As the door swung open, Applejack, Apple Bloom and Rumble all straightened and awaited their greeting. At such a late hour, it was surprising they got one at all. But of course, coming from the girl Applejack had decided to rely on, it was a... unique one.

“Dude, you look like crap,” Rainbow Dash spoke thoughtlessly, looking Applejack up and down and noticing the tearing of her clothes and the shadows lining her eyes. Her hair was messed up, and her expression was tired and troubled. Leaning against her doorframe, Rainbow smirked, looking the barmaid up and down seductively, “But you're still top of my to-do list. But what are Little Red and her boytoy doing here? Usually there aren't kids in my sex dreams...”

“Uh... is she your girlfriend or something?” Apple Bloom asked with a disgusted and scrunched-up expression.

“Hush sis,” Applejack silenced her sister with a frown before turning back to Rainbow Dash, who wore nothing but somewhat revealing pyjamas and her shaggy short hair. “And this ain't a dream. Can we come in?”

“Mmm, I guess so.” Rainbow shrugged, stepping out of the doorway and casually gesturing for them to step inside. “It's like two in the morning, what are you doing here?”

“Try three.” Apple Bloom murmured as she walked past the older girl, and Rainbow pouted her lips to hear it.

“That doesn't make it more reasonable. Again, why are you here?” Rainbow asked in a yawn, scratching at her ear as she lasciviously eyed the barmaid up and down while she strode in.

“Whoa... if she ain't your girlfriend, she should be,” Apple Bloom praised, spinning around and glancing all over the gorgeous residence. “Jus' look at this place!”

“Not bad, eh?” Rainbow smirked as she closed and locked the door behind them.

“Ah'm sorry t' stop by so short notice, an',” Applejack mumbled, pausing as she fidgeted with her hands and worked out the words. “Ah guess Ah'm sorry t' stop by at all, if you're still mad.”

“Still not an answer.” Rainbow teased with a straight face. Noticing the way Applejack cringed when she carefully touched her aching head, she became more serious. “You okay?”

“Yea', well, naw, Ah mean, Ah'm fine now, but,” the blonde brushed it off, looking over at her sister and her boyfriend as they sat down on the couch obnoxiously; not that Rainbow Dash cared at all. “Can th' kids an' Ah stay here for th' night? Ah promise Ah'll explain everythin', we... we ain't got no where t' go.”

Rainbow hardly hesitated, responding with a welcoming, “Of course, yeah, make yourselves at home.”

After a brief silence, Applejack touched Rainbow's arm, whispering, “Can Ah talk t' you alone for a spell?”

“Uh, yeah,” Rainbow agreed with a nod, staring at the fond way that Applejack still touched her, and feeling the warmth she had been missing. “Anything.”

Applejack followed Rainbow Dash into the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder once or twice to see her sister and Rumble getting too cosy-close on the couch. She didn't say anything about it though, as now was not the time. Once they were alone, Applejack let out a slow exhale, nervously pursing her lips as she tried for words.

“It's jus' kind of a sensitive topic,” she tried to reason, and Rainbow didn't seem to mind. Applejack went on in an anxious voice, “Well... sorry if we woke ya.”

“No sweat, Dolly.” Rainbow shrugged, easing Applejack's conscience. After rolling her neck and shifting a bit while waiting for Applejack to go on, she decided to ask, “What did you want to talk about?”

“Ma sister went and got into some trouble, see, so Ah went t' fetch her, an', well,” Applejack started too quickly, so she tried to slow down and keep it vague. For all she knew, Rainbow didn't care at all. “One thing led to another, we got in a fight with Rumble's brother, he'd been drinkin' and—”

“A fight?” Rainbow perked up in worry, stepping right into Applejack's personal bubble and inspecting ever inch of her she could see, and pushing her clothes to the side to try and see more. Concernedly, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yea', he came up behind me an' blind-sided me a bit, but we got out fine,” the barmaid explained in a calm voice. Taking Rainbow's intrusive hands, she stared into the hostess' eyes and squeezed gingerly on her fingers. “Ah really just... well Ah wanted t' see you. I wanted to make things right. Ah know Ah lied and kept secrets and all, Ah didn't wanna hurt you, honest, Ah just—”

“You don't have to explain,” the rainbow-haired girl stopped her, and Applejack went silent with surprise. Adding a smile to the mix, Rainbow spoke more, “I understand, you know. I really do know how you feel. I'm not mad at you; you did what you could, I'm sure. I mean, how do you even go about telling someone something like that? Mad props for telling me at all, really.”

Applejack was quiet for a moment, before shaking her head and wondering, “What?”

“I said I'm not mad at you, Applejack. I'm just... well, I’m jealous honestly. It really sucks, the situation, I mean. It kills me to imagine what you've had to...” Bowing her head, she sighed heavily and ran her thumb over Applejack's familiar hands. She still did love everything about the barmaid, even down to her knuckles and nails. With a solemn smile she admitted, “Maybe I'm kind of immature, thinking everything would be perfect between us, hoping for some fairy tale love story, you know? And yeah, maybe I'm kind of selfish. But, but, I really just... I want you all to myself, is that bad?”

“Naw...” Applejack chuckled as she moved closer, gazing admiringly and adoringly into her lover's eyes. “Ah want to be all yours, too.”

“Ga~ay!” a voice called from the next room, sing-song in tune and clearly intending to be obnoxious. Applejack frowned to realize it had been her sister's voice, but made no mention of it.

“Well, how about a drink?” Rainbow released her, going over to her cupboard and retrieving a tall glass. Opening her refrigerator and grabbing a jug of orange juice, she mentioned, “I'm making a Screwdriver.”

“All yours, sugar.” Applejack respectfully declined, watching Rainbow find a bottle of vodka and pop the lid off.

“More for me.” She playfully winked back at her barmaid, who for once watched Rainbow make a drink. As she mixed, she went on, “But... like I said, I was just upset. It doesn't change how I feel about you. You're my Dolly, no one can take that away from me. I won't let them.”

“Dash...” Applejack whispered her name, and as usual, saying it brought a smile to her face.

Vodka splashed into the juice and mingled within the transparent container. The Screwdriver settled on the counter, the two ingredients shifting and swirling in the glass. It was entrancing, and Rainbow could not resist touching it.

As Rainbow stared at the glass, Applejack came up behind her without warning. Her arms slid around the shorter girl's waist, embracing her closely and pressing her against her chest tenderly. The barmaid rested her chin onto Rainbow's shoulder, lovingly inhaling her scent and closing her eyes. Smirking at the attention, Rainbow stirred her Screwdriver with a finger before taste-testing it by liking it off.

“Ah missed you,” Applejack murmured against her neck, kissing it once or twice as she remembered all Rainbow's muscular curves and tones with her fingers.

“Don't think you're entirely forgiven,” the younger girl responded tauntingly, turning her head and looking down at Applejack's pleading and submissive expression. “I think you owe me for all the lying, Dolly.”

“Mhmm?” the barmaid hummed as her wandering hands slid up Rainbow's loose shirt, tracing her body and fondling it.

“And know that I'm no push-over, I'm not going to stand by and let Miss Jubilee use you like that, no ma'am,” Rainbow's voice raised, and she spoke with a more aggressive tone. “I'll kick her ass.”

“Please don't,” Applejack begged in a tired voice. “She don't mess around, she'll find a way t' ruin your life... And mine.”

“Yeah, but...” the younger girl huffed and silenced herself with a large gulp of her Screwdriver. In a more whiny voice she pouted, “I wanna kick her ass.”

Applejack chuckled, hugging Rainbow tighter and kissing her once more on the neck. After a small silence, she loosened her hold, urging Rainbow to turn around as she said, “Hey, sugar?”

“Hmm?” Rainbow didn't reply, merely humming over her mouthful of tainted juice.

“What did y'mean when y'said,” the barmaid began in a mumble, drumming her fingers along Rainbow's hips. “When you said that you understood, an' that you know how Ah feel?”

“It's an expression,” she tried in a high, unconvincing voice.

“Dash,” Applejack said her name in a growl, the kind that made Rainbow weak in the knees.

“Yeah, fine.” Rainbow sighed and groaned at the same time, turning around to face her and letting Applejack's arms fall to herself. Crossing her arms, Rainbow continued, “I mean that... well, I've had my share of secrets to keep, it can be tricky.”

“Secrets?” she repeated with a suspicious expression, feeling something like jealousy of her own flare up, no matter how hypocritical and entirely unfounded that seemed.

“Well... you see... I didn't just come to the city for the hell of it, you know.” Rainbow explained, swishing her drink in the glass absently. After nibbling at the inside of her cheek, she went on, “My dad lives here. I told him I wanted a place of my own in the city to start my own life, you know? But that was a lie.”

“What's th' real reason, then?” Applejack inquired, genuinely interested.

“There's someone that I want to... meet,” the younger girl started, looking off out the far window vaguely. Leaning against her counter, she added, “Someone I need to talk to.”

“Y'moved out here just for that?” came another question from the barmaid.

“It's a long story, Dolly, and I don't want to get into it at three in the morning.” Rainbow waved the subject away, taking another long sip as Applejack let the topic slide. With a charming smile, Rainbow went on, “Well anyway, I should let you get some sleep. Sounds like you've had a rough night.”

“You can say that again.” Applejack concurred with a small chuckle.

“There's plenty of room on the couch for the kids,” she leaned out from around the corner to have a glance at the kids in question, who had already cuddled up on the couch and relaxed. Turning back to her barmaid, she asked, “But, uh, if you're down for it... you can stay with me.”

A smile crossed Applejack's face, and she agreed, “Ah'd like that.”

“I'll be in bed in a couple of minutes, go ahead without me.” Rainbow directed her with a flick of her wrist, picking up her glass again and making it seem like she had something to finish up before she could go to bed.

Finishing her Screwdriver, Rainbow Dash stood alone in the kitchen, taking a moment to breathe in the silence. Her heart pounded so hard she could feel it in her stomach, her excitement at the prospect of sleeping next to Applejack again was quite apparent. Still, she paused in the kitchen, placing her glass in the sink and thinking about why she had moved to the city at all. Glancing back at her tall windows, she whispered.

“I'll find you,” came in such a hush is barely breached her own ears. “I promise.”

Having teenagers in her apartment was certainly weird to her, and it reminded her of her intentions indeed. Ignoring that, she went over to her linen closet and retrieved a folded throw blanket, carrying it out into the living room. Letting one half unfurl from beneath the fold, she handed it over to the two young kids on the couch, and they greedily grabbed at it and spread it over themselves. As Rainbow went to turn off the light, she paused.

“No screwing on my couch, got that?” Rainbow threatened with an intimidatory wag of her finger, looking each of them in the eyes. “I'll be checking the springs in the morning for firmness. Trust me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Apple Bloom grumbled as she curled up under the covers, tucking her feet up onto the cushion. “Then no screwin' ma sister.”

“Sorry, no guarantees,” Rainbow teased in a singsong voice, adding with a grin, “My house, my rules, Little Red.”

Apple Bloom stuck her tongue out at the rainbow-haired girl, who responded by doing the same thing before turning the light off and starting down the hall. Her steps were quiet, and she could feel her heart swell as she arrived at her own bedroom door. It was a place she had spent countless nights in, peacefully sleeping, but now, it bore something particularly pulling for her.

As she pushed the door open, she caught sight of the barmaid, who had already finished removing her jacket and scarf, folding them up and placing them onto the night stand. Applejack looked up and noticed Rainbow, and a smile crossed her speckled cheeks. Holding her ripped shirt together in one hand, she patted the seat next to her in a welcome gesture. Feeling overwhelmed by her desire to be with the girl, Rainbow hesitated not an instant before following her direction and making her way onto the bed.

Despite her petty desires to keep pretending she was angry about everything, Rainbow climbed up onto the mattress and crawled over to the barmaid. Applejack seemed surprised by her forwardness, but allowed her to come right over and place her hands on either side of the pillow beneath her. Leaning closer, Rainbow positioned herself right over Applejack and pressed herself against her immediately, adoring the way it felt when their lips and chests touched. A hum passed between them as a kiss was exchanged, and Applejack reached up to touch Rainbow's cheek, holding her on her lips wantingly.

It seemed that all her insecurities melted away when she kissed the blonde girl. When they were alone together, it felt like nothing could part them, nothing else mattered. But still, Rainbow pulled away, holding herself barely above the barmaid. With one more little peck on the lips, she spoke.

“I missed you too, you know,” she murmured, nuzzling against the girl lovingly. “Sorry I wasn't quite so understanding right away. I just hate thinking about you with anyone else.”

“Ah know,” Applejack nearly whispered, running her hand over the back of Rainbow's head consolingly until the younger girl moved to lay beside her, curling up devotedly to her chest. “Ah'll find a way to fix things, then it'll be just me an' you, okay?... Ah promise.”

“Please do,” Rainbow almost squeaked in her solemn whisper, touching Applejack's toned stomach with her finger and drawing slow circles on it. “Or I'm going to have to kick some bombshell ass.”

Applejack just chuckled in response, continuing to rub Rainbow's shoulder and head fondly. Reaching out and clicking the bedside lamp off, Applejack doused them in the darkness. It didn't take long for the relieved barmaid and the exhausted young hostess to fall asleep, their warm bodies entwined once more.

The morning came too quickly, and just as hastily had the sun come up as Applejack had to leave. Rumble needed to get back to his apartment to see if his brother remembered much, and Applejack had already called Big Mac to tell him that Apple Bloom was all right. Since it was Saturday, Applejack was already on her way to the farm, so she could take Apple Bloom home with her later that day. Applejack had waited while Rumble went inside to his brother's apartment, letting him grab his phone and talk to the man. Things seemed to go over better than she had anticipated, with her thumb hovering over the emergency number, as he came out without a scratch at all.

Understanding now the need for the poor boy to get out of that house, she offered him her old bedroom on the farm until he could find somewhere else to live. Apple Bloom was ecstatic about the idea, and went so far as to even hug her older sister. Working on the farm with Big Mac provided Rumble with a means to boost his resume so that he might find a good job, to boot, and he vowed to stay in school until he and Apple Bloom graduated, so he would grow up nothing like his older brother.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was galvanized to go ahead with her plan after seeing the poor conditions the two teens seemed to be in.

Having the night off from work proved to be a blessing for Rainbow Dash, as it gave her ample time to go ahead with her plans. She had looked up where she was going perhaps a dozen times already, and at last she planned to see it in person rather than on a map. Leaving just as early as Applejack, Rainbow Dash made her way across town, to a large sprawl of suburbia. She knew how to get there already, as it was somewhere near where Pinkie Pie lived. She would have had more time to venture around the area when she had claimed to have gotten lost that one Hearth's Warming party evening, but having promised Applejack she would show up, she was bound to make an appearance.

It did not take her long to follow the directions she had written out for herself, catching a bus most of the way and walking the rest. Soon enough, she came upon a well-maintained row of hedges and a tall, black-iron gate. She peeked around the corner of the hedges to try and take a gander inside, but immediately dipped back away as the gates began to move. Ducking behind a standing pillar that bordered the hedges, she waited patiently as she heard a vehicle depart.

Just as she had anticipated, she would know that fancy luxury car anywhere: it was her father's.

Waiting until he had driven far enough away that he could not see the brilliant colours of her hair, Rainbow Dash carefully stepped out from behind the pillar. By then, the gate had already closed back up, and she cautiously checked around for any motion sensors or cameras. A paranoid guy like that, with all the secrets he had, she was surprised to find no such surveillance equipment.

Upon inspecting the gate, she noticed that not only was there an electric component which meant the gate could open by a button or command, but there was a lock that bound it together, which could possibly be tampered with or picked open. Crouching by the driveway, she glanced in between the bars to see if there were any other vehicles parked in front of the house—which in itself was obnoxiously well-groomed and gorgeous, much to Rainbow's irritation—but found it vacant. She reached into her rear pocket, taking out what she had brought with her in case of such an inconvenience.

The sun sparkled off the metal run of the small screwdriver, and she grasped it firmly in her hand. Flipping it once through the air and catching it again, she reached into her pocket with her other hand and pulled out a thin metal wire, which used to be a paper-clip and was firm enough to stand up straight. Toying with the old lock, she inserted the small end of the miniature flathead into the lock, twisting it as she searched for the prongs where a key might go. With the wire, she pressed it in below the screwdriver, poking and prodding until she found a groove for it.

The old lock clicked as she found the sweet spot, and with a smirk, she twisted it slowly until it opened. Flipping her hair coolly as she pushed the old squeaky thing open, she slipped onto private property with no remorse.

“Breaking into my dad's old offices and briefcases really paid off,” Rainbow muttered with a snicker, slipping between the trees leading up to the house.

It was two stories high and sprawled wide across the lot. There was various fountains and sculptures around the building, and bushes along the walls that bore beautiful flowers. Along with terraces and climbing vines, the house was complete with rock siding and a gorgeous double glass door entryway.

She went right up to the front door, peeking in and checking for any movement or shadows. Finding nothing, she placed her hand on the knob and tried it. Unfortunately, it didn't budge. Noticing the number pad rather than a conventional key lock, she cussed under her breath. She couldn't risk setting off some alarm by trying random codes, so she stepped away from the door to look for another way in.

Tiptoeing around the house led her to the drifting, faint sound of music floating down from an open window. Glancing up at the second story, she noticed the gaping square and planned out a way to scamper up to it. The trellis provided a decent means to reach the sill, but to get to that, she had to jump onto an overturned garbage can and pull herself onto the low roof of the garden shed. Taking the leap to the trellis, Rainbow Dash managed to bequeath her body weight onto the wooden holds and crawl along the wall. She was sure glad that it was screwed in tightly, or else she might have fallen right back down.

As she reached the top of the vine guiding trellis, she carefully peered into the window, scanning the room for inhabitants. Though the music gently played through the room—which looked to be some juvenile bedroom of some kind, complete with roughed-up band posters along the walls and clean laundry strewn across the floor—it was otherwise empty.

Hoisting herself up to the windowsill hurriedly, she swung one leg into the room and made to duck under the hanging window. She didn't know how long she had until whoever lived there might have returned, so she took her chances and swung her second leg into the room, crouching as she made her way inside. Of course, as she had feared, she had much less time than anticipated, and just as she made it inside, the doorknob to the bedroom began to turn.

Stunned by the speed at which the door opened, Rainbow Dash was left standing in the middle of the room, dumbstruck. A young girl entered the room without a care, that is, until she spotted the stranger standing in the middle of her bedroom. Her bright magenta-coloured hair was chopped even shorter than Rainbow's, and for a second, their similarly bright eyes—one set a flaming amaranth, and the other, a gleaming amethyst—met across the vacant room.

“Oh shit.” Rainbow Dash murmured as her eyes widened.

A blood-curdling scream nearly knocked Rainbow over, and the younger girl began shouting at her madly, “Ahh! Who are you—w-what do you want?” Her screams returned, her voice cracking and her body shaking as she tried to think of what to do, calling, “Help! Burglar! Rape!”

“Shut up, I am not going to rape you,” Rainbow barked at her, trying to gesture for the girl to be quiet.

“You better get out of here, I'm calling the cops!” the pink-haired girl nearly fumbled her cell phone as she pulled it out of her pocket, but she managed to get a hold of it in time to make the threat.

“No, no wait, calm down and let me—” she tried again, pleading and holding her hands up defensively.

“Too late! I'm dialing,” the girl promised, pounding some numbers on her phone as she continued to speak, “You're going straight to jail you dirty—”

“I'm your sister!” Rainbow managed to shout, and the girl in front of her stopped what she was doing and went quiet. Going on, she explained, “Well, half-sister I guess. Your dad, he's my dad too. You know, stiff-and-serious guy, kind of an asshole? Hasn't he mentioned anything about having another daughter?”

“The useless good-for-nothing scamp that lived in Cloudsdale?” she wondered, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes at the stranger before her.

“Ouch, thanks for the vote of confidence there, paps,” Rainbow growled and made a pouting and irritable face, scrunching up her nose and lips.

“No way, you're too old,” came the rude response.

“Further offended.” Clicking her tongue, Rainbow Dash let the quip slide for the time being, instead turning the attention to some imminent danger. “Sheesh, would you put that phone down already?”

“You're not going to kill me, are you?” her younger sister asked carefully, raising an eyebrow as she lowered her cell phone.

“How old are you, anyway?” she wondered, looking the girl up and down.

“... Fifteen,” she revealed reluctantly after a short pause.

“Fifteen years...” Rainbow thought back, recalling a time-line of events in her head. She realized it then, “That's around the time when mom left...”

“How about you?” the girl wondered, and Rainbow's attention returned to the topic at hand. “What are you, thirty?”

“Twenty-two, thanks.” Rainbow snorted irritably, crossing her arms and looking over at her new younger sister.

“Whatever,” her sister did the same, crossing her arms in the same way and standing just like the older girl, trying to act cool. With a flip of her bangs, she inquired, “What do you want, exactly?”

“My name's Rainbow Dash. I needed to meet you, to talk to you,” Rainbow started, taking a step closer and looking the shorter girl up and down.

“And you had to climb in my window to do that?” she muttered grouchily, not entirely sold on the story yet.

“You could start with giving me your name, you obnoxious little brat,” the rainbow-haired girl snapped with a crooked and taunting expression.

“You're one to talk.” She rolled her eyes, but after a moment, complied. “Scootaloo, my name's Scootaloo.”

“Scootaloo,” Rainbow repeated, nodding her head as it seemed to suit the girl. “And you're fifteen now, you said?”

“Are you hard of hearing or something?” she asked, raising her eyebrow and narrowing her eyes.

“No, no, just,” Rainbow sighed some frustrated groan, trying to keep her thoughts together. “It's just, weird to actually see you, to know that you're real. I never thought I'd meet you, at least, not if dad had anything to say about it.”

“Yeah, he never really seemed like he wanted me to know much about you, either,” she replied with a small smile, knowing how her father could be all too well.

“Fifteen years ago, my mother—his first wife, she left us, and I never knew why,” Rainbow began to explain, thinking back on it. “I guess this all makes sense now. The bastard.”

“Well,” Scootaloo shuffled a bit, looking awkward. “Sorry, or something.”

“It's not like it's your fault, kid. I blame the perverted, cheating bastard we call father,” sneering at the prospect, Rainbow shook her head. “Um, you want to sit down or something? We have a lot to catch up on, you know.”

“I... guess so.” Scootaloo agreed, gesturing to the end of her bed. Rainbow Dash sat down there, and Scootaloo pulled up the chair she had set up next to her dresser for putting on her make up in the mirror. “I don't know what to say.”

Looking up at the walls that bordered Scootaloo's dresser, Rainbow Dash saw what must have been hundreds of pictures with dozens of friends, all looking so happy and cheerful. “You have a lot of friends.”

“Of course I do, I'm the most popular girl in school,” Scootaloo bragged, flipping her hair again and checking herself in her mirror.

Rainbow Dash was surprised to hear such a thing, as she herself had been a friendless trouble maker. She wondered how Scootaloo could be so outgoing and popular, when she herself had such trouble with people. Rainbow had always attributed her reclusivity to the way her father raised her, but seeing Scootaloo's wall of friends, she was uncertain. Taking a closer look, she noticed that in the pictures that contained Scootaloo, there was a clear similarity: she was wearing expensive-looking, but very revealing clothing.

“Are you a virgin?” Rainbow Dash intrusively asked, and Scootaloo nearly fell off her chair to hear such a question.

“Wha—why would you ask that?!” her voice cracked in a squeak, and she seemed startled. “I'm fifteen! What's it to you, anyway?”

“That's a no, I gather.” Rainbow smirked at her response, and the way the young girl seemed reluctant to answer, pushing her knees together instead.

“Yeah, well, lots of guys are into me, okay?” she tried to defend herself, nervously shifting her eyes.

“Is that really why?” Rainbow asked, clearly not believing a word of that excuse. Scootaloo's expression dropped as she listened to her older sister, wondering just how much she knew. “Once it happens the first time, doing it again and again must not be a big deal, right?”

“... The first time?” Scootaloo repeated with an uncertain expression, listening closely to the subtle hints that Rainbow was dropping.

“I was never very good with other people, you know,” Rainbow changed the subject, keeping her tone light. “Shit, I guess I'm still not. I'm still screwing things up. But, you know I always wondered why that was.”

“What do you mean?” she wondered curiously, still seeming suspicious.

“Well, in response to whatever happened, I just sort of closed in on myself, wouldn't talk to anyone, you know? But, you seem to be doing the opposite. It's funny. So, well, I was just wondering,” Rainbow tried to start the conversation, but didn't quite know how to go about it. Shaking her head, she just decided to speak, “I'm just going to say it, okay? Did dad ever...”

“Did he what?” Scootaloo leaned forward a bit, trying to understand what Rainbow meant.

“Did he ever,” she played coy at first, but after scrunching up her face a bit more, she found it easier just to speak. “Get physical with you? Really hurt you? I mean, I know he has a temper and all, but when he gets drunk, sometimes he can go too far and get a little—”

“What—no, no, why would—?” Scootaloo hurriedly jumped to interrupt her, furiously denying everything. Shaking, she went on, “No, of course not.”

“Scootaloo, you can tell me, you know,” her older sister tried to tell her. Taking her smaller hands, Rainbow quietly and calmly went on, “I lived with him most of my childhood, too. I know what he's capable of. That is, until he sent me to boarding school, and until he came to the city here and moved in with you—sheesh, you must have still just been a kid back then.”

“I don't know what you're going on about, but I think you should leave.” Scootaloo stood up abruptly, dropping Rainbow's hands and gesturing towards the window once more.

“Leave? No, listen, you don't have to keep playing dumb, I understand. Come on, I'm your sister, you can talk to me,” Rainbow stood up too, trying to keep her attention.

“I don't know who you are, you're just some crazy person who climbed into my window, sister or not,” she denied, taking a step away and shaking her head firmly. Rainbow would not let it go so easily, though, and she went on with a much more hasty voice.

“I know why you have so many friends, why you stuff up your time with anything that takes your mind off of it,” she continued, and Scootaloo's eyes darted between her own, anxious and afraid but hearing some truth to the statement.

“Get out,” was her only response, knowing nothing else good enough to say.

“I know why you need external validation, why you try and rationalize it all in your head, everything that happened.” Rainbow told her firmly, a concerned expression painted over still unfamiliar features. “It's not normal, it's not okay, and you're not going to get over it or forget it.”

“I told you to leave,” her sister repeated, reaching into her pocket and grabbing her phone, holding it out threateningly. “I'm going to call the cops if you don't get out of here right now.”

“Fine, fine, relax,” Rainbow put her hands up in front of her defensively again, backing away towards the window. Reaching over to Scootaloo's dressed and grabbing a pen, she began jotting something down on some scrap piece of paper, ripping it off the full sheet and handing it to her sister, “Here, this is my number, okay? If you ever want to... well, you know how to reach me.”

“I won't,” Scootaloo took it and ripped it in half, before crumpling the whole thing into her palm roughly. “Now fall back out that window.”

Rainbow nodded and sat back onto the windowsill, swinging one leg out. Something paused her, though, and she stared at it. It was some picture that Scootaloo had on her night stand, framed and everything. The harder she looked at it, the more she recognized one of the two girls that stood on either side of Scootaloo. Her bright red hair was a dead give-away, and the familiar crooked smirk reminded her of someone she knew all too well.

“... Who's that?” Rainbow asked cautiously, though she already knew the answer.

“A friend of mine, she's a little older than me, but she's cool, introduces me to a lot of people.” Scootaloo explained with an annoyed shrug, before getting back to pushing her sister away, “Why do you care?”

“I... I guess I don't,” Rainbow admitted, though she felt odd to know that her sister had been so close to her, and she hadn't know. For Pete's sake, her little sister's best friend had slept in her apartment one night prior.

“I'm not asking again,” Scootaloo caught her attention with the threat, and Rainbow looked back at her.

“Scootaloo,” she said her sister's name, though it still didn't feel right to call her by, as she wasn't familiar enough with her to let it roll of her tongue the way it often might have. Swallowing her pride, she tried once more, “You're not alone, you know. You're not helpless and you don't have to stay silent about everything. I know.”

“Go,” she growled, pointing a firm finger at the window Rainbow was already half out of.

“He did it to me, too.” Rainbow Dash revealed, and Scootaloo fell silent as she heard it. Sucking on her teeth awkwardly, Rainbow proceeded to crawl out the window from whence she came, leaving but three words in her wake, “Well, see you.”

Scootaloo watched her disappear out of sight, and once again she was alone with the easy lulling of her music. She stood there for a moment or so longer than she anticipated, thinking over what her sister had told her. Opening her palm, she looked at the worn piece of ripped paper inside, still making out the numbers well enough to read.

Scoffing, Scootaloo crunched the paper back up, placing it on her dresser and placing her phone down next to it. She shook her head, grumbling, “Damn lunatic.”

Author's Notes:

Scoot-Scootaloo! At long last I got to put her in, I've been working her into it for a while now. Poor little popular rich girl, lol.