Chapter Three

The Sleep-Over

A blood-red sky streaked with wisps of cloud hung over the land. One the edge of a field, next to a path, two pegasi were holding each other in a tight embrace. The older mare looked up from burying her face in her companion's purple mane and saw Celestia's sun beginning to set. She let loose a deep yawn and stared at the horizon. This was too big of a decision for Scootaloo to make in an instant. A smile spread across her face as another idea popped into her mind.

"Well Scootaloo, it's pretty late, I'm gonna call it a day. We'll pick this up where we left off tomorrow when you've had a chance to sleep on it, okay?" The cyan mare mussed the filly's purple mane again.

The two retracted their limbs from their hug, and the filly began to depart. "Alright, I'll think about it tonight. Thanks for the flight lesson Rainbow Dash, see ya!" Scootaloo then grabbed her helmet, donned it, and hopped onto her scooter. She was about to start going when Dash placed a hoof on the front end of it, making sure to not let the filly rocket away this time.

"Hey before you go, I have a question," started Dash. Scootaloo looked up with inquisitive eyes.

"Okay, uh, what do you need to know?" she asked

"I was just wondering, do you have to ask for permission from one of the matrons to have a sleep-over or something at somepony else's house?" asked Dash, having a little fun with her proposition.

"Uh…normally, yeah, but they make an exception with me. I have sleepovers with the other Crusaders like every other day, so I guess they kinda just got used to me not showing up for curfew." Scootaloo pondered Dash's motives for her question. "Why do you ask?"

The smile on Dash's face only grew larger, and began to hurt a bit. She was really starting to enjoy inspiring hope in the filly's eyes.

"Well in that case, why don't you come and stay with me tonight?" asked Dash. "That way you can decide and tell me what it is you want to do as soon as possible. If you pick flight, I'd need to put a training regimen together. It's been a while since I've made one, so I might need some time."

The entire time Dash explained her proposition she had a pose struck and her eyes to the sky in her normal braggy fashion. She had an idea of what her sister's face looked like, but it didn't prepare her for the massive smile on the hopeful little filly's face she saw when the mare looked down.

"R-Really? A s-sleep-over at…at y-your house!?" asked Scootaloo. She supposed she should just get used to Rainbow Dash doing this sort of thing; she would only be continually amazed by her willingness to get closer.

"Sure, it'd be fun! All I have is Tank to keep me company, so It'd be a nice to have somepony else in my house for a change," said Dash, loving every minute of their mutual adoration for one another. Dash smiled as she thought of another way to test the young pegasus. "Why don't we race there? It's just a straight shot that way." Dash raised a hoof and pointed in the direction of her house.

Scootaloo put on a challenging smile and got into her starting position. Dash got into hers, and on the count of three, the two were off. Again, Rainbow Dash severely underestimated the filly's wing power, and was soon literally left in the dust. She promptly got up and took off after her.

Scootaloo might be fast, but Rainbow Dash was much faster, rapidly closing the distance between the two. She could see her floating house in the distance, and quickened the pace. Scootaloo saw it too, and did the same.

Dash closed in on the speeding orange bullet, but made sure not to pass her too quickly; she didn't want to show her up. But then again, Dash didn't want to lose. As the two racing pegasi were almost to the cloud home, Dash tackled Scootaloo off of her scooter, forcing the two to land in a pile with the blue scooter off to the side.

They were both completely out of breath so it was a miracle that they were both laughing and giggling the way they were. They got up off of each other and dusted themselves off. The two walked to a nearby tree, set the scooter up against it, and hung the purple helmet on the handlebars. As they were re-approaching the house, Rainbow Dash grabbed her companion and shot up to her front porch.

The older mare was about to set the filly down when she latched onto the cyan mare's neck.

"Wait, Rainbow Dash! I can't fly!" exclaimed Scootaloo, firmly clamped onto the blue neck. Rainbow Dash pried her off and set her down. To Scootaloo's surprise, she stayed on the cloud. It was a strange feeling, something she'd never felt before. The cloud underneath her hooves gave a little, but stayed firm, and was a bit springy.

"Just because you can't fly doesn't mean you aren't a pegasus. Do you think newborn pegasi that can't fly need to be held all the time?" joked Dash, taking Scootaloo's concern lightly. The younger filly giggled and smiled as she took her first actual step forward on a cloud.

"This is amazing! It's like walking on a super springy bed!" exclaimed Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash just giggled at her friend's amazement.

"Yeah, I've kinda gotten used to it, so I don't really notice how awesome clouds are to live on anymore," said Dash, walking to the front door and opening it.

The two entered the house to find what looked like the site of an explosion.

Entire chunks of cloud were missing from nearly every wall. One of the drapes was half chewed away, and the other was completely gone. What looked like a couch cut in half was on its side against the wall, with another clump of cloud in the form of the missing half stuck to the ceiling. The countertops were mushed to the floor, and a lame excuse for a coffee table looked like it was close to collapsing. To wrap it all up, a lone green rock was laying in the corner, completely oblivious to the world.

"TAAAANK!" yelled Dash, her eyes ablaze "What did you do?! I just barely fixed all of this yesterday when you tore it up." The cyan mare walked over to the green rock that now had a head poking out one of the holes and picked it up. "Ugh, what am I going to do with you?"

Scootaloo snickered, barely able to contain a fit of the giggles.

"What's so funny?" asked Dash, eyeing her sister with a challenging gaze.

"Nothing it's just…" started Scootaloo, barely able to annunciate her words. "It's just that you're talking to a turtle that messed up your house!"

"He's a tortoise" grumbled Dash. However, she couldn't keep her passiveness up forever. The mare soon fell victim to the contagious laughter. After a few minutes of the two cackling uncontrollably, the older mare finally straightened up enough to form a few sentences.

"Just shut up and help me clean up this mess, okay?" said Dash. The young filly straightened up with a salute. The two chortled for a few seconds before beginning their clean-up of Dash's living room.

After a few minutes of "Where does this go?", "Where did that go?" and "What did that used to be?" the two were finished. Dash jocularly shot Tank a death glare that set the two pegasi off again. The tortoise simply blinked; seemingly unaware of anything that happens around him as usual.

"Alright, now that we have my house sorted, how about I go grab some pizza? You okay with keeping Tank company for a few minutes?" asked Dash, walking to her front door.

"I want extra cheese on my pizza!" replied Scootaloo who had climbed up on top of Tank's shell and was riding him around.

Dash giggled again at the sight, and bid farewell. She closed the front door, leaving the pony and the tortoise alone. Scootaloo decided to go for her own tour of her idol's house. She knew she shouldn't be snooping around, but she was curious and bored.

She returned to the living room after wandering about for a few minutes to find Tank in exactly the same position he was in when she left. He blinked his eyes at her, and she rolled her eyes at him. She went back to sitting on the newly formed couch and put together a mental map of Rainbow Dash's house.

After surveying the home, she was surprised to find that, while the outside of Rainbow Dash's house was quite extravagant, the inside was simple, and looked as though it was nothing more than an ordinary one bedroom apartment.

At that moment the smell of freshly baked pizza wafted in from seemingly all directions. Rainbow Dash burst through the door and struck one of her signature poses.

"Dinner is served!" proclaimed Dash, setting the single cardboard box of pizza on the coffee table and opening it "Hope Tank wasn't too much trouble," she joked, plopping down on the couch next to Scootaloo.

"Not really, in fact he barely moved," said Scootaloo with a chuckle, grabbing a slice of pizza. The two chewed in silence for the next few minutes. After almost finishing the crust of her slice, Scootaloo turned to Dash who was finishing up her second.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash?" asked Scootaloo.

"Hrmm?" responded Dash, her mouth filled with the last bit of her second slice. After chewing a few more times she swallowed. "What is it?"

"Uhmm, I just wanted to say…" now it was time for Scootaloo to be touchy-feely. "I just wanted to say…thank you. Thank you for being like my big sister"

Rainbow Dash felt a lump form in her throat. If you told her that a simple orange filly she only really knew for a week and a half could melt her heart like that, she might have laughed like you had told the funniest joke she'd ever hear. But now she looked upon the little ball of joy she could call a sister and smiled.

She reached over with her wing and pulled Scootaloo in close. "Don't mention it, Squirt," said Dash. Scootaloo leaned in and wrapped her arms around the mare, sighing softly. They held this embrace for what seemed to them like hours. After pulling apart, Scootaloo popped the last bite of her pizza in her mouth.

Dash yawned, and lied back on the couch. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost ten o'clock. It was probably a good idea for the two to go to bed soon.

"Whelp Scoots, it's gettin' pretty late. You have a lot to think about tonight, and you have school tomorrow, so it'd be a good idea to get some shut-eye," said Dash. "D'ja get enough to eat?"

Scootaloo nodded and got up off of the couch. Rainbow Dash reached over and closed the box, carried it over to her cloud-powered refrigerator, and stuffed it inside. She walked over to Scootaloo who looked like she was about to fall over and sleep right where she fell.

"Since I don't have a guest room or anything, you're gonna have to crash with me in my bed, that okay?" asked Dash.

Scootaloo nodded and followed her sister into the bedroom. Luckily the door was closed, so Tank wasn't able to tear it apart. Dash hopped up onto her bed and motioned for Scootaloo to join her. The young filly played it cool on the outside, but on the inside her heart was racing. She was actually going to sleep in the Rainbow Dash's bed!

If a week and a half ago you would have told Scootaloo that she was going to have a sleep-over at her idol's house, she would have laughed like you had told her the funniest joke she'd ever hear. Yet there she was settling in under Dash's covers.

"Goodnight, Rainbow Dash," sighed Scootaloo, already asleep as "Dash" floated out between her lips.

"Goodnight, Scootaloo," responded Dash who reached over and stroked Scootaloo's mane.

Rainbow Dash silently hoped the filly would pick flight; she really wanted a flying buddy…

She then lost herself to a peaceful sleep, and dreamed of the future.

I know RD doesn't exactly have these parental instincts, but she's really just repeating what Rarity and Applejack taught her. Just be compassionate, understanding, and have a good laugh once in a while. More chapters coming soon!