since I might already have plans for it."

"Alright." Scootaloo started down a hallway, pulling Ditzy along with her. "What's down here?"

"I was getting to that." Ditzy pointed towards one of the doors in the hall. "That is my bedroom. If the door is closed, knock, otherwise you're free to go in if I am in there. I'll normally leave it open at night." Because fillies will end up visiting me in the middle of the night.

Scootaloo's attention was already wandering elsewhere, seeing a picture of a muffin on one of the doors.

"And that's the muffin room?" She asked, eyes wide.

"Well, in a sense it is..." Ditzy smiled. "That is Dinky's room. Just like my room, knock if the door is closed."

"Why does it have a muffin on it, though?" Scootaloo persisted, intrigued.

"Dinky loves muffins. We had a joke going that she'll turn into a muffin one of these days, she eats so many." Ditzy shrugged. "It seemed amusing at the time."

As with a lot of in-jokes, it sounded rather silly when she went to tell somepony else, actually.

"Can that happen?"

Ditzy shook her head. "Not without a lot of magic involved."

"Okay." Her curiosity satisfied, her attention shifted yet again. Scootaloo pointed at another door. "What's in there?"

"Funny you should ask. That used to be Sparkler's room." Ditzy opened the door.

"So now it's my room, then, right?" Scootaloo said eagerly.

"Once we go over it and make sure everything of hers is out of there, it is."

"And I guess the same rules apply as the other rooms, then. Knock if the door's closed..." Scootaloo scratched her head. "No, wait, that can't be right.

"They apply, but to everypony else." Ditzy stated. "It is your room, so you can normally go in and out when you want, and other ponies need to knock. There may be times when I override that, but that shouldn't happen often. You'll also be responsible for keeping it clean. Once it is ready, anyways."

"When will that be?" Scootaloo said, looking up at her.

"I thought I'd finish showing you the house, then we can tackle it." She opened the last door. "We were in here earlier, but probably too briefly for you to remember. This is actually my workroom, as well as where I do laundry, and a storage space. I also make soaps and powders and other things in here, so don't disturb anything that might be lying out."

By this point, though, Scootaloo was already over by one of the shelves, inspecting a plastic bag filled with some sort of glittering powder. She started to poke at it, then Ditzy pulled her away.

"As I was saying, please don't disturb anything here without asking first." Ditzy said sternly.

"Awww..." Scootaloo groaned in disappointment.

"And if you recall, the door in the back goes out to the backyard, but it's too dark out there right now." Ditzy led Scootaloo out of the room and closed the door. "That should be the whole house. Ready to tackle your room?"

Seeing the uncertainty in Scootaloo's eyes, Ditzy walked into Sparklers old room, and motioned for her to follow her. This door really needs something on it to indicate that it's Scootaloo's now.

"So what do we need to do?" Scootaloo said.

Ditzy wondered briefly about her need to always be doing something, then shrugged. "We just need to look for anything that Sparkler left behind, and start a pile of things to take back to her."

"Oh." Scootaloo looked around. "The bed?"

"No, that goes with the room, and the blankets, sheets and pillows are new. Same goes for the shelves, curtains, and dresser. We're mainly looking for small, portable things." She glanced around. "Like this poster."

Ditzy started pulling down a flashy poster of a white unicorn with electric blue spiky hair, and a pair of sunglasses on that Scootaloo thought looked really cool. It said "DJ P0N3" at the top, and was signed at the bottom.

"Who's that?" Scootaloo asked. "Those glasses are awesome!"

"That is Vinyl Scratch, a local DJ. Sparkler brought that back from when she was at her club one time." Privately, Ditzy wondered why a DJ would be giving out and signing posters of herself, but it was Vinyl. She rolled up the poster and put it by the door.

"She looked cool!" Scootaloo said excitedly.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Sparkler has some of her music, and could probably be persuaded to let you listen to it." Ditzy said.

Meanwhile, Scootaloo had opened up a drawer and was waving a book. "'The Life and Adventures of Miss Fanny Hill'? What's this about?"

Blushing, Ditzy grabbed the book and added it to the pile. "That's not a book for young fillies to be reading."

Scootaloo looked puzzled. "Why not? It was an adventure, wasn't it?"

"It is an adult adventure, full of things fillies shouldn't be reading or doing." Ditzy sighed. "At least we've established you can read."

"I can, can't I? I remember reading Don Rocinante, but... I don't know." Scootaloo started opening more drawers. "Let's see what else we can find."

Ditzy make a mental note to ask a bit more about her memory later. How much could Scootaloo remember, and how much of that was actually real?

Digging around in the drawer, Scootaloo pulled out a blue piece of cloth.

"Huh." She unfolded it and examined it. "A handkerchief?"

"Oh! Sparkler and Ditzy wear those every year at the Sisterhooves Social." Ditzy took the handkerchief from Scootaloo's hooves. "She'll want to keep that."

Scootaloo kept looking around, and pulled out a bag. "Little packs of balloons?" she said, holding them up.

Seriously? Sparkler, we're going to have words later... Ditzy yanked them away before Scootaloo had even finished showing them to her. "I'm sure Sparkler is going to want her... Balloons, too."

"Of course she would! You can blow them up and they'll float, or fill them with water and throw them at each other..."

"Yes, balloons are rather... Versatile." Ditzy quickly moved on. "How about the closet? Maybe she left other things in there?"

"I don't see anything..." Scootaloo wedged herself inside to get a closer look. "Wait, here's someth-mmmf..."

Scootaloo backed out, and dropped something from her muzzle. Ditzy closed her eyes. She was almost afraid to look.

"Huh. That's a lot of lace."

She cracked one eye open. It was a saddle. A very frilly, lacy saddle.

"Oh, looks like she must have left a saddle behind." Looks like it was intended for a romantic night, but I don't blame her on this one. Every mare has something frilly tucked away like this somewhere...

"It looks all girly."

"Yes, I believe that's the point." Ditzy added it to what she was starting to think of as 'Sparkler's Pile of Shame'.

They continued searching for a while, but nothing else of note surfaced. Now, for someplace to put all this...

She darted into the living room for a moment and grabbed a spare saddlebag, and, thinking about it, a book. Then she headed back, hoping Scootaloo wouldn't have caused mayhem while she was gone. Fortunately, she just appeared to be testing the bedsprings.

*Sproing*

She scooped all Sparkler's belongings into the bag.

*Sproing*

"Alright, that's enough of that, Scoots." She caught the filly in the air, mid-bounce. "Lets get you cleaned up and ready to get in bed."

"I was in bed."

"Bouncing on it doesn't count."

They went over to the bathroom, and Scootaloo got cleaned up once again. Ditzy pulled a spare toothbrush out of the medicine cabinet, along with a tube of toothpaste, and started vigorously brushing her teeth, barely persuading her the toothpaste wasn't edible.

"You should probably use the bathroom before bed as well," Ditzy said.

Scootaloo scratched her head. "Didn't we just do that?"

"Um, use the toilet, I mean." Ditzy's cheeks turned red. "You do know how to use the toilet, right?"

Fortunately, that seemed to have come across with reading and other basic skills. She hadn't been looking forward to potty-training again.

"Alright, now let's get you to bed, and get some sleep."

"Um, what's sleep?" Scootaloo said.

"Well, you close your eyes, your mind takes a bit of a break, and when you wake up, eight hours or so have passed," Ditzy said, not really sure how to explain it.

"Like when Sweetie Belle stops imagining me, and then suddenly a week has gone by? It sounds like stopping being real for a while," Scootaloo said, a bit of a tremble in her voice. "I'm just getting used to being real."

"You won't stop existing," Ditzy said encouragingly. "You may even have some dreams."

"Dreams?" Scootaloo said.

"Adventures your mind comes up with for you."

"Still sounds scary." Scootaloo looked up. "Do I have to?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, um, can you stay with me tonight, while I'm sleeping then?" Scootaloo said.

"Alright, we can do that for tonight," Ditzy said. "I'll grab a few things. Why don't you meet me in my room?"

*****

Scootaloo opened up the door to Ditzy's room with trepidation, unsure what lurked within. The room was filled with shadows, with mysterious piles laying scattered around. She was pretty sure that the big thing in the middle was the bed, but what else was in here?

She tiptoed behind one of the piles, but there really wasn't enough light to figure out what it was. Then she heard a noise behind her. What was that? She quickly darted beneath the bed.

Then the lights flickered on. "Scootaloo?"

Now that the room was lit, she could see a potted plant she had been behind, and the room looked a lot less scary. There seemed to be a few bags and things scattered around. Ditzy must not have had time to clean recently. And Ditzy herself was peering around the room.

She bent down, and squinted. "Scoots, what are you doing under the bed?"

Why would she be under the bed? "Um, flooring inspector?"

"Right," Ditzy said skeptically. "Out you go."

Reluctantly, Scootaloo pulled herself out from under the bed, and shook herself off, dust bunnies scattering everywhere.

Ditzy walked over to a table, and turned on the table lamp, then turned off the main light.

"Alright, feel like getting on the proper side of the bed this time?" She asked.

That bed did look awful big and comfy. She leapt onto it face first. Ditzy sat down besides her, setting a bag down by the side of the bed, and pulling a book from it.

"Now, how about getting under the covers?" Scootaloo dived right in, making a bump in the middle of the bed.

"Not that far under." When the bump stayed in place, Ditzy started attacking it with her feathers until Scootaloo came up for air, giggling.

"No fair!"

"I don't have to play fair," Ditzy said, smugly. "Now, how about I read a story to you?"

"Does it have adventures and heroes and villains and traps and..."

"All that and more," Ditzy said. "So settle down, and let me tell you about Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone."

Scootaloo snuggled up next to Ditzy and listened eagerly as she began reading.

"As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky! But her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days. Few days... it might as well be a few months, or a few years!"

As Scootaloo listened in awe to the pegasus's exploits, and gradually drifted off to sleep, one thought went through her mind. She finally knew the name she wanted for herself.

Scootaloo Daring Doo.

Boredom and Storytelling

Deep in a dark forest, overgrown with barren trees, an orange pegasus was hiding. An owl hooted in the distance in the cloudy sky. Thunder crashed as the orange filly trembled. Somepony - or something - was watching her. Hunting her.

The full moon hung in the sky, surrounded by clouds. For a moment, the face of a wicked-looking mare shrouded the view of the moon. Then it was gone, leaving nothing but the moons cratered surface in its wake. Hearing a rustling from a nearby bush, the filly darted from tree to tree, fearful of being caught.

Lightning flashed, and the silhouette of a unicorn was illuminated in the distance, standing proud and tall, horn to the heavens, with her mane flowing freely behind her. Scootaloo ran. She ran over dusty trails, past bushes and brambles, and down windy roads. She ran as if her life depended on it. As far as she knew, it did.

She ran until she was out of breath and could run no more, and then hid behind a large rock, shivering. She breathed a sigh of relief. She should finally be safe. Scootaloo surveyed the area. Nothing to her left, and nothing directly in front of her. And to her right...

A scowling magenta unicorn was leveling her horn.

With her violet and lavender mane, Scootaloo had no trouble recognising her. "Sparkler? What are you doing?"

"Just what I should have when I first met you." Eyes glowing, she opened her mouth to reveal a pair of fangs. "Fixing an unfortunate mistake."

"B-But you said we were sisters now!" Scootaloo said, standing up on all four hooves. "That we were family!"

"Hardly," she said with a toss of her head. "You're nothing. Just a discarded plaything."

"I'm more than that." Scootaloo stared at the fanged sister-creature in defiance. "I'm a real pony now. You'll see."

"Really now?" A younger white unicorn with a distinctive pink and purple mane stepped out from behind the fanged faux sister, an uncharacteristic look of hatred on her face. "You are just a puppet I created to play with. I have friends now. I don't need you any more."

She rubbed up against Sparkler affectionately, then glared at Scootaloo.

"You're not a real pony," Sparkler scoffed. "You are nothing but a magical accident, and a particularly embarrassing one at that. Sweetie, lets clean up this mess. Together."

They both started laughing, a particularly vile and malevolent laugh, and their horns began to glow, aimed straight for her. Scootaloo shrieked, and then-

She opened her eyes.

*****

It took a moment for Scootaloo to recognise where she was. Her heart was still racing away, and her nerves were on a hair trigger. She was in a dark room, filled with shadows. But there was a comfortable blanket and comforter over her, and a table to one side with a book she recognised as the one she'd fallen asleep to last night.

She could feel something large, warm, and fuzzy by her side. An occasional soft snore came from that direction.

Ditzy.

She snuggled up to her, feeling her chest move as Ditzy breathed. One of her wings instinctively curled around the young filly. Calming down, Scootaloo gradually drifted back to sleep.

*****

Much later, Scootaloo woke back up, and found herself tucked snugly under the covers. She yawned and stretched, hearing tiny pops coming from her bones as she did so. A beam of sunlight shining through the window lit up the room. Rubbing her eyes blearily, she looked around her.

She was all alone. Where had Ditzy gone? While Scootaloo had only met her yesterday, she'd already gotten fairly attached to her. Something just made her feel like she could trust her, and that she'd always be there when she needed her. It was very comforting. Scootaloo felt like she was starting to understand what a 'mother' was, and she liked it. But where was Ditzy now?

Scootaloo dived under the blankets, and scooted to the end of the bed. She poked her head out of the now crumpled covers, giving herself a better view of the doorway. Mane sticking up in all directions and tail exposed behind her, Scootaloo watched the door, her ears perked up and at attention.

Listening closely, she could faintly hear noises coming from a few rooms away. She supposed she could go over and investigate, but that seemed like the more boring option. Setting up an ambush would be much more fun.

Scootaloo Daring Do, bold bounty hunter extraordinaire, crouched silently in the undergrowth. Her target was known to frequent this area, and had been sighted nearby. Time was on her side. She settled in to wait, making herself as comfortable as possible.

After a few minutes, she heard hoofsteps approaching the room. Her heart started to pound, and her tail twitched frantically back and forth. She crouched on her hindquarters, ready to spring into action. And... there!

As the gray pegasus entered the room, Scootaloo leapt. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ditzy rapidly push something to one side. Then the two of them tumbled through the air, head over tail, end to end. When they stopped, Ditzy was lying on her back, and Scootaloo was perched right on top of her chest, smiling.

"Ditzy!" The orange pegasus greeted her excitedly, and wrapped her forelegs around her in a big hug.

"Um, hello?" Ditzy took a few deep breaths. "Good morning, Scootaloo. You seem... Oof... awfully enthusiastic today."

"I woke up, and you weren't there so I decided to hunt for you then I heard some noises and I thought it might be you coming back so I set up an ambush and I caught you!" Scootaloo said, all in a single breath.

Ditzy's face had an odd expression that seemed somewhere between exasperation and amusement.

"I left to go get the two of us breakfast." She glanced at the desk next to her, which now had a tray sitting on it. "Fortunately, I managed to set the tray down before you jumped me, or you would have been covered in milk."

Scootaloo looked, and sure enough, there were plates with breakfast laid out on the tray. In retrospect, she supposed she should have checked whether Ditzy was carrying anything before leaping on her.

"Oh," she said blankly, ears drooping slightly. "Sorry."

"That's alright." Ditzy rubbed Scootaloo's mane. "Let's go in the living room and get something to eat. If you'll let me up, at least."

Why does everypony always mess with my hair? Scootaloo thought irritably. She let go of Ditzy's neck, and jumped down off of her chest. She watched as Ditzy got back up on her hooves, took the tray, and started slowly walking over to the living room.

Unable to contain herself, the orange pegasus scampered past her in the hallway. She dashed over to the table, and then sat down on a cushion.

Once Ditzy caught up, she put the tray down, and started setting out places. Grabbing some napkins, she mopped up some spilled milk, and unfolded a napkin under Scootaloo's place, just like she had the previous night.

"So we're having, er... Bread and fruit for breakfast?" Scootaloo asked.

"This is actually pumpkin zucchini bread, and I've got some apple butter here to spread on it as well," Ditzy said. "It was hot. It should at least still be warm."

Indeed, looking closely at her slices of bread, Scootaloo could see other things in it, too, such as grated carrot, raisins, and walnuts. Scarfing down half a piece, it was absolutely delicious.

"So," Ditzy said, after eating part of a slice herself with considerably more delicacy. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Um..." She hadn't. There'd been that weird dream that had been rather frightening, actually. But she was supposed to be tough. Bold. Adventurous. Like Daring Do. Would Daring Do tell somepony else if she had a bad dream? She bit her lip.

"Um? That sounds like a yes to me." Ditzy said. "You know, you've been through a lot recently. It's completely understandable if you had a nightmare."

Was it? "Well..."

"I promise I won't tell anypony else about your dream. Honest," Ditzy swore. "And it usually helps to tell somepony about these things."

"Well," she said reluctantly. "I had sorta a weird dream that was kinda scary, but once I went back to sleep, I slept pretty well."

"What kind of a bad dream did you have?" Ditzy asked gently. Scootaloo gradually told her about what had happened in her dream. Ditzy prompted her anytime she started to hesitate.

"I suppose I can see why Sparkler was chasing me," Scootaloo said. "but why was Sweetie Belle there? She's my best friend!"

"She was your best friend when you were imaginary," Ditzy said. "It sounds like you were worried about things changing with her now that you are real."

"Maybe..." Scootaloo said reluctantly.

"Don't worry too much about it," Ditzy said. "She seemed pretty attached to you yesterday."

"Yeah, but that was yesterday." Scootaloo gulped down her milk. "I won't even be able to see her today due to that magical exaltation thing."

"You mean 'exhaustion,' and not necessarily." Ditzy finished off her last slice. "I thought we could stop by her parents house and check up on her today. Assuming you know where she lives, of course."

"I may not know much, but if there's one thing I know," Scootaloo said confidently. "It's where Sweetie Belle lives."

Scootaloo's serious look during this statement was totally ruined by the milk mustache now adorning her face. Ditzy laughed, and quickly dabbed it off with a napkin.

*****

"Alright, Scoots," Ditzy called out tiredly, for what must have been the millionth time. "Does anything seem familiar now?"

Scootaloo craned her neck in either direction, looking around for anything familiar. "Nope."

"Didn't you say you know right where Sweetie Belle's parents live?" Ditzy asked.

"I do! I've been there a million times!" Scootaloo said defensively. Then her shoulders slumped. "I don't much know where anything else is, though."

Ditzy sighed. "Well, I'm afraid I don't know the way there, either."

"So we'll just have to go home then?" Scootaloo said, a quiver in her voice. "I can't visit Sweetie Belle?"

"Actually..." Ditzy suddenly smiled. "You remember how to get to the pond from her home, right?"

"Sure," Scootaloo said, "Sweetie Belle goes there all the time."

"Well, I do know how to get to the pond from here," Ditzy said. "Why don't we backtrack from there?"

*****

After that minor debacle, they located Sweetie Belle's home without too much difficulty. Her house was small and squat, sandwiched between two others. It was painted green, but the paint was faded and peeling, with frilly white curtains, and a wooden shed off to one side.

Scootaloo grinned, and started walking straight towards the door, only to be yanked back by the scruff of her neck. She turned around and glared at Ditzy. "What was that for?"

"You can't just go walking straight into somepony's home!" Ditzy said, trying to get strands of orange fur out of her mouth, not for the first time.

"Why not? I've been there-"

"You haven't been in there before. Not that Sweetie Belle's parents would remember, anyways," Ditzy said. "Here, we'll claim that you're one of Sweetie Belle's friends they haven't met, and that we were planning on going out to the park with her today. Otherwise, just follow my lead."

"Fine." Scootaloo sighed and rubbed the back of her much abused neck. "Whatever."

Ditzy walked up and knocked on the door, Scootaloo trailing behind her. After a few minutes without a response, she knocked again. The door opened, and a mustache wearing a loud shirt and straw hat with a stallion somewhere behind it peered out.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Looking Ditzy over, his eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, you're one of the mail mares around town. Derpy, wasn't it? Did you have a letter for me?"

"No letters today, I'm afraid." Ditzy stepped slightly to the side, so that Scootaloo was clearly visible. "You're Sweetie Belle's father, aren't you? Scootaloo here had been planning on playing with her in the park today, and I thought it'd be better if we stopped by here first."

"You are friends of Sweetie Belle's? Wonderful!" he said. "Unfortunately, she's not feeling that good today, so she won't be able to come out and play. But I'm sure she'd appreciate some company."

He gestured towards the door. "Why don't you both come inside. Derpy? Scootadoo?"

"Thank you," Ditzy said. Scootaloo wondered if the vein in her forehead was supposed to be pulsating like that. "And it's Ditzy and Scootaloo."

"Sorry, never been the best with names." He laughed. "Come on in!"

They entered, and, if anything, the house seemed smaller on the inside then the outside. In large part, this was due to the enormous amount of clutter lining every wall, most of which seemed to be souvenirs from one location or another.

There was a small statuette of Princess Celestia, which was inexplicably colored pink, a huge stuffed pig, which wasn't, a golden apple plaque from Manehattan, a set of opera glasses and booklets framed on the wall, and myriads of other things. What wasn't particularly evident was good taste.

"Sorry about all the clutter," The stallion waved at all the junk stacked around. "We've outgrown this house, really. We've been thinking about moving, but who has time? I'm Magnum, by the way."

He extended one hoof, Ditzy cautiously accepted it with one of her own, and found her foreleg being pumped vigorously.

"Um, charmed."

"Glad to meet you! Any friend of Sweetie Belle's is a friend of mine," Magnum said. "I'd introduce you to the wife, but she's out shopping. Something about running out of chocolate. Tell me, do you enjoy fishing?"

Scootaloo noticed that the vein in Ditzy's forehead seemed to be pulsating even more. Then she was distracted by a shelf with a collection of Diamond Dog dolls with big poofy hair and eyes that seemed to bore into the depths of your soul. She shivered.

"Can't say I've really had the pleasure." He still seemed intent on shaking her foreleg vigorously. She steered the subject back on course. "You said Sweetie Belle isn't feeling well?"

"Shame. Shame." Then he seemed to take notice of what she'd been saying. "Oh, yes, Sweetie Belle. When she came home last night, she was so tired she fell asleep right on the floor. We were worried, so we called Nurse Coldheart over. The nurse said that she had exhausted her magic, and put her on bedrest for the next week."

"So that's why Pearl is out getting chocolate, then?"

"Nah," he waved a foreleg dismissively. "She just always likes to have lots of chocolate on hand."

"Oh." Ditzy massaged her foreleg. "I'd assumed it was because chocolate helps with recovery from magical exhaustion."

"That too, I'm sure."

"Can we go see Sweetie Belle now?" Scootaloo interjected, not really feeling like having this conversation go on much longer. Grownups were so boring.

"Sure! Glad to see Sweetie Belle making some friends." He pointed towards a door with three diamonds carved into it. "Her room is right over there. Oh, and Derpy, if your daughter and Sweetie Belle are good friends, maybe we can talk about having her go over to your house occasionally once she's better."

"Let's do that."

Ditzy and Scootaloo walked over to the door he'd indicated. As they approached, they heard a voice from the other side.

"I'm soooo bored!"

Scootaloo held up a foreleg.

"I believe that's my cue."

She opened the door, Ditzy following behind her. The room looked much the same as when she was there last, except that Sweetie Belle was now lying stretched out on the bed facing the wall, awake, and she was clearly not taking to bedrest well. A closet was behind the bed, with a large wicker basket lined with a blanket laying on the top shelf.

"Well, if you're that bored, I'm sure we can come up with something to do together," Scootaloo called out as she entered.

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to stay in bed. And I don't feel like I'm up to going anywhere anyways, which sucks because I'm wide awake with nothing to do." Then she did a double-take. "Wait... Scootaloo?"

She turned and bounded off the bed. She started to run over, but her legs collapsed under her, and she was left lying there panting for breath. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, had no such problem, and ran over to her at a quick clip with Ditzy by her side.

Ditzy helped Sweetie Belle off the floor, who quickly wrapped herself around Scootaloo. The orange pegasus seemed equal parts pleased and embarrassed, but returned the hug.

"I didn't know how to let you know that I wasn't feeling well enough to meet you in the park, then I realised that I didn't know where Ditzy lived and mom had no idea either and dad was no help as usual and I swear all he ever does is sit there and fish or talk about fishing and then you showed up anyways!" Sweetie Belle said, squeezing her friend vigorously as she spoke.

"I'm- urg- happy to see you too, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo gasped. "Or I w-would be if I c-could breathe..."

"Oh... Sorry." Sweetie Belle loosened her death grip slightly. "So..."

The two of them looked awkwardly at each other for a moment, then Ditzy cut in. "First off, why don't the three of us go somewhere that's more comfortable than the floor? Sweetie Belle, your bed looks large enough for all of us to sit on comfortably."

Indeed, her bed was huge, considering the small room it was in.

"Er, yeah. It used to be my sister Rarity's." She tried to hop up to the bed, fumbled, and nearly fell. Ditzy caught her, and helped her back up. "In fact, this whole room was Rarity's, before she moved out."

"Really?" Ditzy said. "Where did you sleep before that?"

"Well, in here, actually." She admitted, looking down. "I think that's one of the reasons she was so eager to move out."

Scootaloo saw Ditzy wince, and glance at the closet, though she wasn't quite sure just why. Still, that did sound rather cramped. Then a thought from yesterday flitted back across her mind, and this time she was able to pursue it.

"Um, Sweetie Belle, I didn't have a name yet last time we met," Scootaloo stated. "But you called me Scootaloo when I came in. How did you know I'd decided on that for my name?"

Sweetie Belle's face went blank, and she just stared, dumbfounded, for a few minutes. "I- I- Didn't you tell me... No, you couldn't have... Scoots to Scootaloo makes sense, but... Um... I'm not sure... When did you pick it out?"

"Yesterday evening, after going to Dit- going home," Scootaloo said. "Though I wasn't sure about my full name till that night."

"I think I would have been asleep by then," Sweetie Belle mused. "I'm just so used to knowing everything about you that I didn't think about it."

"Do you know what my full name is?" Scootaloo asked curiously.

"Let me think." She closed her eyes for a minute. "Scootaloo... Doo?"

"Yeah, that part's right." Scootaloo smiled. "What's my middle name, though?"

"I- I have no idea," Sweetie Belle said, surprised.

"You've decided on a middle name?" Ditzy said, almost making Scootaloo jump. She'd just about forgotten Ditzy was in the room with them.

"Yeah, but... I'd like to keep it to myself for a while." Having realised that she knew something nopony else did, she thought she'd hang on to it for the moment.

"That's fine," Ditzy said. "I'll need it once we have official adoption paperwork, though."

"I'll give it to you when you need it," Scootaloo promised.

"Just make sure I have it by then, or I may have to pick something out myself," Ditzy said. "Scootaloo Dashiell Doo?"

That wouldn't be too bad, but... "I will."

"Unfortunately, we can't really do anything that involves going outside or even much exercise right now," Ditzy said.

"Yeah." Sweetie Belle hung her head. "No trekking back out to the pond, or going to Sugarcube Corner, going exploring. Or anything fun, really. I don't even have much in the way of games we could play here that I'm not too tired for. This sucks."

"Well, you know, I could read both of you a story." Ditzy pulled an old book out of her saddlebags.

"Well," Sweetie Belle said a bit reluctantly. "as long as it's an interesting story..."

"It should be," Ditzy assured her. She opened the book and began reading.

A long time ago in a place far away, there was a king who was well loved by all of his subjects. Yet all things must come to an end, and eventually he passed away, leaving behind his two sons. The two brothers were very close, and soon agreed that the younger would become the new king, and the eldest would become his Grand Vizier, and advise him in all things.

So matters stood, and they ruled the kingdom well together for a time. The king had married, and had a wife he loved beyond anything, and would give anything she wanted. A few years into the marriage, however, he discovered she didn't return his love. She had been weaving a terrible web of deceit, and had done any number of wicked things behind his back.

The only punishment for some of the things she had done was death, and she was executed shortly thereafter. Yet by the laws of that land, the king must have a wife, and he was required to remarry.

In his grief, something had snapped in mind, though, and he now felt all mares were inherently untrustworthy. He remarried, but had his new wife executed the next day. And he continued with this every day, picking out a new wife, and having her killed on suspicion the day afterwards. His subjects were horrified, but he was the king.

Another pony who was horrified was Scheherazade, one of the viziers two daughters. However, she had always been very clever and brave, and she came up with a plan to stop this senseless slaughter. The first step was becoming the kings next bride, which, as you can imagine, took some persuading on her part with her father. After that, she needed to get ready for some storytelling...

*****

Scootaloo looked up as Ditzy finished telling yet another one of Scheherazade's intricate tales designed to save her life. Though she was still a bit hazy on why no one just offed the king if he had been going around marrying and killing all the mares in town.

A sudden noise startled her. She suddenly realised Ditzy had closed her book after inserting a bookmark to save her place. She immediately began to protest. "Why did you stop?"

Ditzy simply pointed. Looking in that direction, Scootaloo saw Sweetie Belle gently sleeping, head resting on one foreleg, an occasional snore coming from her direction. "We can always continue where we left off another time. Besides, it's getting close to time for us to pick up Dinky."

Scootaloo wanted to protest, but if Sweetie Belle was sleeping anyways, she didn't see the point. She jumped lightly down from the edge of the bed, and the two of them crept out of the room.

After closing the door to her room gently, they almost ran into a pink unicorn, mane done up in a purple bouffant. She was carrying a large basket of chocolate. Seeing them, she turned to face Ditzy. "Would this be a good time for me to go drop this off in Sweetie Belle's room? I know the two of you have been busy visiting..."

Ditzy smiled. "She's just gone to sleep, so perhap you could drop them off a little later."

"Oh, good." She extended a hoof. "I'm Pearl, Sweetie Belle's mother."

"Ditzy." She cautiously shook hooves with Pearl, no doubt remembering the trauma of Magnum’s hoofshake, but Pearl's, by contrast, was a delicate thing. "Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. I was glad to hear Sweetie Belle had some friends over for once. And you and your daughter–" Pearl trailed off with a questioning tone.

"Scootaloo," Ditzy filled in.

"–Scootaloo must be close friends given how long you were visiting. Will you be able to stop by again later in the week?" Pearl asked.

"I'll try to make time for it, assuming my youngest daughter, Dinky, leaves me any," Ditzy said.

"Oh dear, I know that feeling," Pearl said. "Are Dinky and–" she nodded towards the door. "–friends as well?"

"They've barely met, to my knowledge, though hopefully that'll change. I really have to get going to pick her up, though."

"No problem, I wouldn't want to detain you." Pearl delicately opened Sweetie Belles door a crack. "Stop by again later this week, and when Sweetie Belle's feeling better, we can see about having her visit your place in return."

"We'll be sure to." Ditzy and Scootaloo exited the house, and started on their way to the Ponyville train station.

*****

Waiting for the train to arrive, Scootaloo found herself on edge. In the last day or so, she'd gotten used to having Ditzy to herself, but it'd always been obvious that Dinky was important to her.Once Dinky was back, would she be pushed off to the side?

And what about Dinky herself? Would Dinky like her? Would Dinky be willing to be her sister, or more importantly, her friend? Would she even actually like Dinky? All these thoughts were whirling around her head when she felt a foreleg resting on her side, steadying her.

"You alright there, Scoots?" Ditzy asked, concern in her voice.

"Yeah," Scootaloo said. "Just nervous."

Ditzy frowned, and looked over at her. "What are you so nervous about?"

"Stuff." Going into all her worries seemed kinda silly, really.

"I'm sure you and Dinky will get along just fine, Scoots," Ditzy assured her.

Yeah, but what if they didn't? Did Sparkler and Dinky really have room for another sister in their life? She looked down. "'kay."

Ditzy didn't look particularly convinced she was telling the truth, but dropped the subject, and after rubbing her back for a few minutes, let her go. Shortly thereafter, the train pulled in, and all the ponies onboard started disembarking.

First, a chestnut-colored stallion with a reddish-brown waistcoat, fedora, and curly hair got off, waved jauntily at Ditzy, then headed off. Next was a jasmine pegasus with a turquoise mane and three drops on her flank came by. And last, a blur of lavender-grey barrelled off the train, and immediately headed on a collision course with Ditzy, nearly knocking her over.

"MommyMommyMommy!" A hyperactive young unicorn with mane matching Ditzy's own jumped up on her and wrapped her in a surprisingly big hug. "I'vemissedyousomuch! Daddywasfunbuthedidn'fhaveblueberrymuffinsandMrFlibbleandtheteadidn'ttastelikeyoursandI'mhappytobehome!"

"Easy now," a bemused sounding Ditzy said. "I'm happy to see you too, but you're going so fast I can barely understand you. Have you had anything to eat yet?"

"Daddygave mesome cakeand icecream and rootbeerand chokolatenlots ofyummy stuffbeforeI left!" Dinky declared. She suddenly noticed Scootaloo standing to one side, watching all this with no idea how to react. "Who's that, mommy?"

Scootaloo thought she heard Ditzy mutter something about a sugar overload before replying, but wasn't sure she'd heard right. Too much sugar couldn't be bad, could it? As Dinky and Ditzy's eyes turned to her, she started shaking slightly again.

"Dinky, this is Scootaloo," Ditzy freed one foreleg from her clutches, and pointed at the orange pegasus. "She's going to be coming to live with us."

Dinky hopped down from her embrace with Ditzy, and walked over to inspect Scootaloo. She approached hesitantly, and began circling around her, sniffing at the air, and looking her over. Not to be outdone, Scootaloo started circling around Dinky herself and checking her out head to tail.

The detente was broken when Dinky suddenly closed the gap between them, reached out with a foreleg, and pushed against Scootaloo's nose with one hoof.

"Boop!" she exclaimed, and leapt away.

At this point, Scootaloo was feeling much put upon, and jumped at the other filly, who giggled and dodged her. This quickly degenerated into a full-blown scuffle between the two of them, with first one on the top then the other, until when the dust cleared, Scootaloo was standing on top of the unicorn filly.

She triumphantly pushed the end of Dinky's nose with her hoof. "Boop!" Wait, what just happened? Scootaloo sheepishly got down off the other filly, who sprung back on her hooves as if nothing odd had occurred.

"If you've gotten that out of your system now," Ditzy sardonically remarked. "you may have had something to eat, muffin, but neither of us has. Let's grab something to eat."

Dinky fished a small bag out of her saddlebags, and offered it to Scootaloo. "Jelly baby?"

Shrugging, Scootaloo accepted the proffered treat and implied truce, and they followed Ditzy as she headed towards Sugarcube Corner.