Chapter Text

✧.* One can only hope ✧.*

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Scootaloo yawned, stretching as she tried to roll out of bed. This was her favorite part of the day— the morning. She liked waking up to the smell of Rainbowdash making breakfast, and feeling her muscles stretch after not moving for an entire night.

It did confuse her that her friends never felt even a little cramped after sleeping, she always slept so well that she couldn't move, even unconsciously. That was probably just a side effect of the medicine, though.

"Oh right! My medicine…" Scootaloo exclaimed sleepily. She reached over to her nightstand, almost knocking her pills over by accident. She was always clumsy in the mornings, especially before her medication.

She gagged abruptly as she swallowed the pill. She hated the way it tasted, and how no matter what, it'd always get stuck on her tongue as she's trying to swallow. But dealing with tough things is apart of life, and it makes you stronger. That's what Rainbowdash always says!

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Rainbowdash whipped her head around lazily as she heard Scootaloo stumble into the kitchen. That kid's always so clumsy… "Hey, squirt! Took you long enough… you're about to be late!" Rainbowdash snorted, her wings fluttering as she took a long, much needed sip of coffee.

Scootaloo gasped. Late? She was never late! She was usually the first one there! She's the fastest, after all… Just like her big sister! "No way! I can't be late!" She squawked. She rushed towards the door, pushing it open, but didn't even get to step foot onto the porch before Rainbowdash stopped her.

"Woah! Hold your horses, kiddo! That medicine won't sit well on an empty stomach, you don't wanna throw up at school, do ya?" Rainbowdash asked, holding Scootaloo by the scruff like a cat. Scootaloo's wings flapped like a hummingbird's while she squeaked. "Are you kidding?! That'd be awesome! I'd get revenge and aim it at Diamond Tiara!" She exclaimed.

Rainbowdash snorted out a squeaky laugh, before putting Scootaloo back down. "You're nuts, kid! Seriously, sit down and eat, though. Don't want you getting sick. FPS already doesn't trust me, don't want them to think I'm starving you." She sighed. Scootaloo tilted her head like a confused dog as she sat down, beginning to eat her food. "FPS?" She questioned, her mouth already full of bacon.

Rainbowdash twitched, as if noticing she just said something she probably wasn't supposed to. She definitely didn't want Cheerilee on her tail aswell, and the possibility of Scootaloo repeating to her teacher that her own caregiver had quarrels with Filly Protective Services was not a possibility that would help her avoid that.

She scratched her head nervously. "FPS? Oh, that's just an, uhh… inside joke!" She lied, sweating profousely. She then added on more seriously. "Don't repeat that to your teacher."

Scootaloo swallowed down the last bit of her breakfast and her orange juice, licking her lips as if trying to make sure she didn't waste a single drop. "Why not?" Rainbowdash's ears flattened nervously as she glanced at the clock, picking up Scootaloo and shoving her towards the door gently. "Because, uhh— she—she might not get it! Y'know, since it's an inside joke and all…!"

Scootaloo stared at her for a second, almost finding Rainbowdash's sudden frantic behavior strange, but when she looked back at her, she just saw her big sister. She shrugged. "Alright, then! Bye, Dashie!" She waved, dashing away on her scooter.

Rainbowdash let out a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from her forehead dramatically. "Later, Scoots! See ya after school!" She waved back, her smile returning as she watched Scootaloo leave.

Scootaloo was probably the best thing that had ever happened to her, even if it was sudden and unexpected, she meant the world to her. She hoped she impacted Scootaloo positively aswell...

Chapter Text

*+:｡.｡ ☁︎ Pumpkin Pie ☁︎ *+:｡.｡

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Scootaloo collapses into her chair, panting heavily. Cheerilee tilts her head like a dog, laughing softly in confusion. "Scootaloo, it's okay to be late sometimes, you didn't have to rush here." She huffed. Scootaloo leaned back in her chair, still trying to catch her breath.

Sweetiebelle and Applebloom peered over their desks from behind Scootaloo. Applebloom tapped Scootaloo on the shoulder. "Yo! Scoots! What took you so long?" She chirped. Scootaloo let out a long, dramatic sigh.

"I totally woke up late, dude! And on top of that, Rainbowdash made me eat breakfast, sigh… I would've totally gotten here earlier had it not been for that… Stupid FPS!" She complained, faceplanting into her desk.

Sweetiebelle pat Scootaloo on the head. "Aww, I'm sorry about that, Scootsie!" She consoled her softly. Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "Why are we talking about FPS?" She asked, a bit taken aback.

Scootaloo sighed, waving her off. "It's an inside joke, you wouldn't get it." She pushed herself up, sitting up straight. Cheerliee rolled her eyes. As a teacher, she's heard stranger and dumber things before. She cleared her throat.

"Today I have something very fun planned for all of you! I want each of you to stand up, and one at a time, tell me your earliest memory!" Cheerilee clapsed her hands together excitedly.

Applebloom stood up, waving her hand and jumping up and down, her squeaky excited voice ringing through the classroom.

"Oh! Oh! Can I go first? Can I pleaaase go first?" She begged. Cheerilee huffed out a laugh. "Now, now, Applebloom. You'll get your turn eventually. I want you to go first, Sweetiebelle."

Sweetiebelle let out a quiet "eh?" noise when Cheerilee said her name. To be honest, she wasn't paying attention, and heard absolutely nothing that Cheerilee said.

Cheerilee sighed, and began explaining it again. While she explained it, Scootaloo tried to think of what she was going to say. She tried to recall her earliest memory, but that only went back by two or three years.

She became more nervous as her other classmates shared their earliest memories, their memories dating back to when they were still 3-4, some of them even sharing memories they had at only a year old (which Scootaloo didn't even know was possible.)

"Your turn, Scootaloo!" Cheerilee called. Scootaloo swallowed and smiled nervously as everybody turned to look at her. What was she supoosed to say…?

"I… uhm… my earliest memory… was when I was 6. I was eating pumpkin pie." She explained plainly. Cheerilee raised an eyebrow, and so did Sweetiebelle and Applebloom.

"Err, but that was only like… 3 years ago, Scoots!" Applebloom said, puzzled. "Yeah! Surely you have a memory earlier than that!" Sweetiebelle chimed in, looking just as confused.

"Hold your horses, girls! It's okay if Scootaloo doesn't remember. If that is her earliest memory, then that's fine." She explained awkwardly. It totally isn't fine. Scootaloo thought.

After class ended, Sweetiebelle and Applebloom immediately tagged behind Scootaloo. "Yo! Scooter!" Sweetiebelle called. Scootaloo waved noncommitedly, she was already kind of lost in thought, trying to figure out why she couldn't remember anything earlier than 3 years ago.

"Hey guys…" Scootaloo sighed. Sweetiebelle and Applebloom looked at eachother, before looking back at Scootaloo. "Scoots? Are you a little down about your memories? Or, err… lack thereof?" Applebloom asked, adding that last part quietly. Sweetiebelle elbowed her, glaring at her.

Scootaloo huffed. "Yeah, I just can't understand why I don't remember anything! And it makes me confused, too… y'know? I-I don't really even remember where I came from, now that I really think about it!" She complained.

Sweetiebelle and Applebloom thought for a bit, walking behind Scootaloo as she sulked. Sweetiebelle's ears perked up as an idea sparked her brain. "Why don't you just ask Rainbowdash? She adopted you, right? Surely she knows!"

Scootaloo stopped dead in her tracks, before turning around with big, sparkly eyes. "That's a great idea! You're a genius, Sweetiebelle!" She exclaimed. Sweetiebelle twirled her hair. "Well, hahah, I guess I am somewhat extraordinary…" Applebloom rolled her eyes.

"I'll meet you guys at the clubhouse after I get my answer! Later!" Scootaloo called, darting off towards the direction of her house. Sweetiebelle and Applebloom waved, a bit surprised. "I guess she's really excited about this."

Chapter Text

⋆｡°• ⛆ What you don't know ⋆｡°• ⛆

Rainbowdash whistled absentmindedly as she attempted to respond to one of Twilight's overly detailed messages.

"sorry, twi. can't come, gotta be at…"

Rainbowdash paused, her thumbs stilling on the digital keyboard. What's a good excuse…?

Her ears twitched suddenly as a loud, raspy, high-pitched noise rang through the town. Wonder what that could be…

Rainbowdash slipped her phone into her pocket as Scootaloo rapidly approached her.

"Dashie! Dashie! I have a questionnnn!" She called out, literally pouncing on Rainbowdash like a tiny dog would when its owner walks through the door.

Rainbowdash easily caught her, slightly spinning from the sheer force of the tackle. "Woaah! Careful, kid! What if I didn't have these massive guns and we both fell over?" She joked, flexing her arms.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, immediately focusing back on the task at hand.

"I have a question!" She repeated, looking up at Rainbowdash with her curious eyes that were almost too big for her face.

Rainbowdash huffed, amused. "I have an answer." She responded, ruffling Scootaloo's hair.

Scootaloo's wings fluttered excitedly, her eyes lighting up. Finally! After 6 hours of this question bugging her, she can finally have the answer!

"Where did I come from?"

Rainbowdash froze up. Well, she should've guessed that this question would come up eventually, but she'd been raising Scootaloo for so long that she honestly forgot she'd ever have to come up with an explanation.

Usually excuses came to her easily, but unfortunately, she panicked.

"Uhh— Why do you ask, Scoots?" She laughed nervously.

"Cheerilee asked everypony in class for their earliest memories, but I can't remember anything earlier than 3 years ago!" Scootaloo complained.

Rainbowdash grinded her teeth together, a nervous habit of hers.

"That's, uhh… normal!" She lied, avoiding eye contact.

Scootaloo looked up in confusion. It wasn't normal, her classmates could remember. Why couldn't she?

Rainbowdash wouldn't lie to her, right? Maybe she was just misunderstanding what Scootaloo said.

"But everypony else rememb—"

"Anyways! I'm kinda busy right now, I'll be getting home a bit late, so hang out with your friends 'till I come pick you up, kay?" Rainbowdash interrupted.

Scootaloo paused, utterly puzzled. Rainbowdash had never ignored her like that. She wanted to say something, but Rainbowdash had her backed turned, and she was already walking off.

Scootaloo's ears flattened slightly.

"Okay..." She whispered.

˚₊‧꒰ა . ——— ˗ˏˋ ✮ ˎˊ˗ ——— ˖ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Twilight's ears perked up slightly as she heard what sounded like frantic knocking— banging, actually— on her front door.

She didn't even get a chance to respond before Rainbowdash stumbled inside. Why'd she even bother knocking if she was just going to come in anyways?

"Twilight! Did you get my message?" Rainbowdash squawked.

Twilight stared for a second, processing the current situation.

"What message? You never responded to me." She replied bluntly.

Rainbowdash paused. That's right, she never sent the message…

"O-Oh, right… O-Okay, well, I'm here now. B-But I need you to help me with something!" She stammered, she seemed a bit panicked.

Before Twilight could ask what Rainbowdash's dilemma was, Rainbowdash started speaking again.

"Do you have a spot I can hide a few papers?" She asked.

Twilight blinked. What kind of papers? Why would she need to hide them?

"…Sure? Why? This better not be something illegal." She interrogated.

Rainbowdash reacted immediately.

"No, no! It's…" She sighed.

"It's about Scootaloo."

Twilight watched Rainbowdash's body language change from panicked and energetic to… whatever this was.

She looked conflicted.

"You shouldn't hide things from her." Twilight advised.

Rainbowdash shook her head.

"She can't know, Twi, and I won't let her find out. Not under any circumstance."