Scootaloo sat on the edge of her bed, dozens of photographs sprawled across her bedspread in front of her. They were old and worn, some of them in worse condition than others, bent and cracked from folding and torn at the corners, and others, still, faded and discoloured with age. In each of them were stills of her parents in front of various landscapes across Equestria, either smooshed together and crowded behind a camera held high or far from the lens which was safely in the hooves of another pony snapping the picture for them. In a few, it was one of her parents taking the picture while the other posed in front of the camera.

Scootaloo reached for one and held it up high to see it better in the candlelight. Her parents knelt down in front of an enormous crocodile in the bayou’s of the hayseed swamp. She imagined what it must have been like out there in the swamps, in the humidity and heat, with bugs ‘as big as yer head’ as her Pa had told it. Out with her parents on their wild adventures and seeing the world.

Her door creaked open, and an eye peered through, before the rest of the pony nudged the door aside. Rainbow Dash slipped past the door and lightly nudged it closed with a hind hoof. She stepped over to the bed and glanced at the pictures laid out. A caring smile crept over her.

“Heya, Scoots. Missing your parents?” She reached out and gave that purple mane a little scruffing and a tousle.

“No...What gave you that idea? I don’t care.” Scootaloo fibbed, tossing the photo she’d been holding into the pile nonchalantly.

“Just a hunch. ‘Cause you always have this look when you’re missing them, and you’ve got that look written all over you.” The bed shifted as Rainbow sat on the side. The photos shifted, but Scootaloo was quick to catch them. She grabbed a nearby shoebox and placed them neatly inside.

“I do not.” Scootaloo groaned, letting out a ‘harrumph’ sort of sound; one of indignance and impatience, as if being told she was too short to ride on the tallest slide at Splash Mountain.

“Do so. You know you don’t have to lie to me, squirt.” Rainbow rested a forehoof on the bed and leaned in. Her eyes were sincere and caring. There was a soft, vulnerable side of Rainbow that she let few other ponies see: Scootaloo was one of them.

Scootaloo mumbled something under her breath. Barely audible, like a grumble, or an admittance she didn’t want heard.

Rainbow Dash exhaled slowly. Scootaloo was playing it cold and indifferent, not unlike Rainbow herself would have done at that age, and this fact made Rainbow uniquely qualified to handle the suddenly moody filly.

“Cool ponies miss their parents too, sometimes, Scoots. And they’re allowed to cry, too. Nopony would judge them. Especially not me.” Rainbow Dash stroked a forehoof up and down the filly’s back soothingly. It was a gesture neither took for granted, or lightly, but it was a special moment, and special moment’s made room for those sorts of things.

“I s’pose.” Scootaloo mumbled.

“Wanna know something, Squirt?” Rainbow Dash stretched out horizontally across Scootaloo’s bed, on her back, and stared at the ceiling. “I cried on my first day of Flight School. I missed my Mom and Dad so bad. I thought I was gonna throw up.”

“What?” Scootaloo was in disbelief, her mouth agape. “No way!”

“Yup. I called my Dad the next morning, practically begged them to take me back home, but you know what my Dad said?”

“You? Really?” Scootaloo’s eyes were wide open and alert, like gigantic saucers. Her ears perked straight up tentatively.

“He said they’re always with me. Just like your parents are always with you, Scoots. And there’s other ponies around who care about you.” She pressed a hoof to Scootaloo’s chest, right above where her heart is. Scootaloo smiled, her eyes looking a little glassy, but maybe that was just the candlelight casting shadows or a figment of Rainbow’s imagination. A moment of silence hung between them. Rainbow’s hoof pet Scootaloo softly.

“Rainbow? You care about me, right?” Scootaloo asked, “Like a big sister?”

Rainbow, for her part, had never been good at the gushy, affectionate stuff, but knowing they were alone, nodded eagerly.

“Yeah, Scoots. You know that.”

“I know. I just wanted to hear it.” The filly grinned.

“Heh. Squirt.” Rainbow sat up and gave Scootaloo another tousle of her mane. This earned an eruption of giggles and laughter from Scootaloo.

“Daaaaash!” Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. “Hey Dash?”

“What’s up?” Rainbow flopped back down onto her back, looking at Scootaloo upside down. The filly got up and inched forward a couple steps. Then she sat back down.

“I know it’s not...cool and all. Or maybe not awesome. Well, it’s sorta awesome. Us crusaders sometimes, we…”

“Scoots, cut to the chase.” Rainbow laughed. “What?”

“Can we cuddle? Like we did when we camped that one time?”

“Cuddle?”

“I know...it was stupid. Forget it.” Scootaloo stared at her hooves, finding something apparently interesting on her covers that she scuffed at with her hoof.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and chuckled. Grabbing Scootaloo’s shoulders, she tugged the filly right down until the little pegasus ended up sprawled sideways across Rainbow’s belly. Scootaloo fell with a little ‘Oof!’ and a gasp.

“You’re such a silly filly, you know that?” Rainbow tousled her mane yet again, draping a wing around Scootaloo’s back.

“Am not!” Scootaloo giggled, but smiled brightly. That sadness in her was gone, and for that Rainbow Dash was glad; she never wanted to see her favourite filly sad.

“You get ready for bed already? Brush your teeth and stuff?” Rainbow stroked her hoof up and down Scootaloo’s back, between her wings, giving tender little rubs.

Scootaloo flashed her pearly whites, and her breath was minty. Settling in, she squirmed and rustled about until she was lateral with Rainbow, stretched across her belly and settled in there. Laying flat on her stomach, she rested her chin on Rainbow’s upper chest, little tufts of blue fur tickling her snout.

“Comfy, Scoots?” Rainbow scratched behind one of the filly’s ears.

“M-hm.” Scootaloo responded, saying nothing more. Her tail flicked gingerly behind her. A loud, enormous yawn escaped her muzzle and she opened it wide.

“Someone’s sleepy.” Rainbow teased, but soon after she responded in kind, the contagiousness of yawns being what they were. Scootaloo giggled.

“You are, too!” laughed Scootaloo.

“So I guess you don’t mind if I just nap here tonight instead of on the sofa until your Aunt’s get home? It is a pretty comfy bed.”

Scootaloo perked up, nodding eagerly. Though she’d never say it, bedtime snuggles with her favourite pony in the whole world sounded like a great way to end a day.

The pair went silent for a long time, only the sound of breathing and the occasional shuffle of a hoof disturbing the silence. Rainbow’s eyes were closed, as if she’d already fallen fast asleep. Scootaloo was hugging tightly to Rainbow’s chest, her head to one side, staring out at the rapidly fading candle. The hoof on her back had slowed to a halt, no longer rubbing but just there, comforting. Rainbow’s voice cracked the silence.

“Hey Scoots?”

“Yeah?”

“Still missing your parents?”

“Well, yeah. But not so much now. Besides, I’ve got you here now, and that’s pretty good.”

Silence hung between them again. Rainbow tucked a blanket over them and settled against the pillows. The candlelight died. As Scootaloo drifted off to sleep, Rainbow knelt over and pecked the top of her head.

“Night, Squirt.”