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Will You Keep My Secret?

by xCobaltRainx

Chapter 8: The Reconciliation

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Chapter Eight
The Reconciliation

Rainbow Dash rocketed past the clouds, and every pump of her wings increasing her determination. The buildings she passed over zoomed by, and instantly lost any significance. Dash kept her blinding speed until she spotted the large wooden building in the distance. Quickening her pace, she soon reached the front door.

The mare took a moment to catch her breath, for more reasons than physical exhaustion. She was actually panicking. What would she say? After such a dramatic display by Scootaloo, Dash was feeling sick to her stomach from imagining what the filly might say or do next.

Snap out of it. She was Rainbow Dash, the unshakable pony with a passion for danger. So why was she feeling this way? Dash hadn't felt like this since she had been in the Best Young Flier competition some months ago.

Dash took a few deep breaths, and gained control of her nerves. She lifted her hoof, and pulled the glass door open.

The foyer greeted Dash with a gush of cool air carrying a scent of lavender, which was nice as it relieved her of the mysterious heat. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the dimmer light. Inside, an aged Earth Pony mare was kneeling on the ground and hugging a small light gray-coated unicorn colt. They were whispering things to each other, as indicated by the subtle movements in their lips. The embracing duo was standing in front of two new, proud-looking parents, of which were both Unicorns as well.

Dash looked back to the hugging pair and resumed waiting. For longer than Dash cared to count, they stayed hugging, savoring the moment. The blue mare began wondering how long the hug was going to last; extremely important matters needed tending to, and here she was just standing there. She began rocking back and forth on her hooves, waiting for someone to acknowledge her presence in the room.

The blue mare began gazing around the space and spotted a line of portraits adorning the walls. The portraits on one side looked more old-fashioned that those on the other. Her eyes eventually landed at the end of the row and saw one that resembled the pony in front of her. Obviously, from the large amount of pictures depicting presumably previous head matrons, this building has been around for a long time.

The deep-yellow Earth Pony mare finally released her loving hoof from the colt's nape and took a step back to survey the new family. As the trio departed, she waved goodbye, and turned to Dash. She spoke in the warm, soothing voice that typically belonged a mother.

"Why, hello there. My name is Nurse Kindheart, and welcome to the Oak Side Orphanage! Can I help you with anything?"

Dash briefly looked back and watched the three Unicorns leave. "Yeah, I uh, I'm looking for a filly named Scootaloo."

The aged mare beamed with excitement. "Are you looking to adopt?"

"Ehrm," choked Dash, "n-no, that's not what I'm here for. I just need to talk to her."

The mare deflated. "Oh, alright then. Although, before I allow any form of visitation I must acquire some basic information."

"Basic information?" Dash was beginning to feel like searching for the filly by herself outside through the windows might be faster.

"Yes. As you may be able to imagine, I cannot simply allow anypony to waltz in and wander of their own accord." Kindheart then assumed a more somber tone. "A foal-napping might occur, something of which happened underneath the supervision of my nearest predecessor. I aim to ensure the safety of every one of the foals that reside in this building."

Dash's expression took the form of tired attitude. "I'm the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, one of the six Elements of Harmony. Does that count as 'basic information?'"

Kindheart cocked her head. "Element of Harmony, hmm? Well that might prove some degree of assurance, but one cannot be too certain of security. I'm afraid I'll still need a few more details."

Dash was beginning to loathe every aspect of this pony, chiefly her intentional eloquence. Nevertheless, she gave her name, age, address, her relationship to the specified filly, and everything from even allergies to blood type. Kindheart finally finished jotting down the words and pulled a chain necklace out of a drawer behind the counter. She threw it onto Dash, who lifted the small card pinned to it to read it. The word "Visitor" was scrawled in black ink on the purple slip of paper. Her skin started to itch from the numbing boredom, her natural impatience, and the stupidity of this necklace.

"Her room is 12-B, same as always. Just go up the stairs there, then take a right. Second door from the last on the right."

Dash furrowed her brow. "Thanks," she said over her shoulder as she quickly walked to the staricase.

The pegasus mare climbed the stairs three steps at a time, then, like the pony she is, took a left. After looking at every door in the left side of the hallway, she found that none said 12-B. The mare thought about going back to clarify, but shook her head. She had had enough of that mare, and was going to find her own way.

As she walked, she passed by both closed and open dry, wooden doors. In the ones that were open, she found fillies and colts of every age but Scootaloo's. They played together in the rooms with various kinds of toys, dolls, and games. Each room was different, but exactly the same; just foals playing and waiting.

It struck Dash with the way the older fillies were playing. They each expressed an underwhelming scale of interest in the act of board game-playing or wrestling or whatnot. At first Dash imagined that these displays of indifference were a cause of some kind of oppressive atmosphere, of which she wasn't inclined to believe even existed; as annoying as the head matron was, she clearly loved the foals she supervised. Something deep in her heart told her that there was more to the cause of their disinterest. Shrugging after the fifth example, she walked off and kept her eyes forward.

A few more turned corners and she spotted up ahead the staircase she had entered the floor from. After her absentminded mistake with directions earlier, she thought about the logistics of her location for a moment and quickly found the room she was looking for on her left. "12-B" was embossed onto a golden plate near the top of the shut door. Dash reached up and pulled off the stupid chain necklace that had slapped against her front with every step. She threw it to the ground, then slowly reached for the handle. Suddenly, she stopped.

Noises could be heard coming from inside the room. She pressed her ear against the wood to try to hear it better, whatever it was. The mare quickly identified as small, rhythmic sniffling. Dash quickly put her hoof to the handle, but opened it with as much care as possible.

Inside, she found a shivering lump underneath the green covers of one of the three beds. The lone filly under the blanket didn't hear the greased, soundless hinges allowing entrance to a worried mare.

"Scootaloo?" Dash called.

The lump under the covers jumped as her solitude was disturbed. Cautiously, the orange filly pulled the covers off of her head to find her distraught older sister. She scrunched her face.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Dash retracted one of her front hooves off of the dry carpet to defend against the biting words. "Came to see how you were doing. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Scootaloo as she again retreated underneath the plaid green blanket. Dash walked over to the defiant lump on the bed and sat next to it.

"Doesn't look like it," said Dash as she carefully analyzed the situation.

"Why do you care?" the filly said with a muffled voice.

Dash was hurt by the sentence, and it somewhat weakened her resolve. However, she pushed on. "Because I'm your sister, silly. It's my job to care about you."

The lump shifted in its place. "Then why are you leaving me?"

"I'm not leaving you. I'd just be gone for a little while, then I'd be back. Why can't you understand that?"

Scootaloo sunk herself further into the thin mattress. "'Cause everypony says they'll be back, and then they never show up again." The croaky pitch to her sentence struck Dash like a crate full of bricks. She felt a tightness in her throat.

"Scootaloo, I'm not going anywhere. I have way too many things keeping me in Ponyville." Dash rubbed her sister's defined hind leg hiding under the blanket. The filly squirmed and shuffled to pull the covers back down off of her worried face.

"But what if you get accepted into the Wonderbolts, and then you never come back?"

Dash laughed. "Trust me, kiddo, they're not going to do any accepting right away. Unless, of course, I dazzle them so much that they sign me in right after I land." Dash then took on a more heartfelt and serious tone. "But honestly, I don't think that's gonna happen. I'm good, but not that good. Besides, even if I do get into the Wonderbolts, I'll always make time for my lil' sis." Dash reached over and ruffled the filly's mane.

Scootaloo let a breath of laughter slip at both her sister's genuine offer and surprising humility. "Come on, Rainbow Dash, they'll probably come meet you at your house and give you your uniform tonight."

The mare smiled. "Now that'd be the day." The two then laughed softly together, absorbing the moment.

After their giggling subsided, Dash scooted over to her sister and wrapped her in hooves and wings. "But seriously, though, I'm not gonna be leaving my home any time soon."

Scootaloo looked into Dash's eyes. "Promise?"

"I promise that no matter what, you'll always stay as one of the most important parts of my life. I am the Element of Loyalty, right?"

"I guess so..."

Dash humphed. "So are you still gonna freak out about me leaving?"

Scootaloo thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "No."

Dash sat more upright, satisfied. "Good, the-"

"But I don't want you to leave, at all," Scootaloo piped up.

The blue mare sighed; still more consoling to do. "Kiddo, I have to. Why are you so hung up on me leaving? You know I'd be coming back."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't like it when ponies leave." The filly then buried her face into Dash's soft chest fur.

At that moment, everything clicked in Dash's mind. The cause of Scootaloo's fear of abandonment was revealed to her, and was clearer than the skies she brought. She realized that it stemmed from, basically, her lifestyle. The filly's parents had abandoned her at an extremely young age, possibly mere days after birth. The matrons, whom to someone like Scootaloo are the closest things to parents, regularly leave and are replaced; the large amount of portraits in the foyer show that even the head matron is often succeeded. In addition, the other orphans that live in this building haven't a guaranteed stay. Dash supposed that Scootaloo is forced to constantly make new friends here, as the friends she makes usually leave with their new families. The other orphans' slight indifference was made clear to Dash as well.

This life of frequent loss has caused Scootaloo to have a negative attitude when faced with abandonment. As Dash realized this, she slowly tightened her grip around the distraught filly.

"Scootaloo, having ponies leave you is just a part of life. You don't think I know what it feels like? I spent more than half of my childhood in an orphanage too, remember? It sucked when my friends left after they were adopted. But I realized that it's natural; it just happens." She paused for a moment. "It takes a strong pony to be able to deal with it."

"But, Rainbow Dash," started Scootaloo, "I'm not strong."

Dash pulled her head back from the embrace. "What makes you think you're not strong?"

"Well, you said that it takes a strong pony to be able to deal with it. And I can't. So then I'm...I'm not s-strong."

Dash felt offended by her sister's words. "Scootaloo, you are the strongest filly I know, and don't let anypony tell you that you're not. You know you're tough, so don't say you aren't. I told you this at our first sleep-over, remember? It's still as true right now as it was the minute I said it."

Scootaloo smiled that kind of smile you can only form when you are offered praise and admiration, something the filly can't experience often, Dash supposed. This concept felt like only a drop in the bucket to Dash for reasons why Scootaloo deserves a better life than this.

"You really think I'm tough?"

"'Course I do, kiddo."

Dash began giving Scootaloo a noogie. The filly instantly brought her hooves up to defend her mane against the attacking blue hoof. The two struggled and grunted for a moment, then Dash gave Scootaloo the upper hand. She purposely fell backwards and allowed the filly to administer a noogie. They play-fought for what seemed like hours, then Dash decided that enough was enough. She brought the two into the air with a few flaps of her wings.

"Hehe, you're tough Squirt," Dash said as she pinned Scootaloo's arms against her sides. "But not as tough as me!"

Scootaloo struggled in vain to free herself from the vise-like grip of Rainbow Dash. Finally, the mare softened her squeeze just enough to allow the filly some extra air. Too much. The filly burst free from Dash's hold, completely pushing the mare's hooves away. Then, something extraordinary happened.

The filly's wings flapped, and pushed their owner towards Dash with enough force to both catch her by surprise and bring them both down onto one of the other beds. Scootaloo gathered Dash's arms and pinned them against her side.

"Hah! Who's the tougher pony now, huh?"

Dash could barely even resist the younger pony's pin, as her mind was abuzz with thought. After analyzing all of the information, she came to the conclusion that, though extremely briefly, Scootaloo had flown. The mare decided that it couldn't be enough to actually classify as flight, but it was definitely a start. The strangest part was that Scootaloo seemed to be completely unaware of her feat.

The mare finally returned to her senses and nodded her surrender. "Heh, ya got me, kiddo." She lied there looking at the proud filly sitting on her stomach with a proud smirk. "Whaddaya say we go get ice cream at Sugarcube Corner?"

Scootaloo beamed with excitement. "Yeah. That sounds fun!" The filly slid down off of Dash's stomach and allowed her to breathe. Rainbow Dash pulled herself off the bed and let Scootaloo climb onto her back, then the mare exited the room with Scootaloo astride. Luckily, Dash remembered to pick that necklace up off the floor so she could return it.

The blue mare startled Nurse Kindheart as she tossed the necklace back onto the counter.

"I'm takin' her out for ice cream, then bringing her back."

"Alright then," said the mare as she returned to chipping away at a rather large stack of papers on her desk.

Dash pushed the door open and leaped into the warm midday air. After gliding for a while, she heard a small voice pipe up behind her.

"Rainbow Dash?" said Scootaloo.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry for all that stuff I said to you earlier."

Dash craned her neck backwards to look at the apologetic filly. "Don't worry, kiddo, I understand why you were upset. It's not easy to deal with the fact that somepony's leaving, for whatever amount of time they're gone."

Scootaloo smiled and buried her face into the soft prismatic mane flitting about in the wind.

Dash turned her head back to focus on flying. The mare drifted towards her destination feeling satisfied that Scootaloo was no longer upset about her more-than-possible leaving. At some point in the flight, she began feeling tugging at her neck from Scootaloo's hooves. She turned her head the farthest she could without raising suspicion and strained her eyes so that she could see what her sister was doing. She found that Scootaloo had her wings outstretched, and was gliding on her own; the only parts touching the mare were her hooves. The mare looked back forward and smiled proudly.

The two coasted down the last several yards and landed in front of the large pink building that resembled a gingerbread house. They strolled inside and were hit with the scent of frosting and baked bread. A pink pony greeted them as they entered through the doors.

"Hiya Rainbow! Hiya Scoot!"

"Hey Pinkie," the two pegasi said simultaneously. They gave each other a glance, smiled, then turned back.

"We're here to get some sundaes," said Dash.

"Ooooh, yummy!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. The scent of frosting and sugar was predominant in her breath.

"Smells like she's been hitting the cupcakes," Dash thought with a smile.

"I'll have chocolate, caramel syrup, and whipped cream," said Dash. "With a cherry, of course. Oh, and sprinkles." The two mares then looked to a pondering Scootaloo.

"Uhh," she began.

Dash nudged her. "What's the matter, never had a sundae before?" she said. The blue mare immediately regretted her words the second the sentence slipped out. Scootaloo cast her eyes to the ground. Luckily, Pinkie is quite adept at dealing with sad foals. She deftly hopped to the filly's eye level.

"Don't worry, Scootaloo, Auntie Pinkie will make you a surprise one!"

The filly looked up into the pony's light blue eyes and smiled. "Thank you, Pinkie Pie."

"No problemo!" she said. Pinkie looked to a apologetic-looking Rainbow Dash. "Hey, Rainbow, I think I'll need your help with making hers. Can you meet me in the kitchen?"

"Sure, Pin-" said Dash as Pinkie Pie disappeared, with a cloud resembling the hyperactive pink mare floating where she once was. "-kie..."

Dash stepped through the cloud of odd dust and walked to the kitchen doors. Inside, Pinkie was standing with a transformed expression. As opposed to her cheerful earlier demeanor, an angry look hung on her face.

"Uhh," started Dash, "everything alright, Pinkie?"

Pinkie Pie then acted as though the words offended her. "Alright? ALRIGHT? You think everything is ALRIGHT?"

"Well, obviously not..."

"Of course everything isn't alright! What kind of filly hasn't ever had a sundae before?!"

"Uhh..." Dash began nervously looking around the room. Unfortunately, Pinkie caught on.

"Wait, you know why, don't you?"

"N-no."

Pinkie nearly pounced on Rainbow Dash. "TELL ME!"

Dash pushed the pink mare slightly away. "Nothing is going on, Pink.' She's just never had a sundae before, okay?"

Pinkie studied Dash's face. She decided to leave this for another time. "Fine then. I'm gonna make her the best first sundae ever made!"

The blue mare turned and began walking towards the door. "Have fun, then," said Dash over her shoulder. As she exited the doors, pots and utensils began clattering around behind her. She decided that Pinkie could be trusted to make the most spectacular sundae possible.

Dash walked back out into the main hall to find Scootaloo sitting at one of the tables. The mare sighed as she joined her.

"Sorry about that, kiddo."

"About what?"

"Well, about what I said. I should have realized that you don't normally go for special sundaes."

"Oh, that's okay. I don't think Pinkie Pie caught onto it." Scootaloo smiled and rested her head against Dash's shoulder. The blue mare wrapped her wing around the filly, propped her head up on her hooves on the table, and sighed.

"I'm really going to have to keep a leash on my tongue," she thought.

Author's Notes:

Brohoof if you are picking up on the recurring theme here (Hint: three down, two to go).

Sorry if I ended the chapter too abruptly, I just didn't know what to do next :P

Another thing to note, I will not be able to update regularly. I only write when I feel like it, and I post only when the next chapter or story is finished.

Edit: I changed the way Dash n' Scoot left the building because it looks like Scootaloo was foal-napped, and I don't want that :P

Next Chapter: The Reasoning Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
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