A New Family, A New Life

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.