So, this is a sorta alternate universe based on Cupcakes and A Precious Rainbow, in the fact that she is saved. This is after Discord was reformed, so I guess I'm moving the timeline of this probably.

Dash started to cry again. "Pinkie?" she choked out.

"Yeah?"

"I want to go home," Dash sobbed.

"Yeah, I can see wanting to do that," replied the party pony. "Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say 'I'm done with this mess' and go to bed. But you know what? You can't shrug off your responsibilities. You gotta pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you're gonna get ahead in life."

Dash hung her head and cried.

Minutes passed as the drug took affect. Eventually, Dash was completely numb from her chest to her flanks. At this point, Pinkie approached with a scalpel.

---

Discord flew along to SugarCube Corner. He wanted to see Pinkie Pie before he visited Princess Celestia today.

The bright gingerbread looking building was empty when he went in. Weird, he thought, it doesn't say it's closed.

"Hello? Anypony here? Pinkie?" he called. No answer. A slice of light was shining from under a door. Discord shrugged, grabbing the handle. Locked. He could just teleport in, but… he didn't want to intrude. He pressed his ear against the door, trying to hear anything. The faintest of voices met his ear. It didn't sound happy. "You know what, I'm going in." Discord snapped his fingers, and he was in the basement. His mouth dropped open. Pinkie was standing over Rainbow Dash with a scalpel, preparing to cut her stomach open.

"What? How'd you get in here?" Pinkie asked, pointing the scalpel at the spirit.

"What are you doing to her?"

"That doesn't matter! It's none of your business!" She came at him, trying to cut him. He teleported to the other side of her, and conjured up a cage. She fell into it, and he slammed the door shut. Pinkie rattled the bars, attempting to get out. "Get me out of here! Don't touch her!"

"Rainbow Dash?" Discord asked tentatively, reaching out his paw towards her. Her head turned to look at him. Her face was covered in blood and sweat; wings gone, nails through her hooves, and her flanks had holes in them where her cutie mark used to be. He undid the straps restraining her to the table, and picked her up in his arms. Rainbow's head lolled, and he grasped her closer. Her head in his paw; talon holding up her body, he flew past Pinkie's cage.

"You put her back! Get back here!" Pinkie shouted profanities at him. Discord promptly ignored the pink pony. He had no respect for her anymore; certainly not after what she did to Rainbow. He kicked the door open, shards of wood falling to the ground. He couldn't teleport with the pegasus. If he did, it could kill her.

As he raced to the hospital, he didn't have time to answer questions. When Discord finally arrived the rest of the Mane Six were behind him.

"Help! She needs help!" Discord shouted frantically, entering the hospital. Doctors ran to his side with a gurney. He set Rainbow on it, and she was quickly put on an oxygen tank and wheeled down the hallway to the ER.

---

"What was that?!" Twilight asked, shoving her face up to Discord's after they'd been told the hospital would contact them when they could visit.

"I was on my way to SugarCube Corner, ya know, gonna see Pinkie Pie. I go in, nopony is in there, so I go into the basement. There's Pinkie standing over Rainbow Dash with a scalpel, so I trap her, grab Rainbow, and get out of there," Discord replied.

"Pinkie Pie did that to her?! Why would she do that?!" Applejack asked incredulously.

"And what is going to happen to her?! Did you call the cops?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, I did. And, I don't know why Pinkie did that to her. Maybe we misjudged her severely," Discord said. His ears drooped back against his head, and he flopped into a chair by a table. He rubbed his forehead with his paw, sighing.

"I can't believe she would do that," Rarity murmured. She took a chair beside him. The others sat down too.

"You know what else I saw when I went down there? Skulls, bones, organs; all over the place. Pinkie has obviously done that before. Tools and knives for cutting, and she was wearing a dress made of cutie marks, pegasus wings, and unicorn horns. It made me sick."

"That sounds awful," Twilight whispered.

"But I'm glad you were there, because if you weren't, Rainbow Dash wouldn't have ever been seen again. Nopony would've ever known where she went," Fluttershy said. A sad smile was on her face.

"Yes, Fluttershy is right. If you hadn't been there, who knows when Pinkie would have been stopped," Rarity agreed.

"Ah'm glad you're reformed now. You can be annoyin' sometimes, but you're not actually that bad," Applejack said. Discord looked at them. Then, he reached over and put AJ in a head lock.

"Don't get all soft on me now ladies!" Discord laughed, rubbing his knuckles on the earth pony's head, ruffling her mane. The ponies giggled, and Applejack broke free, running a hoof over her mane to smooth it.

"…Should we visit Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked softly. The group looked around at each other.

"The question is, do we want to?" Rarity said.

"No. Not yet. Not after what she did. Maybe sometime, in the future, when I've forgiven her. But, that day might never come. Not soon, anyway," Fluttershy told them. The other ponies nodded their heads. Discord looked away.

"How 'bout we eat and then go to see if they'll let us see Rainbow Dash," Discord said.

---

The doctors let them see her.

"Hey guys," Rainbow wheezed. Tubes were going into her nose.

"Hey sugarcube. How are ya feelin'?" Applejack asked gently. She laid her hoof on the bed next to her.

"I've had better days. And my wings, well, where my wings used to be, hurt like crazy. And most of me does too."

"Have the doctors told you anythin', about whether they can fix 'em?"

"They can't. Even with magic, they won't be able to get the nerves connected to them again. And I don't think they'll sew my cutie mark back on, so…" The blue pegasus trailed off sadly, her gaze falling on her bloodied wings that the police had grabbed. She turned away from them and looked at Discord. "Thanks for saving me. She was gonna cut me open and harvest my organs if you hadn't shown up."

"You're welcome, I guess," Discord replied.

"What were you doing there anyway? How did you know we were in there?"

"I was going to see Pinkie Pie, but I guess not anymore. And I have sensitive hearing, dear, so it was easy."

"But Pinkie said that room was soundproof."

"Not all sounds can be blocked."

"Oh, well, thanks again," Rainbow said. "What's to come of Pinkie anyway?"

"We're guessing you already probably know this to a degree, but she's going to prison, Dashie," Twilight told her. Rainbow nodded understandingly.

"I figured. But why did she do that to me? She said she was making cupcakes, and apparently those other skulls were from past victims. Who makes cupcakes out of ponies? She even made them out of Gilda!"

"Well, we haven't gone over to see her, and we won't be anytime soon. This only happened two hours ago Rainbow. Everypony needs to recover first, especially you."

"Yeah. I never want to see her again."

"Don't say that Rainbow! She may have done that to you, but she was our friend before all this," Fluttershy said.

"But what friend does that to another?" Rainbow growled. "That's what I thought." She crossed her arms, and glanced at her wings again. "And now I'll never be able to fly again. Never to do a sonic rainboom again. I'll be grounded forever. And all because of Pinkie." A tear dripped down her cheek, and Discord wiped it away with his paw.

"It's okay. I'm sure we can find a way for you to fly again," Discord said.

"Maybe artificial flying, but not with real wings."

"Maybe," Discord stated. Rainbow shot him a questioning look and he winked at her.

"Okay, visiting times are over ponies. Come back tomorrow," a nurse told them. The ponies said their goodbyes and left.

"What was that? Maybe? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked him.

"Oh, nothing," Discord replied, and with a snap of his talon, he was gone.

---

"You got these for me? That's so nice of you!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed happily, caressing the colorful flowers that had been handed to her by Discord.

"Well, I thought you needed something to brighten the room. It's rather boring in here," Discord said, waving his paw in the air. It had been a few weeks since the accident, and Rainbow was getting antsy. She wanted out. Her injuries were almost completely healed, and she often walked around the room.

"Yeah, but hopefully it won't be much longer in this drab place." Dash took one more sniff of the flowers and set them on the bedside table.

"Maybe we can ask the doctor about getting-"

"Rainbow Dash? Get your things ready; we're checking you out of the hospital," a doctor interrupted, opening the door.

"Really?" Dash asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes. Now, hurry along Ms. Dash." The doctor closed the door, leaving the two alone again.

"Oh boy! I can't wait to get outside and stretch my wings-" Rainbow stopped in midsentence, and Discord reached out a paw to comfort her. She glanced away with a blank look on her face. "Whatever. Help me get my stuff please." Dash got out of the bed and grabbed the flowers and cards given to her by her friends. Discord poofed up her saddlebags and she placed the items in them. Putting the bags on her back, they walked into the waiting room to check out. Dash sat down in the wheelchair the doctors had pushed up to her, and rolled out into the light. She got out and they just went away from the hospital.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Discord asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just having trouble getting used to no flying. It's difficult, having spent my whole life doing just that," Dash responded.

"Where are you going to live now?"

"I don't know. Maybe you could bring my cloud home closer to the ground so I can walk into it."

"I think I could do that. Are you going to be okay living on your own?"

"Yeah, I will." The pair had arrived at Rainbow Dash's house. Discord flew up and pushed it downwards. The rainbows that usually came down puddled massively around them. Dash sadly moved up to them and stepped in them. It turned hard, and the rainbows crumbled, ending the flow. She stomped them into the ground; there was no use for them anymore.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?"

"If a pegasus focuses their "magic", I guess you could call it, they can destroy rainbows real fast," Dash responded. Discord nodded. Rainbow walked into her home. Books were strewn on the floor, bed unmade, and it was no longer as pleasant without the steady supply of rainbows.

"Do you need anything?" Discord asked. Dash shook her head.

"No, I'm good. See ya later okay?"

"Bye. See ya." And with that, Discord exited her home.

---

"Rainbow Dash, there you are! You're late!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed angrily. Dash look around confusedly.

"Late for what?" she asked.

"Making cupcakes!" Dash was shoved downstairs, and as she landed bruised at the bottom of them Pinkie came up and kicked her in the stomach. "Get up!" Dash weakly stood up, and was rudely pushed onto a table. The pink pony came around to her and strapped her down to it. Without a beat, she grabbed a knife and stuck it into Rainbow's flank.

"AAAHHHH!" Pinkie cut the lightning cutie mark out of the flesh, and moved to the other one. As soon as they were off, she grabbed the saw. "No, please Pinkie, not that again!" Dash struggled against her restraints, but to no avail. The saw ground through the bone, and blood squirted onto the floor. Rainbow screamed in agony. And the wing was off. Again. Pinkie grabbed the other one in her teeth. She pulled as hard as she could, yanking if off. As her wing was slowly ripped off her body, all Dash could do was scream. After what seemed like hours, the bone ripped out of the socket, and flesh tore. She puked up blood, sending it spraying at her torturer.

"Here comes the nails!" Dash didn't have any time to recover as red hot metal was burned through her hoof. Pinkie moved and put them in all her hooves, and the battery was turned on. Dash was electrocuted, but this time Pinkie didn't turn it off. It kept going. And going. Soon, Rainbow was gone.

---

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rainbow screamed at the top of her lungs, shooting up in bed, sweat dripping profusely down her face.

"Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?"

She shot around, expecting to see a psychotic pink party pony behind her. All the blue pegasus saw was a very concerned and surprised spirit standing beside the bed. She latched herself around his waist and clung to him.

"Rainbow? Did you have a nightmare?" Discord asked. He stroked her colorful mane, waiting for her to calm down.

"Yeah, but it's done now. I'm okay. How did you get here so fast anyway?" she asked him, looking up at him. He leaned over and they laid down on their backs, looking up at the cloud ceiling.

"Well, I didn't really believe you when you said that you were going to be okay being by yourself , so I decided to stick around the neighborhood. Good thing I did."

"Yeah. ." Several minutes passed before one of them spoke.

"Did you. . .want to talk about it?"

"It was about what happened to me while I was with Pinkie, except this was worse. She didn't even try to hide the fact I was gonna die; she just, well, did it," Dash explained. Discord nodded slowly.

"I have another question."

"Yeah?"

"What all happened, besides the stuff I saw, when Pinkie Pie was with you?" he asked. Dash froze. Discord was about to apologize for asking when she said something.

"A-are you sure you really w-want to know?" she whispered. Rainbow was trembling now. She clung tighter to his long body, and he put his arm around her shoulder.

"I do. But, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. You don't have to tell me anything if I makes you unhappy, or uncomfortable," Discord told her.

"No, no, I'll tell you. It'll be good to tell somepony. Maybe I'll feel better." She cleared her throat and took a deep, steadying breath, then started to talk. "Well, when Pinkie said to meet her at SugarCube Corner that day, I figured that we were gonna do some awesome pranking or something, Pinkieish, I guess is the way to put it. I met her at SugarCube Corner and then she said we were going to make cupcakes. Then she gave me this cupcake. She said it was a test one, so I ate it. But then I passed out. When I woke up, I was strapped down to the table. At first I though it was a prank, a joke of some sort, but then she turned on the lights. And that's when I saw the room: organs, blood, bones, and skulls of all sorts of gruesome things. She was in a dress of cutie marks, and had pegasus wings on her back, with a necklace of unicorn horns. Pinkie brought out some surgical tools and knives, and that's when I started getting really scared. I begged her to let me go, but she said this was something that needed to be done, and she was sorry my number came up. Of course I had no idea what that meant; I still don't. She took a knife and started to cut out my cutie mark. It hurt, so bad, but she didn't stop. And when both of them were gone, she said something about 'winging it.' Then Pinkie grabbed my wing, and took a knife, and tried to cut if off. I attempted to wiggle away, but she kept cutting me, and then she grabbed a saw, and sawed it off. Then she cut the other one off. But before it was all the way off, she just yelled 'think fast!' and ripped if off, taking skin halfway off my back. She kept injecting me with adrenaline, keeping me awake. I wish she had just let me pass out through the whole thing. It was the worst form of torture I could imagine. Then she hammered red-hot nails into my hooves, and hooked them up to a battery. And she electrocuted me. Just kept at it until I passed out. When I was awake, she injected me with this numbing stuff. That was right before you came in. Right when she was about to cut me open, you saved me. The only reason I'm alive right now, is because of you." Rainbow fell quiet, tears running down her face, soaking the bed and Discord's side.

"That sound, so awful. I'm so sorry about what happened," he said.

"Why should you be sorry? You had nothing to do with it."

"But now you're living without wings. And you don't even have your cutie mark. You don't have what makes you special anymore."

"At least I'm alive, right?"

"Yeah, and I'm glad, but still…"

"It's fine. Just, stop worrying about it, okay?" Rainbow asked.

"Fine, for now I will," Discord grunted.

"…Will you stay with me tonight? In case I have anymore nightmares?"

"Yeah, anything for you."

"Thanks Discord," Dash whispered drowsily, slipping into sleep. When he was sure she was asleep, only then did Discord allow himself to.

---

"Pinkamena Diane Pie, do you plead guilty to the murder and torture of fourteen ponies, and the attempted murder and torture of Rainbow Dash?" the judge asked.

"I do," Pinkie Pie answered solemnly.

"Life sentence, no possibility of parole." The sound of the gavel echoed through the room. Police officers grabbed the pink pony and handcuffed her. They led her out of the room. The families of the victims scowled at her as she was leaving. Even Gilda's family was there. But Pinkie seemed unaffected by it. Her face was as serious and unemotional as though she was just standing somewhere doing nothing. "Court dismissed, trial over."

"Life sentence?" Applejack said incredulously, watching as the felon left the room.

"I can't believe we'll never see the Element of Laughter outside of prison walls ever again!" Fluttershy wailed, hugging Twilight ferociously.

"It seems like a reasonable sentence, though. I mean, fourteen ponies? Almost fifteen! And that was Rainbow Dash! At least they caught her before anymore," the purple unicorn stated angrily, patting the crying pegasus on the back as they stood in the now empty courtroom.

"I know it's fair, but she was our friend! And what happens when we need to use the Elements of Harmony again? It's not like they'll just let Pinkie Pie out!" Rarity exclaimed.

"C'mon girls. We need to tell Rainbow Dash what the sentence was." Twilight lifted Fluttershy onto her back with her magic and they set out to the hospital.

---

"I'm sorry ladies, but Rainbow Dash was checked out of the hospital yesterday," the receptionist told them.

"What? Are you sure?" Rarity asked.

"I'm sure. She left with someone named," she squinted her eyes at the computer screen, "Discord."

"Discord? Did they have the doctor's permission?" Twilight demanded, stretching her neck up to look the pony in the face.

"Yes, the doctor said. Now if you don't mind, will you please let the other clients through?" she asked, obviously annoyed, and signaled to the long line behind them.

"Uh, thanks for your time." The four ponies left the hospital.

"How come the three days we're gone for the trial she's let out?" Applejack groaned exasperatedly.

"Urg, I don't know. Where do you think she is?"

"Um. I think I know…" Fluttershy said, looking at the other side of Ponyville. Rainbow's cloud home was settled on the ground.

"Aren't there usually rainbows coming out if it?" Rarity asked.

"And floatin'?" Applejack squeaked. They walked towards the giant cloud house. Twilight stepped onto the cloud. Well, tried to anyways. She immediately fell through it, and was soon up to her neck, with her hooves still on the earth.

"Of course! Always a complication!" Twilight exclaimed, throwing her head back. Her horn glowed and suddenly she was being lifted off the ground and onto the top of the cloud. She turned to the others, and preformed the spell on them. "Coming?" The ponies leapt onto the cloud. The purple unicorn knocked on the fluffy white door. A crash and a shout was heard before a very disoriented Discord answered the door.

"Oh, hey girls! You're back!" he exclaimed, rubbing the back oh his head with his paw.

"Oh, uh, Discord, I didn't uh, know you would be um, living with Rainbow Dash now. I-is she here?" Twilight asked, faltering for words. As if on cue, a messy maned Rainbow stumbled to the door.

"Discord? Are you here?" she grumbled dizzily, not noticing her friends at the door. "Oh, hey girls! Where ya been?"

"Can we come in?" Rainbow's smile faltered as she noted the serious looks on their faces. She nodded and back away from the door to let them pass. She led them into the living room. The ponies sat down and got comfortable.

"So, what is it?" Dash asked nervously.

"We were at Pinkie Pie's trial, Dashie," Twilight started. Rainbow leaned forward.

"What was the sentence?"

"Life; no chance of parole," Fluttershy told her. Dash's shoulders drooped. She had been so angry at Pinkie, but did she really never want to see her again?

"I-I…" She didn't know what to say. "What did she say?"

"That was the thing; she didn't say a word. All she said was 'I do,' and the officers led her away. No facial expressions," Rarity said.

"Really? Nothing else? Nothing at all?"

"No, nothing at all. But she murdered and tortured fourteen ponies, Rainbow, not includin' you," Applejack told her.

"Fourteen? Oh my god. And we didn't even know. How could've we been so ignorant?" Rainbow whispered, tears in her rose eyes.

"We could've never guessed. She was so happy. She didn't show any signs of murdering ponies," Twilight said.

"So now that that's out of the way, how 'bout you tell us how this," Applejack signaled to the room with her hooves, "is going."

"How I'm living here? Well, Discord was there when I left the hospital, so he just tagged along. He pushed my home back on the ground, and yeah," Rainbow explained.

"What happened to the rainbows?"

"Oh, yeah those. They were all over the place, so I destroyed them."

"Ho-"

"Don't ask," Discord interrupted.

"Well okay, but are you guys, um, living together now?" Rarity asked.

"I was just over here tonight. You know, on her first day out."

"You're making it seem like I came out of a mental institution, Discord," Dash said.

"I didn't mean it like tha-"

"Don't speak, please." She put a hoof in his face.

"Fine!"

"I said no speaking!"

"Well how am I supposed to-"

"No!" Dash silenced him once again, and Discord threw his arms in the air, got up, and left the room.

"You guys fight like an old married couple!" Fluttershy laughed. The ponies sat there giggling for a few minutes before they settled down.

"I shouldn't have gotten so angry at him. I hope he isn't mad at me," Rainbow worried.

"I'm sure he's fine. Why would you care so much all of a sudden?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Well, I had a nightmare last night, and Discord was there…"

"Was it about Pinkie?"

"Yeah. But that's not what I'm upset about. After he comforted me, he asked about what happened with Pinkie. I told him. And now I can't get it out of my head. It's driving me crazy."

"You did?! Are you all right?" Rarity asked, her mouth agape.

"Yeah; just shaken up. I wish I could start forgetting about it," Dash sighed.

"Something like that doesn't just disappear quickly. It'll take some time," Fluttershy said.

"I know. Thanks girls, for your support."

"What're friends for?" Twilight laughed, and they all hugged each other. "And Rainbow, if you don't want to tell us what happened that day yet, that's okay with us."

"Don't worry, I will. Just, not yet," Dash responded.

---

"Ssshhh, it's okay, Rainbow Dash, it's over now," Discord whispered, trying to comfort the frantic pegasus clinging to his chest. Tears streamed down Rainbow's face, hitting the bed below her.

"It was worse this time! I was terrible!" Dash cried loudly, pushing her face back into Discord's fur. He stroked her mane, but it was not working enough to calm her down.

The dream raced through Dash's mind, making her relive the horrible nightmare:

Rainbow was in bed. Seemed ordinary. She was not expecting a hole to suddenly appear in it and for the pegasus to fall into it.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

"Hey Dashie! Nice of you to drop by! Hehe! This will be so fun! You got away from me last time, but not this time! I have a new invention! Do ya wanna see it?" Pinkie popped up in the air besides her, and fell with her. With her mane blowing around her, Rainbow desperately tried to fly away from her. But then they hit the ground. Well, she did anyway. Pinkie merely landed happily beside her on her hooves, as if she had just jumped from a foot high ledge. Rainbow lay crumpled on the ground.

"C'mon Dashie! I want you to see my invention!" Pinkie squealed, grabbing Dash's wings and pulling her up onto her hooves forcefully. Wings aching, she turned to see what 'invention' the party pony was talking about.

"Oh my god," Rainbow choked, looking up at the horrible machine. A square made up of poles was standing in front of her. Ropes were attached to the sides of it; seven in all. Four for her hooves, one for her head, and two for her wings. "What are you going to do with that?" she asked, as if she didn't know.

"You're going in it, silly! Now, let me just get you ready!" A baseball bat slammed into her skull, and Rainbow collapsed to the floor.

A while later, Rainbow Dash awoke. And not a surprise, she was in the device. She pulled at her restraints, which was futile, really, for Dash knew what was going to happen.

"Oh great, you're awake! Now, let's just get that cutie mark off and get started, shall we?" Pinkie giggled. Dash expected her to come over with her knives. She wasn't expecting what the pink pony had. A cheese grater. Rainbow pulled even harder. Pinkie set the grater against her cutie mark and raked it across it. The fur shredded off. She continued scraping it across her flesh, the skin being ripped away. Dash screamed in pain and cried. Even though it was only on her fur she shredded her skin. And by the time they were both done, blood was already covering the floor under the blue pegasus.

"Are you gonna cut my wings off now?" Dash whimpered as Pinkie moved closer to her.

"Of course not silly! Why would I do that? No, I'm going to turn on this machine, and then it's going to pull you apart, bit by bit. So, I'm not going to do it," Pinkie Pie responded.

"WHAT?!"

The gears turned. Dash felt her wings being pulled. The skin tore, much more quickly then when Pinkie did it, and ripped them off her body in a torrent of blood and pain. Dash screamed and before her mind could even process it, her left foreleg was starting to stretch. It came off, blood spurting out of the torn limb and socket.

"WWHHHYYY, PINKIE, WWHHYYY?" Dash cried, feeling her right back right leg tugged slightly. She tried to pull it back in, but the gears were turning too fast for her meager amount of strength left, and it ripped away from her body. The blood puddled profusely on the floor and Rainbow blacked out.

That was where the dream ended. Thank goodness. She could feel the ropes ripping her limbs off. . .

"Rainbow?! Oh, good; you drifted away for a few moments there, I thought you were leaving me," Discord's voice snapped the cyan pegasus out of her mind.

"A few moments? I thought I was gone forever; in my dream. It was so scary," Dash whispered, her tears drying. She pulled the spirit closer, practically squeezing the breath out of him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was like usual, but Pinkie this machine, and ripped me apart piece by piece. I could feel it, in my dream. It sucked."

"Well, good thing that's over. It's morning, so do you want to get up? Eat something?" Discord asked. Dash nodded. Food would soothe her frayed nerves. He scooted out of the bed, and she followed him.

"I'm gonna take a shower before we eat okay? I feel. . .gross," Dash told him, and he nodded, leaving her alone to do that. She walked into her shower, letting herself being cleansed by the warm water. Her eyes drifted to her wing stubs, and she wiggled them. She glanced at her flanks. Bare, huge bowl shaped scars covering them from where Pinkie cut her cutie marks out. She held her hooves to her face, observing them. She could see the places where the nails went in. They weren't that visible, compared to her other injuries. Trying not to think about her body, she washed her mane and tail. Dash finished her shower and dried herself with a blue towel, bearing her cutie mark. Wrapping it around her body, she trotted into the kitchen. Rainbow was surprised to see breakfast already on the table, with Discord washing a few dishes in the sink.

"Well, this certainly is a surprise. . ." Dash said awkwardly.

"What? You think just because I'm the God of Chaos means I can't cook? Or for that matter, just simply conjure up food on the table? You have a lot to learn, my little Dashie," Discord responded.

"Heh, well. . ." Discord rolled his eyes at her response, then pointed with his talon towards a seat. She sat down and looked at the spread. Pancakes, waffles, muffins, crepes, fresh fruit, milk and juice, hash browns, and many other delectable looking foods lay arranged on the table. "Wow, this food looks amazing!"

"Why thank you, just one of my many perfections!" Discord smirked, choosing to sit on the ceiling. Rainbow grabbed a few waffles and poured herself a glass of milk. As they were eating, Rainbow heard a knock at the door.

"Hm, wonder who that could be?" she asked herself, trotting to the door, opening it. A mail pony stood there, holding up a letter. "Uh, thanks. Have a good day!" she called as the pony tipped his hat and walked down the dirt road.

Dash went back into the kitchen, holding the letter in her mouth.

"Who's it from?" Discord asked, coming down from the ceiling.

"I don't know. Let's see," she said, grabbing the letter from her mouth. It was pink, and had a very recognizable blue and yellow balloon cutie mark emblem on the side. "Oh my god. Pinkie sent this." Rainbow's hoof shook as she ripped the top off with her teeth. Unfolding it, Discord pulled a chair up and pushed her into it. Rainbow read the letter aloud:

Dear Rainbow Dash,

Hi! How are ya doing? Sorry I didn't get to make cupcakes out of you. Now you have to live without your wings, all because Discord budged in! Like seriously, I'm all for chocolate rain, but still! He couldn't have waited? The police even took my dress and necklace away from me! They destroyed it! And that was totally unfair! I worked hard on that! But anyways, I have a life sentence in here, so I guess I'll never be able to finish what I started. Sorry. What are you doing? Are you crying while you're reading this? Are ya? Are ya? I want to know! But anyways, again, I met some new friends here! When I first got here, they started shoving me around because I looked 'delicate,' but trust me, they knew at the end of what I did to them, that I was no prissy pony. (Just saying, they didn't look me in the eyes for a while. Or even move their eyes, or open them. Or talk. Or move. In fact, they haven't moved at all. I think they might be dead. The guards don't know that yet. I 'persuaded' them not to read this. They actually might be dead too). But yeah! Have you met anypony special? I'm just yanking ya, nopony would ever like you now! Hehe! Silly me! (I also have to figure out someway to make cupcakes here, if I actually killed those ponies. I have them stored in the freezer. I also 'persuaded' those guards to let me put those ponies in there. You know, there's a reason I'm in here). But, I hope I find a way to break out of here, I gotta make your cupcakes! I was so sure yours were going to be extra delicious, but we might never know. When I had that sample in the cellar, you tasted so good, I was really glad we were gonna make cupcakes together! And now my dream is ruined. I'll never have rainbow cupcakes now! *sniffle* But, I gotta go, some ponies are harassing me, gonna go kill 'em, bbbyyyeee Dashie!

-Pinkie Pie

"Oh sweet Celestia. That was. . .awful," Discord said.

"Yeah," Rainbow muttered. She folded the letter back up again and shoved it into the envelope. Pinkie Pie's words had hurt her. Nopony would ever think she was special; she was right about that. Nopony would want a mare with no cutie mark, no wings, especially a pegasus that had their wings cut off.

"What do you think about it? What she said?" the spirit asked.

"I don't know. What part? The fact that now I'm too ugly for anypony to love me, or the part about making me into to cupcakes?"

"What? You're not ugly, Dashie."

"Yeah I am. I have no wings and no cutie mark. What stallion would ever want this?" she snorted, signaling to her body. She slumped down farther into her seat, a frown spreading over her face.

"But-"

"Can you just let me be? I. .I need to be alone for a little while," Dash interrupted him, and pushed Discord away from her. He stumbled back, feeling a little rejected at her sudden change of mood. He turned and floated out into the sunlight. What to do. . . He snapped his fingers, and he appeared in front of Fluttershy's cottage. Discord knocked on her door.

"Coming!" her angelic voice drifted from inside the cottage. Fluttershy opened the door. "Oh, hi Discord! What are you doing here?"

"Well, RD needs some time alone…" Discord said.

"Is something the matter?"

"We got a letter from Pinkie Pie."

"Oh goodness. Come in, come in; tell all about it." She bustled the spirit inside, and he sat down on her couch, where she jumped there by him and curled up under his arm. "What did Pinkie say?"

"She said Rainbow wasn't pretty enough to get a very special somepony, and stuff that was really about making her into cupcakes. And she killed some guards, she said, so yeah. Pretty wacky."

"Wow, she's really hit rock bottom, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, afraid so, Flutters."

"So, are you going to live with Rainbow Dash now, or just until she can live on her own?"

"I don't know. She just keeps having these awful nightmares about it. Almost every night, I get woken up to screaming. I don't know if she'll ever get over it," Discord said, shaking his head. He laid his head back against the end of the couch, closing his eyes.

"Are you okay? You look tired," Fluttershy said.

"Oh, yeah, I just have been staying up all night, making sure RD doesn't have anymore nightmares."

"Why don't you just go to sleep?"

"Okay, that's no problem…" Discord's soft snores told Fluttershy he was asleep. But she was tired too, she would like to take a nap. Would Discord mind if she just laid against him for a little bit. .? Curled up in the crook of his lion arm, she fell asleep.

---

Rainbow trotted through Ponyville, thinking. Discord wasn't with her now, so she couldn't really do much. She headed towards the lake. Maybe a swim would help take her mind off things. Standing on the beach, she looked over the water. So peaceful… Dash entered the water until she was up to her neck. Putting her head underwater, she opened her eyes. A world she had never really looked at came into view. Colorful fish swam by in schools, and the seaweed waved slowly in the currents. Gasping for breath, she splashed to the surface. She wanted to see more of this! She dived under again, and swam farther away from shore. Kicking her legs, she saw some guppies emerging from their eggs. Watching them gave Dash a sense of security. Like, she was new, they were new. New to this world. Taking a breath, she tried looking for more kinds of fish. She stayed close to the lake bottom, watching things go by. Running out of breath, she kicked her legs to propel her to the surface. She was almost at the top when something grabbed onto her hind legs. She screamed under water and tried to kick it away. Sharp teeth jabbed into her skin, and Rainbow saw the water tinge red. She unleashed one powerful, strong kick, and the creature let go momentarily. Dash sucked in a breath, and tried to get back to shore. But the thing wasn't giving her up without a fight. It latched its teeth into her legs again. She frantically flapped her wing stubs. If only Dash had her wings! She would be gone and safe already! Screaming for help, she bucked the creature in the face. What had her anyway?! She spared a glance back. A huge eel looking fish had its needle sharp fangs in Rainbow's leg. What was that?!

"HHHHEEEELLLLPPPP! SOMEPONY HELP ME PLEASE! DDDIIIISSSCCCORRRDD!"

---

Fluttershy jerked from sleep. What was that? It sounded like a pony. . .screaming for help! She shot up, sending Discord flying off the couch.

"Ow! Hey, what the heck?" Discord growled, rubbing his head. Noticing her fearful face, he shut up. A scream echoed through the air. "Who is that?"

"That sounds like Rainbow Dash! C'mon Discord, we have to find her!" Fluttershy was about to go out the door, but Discord grabbed her and shot out the door like a bullet. Following the screams, he headed towards the lake. "Over there Discord!" A yellow hoof pointed at the center of the water; where a screaming Rainbow Dash was being pulled down by something. He let go of Fluttershy, who understood and shot down after him, and reached out his arms to get Dash. He scooped her up, and kicking the beast in the face, Fluttershy scolding it already, and flapped his mismatched wings to launch them towards the shore. They landed, and Discord ended up with Rainbow Dash sitting on top of his chest. She wasn't crying; she just looked scared out of her mind.

"Discord! You saved me! Again! Uh, I'm so embarrassed! I can't do anything right!" Rainbow shouted, burying her head in her hooves.

"It's fine. Will you please just, get off me?" Discord asked.

"Oh! Oops! Sorry!" She clambered off him, quite awkwardly, and stood over him. Discord sat up, rubbing his head groggily.

"What were you doing out here!? Why would you do that to us!?" Fluttershy exclaimed, startling the both of them, and pushed her face into the blue pegasus's. "Don't you know that that monster has been lurking there for months?! You scared us both out of our skins!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that thing was there."

"Okay then. You are forgiven." Fluttershy hugged her friend, and look at her legs. "Are those bad?"

"Not really. Just a lot of them; they'll heal."

"Discord? Are you okay? That was a bad landing."

"Yeah, I know it was. Don't rub it in. I'm fine," Discord responded. He looked over at Rainbow Dash. Maybe now was the time to tell her. He had thought about it often, but he could never be sure. She needed it, but could she really endure that?

"Is everything okay? You're looking at me awfully strange," Rainbow said, tilting her head to one side. Discord shook his head to clear it. That was an awful landing. But he needed to say something to Rainbow Dash sooner or later. After this incident, it seemed like the correct time.

"Yeah, I'm okay. But, I need to talk to you Rainbow. It's important."

"Oh, great, another serious talk. Lay it on me," she responded sarcastically.

"Privately." Fluttershy picked up on this.

"Okay, I'll be over here," the yellow pegasus told them, and she turned around and walked into town. Discord turned back to Rainbow.

"So?" Rainbow asked.

"What I'm about to tell is very, very important," Discord said. She nodded. He took a deep breath.

"I can give you your old body back."

So, the next chapter will be a lot of dialogue, and many a things shall be revealed. You could be like, 'oh no she didn't,' one moment, and laughing the next. I have really been trying to get work done on it, but I'm also trying to get some new chapters of What Happened to Discord?! up too. Busy week. But, finally a good thing, I did just get a whole freakin' ton of the story wrote. Yay. So, I'm thinking the next chapter will be out before Friday at the latest, but if things come up, (like, I'm getting ready for finals), it may be over the weekend. But I'm hoping it won't be that long. In fact, I'm almost positive it won't take that long. I already have like 4,000 words on that b****. It's like 8 pages long on my mini laptop. Yeah, I know, my mini laptop is the size of an Ipad, but oh well. I'm really shooting for over 10,000 words on this one. But hey, I am not a patient writer. I like to get to the action. I've tried my best on this one, but.. I'm sure you all like action more than boring old everyday business anyway. It shall be legit. And, another thing, the Cutie Mark Crusaders appear in this chapter! Hell to the yeah. I'm thinking Scootaloo will be making more appearances in the next few chapters. She is my favorite of the CMC. 'Cuz, ya know, pegasus and all. No offense unicorns and earth ponies, but I like pegasi a little more. They're more adventurous! (Usually. Not to name anypony. . . Fluttershy. Oh well, I still love her)! :3 We also get to see more of the Mane Six..ish. Cause, ya know, Pinkie Pie is in prison!

Anyways, I was gonna put a sneak peak of the next chapter up now. You guys want it? Yeah, I'm sure you do. Here ya go, a little preview:

"What?! You mean my wings, my cutie mark?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her mouth open and her eyes huge.

"Yes," Discord said.

"Well then, what took ya so long to tell me? C'mon, do the spell!" She wriggled her wing stubs and looked eagerly up at him.

"Dashie, that's not all there is to it."

"What? Will something else happen to me if you do?"

"Well, no, but if I restore your old body, it will hurt. A lot. I mean, super duper hurting. It could be worse than when you lost them in the first place." Her smile disappeared.

"Oh. That much huh? Could it. . . kill me?"

"No, it's just really painful. But, if I do the spell, you would have your wings and cutie mark back," Discord told her.

"Wait, how would you know all this? Have you done this spell on somepony before?" Dash asked, slightly suspicious.

"I'm not careful, let's just say that. But what I'm saying is true. And you now you have to make a decision; do you want to go through the immense pain to be healed, or do you want to live without your wings and your cutie mark for the rest of your life?" He grabbed her still wet shoulders. She looked him straight in his different sized eyes, and nodded.

"I want my wings. I want what makes me special again. I want what Pinkie took away from me those months ago. I want them. No, I need them," Rainbow stated firmly, her eyes focused in a stern glare.

"Okay, I'll perform the spell. But we need to go back to your house. We don't want anypony hearing you screaming, if you do," Discord advised. Dash nodded, and she turned in the direction of her home.

Yeah, that's the beginning. I'm not gonna put up the process. It's too. . . whatever, it's just to much right now.

Bye!

"Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow choked out, staring at the pink pony. Pinkie was covered in blood and her hooves were dirty and scratched from the long journey over here. Her hair was still fluffy and bouncy, but tangled with bits of grass caught in it. "How are you here? How are you up here without a balloon?"

"Yes, it's me Dashie! I suppose you're all wondering why I'm here! Now, why doesn't everypony just sit down, and I'll tell you," Pinkie said.

"How are you up here?! Answer the question!"

"Oh silly Dashie, didn't you notice Twilight wasn't here yet?"

Rainbow gasped in horror. "You killed her!?"

"No silly, she saw me, tried to run away, but I grabbed her! Then I forced her to perform the spell to make me walk on clouds, and now I'm here!"

"Is she okay?"

"Of course! She's just tied up in my basement right now! Ya know, the Cakes were really surprised when I got there. They were gonna call the cops, but when I held a knife to their twins they quickly changed their minds!"

"How did you get out of prison?"

"Oh, that part was easy! I killed all the guards and left! As I said, there's a reason I was in there!"

"What- what are you going to do now?"

"Dear Dashie, I have to finish what I started!" Pinkie exclaimed, lunging at Rainbow and hitting her to the ground.

"Hey! What happened?" the pink pony asked indignantly, signaling to Dash's wings and cutie mark.

"Discord healed me, you dumb bitch!" Dash yelled, pulling her hooves up and kicking Pinkie right in the face, sending her flying into the wall.

"Bring it!" Pinkie shouted, grabbing a knife from behind her back. As the two fought, the other ponies frantically tried to get away from them.

"I'll call the police!" Fluttershy shouted, going for the phone.

"Oh no you won't!" Pinkie growled, picking the knife up and throwing it instead at the yellow pegasus. It went through her hair, chopping off half of it. The scared mare shrieked and shot out the window.

"You think you can just come back here and try to kill me?! The other ponies already left! They'll have called the cops by now!" Rainbow snarled, sitting on top of Pinkie and smashing her face into the floor, gripping her fluffy hair. The party pony bucked, sending Dash flying off her and onto her back. Pinkie stepped on the pegasus's stomach and held the knife over her.

"Time for you to be made into cupcakes!" Pinkie hissed, bringing the knife down. Rainbow's eyes widened and her life flashed before her. But then, her instincts kicked in again, and she rolled, then Pinkie went down, the tool falling from her hooves. Grabbing it while Pinkie was down, she pointed its tip at her.

"Stop. One more move and you'll die, you heartless bastard," Rainbow threatened menacingly. Pinkie stayed on the floor, smirking at the cyan pegasus.

"Pft, please. You think that scares me? And you know, I should really tell you something, Dashie," Pinkie leered up at her.

"What?"

"Oh, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom!"

Rainbow's eyes flew to the closet, where the three fillies emerged. Their mouths were taped closed, but their hooves were free. Pinkie got up and walked over to them while Rainbow was standing, frozen in place.

"I managed to nab them right after you let them go do their 'trick.' You should really rethink your priorities, Dashie. A few bad decisions could cost you dearly," Pinkie smirked, running a hoof down the side of Scootaloo's face. The scared orange pegasus had tears running down her face, and the others fared no better.

"What do you want from me?" Dash asked shakily.

"What I want is what I've wanted from that very first day! The day Discord saved you! I want your cupcakes!" Pinkie swiped a cake knife from the counter top and held it to Scootaloo's neck.

"No! Please!. . don't- don't hurt her!"

"I won't! As long as I get my cupcakes!"

Rainbow looked at Scootaloo. It was her, or Rainbow.

Dash shot forward, attempting to grab the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But Pinkie saw right through it and punched Rainbow so hard in the face she thought her jaw was broken. Landing roughly against the far wall, the pegasus struggled to get up. Pinkie held the knife up, preparing to throw it at her.

"Any last words, my Dashie?" Rainbow weakly looked up at the crazy party pony she once thought was her friend. She didn't reply. "Well, okie dokie lokie! Say goodbye to your daughter, Rainbow Dash!" She held the knife up and hurled it at the pegasus. Only a foot from her, a flash of white light appeared.

Discord.

The knife stabbed into his stomach and he doubled over. Putting his paw over the wound, he grimaced and coughed a few times.

"Discord!" Rainbow exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the creature.

"Not now! Just get the fillies!" Discord choked out, looking back at Dash. She shot around the room, going over Pinkie as she was distracted by him. Sweeping up the terrified little ponies, she sped out the window. She quickly landed and set them down, then took the tape off their faces.

"Mom!" Scootaloo shouted, hugging the older pegasus tightly. Rainbow hugged her back.

"I need you girls to run to Sweet Apple Acres! Get Applejack if she's there and then tell her Twilight's in the basement at SugarCube Corner! You have to rescue her," Dash told them.

"But what about you?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I'm going to go back in there to help Discord. Pinkie Pie has gotten crazier since she was here; he'll need me."

"Be careful," Scootaloo whispered, hugging Rainbow.

"I'll be back! Stay safe!" With that, the pegasus flew away at the speed of sound.

---

"You again?! How many times do you have to interfere?" Pinkie Pie demanded, circling the injured spirit.

"How ever many times I- uh- need to!" Discord growled, keeping his eye on the pink pony.

"Well, now I have the upper hoof!" Pinkie crouched, wiggling her messy tail in the air. She sprang at him, but Discord wasn't that slow. Yet. She landed harmlessly on the other side of him, then sprang again. Over and over again she leapt at the spirit.

The whole time Discord only got one hit in. He raised his talon and punched her in the face, sending her sprawling. Pinkie got none.

But her plan was working.

She was going to slowly tire him, then finish it. After all, there was so much going on that Discord didn't know where to fire with his magic, or do a restraining spell. And he was certainly not going to leave her alone.

Discord found it hard to keep going. The stab wound in his middle was spilling blood all over Rainbow Dash's cloud home. Pinkie was really good at this.

"Ha! You don't stand a chance, you idiot! You can't keep going like this forever, and Rainbow isn't coming back. I'll make cupcakes out of you, and then she'll be next!" Pinkie laughed maniacally, closing the distance between her and the helpless spirit.

"No, you won't! And you'll stay away from Dash!" Discord snarled, tripping slightly over a tipped over chair. She jumped on him, forcing him to his back. She held her own knife up at his neck.

"Ha! How many times will I be on top of somepony I'm trying to kill today? First Rainbow, then you. Seems right, huh?" The knife poked a small dot into his skin.

"Not so fast, Pinkie Pie!"

A rainbow blur blasted Pinkie off of Discord and she collapsed onto the floor. With the pink pony unconscious from the hit, Rainbow helped Discord up.

"Uh, thanks," the spirit said, sitting up.

"Are you okay?" Dash asked.

"Oh yeah, I have a knife in my gut, I'm just perfect!" Discord cheered sarcastically, pointing to said knife.

"I meant besides the knife, but whatever."

"Yes, I'm fine."

"We better call the cops."

"Already here," a voice said behind them. They both swiveled their heads to look. A few pegasi police were at the door.

"Thank goodness," Dash said. "She's right there." She turned around, pointing to the spot Pinkie was. Nopony was there. Pinkie was gone.

---

"So how did you know I was in trouble?" Rainbow asked Discord, sitting next to his hospital bed. He was laying on his back, on top of the blankets. The police were searching for Pinkie Pie, and the knifed spirit was put in an ambulance to be taken to the hospital.

"Did it hurt getting that knife out?" Scootaloo asked. Discord rolled his eyes and shot a glance at Rainbow Dash. She giggled.

"You should've seen your face when they pulled it out! It was so funny!"

"Okay, get ready, I'm going to extract the knife now," the doctor said.

"Um, okay, just make it quick," Discord said. He was laying on a surgery table on his back.

"Three, two, one.."

His muscles tensed.

"Now!"

The doctor pulled the knife out.

A cry of pain from Discord.

Blood all over the doctor and the floor.

Rainbow laughing her ass off on the ground a few feet away.

Scootaloo standing next to her adoptive mom and trying not to giggle.

Discord with the most absolutely hilarious look of disbelief and pain on his face.

"Gross," the doctor commented, the knife in his light yellow magical hold.

"Shut up," Discord grumbled. Some bandages were wrapped around where the knife was.

"Pft, whatever, that was too funny," Dash smirked. "Anyways, how did you know I was in trouble?"

"Fluttershy came and told me:

Discord sat in his marshmallow chair and stared off into space. So boring! Twilight had given him this invitation to some party for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. By the time it was, it was probably just getting started. Should he go? He wasn't really sure. After what she said about a 'father,' he wasn't so sure. It was really awkward. He hadn't spoken to her all day.

A yellow object flying through his wall snapped Discord from his thoughts abruptly. The butter colored pony was covered from head to hoof in cotton candy wall.

"D-Discord! *gasp* Rainbow Dash! *gasp* Pinkie Pie! Back! Again! Help!" Fluttershy gasped, breathing heavily, falling against the spirit and trying to catch her breath.

"What?! Pinkie Pie!? I'm on it! You call the cops!" Discord told her, then teleported to Rainbow Dash's house.

He arrived with a bright light and immediately felt an extreme pain in his stomach. As his vision flickered, he saw flashes of pink in front of him, along with three little ponies.

"Discord!"

"Not now! Just get the fillies!" He clutched his stomach. A knife was lodged deep inside his gut.

Rainbow Dash shot to the fillies and disappeared out the window, leaving him alone with Pinkie.

"She looked really odd. Half of her hair was gone, which I thought signaled something was wrong."

"Yeah, Pinkie threw a knife at her to stop her from calling the cops. She did a lot of knife throwing today," Dash commented.

"Yeah, I can tell. One of the victims was me."

"And it would've been me if not for you. Thanks again. You've been saving my flank a lot these days."

"Yeah, I know."

"So. . . do you want me to repay you now?"

He went quiet for a moment, stroking his goatee. He saved her again, and in the process he got stabbed in the stomach with a knife. . . yeah, maybe just a little.

"Yeah. I think I need something back for this one," Discord said.

"I figured. Scootaloo, will you go play with the other Crusaders for a little while? Discord and I have to discuss something," Rainbow told her.

"Okay. Don't take too long! I'll see you later," Scootaloo dismissed, leaving the duo alone in the hospital room. With a last warning of 'be careful', the pegasus turned back to the spirit.

"So, what are you thinking?" Dash asked.

"I don't know, I thought you would decide that," Discord said, shrugging.

"Hmm. . . will this work?" As soon as she said that Dash leaned forward and kissed him right on the nose, then flashed a quick smile at him before trotting out the door. Discord froze slightly, his face turning red.

". . . Yeah."

---

"C'mon Rainbow, pleeeeaaasseee?" Sweetie Belle whined.

"We'll be safe we promise!" Scootaloo pressed.

"Yeah we'll be fine!" Apple Bloom told her.

"I don't know. I mean, it's not that I don't think it's safe, it's more the fact that you girls want to jump off the highest cloud in Equestria," Rainbow said, looking down at the faraway ground.

"But it's gonna be so awesome! Please?" Scootaloo begged.

"I don't know. I trust you, but I'm not sure. What're you doing again?"

"We're gonna jump off, and then, I'm going to circle a platform of clouds and save them, sorta like when you were at the Wonderbolts Academy and saved the others, but I'm not bouncing them up again."

"Are you sure you can do it fast enough?"

"Yeah! I'm positive!" Scootaloo buzzed her wings.

"Okay then, I'll let you. But don't let them fall. That would not be cool."

"Yay! Thanks mom! C'mon, let's do it," Scootaloo cheered, turning to face the others. She put her goggles on and they lined up at the edge of the cloud. "Ready, set, go!"

The three fillies plummeted off the cloud. Rainbow leaned over to watch them fall. They slowly disappeared from her sight as the fog swallowed them up. She listened for them.

"Maybe I should make sure they make it," Rainbow said to herself. She jumped off and slowly floated towards the ground. As she went down, she heard a few screams.

Something was wrong.

"I'm coming girls!"

Rainbow shot downwards, trying to guess how far from the ground she was right now. Dash could barely see the ground from where she was. Picking up speed, she went into a nosedive. Wind whistled past her, and the familiar cone formed around her. Pulling against it, she started feeling herself being sent through it. The huge boom followed by the rainbow circle spread thought the sky. As Rainbow sped downwards, she saw the ground coming up. But she didn't see the fillies.

"Scoots? Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle?"

Rainbow landed forcefully, going skidding across the grass, leaving a little rainbow fire in her wake. She looked frantically around. Still no fillies. Trying to fight rising panic, she thought about how Pinkie was still on the loose.

"Mom! That was awesome! Can we do it again? Why do you look so freaked out?" Scootaloo asked, popping up out of nowhere, and scaring the crap out of the cyan pegasus.

"AIEE! What the- where did you girls go? I heard screaming, I came down 'cuz I thought you girls were in trouble," Rainbow explained, looking at the three little fillies.

"We weren't screaming, we were shrieking in laughter. Did you get so worried about us that you did that sonic rainboom?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Um, well. . ." Dash rubbed the back of her head.

"You were so worried that you did a sonic rainboom! You really care," Scootaloo said, hugging her mom. The other fillies joined in, laughing as Rainbow stood there with an annoyed look on her face. Given away by her own nerve.

"I think we should go visit Discord. I think he's lonely in there," Dash said, looking down at the three little ponies in her embrace.

"When does he get out? It's been like a week already," Apple Bloom said.

"Well, Discord told me that there was a few 'complications,' but he would be out soon."

"Complications? Like what?" Scootaloo asked. They looked at Rainbow worriedly.

"I don't know. I don't think he wanted me to worry about him, so he didn't tell me. But, he sounded really sad he wasn't out here, so we should go see him."

"Hey Rainbow, can I ask you a question?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

"Uh, sure."

"Are you and Discord dating?"

"Oh. Um. . . Not really."

"Oh."

"Let's go, shall we?"

---

"So, what have you girls been up too since I ended up in here?" Discord asked, his paw over the wound that was covered in bandages on his stomach.

"Nothing really. But I just did this awesome trick, and, like saved them! It was so cool!" Scootaloo exclaimed, sitting on the end of the bed.

"Yeah, and then Rainbow thought we were in trouble, so she did a sonic rainboom because she was going so fast to save us!" Apple Bloom told him.

"It was amazing!" Sweetie Belle agreed.

"Well Rainbow, you've been turning into a caring parent. One of those that are always looking after everypony else's," Discord teased, only to be hit upside the head by an annoyed Dash.

"Well, besides that, we haven't really done anything that special," Rainbow said.

"Wow, as soon as I get out of here, maybe we should do something."

"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted, hoof bumping. Rainbow winced and folded her ears back against her head. Discord slammed his paws over his.

"Please girls? Not that," Dash told them. The fillies smiled sheepishly and sat down.

"I think my eardrums are broken," Discord said, shaking his head.

"Sorry," Scootaloo apologized.

"Whatever, it's fine. Just not here. Anyway, do you know when you get out of here?" Rainbow asked him.

Discord shook his head again. "No. They haven't said anything yet. But I'm hoping it'll be soon."

"I hope so. I mean, we can't come everyday. I have weather, Scootaloo has school, and then there's Pinkie Pie. . ."

"I'll be fine. And about Pinkie, don't worry too much. As long as you stay in the clouds more, she won't get to you."

"What about the spell Twilight did on her? When does it wear off?"

"It would've already worn off. It was just a simple cloud walking spell. Not really that durable."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, but still. She could be anywhere. What if something happens to Scootaloo? Or Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom? Pinkie already tried to get to me with them once, and I don't want that to happen again. She could use them against Rarity or Applejack or somepony else! Don't you have some sort of tracking spell you can use to find her? Could Twilight do something like that? Because we need to find her."

"Well, of course we could use a spell to find Pinkie. They're not letting me use my magic in here, so I won't be of any help until I get out. I would ask Twilight. She'll be able to help you more than I can right now."

"So, we'll visit you later then, okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Go ask Twilight. Just tell me if anything happens."

"Thanks, I will. Bye Discord."

"Bye Discord!" Scootaloo said.

"Bye!" Apple Bloom said too.

"Bye!" Sweetie Belle copied, waving her hoof at him. Discord waved back.

"Bye girls."

The ponies left the hospital room, leaving Discord alone.

---

"A searching spell? Of course I can! But I need something of that pony's to find them," Twilight told Rainbow. "This is about Pinkie Pie isn't it?" she asked as she saw the look on the pegasus's face.

"Yeah, it is. Do you think you can find her?" Dash asked, watching as Twilight scrambled around the library, books falling everywhere as she jerked them out of their spots and held them in the air. Spike ran along the shelves, catching the ones she didn't get.

"Yeah, yeah, I can, but I still need something of Pinkie's," Twilight explained, scrolling through her books as fast as she could and reading for more spells.

"What kind of thing? Like an object of hers, or DNA?"

"DNA, stuff like that. Hair, skin, spit, anything along those lines." She stopped at one book and immediately dropped the rest on the floor, and walked over to Rainbow Dash. Spike groaned and went to work picking up the books. "Found it!"

"The spell?"

"No, the book about spinach."

"Huh?"

"Duh, the spell, silly filly! Anyways, I need something of Pinkie Pie."

"Where do we find that?"

"Anywhere Pinkie might have been while she was here. Your house, SugarCube Corner."

"Okay, so let's search SugarCube first."

"Okay, let's head out."

The pair left the library, setting off in the direction of the sweet shop. Entering SugarCube Corner, they went up to the Cakes.

"Do you guys mind if we search this place? Pinkie Pie's room, the kitchen, pretty much anywhere Pinkie was?" Twilight asked.

The Cakes gave them blank stares.

"Of course!" Mrs. Cake said cheerily. Mr. Cake followed her out of the room as she left.

"What was that? They didn't even seem concerned. Weird. Anyways, let's get looking," Twilight told Dash, who was standing there looking very confused.

Rainbow walked upstairs, looking closely at the floor. It all seemed spotless. No dust, hairs, nothing of the sort. She studied the air, trying to see if there was any in the air.

"How am I supposed to know what a skin cell looks like?" Rainbow shouted downstairs to the purple unicorn.

"I don't know! Dust, I guess! Try and look for hairs mostly!" Twilight shouted back to her.

"Okay!" Rainbow stopped and looked under a rug. As she got into Pinkie's old room, she searched under the bed, behind dressers, on the windowsill, even on the blades on the ceiling fan above her. It was all clean. Like it had been scrubbed with bleach and alcohol. "Twilight, I'm not seeing anything! It's spotless!" The unicorn appeared behind her.

"Downstairs too. It's like the Cakes wanted to erase her off this planet. Maybe that's why they were so odd downstairs. They didn't even listen to her name! I wonder what was going through their minds when they saw her again," Twilight mused.

"But you were there, weren't you? When Pinkie made you perform the spell on her?"

"Yeah, but I want to know what was going through their minds. I can't read minds. Yet."

"Well, probably disbelief, hatred, other emotions like that. Anyways, let's go. My house. But I should warn you, cloud doesn't really hold things that well that aren't rain, snow, and pegasi."

"Yeah, but it's worth a shot."

They left SugarCube Corner and walked to directly under Rainbow's cloud home. Twilight performed the spell on herself, then Dash lifted her up the her house.

"Okay, search! This is one of our last hopes. This is the only other place we know she went. If she was anywhere else, all traces of her are probably gone," Twilight said. Dash nodded and flew inside. She checked her bedroom, her kitchen, closets, but like the sweet shop, there was nothing.

"How is there nothing here?!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily, pounding her hoof on her table.

"Beats me. Such a struggle went on here only a few days ago and now there's not a trace left of it."

"Trace of what?"

The two spun around and saw Fluttershy behind them.

"Of Pinkie Pie. We're trying to find her, but we need some of her DNA first," Rainbow told her.

"Oh. So you haven't found anything, I'm guessing."

"No- why are you all sticky?" Twilight asked, seeing the pink all over her friend.

"Oh. Discord's cotton candy house is stickier than normal cotton candy. I still haven't gotten it all out."

"Oh, interesting. Here, let us help," Rainbow said, approaching Fluttershy and trying to wipe it off.

"Thanks girls, but I think it's a lost cause." After a few minutes of strenuous cotton candy pulling, Twilight said something.

"Wow, your hair really got tangled in this. It looks so much shorter."

"That's where the knife cut it, actually. And will you get that little hair off my nose? It really tickles."

Rainbow picked the little curl off her friend's snout. She was about to throw it out when she realized something. Curl? Holding it closer to her eyes, Dash saw this was a very dark pink. Pinkie Pie fluffy, curly, bouncy hair pink.

"Twilight, look at this will you?" Rainbow asked, and Twilight stopped cleaning Fluttershy and took the hair with her magic.

"Is this what I think it is?" Twilight gasped, mouth open as she inspected it.

"Yes, I think so."

"What? It's just a little-" the yellow pegasus was cut off as she was suddenly spun around, flinging the cotton candy off her, and when she stopped spinning the others were gone. ". . .hair."

---

"Okay, here it goes," Twilight said. Holding the little scrap of hair, she focused on the spell. Her horn glowing, she closed her eyes. A gentle breeze fluttered a few of the papers on the desk. A weird little tendril of magenta picked up the hair, curling itself around it. Suddenly, the magic let go of the hair and left it floating there. The hair was no longer pink, but pulsating white. It slowly grew bigger. Rainbow backed away a little bit as it transformed from the little curl to a square shape, sort of like a movie screen. An image appeared on it. Twilight opened her eyes and looked at it with a gasp. Pinkie was hiding behind something. It looked like a hay bale.

"That place looks familiar," Rainbow said, gulping. Sweet Apple Acres.

"Yeah," Twilight whispered. An orange earth pony with a blonde mane was walking towards it.

"Apple Bloom, you can't hide for long. Ah'm gonna win!" Applejack said to the air with a smile on her face.

"AJ no!" Rainbow exclaimed, trying to talk to the picture on the screen.

"Rainbow, she can't hear you," Twilight said sadly.

"I'm going to save her!"

Rainbow Dash shot out the door, leaving Twilight watching the goings-on. The cyan pegasus left a trail of rainbow streaks in her wake, and soon she was at Sweet Apple Acres.

"Applejack!"

"Pinkie Pie! Let go of me, you-"

Applejack's yell was cut off. Rainbow streaked downwards and landed with a thud.

"Let go of Applejack, you monster!"

"Well hi Dashie! I'm so glad you could join the party! AJ and I were just going to go play cupcakes! Do you want to play?" Pinkie Pie asked, holding the orange earth pony's arms in hers, standing there as if she wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Put. Her. Down. Or else," Rainbow threatened, stepping one hoof forward. Pinkie giggled.

"Or what?"

"This." Rainbow moved forward so fast you couldn't even see her and kicked Pinkie in the face. The pink pony slammed against an apple tree, tilting it. She wiped the blood from her mouth.

"Dashie, that wasn't very nice!" she exclaimed. "But luckily, I'm not either!" Pinkie pulled herself off the tree and approached the pegasus. Rainbow grabbed Applejack and flew her to the roof of the barn, where she set her down, making sure she didn't roll off.

"Rainbow Dash! Why did you just put my sister on the roof?"

"Huh? Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah! And Ah want to know why you just put AJ on the roof!"

A pink pony slammed Rainbow onto her stomach.

"Is this a good reason?!" Dash shouted as she ducked and rolled away from Pinkie's swinging hooves. She head butted the party pony away. "Run Apple Bl-" her shout cut off as she got punched in the face. Holding her now bleeding nose, Rainbow hovered in the air and bucked Pinkie right back. Pinkie got up and threw herself at Rainbow. She braced herself for the impact, but a beam shot the pony right out of the air.

"Rainbow! Get some rope!" Twilight yelled to the blue pegasus, who was already on it. Twilight held Pinkie down, making sure she didn't run away or fight back. The pony underneath her struggled, trying to escape. Dash arrived with the rope and Twilight wrapped Pinkie's hooves with it.

"I'll get you for this! I'll kill all those guards again just to make cupcakes! You just wait and-" Rainbow slipped some rope around the pink pony's muzzle.

"That's enough out of you," she said. "Have you called the cops yet Twilight?"

"Yeah. I called them right after you left. I knew you would need my help, but I needed to make sure Pinkie didn't hurt you. After I saw Apple Bloom I knew I had to get over here," Twilight responded.

"Did you-"

"Yes, I teleported, Rainbow Dash," the unicorn told her, knowing what she was going to say before she even finished her sentence.

"Okay then."

---

"Discord?" There was no answer from inside the room. Rainbow stepped inside slightly, only her face in the room. "Discord?" Opening the door fully and looking around, she didn't see anypony. Suddenly, two mismatched paws spun her around.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash," Discord said. The pegasus blew a sigh of relief. "They just released me when you were walking in. I thought I'd scare you."

"Well, you failed. I'm not scared," Rainbow pushed the spirit's paws away.

"You're not? Really, I think I did. Judging from the way you jumped, oh, and the look on your face, and don't forget the giant Mohawk that went down your entire body; I'm pretty sure I scared you."

"Okay, maybe a little. . . but still. Anyways, we caught Pinkie Pie. She is officially on her way back to the prison in Canterlot."

"Great! You got a little something on your face." Rainbow looked questioningly at him. "Uh, fine, do I have to do it?" A handkerchief, that was wet, Dash noticed, wiped her face off. Discord held it front of her, showing that it was covered in blood. "See?"

"I'm hoping that was water that was on it."

"Well duuuhh. What, were you thinking, spit? I'm not your mom. Speaking of moms, maybe you should check up on your kid," Discord said, jerking his thumb towards the orange pegasus that was visible playing outside with her friends through the window.

"Yeah, right, I know. C'mon," Dash grunted, trotting out the door. Upon seeing her mom, Scootaloo dropped the ball she had and raced at her.

"Where were you? I couldn't find you and I thought maybe you'd left me, and decided-" Rainbow shoved her hoof in the filly's mouth.

"I would never leave you, silly filly. I was just busy today. But now that everything's fine, maybe we should go and celebrate." She put wing around Scootaloo's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Celebrate what? You not being busy anymore? I mean, not that I care, because I'm just really hungry."

"Well, if you want. But I was more talking about how your mom caught Pinkie practically single-hoofed and now that Discord's out of the hospital."

"You caught Pinkie?! Cool! Let's go!" Scootaloo buzzed her wings.

"Yeah. Where do you want to eat?"

"Pft, I don't know! But let's hurry up and decide, because I am starving!"

"How about Golden Corral?"

"Sounds good! I want buffet!"

"Discord? That sound good to you?" Dash asked, looking up at where he was flying above them.

"Hmm, sure, whatever," Discord said, shrugging his shoulders. Rainbow rolled her eyes and the three of them soared towards the restaurant.

---

"Uh, I'm so stuffed!" Scootaloo exclaimed, laying a hoof on her stomach. She laid down on the cloud and looked up at the stars.

"Me too. I ate like a horse," Rainbow Dash agreed, flopping on her back beside her filly.

"Hmm, I ate like a lion, an eagle, a goat, a lizard, a dragon. . ." Discord said, counting off on his fingers, settling down next to Rainbow.

"Stop, you silly weirdo," Dash stopping his counting with a laugh. Scootaloo wiggled closer to her mom and tucked herself in-between the two adults.

"So, are you guys dating now?" Scootaloo asked, breaking the silence as they watched Princess Luna's stars twinkle in the night. They looked at each other.

"Maybe, maybe not," Rainbow said.

"Um, okay, I want to know if you are though. Because, if you get married, I want to be the ring bearer. I was a flower girl at Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding. I really wasn't that interested."

"A ring bearer? Isn't that a boy?" Discord asked.

"Usually. But it could be a girl," Rainbow said.

"Cool. So, I can?" Scootaloo pressed.

"I guess if we got married Scoots. But, really, I'm still trying to get over being attacked by a psychotic pink pony with surgical tools. And, I think Discord's a little old for me," Dash teased, poking the spirit in the ribs.

"Well, Rainbow's right on that one. I am eons old," Discord agreed. "I mean look, my beard is white! White!"

"Wasn't it always white?"

"Well, it wasn't when I was young."

"So, are you a grandpa?" Scootaloo asked.

Discord's eyebrows shot up. "I'm not that old! Besides, I don't have kids!"

"What about Screwball?"

"Screwball? That's just a rumor, my little pony. She's just some coincidentally wacky and crazy pony. Not much for disharmony if I do say so myself."

"Okay, enough about Discord's old age. It's starting to sound ridiculous," Rainbow laughed.

"Okay fine. But I'm not going to talk about the stars and hearts or sappy stuff like that," Scootaloo said.

"Trust me, I don't wanna talk about that stuff either. Too- not awesome."

"So, what are we going to talk about?" Discord asked boringly.

"I don't know, but it has be at least 20% cooler."

"Okay, Ms. Awesome, what do you think is cooler to talk about?"

"Hmm, I don't have my awesome chart with me, so I can't really judge what we should talk about."

"Ooh, ooh, I know! How about you tell us the story of when Rarity got wings and then she fell and you saved her!" Scootaloo suggested.

"Of course! Not less than 20%, perfect. Anyways, so it was the day of the Best Young Fliers Competition, and Fluttershy and I were already in Cloudsdale. I was getting pretty nervous, but then the others arrived! Oh, it was great at first, but then Rarity kept showing off her wings. Then, she decided to enter the competition! I thought for sure I was going to lose! When we finally were up, I kept messing up on my routine! It sucked because I really doubted me winning at this point. But as we both climbed high in the sky, her wings burned and she plummeted to her doom! I knew I had to save her. The Wonderbolts got knocked out, and by then I had no choice. I shot downwards, and the cone of air surrounded me, and I knew I was going to do it! The impossible! The sonic rainboom! The boom echoed behind me, and a huge rainbow filled the air! I grabbed Rarity and the Wonderbolts just in the nick of time! I lifted them all the way up and over the Cloudaseum, making an awesome rainbow over it. Then, some other pegasi took the Wonderbolts away from me, and some took Rarity. The crowd was cheering their flanks off, and out of all of them, Fluttershy was the loudest, surprisingly. The Princess named me Best Young Flier, and I was carried off in victory! And Rarity was so grateful! It was an awesome day, but it got even better when I got to hang out with the Wonderbolts! It was officially the best day ever!" Rainbow finished.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that story!"

"Hmm, I've never heard that story before," Discord said.

"Well, now you have. It was legit," Dash bragged.

"Can I tell one?"

"What one?"

"The one where I made you and the others your opposites and you deserted your friends and sat on a small tuft of cloud that you thought was Cloudsdale."

"How about I tell the one where you almost cried because Fluttershy said she wasn't your friend?"

"… Touché."

"You almost cried?!" Scootaloo exclaimed in disbelief. Discord turned red and looked away.

"So, how's school going?" Rainbow asked Scootaloo, changing the subject, trying to stop the spirit from suffering anymore embarrassment.

"Okay, I guess, but really boring. I'd rather be with you all day."

"I think everypony would always want to be with me."

"Yeah, I think that's true. So what are we going to do now?"

"I think we should go to bed. I'm tired."

"But I'm not tired!" Scootaloo objected.

"Right, I've seen you yawn like ten times. Discord even more."

"When?!" Discord exclaimed. Rainbow shoved her hoof in his mouth. "Nowo, serbjudlee, whewn?"

"But I'm not-" A huge yawn interrupted her sentence.

"Tired, right. Let's go," Rainbow stood up, the filly on her back. "C'mon Discord."

"I'm coming, I'm coming, just let me get up," he grumbled. He hovered above them as they went inside.

"I'm gonna put Scoots to bed. You do whatever." Dash disappeared into another room. Setting her daughter into her orange and green bed, she kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodnight Scoots, love you," Rainbow told her.

"Night mom. Love you too," Scootaloo said back to her, eyes already closing. Rainbow turned off the light and then closed the door. She walked back over to her room. And of course, Discord was laying sideways across the bed, sound asleep. She shoved him off, and settled into the blankets. When she closed her eyes, she felt the spirit climb back into bed the right way, next to her.

"Goodnight Discord."

A snore was her only reply.

---

"So, Scootaloo, how are you likin' livin' with Rainbow Dash as your mom?" Apple Bloom asked. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were being pulled along in a wagon as Scootaloo rode her scooter.

"It's so awesome! She's really good at being a mom and is always nice to me! She hasn't even yelled at me once!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"That's because you haven't been bad. Once you've been bad she'll probably yell at you," Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo snorted and shook her head.

"Pft, right. I'm never bad. The only time she ever got mad at me was when we went on that camping trip."

"Well, you just wait. Anyways, what do you guys want to do?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't know. Do you have any suggestions Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo looked back at them.

"How about, WATCH THE ROAD!" Sweetie screamed, pointing her hoof forward.

"Huh?" Scootaloo's eyes jerked to the road. The lake! Shouting, the orange pegasus pulled the scooter backwards, undoing the latch that held the wagon to the scooter. The two other fillies fell out, but Scootaloo's helmet strap got caught onto the handle from when the scooter hit her in the face as she pulled back. She flapped her wings, pulling her strap from the handle. The scooter jerked to the left, and crashed into the tree. Scootaloo smashed her head into the trunk. She fell onto the ground.

"Scootaloo! Are you okay?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly, running up to her friend. The little pegasus groaned and didn't get up.

"Whoa! Apple Bloom, is she okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I don't know! It doesn't look like it."

"We have to get her to the hospital or something! Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"Let's look for her! Maybe she's clearing the clouds…" The ponies scanned the sky. A bright blue blur above them caught their attention. "Ooh, there she is! RAINBOW! RAINBOW DASH!"

The pegasus shot down towards them. She stopped a foot above them, hovering in the air.

"What's up? Where's- SCOOTALOO?!" Rainbow saw her daughter collapsed on the ground. She picked her up. "Scoots?" Scootaloo was bleeding from an unseen cut under her helmet. A few bruises were already showing, and she had some scrapes. Rainbow lifted the helmet off her head. A long cut went from her ear to her forehead. "Don't worry Scoots, I'll get you safe!" With that, the cyan pegasus shot off, leaving the two little fillies coughing in the dust.

---

"Is she gonna be okay?" Rainbow asked, following the doctor around.

"Yes, she'll be fine. A minor concussion. Could've been worse, too, if she hadn't been wearing a helmet," the doc answered. "She should be okay to go home soon."

"Thank goodness," she breathed. Dash turned away from the doctor and sat by Scootaloo's bed. The orange pegasus was still unconscious, but besides from the cuts, she seemed okay. A bandage was wrapped around her head, and a few band-aids were on some other cuts. She laid her head down on the bed next to her daughter's hoof. She would stay here until she woke up.

The minutes ticked by.

Rainbow's ear twitched. Her wing shifted, wanting to fly. The pegasus glanced at the clock. She's only been here for two minutes. Dash groaned, getting antsy. Her hoof tapped the floor. Sweat rolled down her face. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The clock passed another minute.

"Scoots? Scoots?"

Scootaloo didn't move.

"This is so boring! I need to fly!" Rainbow jumped into the air. She got ready to speed out the window. But then she looked at the bandaged filly in bed. "Uuuhh." Dash lowered herself onto the floor again. She would have to wait. She couldn't just leave her daughter alone in the hospital. But just as she sat down, Scootaloo stirred.

"Mom? Wha- what happened?" Scootaloo asked, rubbing her head.

"You got in an accident. But don't worry; you're gonna be okay," Rainbow replied, smoothing her pinkish hair.

"Oh yeah. . . My scooter! Is it broken?!"

"Sorry kid. I can't fix it." Dash pulled the destroyed scooter from the side of the bed. The handle bars were dented and muddy, and the whole pole that held the bottom to them was bent backwards. One of the wheels was missing, and the part you stand on was almost completely torn in half. Scootaloo grabbed it from Rainbow's hooves.

"I've had it for so long. I can't believe it's destroyed. . ." The orange filly hugged it close to her chest, tears running down her cheeks. "Couldn't Twilight fix it?"

"I don't know. But I'll ask her okay?"

"Okay," Scootaloo sighed. "When can we leave?"

"We can now, if you want."

"Yeah. I want to find out if my scooter can be saved yet."

"Okay then, let's check you outta this place."

---

"So, let me get this straight: you want me to fix this scooter?" Twilight asked, putting a hoof to her chest. The unicorn looked incredulously at the cyan pegasus.

"Well, if you can. ." Rainbow Dash muttered, rubbing the back of her head.

"Please Twilight! It would really mean a lot to me," Scootaloo begged.

"Hmm, I don't know any fixing spells. Not any that would fix scooters, anyway," Twilight said.

"Are you sure? I could help you find a book," Rainbow said, grabbing a few books and looking through them, then throwing them onto the floor.

"Spike! Are there any books on fixing spells?"

"Not any that I know of!" Spike called.

"See? I can't fix it, Dashie. I'm sorry. You could always get another scooter." The purple unicorn pushed them out the door before Rainbow could throw some more books. The blue pegasus look sadly at Scootaloo.

"I'm sorry kid. But I can't fix it, and neither can Twi'. We'll just have to buy you another one," Dash told her.

"But I worked so hard for that scooter! I put my blood, sweat, and tears into that!" Scootaloo objected. "I don't want a handout!"

"Well, maybe you don't have to." Rainbow grabbed a piece of paper off a wall and handed it to the filly.

LOOKING FOR AN

OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME?

WELL, COME AND

RACE AT THE ANNUAL WONDERBOLTS JUNIORS CUP!

WIN AND YOU'LL GET

1,000 BITS!

REGISTER AT YOUR CITY HALL!

RACES WILL BE AT CLOUDSDALE'S CLOUDASEUM

ON SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH!

"Wow! This could be my chance!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"So you're in?" Dash asked.

"Well, duh!" Scootaloo looked at the flier again. "But this is only two days away! It's Thursday right now!"

"We better get training then!" Rainbow grabbed a hat and whistle out of nowhere.

"Yeah!"

*cue montage*

Scootaloo flew in a circle, a swarm of bees on her tail.

"Is this part of the training?!"

"No! I didn't know there was a hive on this tree!"

*second*

"Push! Push! Push!"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can!"

Rainbow was flying while Scootaloo tried to push her to the finish line.

*next*

Scootaloo was doing some wingups. Rainbow Dash was sitting on top of her.

*fourth*

Scootaloo was wing wrestling with Pound Cake. And he was winning.

*fifth*

Scootaloo was flying to Rainbow's cloud home and back to the ground over and over again.

*end montage*

"Think you're ready?" Rainbow asked.

"Let's do this!" Scootaloo shouted. They flew up to Cloudsdale.

"Okay, so you need to go as fast as you can all the way! Don't try and pace yourself. It's only a ten laps. Not too difficult. You got that?"

"Yup. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Quick, the race is going to start soon, go line up."

The filly flew off. Rainbow took seat in the clouds, in a perfect position to see the race. A long whistle blew. The fillies at the start line bunched their muscles.

"Welcome to the seventeenth annual Wonderbolts Juniors Cup! Let's get this started!" an announcer pegasus, well, announced.

An official pegasus stood by the start line. Rainbow scanned the fillies for Scootaloo. There she was!

"On your mark, get set. . . GO!"

The pegasi shot off around the track. Rainbow leaned forward in her seat. So far, Scootaloo was third. Only two colts were ahead of her.

"Beat them, Scoots!" Dash shouted. The filly seemed to hear this and sped up. One lap. Zoom. Two laps. Swoosh. Three laps. Flash. Four laps. Scootaloo was in second, leaving all the other pegasi way behind her. Only one of the colts was still in front of her, and Scootaloo was determined to beat him. "C'mon Scoots, I believe in you kid!"

"Enough fooling around. I'm gonna do this!" Scootaloo said to herself. She narrowed her eyes and focused all her energy into beating this kid. She closed in on him and she could hear Rainbow cheering in the background. Only a foot from him. . . Scootaloo looked up and saw a white flag being waved. The last lap! "C'mon! I need a new scooter!"

In a burst of speed, she zoomed past the colt and finished the last lap. The checkered flag waved and huge cheers went up from the crowd. She pulled up and Rainbow Dash sped to her side. The cyan pegasus put her on her shoulders.

"You did it!"

"Yeah, I did, didn't I? Yoo-hoo!" Scootaloo pumped her hooves. Something tickled her side. She spun around.

"Hey, didn't expect to see me here, did you?" Discord asked, the tip of his tail only a few inches away. She burst out laughing and the others did too.

"Did you know about this?"

"Yup! I asked him to come. You think I'd let this lazy lump get away with not coming?" Dash laughed, nudging him in the ribs, and he immediately crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at her. At this point, a sports pony came up to them.

"Congratulations! Here's your bits!" she said, handing them a bag. Scootaloo looked at it, unsure what to do. "Is there a problem?"

Rainbow noticed Scootaloo's hesitation.

"You won, kid. So it's your money. Take it."

Scootaloo reached out and grabbed it, liking the jingling sound of the coins. She set the bag down on her mom's head. Rainbow giggled.

"So, what do you wanna do now?"

"Isn't it obvious? To the scooter store!" Scootaloo exclaimed, jabbing her hoof in the direction of Ponyville. Dash rolled her eyes.

"Okay, let's go, Discord."

---

"Like my new scooter?" Scootaloo asked, showing it to her friends. The handle bars and wheels were sky blue, and the board was rainbow, with Rainbow's cutie mark on it. "I also got a new helmet." She pulled a jousting looking helmet out. It was also sky blue. It went down her neck, and curved around her face. The sides were outlined with orange. Scootaloo put it on. Her whole mane came out of the holes at the top, even her 'crest,' and the front curled a little still.

"Awesome! Is that a genuine Rainbow Dash scooter?" Sweetie Belle teased.

"Well, sorta. It's custom. But that's not all. Here, let me show you the under board." She lifted the bottom board up and showed it to them. On half of it was her cutie mark, and the other half had a number of random colors on it, ranging from green to blue to brown.

"What's that part?" Apple Bloom asked, pointing to the mismatched part.

"Oh, sorry. I gotta get it just right.." Scootaloo tilted the board slightly. The colors moved, and formed a picture of a certain spirit. Under it said 'Discord,' in big, black letter.

"Whoa! Is that picture moving right now? It looks like he's flying," Sweetie Belle said.

"Totally! He enchanted the board. It's unbreakable now! You know, I should've just asked Discord to fix my old one. But, I think I like this one more."

"Why did you choose Discord to move?"

"Well, because I already added this!" Scootaloo jumped on the scooter, and started going fast around them.

"Are you leavin' rainbow streaks?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, watching her friend.

"Totally!" She stopped and the rainbows in the air faded. "Cool right?"

"Heck yeah!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said at the same time.

"Well, I gotta go, but I'll see ya later! Bye!"

Scootaloo sped off on her scooter, leaving familiar rainbow streaks in the air.

---

Well, that's the end of that chapter. I should've warned you about ponies swearing. Really, only Rainbow Dash did. But, oh well. Lots of cute Scootaloo-Rainbow Dash-Discord moments. I made her scooter awesome. Freakin' legit. I'm not sure what the next chapters are going to be about that much, but I think I'm going to focus less on Pinkie Pie stuff and start working towards this 'relationship' with Dash and Discord. But, hey, trying to make a pony and the God of Chaos fall in love is not easy. But I'll try.

"Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow choked out, staring at the pink pony. Pinkie was covered in blood and her hooves were dirty and scratched from the long journey over here. Her hair was still fluffy and bouncy, but tangled with bits of grass caught in it. "How are you here? How are you up here without a balloon?"

"Yes, it's me Dashie! I suppose you're all wondering why I'm here! Now, why doesn't everypony just sit down, and I'll tell you," Pinkie said.

"How are you up here?! Answer the question!"

"Oh silly Dashie, didn't you notice Twilight wasn't here yet?"

Rainbow gasped in horror. "You killed her!?"

"No silly, she saw me, tried to run away, but I grabbed her! Then I forced her to perform the spell to make me walk on clouds, and now I'm here!"

"Is she okay?"

"Of course! She's just tied up in my basement right now! Ya know, the Cakes were really surprised when I got there. They were gonna call the cops, but when I held a knife to their twins they quickly changed their minds!"

"How did you get out of prison?"

"Oh, that part was easy! I killed all the guards and left! As I said, there's a reason I was in there!"

"What- what are you going to do now?"

"Dear Dashie, I have to finish what I started!" Pinkie exclaimed, lunging at Rainbow and hitting her to the ground.

"Hey! What happened?" the pink pony asked indignantly, signaling to Dash's wings and cutie mark.

"Discord healed me, you dumb bitch!" Dash yelled, pulling her hooves up and kicking Pinkie right in the face, sending her flying into the wall.

"Bring it!" Pinkie shouted, grabbing a knife from behind her back. As the two fought, the other ponies frantically tried to get away from them.

"I'll call the police!" Fluttershy shouted, going for the phone.

"Oh no you won't!" Pinkie growled, picking the knife up and throwing it instead at the yellow pegasus. It went through her hair, chopping off half of it. The scared mare shrieked and shot out the window.

"You think you can just come back here and try to kill me?! The other ponies already left! They'll have called the cops by now!" Rainbow snarled, sitting on top of Pinkie and smashing her face into the floor, gripping her fluffy hair. The party pony bucked, sending Dash flying off her and onto her back. Pinkie stepped on the pegasus's stomach and held the knife over her.

"Time for you to be made into cupcakes!" Pinkie hissed, bringing the knife down. Rainbow's eyes widened and her life flashed before her. But then, her instincts kicked in again, and she rolled, then Pinkie went down, the tool falling from her hooves. Grabbing it while Pinkie was down, she pointed its tip at her.

"Stop. One more move and you'll die, you heartless bastard," Rainbow threatened menacingly. Pinkie stayed on the floor, smirking at the cyan pegasus.

"Pft, please. You think that scares me? And you know, I should really tell you something, Dashie," Pinkie leered up at her.

"What?"

"Oh, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom!"

Rainbow's eyes flew to the closet, where the three fillies emerged. Their mouths were taped closed, but their hooves were free. Pinkie got up and walked over to them while Rainbow was standing, frozen in place.

"I managed to nab them right after you let them go do their 'trick.' You should really rethink your priorities, Dashie. A few bad decisions could cost you dearly," Pinkie smirked, running a hoof down the side of Scootaloo's face. The scared orange pegasus had tears running down her face, and the others fared no better.

"What do you want from me?" Dash asked shakily.

"What I want is what I've wanted from that very first day! The day Discord saved you! I want your cupcakes!" Pinkie swiped a cake knife from the counter top and held it to Scootaloo's neck.

"No! Please!. . don't- don't hurt her!"

"I won't! As long as I get my cupcakes!"

Rainbow looked at Scootaloo. It was her, or Rainbow.

Dash shot forward, attempting to grab the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But Pinkie saw right through it and punched Rainbow so hard in the face she thought her jaw was broken. Landing roughly against the far wall, the pegasus struggled to get up. Pinkie held the knife up, preparing to throw it at her.

"Any last words, my Dashie?" Rainbow weakly looked up at the crazy party pony she once thought was her friend. She didn't reply. "Well, okie dokie lokie! Say goodbye to your daughter, Rainbow Dash!" She held the knife up and hurled it at the pegasus. Only a foot from her, a flash of white light appeared.

Discord.

The knife stabbed into his stomach and he doubled over. Putting his paw over the wound, he grimaced and coughed a few times.

"Discord!" Rainbow exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the creature.

"Not now! Just get the fillies!" Discord choked out, looking back at Dash. She shot around the room, going over Pinkie as she was distracted by him. Sweeping up the terrified little ponies, she sped out the window. She quickly landed and set them down, then took the tape off their faces.

"Mom!" Scootaloo shouted, hugging the older pegasus tightly. Rainbow hugged her back.

"I need you girls to run to Sweet Apple Acres! Get Applejack if she's there and then tell her Twilight's in the basement at SugarCube Corner! You have to rescue her," Dash told them.

"But what about you?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I'm going to go back in there to help Discord. Pinkie Pie has gotten crazier since she was here; he'll need me."

"Be careful," Scootaloo whispered, hugging Rainbow.

"I'll be back! Stay safe!" With that, the pegasus flew away at the speed of sound.

---

"You again?! How many times do you have to interfere?" Pinkie Pie demanded, circling the injured spirit.

"How ever many times I- uh- need to!" Discord growled, keeping his eye on the pink pony.

"Well, now I have the upper hoof!" Pinkie crouched, wiggling her messy tail in the air. She sprang at him, but Discord wasn't that slow. Yet. She landed harmlessly on the other side of him, then sprang again. Over and over again she leapt at the spirit.

The whole time Discord only got one hit in. He raised his talon and punched her in the face, sending her sprawling. Pinkie got none.

But her plan was working.

She was going to slowly tire him, then finish it. After all, there was so much going on that Discord didn't know where to fire with his magic, or do a restraining spell. And he was certainly not going to leave her alone.

Discord found it hard to keep going. The stab wound in his middle was spilling blood all over Rainbow Dash's cloud home. Pinkie was really good at this.

"Ha! You don't stand a chance, you idiot! You can't keep going like this forever, and Rainbow isn't coming back. I'll make cupcakes out of you, and then she'll be next!" Pinkie laughed maniacally, closing the distance between her and the helpless spirit.

"No, you won't! And you'll stay away from Dash!" Discord snarled, tripping slightly over a tipped over chair. She jumped on him, forcing him to his back. She held her own knife up at his neck.

"Ha! How many times will I be on top of somepony I'm trying to kill today? First Rainbow, then you. Seems right, huh?" The knife poked a small dot into his skin.

"Not so fast, Pinkie Pie!"

A rainbow blur blasted Pinkie off of Discord and she collapsed onto the floor. With the pink pony unconscious from the hit, Rainbow helped Discord up.

"Uh, thanks," the spirit said, sitting up.

"Are you okay?" Dash asked.

"Oh yeah, I have a knife in my gut, I'm just perfect!" Discord cheered sarcastically, pointing to said knife.

"I meant besides the knife, but whatever."

"Yes, I'm fine."

"We better call the cops."

"Already here," a voice said behind them. They both swiveled their heads to look. A few pegasi police were at the door.

"Thank goodness," Dash said. "She's right there." She turned around, pointing to the spot Pinkie was. Nopony was there. Pinkie was gone.

---

"So how did you know I was in trouble?" Rainbow asked Discord, sitting next to his hospital bed. He was laying on his back, on top of the blankets. The police were searching for Pinkie Pie, and the knifed spirit was put in an ambulance to be taken to the hospital.

"Did it hurt getting that knife out?" Scootaloo asked. Discord rolled his eyes and shot a glance at Rainbow Dash. She giggled.

"You should've seen your face when they pulled it out! It was so funny!"

"Okay, get ready, I'm going to extract the knife now," the doctor said.

"Um, okay, just make it quick," Discord said. He was laying on a surgery table on his back.

"Three, two, one.."

His muscles tensed.

"Now!"

The doctor pulled the knife out.

A cry of pain from Discord.

Blood all over the doctor and the floor.

Rainbow laughing her ass off on the ground a few feet away.

Scootaloo standing next to her adoptive mom and trying not to giggle.

Discord with the most absolutely hilarious look of disbelief and pain on his face.

"Gross," the doctor commented, the knife in his light yellow magical hold.

"Shut up," Discord grumbled. Some bandages were wrapped around where the knife was.

"Pft, whatever, that was too funny," Dash smirked. "Anyways, how did you know I was in trouble?"

"Fluttershy came and told me:

Discord sat in his marshmallow chair and stared off into space. So boring! Twilight had given him this invitation to some party for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. By the time it was, it was probably just getting started. Should he go? He wasn't really sure. After what she said about a 'father,' he wasn't so sure. It was really awkward. He hadn't spoken to her all day.

A yellow object flying through his wall snapped Discord from his thoughts abruptly. The butter colored pony was covered from head to hoof in cotton candy wall.

"D-Discord! *gasp* Rainbow Dash! *gasp* Pinkie Pie! Back! Again! Help!" Fluttershy gasped, breathing heavily, falling against the spirit and trying to catch her breath.

"What?! Pinkie Pie!? I'm on it! You call the cops!" Discord told her, then teleported to Rainbow Dash's house.

He arrived with a bright light and immediately felt an extreme pain in his stomach. As his vision flickered, he saw flashes of pink in front of him, along with three little ponies.

"Discord!"

"Not now! Just get the fillies!" He clutched his stomach. A knife was lodged deep inside his gut.

Rainbow Dash shot to the fillies and disappeared out the window, leaving him alone with Pinkie.

"She looked really odd. Half of her hair was gone, which I thought signaled something was wrong."

"Yeah, Pinkie threw a knife at her to stop her from calling the cops. She did a lot of knife throwing today," Dash commented.

"Yeah, I can tell. One of the victims was me."

"And it would've been me if not for you. Thanks again. You've been saving my flank a lot these days."

"Yeah, I know."

"So. . . do you want me to repay you now?"

He went quiet for a moment, stroking his goatee. He saved her again, and in the process he got stabbed in the stomach with a knife. . . yeah, maybe just a little.

"Yeah. I think I need something back for this one," Discord said.

"I figured. Scootaloo, will you go play with the other Crusaders for a little while? Discord and I have to discuss something," Rainbow told her.

"Okay. Don't take too long! I'll see you later," Scootaloo dismissed, leaving the duo alone in the hospital room. With a last warning of 'be careful', the pegasus turned back to the spirit.

"So, what are you thinking?" Dash asked.

"I don't know, I thought you would decide that," Discord said, shrugging.

"Hmm. . . will this work?" As soon as she said that Dash leaned forward and kissed him right on the nose, then flashed a quick smile at him before trotting out the door. Discord froze slightly, his face turning red.

". . . Yeah."

---

"C'mon Rainbow, pleeeeaaasseee?" Sweetie Belle whined.

"We'll be safe we promise!" Scootaloo pressed.

"Yeah we'll be fine!" Apple Bloom told her.

"I don't know. I mean, it's not that I don't think it's safe, it's more the fact that you girls want to jump off the highest cloud in Equestria," Rainbow said, looking down at the faraway ground.

"But it's gonna be so awesome! Please?" Scootaloo begged.

"I don't know. I trust you, but I'm not sure. What're you doing again?"

"We're gonna jump off, and then, I'm going to circle a platform of clouds and save them, sorta like when you were at the Wonderbolts Academy and saved the others, but I'm not bouncing them up again."

"Are you sure you can do it fast enough?"

"Yeah! I'm positive!" Scootaloo buzzed her wings.

"Okay then, I'll let you. But don't let them fall. That would not be cool."

"Yay! Thanks mom! C'mon, let's do it," Scootaloo cheered, turning to face the others. She put her goggles on and they lined up at the edge of the cloud. "Ready, set, go!"

The three fillies plummeted off the cloud. Rainbow leaned over to watch them fall. They slowly disappeared from her sight as the fog swallowed them up. She listened for them.

"Maybe I should make sure they make it," Rainbow said to herself. She jumped off and slowly floated towards the ground. As she went down, she heard a few screams.

Something was wrong.

"I'm coming girls!"

Rainbow shot downwards, trying to guess how far from the ground she was right now. Dash could barely see the ground from where she was. Picking up speed, she went into a nosedive. Wind whistled past her, and the familiar cone formed around her. Pulling against it, she started feeling herself being sent through it. The huge boom followed by the rainbow circle spread thought the sky. As Rainbow sped downwards, she saw the ground coming up. But she didn't see the fillies.

"Scoots? Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle?"

Rainbow landed forcefully, going skidding across the grass, leaving a little rainbow fire in her wake. She looked frantically around. Still no fillies. Trying to fight rising panic, she thought about how Pinkie was still on the loose.

"Mom! That was awesome! Can we do it again? Why do you look so freaked out?" Scootaloo asked, popping up out of nowhere, and scaring the crap out of the cyan pegasus.

"AIEE! What the- where did you girls go? I heard screaming, I came down 'cuz I thought you girls were in trouble," Rainbow explained, looking at the three little fillies.

"We weren't screaming, we were shrieking in laughter. Did you get so worried about us that you did that sonic rainboom?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Um, well. . ." Dash rubbed the back of her head.

"You were so worried that you did a sonic rainboom! You really care," Scootaloo said, hugging her mom. The other fillies joined in, laughing as Rainbow stood there with an annoyed look on her face. Given away by her own nerve.

"I think we should go visit Discord. I think he's lonely in there," Dash said, looking down at the three little ponies in her embrace.

"When does he get out? It's been like a week already," Apple Bloom said.

"Well, Discord told me that there was a few 'complications,' but he would be out soon."

"Complications? Like what?" Scootaloo asked. They looked at Rainbow worriedly.

"I don't know. I don't think he wanted me to worry about him, so he didn't tell me. But, he sounded really sad he wasn't out here, so we should go see him."

"Hey Rainbow, can I ask you a question?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

"Uh, sure."

"Are you and Discord dating?"

"Oh. Um. . . Not really."

"Oh."

"Let's go, shall we?"

---

"So, what have you girls been up too since I ended up in here?" Discord asked, his paw over the wound that was covered in bandages on his stomach.

"Nothing really. But I just did this awesome trick, and, like saved them! It was so cool!" Scootaloo exclaimed, sitting on the end of the bed.

"Yeah, and then Rainbow thought we were in trouble, so she did a sonic rainboom because she was going so fast to save us!" Apple Bloom told him.

"It was amazing!" Sweetie Belle agreed.

"Well Rainbow, you've been turning into a caring parent. One of those that are always looking after everypony else's," Discord teased, only to be hit upside the head by an annoyed Dash.

"Well, besides that, we haven't really done anything that special," Rainbow said.

"Wow, as soon as I get out of here, maybe we should do something."

"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted, hoof bumping. Rainbow winced and folded her ears back against her head. Discord slammed his paws over his.

"Please girls? Not that," Dash told them. The fillies smiled sheepishly and sat down.

"I think my eardrums are broken," Discord said, shaking his head.

"Sorry," Scootaloo apologized.

"Whatever, it's fine. Just not here. Anyway, do you know when you get out of here?" Rainbow asked him.

Discord shook his head again. "No. They haven't said anything yet. But I'm hoping it'll be soon."

"I hope so. I mean, we can't come everyday. I have weather, Scootaloo has school, and then there's Pinkie Pie. . ."

"I'll be fine. And about Pinkie, don't worry too much. As long as you stay in the clouds more, she won't get to you."

"What about the spell Twilight did on her? When does it wear off?"

"It would've already worn off. It was just a simple cloud walking spell. Not really that durable."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, but still. She could be anywhere. What if something happens to Scootaloo? Or Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom? Pinkie already tried to get to me with them once, and I don't want that to happen again. She could use them against Rarity or Applejack or somepony else! Don't you have some sort of tracking spell you can use to find her? Could Twilight do something like that? Because we need to find her."

"Well, of course we could use a spell to find Pinkie. They're not letting me use my magic in here, so I won't be of any help until I get out. I would ask Twilight. She'll be able to help you more than I can right now."

"So, we'll visit you later then, okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Go ask Twilight. Just tell me if anything happens."

"Thanks, I will. Bye Discord."

"Bye Discord!" Scootaloo said.

"Bye!" Apple Bloom said too.

"Bye!" Sweetie Belle copied, waving her hoof at him. Discord waved back.

"Bye girls."

The ponies left the hospital room, leaving Discord alone.

---

"A searching spell? Of course I can! But I need something of that pony's to find them," Twilight told Rainbow. "This is about Pinkie Pie isn't it?" she asked as she saw the look on the pegasus's face.

"Yeah, it is. Do you think you can find her?" Dash asked, watching as Twilight scrambled around the library, books falling everywhere as she jerked them out of their spots and held them in the air. Spike ran along the shelves, catching the ones she didn't get.

"Yeah, yeah, I can, but I still need something of Pinkie's," Twilight explained, scrolling through her books as fast as she could and reading for more spells.

"What kind of thing? Like an object of hers, or DNA?"

"DNA, stuff like that. Hair, skin, spit, anything along those lines." She stopped at one book and immediately dropped the rest on the floor, and walked over to Rainbow Dash. Spike groaned and went to work picking up the books. "Found it!"

"The spell?"

"No, the book about spinach."

"Huh?"

"Duh, the spell, silly filly! Anyways, I need something of Pinkie Pie."

"Where do we find that?"

"Anywhere Pinkie might have been while she was here. Your house, SugarCube Corner."

"Okay, so let's search SugarCube first."

"Okay, let's head out."

The pair left the library, setting off in the direction of the sweet shop. Entering SugarCube Corner, they went up to the Cakes.

"Do you guys mind if we search this place? Pinkie Pie's room, the kitchen, pretty much anywhere Pinkie was?" Twilight asked.

The Cakes gave them blank stares.

"Of course!" Mrs. Cake said cheerily. Mr. Cake followed her out of the room as she left.

"What was that? They didn't even seem concerned. Weird. Anyways, let's get looking," Twilight told Dash, who was standing there looking very confused.

Rainbow walked upstairs, looking closely at the floor. It all seemed spotless. No dust, hairs, nothing of the sort. She studied the air, trying to see if there was any in the air.

"How am I supposed to know what a skin cell looks like?" Rainbow shouted downstairs to the purple unicorn.

"I don't know! Dust, I guess! Try and look for hairs mostly!" Twilight shouted back to her.

"Okay!" Rainbow stopped and looked under a rug. As she got into Pinkie's old room, she searched under the bed, behind dressers, on the windowsill, even on the blades on the ceiling fan above her. It was all clean. Like it had been scrubbed with bleach and alcohol. "Twilight, I'm not seeing anything! It's spotless!" The unicorn appeared behind her.

"Downstairs too. It's like the Cakes wanted to erase her off this planet. Maybe that's why they were so odd downstairs. They didn't even listen to her name! I wonder what was going through their minds when they saw her again," Twilight mused.

"But you were there, weren't you? When Pinkie made you perform the spell on her?"

"Yeah, but I want to know what was going through their minds. I can't read minds. Yet."

"Well, probably disbelief, hatred, other emotions like that. Anyways, let's go. My house. But I should warn you, cloud doesn't really hold things that well that aren't rain, snow, and pegasi."

"Yeah, but it's worth a shot."

They left SugarCube Corner and walked to directly under Rainbow's cloud home. Twilight performed the spell on herself, then Dash lifted her up the her house.

"Okay, search! This is one of our last hopes. This is the only other place we know she went. If she was anywhere else, all traces of her are probably gone," Twilight said. Dash nodded and flew inside. She checked her bedroom, her kitchen, closets, but like the sweet shop, there was nothing.

"How is there nothing here?!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily, pounding her hoof on her table.

"Beats me. Such a struggle went on here only a few days ago and now there's not a trace left of it."

"Trace of what?"

The two spun around and saw Fluttershy behind them.

"Of Pinkie Pie. We're trying to find her, but we need some of her DNA first," Rainbow told her.

"Oh. So you haven't found anything, I'm guessing."

"No- why are you all sticky?" Twilight asked, seeing the pink all over her friend.

"Oh. Discord's cotton candy house is stickier than normal cotton candy. I still haven't gotten it all out."

"Oh, interesting. Here, let us help," Rainbow said, approaching Fluttershy and trying to wipe it off.

"Thanks girls, but I think it's a lost cause." After a few minutes of strenuous cotton candy pulling, Twilight said something.

"Wow, your hair really got tangled in this. It looks so much shorter."

"That's where the knife cut it, actually. And will you get that little hair off my nose? It really tickles."

Rainbow picked the little curl off her friend's snout. She was about to throw it out when she realized something. Curl? Holding it closer to her eyes, Dash saw this was a very dark pink. Pinkie Pie fluffy, curly, bouncy hair pink.

"Twilight, look at this will you?" Rainbow asked, and Twilight stopped cleaning Fluttershy and took the hair with her magic.

"Is this what I think it is?" Twilight gasped, mouth open as she inspected it.

"Yes, I think so."

"What? It's just a little-" the yellow pegasus was cut off as she was suddenly spun around, flinging the cotton candy off her, and when she stopped spinning the others were gone. ". . .hair."

---

"Okay, here it goes," Twilight said. Holding the little scrap of hair, she focused on the spell. Her horn glowing, she closed her eyes. A gentle breeze fluttered a few of the papers on the desk. A weird little tendril of magenta picked up the hair, curling itself around it. Suddenly, the magic let go of the hair and left it floating there. The hair was no longer pink, but pulsating white. It slowly grew bigger. Rainbow backed away a little bit as it transformed from the little curl to a square shape, sort of like a movie screen. An image appeared on it. Twilight opened her eyes and looked at it with a gasp. Pinkie was hiding behind something. It looked like a hay bale.

"That place looks familiar," Rainbow said, gulping. Sweet Apple Acres.

"Yeah," Twilight whispered. An orange earth pony with a blonde mane was walking towards it.

"Apple Bloom, you can't hide for long. Ah'm gonna win!" Applejack said to the air with a smile on her face.

"AJ no!" Rainbow exclaimed, trying to talk to the picture on the screen.

"Rainbow, she can't hear you," Twilight said sadly.

"I'm going to save her!"

Rainbow Dash shot out the door, leaving Twilight watching the goings-on. The cyan pegasus left a trail of rainbow streaks in her wake, and soon she was at Sweet Apple Acres.

"Applejack!"

"Pinkie Pie! Let go of me, you-"

Applejack's yell was cut off. Rainbow streaked downwards and landed with a thud.

"Let go of Applejack, you monster!"

"Well hi Dashie! I'm so glad you could join the party! AJ and I were just going to go play cupcakes! Do you want to play?" Pinkie Pie asked, holding the orange earth pony's arms in hers, standing there as if she wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Put. Her. Down. Or else," Rainbow threatened, stepping one hoof forward. Pinkie giggled.

"Or what?"

"This." Rainbow moved forward so fast you couldn't even see her and kicked Pinkie in the face. The pink pony slammed against an apple tree, tilting it. She wiped the blood from her mouth.

"Dashie, that wasn't very nice!" she exclaimed. "But luckily, I'm not either!" Pinkie pulled herself off the tree and approached the pegasus. Rainbow grabbed Applejack and flew her to the roof of the barn, where she set her down, making sure she didn't roll off.

"Rainbow Dash! Why did you just put my sister on the roof?"

"Huh? Apple Bloom?"

"Yeah! And Ah want to know why you just put AJ on the roof!"

A pink pony slammed Rainbow onto her stomach.

"Is this a good reason?!" Dash shouted as she ducked and rolled away from Pinkie's swinging hooves. She head butted the party pony away. "Run Apple Bl-" her shout cut off as she got punched in the face. Holding her now bleeding nose, Rainbow hovered in the air and bucked Pinkie right back. Pinkie got up and threw herself at Rainbow. She braced herself for the impact, but a beam shot the pony right out of the air.

"Rainbow! Get some rope!" Twilight yelled to the blue pegasus, who was already on it. Twilight held Pinkie down, making sure she didn't run away or fight back. The pony underneath her struggled, trying to escape. Dash arrived with the rope and Twilight wrapped Pinkie's hooves with it.

"I'll get you for this! I'll kill all those guards again just to make cupcakes! You just wait and-" Rainbow slipped some rope around the pink pony's muzzle.

"That's enough out of you," she said. "Have you called the cops yet Twilight?"

"Yeah. I called them right after you left. I knew you would need my help, but I needed to make sure Pinkie didn't hurt you. After I saw Apple Bloom I knew I had to get over here," Twilight responded.

"Did you-"

"Yes, I teleported, Rainbow Dash," the unicorn told her, knowing what she was going to say before she even finished her sentence.

"Okay then."

---

"Discord?" There was no answer from inside the room. Rainbow stepped inside slightly, only her face in the room. "Discord?" Opening the door fully and looking around, she didn't see anypony. Suddenly, two mismatched paws spun her around.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash," Discord said. The pegasus blew a sigh of relief. "They just released me when you were walking in. I thought I'd scare you."

"Well, you failed. I'm not scared," Rainbow pushed the spirit's paws away.

"You're not? Really, I think I did. Judging from the way you jumped, oh, and the look on your face, and don't forget the giant Mohawk that went down your entire body; I'm pretty sure I scared you."

"Okay, maybe a little. . . but still. Anyways, we caught Pinkie Pie. She is officially on her way back to the prison in Canterlot."

"Great! You got a little something on your face." Rainbow looked questioningly at him. "Uh, fine, do I have to do it?" A handkerchief, that was wet, Dash noticed, wiped her face off. Discord held it front of her, showing that it was covered in blood. "See?"

"I'm hoping that was water that was on it."

"Well duuuhh. What, were you thinking, spit? I'm not your mom. Speaking of moms, maybe you should check up on your kid," Discord said, jerking his thumb towards the orange pegasus that was visible playing outside with her friends through the window.

"Yeah, right, I know. C'mon," Dash grunted, trotting out the door. Upon seeing her mom, Scootaloo dropped the ball she had and raced at her.

"Where were you? I couldn't find you and I thought maybe you'd left me, and decided-" Rainbow shoved her hoof in the filly's mouth.

"I would never leave you, silly filly. I was just busy today. But now that everything's fine, maybe we should go and celebrate." She put wing around Scootaloo's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Celebrate what? You not being busy anymore? I mean, not that I care, because I'm just really hungry."

"Well, if you want. But I was more talking about how your mom caught Pinkie practically single-hoofed and now that Discord's out of the hospital."

"You caught Pinkie?! Cool! Let's go!" Scootaloo buzzed her wings.

"Yeah. Where do you want to eat?"

"Pft, I don't know! But let's hurry up and decide, because I am starving!"

"How about Golden Corral?"

"Sounds good! I want buffet!"

"Discord? That sound good to you?" Dash asked, looking up at where he was flying above them.

"Hmm, sure, whatever," Discord said, shrugging his shoulders. Rainbow rolled her eyes and the three of them soared towards the restaurant.

---

"Uh, I'm so stuffed!" Scootaloo exclaimed, laying a hoof on her stomach. She laid down on the cloud and looked up at the stars.

"Me too. I ate like a horse," Rainbow Dash agreed, flopping on her back beside her filly.

"Hmm, I ate like a lion, an eagle, a goat, a lizard, a dragon. . ." Discord said, counting off on his fingers, settling down next to Rainbow.

"Stop, you silly weirdo," Dash stopping his counting with a laugh. Scootaloo wiggled closer to her mom and tucked herself in-between the two adults.

"So, are you guys dating now?" Scootaloo asked, breaking the silence as they watched Princess Luna's stars twinkle in the night. They looked at each other.

"Maybe, maybe not," Rainbow said.

"Um, okay, I want to know if you are though. Because, if you get married, I want to be the ring bearer. I was a flower girl at Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding. I really wasn't that interested."

"A ring bearer? Isn't that a boy?" Discord asked.

"Usually. But it could be a girl," Rainbow said.

"Cool. So, I can?" Scootaloo pressed.

"I guess if we got married Scoots. But, really, I'm still trying to get over being attacked by a psychotic pink pony with surgical tools. And, I think Discord's a little old for me," Dash teased, poking the spirit in the ribs.

"Well, Rainbow's right on that one. I am eons old," Discord agreed. "I mean look, my beard is white! White!"

"Wasn't it always white?"

"Well, it wasn't when I was young."

"So, are you a grandpa?" Scootaloo asked.

Discord's eyebrows shot up. "I'm not that old! Besides, I don't have kids!"

"What about Screwball?"

"Screwball? That's just a rumor, my little pony. She's just some coincidentally wacky and crazy pony. Not much for disharmony if I do say so myself."

"Okay, enough about Discord's old age. It's starting to sound ridiculous," Rainbow laughed.

"Okay fine. But I'm not going to talk about the stars and hearts or sappy stuff like that," Scootaloo said.

"Trust me, I don't wanna talk about that stuff either. Too- not awesome."

"So, what are we going to talk about?" Discord asked boringly.

"I don't know, but it has be at least 20% cooler."

"Okay, Ms. Awesome, what do you think is cooler to talk about?"

"Hmm, I don't have my awesome chart with me, so I can't really judge what we should talk about."

"Ooh, ooh, I know! How about you tell us the story of when Rarity got wings and then she fell and you saved her!" Scootaloo suggested.

"Of course! Not less than 20%, perfect. Anyways, so it was the day of the Best Young Fliers Competition, and Fluttershy and I were already in Cloudsdale. I was getting pretty nervous, but then the others arrived! Oh, it was great at first, but then Rarity kept showing off her wings. Then, she decided to enter the competition! I thought for sure I was going to lose! When we finally were up, I kept messing up on my routine! It sucked because I really doubted me winning at this point. But as we both climbed high in the sky, her wings burned and she plummeted to her doom! I knew I had to save her. The Wonderbolts got knocked out, and by then I had no choice. I shot downwards, and the cone of air surrounded me, and I knew I was going to do it! The impossible! The sonic rainboom! The boom echoed behind me, and a huge rainbow filled the air! I grabbed Rarity and the Wonderbolts just in the nick of time! I lifted them all the way up and over the Cloudaseum, making an awesome rainbow over it. Then, some other pegasi took the Wonderbolts away from me, and some took Rarity. The crowd was cheering their flanks off, and out of all of them, Fluttershy was the loudest, surprisingly. The Princess named me Best Young Flier, and I was carried off in victory! And Rarity was so grateful! It was an awesome day, but it got even better when I got to hang out with the Wonderbolts! It was officially the best day ever!" Rainbow finished.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that story!"

"Hmm, I've never heard that story before," Discord said.

"Well, now you have. It was legit," Dash bragged.

"Can I tell one?"

"What one?"

"The one where I made you and the others your opposites and you deserted your friends and sat on a small tuft of cloud that you thought was Cloudsdale."

"How about I tell the one where you almost cried because Fluttershy said she wasn't your friend?"

"… Touché."

"You almost cried?!" Scootaloo exclaimed in disbelief. Discord turned red and looked away.

"So, how's school going?" Rainbow asked Scootaloo, changing the subject, trying to stop the spirit from suffering anymore embarrassment.

"Okay, I guess, but really boring. I'd rather be with you all day."

"I think everypony would always want to be with me."

"Yeah, I think that's true. So what are we going to do now?"

"I think we should go to bed. I'm tired."

"But I'm not tired!" Scootaloo objected.

"Right, I've seen you yawn like ten times. Discord even more."

"When?!" Discord exclaimed. Rainbow shoved her hoof in his mouth. "Nowo, serbjudlee, whewn?"

"But I'm not-" A huge yawn interrupted her sentence.

"Tired, right. Let's go," Rainbow stood up, the filly on her back. "C'mon Discord."

"I'm coming, I'm coming, just let me get up," he grumbled. He hovered above them as they went inside.

"I'm gonna put Scoots to bed. You do whatever." Dash disappeared into another room. Setting her daughter into her orange and green bed, she kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodnight Scoots, love you," Rainbow told her.

"Night mom. Love you too," Scootaloo said back to her, eyes already closing. Rainbow turned off the light and then closed the door. She walked back over to her room. And of course, Discord was laying sideways across the bed, sound asleep. She shoved him off, and settled into the blankets. When she closed her eyes, she felt the spirit climb back into bed the right way, next to her.

"Goodnight Discord."

A snore was her only reply.

---

"So, Scootaloo, how are you likin' livin' with Rainbow Dash as your mom?" Apple Bloom asked. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were being pulled along in a wagon as Scootaloo rode her scooter.

"It's so awesome! She's really good at being a mom and is always nice to me! She hasn't even yelled at me once!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"That's because you haven't been bad. Once you've been bad she'll probably yell at you," Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo snorted and shook her head.

"Pft, right. I'm never bad. The only time she ever got mad at me was when we went on that camping trip."

"Well, you just wait. Anyways, what do you guys want to do?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't know. Do you have any suggestions Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo looked back at them.

"How about, WATCH THE ROAD!" Sweetie screamed, pointing her hoof forward.

"Huh?" Scootaloo's eyes jerked to the road. The lake! Shouting, the orange pegasus pulled the scooter backwards, undoing the latch that held the wagon to the scooter. The two other fillies fell out, but Scootaloo's helmet strap got caught onto the handle from when the scooter hit her in the face as she pulled back. She flapped her wings, pulling her strap from the handle. The scooter jerked to the left, and crashed into the tree. Scootaloo smashed her head into the trunk. She fell onto the ground.

"Scootaloo! Are you okay?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly, running up to her friend. The little pegasus groaned and didn't get up.

"Whoa! Apple Bloom, is she okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I don't know! It doesn't look like it."

"We have to get her to the hospital or something! Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"Let's look for her! Maybe she's clearing the clouds…" The ponies scanned the sky. A bright blue blur above them caught their attention. "Ooh, there she is! RAINBOW! RAINBOW DASH!"

The pegasus shot down towards them. She stopped a foot above them, hovering in the air.

"What's up? Where's- SCOOTALOO?!" Rainbow saw her daughter collapsed on the ground. She picked her up. "Scoots?" Scootaloo was bleeding from an unseen cut under her helmet. A few bruises were already showing, and she had some scrapes. Rainbow lifted the helmet off her head. A long cut went from her ear to her forehead. "Don't worry Scoots, I'll get you safe!" With that, the cyan pegasus shot off, leaving the two little fillies coughing in the dust.

---

"Is she gonna be okay?" Rainbow asked, following the doctor around.

"Yes, she'll be fine. A minor concussion. Could've been worse, too, if she hadn't been wearing a helmet," the doc answered. "She should be okay to go home soon."

"Thank goodness," she breathed. Dash turned away from the doctor and sat by Scootaloo's bed. The orange pegasus was still unconscious, but besides from the cuts, she seemed okay. A bandage was wrapped around her head, and a few band-aids were on some other cuts. She laid her head down on the bed next to her daughter's hoof. She would stay here until she woke up.

The minutes ticked by.

Rainbow's ear twitched. Her wing shifted, wanting to fly. The pegasus glanced at the clock. She's only been here for two minutes. Dash groaned, getting antsy. Her hoof tapped the floor. Sweat rolled down her face. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The clock passed another minute.

"Scoots? Scoots?"

Scootaloo didn't move.

"This is so boring! I need to fly!" Rainbow jumped into the air. She got ready to speed out the window. But then she looked at the bandaged filly in bed. "Uuuhh." Dash lowered herself onto the floor again. She would have to wait. She couldn't just leave her daughter alone in the hospital. But just as she sat down, Scootaloo stirred.

"Mom? Wha- what happened?" Scootaloo asked, rubbing her head.

"You got in an accident. But don't worry; you're gonna be okay," Rainbow replied, smoothing her pinkish hair.

"Oh yeah. . . My scooter! Is it broken?!"

"Sorry kid. I can't fix it." Dash pulled the destroyed scooter from the side of the bed. The handle bars were dented and muddy, and the whole pole that held the bottom to them was bent backwards. One of the wheels was missing, and the part you stand on was almost completely torn in half. Scootaloo grabbed it from Rainbow's hooves.

"I've had it for so long. I can't believe it's destroyed. . ." The orange filly hugged it close to her chest, tears running down her cheeks. "Couldn't Twilight fix it?"

"I don't know. But I'll ask her okay?"

"Okay," Scootaloo sighed. "When can we leave?"

"We can now, if you want."

"Yeah. I want to find out if my scooter can be saved yet."

"Okay then, let's check you outta this place."

---

"So, let me get this straight: you want me to fix this scooter?" Twilight asked, putting a hoof to her chest. The unicorn looked incredulously at the cyan pegasus.

"Well, if you can. ." Rainbow Dash muttered, rubbing the back of her head.

"Please Twilight! It would really mean a lot to me," Scootaloo begged.

"Hmm, I don't know any fixing spells. Not any that would fix scooters, anyway," Twilight said.

"Are you sure? I could help you find a book," Rainbow said, grabbing a few books and looking through them, then throwing them onto the floor.

"Spike! Are there any books on fixing spells?"

"Not any that I know of!" Spike called.

"See? I can't fix it, Dashie. I'm sorry. You could always get another scooter." The purple unicorn pushed them out the door before Rainbow could throw some more books. The blue pegasus look sadly at Scootaloo.

"I'm sorry kid. But I can't fix it, and neither can Twi'. We'll just have to buy you another one," Dash told her.

"But I worked so hard for that scooter! I put my blood, sweat, and tears into that!" Scootaloo objected. "I don't want a handout!"

"Well, maybe you don't have to." Rainbow grabbed a piece of paper off a wall and handed it to the filly.

LOOKING FOR AN

OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME?

WELL, COME AND

RACE AT THE ANNUAL WONDERBOLTS JUNIORS CUP!

WIN AND YOU'LL GET

1,000 BITS!

REGISTER AT YOUR CITY HALL!

RACES WILL BE AT CLOUDSDALE'S CLOUDASEUM

ON SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH!

"Wow! This could be my chance!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"So you're in?" Dash asked.

"Well, duh!" Scootaloo looked at the flier again. "But this is only two days away! It's Thursday right now!"

"We better get training then!" Rainbow grabbed a hat and whistle out of nowhere.

"Yeah!"

*cue montage*

Scootaloo flew in a circle, a swarm of bees on her tail.

"Is this part of the training?!"

"No! I didn't know there was a hive on this tree!"

*second*

"Push! Push! Push!"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can!"

Rainbow was flying while Scootaloo tried to push her to the finish line.

*next*

Scootaloo was doing some wingups. Rainbow Dash was sitting on top of her.

*fourth*

Scootaloo was wing wrestling with Pound Cake. And he was winning.

*fifth*

Scootaloo was flying to Rainbow's cloud home and back to the ground over and over again.

*end montage*

"Think you're ready?" Rainbow asked.

"Let's do this!" Scootaloo shouted. They flew up to Cloudsdale.

"Okay, so you need to go as fast as you can all the way! Don't try and pace yourself. It's only a ten laps. Not too difficult. You got that?"

"Yup. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Quick, the race is going to start soon, go line up."

The filly flew off. Rainbow took seat in the clouds, in a perfect position to see the race. A long whistle blew. The fillies at the start line bunched their muscles.

"Welcome to the seventeenth annual Wonderbolts Juniors Cup! Let's get this started!" an announcer pegasus, well, announced.

An official pegasus stood by the start line. Rainbow scanned the fillies for Scootaloo. There she was!

"On your mark, get set. . . GO!"

The pegasi shot off around the track. Rainbow leaned forward in her seat. So far, Scootaloo was third. Only two colts were ahead of her.

"Beat them, Scoots!" Dash shouted. The filly seemed to hear this and sped up. One lap. Zoom. Two laps. Swoosh. Three laps. Flash. Four laps. Scootaloo was in second, leaving all the other pegasi way behind her. Only one of the colts was still in front of her, and Scootaloo was determined to beat him. "C'mon Scoots, I believe in you kid!"

"Enough fooling around. I'm gonna do this!" Scootaloo said to herself. She narrowed her eyes and focused all her energy into beating this kid. She closed in on him and she could hear Rainbow cheering in the background. Only a foot from him. . . Scootaloo looked up and saw a white flag being waved. The last lap! "C'mon! I need a new scooter!"

In a burst of speed, she zoomed past the colt and finished the last lap. The checkered flag waved and huge cheers went up from the crowd. She pulled up and Rainbow Dash sped to her side. The cyan pegasus put her on her shoulders.

"You did it!"

"Yeah, I did, didn't I? Yoo-hoo!" Scootaloo pumped her hooves. Something tickled her side. She spun around.

"Hey, didn't expect to see me here, did you?" Discord asked, the tip of his tail only a few inches away. She burst out laughing and the others did too.

"Did you know about this?"

"Yup! I asked him to come. You think I'd let this lazy lump get away with not coming?" Dash laughed, nudging him in the ribs, and he immediately crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at her. At this point, a sports pony came up to them.

"Congratulations! Here's your bits!" she said, handing them a bag. Scootaloo looked at it, unsure what to do. "Is there a problem?"

Rainbow noticed Scootaloo's hesitation.

"You won, kid. So it's your money. Take it."

Scootaloo reached out and grabbed it, liking the jingling sound of the coins. She set the bag down on her mom's head. Rainbow giggled.

"So, what do you wanna do now?"

"Isn't it obvious? To the scooter store!" Scootaloo exclaimed, jabbing her hoof in the direction of Ponyville. Dash rolled her eyes.

"Okay, let's go, Discord."

---

"Like my new scooter?" Scootaloo asked, showing it to her friends. The handle bars and wheels were sky blue, and the board was rainbow, with Rainbow's cutie mark on it. "I also got a new helmet." She pulled a jousting looking helmet out. It was also sky blue. It went down her neck, and curved around her face. The sides were outlined with orange. Scootaloo put it on. Her whole mane came out of the holes at the top, even her 'crest,' and the front curled a little still.

"Awesome! Is that a genuine Rainbow Dash scooter?" Sweetie Belle teased.

"Well, sorta. It's custom. But that's not all. Here, let me show you the under board." She lifted the bottom board up and showed it to them. On half of it was her cutie mark, and the other half had a number of random colors on it, ranging from green to blue to brown.

"What's that part?" Apple Bloom asked, pointing to the mismatched part.

"Oh, sorry. I gotta get it just right.." Scootaloo tilted the board slightly. The colors moved, and formed a picture of a certain spirit. Under it said 'Discord,' in big, black letter.

"Whoa! Is that picture moving right now? It looks like he's flying," Sweetie Belle said.

"Totally! He enchanted the board. It's unbreakable now! You know, I should've just asked Discord to fix my old one. But, I think I like this one more."

"Why did you choose Discord to move?"

"Well, because I already added this!" Scootaloo jumped on the scooter, and started going fast around them.

"Are you leavin' rainbow streaks?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, watching her friend.

"Totally!" She stopped and the rainbows in the air faded. "Cool right?"

"Heck yeah!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said at the same time.

"Well, I gotta go, but I'll see ya later! Bye!"

Scootaloo sped off on her scooter, leaving familiar rainbow streaks in the air.

---

Well, that's the end of that chapter. I should've warned you about ponies swearing. Really, only Rainbow Dash did. But, oh well. Lots of cute Scootaloo-Rainbow Dash-Discord moments. I made her scooter awesome. Freakin' legit. I'm not sure what the next chapters are going to be about that much, but I think I'm going to focus less on Pinkie Pie stuff and start working towards this 'relationship' with Dash and Discord. But, hey, trying to make a pony and the God of Chaos fall in love is not easy. But I'll try.

Sorry this chapter took sooo long to do. Writers block. I mean, how was I supposed to make two completely unlike creatures just fall in love? Not in a heartbeat, I'll tell you that. This relationship has to evolve first, if it's to go anywhere.

---

"So, Scootaloo, what exactly is this for?"

Scootaloo looked up from her drawing. Discord was hovering in front of her.

"Hey! Get back over there! I'm not finished yet!" Scootaloo yelled, pointing to the center of the room. The spirit rolled his eyes and went to stand there. She turned her attention back to her work. After a few moments of silence, he asked again.

"What is this for?"

"It's for a school project."

"Huh?"

"We have to draw pictures of everypony in our family."

"Wait, hold on a minute. I'm not exactly related to you."

"But I'm not related to Rainbow Dash either. In blood anyway." She continued drawing. She didn't say anything else. Discord snorted, crossing his arms. "Stop moving! Put your arms how they were." He growled and let them fall to his sides again.

"How much longer? I've been standing here for half an hour."

"Almost done. I just need to put on a few finishing touches. . . And there! All done!" Scootaloo exclaimed, turning the picture around to face Discord.

"Wow. . . that's. . ." He couldn't find any words to say as he looked at the picture. It was an exact replica of him, standing next to Rainbow Dash. Hers was just as good. They both looked as if they were photos taken by a camera.

"Do you like it?" she asked excitedly.

"I do. It's great! How did you learn to draw like that?"

"Oh, well, we're always drawing maps for crusading, but I've never really drawn anything else. But I think it's a pretty good first try, don't you?"

"Yeah, it is. Are you going to draw yourself in there now?"

"Yeah. So, I better get to it. Thanks for being so patient." Scootaloo picked up an orange crayon and started drawing. He watched her for a moment before going into the kitchen.

"She just finish drawing you?" Rainbow asked. She was sitting in a chair reading the newspaper and holding a cup of coffee in the other hoof. She glanced over at him.

"Yeah," Discord responded. He took a seat next to her. "It's almost like it could be her special talent."

"I know, right? But she already has her cutie mark. So, I guess not." She took a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, I know. What's on the agenda for today?"

"Psh, I don't know. I don't have any weather to deal with today, and Scootaloo only has school, so I was thinking after she's done we could all, I don't know, hang out together."

"Sure. What time does she get done?"

"At like 3:00." Rainbow folded the newspaper and poured the rest of the coffee in her mouth. She put the mug by the sink. "Want this?" She wiggled the paper in his face.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Scootaloo! Time to go to school! Grab your things, let's go!" Dash called into the other room, throwing the paper in the trash.

"Okay!" Scootaloo shouted back. They heard some muffled footsteps, something falling, and then the orange filly was in the kitchen with her backpack on. "Ready!"

"Okay. See you in about ten minutes Discord." Rainbow and Scootaloo flew out the door. A few minutes passed until they were at the school. They landed and Rainbow pulled her filly into a hug. "See you after school Scoots. Try and hurry home because we're gonna spend some time together today; all of us. Love you."

"Bye mom! Love you too!" Scootaloo shouted as she ran towards the schoolhouse. Waving one last time, Rainbow flew back to her house.

---

"Scootaloo? Will you please come up here and show us your family?" Ms Cheerilee asked. Scootaloo hopped out of her chair with her picture in her mouth. She stood in front of the class and held it up.

"This is my family. That's my mom, Rainbow Dash, and-"

"Discord?! Your dad is Discord?! How stupid! He's just a freak! All those animal parts, and he turned Ponyville all crazy! Plus he's like thousands of years old. He's not your dad, so stop lying Scootaloo!" Diamond Tiara interrupted rudely, sticking her nose in the air. Silver Spoon laughed and so did some of the other fillies. As the class roared with laughter, Scootaloo felt herself about to cry. Tears welling up in her eyes, the orange pegasus dropped the drawing and ran out the door. She fled into the sky, not stopping to even think she was ditching school. As tears streamed down her cheeks, she rushed into the cloud home, surprising a cyan pegasus, and scaring a certain God of Chaos. She shot into her room, and closed the door, locking it behind her. Scootaloo flopped onto her bed, crying her heart out. How dare they laugh at her?! If Diamond Tiara had just waited until she was done talking, if she wasn't such a big bully, a snob; she would've heard that he wasn't her dad. He just seemed like one.

---

"I'm back! So- what are you doing?" Rainbow entered her house, only to stop dead in her sentence as she saw Discord laying on the floor, on his back, clapping his paws together. He immediately stopped, sitting up, his face turning red.

"Heh, I was bored. . ." he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. Dash continued staring, creeped out, for a few moments before she rolled her eyes and burst out laughing, falling onto the floor and pounding the clouds with her hoof. After she stopped, she wiped her eye. That had been so funny she had cried!

"Oh, man that was funny! Gosh, I will never let that go! That was so hilarious! Priceless, as you might put it!" Rainbow cackled, breaking into hysterics once again. Now Discord rolled his eyes. Might as well let her get over it now so she doesn't tell everyone in Ponyville about this little incident. A few more minutes passed before you could understand what she was saying. "Okay, okay, I'm okay. I'm done. So, anyways, what do you want to do while we're waiting?"

"I have no clue."

"Well, that's helpful. I don't want to just sit here and do nothing the whole time."

"How am I supposed to know what we should do?"

"You don't have any ideas? None whatsoever?"

"Well, I do have one. . ."

"What? What is it?" Rainbow leaned forward, waiting for him to say something. Suddenly, something exploded in her face. Coughing, Dash jerked back, opening her eyes. Discord was holding water balloons. "Oh, it. Is. On!"

"Okay! Just try and beat me! Balloons appear in sinks!" Discord threw two more balloons at her, which she easily dodged. Rainbow shot into the kitchen, seeing a few water bombs in the sink. She swiped them up, and in ten seconds flat, Discord was soaking wet. "Hmm, you're better than I thought! But I'm still better!" He used his magic to hurl three at her. She dodged two, but the other got her. She picked some up from the sink and sped around him, making him start spinning in a mini tornado. While he was spinning, she launched the water balloons at him. Suddenly, five balloons shot out of the tornado and soaked Dash. Stopping his spin, Discord fell dizzily onto the floor. "Tee, tee! I can't breathe, see, or stand, for that matter!" Discord held up his paws with his fingers in the shape of a 't.'

"Does this mean I beat you?" Rainbow asked, smirking.

"Okay, okay, fine. You won. You are a better water balloon fighter than me. But I'm still better at everything else."

"Yoo-hoo- wait, what?" She stopped in mid-cheer.

Before he could respond, the door was flung open. Discord jumped, clinging to the ceiling, while Rainbow just turned and looked. The orange blur shot into her room and slammed the door. They heard the click of a lock.

"What the-? Scootaloo?" Rainbow, who was still soaking wet, looked at Discord, who still hadn't detached himself from the ceiling. Seeing her looking at him, he retracted his claws and fell the floor. He shrugged and Dash went and knocked on the door. "Scoots?"

"Go away! I'm a loser!" Scootaloo shouted, her voice scratchy from crying.

"What happened?"

"Just leave me alone!"

"Scoots, kid, please let me in." A pause. Then, Rainbow heard the door unlock, and then it opened. A red eyed filly looked at her mom. Dash came into the room. Discord was about to follow, but the door slammed in his face, making him lean back.

"Okay! I'll just wait out here!" he shouted, thinking this was probably some sort of mother-daughter moment that was no place for a dude.

---

"Scootaloo, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked, pulling her daughter under her blue wing. The orange filly sniffled, trying to hide herself under her mom.

"I- I was showing the c-class my drawing, and then t-they laughed at me! Be-because I had Discord on there, and they said I was lying because he wasn't my dad! But they didn't let me finish, so I didn't get t-to say he wasn't!" Scootaloo cried, burying her face into the side of Dash.

"It's okay Scoots. . ."

"No it's not! Now everypony will think I'm just a loser!"

"But you're not. How about this: I'll go down to the school tomorrow and see what I can do, okay?"

"How? Are you going to talk to Ms Cheerilee or what?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll bring Discord down there to scare the other kids," Rainbow said. Scootaloo giggled.

"Could you?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. You'll have to see."

"Am I going to get in trouble for leaving school?"

"I'll make sure you won't. Since you're all done being sad, how about you join Discord and me in our water balloon fight?"

"Awesome! I bet I'll win!" Scootaloo jumped out from under Dash's wing and ran out the door. "Where-" Crashing sounds followed her words. Rainbow quickly went into the hall, only to see Scootaloo laying under Discord.

"A little help?" Scootaloo squeaked.

"What just happened?" Rainbow asked.

"Well…"

"This filly just tripped me, that's what happened," Discord said. He rubbed his head, and rolled off Scootaloo.

"Not on purpose!"

"Whatever, because of you I hit my head on the table." The two glared at each other.

"Will you two stop? C'mon, let's continue our water balloon fight. But first, I have to talk to Discord. Will you go into another room real quick Scootaloo?" Rainbow asked. The filly nodded and went into the kitchen. Discord shot a questioning look at her. "The fillies in Scootaloo's class made fun of her today."

"Why?"

"Because she drew you as one of her family. And they said she was a liar." Discord fell silent. Of course, not everypony liked him still. He was used to it, but when somepony else made fun of him through another, it made him angry. He had changed, but ponies couldn't see through his evil self. They still thought of him as a freak. "And we're both going down there tomorrow to observe her class."

"What?! No way! Do you know what they'll think if I go down there?!"

"You're coming. It's already been decided." Discord glared at her.

"Fine. But don't blame me when we get back if I'm covered in marker ink, spitballs, and rotten fruit!"

"Don't be so dramatic. Come on, let's go play with Scootaloo."

---

"So, let me get this straight. You two will be watching my class?" Ms Cheerilee asked.

"Yes, if that's okay with you. Scootaloo told me what happened, and I want to make sure they understand," Rainbow said. The teacher nodded slowly.

"Of course it's okay, but what will you do exactly? Just watch? Do you need to speak to the class?"

Rainbow looked at Discord, who was signaling cutting his head off with his talon, trying to tell her 'no!'

"If it's okay with you, I think we need to speak to the class." The spirit almost shot out of his seat.

"Then I'll hurry with my lesson and give you two a chance to speak!"

"Thank you, Ms Cheerilee."

---

"Let's go Scoots! Time for school!" Dash shouted. Scootaloo appeared in the room.

"All ready! Man, I can't believe you guys are actually coming to my class! It'll be so exciting!"

"Of course, just another day in paradise," Discord muttered sarcastically. Rainbow kicked him. He stuck his tongue out at her and angrily rubbed his leg.

Rainbow put on a smile. "Let's go gang."

The 'family' traveled down to the school. As they arrived, immediately Discord noticed ponies were staring.

"See? What did I tell you?" As he flew, he tried to lower his head to hide himself behind the two other ponies beside him.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Rainbow growled as he turned himself into another pony.

"Trying to camouflage myself!"

"You're making them stare more, you imbecile!" He changed back to his chimera form, reluctantly following them inside for what was sure to be a disaster.

---

"And that concludes our lesson on mythology," Ms Cheerilee announced. Discord looked up. "Now, before you leave, we have two guests with us. Rainbow Dash and Discord!" Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle clapped. Discord flew up to the front of the room with Rainbow. Already glares were fixed on him.

"Hey kids. You already know me and Discord, so we'll jump straight to the chase," Rainbow Dash started.

"Yesterday you made fun of Scootaloo for her drawing." A few giggles. Discord felt his face reddening. "I am here to say that was not cool. I mean, let the girl finish! She drew Discord on there because he has been with me, I guess, for a while now."

"Are you dating that freak?" Diamond Tiara asked snobbishly.

"No."

"Don't call me a freak," Discord growled.

"Why not? Freak," Diamond Tiara repeated. Behind them, Ms Cheerilee got angry.

"Anyways, as I was saying. Some of you may not know this, but Discord saved me. Saved me from certain death. From a happy, crazy, pink party pony."

"So you just decided to adopt a kid and elope?" Discord clenched his fists. This filly was getting on his nerves big time. He leaned over to Rainbow.

"Better hurry up, before I end up doing something I regret."

"But, it means a lot, all he's done for me-"

"What? Your laundry?" Diamond Tiara joked cruelly. Rainbow shot her a glare. Ms Cheerilee shifted uncomfortably at the back of the room. Discord growled softly in his throat, earning a glance from the cyan pegasus next to him.

"Anyways, again, he has done a lot for me. And just because I adopted Scootaloo and Discord's living with me, doesn't mean he's actually her 'dad.' So, if you all would think about that-"

"Can Discord think about it? Wait, does he even have a brain?"

That's it. Discord flew up to Diamond Tiara, making her jerk back at his face being shoved into hers in the blink of an eye.

"You think you can just talk to Rainbow like that?! Insult me in front of my own face, and then get away with it?! Well, I have newsflash for you little girl, life isn't all about you!" Discord erupted at the little filly, getting up right in her face. She shrank back, scared of the spirit that was so angry his mane was on fire. Literally. "I may not be Scootaloo's dad, but I can take care of her! And I really don't appreciate you talking that way to Rainbow Dash! She deserves more respect then what you've shown her! Can't you keep your little mouth shut for five minutes!?" Discord was absolutely furious, his mane still ablaze and paws glowing gold. Smoke was filling the air.

"Discord!" Rainbow yelled, getting between the filly and the outraged spirit, putting her hooves on his chest to push him away. But, obviously, Discord was stronger than her, and he barely moved, even though he was flying. Ms Cheerilee looked absolutely mortified, standing at the back of the room. "C'mon, let's go! You've obviously done something you'll regret." She pressed her shoulder against him to try and push him. Still not moving, Rainbow looked at his fiery mane. Getting an idea, she whispered something in Scootaloo's ear. She nodded and raced off, returning with a bucket of water. Dash took it and flew above the spirit, dumping the water on him. He gasped, and his fire mane went out, leaving only a little charred bit left. He collapsed onto the ground, and coughed, trying to get his breath back. The magic in his paws dulled down. He shook his head, water droplets splattering onto the ponies around him. Looking up, and seeing the furious Rainbow Dash, Ms Cheerilee, and the horrified expressions on the children, he lowered his gaze.

"Alright, alright, what's going on in here?" a police officer burst in, followed by another.

Uh oh.

"We saw the smoke and thought something was going wrong. What happened here?"

"This beast assaulted me, and almost lit the school on fire!" Diamond Tiara wailed, putting her head in her hooves.

"Is that true?"

"Well. . ." Rainbow muttered.

"Is that true?" The police turned to Ms Cheerilee, who had her hoof over her mouth. She weakly nodded. The cop looked at his partner. "You know what to do." The cops went forward, and picked the still dazed Discord up under his arms. The one that had been talking put the handcuffs on him and then escorted the spirit out the door. A shocked Rainbow Dash watched them, with her mouth wide open, leaving with Discord. Scootaloo looked like she was about to cry.

"I think you should leave," Ms Cheerilee said quietly. Dash nodded, took Scootaloo, and then left.

---

"VIOLENT SPIRIT ATTACKS FILLY AND ALMOST LIGHTS SCHOOL ON FIRE.

"My life is over," Discord said, slamming his head on the table. Rainbow took the newspaper from him and looked at it. One of the fillies at Scootaloo's school had had a camera with him. And he had gotten a great picture of Discord with his mane on fire, paws glowing, teeth bared in a snarl as he yelled at Diamond Tiara.

"It's not all bad. Look at the bright side: you look cool in that picture. I wouldn't want to run into you in an alley," Dash said, trying to put a smile on, only to look as if she were Applejack lying.

"Don't try and sugarcoat this, Dashie. I am now a pariah. If I was unliked before, I'm sure as heck not going to be anypony else's friend soon."

"It's not all bad. .?"

"I just got out of jail, Rainbow! I'm pretty sure half the town saw me handcuffed and shoved in a police car!"

Rainbow looked back on it.

"Discord? Ah, yes, he'll be out in a few minutes," the receptionist told her. Rainbow sat down on a bench. Around her were ponies of all shapes and sizes, either picking somepony up or handcuffed to a chair. She should not be here. Discord had been in here for a month. A quick trial had made him stay here for three weeks. But, of course, a week of that was spent getting the trial ready, and he had had to stay here for that. But, Dash didn't want him coming out of jail alone, so she had to come and get him.

"Rainbow Dash? Here he is," the bailiff brought Discord out. The bright green pony had him turn around so she could take off the handcuffs. Rubbing his wrists, he flew over to Rainbow Dash. His mane had recovered, no longer burnt off. She had thought that they wouldn't have let him use his magic in there, but apparently she was wrong.

"Hey. You okay?" Rainbow asked, eyeing the annoyed spirit.

"Fine. Just dandy! Got out of jail and I'm totally not affected by it at all!" Discord snapped angrily, flying out of the building with Dash beside him.

"Oh come on, don't be a tight flank! I mean, sure, jail sucks, but it couldn't have been all bad could it? Free food. Did you meet anypony in there?"

"No, I didn't meet anypony. They stayed well clear of me, being the God of Chaos and all. Plus, nopony likes somepony who 'terrorizes' little children, so yeah."

"Whatever. At least you've served your month right? Scootaloo's missed you."

"Really? I thought she'd be mortified at the fact I almost blew up one of her classmates."

"To tell you the truth, I almost did myself. If I did it, we could've just left, as I can't burst into spontaneous combustion, or use magic. But really, one time Twilight did turn fiery, but she was real mad. I mean really mad. I was mad, but she was just a little spoiled brat, so I could handle myself. But you. . . you really were on fire, for at least five minutes. And you almost used magic to destroy that filly."

"Come on now, don't make it sound like I'm evil." They arrived at the cloud home and walked inside. Immediately, Discord was tackled by an orange filly at full force "Gah!" Scootaloo clung to his chest, practically squeezing the life out of him.

"I've missed you! Rainbow said I couldn't go with you and get you from jail, so I had to stay here!"

"It was for your own good, Scoots. Being in there was awful. I didn't even like my mere five minutes in there," Rainbow said, tousling the purple-ish pink hair. Scootaloo looked up at her from where she was still clinging to Discord.

"Can you let go now? I can't really breathe," Discord choked. Scootaloo hopped off.

"Are we going to celebrate?" Scootaloo asked.

"What? For me getting out of jail? I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"I'm not going to celebrate a day where I got out of jail for almost burning a school and its kids."

"Fine."

"Well, that may be true, but some of them were laughing," Dash said.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better? That ponies were laughing at me as I got shoved in a police car?" Discord looked at her incredulously.

"Heh, well no, but at least it's done with now. Maybe you should try and act like it never happened."

"Oh, yeah, that'll totally work! Just act like it never happened!" Discord shouted sarcastically.

"Don't be mean about it. Almost everypony goes to jail at least once in their life."

"Hmm, really? Have you?"

"Well, no. ."

"Twilight? Applejack? Rarity? Fluttershy?"

"No. ."

"That's what I thought."

"At least you didn't get a year or something. Then you'd be in a bigger prison. With Pinkie Pie."

"I guess. But I'm still not happy with it."

"Nopony would be. Just you wait, I'm sure this'll be forgotten soon."

"Sure. Whatever you say."

---

"C'mon, Scootaloo, if it makes you feel any better Ah didn't laugh at you when you showed your picture. And Ah thought it was pretty cool how Discord told off Diamond Tiara like that," Apple Bloom said, trying to cheer up her friend.

"Yeah! And he looked awesome! His mane made him look like some god!" Sweetie Belle agreed.

"Sweetie Belle, he is a god," Scootaloo deadpanned, glancing over at the unicorn as they walked.

"Oh, well, still made him look cool."

"Yeah, I know, but nopony will talk to me because of it." Scootaloo looked despairingly at the ground. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other.

"We are," Apple Bloom said.

"But nopony else. And nopony will talk to Discord either."

"Well, he did start on fire, and almost the school," Sweetie pointed out.

"I know! But that doesn't mean nopony should talk to him."

"Ponies are very protective of their kids here."

"That's still not a good excuse for it! I mean, he can't even go outside to Ponyville anymore!"

"Why?" Apple Bloom asked. "Just because he's being shunned doesn't mean he can't leave."

"It's not that. Every time ponies see him they throw stuff at him! He comes back with tomatoes all over himself. And one time, somepony threw a vase at him! I don't get why ponies would be so rude."

"Well, sorry 'bout that, but he did almost hurt Diamond Tiara. If she had done somethin' else, he could've done somethin' horrible." Scootaloo lowered her head even more. They were right, she knew. But why would all of the ponies turn on Discord because of one rude little filly? And now none of the fillies at school will talk to her. That spirit was right. That was the going to be the worst day ever. It just gets better and better!

"Whatever guys, I think I'm going to go home. See ya later," the pegasus announced sadly, turning around and flying away before her friends could say anything. She soared up to her house and went in. Inside, Rainbow Dash and Discord were sleeping on the couch. She was laying across his stomach, his paw on her head. Both their mouths were open, snoring. Scootaloo immediately forgot she was mad, seeing them like that. They looked so peaceful. The young filly gently started climbing onto the couch. She soon as she was near her mom's feet, she took a step forward, only to have a slinking red tail stop her, and curl up around her. Wrapped securely in Discord's tail, she fell asleep.

---

Rainbow Dash blinked open her eyes. She was laying on top of Discord's chest, and Scootaloo was in his tail. Smiling, she realized they were all growing closer. She silently and gently clambered off of the sleeping spirit. He snorted, his leg twitching. She held in a laugh, then made her way to the kitchen. She grabbed a box of cereal and got it ready. A huge snore made her look back into the other room. She poked her head into it, and saw Discord, drooling, all over his neck and her couch.

"Gross," Rainbow snorted, continuing to eat her cereal. She checked the clock on the wall. It was almost two. Better get them up if they were to do anything today. She finished her food and went back into the living room. Dash poked the sleeping spirit's horn. He twitched.

"Discord. Discord, wake up. C'mon," Rainbow whispered, continuing to poke his horn. Suddenly, his paw lifted up and smacked her in the face. Jerking her face back, she glared at him.

"Just wait. . . gimme a few more minutes," Discord mumbled sleepily, rolling over onto his side, away from her, making Scootaloo jolt awake as his tail moved.

"Urg. . . what the heck? I was sleeping," the filly said, rubbing her eyes. She shook her head and fell onto the floor, pulling herself up.

"Come on, Discord. Even Scoot's awake now," Dash grunted.

"Uh, I don't wanna get up," Discord grumbled, trying to ignore the pegasus.

"You don't have a choice." And with that, Rainbow latched onto his tail and pulled him off the couch.

"Uh, you are persistent, I'll give you that." He stood up and brushed some dust off his shoulders. "What did I even need to get up for anyways? All I am is a social pariah."

"I know, but I think we should do something today, instead of sleeping. Something fun."

"What kind of fun?" Scootaloo asked, flying to sit on top of Discord's head, right between his horns. He glanced up at her and then looked back to Rainbow.

"I don't know, but something fun, and something we can all do."

"Do you have any ideas?" the spirit asked.

"We could. . . hmm. . . I know! We could go into the EverFree Forest and defeat evil creatures!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"No. I don't think so. But, good idea. Dangerous, but good idea. We could-" Dash stopped talking as a scroll came flying in through the window, right at Discord's feet. "Um, who is that from?"

"I don't know, let's read it," the spirit said. He bent over to pick it up, dislodging a certain little filly from atop his head. He broke the seal and opened it.

Dear Discord,

WHAT AM I HEARING ABOUT YOU BEING ARRESTED?! WE NEED TO TALK! GET YOURSELF TO THE CASTLE IMMEDIATELY! AND COME PREPARED WITH AN EXCUSE!

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Discord quickly closed the scroll, gulping.

"Who was it from?" Dash asked, seeing the look on the spirit's face. "Was it bad?"

"It was from Celestia."

"Oh. Was it about. . .the thing?"

". . . Yes."

"Let me read that." She swiped the scroll from his paws. She scanned through it, her expression changing from confused to panicky. "Well, we better get to Canterlot."

"I think I should go by myself."

"W-what?! We are going with you, no buts about it!"

"But-"

"No buts!"

"Fine. Prepare yourselves." Discord snapped his fingers and they were all teleported to the castle.

A very angry Celestia was waiting for them.

"Discord! What am I hearing about you being arrested?! Is this true?!" Princess Celestia demanded, storming up to the spirit.

"Well, uh. . . yes," Discord squeaked, trying to make himself as low as possible to avoid her anger.

"How did you and up get arrested?! You were to use your magic for good, not evil! I can almost not believe my ears!"

"Well, um. . ."

"Your majesty!" Rainbow said loudly, making Celestia turn her attention away from the stammering God of Chaos and instead to the cyan pegasus.

"What?" the Princess asked.

"It wasn't really Discord's fault. It was-"

"Mine," Scootaloo finished.

"WHAT?!" Discord and Rainbow exclaimed at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I was the who made this all happen," Scootaloo said. "If I hadn't gotten upset about the other ponies laughing at me, then Rainbow Dash and Discord wouldn't have came down to the school, then Diamond Tiara wouldn't have gotten Discord so mad, then he wouldn't have yelled at her, and if he hadn't yelled at her, his mane wouldn't have lit on fire, and he wouldn't have almost burned down the school, and the police wouldn't have shown up, and he wouldn't have been arrested."

The Princess was silent for a moment. Discord looked at her nervously. What if she thought that he had told her to say that? Then he would be in even more trouble.

"I believe you."

"You do?! Oh, does that mean I'm going to be in trouble now?"

"No. but it means that Discord should control his temper. So, Discord-"

"Wait! Don't punish him! He was just defending me!" Rainbow interrupted her.

"I see."

A few moments of silence followed.

"Since no real trouble was done, I will not punish any of you. But, I will say this: stay out of trouble, Discord. If something else happens, so help me!"

"Message understood," Discord said, nodding his head.

"I will perform a spell to make the citizens of Equestria forget this ever happened."

"You will? Why would you do that?" Dash asked, confused.

"Well, you told the truth, and that's what I like to see. You would prefer to see yourself in trouble than another that you care about."

Rainbow turned a little red, blushing.

"Yes, I know about all of that, so don't think I never knew what happened in Ponyville all those months ago." Princess Celestia laughed a little bit. "So, you three may leave. When you return to Ponyville, nopony will remember what happened."

"Thank you Princess," Dash said.

"No problem." Discord started to lift up his paw so he could teleport them back. "Oh, and Discord," the Princess added slyly, whispering in his ear.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I'll make sure to remove that from your police record."

He looked at her. Then, just as they were disappearing in a flash of light, the Princess was suddenly soaking wet as a cotton candy cloud poured chocolate rain onto her.

---

Scootaloo sat bored, in her room. She had nopony to play with. It was dark and rainy outside, as the pegasi had brewed up quite storm. Thunder growled and lightning flashed, making it seem as if the world was going to end. So, Scootaloo couldn't go out to play. Rainbow was sleeping, and Discord- well, actually, she didn't know what Discord was doing. Leaving her room, she decided to see what the Lord of Chaos was up to. She walked into the living room. And there he was, sleeping on the couch, no surprise.

Getting an urge to prank him, she crept off to the kitchen to find something. Scootaloo opened the fridge.

Hello. . .

Whip cream.

An oldie but a goodie.

The filly snuck up right beside Discord. He was on his back, his talon resting on his chest and his paw dangling limply at his side. Holding back laughter, she squirted a large amount of the whip cream onto it. Then, she plucked one of his pegasus feathers carefully, deciding not to use her own, just to make it all the more funny. When she did, he growled in his sleep and shifted. Holding the blue feather in her mouth, she reached up and tickled his nose with it. His eyebrows twitched. Scootaloo frowned. She tickled his nose again. Nothing but twitches. He wasn't falling for it. Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, she tried to think of an idea that could work. Obviously Discord would be used to being tickled, as Rainbow Dash often did when he did something she didn't like, such as throwing a pie at her or drawing on her face at night. Then an idea popped into the filly's head.

"DISCORD! THERE'S SOMETHING CRAWLING ON YOUR FACE!"

Immediately, the spirit woke with a start and slapped his paw to his face. He shot up, turning red as he realized he had been pranked.

Scootaloo fell over, laughing with such force tears were welling in her eyes. Hearing shouting, an annoyed Dash stumbled into the room.

"Would you keep it- oh my." Rainbow stopped and stared at Discord. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Failing, she collapsed to the floor next to Scootaloo, pounding it with her hoof.

"Oh, haha! Very funny, get 'em when he's down. Classic," Discord grumbled, wiping the whip cream of his face. He flicked it off his paw and onto the girls. They shrieked, trying to avoid being hit.

"Oh man! I was coming out here to scold you two! I got a surprise!" Dash rolled onto her back, not even minding as he flung more whip cream at her. She kicked her legs, holding her stomach. "You sure got whipped, didn't you?" She stopped for a few seconds to talk, then burst out laughing at her own joke.

"Yeah, you got creamed!" Scootaloo snorted, falling against her mom, mad with laughter. Discord rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I fell for it, but come on! I was resting so peacefully, then suddenly somepony starts screaming in my ear about something on my face! I mean, what was I supposed to do? What if there had actually been a bug on my face? I don't want bugs on my face! Gross!" he exclaimed, shuddering.

"Wait, hold on a minute? Are you scared of bugs? The powerful Lord of Chaos, afraid of bugs!" the cyan pegasus chortled. She fell into more hysterics. Having enough of their incessant laughter, he snapped his talon and suddenly, the two were in dresses, wearing makeup, with their hair combed- the whole nine yards. They gasped, seeing themselves being *shudder* sophisticated.

"Point taken," Rainbow said, mussing up her mane again. She kicked off the dress, and quickly ran to the kitchen to wash the makeup off with Scootaloo following close behind.

"It's fun being me." And with that, Discord laid down again, his hands behind his head.

---

"I have to go to work, so you two behave while I'm gone!" Rainbow called as she went out the door. As they heard the slam of it closing, they knew what it meant.

It. Was. On.

Ever since the whip cream incident, they had been slightly cross with each other, and Dash was sick of it. But when she left, all hell broke loose.

"So," Scootaloo said, circling the spirit.

"So," Discord said back.

"All things are legal now! Go!" With that, she flung herself at him, knocking him over. She clung to his horns, and he shook his head like a dog, flinging her off.

"That was never part of the deal!"

"All bets are off! Everypony for themselves!"

Scootaloo shot under his feet, tripping him. He managed to get a hold of her tail and lift her into the air.

"I don't think so. I'm an adult, I don't act like that."

"Are you sure? You seem more of a foal to me. You certainly act like one." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he growled.

"It is on!" She bit his paw, and he yelped, dropping her on her face. She kicked him in the leg and shot off. He went after her.

"Haha! I'm winning!"

"Not for long!" He reached out for her tail, but she pulled up, making him crash into the wall. Shattering could be heard throughout the house. Scootaloo gasped, turning back to see what had happened. Discord lay on the ground, with broken clay all around him.

"We are so dead!" Scootaloo cried, seeing the remains of a very special picture frame. It had been made for Rainbow by her little cousin, who Scootaloo herself had never met, as the filly had died from cancer a while ago. The frame had been a gift for her twenty-second birthday. Only a few weeks later, her cousin had passed away, and Rainbow had cherished the frame ever since.

"What? It's just a picture- oh my Celestia is it that picture frame?!" Discord exclaimed, bringing his paw to his mouth. The filly weakly nodded. The blue clay was shattered in many pieces, and was slightly crumbled.

"Can't you fix it?!"

"No! I can't fix things like this! I never even fixed Fluttershy's lamp correctly!"

"Then how'd you heal Rainbow?!"

"Special spell! I can't fix personal hoof-made items!"

"We are soooooooo dead!"

"We?! You're the one who started this all!"

"Shut up dude!"

"You can't tell an adult to-"

"Please! It doesn't matter who did it; Rainbow will still flay us both!"

"Well then what are we supposed to do?! Seeing this broken will break her heart!"

"Okay, okay, we need to calm down, and stop shouting. It's just making us think like idiots. We'll just hide it, and hopefully she'll never notice."

"Or, we can make an exact replica of it. .?"

"Seriously? We can't make an exact replica of it that fast! It takes like twelve hours to bake the things! We just have to hope she doesn't notice."

"If she finds out, I'm blaming you."

Scootaloo gave him a glare. Then, she rushed off to the kitchen to get a broom and a dustpan. She swept it up, and they hurriedly put it in a box, which they stored under Scootaloo's bed.

"Okay, if I'm correct, Rainbow will be home in a few hours, so we just need to act natural," the filly said, wondering why she was acting like the grown up in this situation. Discord nodded and they went back into the living room. Suddenly, the door opened, and Dash came in.

"What!? I mean, what are you doing here so early? Aren't you supposed to be done at two?" Discord asked.

"Well, weather was pretty neutral today after all. We were going to arrange another big storm, but the ponies still haven't recovered yet, so we'll have to make up for it another day. So, all we did was clear clouds," Rainbow said. She went down the hallway. He crossed his fingers and Scootaloo started sweating. "Hey guys?"

Oh no.

"Why is the broom out?"

They both let out sighs of relief.

"Wait! Where is the picture frame from Sunny Daisy?" The pegasus stormed back into the room. "Where is it? It's not on the wall anymore." She narrowed her eyes.

"What are you talking about? Maybe you should look again," Scootaloo suggested, her voice tight.

"Or maybe you should get your eyes checked! Bye!" Discord said, and with that, the two headed towards the door. Rainbow bolted in front of them. She put one hoof on Discord's chest and another on Scootaloo's, then pushed them back to the couch.

"Nopony leaves until I know where it is," she commanded. She looked at them expectantly. Starting to get annoyed at no responses for almost ten minutes, she sighed. "Do I have to count to three?" Dash put her hooves on her hips, waiting. "One."

Scootaloo shifted, growing uncomfortable under her mom's rose stare.

"Two."

The two didn't move.

"If I get to three, there will be consequences!"

Nothing.

"Three." She tackled Discord to the ground, holding one arm behind his back. Scootaloo gasped, and backed away. Pressing his face into the cloud, she demanded "where is it?! Tell me!"

"I didn't do anything!" Discord yowled, rolling over and squashing Rainbow under him. He stood up and teleported somewhere. Snorting, Dash turned to her daughter.

"Scootaloo. Tell me, right now."

"I-I-I don't know!" Scootaloo lied.

"Don't lie to me!" Rainbow snarled, closing in on her.

"But I'm not!"

"Yes you are! I can see it in your eyes!"

"Um. . . It's all Discord's fault!"

"What?! You little traitor! And here I was, all ready to save you!" Discord exclaimed, reappearing above them.

"Discord! What did you do?!" Dash shouted, already dragging him down by his tail.

"I'm not telling you anything!"

Stopping, the blue pegasus twitched her tail. Then, she started smirking. She yanked the spirit fiercely down to the floor, and sat on top of his stomach.

"If you won't tell me, then I guess I'll have to do this!" She pulled out a feather from her wing and started tickling him with it. He twitched, trying not to laugh as it moved over his skin. Scootaloo gasped, knowing that a tickle punishment was one of the worst forms of torture imaginable.

"Come on, I know you know something!"

She held the feather in her mouth and held up his arms, pressing him to the floor. She let the feather lightly move over his body, making him laugh. Knowing she could break him, she moved the feather faster. He snorted occasionally, his whole body jerking as he tried to stop. After about five minutes of tickle torture, he finally gave in.

"Okay okay I'll tell you!" Discord told her and she stopped for a few moments. "Scootaloo and I were fighting and then she flew away so I went after her and then she pulled up and then crash and then shatter and then pa-han-n-ii-ic!" He admitted, the last word going longer then the rest. Still laughing from the tickling, she stepped off of him, and he curled in a ball, trying to rub away the feeling.

"Is this true?" Rainbow asked, looking at them.

Scootaloo looked, shamefaced, away from her mom. "Yes."

"Well, I have to say I'm disappointed. In both of you. I mean, I told you to behave and then you fought anyway! I mean, I sorta understand Scootaloo, as she's a filly, but Discord, I expected better! This all could've been avoided if you had just listened to me." She paused. "Where are the pieces?"

"In a box under my bed."

"Okay then. They can stay there for now."

"So, uh, what are we going to do?"

"Um, first, you two are going to say sorry to me."

"The God of Chaos does not apologize!" Discord said, crossing his arms. Rainbow flicked her tail across his stomach. He choked out a laugh. "Okay, okay! Sorry!"

"Sorry. . ." Scootaloo muttered.

"So, are we off the hook now?"

"Not even. You two are grounded," Rainbow said.

"What?! How can I be grounded?! I don't even live here, technically! Besides, you're not my mother!" Discord growled.

"Um, you can just stop saying that, because you've been here how long now? So, I guess that means two weeks without your magic Discord, and a week without friends Scootaloo."

"Two weeks?! What are you talking about?! I cannot not use my magic for that long! I am eons older than you! And why does she get one week?!"

"Um, because you're an adult, and she's a kid. You were an adult acting like a kid. She was a kid acting like a kid. There's your reason. And I don't care how old you are. Adults don't act like children." And with that, Rainbow flew into the other room. Discord crossed his arms.

"Don't try and argue with her. She'll win. She always wins," Scootaloo said, sad not being able to hang out with her friends for a whole week, but pitied that Discord wouldn't be able to use magic for two weeks. And if he was caught using magic, Scootaloo didn't even want to think about it.

---

So I was thinking, was the jail thing overdoing it? But then I thought, bitch please, I'm fabulous, why do I care? XD Just kidding, but I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did! I loved how he stood up for Scoots and Rainbow Dash. They're getting so much closer. I added in the sleeping part because it was cute. From this point on, it will be a lot of family bonding stuff, so stay tuned! Many cute moments with them ahead. Plus, lol Discord just got GROUNDED! And tickled. As if it could get any worse… he got pwned, to put it in words. *content sigh* Good times, good times.

p.s. soooo sorry this took forever! I know I said it earlier, but just another apology. I procrastinated a TON, so maybe I'll get the next ones out faster.

Discord will be spending some of his time 'crusading'. Be prepared for accidents, and lots of them. XD

---

"Woo! Finally!" Scootaloo cheered, pumping her hooves in the air.

"Uh, lucky," Discord grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Oh come on Discord! It's only another week, no big deal right?"

"Say that to my fingers! They can barely stand not snapping and making chaos! They're dying with boredom here!" He wiggled his fingers in her face. She pushed them away.

"Well, you could always use your magic and then get dragged and tickled by Rainbow again, or wait another week. I mean, I know a week felt like forever to me, but I'm just a kid."

"Yeah, but you could only not hang out with your friends! I can't use magic! And I got an extra week!"

"Well, we both learned our lessons, I guess. I shouldn't prank you, and you can't act like a kid, so yeah."

"But I'm the God of Chaos! Not even Fluttershy grounded me!"

"Hey, just deal with it." Scootaloo turned to head outside.

"Where you off to?"

"To do the thing I couldn't do for a week," she replied.

"Well, at least let me come with you, as I'm just about on the verge of insanity right now from boredom."

"Uh, fine, but don't be mean to my friends."

"When was I ever mean to your friends?"

"I never said you were. I just meant that you shouldn't." She flew up to his horns and settled down right between them.

"And what do you think you're doing?" He looked up at her.

"What? I've been up here before."

"Yeah, but I'm usually sitting down."

"If you're coming with us, then I'm going to get something out it. My wings are tired."

"Whatever. Where are we meeting them then?"

"At Carousel Boutique."

"Okay then- off we go!" Discord hopped into the air, and shot out the door. Scootaloo hung on to his horns as he sped up. The little filly was almost thrown off as he did a loop-de-loop. Then he stopped, flinging her off of his head and into the side of the building. Which was Carousel Boutique.

"Scootaloo! You're here! Finally!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, running out to meet her friend. She stopped, perplexed, seeing nopony. She looked up and saw her stuck in the wall, only her waist and down visible. "And you brought Discord! Why?"

A groan was her only response.

"Oh, she finally here?" Apple Bloom asked, coming outside to stand next to the unicorn.

"Yep. But she's brought somepony else along too. . ."

"Well, who is- oh." She looked up.

"Hello my little ponies! Scootaloo's just stuck in a wall, no big deal! I'll get her out," Discord said, going forward to pull her hooves. He grabbed onto her back hooves and yanked them. She didn't budge. He pulled again, this time managing to get her out. She landed on his back on her stomach (if you didn't even get that at all, she was on her stomach, on his back, which means he was laying on his stomach).

"Thanks. But, you were the one that made me get stuck in the wall in the first place, so I'm not sure," Scootaloo said, sitting up.

"Get off."

"Oh, right." She hopped off him and he stood up.

"So, um, why is he here?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Not that I don't like him or anything, it's just, you know. . ."

"Well, he was bored. And why not? Maybe he can help?"

"Yeah, and Ah think Ah know what he can help us do," Apple Bloom told them, a mischievous glint in her eyes and rubbing her front hooves together.

"You do?" Discord asked.

About ten minutes later. . .

"Um, I'm not sure what I think of this," he said uncomfortably. He was sitting in a cannon.

"Just relax! We're being Cutie Mark Crusaders Cannon Launchers!" Sweetie Belle told him.

"But why am I the cannon ball?"

"To make it funner!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"It's more fun, not funner!" Sweetie corrected her.

"Same thing!"

"No it's not!"

"Whatever!"

"Where'd you get this cannon?" Discord asked.

"Um, I don't think you need to know that," Sweetie Belle said.

"Stop arguin' girls! We need to light this already," Apple Bloom said.

"This really doesn't seem safe."

"It's super safe! We have a mattress down there, so when you fall you land on it," Scootaloo said.

"What if you miss?"

"Don't doubt our skills!" Sweetie Belle commanded.

"Can't I just fly?"

"No flyin'! We have to do this," Apple Bloom said sternly.

"Is Spike coming?" Scootaloo asked.

"I'm here. What did you need me for?" Spike asked, coming up behind them. They stepped out of the way to reveal Discord in the cannon. "Oh. I see. . ." He paused. "That's hilarious!" The baby dragon fell to the ground laughing. The draconequus growled.

"Will you light it?"

"Yeah sure." He went up to the wick and blew a few sparks on it. It started burning and quickly devoured the rest of the wick.

"Get ready girls!" Apple Bloom shouted. The ponies plugged their ears.

"Ya know I'm here still," Spike deadpanned. The cannon fired and Discord was shot out of it. His panicked shout was lost in the wind as he soared through the sky. The girls and dragon watched as he sailed over the mattress.

"Oh no. I think we misjudged the power of the cannon," Sweetie Belle said. They heard a dull thud and then silence.

"Um, he landed," Apple Bloom announced.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Sweetie Belle said.

"You're welcome, Miss Snooty."

"Come on, let's go find him," Scootaloo said.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS RESCUERS!" the three fillies yelled.

Two minutes later. . .

Discord was in a tree. Not up a tree, but in a tree. Literally. His horns were stuck in the tree.

"Seriously?! You girls missed!" Discord yelled, furious.

"I hear him! Come on!" Scootaloo shouted back to her friends. The spirit groaned. "Oh, there he is!" The ponies ran up to him.

"Oh my. Well, we totally overshot that!" Sweetie Belle announced.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious!" Apple Bloom sneered.

"Don't use my joke on me!"

"Anyways, we totally misjudged the cannon's power."

"You think!? I'm stuck in a tree! Now get me out!" Discord snapped, trying to pull himself out. He put his paws on the tree and tugged. The fillies grabbed his tail and yanked. After about five minutes, they stopped. They were getting nowhere.

"This is harder than I thought!" Scootaloo said, wiping her forehead off. The three Crusaders fell to the ground.

"Yeah, says the ponies that got me stuck in this tree in the first place."

"I think we might need to get Rainbow."

"Yeah, you should go get her," Apple Bloom told her.

"Okay. Be right back." Scootaloo shot off to her house, leaving the other two behind with Discord. She flew inside and crashed into her mom, spilling her coffee that she had been holding.

"Hey! Scootaloo be more careful!" Rainbow Dash growled, shaking the brown drink off her mane and wings.

"We need your help!"

"With what? This doesn't have to do with Discord does it? Because I haven't seen him all day."

"Um. . ."

"I should've known. Take me there." She sighed.

Scootaloo nodded and led the pegasus to where the spirit was stuck in the tree. Upon seeing him like that, she started to laugh. And did she laugh! It seemed all she did these days was laugh at Discord. After about five nonstop minutes of hysterical laughter, she wiped the tears from her eyes and assessed the situation.

"So-heh- how did this happen?"

"Well, we were being Cutie Mark Crusaders Cannon Launchers, and we were off in the distance by a few feet. . ." Sweetie Belle explained.

"A few feet?! The mattress is all the way back there!" Discord shouted.

"I think that's hilarious. Now, let's get you out of there," Dash said, latching onto his tail with Scootaloo grabbing onto her tail and the others behind her. "Heave! Heave!" The four and Discord pulled with all their might. "Almost there!. . ."

He came free of the tree with a final large tug, and was sent flying over the ponies, landing with an ungraceful flop into the grass.

"Finally!"

"Uh, that was tirin' but funny," Apple Bloom said. The ponies watched as Discord stood up dizzily and fell back over again, holding his head.

"Yeah, and I think I could go with something to eat," Rainbow said. The others nodded. "To SugarCube Corner!" They cheered and set off with Discord woozily following them.

---

"Bye girls!" Scootaloo yelled, waving to her friends as they left. She turned around and followed Rainbow inside.

"I'm tired from being stuck in a tree, so I'm gonna go ahead and claim the bed," Discord told them, flying into the bedroom. Dash rolled her eyes.

"What are we gonna do now?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" Rainbow asked.

"Um, I don't know."

"Well, I have no safe ideas, so. . ."

"Oh."

"It is pretty late. . . maybe we should just go to bed now."

"I think we should do an all-nighter!"

"Hmm, I don't know kid. Maybe another night."

"Okay, okay. But we have to do it before next week."

"Fine. But when we do, I get to tell scary stories."

"Agreed!"

"And goodnight!" The blue pegasus flew off to her room and Scootaloo went to hers. Upon arriving in her room, Rainbow saw Discord already fast asleep. She climbed in next to him. As she was falling asleep, she felt his paws wrap around her unconsciously, pulling her closer. The pegasus smiled and fell asleep.

---

"Hey Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle yelled, waving her friend over to her with a hoof. Scootaloo raced over there, her scooter making rainbow trails behind her. She took off her helmet and held it under her arm.

"What's up?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, Rarity's really busy making some dresses, as usual, and she said I could stay at a friends house! So I thought maybe we can get Apple Bloom and have a sleepover at your place."

"Um, Sweetie Belle, you do realize I live on a cloud, right?"

"Well, yes, but I already thought about that. You see, we've already spent the night at everypony's house except for yours, right? So, all we would have to do is get Apple Bloom, and then we ask Rainbow if we can spend the night, then we get Twilight to perform the spell on us, and then we're set!" Sweetie Belle jumped excitedly.

"Well, I suppose so. . . I mean, that does sound like a lot of fun. . ." Scootaloo rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You know what, let's do it! Come on, we don't have a moment to lose! I'll ask Rainbow, you get Apple Bloom!"

"Alright!" Sweetie Belle hopped into the air, her feet running madly, only a blur, as she shot off to Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo stuck her helmet back on and buzzed her wings, sending her scooter flying across the ground. She took a detour and rode up a wooden plank, landing on the roof of a house. She jumped the rooftops, aiming for a trampoline on the other side. Landing on the bouncy platform, the filly sprang back into the air, making a rainbow across the sky. She dropped her scooter on the clouds and fell in through the window of her house. Rainbow Dash shot into the air, leaving Discord to take to the hit. He rolled with the impact, taking him off his feet, and landed on his back with Scootaloo under him.

"Do you always have to enter the most dramatic ways possible? Isn't one pegasus doing that enough?" Discord growled, rolling off Scootaloo.

"What's the rush Scoots?" Rainbow asked, helping the filly up.

"Well, Sweetie Belle told me that Rarity was busy and that she could stay at a friends house and I was wondering if all of us could have a sleepover here!" Scootaloo exclaimed, smiling widely at the blue pegasus. She stopped when she saw the frown on her face.

"Sorry kid, but there's this Wonderbolts Convention this weekend, and I was going to go to it, so I won't be here."

"But. . ."

"Unless Discord looks after you three. . . then you can." She smiled slyly at the spirit.

"No! No way! I do not want to look after three fillies!" Discord shouted.

"Please Discord?" Scootaloo begged, putting her hooves together. He looked away and crossed his arms. The filly glanced over at Rainbow, who was already smirking. She pulled at feather from her wing and nodded her head towards him. Scootaloo nodded vigorously, smiling. Then Discord looked over.

"Whoa! No fair! No!" Too late. Rainbow tackled him and Scootaloo held him down. The cyan pegasus started tickling him with it, drawing it over his skin. He laughed like a maniac, trying to get away, but Scootaloo prevented him from moving.

"Ha! Okay, okay! I'll do it! Just- ha- no more!"

"Oh, I'm not convinced. . .I think you're just saying that," Rainbow said, her voice slightly muffled by the feather in her mouth. She moved it over his stomach and the spirit howled in laughter. She tickled his under arms.

"No! I'm- ha- serious!"

"Okay. I think he is." Rainbow jumped off him and he relaxed. Scootaloo backed off. "So, when will they be coming over?"

"Well, Sweetie Belle wasn't really specific when she told me, so I'll go ask," Scootaloo said, saluting and running off. She headed for Sweet Apple Acres, flying over the buildings. She saw the two other fillies talking to Applejack and swooped down, landing next to them. "Hey girls!"

"Hi Scootaloo! So did Rainbow agree?! Will she let us have a sleepover?" Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom looked over excitedly at her; Applejack had obviously said yes.

"She did. And she wanted me to ask you when you guys were coming, and stuff like that."

"Well, Rarity said I could come over as soon as I told her, and she said she was going to be busy the whole weekend! So I was hoping we could stay all weekend!"

"Really!? That is awesome! Rainbow's busy too, and Discord will be looking after us instead."

"Discord is lookin' after us?! Ah think this will be the best weekend yet!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. The three fillies high-hoofed, jumping into the air.

---

"So you have everything right? Sleeping bag, toothbrush, toothpaste, mane brush, pillow- all that good stuff?" Rarity asked, inspecting her little sister's saddlebag. Sweetie Belle snorted and pulled away from her sister.

"I'm sure! You've double checked like five times!" she exclaimed, swatting Rarity's hoof away before she could fix her mane.

"I know I know, I just want to make sure that you don't forget anything! If you do then it'll take forever to get down here to me!"

"Um, Rarity, Scootaloo's house is right across Ponyville." The filly pointed at the door. "I don't think it'll take forever to come and grab something."

"It is still considered rude to just leave to go get something when you're already there! And it's not like you can fly, so then one of them has to go with you to get it!" Rarity picked up a cloth with her magic and wiped something off Sweetie Belle's face, making her squeal in displeasure.

"Uh, can we go now?" She turned to her friends, who were waiting at the door to the boutique.

"Yeah, come on!" Apple Bloom yelled, opening the door. The three fillies left, leaving Rarity to get to work.

---

"Okay, so just stand over there, and I'll do the spell," Twilight told them, her horn glowing. The fillies lined up in front of the unicorn, waiting for her to perform the spell on them. Scootaloo watched as she tapped Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom on the heads. Twilight stepped back, her horn dimming.

"Thanks Twilight!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah, thanks Twilight," Apple Bloom agreed. The older unicorn smiled.

"No problems girls. I've done a different spell that lasts longer, so you shouldn't have to come back and get it redone. Have fun at your slumber party!" Twilight exclaimed, waving at them as they left the library. The three fillies hightailed it to the cloud home, where Scootaloo put them on a cloud and pushed them up to it.

"This is going to be so fun!" Sweetie Belle cheered, setting her bags down next to Apple Bloom's in Scootaloo's room.

"Ah know right!" Apple Bloom said.

"So what should we do?"

"Maybe we should go bother somepony," Scootaloo said deviously.

"Does he even know we're here yet?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't think so. I think he's spending a little relaxing time with Rainbow before she leaves for the weekend and he's stuck with us."

"Yeah, probably!" Sweetie laughed. Scootaloo put a hoof up to her lips and opened the door. The fillies poked their heads out, looking for them.

"Come on; follow me," Scootaloo whispered. She crept out like a ninja. The others followed her across the living room, hiding behind the couch and chairs. Finally they spotted them hoof wrestling in the kitchen.

"That's relaxin' to them?" Apple Bloom asked incredulously, watching Discord being easily beaten in the match.

"Um, I have no clue," the orange pegasus responded, her eyes wide as Rainbow slammed his paw down on the table yet again.

"Okay, okay, you were right! Tripping you is not a good idea!" Discord exclaimed, shaking his now red paw to rid it of the sting.

"Yeah, I told you. That's what you get for doing that," Rainbow Dash told him, smirking. He rolled his eyes and summoned a bag of ice to put on his paw. She snorted and muttered 'baby' under her breath. Scootaloo smirked, getting an idea. She nodded back at her friends and snuck into the kitchen.

"SERVED!" Scootaloo shouted at the top of her lungs, making the spirit jump into the air and smash his head through the ceiling. The two other fillies came into the kitchen, laughing.

"You're so lucky this house is made of clouds!" Discord growled, pulling himself out of the ceiling.

"That was great!" Dash laughed, hoof bumping her daughter. "I didn't even know you fillies were here yet. When did you get here?"

"Oh, only a few minutes ago. Apparently after he tripped you," Scootaloo told her.

"Oh, yeah. I told him he couldn't beat me at hoof wrestling, and then this." She gestured to his red paw.

"Wait- how did that have to do with tripping you?" Sweetie Belle asked, confused. Rainbow shook her head.

"It's better not to explain it to you." The blue pegasus patted the unicorn on the head and checked her drawn on watch. "Well, I should get going now. I don't want to be late. Bye girls!" She hugged Scootaloo and then Discord, and flew out the door, a bright blue suitcase in her hoof. The spirit sat there, watching his final moment of sanity for the weekend disappear.

"So, what are you girls going to do?" he asked cautiously. The three fillies smirked and drew bottles of glue and sparkles out from behind their backs. He sighed. "Oh no."

Discord jumped up, trying to escape. But the fillies were quicker than he was. Scootaloo clung to his horns, while Sweetie Belle hopped up and held his arms back, and Apple Bloom pulled his legs, making him fall onto his back. The farm filly got rope out from absolutely nowhere and tied his limbs up with it.

"Hey! Get this-" Scootaloo put duck tape over his mouth. "Gmmf tmf rmmpf mmf mef!" Clever little demons. He struggled against his ropes, but of course he had never escaped from Applejack when she had done that to him when he had insulted her apples, so obviously she had taught her little sister the exact way that was impossible for Discord to get out of. The only way. The only way. And that way had probably been taught right before she had come over.

With his arms tied to his feet, palms up, and tail tied around them, he had no way of escaping. He yelled at the fillies, but the tape on his mouth stopped them from making any sense of it.

"I think it's time for the glue, don't you think girls?" Scootaloo asked mischievously, holding up her bottle in her hoof.

"I do agree, Scootaloo. And great idea of asking Applejack of how to tie up Discord, Apple Bloom. Nice touch," Sweetie Belle complimented.

"Well thanks Sweetie Belle! Applejack was glad to show me," Apple Bloom told her.

"Come on, glue time!" Scootaloo shouted, hovering above Discord, who was desperately trying to wriggle out of his holds. The orange pegasus squeezed the glue bottle all over the draconequus's head. He tried to shake it off, but a closer inspection of the bottle told him it was super glue. Great. The three fillies poured the sticky substance all over the helpless Discord.

"Yay! Glitter!" Sweetie Belle squealed, throwing a huge cloud at him, making it stick to the glue. The pink and purple specks clung to every part of him, making him seem like a huge ball of it. To make it worse, he accidentally snorted some in, making him sneeze every few seconds.

"Ya know what? This doesn't seem that bad. He's just glittery. Ah think we should do somethin' else, somethin' more evil," Apple Bloom mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. Discord glared at her, wishing he could use his magic. But they would obviously tell Rainbow on him, like the freakin' children they were, and then the pegasus would surely tickle him to death, especially if he hurt the fillies. He would have to endure.

"Yeah, I think you're right. What should we do then?" Scootaloo asked her. The southern filly signaled for them to gather around her. With his ears plugged full of glue and glitter, he couldn't hear what they were saying. They high-hoofed, then Scootaloo ran off to get something.

She returned a few moments later with a dress and other girly stuff. His eyes widened and he tried frantically to escape.

"Okay, let's get to work ladies!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, taking a tiara from her friend. Scootaloo took the dress and with Apple Bloom's help fit it over his head.

"Wait, how are we goin' to get his arms through?" Apple Bloom asked, perplexed.

"Well, we could always untie him real quick," Scootaloo said.

"How? We glued him."

"Oh, right. . Ooh, I know, we could rip the sleeves and then I'll sew them back together! I think I've learned enough from Rarity to do that," Sweetie told them. The two others looked at each other and shrugged. So they cut the sleeves down, fit them around his arms, then the unicorn took a needle and thread, and began sewing the sleeves back together. After poking him about twenty times, she was finally done- with one arm.

This was gonna be a long day.

A half hour later, Discord was officially humiliated. Dressed in a frilly pink dress, with a tiara, fake high heels, and poorly done makeup, he was ready to give up.

"What now?" Apple Bloom asked, admiring their handy- or should I say hoofy work, with pride.

"I don't know. Maybe we could trim those eyebrows-they look a little messy," Scootaloo answered, smirking. He shook his head, wriggling.

"Oh, and a mane cut!" Sweetie Belle added.

"He also has fur on his tail!"

"Then it's decided! Hair cuts!" They high-hoofed yet again, and began washing the glue out of his mane.

Scootaloo took a pair of scissors and snipped some of his black mane off. She furrowed her brow and continued cutting the little hair off his head. Sweetie Belle started messing with his eyebrows and Apple Bloom cut his tail fur.

"Hey Scootaloo! Do you think Rainbow has any mane dye in her bathroom?" Apple Bloom asked. Scootaloo nodded. The yellow filly grinned widely and sped off to the bathroom. She returned with several colors of it. Seven, actually. One for each color of the rainbow. Apple Bloom took some of the blue dye and rubbed it into the fur on Discord's tail. Sweetie Belle took the green and then Scootaloo took some of each. After a few minutes, they were done (thankfully).

"Man, we did a great job!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Discord's mane was rainbow, and was now long at the top and increasingly shorter to the bottom. His eyebrows were green and were not nearly as bushy. The fur on his tail was blue, and seemed to almost not exist anymore. The spirit glared at them, trying to break free from his imprisonment.

"You can say that again!" Sweetie Belle agreed.

"Okay- man, we did a great job!"

"Oh you!" Apple Bloom laughed, nudging the pegasus in the ribs. She giggled and pushed her off.

"Uh, I'm tired. What time is it?" Sweetie asked, yawning.

"Um, I don't know. But I know you should sing a song before we go to bed," Scootaloo told her.

"What song?"

The pegasus whispered something in her ear. The white unicorn giggled a little and nodded vigorously. She cleared her throat and then opened her mouth:

"You've been trolled, you've been trolled! You have probably been told, don't reply to this guy he is just getting a rise out of you! Yes it's true, you respond and that's his cue to start trouble on the double while he strokes his manly stubble! You've been trolled, you've been trolled! You should probably just fold! When the only winning move is not to play! And yet you keep on trying, mindlessly replying! You've been trolled, you've been trolled! Have a nice day!" With the last word, Sweetie Belle fell onto Apple Bloom's back, asleep. The yellow filly laughed.

Discord glowered at them. He'd been trolled! It was true! And that made him mad. He was the troll here, not them. As they left the kitchen, without another word, they turned off the light, leaving him in the dark.

---

When Scootaloo woke up, the first thing she remembered from last night was tying up Discord, and a whole lot of other things. And she realized that was probably a mistake. She rolled over onto her side and looked at her sleeping friends. She reached out a hoof and nudged Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie Belle! Wake up!" Scootaloo whispered, loud enough so that she would hear her. The unicorn mumbled something and rolled onto her back, yawning.

"What? I was having the best dream. . . about us tying up Discord and stuff. . . it was great. ." she trailed off, losing herself in what she thought had been a dream.

"That wasn't a dream, we actually did that."

That made Sweetie shoot up into a sitting position. "What?! We actually did that?!" She stared, mouth open, at the pegasus for a few more moments.

After her friend's shouting, Apple Bloom groggily rolled over to face them. "What are ya shoutin' for?" She glared sleepily at them.

"Well, um. . ."

"Whatever! Now that Ah'm up Ah might as well stay up… so whatta we gonna do today?" The earth pony climbed out from her sleeping bag and shook herself.

Scootaloo shrugged. "We could mess with Discord some more, but what would we do that we haven't already done?"

"We could always let him go. .?" Sweetie Belle squeaked uncertainly, brushing her mane. The pegasus shook her head.

"If we do, he'll kill us! The only reason we could get away with that was because he can't use his magic, on the account he is. . .um. . .grounded. . . So, yeah!" She smiled awkwardly.

"If Ah may ask, when is he 'ungrounded?'" Apple Bloom asked.

"Well, it was a week . . .a week ago. That means. . ."

"Wait, what?! It's been two weeks today?!" Sweetie gasped, dropping her brush and pulling Scootaloo up to her face. The orange filly coughed quietly, then pushed Sweetie away from her.

"Well. . . yes. I got a week, and I've been done for a week, so that means Discord is free."

"This is a disaster!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air, waving them around. She then fell over and put her face in the clouds, groaning loudly and overdramatically. Her friends rolled their eyes; they knew that Apple Bloom was usually the one that always overreacted to everything. It was like this when they used the love potion on Big Mac and Cheerilee. Always assuming the worst.

"Oh come on Apple Bloom! It's not that bad! If Discord hurts us then Rainbow will put him in his place!" Scootaloo nudged the earth pony in the ribs, winking.

"Well, Ah guess you're right. . .sorry. Ah just really don't feel like gettin' dumped in chocolate or somethin' crazy like that."

"Yeah, me neither. But you know, if Discord does do something to us, it will probably make no sense," Sweetie Belle said. The fillies laughed.

"Oh, but what fun is there in making sense?"

They froze mid-laugh. This could not be good.

"You should see the look on your faces! Priceless!" Discord cackled from nowhere.

"Uh, great. Go away Discord!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Oh, I don't think so. Maybe I'll just do this~"

Scootaloo's wings and Sweetie Belle's horn disappeared. The two shrieked, running around in circles.

"Ha! Your faces look just like Fluttershy's, Rainbow Dash's, and Rarity's and Twilight's when they lost theirs. Hilarious! You know what, I think you guys bested their faces actually!"

"Give me back my wings!" the pegasus demanded, stomping her hoof angrily. Sweetie Belle snorted and scraped her hoof along the cloud threateningly.

"Oh no! I'm terrified! You're just standing there- menacingly!" the spirit mocked.

"Come out already!"

"Why? So little Miss Dramatic over here can hogtie me again? No thanks."

Apple Bloom blushed and looked down.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. No, I think I'll do the same thing I did with your sisters." Discord paused. "Well, and your mom, in your case, chicken."

"And what is that?" Apple Bloom demanded.

"I want to play a game! First rule- no wings, and no magic! Second rule- everypony has to play, or the game is over, and I win!"

"What kind of game?" Scootaloo asked. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"A game of survival, I think would be fitting." The draconequus stopped speaking for a moment. "Yes, this is how it will work: I have hidden your wings and horn somewhere at the end of the journey- you just need to find out where the end of the journey is!"

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"Well, I will teleport you three fillies to the start. And then, you must make it through the whole adventure to get your things. But if none of you make it, I don't give back your wings and horn! At least one of you has to make it, either leaving the others behind or trying to make sure everypony gets to the end, I don't care. Your choice."

"Then take us to the start!"

"Okay, okay! Hold your horses! I was just about to."

In a flash, the three fillies were standing at the entrance to a huge temple looking thing. It stood at least a hundred feet high, and was made up entirely of stone and sand, like a pyramid.

"Um, I guess we just go in then," Sweetie Belle said nervously, taking a small step forward. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom went after her and into the darkness of the temple.

Upon entering, the door slammed shut behind them, making the three jump in fright. The pegasus sighed and puffed out her chest. She was going to be brave like Rainbow Dash.

"Okay girls, let's go!" She reared onto her back legs and kicked out her forelegs, trying to seem brave. The others gulped and braced themselves for the long journey ahead of them.

Scootaloo set the pace, heading down narrow tunnel. Torches dimly lit the halls, allowing them to see, even if just slightly. The sound of their hooves on the stone almost calmed the fillies, until giant tremors started shaking the temple. Grains of sand fell from the ceiling, coating the three friends.

"What's causin' that?" Apple Bloom asked, gritting her teeth as another long rumble shook the walls.

"I don't know, but it must be a trick set up by Discord. We just have to ignore it and keep going," Scootaloo told her, trudging forward without missing a beat.

"I don't know Scootaloo. This seems awfully dangerous. Maybe we should just go back and wait for Rainbow Dash to get back?" Sweetie Belle suggested, cowering in fright.

"No! We can't let Discord think we're a bunch of babies! We can do this! He wouldn't dare hurt us!"

"Okay then. . ."

Scootaloo snorted and continued the walk down the long tunnel. She saw a box at the very end.

"Is that our stuff? That was easy! Come on girls! We just have to get to that box!"

The fillies took off, ignoring the tremors that racked the pyramid and trying to reach the box at the end of the tunnel. After a few moments of running, they had reached the end of the hall. Sweetie Belle, panting, excitedly grabbed the box. As soon as she did, a trapdoor opened above them. The unicorn looked up, confused. A rumbling sound was heard, along with a gurgling sound. Suddenly, a torrent of glue came pouring down onto her. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom jumped out of the way, leaving their friend becoming trapped in the glue. She desperately shrieked, which more or less came out as a gurgling sound as the sticky substance covered her. She tried to escape, but another trapdoor opened underneath her, and she and the pile of glue went into it. Scootaloo jumped forward, only to smash into rock as the trapdoor closed with a thud.

"Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle! Can you hear me?!" the pegasus shouted, banging on the stone. Apple Bloom stood off to the side, baffled as she was. Scootaloo looked back at her still friend. "What are you doing? Help me open this trapdoor!" She turned back.

"Don't you see Scootaloo? This was part of Discord's plan! He wanted to trick us into thinkin' that was your stuff, but then he just captured Sweetie Belle! We have to keep goin'! He wouldn't hurt her. We'll find her at the end."

"But-but-"

Apple Bloom put a hoof on the filly's shoulder. "We have to keep goin'." Scootaloo looked at her friend. She slowly nodded.

"Okay. But we can't leave without Sweetie Belle."

"And we won't. We'll find her at the end."

"Come on then!" Scootaloo pointed a hoof at a new door that had opened after Sweetie had been trapped. Apple Bloom nodded and the pair raced down it. The door slammed shut, sealing their fates.

---

Sweetie Belle was sitting. Sitting in a pile of glue. She could still breath, that was the good thing. When she had fell down that hole, the glue had been scraped away a little bit. But now she was confused as to where in Equestria she was.

"Hello?" she called, unsure of who to be calling out to. Looking quite uncertain and wary, she called out again. "Hello?"

Mad laughing met her ears.

Of course. Why were they here in the first place? Discord, that's why.

"Let me go back to my friends!" she demanded, trying to get out of the sticky trap.

"Oh, I don't think so. You're my victim down here now, don't you know that?" Discord asked teasingly, slipping out of the shadows. He flew above her, smirking when she glared at him and struggled to escape.

"What do you want? Why are being so mean?"

"Mean? I'm mean? I play a little game with you fillies and then I get called mean? I think you're the ones who are mean after what you did to me last night with your little 'jokes.'" He made parentheses in the air with his fingers to enforce his words. Sweetie Belle growled, trying to stay calm.

"We were just having fun!"

"Yeah, you three are girls. I am a guy. I do not want to be covered in sparkles, dressed up, have makeup on, and get a mane cut. That was outrageous."

"Sometimes I wonder what gender you are. ."

"What?! Oh really now, you're making jokes and I'm the one in control here, not you. I could easily do something to you that you are scarred for life from. ."

"Right. . ." Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

"Well, I could. But I'm not going to, because I'm supposed to be "good" now and if Celestia knew what I was up to I wouldn't be able to-"

"I don't want to hear about that!" She squeezed her eyes shut, folding her ears against her head and looked away.

"Whatever, fine. I suppose you wouldn't want to hear about what Celestia would do to me if she caught me. I mean, that would not end well for me, seriously, it would be a disaster! She'd-"

"Please! Stop talking about that!"

"Okay, okay, oops. But I was just saying I wouldn't be able to walk right for weeks!"

"AH! Stop! I don't care! And frankly I didn't need to hear that! I don't need to know that!"

"Okay, okay, okay, okay! Gosh, just whatever. Now, as I was saying earlier, I would be able to hurt you, you know, because of Celestia doing-"

"I'M NOT LISTENING! BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!"

"Sorry! Getting a little off topic here, aren't we?"

"Yes! Now stop! Just let me go!"

"No. Unless your little friends come and save you themselves, you aren't leaving this room until they reach the end."

---

"Scootaloo, how long do you think we've been walkin'? It feels like forever," Apple Bloom said, dragging her hooves along the sandy ground.

"I don't know. We've gone up stairs, around giant pits, even escaped that giant rolling ball of doom, and we still haven't reached the end!" Scootaloo exclaimed, sweat dripping off her forehead. "Not to mention that it's like eighty degrees in here!"

"Ah totally agree. And we don't even know if we're any closer to findin' your wings."

"Yeah. . . but we should just keep going. Maybe we should try and find Discord. Then we can get the answers out of him."

"Ah really doubt we'd find him, but Ah guess we could do that too."

"Hey! Wait! I think I see a light down there! Come on, that's got to be the way out!" Scootaloo squeed in excitement and then broke into a run. Apple Bloom followed right after her, glad to finally be done.

"We should probably be careful though. It might be another-"

Scootaloo stopped, and pricked her ear. "Apple Bloom? It might be another what?" She turned around to face her friend, only to find she was gone. Scootaloo gasped, running back. She searched the floor frantically, thinking she might find a trapdoor or something. "No! Discord, you're not playing fair!" The orange filly stomped her hoof. She whimpered, feeling very vulnerable and alone. Remembering what her friend had told her, she continued onward.

She would see them at the end.

---

The last thing Apple Bloom had done was warn Scootaloo about the light being a trap. Well, almost warned her, as a huge metal hand had come out of the ceiling and grabbed her, lifting her away before she could finish her sentence. After that, she was dropped down some sort of chute, twisting and turning, and before she knew it she was in a giant bowl of water, with no way to get out.

"Now Ah know what a fish feels like. . ." Apple Bloom mumbled, treading water to make sure she didn't sink.

"Yeah, that was supposed to be the feeling of this whole idea," Discord said, appearing out of nowhere, looking at his claws, boringly. He glanced up at her.

"Get me out," she commanded.

"Um, no. What's up with everypony always wanting out of my traps? It's not very nice."

"Because you're a psycho. Nopony likes to play with you, and the traps are the reason why."

"Rainbow Dash seems to like to 'play' with me."

"Um. . . Ah'm not sure how to respond to that. . ." She glanced around awkwardly.

"Whatever, never mind. Don't worry your dramatic little head about it."

"Why are you doin' this?"

"Oh, silly filly, all you need to know is that you're not getting out of that fishbowl until Scootaloo gets to the end: which she probably won't, so I guess you'll have to wait until she falls into one of my traps."

"But that's not nice."

"I don't care if it's not nice!"

"But ya seemed to care when ponies want out of your traps. . ."

"Oh, why don't you just- uuhhh! Just be quiet! I have another filly to trap." He snapped his fingers, and in a flash of golden light, he was gone.

"Ya better hurry Scootaloo, before Ah drown."

---

Scootaloo was running now. She didn't want to stop and see if any other tunnels were the way out. The only thing she wanted was to be free of this weird place.

"Okay, come on Scootaloo! You can do it! Just keep going!. . ." She turned a corner, only to run into a wall. She fell onto her back, dazed, tongue out. Mini Discords spun around her head in a halo, taunting her. She shook them away and groggily sat up, rubbing her head.

"That's stupid! A wall in the middle of nowhere? Discord, you moron. . ." Scootaloo scowled at the wall and turned away from it. Dumb wall, thinking it could block her way and sit there oh so wallish. Well, she would teach it that it couldn't mess with her!

She stood on her hind legs, and struck out at the sandy stone. She did that a few times, feeling unsatisfied. She gave it one good kungfu kick and felt her hoof move a brick. She fell, one leg caught in the wall.

"Great. What else could possibly go wrong?" Scootaloo pulled her leg out, and looked through the hole. Another room was just waiting past this wall. The pegasus narrowed her eyes, and licked her lips. She got into a fighting stance, then leapt at the wall with all her force. It quickly gave way and the filly ended up under a pile of stony rubble. She stood up and shook herself, wiping dust off her shoulders.

"Yes! I did it!" she cheered, pumping her hooves in the air excitedly. She looked around the room. There was nothing in here.

"What?" The filly stared around incredulously. This is so no fair! No way did she run into a wall for nothing! Scootaloo walked around, looking for some sort of opening.

Suddenly, a trapdoor gave way beneath her hooves. She quickly held onto the sides and hauled herself back up. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad she didn't fall. That was certainly one of Discord's traps. The pegasus backed away from it, careful not to step on any sort of rocks, in case they might be a trigger for some sort of trap. So busy studying the floor, she didn't notice she had been approaching a wall until she hit it.

Her backside moved something, and suddenly Scootaloo found herself being rained down upon by glitter. Scootaloo looked up, mouth open in surprise. Oh, the irony.

"No! I'm not going to fail now!" Scootaloo swam through the sea of sparkles, trying to reach the door. But the glitter was rising fast, and she soon found herself near the ceiling, where a giant vacuum was waiting. She growled, baring her teeth.

That's when Scootaloo saw her escape. A loose brick on the ceiling. She kicked her legs, trying to reach the safety. She moved it and climbed into the hatch.

A window.

The orange pegasus sped towards it and looked out. The outside world! She had done it!

"Woo! I did it! In your face Discord!" Scootaloo shouted, jumping out of the window. She slid down the pyramid and fell onto her stomach into the grass. The filly looked up and saw a box floating above her.

Her wings!

She jumped up and hit the box. It burst open and a bright orange pair of wings fell out onto her, attaching themselves once again to her back. She buzzed them, making sure they worked properly. Scootaloo hovered in the air, deciding to look for her friends. A rumbling noise made her look back at the pyramid.

The whole temple was falling apart, crumbling into nothing as it hit the ground. All that was left was Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, both rid of their prisons.

"Scootaloo! You did it!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, running up to the pegasus.

"Hit that box," she told her friend, gesturing to it. The unicorn bounced up, and her white horn fell back to its rightful place on her head, in between her curls of pink and purple hair.

"Wow! Ah'm so glad ya made it! Discord said he was gonna get you!" Apple Bloom told her, smile on her face.

"Yeah. He tried to. But of course, I won! I am awesome!" Scootaloo struck a pose in the air.

"Yeah you are!" Sweetie cheered, doing a little dance.

"But wait- where's Discord?"

A bright flash.

"Congratulations, my little ponies, you've gotten your precious wings and horn back!" Discord yelled, doing a back flip to land right next to them.

"You are so dead."

"Don't make me laugh!"

"Well, when Rainbow Dash gets home, then we'll see who's laughing!" Scootaloo shot off, with her friends running below her.

"Right." Discord crossed his arms. Well, that fun had been over too quickly.

---

So, how'd ya like that chapter? Pretty funny right? Lots of tormenting in this one: tickling, tying up, glitter, glue, makeup, pyramid. . . . Anyways, yeah. Lol. Discord got pwned. Like, literally. And the trolling, I have one thing to say: that was a total troll! They trolled the troller! Discord is level troll! That must've been humiliating for him! And I know there wasn't much Rainbow Dash moments in here, but I added in that cute scene just for you people, since almost no Dashie and I figured you would want some of that cuteness. But hopefully there will be more of those moments in the next one.

Oh, and I don't want to give too much away, but. . .

Discord and Dash might have a real 'date' together!

*squee*

But yes, stay tuned.

Okay, as I'm sure some of you know, I said Rainbow Dash usually isn't this dramatic. But, ya know, Discord saved her life, blah, blah, blah, whatever, it's happening, and it's okay. Some of you might hate this chapter (I slightly do, may I add, though mostly just the first part), but I had nothing to happen so this is just roughness. I'll definitely have to make up for it in later chapters.

---

"Seeyah! I'm going to go meet the girls over at Twilight's!" Rainbow Dash called, earning a grunt from Discord and an 'okay' from Scootaloo as they played chess. (Or something like it. Rainbow couldn't exactly tell). She waved and then shot off, arriving at Golden Oaks Library in ten seconds flat. She closed her wings and then pushed the door open.

"Hey, look who decided to show up!" Applejack announced, glancing over at the pegasus.

"What? I'm not late!"

"Um, sorry to say, Rainbow darling, but we asked you to come over here three hours ago," Rarity said, raising an eyebrow. Dash laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head.

"Well, I, uh. . ."

"Oh, wait, Ah know! She was so busy hangin' out with Discord that she forgot to come over!" AJ teased. The other girls laughed. Rainbow blushed unconsciously and stomped her hoof in protest.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Girls, stop! We've already been over this! Whoever Rainbow Dash wants to date is her choice," Twilight added slyly, causing the other ponies to laugh again.

"Seriously?! Stop! We are not dating!"

"Sure ya aren't!" AJ burst into giggles again.

"Yeah! You two have been living together for months now! Something should happen already!" Twilight exclaimed, falling onto her side and pounding the ground.

"Get a room you two!"

"Maybe we can arrange a wedding ceremony?" Rarity teased.

"How about a baby shower?"

"That's enough! Why the sudden teasing me about this?" Rainbow asked angrily. Her friends looked at each other, smirking.

"She doesn't know yet?" Twilight asked.

"Wow, Ah thought she'd be the first to find out," AJ said.

"Yes, I too. She was absolutely mortified when she was featured in that 'Gabby Gums' column," Rarity added.

"I'm so glad I'm not in the paper. That was so scary!" Fluttershy squeaked. Rainbow stood there awkwardly and dragged a hoof along the floor. After a few more moments, they turned to her again.

"Have you checked the newspaper yet?" Twilight asked. Dash shook her head. "Maybe you should. ." The unicorn levitated a paper over to her, which she accepted. "Take a look page two."

The pegasus took it and opened it up to the second page. What she saw pretty much embarrassed her more than anything else in her whole life had. It was a picture, with her and Discord together, sitting side by side on a park bench. While the sun was setting. And they were smiling in the picture.

"WHAT?! 'BEST COUPLES!' WHEN DID THEY START DOING THIS! WE AREN'T EVEN A COUPLE!" Rainbow Dash wailed, dropping the paper on the floor and falling onto her face.

Applejack patted her on the back. "Easy there Rainbow. It's the press, what do you expect? Always sayin' stuff about ponies who don't deserve it." She paused. "But. . ."

"What?" Rainbow lifted her head up off the ground.

"Well, Ah don't mean to embarrass ya, but everypony has seen you with Discord- for how long now? Since, um, the accident? So it's no surprise they took that and put it in the paper. Plus, you're one of the Elements of Harmony, so you're famous! Plus, on top of that, you're famous for sonic rainbooms, and bein' the best flier in all of Equestria. The press are always jumpin' on top of things like that, like when somepony famous gets a very special somepony, or goes to jail, or-"

"I get it, AJ. But the thing is Discord and I aren't dating! That's totally no fair!"

"Really? Because Apple Bloom told me that Scootaloo told her that you kissed Discord one time."

"WHAT?!" Rainbow shouted in her friend's face. "How did she find out?. . ." she muttered under her breath, well tried to, anyways.

"So it's true, Ah'm guessin'?"

"Yeah. . ." Dash looked away, a blush spreading over her cheeks.

"There ain't no shame in that! Ah actually think, though Ah don't agree with the whole thing, that you two would make a great couple!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! You need to stop right there, because there is no way-"

"Rainbow, relax! As your friends, it's important for us to support your decisions! And we are going to do just that!" Twilight interrupted, putting her arm around the cyan pegasus.

"Yeah! And even if you want to date that, uh, beast, we'll be there for you," Rarity agreed.

"You two would make a great couple though," Fluttershy said. Rainbow looked at her. A compliment from Fluttershy was a great thing, but both her and Applejack had told her that. Maybe it wasn't right to hide her feelings any longer?

". . . You girls really think so?" she asked quietly. Her friends nodded.

"And Ah have one more question for ya Rainbow," AJ told her. "Do you like Discord?"

Dash tapped her hooves together shyly. Would they accept her answer? "I-I-"

"It's okay if you do, Dashie," Fluttershy added.

". . . . Okay, I do, alright? He's always been so nice to me, well, mostly, and he was there for me after the accident, and I told him about it, and he was really understanding. And really, I expected to be alone for the rest of my life, living low to the ground, but then he let me live again, and after that I just didn't know what to think. Now I have my wings, the most precious things in my life, next to you girls and Scootaloo. It's weird how he is so nice now, after all that happened the first time we met him, ya know, when he was evil, that it just blows my mind how he could even put up with me. I'm not always that great to him, but usually he just deals with it. And he's been really nice to Scoots, taking care of her when I'm not home, that I've just found myself falling for him." Rainbow looked up from where she had been staring at the floor the whole time. Her friends were standing there with expressions of pure shock on their faces. "Oh, you don't support me. . ." The usually loud pegasus stood there, feeling like Fluttershy.

"Aaaww! That's so cute!" Fluttershy squealed, grabbing her friend into a tight hug.

"Oof, Flutters, you're killing me. . ."

"I agree with Fluttershy. It is quite romantic," Rarity said. She tossed her mane over her shoulder to punctuate her sentence.

"So, when are ya gonna tell him how ya feel?" Apple Jack asked.

"Oh no way! I'm not going to tell him! He'll probably just laugh and think it was a joke or something! And then it will be all awkward between us!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, flopping onto her back dramatically.

"Ah think you're over exaggeratin' just a wee bit sugarcube."

"But what if I'm not? Then what?!" She pulled AJ towards her, squishing her face right against her friend's. Applejack pulled away and picked her hat up, which had fallen off her head during Rainbow Dash's dramatics, and stuck it back on her head.

"Gee, and Ah thought Rarity was the dramatic one. . ."

"I'm serious!" The others watched as the pegasus freaked out.

Finally, Twilight sighed. "Look, Rainbow Dash, if you don't tell him how you feel, you'll never know if he has the same feelings for you. I think you should tell him."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same way about me?" She put a hoof on her chest.

"Don't think about that, Dashie. How about we help you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Help me?"

"Yeah! You could ask him to go out, not on a date, but just out, and then we'll set the mood. It'll be perfect!"

"How would you know how to do this?"

"Um, don't ask."

"Okay, even though I already did, but whatever. . ."

"Ah think Fluttershy's plan is a good one," AJ agreed.

"I also agree," Rarity said.

"So it's decided? We'll help Rainbow Dash confess her feelings for Discord!" Twilight announced, jumping on top of a table.

"Yeah!" all them exclaimed, except Dash, at the same time.

"Let's get to work!" They all out their hooves in a circle, clapping them together.

"This better work, or I think I'll kill somepony," Rainbow muttered.

---

Rainbow Dash trotted into the living room, hoping this wouldn't be a complete fail and that he would just go along with it. She was met with the two still playing whatever game it was in the middle of the room. Dash took one deep breath and went up to the spirit.

"Hey you two. What're you playin'?" Rainbow asked, putting on a halfhearted smile.

Without looking over at her, Discord responded "Chaos Checkers." The pegasus didn't quite know what that was but she really didn't want to confuse herself more so she just rolled with it.

"Okay. . ." She tried to think of how to ask it.

"What?" Discord turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I was thinking that, um, we haven't really gone out, as just adults in a while, so we should go out tonight, is what I'm trying to say. . ."

"Oh, I get it. You want to go out tonight? Yeah, I'm cool with that."

"Are you guys going on a date?" Scootaloo asked, standing up.

"No!" Dash shouted quickly. "I mean, no. We're just going to go out as adults. As adult friends. Right?"

"Of course! When are we leaving anyways? And where are we going?" Discord asked.

"I was thinking we could go have a picnic. . ."

Discord raised an eyebrow. "A picnic? Okay, if that's what you want."

Rainbow felt the pressure in her chest lighten. She turned to her daughter. "Okay Scoots, we're gonna be gone for a while. Be good, okay? Not like I doubt it, but still."

Scootaloo saluted. "I will! Don't worry! You two enjoy your night out!" She waved at them as they went out the door. "Bye!"

"Seeyah Scoots!" She flew with Discord to the park. Dash landed on a picnic blanket, obviously set there by her friends. She looked around and saw Twilight winking at her from a bush.

"So, how did your afternoon go?" Discord asked awkwardly, trying to get conversation flowing. Rainbow jumped a little, having been lost in her own thoughts.

"Oh! It was good. We just talked, mostly," Rainbow replied, twirling her hoof on the edge of the glass of wine that was in front of her. She knew everything here was a result of her friends. Discord picked his up, swirling it in the setting sun's last rays.

"Weird. Did you put this stuff here?"

"Uh. . . Yeah! Yeah, I did."

"Knew I was going to say yes, huh?"

"Pretty much." Rainbow looked away, feeling the tension between them growing with each moment. Come on girls! I'm dying here!

Suddenly, the sound of a violin playing sounded somewhere behind them. Discord turned to look, but seeing nothing, he looked back out over the hill, watching the sunset. A wind sprung up, causing Rainbow's mane to start blowing, making her look cute and shy as she sat there looking at the ground.

"Wonder who's playing," Discord murmured, having some strange feeling what was causing this.

"I don't know. . . could be anypony, right?" She laughed nervously, trying to avoid eye contact. She moved a few strands of orange out of her eyes and switched her attention instead to the dying sun.

"Nice night for a picnic. Where's the food?"

"Oh, um, I. . ."

Seeing the pegasus start to freak out a little bit, Discord smirked and put a paw on her hoof. "I was just kidding, Dashie. Look, why don't we just watch the sunset? It's really, uh, pretty tonight, isn't it?"

"Okay." Dash let Discord pull her closer and they sat there in silence, enjoying the last few minutes of fading sunlight. As the last ray of sunshine left, Rainbow looked up at the spirit. "Discord?"

"Yeah?" he asked, running a paw down her mane.

"I wanted to know, if, if, um. . ." Dash trailed off, wondering if she should even bother.

"Yes?"

"If you w-wanted to be my," deep breath, "veryspecialsomepony!" She rushed the last words out. Discord stopped petting her head and looked at her. She shifted positions and looked up at his eyes. He returned the gaze. Tears gathered in her eyes for the first time in a while. Rainbow fluttered her wings, flying herself out of his arms and turned around. She prepared to fly off, but what he said made her stop and turn back to him.

"Yes."

Rainbow looked at him. "Really? You will?"

Discord smiled, grabbing her around the waist and dipping her close to the ground. "Definitely. What made you think I'd say no?"

"Well, I, um. . ." She blushed brightly.

"That's what I thought." Then, he leaned in closer to her and pushed his lips against hers. Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before closing, the kiss lasting more than a few seconds before they pulled away.

"AAAAWWWWW!" Fluttershy squeed from the bushes, flying over to the new couple. The other three emerged less dramatically.

"What?! I knew you girls had something to do with this, but I didn't know you were watching! Uh!. . ." Discord face palmed, turning away from them.

"That was so cute! I knew you two would make a great couple!" the yellow pegasus squealed, bouncing around Dash.

"And it was only a little awkward!" Applejack congratulated. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Now that you have sealed the deal, do you think you'll be getting married?" Rarity asked. Rainbow was about to respond but was stopped. "Because I have the perfect idea for a wedding dress!" The fashionista lost herself in her own thoughts.

Twilight stepped forward, putting an arm around the cyan pegasus. "So, were we right, or were we right?" Dash laughed, giving Twilight a nudge with her nose.

"I guess you girls were right. But that doesn't mean anything! I would've eventually asked him!" Rainbow said.

"Uh huh, says the one who was practically havin' a panic attack on the library floor," AJ teased. Dash laughed sheepishly and punched the earth pony in the arm.

"I think I'm going to head home now. Sweetie Belle doesn't like it when I'm back super late. Tata girls!" Rarity announced, waving to the girls as she started trotting down the road.

"Ah'm with Rarity. Apple Bloom's a-waitin'. Bye gals!" Applejack called, heading off in the opposite direction the white unicorn had went down.

Fluttershy spread her wings. "The animals need me. Bye Dashie!" She took off to the skies, disappearing into the darkness.

"Me too. Good luck with your new relationship, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, giving the pegasus a quick hug and teleporting away. Rainbow smiled, and turned back to Discord, who still had one paw on his face.

"Discord? You alright?" Dash asked. He took his paw away and looked at the blue pegasus.

"Yeah. It's just. . . weird, being watched while you kiss somepony, I guess," Discord said.

Rainbow laughed. "I know what you mean."

"Are we gonna head back to your house?"

"You mean our house?"

"What?"

"You know, we never finished the wine that was there. And the stars are looking fairly pretty tonight, aren't they?"

Discord looked at her in confusion for a moment before he realized what she was saying. "Ah, yes, they do look nice. I quite agree with you." He pulled her in closer for a kiss, and they fell together onto the picnic blanket. Discord brought the wine glasses to them, stopping the kiss. He gave Rainbow Dash hers.

She smiled at him. "To a bright future!" She brought her wine glass up.

Discord held his up to hers. "To a bright future!"

The glasses clinked together, the sound echoing through Luna's beautiful night.

---

"So, Rainbow Dash, you've found somepony that will love you! And that's Discord! Ha! At least you two have something in common! You're both freaks!" Pinkie Pie mocked.

Rainbow Dash growled. "I'll have you know, I have my wings and cutie mark! You even saw that when you broke out of prison!"

Pinkie smirked, looking at the pegasus. "I don't see any wings! Or a cutie mark!"

Rainbow scoffed, shaking her head before looking at her back. She gasped, feeling sick. "W-what?! What happened to my wings!? I know I had them! I know I did!"

"I guess not, Dashie! Remember, I cut them off! It was the most fun I've had in forever! Even better than when I got my cutie mark!"

The world seemed to fall around Dash. Pinkie was right. No, wait, this was just a dream. Yeah, Pinkie was still in prison, not in front of her. But then why did it feel so real?

"N-no. NO. You're not here for real. I know you're not. You're in prison still. I know that. My brain is just being stupid right now," Rainbow stated, both to Pinkie and herself.

"Are you sure, Rainbow Dash? If this is just a dream, then why is it so real? Why can I do this?" Pinkie Pie brought her hooves and up shoved Rainbow to the floor violently.

"I-I-"

"That's right. I'm real! And I'm going to finish what I started!" Pinkie shoved her face right into Dash's, her sky blue eyes staring right into the pegasus's frightened cerise ones. "What do you think of that, huh Dashie?"

Rainbow gulped, feeling all of the emotions that were gone for so long come rushing back. "I don't think anything of it. You can't hurt me. This is just a dream!"

Pinkie laughed again. "You really think that? Well, I'm going to show you just how wrong you are." Pinkie grabbed Dash's mane in her teeth and dragged her across the seemingly empty space. A large chair appeared, followed by a tray containing sharp medical tools, much like when she had first been in Pinkie's grasp.

Rainbow clutched at her hair line, trying to keep it closer to her head. "You can't do anything to me Pinkie Pie! You're not real! This is just a dream!"

"Yeah, keep saying that, it'll definitely get you somewhere," Pinkie snorted, throwing Rainbow into the chair, strapping her down tightly.

"I-I will!" Dash shouted. She focused her mind on one, and one thing only. "This is just a dream. This is just a dream. This is just a dream."

Pinkie grabbed a knife.

"This is just a dream, this is just a dream, this is just a dream!"

Pinkie held it above her face.

"THIS IS JUST A DREAM, THIS IS JUST A DREAM! THIS. IS. JUST. A. DREAM!"

The knife blew away in Pinkie's hoof. The pony looked down at where it had just been. "What?! What happened?!" She looked down at her own body. It was also starting to blow away like dust in the wind. The pink pony screamed, cursing Rainbow Dash. Her scream of 'no' was becoming fainter and fainter as she was fading away.

"I told you! I told you! I win!" shouted Dash, her frown turning into a triumphant smile as Pinkie Pie disappeared. The chair and straps holding her down also dissolved, letting Rainbow stand up. Her wings and cutie mark blew onto her body.

"I WIN!"

---

Rainbow Dash bolted upright, expecting to find herself in her bed. She was surprised, to say the least, when she saw they were still in the park. She rubbed her pounding head. Was that because of the dream or did she have way too much to drink last night? She rolled over, finding herself staring right into Discord's face. She gagged and rolled back over.

They definitely had way too much to drink last night.

She brought her hoof up, breathed into it, and smelt her breath. She gagged again. Yup. Too much to drink.

"Discord!" Dash hissed, poking him. "Discord!"

He grunted something, and sat up. "What?"

"Oh nothing."

"Seriously?" He snorted and flopped onto his back.

"As long as you're up you might as well get a breath mint or something. Your breath is smelly. I'm not saying mine isn't, but I think yours is way worse. Do you remember what we did last night anyways? Besides drinking a whole barrel of wine."

"Well, I wouldn't call it a barrel, but we did drink a few glasses. I think we both had a few. Pretty strong wine, I'd say. We were out fast." He stood up, shaking grass out of his mane.

"Oh no! I just realized something!"

"What?"

"Scootaloo! We never went home! Uh, great! I wonder where she thought we were!"

"Relax, Dashie. All kids like to be left alone. She probably didn't even do anything. She's fine."

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I think I'm going to take a dip in the lake." She pointed a hoof towards the water.

"Watch out for that monster, will you? I don't wanna have to save you again!" he called as she trotted over to it.

Dash looked back at him, rolling her eyes. "Right!" she muttered sarcastically. Discord laughed and teleported over next to her.

"First one to the bottom wins!" He dived in, splashing the pegasus with what seemed like half the lake.

"Hey!" Rainbow shook some water off her, and then got a great idea. She flew quickly above the lake, and dropped, going into a cone and slamming into the water at full speed. She passed Discord, who was almost to the bottom. Rainbow hit the lake floor, creating a huge wave that sent all the fish in the area back, and all the plants were practically pulled from their roots. After the dirt settled, Dash swam back up to the surface and took a deep breath, laughing. Discord resurfaced a moment later, coughing.

"What the hay?! How did you do that?!" he spluttered, treading water.

Dash stopped laughing for a moment. "Because I'm that talented!" The two floated there laughing for a little while before they got out. Discord immediately shook himself like a dog, managing to get everything that was already wet because of Rainbow's wave even more soaked. Rainbow just fluttered her wings, getting the droplets off so she could fly more easy.

"Can you make some breath mints appear or something? I'm dead serious, because my breath smells like a dead fish," Rainbow said. Discord snapped his fingers and suddenly a huge torrent of mouth wash came pouring down on top of her. The pegasus let out a growl, spitting out some of it. "That wasn't exactly how much I needed, but at least my breath smells good. But now I smell entirely like mint. Great." Rainbow waded into the water, washing herself off, again, and flicked her wings.

"I could go for a cup of coffee. How 'bout you?" Discord asked, finishing smoothing his mane and turning to look at the pegasus.

"Yeah sure." Rainbow stopped. "You're not going to dump a bunch of coffee on me, are you?"

"No. Or will I. .?" Discord smirked. Dash hit him. He pouted, rubbing his leg where she smacked him. "Okay, okay. Let's just go into town then. SugarCube Corner has great coffee."

"I'm chill with that," Dash agreed.

---

"So, you're sure they never came home last night? Rarity said she was with them, and she came home," Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo nodded. "I'm sure. They usually come in arguing about something. I would've hear them."

Apple Bloom looked at her uncertainly. "Ah know Applejack was with them too, and as Sweetie Belle said, she came home. Are you absolutely positive they never came home?"

"I'm absolutely positively sure that they never came home last night!" Scootaloo growled, slightly annoyed her friends weren't agreeing with her. "Rainbow Dash never comes in silent! Never mind Discord! I'm living with the two most chaotic and awesome adults in Equestria! How could I not know they were home?"

The two other fillies looked at each other doubtfully. "But Scootaloo, what if they didn't want to wake you up because you were asleep?" Sweetie asked. Scootaloo groaned, face-hoofing. She wanted to strangle her so bad right now.

"Look, Scootaloo, she has a point. They were probably just tryin' to be quiet," Apple Bloom agreed.

"No! I know what happened! They did not-repeat-did not, come home last night!" Scootaloo shoved her face right into her friend's, poking them in the chest with each word. They still looked doubtful. Scootaloo groaned again, taking her face away. "Look, if they had come home, I would've at least seen them in their bed this morning. I did not see them at all."

"Whatever you think pal," Sweetie mumbled. Scootaloo frowned, turning away from them.

"I'll show you two! Come on, let's go find them!" The orange filly buzzed her wings and set off. Maybe the Cakes had seen the two. As the three entered the store, they saw Discord and Rainbow sitting at a table, talking. Scootaloo narrowed her eyes and stormed up to the table, flying onto it.

"Hi Scoots! Sorry we didn't make it home last night, we-"

"What were you doing last night, huh? I demand to know!" Scootaloo leaned in close to her mom's face, who looked quite surprised. "Well?"

Rainbow pushed the filly back a little ways. "I really don't think that's your place to be going around demanding to know where we were, as if we were teenagers or something. We were just out by the lake, and we fell asleep. No biggie," Rainbow told her.

"It's all cool, kid," Discord said, waving a paw in the air absently. Scootaloo snorted, hopping off the table.

"I told you girls! They never came home! I win!" Scootaloo bragged.

Rainbow Dash froze. I win. . . I win. . . I win. . . The words echoed hollowly through her mind. Pinkie Pie almost won. And Rainbow hated losing. But she won. Dash shook her head, tapping the side of her skull. Why did that dream come back to her all of a sudden? Just because Scootaloo said 'I win?'

Yes. That was exactly why. Because that was what Dash yelled at Pinkie when she was disappearing. It was all so clear now. It wasn't until she heard talking that Rainbow snapped back to reality.

"Okay, okay, you were right. But there was no reason we couldn't have been," Apple Bloom declared.

"Yeah, we had perfectly good explanations," Sweetie Belle agreed.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Big deal. But I still knew they hadn't come home, so there's only one winner- me."

"Whatever. We're outta here. We got lots of crusadin' to get to. Seeyah Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said. The two fillies left the store. Scootaloo shrugged, turning back to the adults once again.

"So, what are we gonna do now? Can we do something awesome today?"

"I don't know. But everything that I do is awesome, so I guess it doesn't matter," Rainbow Dash said, taking a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, you're right. But what are we going to do?"

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. Why don't you pick something, squirt?"

Scootaloo rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm. . . we could play old west!"

Rainbow looked over at Discord, who just shrugged. "Okay, we can agree to that."

---

". . . Why do I have to pull you?"

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash looked down at the spirit, who was attached to the wooden wagon they were sitting in. The two girls both had cowboy hats on, with a badge pinned on their vests. Scootaloo's vest was light purple, outlined with a pinkish color, with a matching hat, and had an orange badge. Rainbow's vest was rose colored, outlined with rainbow, with a matching hat, and had a light blue badge.

Discord was the one who pulled them along in the wagon, much to his dismay. He had on all of the horse tack, as they had made him, including a bit, which made every word muffled.

"Why do I have to do this? And why do I have to wear this?" Discord growled. He was on all fours like a dog, and it was pretty embarrassing.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "We're doing what Scoots wanted to do, so we'll just have to play too."

Scootaloo nodded her head. "And we needed somepony to draw the wagon! And in the old west, ladies don't do that! Guys do! So, onward!" She jabbed her hoof into the air, and, rather reluctantly, Discord started pulling the wagon. It wasn't very heavy, but he was more used to walking on two feet.

"So, kid, what are you and I supposed to be doing?"

"Oh right! You and I have to wrangle the cows up! So, here's your rope." Scootaloo handed the older pegasus a dark blue rope. She herself had a dark orange rope.

Rainbow sat there with it for a few moments before she turned back to the filly once again. "What cows?"

"Do I have to tell you everything?" Scootaloo looked at her mom in exasperation. "Go for the targets! They're all over town."

"How?"

"I put them there, obviously! Now, look and rope!" Scootaloo turned away again.

Rainbow Dash held the rope in her hooves in confusion. She still had absolutely no idea how to use it. She sighed. Oh well. Dash picked it up in her mouth and started twirling it with as much grace as a whale on land. After getting more into the style of it, she threw it at one of the targets, missing by about four feet. But before she could take it in, the loop unfortunately caught on an above ground tree root, pulling Rainbow off before she knew what was happening. But again, the rope caught on yet another thing, this time the wagon. She was getting pulled in two directions at once, and it felt like she was being torn in half. Rainbow flapped her wings, trying to escape. But with one front leg and one back leg tangled in the rope, there was no escape.

"Discord! Stop! I'm stuck!" Dash shouted, hoping her would hear her. "Scootaloo! Scootaloo! Discord! Hey! Somepony!"

Meanwhile, up where Discord was, he was really starting to have a hard time pulling this. He growled, pushing forward. Nope. He just wasn't moving. "Come on you stupid wagon! Move!" After a few seconds of no luck, he shouted back to Scootaloo. "Hey! Are we caught on something?!"

"I don't- oh my Celestia! Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo yelled. "Discord stop!" He quickly did, wondering what Rainbow Dash had to do with this, but he stood up and looked over.

"Finally! I've been nearly pulled apart! Get me out of this, will ya?" Rainbow asked, still fluttering her wings. Scootaloo pulled the rope off her hooves, and Dash floated over to land on them. She kicked her hooves, trying to remove the terrible sting from them.

"What happened?" Discord asked, snapping his fingers to make everything disappear. He watched Rainbow bounce around.

Scootaloo looked at him. "She got caught in the rope, was pulled two directions, now she has rope burn."

Discord nodded. "Ah." He teleported next to Dash, who still felt like her hooves were on fire. "Here, let me see them."

Rainbow flew up so he could look at them. They both had long abrasions on them, and from what he knew, they looked pretty bad.

"We better get those taken care of. Come on, let's get back to the house." He snapped his fingers, and teleported them all to the cloud home.

---

"Ouch!" Rainbow Dash yelped, pulling her hoof away from Discord's paws. He looked up at her expectantly. She gently lowered it back into his grip. "Be more gentle. That hurts."

Discord prepared to lower the alcohol pad back onto the burn. "I'm being as gentle as I can, but it's going to sting no matter what, Dashie. And we're almost done. I just need to finish cleaning it then I can put the bandages on." They were in the kitchen, with Dash sitting on the table and Discord crouching down in front of her as he bandaged her hooves.

"But then we still have my front hoof!" She waved it around in front of her. Discord reached his paw up and grabbed it, stopping her from hurting herself. She stuck out her tongue and waited for him to be finished. He wrapped the hoof up and let go of it so it just dangled in the air. She winced as he cleaned the other one, but soon he had done them both, bandages and all. Rainbow hopped off the table, giving out a small grunt of discomfort as she landed, but said nothing.

"I don't think we should play with ropes again. Rainbow might do a little more than get rope burn if we do," Discord said. "We have to make sure we do something Rainbow Dash rated."

"Hey!" Dash objected, hitting him the side. "I do more dangerous stunts than anypony ever! I just am bad with ropes, that's all. . ."

Discord rolled his eyes. "I think bad would be an understatement."

"It would, uh, ya know what, I may be bad with ropes but I can still tackle you to the ground! Plus beat you in water fights, arm wrestling, and being awesome!"

Scootaloo watched as the two adults got into yet another pointless fight with each other. She rolled her eyes, grabbed a juice box from the fridge and a banana nut muffin from the cupboard, and sat down to eat it. If they got violet, which usually happened, she would have a meal and a show.

"You wanna go?" Dash shouted.

Here it comes.

"Okay bring it on!" Discord growled back. Rainbow sprang at him, tackling him to the floor, but he grabbed her tail and flipped her over him.

Scootaloo watched with growing amusement and annoyance as she watched them beat each other up. The fights never ended up with anypony seriously hurt, though Discord did lose his tooth one time, and Rainbow had to stop flying for a bit because her wing got sprained.

Usually their fights were pointless, as this one was, and Scootaloo did not get why they had to wrestle on the floor. Was it some sort of dominance issue? She wasn't sure. As she sat there sipping her juice box and eating her muffin, she heard knocking at the door. She hopped down from her chair and went over to open it. It was Fluttershy.

"Oh hi, Scootaloo, I was wondering if Rainbow Dash was home?" the shy pegasus asked, giving her a sheepish smile.

Scootaloo looked back over her shoulder, and rolling her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day, she replied, "yeah. They're fighting though, so I wouldn't go in there."

Fluttershy seemed confused. "What do you mean fighting?"

"Just watch." Scootaloo led the pegasus inside to where they were.

"I told you, that is not right!" Rainbow snarled. She jumped off the table, body slamming him. He rolled over, squishing her beneath his body.

"I'm right and I know it!" Discord yelled. Dash bucked, sending him flying right at the two other pegasi. Fluttershy and Scootaloo shot up, narrowly dodging the spirit.

"What are they fighting about anyways?" Fluttershy asked.

Scootaloo shrugged. "They fight about something specific when it starts, then it turns random. Even I can't keep track of it all."

"I'm going to stop them." She flew tentatively forward.

"Good luck with that."

Fluttershy went up behind Rainbow and tapped her on the shoulder. The cyan pegasus turned around, just to be tackled by Discord when she wasn't looking. Fluttershy gasped, and grabbed the spirit by his tail, yanking him off with surprising strength. Dash tried to push past her to get to him, but she blocked her.

"You two, stop that! There is no reason for you to be fighting." Fluttershy put a hoof on both of their chests, keeping them from getting to the other. "Now why don't you two just apologize and I can make us some tea to calm those nerves, huh?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Nuh uh! Rainbow Dash does not apologize! It's for the weak! Especially when I was right!"

"No, I was right! And if anypony should say sorry it's her!" Discord shouted.

Fluttershy gave them both a deadpan stare, then raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Do I have to take this into my own hooves?"

Glancing down at the hoof on her chest, Dash said, "I think it already is."

"Don't get smart with me! Now, you two say sorry, right now. Couples shouldn't be fighting. You two need to settle your differences if this relationship is to work out."

Scootaloo fluttered her wings in excitement. "They're dating now?! That's awesome!" She bounced around them, her face resembling when they were waiting for Babs Seed to get to Ponyville as she leapt back and forth.

Rainbow sighed. "Yeah, we are."

Fluttershy squeed. "Yeah, it was so cute when he said yes! He leaned her over and then they kissed and-" Dash stuck her unbandaged hoof into her friend's mouth.

"She doesn't need to know all of what happened."

"Hhkay," Fluttershy managed to say. Rainbow pulled her hoof away, wiping the spit on Discord, who flicked her with his tail.

"So, are you guys done fighting now?" Scootaloo asked. She returned to her food on the table.

"Yeah, sure," Rainbow said. Then with one suspicious glance at Discord, she added, "for now."

"Cool."

---

"Uh, my hooves are killing me," Rainbow Dash grunted, pushing a cloud over to a small group. Clouchaser looked over at the blue pegasus, who was rubbing her bandaged hooves.

"What happened?" the light purple pegasus asked.

"Oh, um, rope burn."

"How'd that happen?"

"Uh, Scootaloo wanted to play old west, and I suck with ropes. . ."

"Oh wait! Flitter was talking to me about that! She said somepony got caught in a rope! They were a bunch of ponies watching, I guess. Was that you?"

"Um, probably. But I don't remember anypony watching. . ."

"Whatever. Flitter always over exaggerates. She was probably the only one watching. I really don't see how she didn't know who it was. I mean, your bright blue fur, your rainbow hair, and the fact that everypony knows that you suck with ropes, because we watched the Iron Pony Competition."

"Um, yeah." Rainbow blocked out her annoying chatter. "Hey, Cloudchaser, will you go help Thunderlane over there? I'm sure he'd like the help." She nodded her head over to where the dark grey pegasus was trying to move a huge cloud.

"Of course!" Clouchaser zoomed off. Rainbow smirked. Everypony knew she had a crush on Thunderlane, except for him, obviously.

"Finally. Those sisters do love their gossip, don't they?" she muttered. Rainbow finished weather duty and flew down to Twilight's. She knocked on the door and was let in.

"Hi Rainbow Dash! Here to talk about how in love," the unicorn rolled her eyes around in her head," you are with Discord?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, what do you need?" Twilight asked.

"Ya see, I got these rope burns yesterday, and they really hurt. I was wondering if you had any spells or something to heal them." She lifted her front leg up.

"Um, okay. I'll need to see what they look like, so I'll have to remove the bandages, okay?"

"Sure."

Twilight took her hoof and unwrapped it, then immediately winced at what she saw. The long gashes went around her entire hoof. They looked inflamed.

"Ouch! Man, those are really bad. But luckily, I have a book that covers things like this," Twilight said, setting Rainbow's hoof down on the table where she was sitting. The unicorn stood up on her back hooves and carefully read the titles. After a moment she smiled and picked a book out of the shelf with her magic. She flipped through the pages, and put one hoof on it to read it.

"Okay, it says here that we should clean it. Did you clean it first?" She looked up at Dash, who nodded. "Alright. Well, it just says you should keep it clean and cover it. So, I'll just change your bandages and then you should be good. Just make sure to change them periodically." Twilight busied herself with cleaning and redressing the wounds. Rainbow sat silently on the table, waiting for her to be done. "There we go! Good as new! Now, Dash, if you have any more problems, just come and see me, okay?"

"Alright Twilight, I got it," Rainbow said.

"I advise you top stay off your hooves for a little while. You know how to do that, I'm sure. Just give the burns time to heal and you'll be fine. Anything else you wanted to talk about?" Twilight looked over at the pegasus as she put the book away.

"Well, there is one. . ." Rainbow rubbed at the back of her head.

"What?"

"Well. . . it's Scootaloo. She's so excited to have a family, and I get that, but she's so fast to accept somepony. Do you have any ideas why?" She raised her hoof questionably.

Twilight nodded slowly, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Well, Dashie, I'm not sure if this is the exact reason, but I do have a theory."

"What's that?"

"As you know, she was an orphan for most of her life. So, presumably, she had parents. And whether or not these parents left her or got in an accident, we probably won't know. But she just wants that safe feeling again. I'm guessing she's very accepting because of that. Anypony that she considers family probably has some sort of special place in her life. Like you. Because you adopted her."

Rainbow nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Thanks, Twilight." She looked at the clock on the wall. "I better be going. Seeyah." She flapped her wings, remembering to stay off her hooves, and flew out the window this time.

Twilight watched her go. Putting her head in her hooves, she smirked. "That pegasus has a lot going for her. You know, I almost envy her Spike." She turned her head slightly to look at the dragon that just walked into the room.

Spike snorted, picking up a broom to sweep. "Whatever Twilight."

---

Yeah, this chapter sucked lots and lots of balls. I'll make up for it, don't worry. And yeah, whatever. I don't have that much to say. . . just whatever. . . Awkward. . . .

"What the-" Rainbow Dash's curse was cut short as she flopped ungracefully, and a little painfully, onto the ground. The cyan pegasus groaned, shifting a little, and sat up slightly. She rubbed her back, stretching her wings. She gingerly flicked them, making sure they were in working order. Then, she turned to whatever-or whoever-that had ran into her. All she saw was a purple tail and two orange hooves, that were kicking, attempting to escape, stuck in a tree.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, dusting herself off and going over to the filly in the tree. "So, what were you doing this time, squirt?" She knocked on the side of the trunk. All she heard was a muffled response. Dash sighed, positioning herself behind Scootaloo. She grabbed her back hooves, and tugged, sending the filly flying into her mother. Scootaloo coughed a few times and shook her head like a dog.

"Thanks!" Scootaloo said cheerily, getting ready to shoot off again. Rainbow quickly stopped her by stepping on her tail.

"Haaang on a minute Scoots." The filly looked up at her. "What were you doing this time?"

"Well, I was trying this new trick called the Shooting Blaze! I thought of it during class yesterday, and-"

"The Shooting Blaze?" Rainbow groaned, rubbing her temples. This was the third time she had gotten trampled by the filly. Last week she had narrowly avoided Scootaloo when she was practicing some trick called Roarin' Waters. And Discord had been blasted into somepony's house. The pony inside, Berry Punch, had not been pleased, going off saying "this is why I drink!" and cursing up a storm. Each of the adults had been hit quite a few times, and they were frankly sick of it.

"Seriously? Last week it was Roarin' Waters, before that was Slam Dunk; the list goes on and on. What's up with you kid?" Dash have the filly an annoyed glare. Scootaloo scraped the ground with her hoof. "So?"

"What? Nothing's wrong. I'm just trying out a few new moves, that's all. I want to have as many tricks as you!" Scootaloo buzzed her wings a little, hopping up.

"Look, Scootaloo, I think we need to talk. Why don't we sit down for a little bit?" Rainbow plopped onto her haunches under the tree and patted the ground beside her. Scootaloo reluctantly sat down next to her mom, who then put her wing around her.

". . . am I in trouble?"

"No, no." Dash shook her head nonchalantly. "Nope. But, we need to talk."

"Okay."

Rainbow got comfortable, but maintained the grip with her wing on the filly. "We all know how awesome I am, and I get why anypony would want to be like me." She paused, glancing down at Scootaloo. "But that doesn't mean they should go and get themselves killed. Okay, I admit it; I crash a lot. But I'm a full grown mare. Albeit, I had my fair share of crashes back in flight school." Dash pretended one hoof was her and the other was an obstacle, making herself crash into the other. Then she made an explosion sound with her mouth, as if she had blown up. Scootaloo watched this and giggled a little, before she looked back at Dash, who had stopped laughing and was looking down at the filly seriously. Scootaloo lowered her ears. "Look, what I'm trying to say, kid, is that you shouldn't be doing those kinds of stunts. I mean, I'm all for it, and I'm not trying to offend you, but you don't have that much stamina yet. I want you to be out there, trying different things, but I don't want you to get hurt. Heck, when I ended up in the hospital after I crashed really badly, I was soooo bored. I'll admit that it hurt. Nopony's made of steel. Well, except for statues, I guess, but most are made of stone. . . ." Rainbow shook her head to get back on thought. "Anyways, I want you to be more careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt. Got that?" She looked down at Scootaloo, who nodded.

"Yeah, I get it Rainbow Dash. I guess I did get a little carried away, didn't I?" She let out a nervous laugh, and Dash smiled, letting the filly go.

"So, we cool?" She held out her wing. Scootaloo smiled, balling her wing and they wing fisted.

"Yeah, we cool."

---

Scootaloo flapped her wings, getting ready for the move. Suddenly, the talk she had with Rainbow Dash only two days ago flashed in her mind. "Big deal. I just won't tell her. I'm far enough away from the house; she'll never hear me." Scootaloo brushed off the memory, and zoomed down, leaving an orange and purple slashed trail. The filly shot though several clouds, did a flip, and with the water vapor on her tail, she started making a tornado. This move, called Slash Splash, which she had just thought of when she was hanging with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. She had immediately left, saying she had to help Rainbow Dash with something, and went to try it out. Knowing that she would probably be in trouble if she was caught, Scootaloo made sure to go to the outskirts of Ponyville.

The move was a simple one; at least to Scootaloo. She had seen Rainbow get water vapor, so she assumed that she too could get it, if she went fast enough. Fortunately, gathering water vapor didn't require going that fast. And all pegasi could make tornados, as one of their abilities to make weather. Scootaloo thought of it as foal-proof.

Scootaloo swirled around, and around, and around, and around, until the tornado began to form. It took much more energy than she thought, but if that's what it took, then so be it. The orange and purple tornado surged over that grass, shredding everything in its path. Scootaloo felt her eyes watering and knew she should stop it soon. But what the filly didn't know was how fast she was going, and what kind of tornado she was actually making.

There were two kinds:

The easy going, self propelled tornado-these tornados will do whatever the pegasus wants it too, and will disappear when the flier wants it to. These are usually not harmful, if handled correctly. If not, they can turn wild, and become a storm tornado. The self propelled tornados have to be in between a certain speed, anymore and they turn nasty. Skilled pegasi can control a fast self propelled tornado.

The storm tornado-these are wild. They go everywhere, uprooting plants and trees. They often have the tendency to fling their pegasus out of them and destroy everything. They pull the clouds out of the sky if left for long enough and create a huge storm. These storms are very hard to handle and often times pegasi cannot stop them. If a pegasus gets trapped in the tornado while it is making a storm, it is possible the pegasus could get struck by lightning. They could even get killed, depending on the severity of the tornado.

And a storm tornado was just what Scootaloo had made.

The filly got gotten so much momentum, that she surpassed the speed for a self propelled tornado. Scootaloo started rocking back and forth, getting blown by the high speed winds. Immediately the knew her mistake. All those hours studying with Rainbow Dash about flight patterns, mechanics, and weather had paid off, in the form of knowing she was probably going to get hurt, just as her mother had predicted. Scootaloo was blown up and down, left to right, getting beaten by the high winds. She flapped her wings, trying to get back in control. She struggled, in vain, for a few minutes before the crackling sound caught her attention.

The storm was forming.

Scootaloo called for help, but her pleas were lost in the wind, ripped out of her mouth. And since she had been outside of Ponyville, there was a slim chance of getting help. The air charged with electricity and clouds formed over the top of the tornado. Scootaloo tried to get out of the top, but was stopped as a bolt of lightning shot down, touching where she had just been a few moments ago.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Scootaloo relaxed a little. At least tumbling around in the winds had some advantage. Being so fast, the lightning couldn't get her quick enough. But unfortunately Scootaloo didn't know just how fast lightning could go.

In the blink of an eye, the bolt flashed down. Scootaloo felt an agonizing pain in her back, and suddenly she was flung out of the tornado faster than the wind. Her head connected with the ground, and Scootaloo felt no more.

---

"Uh, I can't believe Scootaloo just bailed on us like that!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, kicking a little bit of dirt up in the air.

Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah, that was pretty rude. We should find Rainbow Dash and ask her what was oh so important that Scootaloo just had to go there now."

"You know what, we should! Just to see if she actually had to go do something." Their plan decided, the two fillies headed to where they knew Equestria's fastest flier would be.

Napping.

"Hey RD!" Apple Bloom shouted up at the pegasus, who was laying comfortably in a plush white cloud. Rainbow rolled over groggily, and took the tufts of cloud that she had used as earplugs when an exceptionally annoying foal had come along. She looked down, and waved at the two fillies.

"Sup guys! Where's Scootaloo?" Dash asked, leaning over the edge of the cloud. She sounded like she was high. Her eyes were drooped, giving her a lazy appearance, and she had a relaxed smile on her face.

Sweetie Belle cocked an eyebrow. "She said she went with you, because she had to help you."

"What? Nah, I've been here since I finished weather duty and Discord bailed on our date. Said he had somewhere to be, but I'm not sure. . ." She tapped her chin suspiciously. Her druggy smile returned a moment later.

"But if Scootaloo went with Discord, why would she lie to us about it?" Sweetie looked doubtful.

Dash shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe they have a secret or-" Rainbow shot up in her cloud, falling off of it. She landed with a thud and scrambled up. Her slow voice and relaxed attitude was gone as she yelled- "WAIT, SCOOTALOO IS GONE?!"

---

"Oh, dear, what is it you wanted to show me, Angel Bunny?" Fluttershy asked quietly, letting the white fluffy rabbit lead her away. He tugged on her mane and pointed at the direction of the EverFree Forest. "But whatever could you want to show me in there?" The pegasus shivered and her eyes dilated. Angel thumped his foot on the ground and tugged harder. Reluctantly, Fluttershy let herself be led to the edge of the forest by her pet. Storm clouds littered the sky around the edge, looking as if they were about to release their loads. As soon as she saw what Angel wanted her to see, she gulped, feeling her knees start shaking.

In front of her was a long skid mark, which was usually caused by pegasi who crashed. And it was usually Rainbow Dash.

The grass was scorched down the center, and an itsy bit of purple and orange mixed fire was burning. Trees were bent back slightly, and the trail was smaller than what she would've expected. It was then that Fluttershy realized this was not Rainbow Dash who had crashed.

The pegasus opened her wings, using them to propel herself faster, and ran down the burning trail. Fluttershy skidded to a halt and looked down.

There, in the middle of dirt and burnt grass, was Scootaloo.

---

The clock ticked on. It was starting to get on Rainbow Dash's nerves, which were already frazzled. Her ear twitched irritably. Fluttershy had come running, tears streaming down her face, crying something about Scootaloo and the hospital. It had clicked in Dash's mind, and then she had raced off to the hospital.

Now she sat in the waiting room, staring at the wall. Fluttershy was there, with Discord, who had shown up as he saw Rainbow Dash speeding down the street. Rainbow had barely even talked, and when she had it was to the doctors, demanding to see Scootaloo. They had refused and Dash had tried to force her way past them. It took seven security to get the growling pegasus off the doctor who had said no. Now Rainbow Dash was sitting in the waiting room, with a few guards standing in the doorways.

"Fluttershy, what happened?" Discord asked, looking at the yellow pegasus cowering beside him. Fluttershy had a tissue in her hooves, and was pressed firmly against the spirit's side for comfort, as they weren't allowed next to Rainbow Dash after attacking the doctor. They said this type of behavior was very common, especially in family members, and the grieving pony should be left alone, in case they strike out in anger.

Fluttershy sniffled. "I-I don't know. All I know is that Angel found her and took me to her. It was terrible. ." She let out a whimper and pressed her face into Discord's side harder. He patted her head.

"It'll be okay. Scootaloo is a strong kid. She'll be fine."

They were silent from then on. Rainbow Dash sat there in emotional agony, thoughts about Scootaloo dying racing trough her brain. The pegasus closed her eyes, trying to block out the disturbing images. What if the filly would never be able to fly again? What if she was disabled or had brain damage or-

"Miss Rainbow Dash?"

Dash's head shot up. The doctor, the one she had attacked only hours before, had just called her name. The pegasus shot up to him, nearly running into him. He gave her a look and backed up a few paces.

"Well, it seems that Scootaloo will be alright. If you want to come see her, you-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Rainbow sped past him, leaving the doctor coughing in a cloud of rainbow colored dust.

Rainbow shot into the room and went right up to Scootaloo's hospital bed. The filly had bandages wrapped around her body, especially her back and wings, and even more on her head. Her mane stuck up like Twilight's did when it got burned there were so many bandages on her head. Rainbow sat down in the chair next to the bed, wrapping her tail around herself, and put a wing on Scootaloo's hoof.

Dash watched the filly for a few minutes, and then looked away, trying to keep the terrifying thoughts out of her mind. Something moving interrupted her intent stare on the suddenly fascinating dull green curtains.

"Scootaloo?" Rainbow asked. She leaned closer to the shifting orange filly. Scootaloo opened her eyes and glanced around the room, looking puzzled.

"W-what?" Scootaloo chocked out, trying to sit up.

"Scootaloo, calm down. You're in the hospital. You had a nasty crash." Dash pushed the filly back down into the bed.

"Don't touch me!" Scootaloo smacked the blue hooves away.

Rainbow recoiled, looking in shock at the filly. "Scootaloo! What's wrong? Did that hurt you?"

"Look, I don't know who this 'Scootaloo' is, but I'm surely not her. And who are you? I don't know you."

Dash's ears dropped. "W-what?! No, Scoots, it's me-Rainbow Dash. Your mom." She tried to put a hoof on the filly.

"No! Stop touching me! I'm not Scootaloo! And I don't know who Rainbow Dash is, and I don't know why I'm here, and-"

"Is she awake?" Discord asked, teleporting into the room. Scootaloo and Rainbow looked over at him.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Scootaloo let out an earsplitting shriek and pressed herself farther back into the pillows, holding the boring green blankets close to her chest.

"Well, that was an absolutely touching way to be greeted," the spirit said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He floated up to the bed next to Dash. "What happened?" He looked at Rainbow.

"I think she has amnesia. She doesn't seem to remember who I am, or who she is," Rainbow told him. He snorted.

"I guess that explains the screaming for her life thing. But that doesn't make me feel great as a first impression."

"I guess not. We should tell the doctor." Dash rose into the air with a flap of her wings, and disappeared into the hallway, leaving Discord alone with Scootaloo, who was still cowering under the blankets.

"You're not gonna eat me, are you?" Scootaloo whimpered, only her eyes and above visible as the blanket was pulled up past her nose.

"Yes, I'm totally going to eat you alive," Discord snorted, rolling his eyes. Scootaloo shrieked and picked up the nearest thing- a lamp. She hurled it at Discord, who quickly jerked his head away before it could hit him. It shattered on the other side of the room. "Hey, I was just kidding. I don't eat ponies-" he stopped- "not anymore, anyways." This caused a whimper and another thing to be thrown at the spirit, this time her pillow. It hit him squarely in the face, making him sigh in defeat. He turned away, trying to look as un-scary as possible, hoping Rainbow Dash would be back in there soon.

As he looked at the door, she and a doctor entered the room. "Well, finally," Discord said.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "It's been what- a whole three minutes?"

"Well, you don't wanna know what I had to deal with those three minutes." He jerked a claw back at Scootaloo.

"So, amnesia huh? It wouldn't be unlikely, as your little friend- Fluttershy, I believe her name is- said she probably hit the ground very hard," the doctor said, pulling some x-rays up onto the screen. They all saw an x-ray of Scootaloo's head, which had a very long crack in it. "She had a major concussion, as you can guess from the x-rays." He pointed a hoof at the second one, which was of her torso. He circled around the middle of her back, "and the lightning struck here, causing temporary paralysis. She would've hit the ground, and could've done nothing to stop it. She's a very lucky filly to have survived such a strike. If she had been hit only a little harder she could've been permanently paralyzed."

Rainbow looked grim. "Will she ever get her memory back?"

The doctor shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure. Could be days, weeks, months- years, even. Nopony could tell for sure. It depends on how severe the accident was. It was pretty bad, so I'm guessing you could be waiting months."

"Uh, thanks doc." She looked over at Scootaloo, who seemed angry. "When can we take her home?"

"We'll be keeping her here for a few more days, to make sure all is well. But for now, visiting hours are over." He opened the door for them as they got the message and started heading out.

"Bye Scoots! I'll see you tomorrow!" Dash called back to the filly, who just crossed her arms and glared at the bed. The door closed and soon she was alone.

Scootaloo continued glaring at the bed. Then, she let her eyebrows up. "Great, now I'm alone. . . speaking of 'I', who am I? That pegasus said I was Scootaloo, but I don't even know her. Who did she say she was again. .?" Scootaloo fell into silence, thinking. "Ah. . . Rainbow Dash." Cool name, but pretty much in reference to her appearance. Did that mean she was fast? As Scootaloo thought about it, she decided she liked things that were fast. And cool. Did this somehow come into play with this 'Rainbow Dash'? "And what were they talking about when they said I have 'amnesia'? What is that? What is an x-ray? Was that my body on those things? I'm so confused! " Scootaloo slammed her hooves on the bed. Then, suddenly self conscious, she brought the blanket up to her chest. "If she comes back, I hope she doesn't bring that monster with her." Scootaloo shivered.

---

"I'm sorry about Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy told us all about what happened," Twilight said, patting her friend on the back.

Dash sighed. "Thanks Twilight. It's fine, really. She's lucky to have survived at all. Amnesia is probably the best thing that could come outta this," she replied.

"Just sayin', we'll be there every step of the way," Applejack said.

"Yes, we'll help Scootaloo get her memory back, just you see darling," Rarity added, stepping up right beside the pegasus. "And I'm sure Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle will be very helpful, too."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that, what if Scootaloo's memory never comes back?" Rainbow asked, looking at her friends in doubt. "She'll never be the same."

"From what we heard, the doctor said it would only be a few months. Hopefully, Scootaloo's memory will be back by then," Twilight said. Rainbow grunted, not believing it would all turn out all right.

"So, what does Discord think of this whole mess?" Rarity asked.

"He's not very happy. Scootaloo thinks he's a monster that will eat her or something. He told me what happened when I left the room," Dash replied. She sat down and laid her head on the plush rug that covered the floor of the library.

"Well, Ah wouldn't blame her, Ah guess. We were all pretty shocked when we saw him the first time, too," Applejack said thoughtfully.

"I don't think he really appreciated it very much." Rainbow rolled over onto her back lazily, mane falling back against the floor. Rarity sat down next to her and played with the colorful strands to relax the pegasus.

"Oh, Rainbow dear, I know how hard this can be. One time, a cousin of mine got amnesia, and it took two weeks for her to recover. Though, her injuries weren't as severe as Scootaloo's. . ." Rarity trailed off and focused more on twirling a silkier piece of bright yellow hair. "But feeling down and not trying to help Scootaloo remember won't solve anything. It'll be a challenge, but I'm sure we can do it if all of us work together. Friendship solves anything, because friendship is magic. She needs friendship more than anything right now." Rarity had now moved on the preening the soft blue feathers on Dash's wings.

"Yeah. . . yeah! Thanks Rares. I don't know what I would do without you girls here to help me." Rainbow smiled, holding out her arms in a hugging gesture. As she was still laying on her back, the other ponies awkwardly attempted a group hug. It was enough. "So, when do visiting hours start?"

Twilight laughed. "Sorry to say Dashie, but it's like three in the morning. I'm not even sure how Fluttershy managed to get us all awake and to the library, though I do live here. Speaking of her, where is Fluttershy?" She looked around, one hoof to her chin.

"Yeah, I'm still not certain why I came here at two in the morning, but oh well. Worth it, even if I miss out on a little bit of beauty sleep," Rarity agreed.

"Boy, Ah was shocked as ever when Fluttershy showed up at the door, draggin' me to the library. Ah was pretty much asleep on mah hooves," AJ laughed. They all shared a quick round of giggles before getting on track again.

"But I'm serious. Where is that pony?" Twilight asked again, raising a hoof in question.

"Beats me. I just assumed she was hiding somewhere, as usual. Like when she gets scared of her shadow, she hides in a bush or something," Rainbow said, shrugging. The other ponies looked at her. "Hey, I don't know what she hides in all the time. But this one time she was in a tree. ." She pondered on the thought.

Twilight jumped up. "I got it! She must be in a tree!"

"Um, Twi, that's a mighty good guess and all, but even if she was, we would never know what tree she was in," Applejack pointed out, flicking her tail.

The unicorn seemed to reconsider. "Hmm. . ."

Dash stood up, breaking Rarity's grip from her feathers, which the white unicorn objected to with a "hey!" and brushed some dust from her shoulders. "I know what Fluttertree looks like. Leave it to me," she told them confidently.

"Alright, go get her then." Twilight jerked her head towards the door with an expectant look on her face. Rainbow flew outside, and returned a moment later with the yellow pegasus. "Was she in a tree?"

"Nah, she was just cowering outside the library. Found her right away."

"So, what did you need me?" Fluttershy asked quietly, hunched over on the floor.

"We just wanted to know where you were. You brought them here at two in the morning and the disappeared right after. Why?" Twilight inquired.

"I didn't want to talk about it anymore, and Dashie was sad, so I thought you girls could cheer her up. I guess it wasn't the best idea at two in the morning, but still. She needed the support."

"Oh, well okay." Twilight yawned loudly, her ears drooping back against her head. "Uh, I'm beat. Can we talk about this in the morning instead? We can all go down and visit Scootaloo in the morning, alright? I need some sleep before then."

Applejack nodded in agreement, a yawn coming to her too. "Yup. Ah agree. See ya in the mornin', ya'll." With a nod in their direction, she walked out the door. Rarity was the next to stand up.

"I'll be off too. A mare like me needs her beauty sleep. Goodnight everypony," the white unicorn said, heading out the door, going the opposite way Applejack did.

"Come on then, Rainbow Dash. You look dead," Fluttershy said gently, taking hold the other pegasus's hoof and led her out the door.

"But I'm not *yawn* tirrrreedd. . ." Dash's eyelids drooped, and she fell asleep on the spot. Fluttershy sighed as Twilight watched them.

"She missed her evening nap. And Scootaloo is getting to her. Don't worry, I'll get her home safely." Fluttershy picked her friend up by her hooves and weakly hovered into the air. She still couldn't carry her very well. Twilight rolled her eyes, her horn glowing, and then Rainbow Dash was gone in a flash of magenta magic. "Huh?!"

"Don't worry, Flutters. I teleported her home. You'd never be able to carry her back all that way," Twilight said, then, seeing the look on the pegasus's face, quickly added, "no offense."

"Oh, okay. Well, have a good sleep. Bye." Fluttershy quickly flew off, eager to be home before the 'monsters' got her. Twilight walked upstairs, snuggling into bed.

"Who knew Rainbow Dash would be the first to have a family." Twilight gave a small snort of laughter at the thought.

---

Something landed with a soft 'fluff' next to him.

Discord leaped back, effectively making himself fall off the bed. He grunted, picking himself up, and looked at what it was.

Of course, it was Rainbow Dash.

"How in the world?" Discord pondered it for a moment. "Oh, right, Twilight. Huh." He clambered back onto the bed again and snuggled against her. How odd, he thought, that I went from evil Lord of Chaos and now I'm here cuddling with one of my former enemies. Fate is indeed strange. I never actually thought that anypony would see past my face and accept me for who I am. Discord wrapped his arms around her and lightly kissed her cheek. Dash blew a little air out of her nostrils and seemed to fall into a deeper, gentler sleep.

What an odd world.

---

"Are you sure I should come? Scootaloo didn't exactly think much of me except for the fact I would eat her. Maybe I should stay here," Discord said, watching as Rainbow Dash got ready to go. She turned around.

"She just needs to get to know you, past your exterior," Dash replied, taking a red crayon and drawing on a watch. "And look at the time!" She pretended to look surprised. "Time to get over it. Let's go."

"That was actually a pretty good line." Discord followed her out, where, to his surprise, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were waiting. They also had the other members of the CMC with them.

"So, you ready Rainbow Dash?" Twilight called up. The pegasus flew down and landed next to her.

"Ready. You?" Dash asked.

"Of course. Come on then." She led the way to the hospital, where Nurse Redheart led them to the filly's room. As Scootaloo saw the huge crowd of ponies come, she was struck by a sense of wonder. She'd never known that this pony was so popular. In fact, she hadn't seen so many ponies together. But only two were familiar. And unfortunately, one of them was the monster. But, then again, one was Rainbow Dash.

"Hiyah Scootaloo. I imagine that you're wondering who all these ponies are. Well, this is Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. And you know Discord," Rainbow announced, pointing to each of them in turn. Scootaloo glanced around at them. Those fillies looked her age. And something about that yellow mare named Fluttershy seemed familiar.

"Uh, hi. Why are you here?" Scootaloo asked, crossing her arms.

"To help you regain your memory, sugarcube," Applejack said, talking in a very country accent. Scootaloo liked her. She seemed caring.

"Yes. You knew us all before your accident, so we're here now to help you in your time of need, darling," Rarity added. She spoke in a polite, girly way. Scootaloo was going to be careful when around her.

"Do you feel anything different yet?" Sweetie Belle asked loudly, putting her hooves on the side of the bed and looking at Scootaloo.

"Um, no. . ." Scootaloo said carefully. Had this filly been her friend? What about the other one?

"Ah, that sucks. Do you remember the Cutie Mark Crusaders Theme Song? Or just the Crusaders?" Apple Bloom questioned, hopping onto the bed directly.

"What is that?"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other in dismay.

"Well, it's our group where we try to find our cutie marks! Except you already got yours." They put their flanks together, showing how they had nothing on them. Scootaloo didn't understand, until Apple Bloom lifted the blankets and pointed to her flank.

"Wow! I really got one? What does it do? What does it mean?" Scootaloo wasn't sure why she only had one. She looked at the other pony's flanks. They all had one. She liked Rainbow Dash's the most, because it was cool. And she had no idea what Twilight's meant at all. A star over a star surrounded by other stars. Confusing.

"Well, cutie marks tell us what your special talent is. Yours is racing, just like Rainbow Dash's."

"And I'm glad you followed in my hoof prints," Rainbow said, walking closer to the bed. She has the same talent as Rainbow Dash? "But I'm the fastest flyer in all of Equestria! Nopony can beat me in a race."

"So I can go fast too?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yup!"

"Is it true? That you're the fastest?"

"Of course!"

"Really?" Scootaloo looked at the other ponies. They all nodded and agreed. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah, I know I am." Rainbow struck a pose, flipping her mane.

"Come on now Rainbow, be modest. Don't start bragging again," Twilight said. Dash looked at her.

"I'm not bragging! I'm just being proud of my talents! What's the shame in that?"

"Maybe you should focus less on 'being proud of your talents,' and get him involved in this." She jerked her head towards Discord, who was sitting in a cotton candy cloud at the back of the room with his arms crossed.

"Right." Dash flew towards him and kicked him out of his cloud before he could react. She then pushed him up to the front of the room. Scootaloo leaned back, attempting to get as far away as she could. "Now, Scootaloo, Discord isn't evil. Anymore." The filly saw his annoyed face. She had a feeling he didn't like her very much. "And even though he looks odd-"

"Hey!" Discord objected. "I don't say-" Rainbow shoved her hoof in his mouth. He grumbled something and Dash smacked him in the back of his head.

"Anyways, he isn't going to eat you or anything. I don't think he is anyways."

Discord pulled the blue hoof from his mouth. "I might eat you after this whole thing is over."

Rainbow shoved him, making him fall down. "Come on, take a joke!" Dash landed on him and proceeded to continue speaking to Scootaloo. "Why do I even bother?"

"Reasons." The pegasus looked at Scootaloo again. "So, how are you feeling?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "A little overwhelmed, I guess. This is a lot to take in. I didn't even know my own name before yesterday. It's all kinda confusing," she admitted.

"I understand. But just understand that we'll always be able to answer your questions."

"Are you my real mom?" Scootaloo asked from nowhere.

Rainbow stopped. "Um. . . no. . ."

"Then where are my real parents?"

"I-I don't know. You were an orphan. I only adopted you a few months ago."

"Oh."

"You okay?" Rainbow laid a hoof on her shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It really doesn't affect me, seeing as I never met them, or remember them. Don't worry."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Yeah, I am." She paused. "Do I have wings too?"

"Look and find out, why don't you?" Dash teased. Scootaloo looked at her back, and let out a yell of surprise.

"Whoa! I can't even feel them! Are you supposed to?" Scootaloo wiggled them, poked at them, and stroked one of the only soft orange feathers that were sticking out of the bandages.

"Yeah, you are. But since your accident, I'm guessing the doctors have numbed them, so you can't feel the pain as bad."

"Can I fly?"

"Of course! You learned to fly and got your cutie mark on the same day. It was truly awesome. I helped you, obviously. You were racing me when you got it."

Scootaloo smiled. "Am I a good flyer? Did I almost beat you?"

"Well, no. But you are a good flyer though."

"Oh, well that's still pretty cool. How did I get in the accident?"

"You were doing a move, which I told you not to do, and-"

"How would I get hurt doing a move?"

"It involved a tornado."

"Oh."

"And you got struck by lightning."

"Ah."

"And it flung you out."

". . ."

"You could've died."

"Rainbow Dash, that's enough!" Twilight yelled.

"Yes, I agree. It is a little mean being that blunt," Rarity said.

"Sorry," Dash apologized. "I guess I wasn't thinking."

"Ya definitely weren't," Applejack snorted.

"You don't want to startle her. Being startled can be very startling," Fluttershy agreed.

"Yeah, yeah I get it. Geez," Rainbow grumbled.

---

"Okay, Scootaloo comes back from the hospital today!" Rainbow Dash announced, flying up into the air happily.

"Yay!" Fluttershy cheered.

"Are you going to go alone?" Twilight asked. Dash nodded.

"I think she'd feel better with just me. She still feels a little awkward around everypony else," the pegasus told her. "Besides, you guys are getting the party ready, right?"

Applejack rubbed the back of her head. "Well, we were, but we're having a few complications. . ." Her bright green eyes trailed back to where Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were trying to help decorate, throwing confetti all over where Rarity was trying to clean. After getting shooed off once more, Sweetie Belle lit her horn and stole Discord's fang out of his mouth. She had just learned how to use magic and for the past few days had been picking up everything, including other ponies. Her magic was fairly strong and she could even pick up Discord. But right now the two fillies were busy playing keep away with his tooth. Applejack considered it disturbing.

"Girls! Give him his tooth back noOOOWW!" Rarity's words turned into a scream as Sweetie Belle picked her sister up and shook her like a rag. "SwEEtie BeLLE gEt ME dowN RIGht NoW!"

"And give me my tooth back! Don't make me use my magic!" Discord shouted, his paws starting to glow with golden magic. Seeing this, Sweetie Belle only more determined to be an annoyance. She picked Discord up and held him upside down. He looked surprised. Sweetie then began shaking him too, but much faster, so he looked like a blur. "HHHEeeeeyYYY!" Apple Bloom cheered her on, jumping up and down in delight. Having had enough, Discord's magic reached out and wrapped itself around Sweetie's horn, stopping the magical flow from it. Rarity fell from the air and Rainbow Dash caught her, setting her down on the ground. The unicorn stumbled around dizzily, falling into Twilight's hooves. Discord quickly started flying, catching himself right before his face hit the floor, and repositioned himself upright. His magic let Sweetie Belle's horn go, instead picking both of the fillies up and setting them down outside, the door closing firmly after them.

"Finally. Sweetie Belle usin' magic is one of the most chaotic things ever. Followin' Discord, in fact," AJ muttered.

"I almost agree, Applejack," Discord growled, dusting himself off.

"Okay then. I'm gonna go get Scootaloo now. Seeyah in a few," Rainbow Dash said, shooting out an open window and into the sky.

---

"Just sign here and she's all yours," the doctor told Rainbow Dash. The pegasus sloppily signed her name on the bottom line and the scroll disappeared in a flash.

"Thanks," Dash said as the doctor trotted away into another room. She had a feeling he didn't like her after what happened when Scootaloo had first arrived. But she had other matters to attend to. "Scootaloo! Come on, we're leaving." She walked into the filly's room.

"Huh? I'm leaving? Where are we going?" Scootaloo asked, looking in confusion at Rainbow. It had been almost a week since the accident and her injuries were healing well. But her amnesia seemed to be getting no closer to being over.

"Well, we're going to the library."

"Why are we going to the library? I thought you said you lived on a cloud."

"Oh, well, um, I'm just. . . stopping by the library! Yeah, that's it. Need to pick up the newest book of Daring Do. It'll only take a few minutes, at tops." Dash hoped the filly would forget about the lie once they reached the library.

"Oh, okay? I'll get ready then." Scootaloo clambered out of the hospital bed and stretched before they started out the door. A nurse rolled a wheelchair up and Scootaloo reluctantly sat down in it to be wheeled out the door. As soon as they got outside, she hopped out and fluttered her wings slightly. "Am I going to be able to fly? I still have bandages all over." It was true; Scootaloo still had them covering her back and most of her small wings, plus they were wrapped around her head.

"I think it might be a few days. But no worry, I can get you up to the house. I've flown with you plenty of times before you learned how to. Now, let's hurry on to the library." Dash pushed the filly ahead of her and they set a quick pace there. As they walked, Scootaloo gaped in awe at everything around her. Apparently she should've recognized it, but to her it was totally new. The only part she had seen of Ponyville was the back roads that led to other small towns outside of the hospital window. And that wasn't very interesting. It was so much better out of the hospital, where she was surrounded by ponies of all kinds.

"It's so big! Do you know all of the ponies here?" Scootaloo asked.

"No. I know most, but all of them know me, as I'm the Element of Loyalty and the fastest flyer in Equestria. Everypony knows me, and that ain't a lie," Rainbow responded proudly, looking down at the filly. She turned her attention back to the road, only to run face first into a light pole. The pegasus fell over backwards, and she heard a few giggles from ponies around her and a couple gasps, one being from Scootaloo. Her daughter stood over her, looking down at her face. Everything looked doubled, and it took a few moments for her vision to clear up. Head pounding, she sat up and groaned.

"You okay Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little-" she grunted "-dizzy. All is good though. Come on, we're almost to the library. Let's keep going."

"Okay." Scootaloo and Dash continued on the library. As soon as it came into sight, Scootaloo felt a little intimidated. It was way bigger than most of the buildings in Ponyville. She had been told Twilight lived here, and from Twilight herself that almost all of the buildings in bigger towns like Canterlot and Manehatten were much larger than even her library. She had said the Canterlot Castle was the largest building ever made, and the Princess Celestia and Luna lived there. She had learned Celestia raised the sun, and Luna the moon. She had also learned a lot about Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Sombra, and other historical events. Rainbow Dash had bragged about defeating some of them with the Elements of Harmony. She had laughed about when they turned Discord to stone, and said, "you should've seen the look on his face!" and had told Discord to replicate what his facial expression had been. He had said no, but in the end Rainbow threatened to hoof wrestle him and he reluctantly agreed. He had stood up, done exactly what he had done, and even added the gray coloring covering his body to add the effect. Scootaloo had thought it was funny, but then thought about what it would've been like for him, and decided it probably sucked.

"We're here!" Rainbow Dash announced, kicking the door open. The lights flicked on and a chorus of "surprise!" greeted them as the ponies jumped out of their hiding places. Scootaloo was really surprised. Startled, even.

"Were ya surprised?" Applejack asked, then blew her party horn.

"Yeah! I was practically startled!" Scootaloo exclaimed, buzzing her wings slightly. It still felt weird having them on her back.

"Oh no! Being startled can be very-" Fluttershy was cut off as Rainbow Dash put a hoof up to silence her.

"Startling, we know. Anyways, what do you think kid? We did it just for you!" Dash told her, gesturing to the purple and orange streamers, confetti, balloons, and other decorations around them. Even the desserts were the same color.

"It's great! I never thought anypony would throw me a surprise party! Especially since I just met you a few days ago," Scootaloo said.

"Oh hush now! We've know you for years! You just. . . don't remember it, that's all," Sweetie Belle muttered, standing beside her friend. Apple Bloom patted her on the back comfortingly.

"S'all right Sweetie Belle. Why don't we go get some punch?" Apple Bloom suggested, leading the practically crying unicorn away. Scootaloo frowned a little. Was it really that bad that she didn't remember them? Or their. . . memories together. . .Thinking about it made her head pound dully.

"So, you want to play a game? Pin the tail on the pony? Old west?" Rainbow paused. "Okay, well maybe not that. I really don't want rope burn again… but anything else'll do!"

Scootaloo smiled a little though her confusion. "Nah. I think I'd rather sit down and talk. I'm still kinda out of it."

"I understand." Rainbow turned to the others. "Come on ponies! And draconequus. . . and dragon. . . let's sit around and talk. Not the most interesting thing to do, but oh well." The eight ponies, dragon, and spirit arranged themselves in a circle, with Scootaloo sitting between Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

"So, who wants to start?" Twilight asked. Sweetie Belle raised her hoof and waved it around frantically.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Me! Me! Me! Me!" the filly shouted.

"Okay girl, calm down."

"I have got a great story! It's about when Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Spike, and I were in the Chrystal Empire!"

"WHAT?!" the ponies exclaimed.

"Yeah! When you guys were busy with the Equestria Games thing. We had to get Angel back because he went on the train to find Fluttershy. We were everywhere! We couldn't go to the castle, though, because Spike said no. You guys never even looked under the seats!" Sweetie finished, laughing, while Apple Bloom and Spike looked mortified. Scootaloo laughed a little, wishing she could remember that. Her head pounding came back. Twilight looked down at Spike.

"You never said anything about that," the purple unicorn said.

"Um, well. . ." Spike mumbled, tapping his claws together.

"I hope it was fun for you!"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Anyways, who next?"

"Me, definitely! It's about when Scootaloo got her cutie mark!" Rainbow Dash announced. The others groaned. They had heard it about five times, as the pegasus bragged about it whenever the subject came up. But Scootaloo had never heard it. She perked her ears excitedly. "So, Scootaloo wanted me to teach her how to fly! I obliged and we went to practice. I flew with her a little, then let her go. She dropped like a stone!" Rainbow made the motions along with the story. Scootaloo gasped. How did she not remember this?! "And I shot after her! But then, suddenly, from the fog, she came soaring over me! She was flying! She almost ran into a cliff, but she didn't! We landed and we were so excited! She then challenged me to a race." Scootaloo bit her lip. She had heard some of this part. "So we took our marks and then we soared off. I went my quick speed, trying to go easy on her. Scootaloo came after me, attempting to catch up with me. I landed on the clouds, and she flew up right next to me. I congratulated her, but she thought she didn't do very good. But as I looked at her more closely, I saw the glimmering of a new cutie mark upon her flank! I hid my excitement and smugly pointed out the obvious. It was a great day." Dash finished her story with a contented smile on her face. Scootaloo's was one of pure awe. This was a story about her. And she didn't even know about it. The pounding in her head became stronger than ever. She twitched her ear, trying to rid herself of the annoyance. A new voice spoke up.

"I remember when Rainbow Dash came and told us she was adopting Scootaloo. I was so excited! She even agreed, since it was such a special occasion, that I could make them dresses! Oh, such beautiful dresses! I spent hours working on them just for that day," Rarity cooed, flipping her mane dramatically. Then, she shuddered. "It was such a wonderful night. Until. . . Pinkie Pie showed up. . . how I miss her so. But what she did was an awful, awful thing, but I still do miss her. She was our best friend. I only wish I could see her again." Rarity looked down sadly. Then, she perked up. "But we were all so happy for Dashie. The first one of us to have our own family. A very nice family, too, if I do say so myself." The fashionista now had tears running down her face, smearing her mascara. "Ooh, don't worry about me. I'm fine. . . these are happy tears." Scootaloo felt like she was going to cry too. Rainbow Dash cared that much about her, to adopt her from that orphanage she was apparently in. But the only thing ruining it was her pounding head. And just who was this Pinkie Pie? Was she bad?

"Ah remember when Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere on mah farm and tried to get me. She knocked me out before Ah could do anythin', but Rainbow Dash told me what happened. Ah think it was mighty brave'a her to save me," AJ said, giving the cyan pegasus a smile. Scootaloo was confused. Pinkie Pie seemed really bad.

"Hey Discord, why don't you tell them of the time you and Scootaloo were fighting and broke that picture frame? It'd make for a great story," Rainbow suggested, elbowing Discord in the ribs. He grunted, crossing his arms.

"No thanks. I'm good," he refused.

"Come on. . ."

"No."

"Just tell it Discord!" Sweetie Belle shouted.

"Yeah! Don't be a wussy!" Spike laughed.

"Hey! I am not-" Discord objected, but was cut off by Rainbow before he could finish his sentence.

"Do it! Do it! I dare ya!" the pegasus demanded. "Tell it! Tell it! Tell it!" The others joined in on the chant.

"Uh! Fine! If anything to get you to shut up!" Discord shouted, ending the chanting. As he told the story, Scootaloo was in misery. Her head hurt like no tomorrow. She was barely paying attention, but she could tell it was an embarrassing story by the way Discord blushed every once in a while, earning laughs from all around the circle.

The story telling continued for hours, ranging from when Scootaloo and the others were crusading to Rainbow Dash and Discord's first kiss. Finally, somepony spoke up.

"Hey, how about we play a little truth or dare?" Rarity suggested smugly. "Naughty truth or dare?" The others quickly agreed, with the exception of the fillies, who were a little grossed out. "Okay, I'll go first. Twilight, truth or dare?"

Twilight thought about it for a moment. "Truth."

"Okay, here it is: have you ever read an erotic novel?" The other ponies giggled.

"Um. . ." Twilight's cheeks turned bright red. "Yes." A chorus of 'oohs' and 'I knew it' echoed around the room. "Well, my turn. Discord, truth or dare?"

"Dare," he responded.

"Okay. I dare you to change into a female for one minute." All eyes went to the Lord of Chaos.

"What?!" Discord gaped.

"You have to do it: that's the rule."

". . you win this time." He stood up, and in a flash of gold, he changed himself into a girl. His beard was gone, and instead of a short, black mane, was now a tangle of white hair on his head, complete with eyelashes. Giggles went up from the group.

"Hey Discord, I didn't know you were a cross dresser!" Rainbow teased, falling onto her back with laughter.

"Oh shut up Dash!" he now she shouted. She clamped a paw over her mouth as the ponies stared in shock.

"Your-your voice! Bwahahahha!" Tears were now streaming from her cerise eyes.

"Alright, alright, it's been a minute! My turn!" Discord changed himself back and sat down once again. "Applejack, truth or dare?"

"Uh, dare," Applejack responded.

"I dare you to take your hair out of your ponytails." Applejack gasped, holding her ponytail in her hooves as everypony else 'oohed.' They all knew Applejack never took her hair out of her ponytails. Ever. "Come on, AJ." The earth pony gave out a squeak of discomfort, and undid the tie from her hair. Her long, blonde hair fell over her shoulders, and they all gasped, this time in awe. "Now your tail, AJ." Applejack swung her tail in front of her and undid that too.

"AJ, you're so beautiful with your hair down! You should do it more often!" Rarity cooed. Applejack mumbled something incoherent but didn't put her ponytails back in. Then she cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Okay, Fluttershy, truth or dare?" AJ asked.

"Who, me?" the shy pegasus asked.

"Yeah. Who else is named Fluttershy here?"

"Oh, right. Truth."

"Okay. Hmm. . ." Applejack tapped her head for something. "Are ya still a virgin?"

"Oh, I-I. . ." Fluttershy turned red.

"Don't worry sugarcube, nopony's gonna think any less of ya."

"Well. . . no."

"Who was it?" Rarity asked. They all looked at her. "Well, I know I'm not the only one who wants to know."

"It. . . it was. . . Thunder Lane."

"Ooh, he's cute! Good job Fluttershy!" Rarity clapped a little. "Do you stay in touch?"

"Kinda. . ."

"Well, you totally should!" She stopped, seeing the stares from her friends. She cleared her throat. "Your turn, my dear."

Fluttershy gulped. "Okay. . ." She took a breath. "Apple Bloom, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Apple Bloom said determinedly.

Knowing it couldn't be something terrible, which she was okay with, the pegasus picked something easy. "I dare you to dance like Twilight." Everypony started laughing.

"That's easy!" Apple Bloom jumped up and went into the center. She then started 'dancing,' kicking her legs out all over the place. Seeing it, Twilight turned a little red. "Done!" She sat back down. "Sweetie Belle, truth or dare?"

"I think dare," Sweetie replied.

"Okay, Ah dare you to sing the Cutie Mark Crusaders Theme Song!"

"Um, okay. . ." Sweetie Belle stood up and began singing in her beautiful voice. As soon as she was done, she looked at Scootaloo, who was still kinda out of it considering her headache. "Scootaloo, truth or dare?"

"Uh. . . Can I skip please? I really don't want to go. ." Scootaloo mumbled.

"Sure Scoots! Apple Bloom, pick somepony else," Rainbow Dash told the filly.

"Mmkay. . . Spike! Truth or dare?"

Spike answered immediately. "Dare!"

"Okay then. I dare you to light Discord's mane on fire!"

"WHAT?!" the two males in the room shouted at once.

"Do it!"

"Sorry dude." Spike looked at Discord, who was thinking of the time he got arrested. "Can you lower your head?" Discord grumbled something and leaned his head back reluctantly. He heard Spike take a breath and the next moment he felt the heat from it scorching his neck. The green fire made its way up his mane and the whole thing was on fire now. Luckily Discord was flame proof.

"Wow, you look awesome!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "A fire mane!"

"When can I put my mane out?" Discord asked angrily.

"When we're done playing truth or dare."

"Seriously?!" Discord held his paws out in front of him out of frustration.

"Yeah. Spike, go."

"Okay," Spike said. He looked at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, truth or dare?"

Rainbow snorted. "Dare, obviously."

"Okay, I dare you to kiss Discord. On the lips. No holding back."

"Excuse me?!"

"Why am I the target of the same dragon twice in a row?!" Discord groaned.

Spike shrugged. "I don't know. Come on, you guys." The rest of the group snickered.

"Whatever, we are dating," Rainbow Dash said. Discord looked down at her.

"But in front of everypony else?" Discord practically whimpered.

"It'll be quick, I promise."

"At least thirty seconds," Spike added in deviously.

"If you enjoy it too much, please excuse yourselves and head for the guest room bed," Twilight commanded in a captain's voice. The whole room burst out laughing, with the exception of a certain pair.

"Let's just get it over with," Rainbow whispered to Discord. He nodded reluctantly and they leaned in closer. Their lips locked, and a chorus of 'oohs' went up from the others for the five hundredth time that day.

"Tongue!" Rarity shouted, and they laughed yet again. As the adults enjoyed what they were seeing, maybe some a little too much, the fillies were slightly disturbed. And Scootaloo was barely conscious at this point. Everything moved in slow motion, and sounded like it were underwater. Her vision flickered. The pounding was all she could feel, not even the floor beneath her.

Meanwhile, thirty seconds was nearing and Rainbow had her hooves to Discord's face. Maybe she was enjoying this too much. Her wings were throbbing slightly, proving her thoughts correct. Maybe she had had a little too much to drink. One of the punch bowls had some alcohol in it, that's for sure.

"Okay, time's up!" Twilight shouted, and the couple moved apart, a little bit of spit still connecting them as their faces moved away. Discord had a stupid smile on his face. The mares, plus Spike, were laughing their asses off.

"Ha! You enjoy that, Dashie?" Fluttershy asked, her eyelids drooped. Yup, that punch had alcohol. Fluttershy enjoyed punch, so it was no wonder she seemed the most intoxicated. She had probably gotten a few more glasses during other pony's turns. And now that Rainbow thought about it, Rarity and Twilight were definitely tipsy. That explained Rarity's weird thing with sex tonight. Applejack seemed okay, but you usually couldn't notice when she had been drinking, aside from talking slightly slurred on occasion.

"Okay, okay, Rarity. My turn. Truth or dare?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Rarity hiccupped. "Dare," she said firmly.

"Okay. I dare you to run outside, screaming that you've been raped. And make sure to look like it. And if anypony tries to help you, push them away and scream that you've seen them in your dreams."

Rarity smiled. "Easy peezy one too breezy." She stood up and walked out the door. Then she started screaming. "HELP! HELP! I'VE BEEN RAPED! HELLLLPP!" She ran around frantically. A pony ran up to her, and they could see that it was Derpy.

"Rarity?! What happened?! Are you okay?! Can I help-" Derpy was pushed into the dirt and Rarity ran away screaming:

"I'VE SEEN YOU IN MY DRRRREEEEEAAAAMMMMMSSSS!"

Then, just as calm as ever, she walked into the library, gently closing the door behind her. "Easy. I told you."

"Okay, that was good. And I'm exhausted. I think we'll head home. Right, Discord?" Rainbow Dash looked over at the spirit, who was only half awake. His mane was also still on fire. "Better take care of that. Twilight?"

The unicorn looked up. "Sure." She conjured up a bucket of water and poured it on Discord's head. He jumped, looking around, before leaning back up against the bookshelves.

"Scoots, you ready to go home?" Dash nudged the silent filly. No response. "Scoots?" She looked her in the face. Her eyes were open, but the pupils took up the entire space, no purple even showing. "Scootaloo?!" She shook the filly, then picked her up and set her on her hooves. Scootaloo collapsed. "SCOOTALOO!" Rainbow put her ear to the filly's chest. She didn't feel any heartbeat. Dash picked up her daughter and shot through the door, leaving shards of splintered wood scattered all over the library floor. The others looked at each other in half drunk confusion. The other fillies and Spike glanced at each other in worry.

Oh no.

---

Doctors scurried about, all heading to the room Scootaloo was in. If Rainbow Dash listened hard enough, she could just barely hear the shocking sound from the defibrillator as they attempted to revive the filly from death. When Dash had arrived at the hospital, Scootaloo's eyes were closed, and doctors immediately took her. And now Rainbow was waiting.

Again.

Hours passed.

Even more hours.

Morning.

A doctor approached the broken pegasus. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yes?" Her voice cracked.

"Scootaloo is in a coma."

"W-what? For how long?" Dash's eyes dilated.

"We don't know for sure. But we got her back, but we wanted to make sure she would make it before we told you."

"Can I see her?"

"You may." He led her down the hall and into the hospital room. Scootaloo was once again, in bed. She wasn't moving. Tubes went up her nose and there was an IV in her arm. Her chest rose slightly with every breath. Rainbow held her own. Scootaloo was pale, her coat and mane blenched several colors.

"Oh, Scootaloo." Dash sat down next to the bed sadly. "You'll get through this. I know you will. Because I love you. I love you. Discord and I both love you. He may not say that, but I know. He's loved you from that day you said he seemed like your dad. We're not trying to replace you parents, but you've given us both a lot. Just remember I'll always be there for you."

Months. Months and months.

Scootaloo remained in a coma.

Rainbow Dash visited everyday.

Her friends were devastated. Scootaloo's friends were devastated. Rainbow Dash and Discord were devastated.

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight called into the dark room. The pegasus was laying limply on the cloud bed. Twilight walked up to her. She had been worried about her friend. They barely see her. "Dashie? It's me, Twilight. How you feeling?" Twilight sat down on the bed next to the pegasus.

"It's my fault." Rainbow Dash blinked once.

"Huh?

"It's my fault."

"No it's not."

"Yes."

"No. Why?"

"I wasn't there for her."

"Yes you were. Stop this silly talk."

"But-"

"No. Rainbow Dash. I didn't just come here for visiting. I came on an important matter." Twilight laid a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "It's been almost a year. Almost a year of pain for Scootaloo."

"Yeah. So?" Dash glanced up at the unicorn.

"The girls and I have been talking."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. And we think it's time for you to move on."

"Move on?" Dash practically choked on the words.

"Yes. Scootaloo's has been in pain. That's obvious. And we think it's time to pull the plug."

Rainbow shot up. "PULL THE PLUG?! SHE'S MY DAUGHTER! I'LL NEVER DO THAT TO HER!"

Twilight shrank back. "Rainbow." The pegasus continued screaming at her. "Rainbow Dash." Still screaming. "Rainbow Dash." She finally stopped.

"What?"

"It's time."

"Time?"

"Yes."

Rainbow seemed to falter. Then, she fell onto Twilight, crying. "I miss her so much! I love her!"

Twilight stroked the pegasus's mane. "Ssshh, I know. We know. But if you really care about her, you'll let her be in peace. She's in so much pain. So much."

"Pain?"

"Yes, Dashie."

After what seemed like forever, she finally replied. "Okay."

---

"Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to," the doctor told her as she stood by the bedside.

"Yes. I'm sure. Can you leave? For this? I want to be alone with her in her final moments," Rainbow Dash said.

The doctor nodded. "I understand how hard this is for you." He lowered his head and backed out of the room.

Dash looked at the filly. "Scootaloo. Scoots. I love you. Ever since I took you under my wing, I knew you were special. Just because you couldn't fly didn't mean anything. I would teach you. Always. And I'm letting you know I'm only doing this for you. Only for you. Because you're in so much pain. I know you are. Just because you're asleep doesn't mean I can't tell when you're in pain.. I could always tell. And I'm telling you now that everypony will miss you and they all love you too. Especially me and Discord. It's been hard, these last few months. I was keeping you around in pain for my own selfish reasons. But now it's time to say goodbye. So, goodbye my filly; my daughter; my light." Rainbow Dash leaned in and gave Scootaloo a farewell kiss on the cheek. Then, she reached for the plug that kept her on life support. She glanced one more time at the filly, and while keeping her eyes on her, grabbed the cord. Then, she stopped.

Scootaloo's eyes opened.

---

Dun dun duuuuuuuunnnnnn!

I might have to change rating if I keep this up! XD