2 years after exile~

Ponyville Elementary playground
POV: Scootaloo

It had been a hard 2 years for one Rainbow was close to. Scootaloo still didn't have a cutie mark, but neither did her friends, so that was at least somewhat ok. But, other things were much worse. She had been teased and bullied more, and not just by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Other ponies, some she didn't even know, would give her hard looks or call her names. Why? Because she still liked and idolized Rainbow Dash.

Positive opinion against Rainbow Dash seemed to evaporate overnight. The fan-club disbanded, many others began to talk negative, or even not bring her up at all. Scootaloo, however, tried to hold onto her idol, even after two years. She still kept the poster next to her bed. She still had the wig. She would even quote her from time to time. All it did was isolate her.

Take, for instance, today. It was recess, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting down for lunch. Sweetie had a PB&J sandwich, Apple bloom had a container of applesauce, and Scootaloo had a bit of buttered sourdough. They chatted as they ate, mostly about how to get their cutie marks next.

"How about we try storm chasin'?"AB suggested. "I heard from Rumble that the weather team is gonna be lettin' a large one from da Everfree sweep o'er Ponyville, and somethin' could come up for us."

Sweetie countered, "That sounds a bit dangerous. How about we do something less risky for once. Like maybe, hmmmmm….Cutie Mark Crusader Hair Stylists!"

"Sweetie, we already tried that, remember?", Bloom said. "We ended up making the Mayor's hair stand straight up so it would hit doorframes as she walked." Turning to the third crusader, she asked, "Well, Scoots. You got any ideas? 'Cause we're stumped."

"Stunt flying?", Scootaloo said.

Her friends both looked at each other, then back at her. "Uh, Scoots. None of us can fly," Sweetie said.

"Yea'. Is... Is this still about Rainbow?"

"Ohhh, what's the matter? Is the blank flank still idolizing the traitor?", a snobby, all too familiar voice cut it. Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon had arrived, leaning up against the new monkey bars and giggling to themselves.

"Knock it off. Rainbow Dash isn't a traitor! She just-", Scootaloo said but was cut off by another round of light giggles from Tiara.

"Attacked one of the Princesses. Sounds like treason to me," Silver Spoon said.

Diamond added, "Yeah, and the blank flank still likes her. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if she snuggles up to that old wig at night." Pausing to laugh at her own joke, she continued, "I mean, It's not like she can get a teddy bear or anything. Her parents likely don't care enough. That's why they left you out on the streets!" She then fell down, laughing her flank off.

Scootaloo, meanwhile, was steaming. Literally; smoke was coming out of her ears. She growled in anger, pawing the ground as if she were ready to charge. Then she did.

Outskirts of Ponyville
POV: Bow Hothoof

"Ok, that's everything," the mover said. "I may have to warn you, though. The cloud ropes are pretty old, and haven't been reinforced in a while."

Bow just waved a hoof, saying, "It's fine. If we need to, we can get them fixed. Thanks for your help, Glider."

Glider just smiled, waved him goodbye, and took off back towards Cloudsdale. He sighed, back up at his old town. He and his wife had lived there almost all their lives, and Dash had too. But, after her exile, they had started to get glares from their neighbors. The two of them had talked and decided that it would be best if they left Cloudsdale. Not for any real reason, but they just needed a change.

So, here the two of them were, boxes full of old stuff, mostly their daughters, moving into her old house. He started to lift them up on his back and carry them inside, setting them down in the old living room. After the state seized the building a few months ago, most of the furniture had been sold or broken down for spare cloud. So, the room was pretty bare. However, according to his wife, most of the smaller items, like trophies, ribbons, posters and the like, had been left.

As he was unpacking, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that caught his attention. It was a small hole in the floor, about the size that a filly could squeeze through. It was right by one of the cloud chains that held the house to the ground. Normally, he would chalk it up to a case of the cloud starting to dissipate. That was often a problem with the cloud houses, especially ones that didn't have much maintenance in a while. However, the position of the hole, its size, and the fact the cloud around it still looked pretty intact made him suspicious.

Before he could investigate further, his wife came in. Windy had seemed to take the exile even harder than he did. For the first few days, she didn't leave their room. That eventually got her fired from her job at the cloud packing plant of the weather factory. Even after all this time, she seemed to be nearly constantly sad. "Hey, honey," he called out. "Glider helped me get the last of the boxes in. You got everything sorted out at the town hall, right?"

"Y-yeah, dear. I got the deed," she said, holding up the paper as proof. She then looked up at the second story, where a few of their daughter's old posters could be seen. "*Sigh*. Our little Dashie picked her house well, didn't she?"

Before he could reply, he heard a faint noise. It sounded like somepony was climbing the ropes. Sure enough, when he looked back at the hole, he saw a magenta mane sticking out of the hole. Followed by a patch of orange fur and orange ears. Then cerise eyes similar to their daughter, at first filled with sadness, then alarm. "Heh. Uh, I can explain," said the little filly; one whom he recognized immediately.

Ponyville Town Hall
POV: Windy Whistles

For the second time in two days, Windy flew down into town toward the town hall. The first time it was to finalize the property transfer and to pick up the deed. This time, it was for something far more important.

After she had climbed up the hole, Scootaloo told them everything. About how she had been living on the streets for almost as long as she could remember. How, after Rainbow was exiled, she had seen a hole in the bottom of the house, and had climbed up said hole. And how she had been living in this house ever since.

They had offered to let her stay with them, to which she happily accepted. They had ended up talking about Dash a lot. In the end, most of them had ended up crying for a bit, before getting over themselves and having a nice dinner. After she had gone to bed, Windy and her husband stayed up to have a talk.

Windy wanted to adopt the young filly. Why? Well, for one she was much like her Rainbow, and maybe having her around would make it easier to move on. Maybe it was because she liked being a mother, and wanted to keep that sense of joy alive. Maybe she felt sorry for the young filly and wanted to give her a home. Either way, she expected her husband to resist and was prepared to fight tooth and hoof for it. Instead, he just accepted on the spot; he even said he had been planning to ask her about the same idea.

And so, here she was, right outside the mayor's office again. She knocked, with the mayor opening the door a few seconds later. "Ah, Miss Whistles. Come in, come in." After she was ushered in and sat down at the chair opposite the mayor's desk, she said, "So, Miss Whistles. Might I ask what you're doing here for the second time in two days? Last time somepony came back like this was when two less then reputable business ponies attempted to buy the Apple family farm."

"Yes, of course. Are you familiar with a young Pegasus filly named Scootaloo?", she said.

The mayor scratched her chin for a second, then snapped it back down to her desk as her eyes lit up in realization. "Ah, yes. I remember her when I went down to the Elementary School for Career Day. What about her?"

"Well, uh, me and my husband recently found out that she had been living in our new home; Rainbow Dash's old one. She had been living on the streets before that, and we just couldn't stand for it."

The mayor gasped, before she said, "Oh my. I had no idea." Her look then hardened in resolve. "How can I help?"

"Me and my husband would like to adopt her. I came here to request the necessary paperwork," she said.

"Of course, Miss Whistles." She stood up and went over to a filing cabinet by the wall and began to root through the papers. She finally stopped at one spot, pulling out a few sheets of paper. "Here, Miss Whistles," she said as she set them down on the desk. "You'll need to fill out the rest of the forms with your husband. Bring them back here in the next five days, and I'll get them finalized. Have a great day!"

Ponyville Elementary Playground
POV: Scootaloo

It was the day after she had been caught in Rainbow's house. That night, while Rainbows dad had been showing her an old photo album full of Rainbows baby pictures, Windy had come back with several papers. When questioned about it, she told Scootaloo they were adoption papers; that they were going to adopt her. She had practically had a heart attack from the sheer joy.

She had being walked to school by her new mom. She was exactly like one, even if the paperwork wasn't finished yet. They arrived outside the Schoolhouse, with the two of them saying goodbye for the day. She couldn't be happier. And the other Crusaders noticed at lunch.

"Hey, Scoots. Ya've been acting pretty happy today, especially considerin' what happened with Diamond Tiara yesterday," Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie Belle added, "Yeah. What's up?"

Barely able to keep her excitement in, she said, "Ok, girls. I'm.... being adopted! By Rainbow Dash's parents!", followed shortly by a high pitched squeal.

The other crusaders looked at each other, then back at Scootaloo. Unlike yesterday, however, smiles graced their faces. "Woah! That's great Scoots!"

"Oh, yeah," a new voice said, pompous and dripping with sarcasm. "They pony who worships the traitor is being adopted by her parents. Which one are they going to teach you to attack next? Princess Luna?" Again, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were here. Both had a few scrapes, bruises, and even a black eye between the two of them, but that didn't deter them.

Scootaloo, this time, didn't even bother to respond. She just sat there in silence. "Well, aren't you going to do something? Protest? Yell at us? Anything?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Nope," Scootaloo said. "They're just words. Why should that bother me?"

The two bullies just looked at one another, snarled, and trotted off. "Woah, Scoots. Ah've never seen ya so in control of yourself. Er, no offense."

"None taken," Scootaloo said. "Why should I let her judge me? I'm loved by my new parents and you girls. And that's enough for me."

The three fillies soon smiled at each other and joined in a group hug. None of them would notice until later, but during the hug, Scootaloos flank glowed with a white flash. In the instant is shone out, it was gone, leaving a new shape on her flank. Her cutie mark: An X made up of two sticks and several rocks at the cardinal directions.

For those of you that don't get her cutie mark, it's dirived from the old expression: 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' From what Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon do to the CMC, and Scootaloo in paticular, it seemed appropriate.