Login

Will You Keep My Secret?

by xCobaltRainx

Chapter 12: The Confrontation

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Chapter Twelve
The Confrontation

The cool Friday morning sky glowed red with the rising sun. Bulky, drifting clouds cast their shadows about the land as they hung before the giant ball of life-giving energy. One shadow in particular formed the shape of the home where Rainbow Dash and her sister, Scootaloo, were slumbering.

Like the previous occasion where Scootaloo had stayed the night, she was nestled up close in the arms and wings of her older sister. She didn't think she would ever get tired of the feeling of Dash's body enveloping her own.

The morning sun's rays slowly found the two dreaming, peaceful faces, and lit them up. The cyan coated pegasus began to stir. She didn't like the sun being in her eyes on an average day, but she absolutely loathed it in the morning.

After casting away the last tatters of her dream, Dash lifted her head and showed the sun a great yawn, and an even greater grimace. She laid her head back down, but she couldn't fall back asleep. Too many thoughts began swirling around her mind. The mare couldn't keep thinking about what she had done.

Had it really been a good idea for her to leave for four weeks? Obviously Scootaloo hadn't been adopted, so should she even worry? But what would she do if someone had taken her in? She raised her wrist to her mouth and bit it. Dash clamped down hard enough to both leave a mark and stop the invisible one-sided argument, yet not enough to draw blood. No, Dash had finally taken an actual step towards becoming a Wonderbolt. She had done what she had set out to do in the first place: impress the hay out of the coaches and overseers. Therefore, she could not be condemned for her choice. However, despite her inner argument, she couldn't help but feel like she had somehow wronged her sister in postponing her life's betterment.

The mare pulled her mind out of her silent struggle with her conscience and lifted her head off of the pillow. She slowly lifted her wing, revealing a dreaming filly. Dash smiled at her sister, and placed a kiss in the middle of the magenta mane. After thinking about it a moment, she reeled back. This was strange. Dash normally had to think about her actions when showing affection or love toward her sister, or anyone for that matter. But the kiss she just gave was completely without thought.

Dash didn't quite know what to think about this new development. She normally hated anything that was touchy-feely and mushy in nature, only making an exception for the few occasions with her sister because of the absolute need for it. She was a bit disappointed in herself for being "weak," but at the same time, she was overjoyed to know that she was still capable of showing love. Dash now realized how important Scootaloo is to her; it isn't easy to break all of the layers of brash boldness that surrounded Dash's affectionate side.

The rainbow mare simply watched her sister breathe. The two pegasi simply lay there; the older awake the entire time. Before she realized it, the sun had fully risen. Dash snapped out of her daze. One look at the clock on the wall made her heart sink. She shook her sister violently.

"Scootaloo, wake up! You're gonna be late for school!" she yelled.

Scootaloo, upon hearing these words, bolted upright.

"What?!" she exclaimed. "Not again! Cheerilee said that if I'm tardy one more time, I'll be sent to detention!"

Scootaloo then clambered out of the giant cloud bed and rushed out the door with Dash in pursuit. They strode out into the living room, and Scootaloo stopped in front of the front door.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash? Is it alright if I fly to school? I wanna see if I can get there fast enough. Plus, you said it yourself: if you don't push yourself, then you can't improve."

Dash thought back to one of their lessons. She fondly remembered uttering that phrase. "Sure," she responded. "But wait, don't you need your saddlebag?"

Scootaloo grinned and pulled her blue bag out from behind the couch. "I came straight here from school to help set everything up."

"Well," Dash said, "that shaves a few minutes off. Wanna race there?"

Scootaloo thought about it for a moment.

"When don't we race?" she asked

"Good point," replied Dash as she unfurled her wings and got into a starting position. Scootaloo mimicked the pose, and soon they were off.

The two sisters flew high and low, between trees, and through clouds, speeding along the whole way. After playfully flying about, searching for the school, the final stretch became visible. They both kicked into high gear and dashed for the finish line.

Several schoolfillies were meandering about in the front of the school, and occasionally one or two headed inside for their lessons. One grey, bespectacled filly noticed two fast looking projectiles heading right for the school.

"Who are those two?" asked Silver Spoon, pointing in the direction of the racing pegasi. Five other fillies, along with Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, looked up at the two blurs.

"Whoever they are," replied Diamond Tiara, "they look stupid. Racing to get to school is what babies do."

As they were approaching the school, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo flared their wings and jammed their hooves into the earth and mud, spattering both the grey and pink fillies with muck.

"I WIN!" the two pegasi yelled simultaneously, mimicking their previous race to the school. They held yet another gaze and then giggled again like before.

"Alright," said Dash after regaining her composure, "see ya later, Squirt!"

Scootaloo waved goodbye, then looked over at the two slack-jawed brown lumps with glaring eyes poking out the fronts. The infamous accessories barely visible underneath the layer of wet earth made Scootaloo realize who she had humiliated, and subsequently started giggling again.

"Sorry guys, I guess I was flying too fast!" boasted Scootaloo as she walked past the gaping mouths of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Unfortunately for the grey filly, a particularly large gob of mud hung too low on her snout. She took a breath, and pulled the drop of mud onto her tongue. Silver Spoon began hacking, coughing, and gagging to get the gritty dirt out. She looked to her companion for help, but Diamond Tiara had already begun slinking over to a nearby hose.

Scootaloo then trotted over to her friends who were in a similar state of shock.

"That was you?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Y'all can fly?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Yep and yep!" replied Scootaloo. She loved every moment of shared amazement by the onlookers.

"Jeez, and this is all from Rainbow Dash teaching you?" asked Sweetie Belle, "I gotta get Rarity to show me how to use magic."

The three Crusaders giggled as they walked into the classroom. Dash watched Scootaloo go and took note of the personality type the two pegasi shared. The mare stood for a moment to let it linger, then took to the sky.

"I guess it's time," she said to herself.

She was fully aware of impending stressful complications, but her mind was surprisingly clear. She really hadn't the slightest clue as to how to even begin the adoption process, but she would do everything in her power to get the job done.

Rainbow Dash touched down in front of Oakside Orphanage with set determination in her expression. The mare began her march toward the glass doors. This was it. No more of her waiting, procrastinating, and putting it off. Today was the day she was going to bring that filly home, like she had said to herself when leaving the academy. She pulled the doors open, and a draft of warm air caught her mane, making it fly in the wind. Dash walked to the desk where Nurse Kindheart sat reading a magazine; the issue of which Dash didn’t care. She put her hooves on the counter, and spoke firmly, almost harshly.

“Alright, nurse, give me the papers. I’m adopting Scootaloo.”

An amused chuckle escaped Kindheart’s lips. Dash interpreted it to be a tacit “Finally.” Kindheart doggy-eared the page in her magazine and set it onto her desk. “Well, well, looks like that filly is finally getting her wish.”

Dash drew back. “Her wish? What, to be adopted?”

“Well,” began the nurse, “more than that. Ever since she met you she has told me that, if given the choice, she’d pick you to be her guardian.”

The pegasus’ expression softened. “That’s not surprising.” Though her heart gave a flutter, this new piece of information didn’t pull her from her goal. “Well, let’s grant it.”

“Gladly,” the nurse responded. She pulled out a paper-clipped stack of papers from her drawer, and slid them to Dash. The mare quickly scanned them, and found issues.

“Wait, wait, wait, what?” Dash read the lines and boxes again.

Kindheart responded with a bemused chortle. “Miss Dash, is there a problem?”

“Uh,” replied the mare, “kinda. I mean, what does all of this mean? Guardian evaluation, stable home, and…” The next word and its implications slid off her tongue like a wad of grease. “Five references?”

“Well, we need to make sure she’s going to a good home,” said Kindheart. “You need to show your devotion, have ready someplace for her to sleep, and a few outside sources of recommendation. I’m sorry, Miss Dash, but Element of Loyalty or not, there are rules to be followed.”

“Ugh,” groaned Dash as she rubbed the back of her neck, “thanks…” The mare walked out of the building with the documents nestled in her wing. She transferred them to her mouth before flying off to her home. After entering, she spat the papers down onto her counter. With a grumble, she threw herself down onto her couch.

Five references. Five whole entire full references from other ponies who very well could judge her for softening up enough to become something as compassionate as a parent. Although she felt ready for the title, she was still wary of being one in the eyes of others. The only five candidates she could think of at this moment were her fellow Elements. Yet, those five were the last ones she’d like to reveal this to. In addition, she’d have to break her sister’s promise.

Dash lifted her face off of her couch slowly. With droopy eyes, she looked around her living room. The other two requirements, evaluation and home stability, were of course less difficult. She could easily build a room for the filly, and could probably pass a test of some sort which evaluated just how much she loved Scootaloo. But the last one…

“Damnit!” Dash shouted as she brought her hoof into the couch cushion. She was completely, utterly, metaphorically trapped. Break the promise and admit softness, or doom the filly to a life of loneliness and deny her wish.

If only Tank were here, he’d know what to do.

“Ugh,” Dash groaned again as she buried her face into the cushion once more. “He’s just a stupid, silent tortoise! He’s not gonna talk back!” she thought. Nevertheless, she looked around the room for something to talk to. What she needed was a conversation of any length. Turning on her back, Dash began looking at her uneven ceiling. She recognized a face that bore an uncanny and eerie resemblance to her sister, mane and all.

“What do I do, Squirt?” she said to the formation. “If I adopt you, then I’ll hurt you in the process, but if I don’t, then I won’t hurt you…directly.”

Suddenly, as if it were a dream, the formation opened its eyes, with a golden glow shining from them. “Do what you feel is right, Rainbow Dash. I’ll always love you, remember?” she said with a silky, ethereal voice, her mouth emitting the same beams her eyes were.

After a pang of positive sadness and a clenching in her throat, Dash shook her head violently and screwed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, the formation was gone; mixed into the rest of the ceiling. She rubbed her head and sat up.

That’s right. Scootaloo had said that on the night of their first sleepover. “Yeah,” Dash said to herself, “y-you’re right! You…you’ll always love me. An-and I’ll always love you!” She wiped her nose and continued. “To hell with that stupid promise! And to hell with your secret! If it’s gonna keep me from adopting you, then it can kiss my flank!”

Rainbow Dash flew out the door at record speeds. She travelled to each and every one of her friends’ houses and invited them for a meeting in the field under her own.

The blue mare sat expectantly in the large patch of grass. The overconfidence and the rush she experienced had subsided, and worry set in. “I’m really gonna tell her secret?!” Dash began contemplating cancelling the meeting, that is until the quintet rose over the hill. Dash waved them over, to which the assorted ponies began trotting faster. She waited until they were all seated around her to begin. “Too late now.”

“Hey, girls, thanks for meeting me,” Dash started.

“Of course, Rainbow Dash, what did you need?” said Twilight.

“Well…” The blue pegasus said before stopping. Until now, she hadn’t really thought of how she was going to tell her friends, well, everything. Eventually, she picked a starting point. “It’s about Scootaloo.”

A collective “Oh” came from the five others.

“So,” Applejack started, “y’all finally gonna tell us what’s been goin’ on with her?”

Dash paused. “What d’you mean?”

“Oh come, now,” said Rarity, “you’ve made it clear to all of us that she’s having trouble at home.”

“N-no,” Dash said back.

“Y’all told me that nopony wants tah get close tah her,” accused the hatted mare.

“You told me that nopony loves her!” declared Rarity.

“Well, you also, um, kind of told me that it’s, well, complicated…um, that’s not a good sign,” said Fluttershy.

“And you told me that her parents never take her to get sundaes!” Pinkie revealed, much to the faux-astonishment of the others.

To any of these questions, Dash had no answer. She had forgotten about these details she had so deftly and unintentionally inserted into her friends’ minds. “Uh, I uh…” Dash stammered.

“Alright,” shouted Twilight, “what the hay is everypony talking about?!”

The arguing mares turned their heads in unison towards the uninformed purple unicorn. It occurred to Dash that she was the only one out of the five that she hadn’t let anything slip to; chiefly due to the fact that private interaction between the two since Scootaloo told her secret had been minimal at best. Without warning, Applejack piped up.

“Scootaloo’s bein’ abused by her parents, and Rainbow Dash knows all about it!” The other three accusing mares barked a swift “yeah!” in unison.

“What?!” Dash and Twilight said simultaneously.

“Yes! It’s pretty obvious!” Rarity began. “While you were away, Rainbow Dash, we decided to figure the situation out for ourselves. Unfortunately, every time we tried following her home, she gave us the slip.”

“When we offered tah take her home, she plain refused!”

“When we asked about her parents, she, well, just kind of dodged the question. Three times.”

“Woah, Scootaloo’s parents are abusing her!” declared Twilight.

“I know! It’s super bad!” Pinkie added.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “Scootaloo’s parent’s aren’t abusing her!”

“Oh really,” said Applejack sarcastically. “Then what in the hay are they doing?”

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and sat back on her haunches. Five sets of expectant eyes were centered on her. “Nothing,” she said. “They aren’t doing anything.”

“Wha- yeah they are!” the orange mare argued back.

“I mean,” said Dash immediately, “they’re not doing anything because…she…doesn’t have parents.” Each head drew back slowly. “She’s lived at Ponyville’s Oakside Orphanage for pretty much all her life.”

Something about the blue mare’s posture screamed truthfulness, for everyone in the group believed her.

“Ah, Ah had no idea…”

“The poor thing…”

“I hope she’s okay…”

“I want to make a super-er, n-no special-er… better sundae than the last!”

Twilight, the one not to say anything, walked to the seated mare in the middle of the group. “I’m assuming you’re taking steps to fix that?” she said with a soft smile.

Dash slowly nodded and stood. “That’s really the reason why I asked all of you here.” Without another word, the mare shot up to her home, swiftly grabbed the papers still sitting on her counter, and returned to her friends.

“In order to, well, adopt her,” she began, the word sounding foreign and strange being spoken to her friends, “I need a couple of things. One of those things is a written reference from five individual ponies.” Dash set the paper with proper box-placement for the signatures, along with identification, onto a nearby tree stump.

With as much sappiness as her brain would allow, she formed her plea. “I’d be honored if you guys’d be those five ponies.” Silently, Dash let her bangs fall over her eyes and waited for her friends’ responses. After listening to a few sniffles, she felt five warm bodies press themselves against her own. She didn’t need to look up to know that it was a group hug, as sappy as can be.

Applejack, close to Dash’s ear, gave a reply to which the others nodded in assent. “And we’d be honored tah be those ponies. This is a mighty good thing y’all’re doing here.”

“Thanks, girls,” Dash responded. The others got off of each other and formed a single file line in front of the tree stump. With her handy-dandy, ever-present quill she keeps tucked safely in her mane, Twilight at the front of the line signed in the first box. Dash knew she could count on her to bring a writing utensil.

One by one, the Elements signed away at the page. Once the final spot was filled by Rarity, Dash took it and quickly flew it up to her house. After landing again, Dash was surrounded by her friends in one last, tight group hug. They separated and, after two departed, bidding good fortune and farewell, Dash began.

“Twi, I’m probably gonna need some of your egg-head magic to figure out how much she’s gonna cost. I’d do it myself, but we all know how bad I am at numbers.” Twilight nodded in agreement; the cause was more than enough to warrant professional help. The purple mare trotted away to begin helping her friend’s finances which, most likely, are horrendously in need of it.

Dash turned to her pink friend. “Pinkie, I know you’re probably tired from the last party you planned, but I’m gonna need your skills for planning another Welcome Home party, for Scootaloo. Think you can handle it?”

Pinkie stood stock-still while her eyelids briefly fluttered. “Yep, already done!” She began hopping away to the local supplies shop, which hopefully had a new shipment after she had raided it a few days ago.

Finally, Dash turned to her remaining friend with a smile. “Flutters, I’m gonna need your help for probably the most important part.”

“What is it?” the yellow mare responded.

“We’re gonna build Scoots a room.”

Author's Notes:

*YAAAAWWNNN* Eughf......sorry that took so long. I had to put this story on hold while I figured a few things out, mainly college stuff. I also had to take some time to think about how I was going to make the story progress. Hopefully no one thinks the whole "five references" thing is too cliche, or simply a lazy plot-derived conflict. :pinkiesmile:

Anyway, I hope all of you enjoy this chapter! As always, tell me what you think!

Next Chapter: The Kindling Estimated time remaining: 49 Minutes
Return to Story Description

Login

Facebook
Login with
Facebook:
FiMFetch