Guttersnipe

It could have been just another night.

It should have been, Vinyl reflected to herself.  Normally, the DJ was the last pony to leave whatever club she was performing in, except for the bartender, the owner, and sometimes the bouncer.  This gave all of her adoring--and by now, catastrophically drunk--fans time to disperse before she appeared, leaving only a few diehards behind to beg for autographs and photos.  As something of an accidental celebrity, Vinyl Scratch was thrilled to even have fans, and more than happy to sign anything placed in front of her, or to pose for pictures next to anypony, offering a few words of thanks and the occasional encouragement to young hopefuls eager to follow in her hoofsteps.  But for every shy, blushing young mare sheepishly asking her to sign a black-and-white photograph, there were ten soused, boorish stallions with stupid smirks and fake tattoos offering to “take her home and show her how to keep the party going.”  Vinyl preferred to avoid these confrontations whenever she could, since explaining to a drunken foal exactly why his proposition didn’t interest her was an exercise in futility.  

As such, she usually waited until the party had wound down and most of the more inebriated attendees had left, but that was unfortunately not an option tonight, as she had to cut her set short for a special occasion.  Tonight was supposed to be date night, and Vinyl had spent the whole performance eagerly waiting for the clock to read “8:30” so she could get home to spend the rest of the night enjoying the company of her significant other.  This created the complication of having to find some way to leave the club without passing through the sweaty throng packed onto the dance floor and spilling out into the street beyond.  Fortunately, the club had a back exit, which the owner was gracious enough to point the way to after the DJ had finished her set, taken her bow (to raucous applause, as usual), and excused herself from the stage.  Piling the few supplies she had brought with her into her saddlebags, she thanked the club owner for the time slot, and was thanked in turn with a hoofshake and a tidy compensation, which she also stuffed discretely into her bags as she pushed open the back door and trotted out into the dank, cold alley behind the building.

It was immediately after this escape that she found herself in her current bewildering predicament.  Having lived most of her life in Manehattan, the ivory-coated unicorn was accustomed to seeing horrible things in back alleys.  She had seen drunks passed out behind dumpsters, homeless ponies sleeping in cardboard boxes, even the occasional less-than-savory transaction taking place, but the sight that met her eyes tonight was at once more impossible and more heartbreaking than any of these.  Vinyl desperately hoped that it was just a trick of the light, but after a few moments, she realized that it was tragically, terribly true.

Some distance down the alley, just on the edge of the circle of light cast by the bare bulb hanging over the back exit were a group of trash bins belonging to the club she had just left, apparently mostly used by their kitchen.  Clinging to the side of one of these bins, hooves barely touching the box she was using to stand on, was a tiny orange pegasus with a shock of magenta hair.  Her tiny wings fluttered a little every time she jumped to reach deeper in the bin, but it was clear that they were nowhere near strong enough to carry her.  Stunned, Vinyl glanced up and down the alley, as if expecting to see somepony else who could explain what she was seeing, but they were alone in the pale, flickering light.  The unicorn cautiously stepped down the short staircase, attempting to approach the filly without startling her.  The little pegasus was thoroughly engrossed in getting at something deep in the bin, and didn’t register Vinyl’s approach until the mare was close enough to see the filly’s bright violet eyes and matted patches of orange fur stretched across a thin, albeit not emaciated form.  Unsure of how close she should approach, Vinyl paused and quietly cleared her throat.

The filly froze instantly at the sound, her ears flicking back in Vinyl’s direction.  Slowly, she turned and glanced over her shoulder to lock eyes with the unicorn.  Vinyl forced a small smile and said, “Um...hey there.”

The instant Vinyl spoke, the little pegasus leapt down from the box and took off down the street in a panic.  Without thinking, Vinyl started running after her.  “Hey, wait!  Don’t run away!  I’m not going to hurt you!”

The little pegasus yelled back as she fled.  “No!  I’m not going back!  Leave me alone!”

Unwilling to let the little female escape but afraid to hurt her, Vinyl did the only thing she could think of and caught the fleeing filly in a cloud of magic, lifting her off her hooves and gently holding her in place while the unicorn caught up to her.  The filly struggled fiercely against the magic, her eyes wide and fearful tears running down her cheeks.  “Stop it!  Put me down!  Help!”

“Shh!” Vinyl said, panicking slightly.  It suddenly occurred to her exactly how this would look if somepony were to happen upon them at this moment.  “Hey, calm down, alright?  I’m not going to hurt your, or...or...’take you back’ or whatever you’re afraid of.  I just wanted to talk.”

The pegasus kept thrashing futilely against the faint white aura surrounding her.  “I don’t believe you!  Let me go!”

“I can’t let you go,” Vinyl said, her voice tightening a little.  “I saw you digging in that trash can back there.  What were you looking for?”

“Nothing!”

“Then why were you doing it?”

“I’m not telling you!”

Vinyl sighed, her patience thinning.  “Look, I don’t know what to say.  I’m just trying to help, okay?  I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to tell anyone what I saw, okay?  I just want to make sure you’re alright.”

The little pegasus’ legs slowed to a stop as she looked back at Vinyl with wide, fearful eyes.  “How do I know you’re not lying?”

Vinyl shrugged.  “I guess you don’t.  But for whatever it’s worth, I promise that if you want to leave, I’ll let you.  I just want to ask you a couple questions, okay?”

The filly’s wings slowly folded back against her back as she relaxed slightly.  “You’d let me go?”

Vinyl nodded, sighing shallowly.  “Yeah, I guess.  I hope you’ll stay and talk to me for a bit, but I’m not going to force you.”

The pegasus glanced at the ground for a moment, then back at Vinyl.  “Put me down, then.”

Frowning, Vinyl lowered her to the ground and let the magic dissipate.  The instant she was free, the filly took off again, bolting away down the alley.  Vinyl sighed heavily and lowered her head in defeat, a sickening feeling sliding down the back of her throat as she wondered how the fleeing pony’s life could have gotten to such a point.  Octavia...what would Octavia say when Vinyl told her what had happened?  She’d probably be mad.  Disappointed.  Octavia would have made sure the little filly was safe before even thinking about worrying about her feelings or...

Suddenly, Vinyl realized the clopping of the pegasus’ hooves had slowed to a stop.  Glancing up, she saw the filly standing some distance away, looking back at her over her shoulder.  The look on her face was conflicted, almost surprised.  Vinyl struggled to pull a smile back to her lips, hoping to reassure her into returning.  The moment hung in space for several seconds while the little stray looked at Vinyl, then away into the yawning darkness, and then back again.  Finally, the balance tipped, and the filly slowly turned and walked back to where Vinyl was still standing, her smile broadening with every step the pegasus took.

“You really aren’t going to chase me?” she asked, pausing several hooves away.

Vinyl shook her head.  “No.  I wish you’d stay, but I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

The little filly considered this for a moment.  “Okay...okay.” she came the rest of the way back to stand in front of Vinyl.  “You really just want to talk to me?”  Vinyl nodded.  “Why?”

This struck the unicorn as an odd question.  Wasn’t it obvious?  She decided to avoid answering right away.  “I’ve just never seen you around before.  What’s your name?”

The young stray hesitated a moment before answering.  “Scootaloo.”

Vinyl smiled.  “Hi, Scootaloo.  My name’s Vinyl.”

“Vinyl...” she repeated.  “Like Vinyl Scratch?”

“Uh, yeah.  How’d you know?”

“You’re THE Vinyl Scratch?”  Scootaloo’s wings snapped open, eliciting a nervous chuckle and a faint blush from the unicorn.

“Well, yeah.  You’ve heard of me?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo piped, grinning broadly and rising a few inches off the ground under her buzzing wings.  “Rainbow Dash talks about you all the time!”

Common ground, Vinyl sighed inwardly with relief.  “Well, see?  If Rainbow knows me, I can’t be all that bad, right?”

The little pegasus considered this.  “No, I guess not.”

Vinyl smiled.  “Well, in that case, do you want to walk with me?”  She glanced around.  “This...isn’t really a good neighborhood for a filly.”

Scootaloo’s ears drooped and her wings folded back against her back.  “No...I guess it’s not.”

The unicorn turned back towards the street on the other end of the alley and smiled, nodding her head at Scootaloo.  “Come on, kid.  Let’s get out of here.”

Scootaloo smiled.  “Okay...Vinyl.”

The club owner’s promise that the rear exit would get her past the throngs of rabid fans outside proved genuine as Vinyl led her new companion out of the alley and back onto the better-lit street in front of the building.  The neighborhood they were now walking through was fairly new to Ponyville, part of the newly-developed northern suburbs, built up to house the sudden influx of new residents the town had recently acquired.  

The little town’s profile had increased steadily over the past few years as stories about Nightmare Moon’s and Discord’s return and subsequent defeat at the hooves of the Elements of Harmony who lived there had filtered across the rest of Equestria.  Hundreds of tourists now visited the little town every year, and dozens of them had chosen to move there permanently after discovering the hidden beauty of the quaint, quiet village in the middle of nowhere.  Vinyl and Octavia had been two such relocated tourists.  Previously residents of the outer suburbs of Canterlot, the couple had originally visited Ponyville on a whim, just as a short vacation to escape the high-intensity of city life, but it had only taken one day of walking through the parks and the market, meeting one immensely friendly, outgoing, and cheerful pony after another for the two mares to realize that they were dreading their return to Canterlot in two days.  A long night spent talking under quietly across the pillow in their hotel room, marveling at the peaceful silence of the sleepy little burb was all it had taken to make the decision to relocate.  Both ponies had travel-heavy jobs anyway, and it didn’t really matter where they lived, as long as they could still get where they needed to go.  Less than a week after they returned to Canterlot, they packed up their small apartment and moved into a small townhouse near the Ponyville windmill.

One of the unfortunate side effects of the sudden population boom was that the new urban areas of the town were more susceptible to problems typically relegated to cities like crime and homelessness.  Luckily for the current residents, most of these issues stayed in the areas that spawned them, like the neighborhood that Vinyl was now leading her young charge away from.  The streets were well-lit, but full of foreboding shadows in every corner.  Scootaloo nervously walked closer and closer to Vinyl as they went until her flank was pressed against Vinyl’s right foreleg.  The unicorn smiled faintly at the touch, recognizing the trust inherent in the contact.  “Don’t worry, kid,” she said, drawing the filly’s attention, “you’ll be alright with me.”

“I’m not scared,” Scootaloo said, the determination in her voice failing to disguise the wide-eyed fear on her face.

“Oh, I didn’t say you were,” Vinyl said, grinning.  “But if something happens, you know it’s better if we stick together.”

Scootaloo smiled.  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”  The pair continued walking for a mile or so, the streets getting steadily darker but less unnerving the further south they traveled.  The buildings steadily lost their urban facade, taking on a more traditional appearance, built of wood and paint instead of concrete and rebar.  Tall, angular street lamps gave way to low hanging lanterns, and by the time the windmill came back into view in the distance, both Vinyl and Scootaloo had relaxed enough to start talking again.

“So, Scootaloo,” Vinyl started, looking down at the filly, “what brings you up to this side of town?  I don’t see too many fillies around that neighborhood.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, not meeting Vinyl’s gaze.  “I don’t really go there too much...it’s...well, I’m not scared or anything, but...”

Vinyl waved a hoof dismissively.  “I know what you mean, kid.  I don’t really like going out there myself.”  She raised an eyebrow at the little pegasus.  “But then, I also don’t go digging in trash cans much.”

In the light of a nearby lantern, Vinyl could see the fur on Scootaloo’s cheeks darken a shade.  “Yeah...well, I don’t usually...I mean, I wouldn’t, but, uh...”

“Scootaloo,” Vinyl said gently, “where are your parents?”  She steeled herself, fearing the worst.

It didn’t help.  “Um,” Scootaloo started, looking at the ground, her voice shaking, “I don’t...they aren’t...here.  In Ponyville.”  Her voice cracked over the last word, raising a lump in the back of Vinyl’s throat.

She swallowed, trying to speak past it.  “Okay, who do you live with, then?”  The little pegasus didn’t answer.  After a moment of silence, Vinyl heard her sniff, then again.  She brought a hoof to her eyes, swiping at unseen tears.  Vinyl’s heart ached for the filly, and without thinking, she put a hoof on the little female’s shoulder.  “Hey, it’s okay...it’s alright, forget I asked.”

Suddenly, Scootaloo burst into tears, wrapping her forelegs around Vinyl’s outstretched hoof.  “I don’t wanna go back!”

Startled, Vinyl sat on her rump and drew her hoof into her chest, pulling the little filly closer.  “Whoa, what do you mean?  Go back where?”

Scootaloo looked up at Vinyl through wide, tear-filled eyes.  “I don’t want to go back to the orphanage!  Please don’t send me back!”

“Who said anything about sending you anywhere?”

“I don’t have any parents, and now you know, and now you’re gonna go tell the orphanage, and they’re gonna come get me, and then they’re gonna take me away from all my frie-he-hends!”  The little pegasus dissolved into sobs again, burying her face in Vinyl’s chest, her tears soaking into the fur.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Scootaloo,” Vinyl said, gingerly raising a hoof to pat the little filly on the head.  “I’m not gonna tell the orphanage.”  Up to this moment, Vinyl hadn’t really had any idea what she was about to do; she was making it up as she went along.  But now, watching Scootaloo crying bitter, fearful tears at the prospect of going to the orphanage, she knew, despite her better judgment, that the orphanage, at least, was no longer an option.

The sobbing filly sniffed and hiccupped, looking up at Vinyl from between her forelegs with tear-stained cheeks.  “You...you mean it?”

Vinyl smiled.  “I mean it.  If you really don’t want to go, I’m not going to send you.”

She seemed unconvinced.  “P-promise?”

“Yeah, Scootaloo.  I promise.”

Scootaloo sniffed and wiped the tears out of her eyes.  “I don’t wanna go back,” she repeated, her voice still quavering.  “I didn’t have any friends, an’ the other kids made fun of me ‘cause I can’t fly, an’ no one wanted to adopt me, because who wants a pegasus who can’t fly?”  She looked down, her wings unfurling enough to droop to the ground.

Vinyl smiled, ruffling the little filly’s mane.  “Well, I’m not sending you back, so you can stop worrying about it.”  She chucked Scootaloo under the chin.  “Come on, I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you?”

“Well...” Scootaloo said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.  Before she could continue, her stomach growled so loudly that Vinyl started a little.  The filly wrapped her forelegs around her midsection, embarrassed.  “Maybe...maybe a little.”

Vinyl giggled.  “Come on, Scootaloo.  Why don’t you come home with me?  We’ll get you a decent meal.”  She leaned over and murmured candidly in the filly’s ear.  “And you won’t have to go digging in trash cans for your dinner.”

Scootaloo’s face glowed red, and she dug at the dirt road with a nervous hoof.  “Yeah...yeah, okay.”  She smiled from behind the blush.  “Thanks, Vinyl.”

Vinyl smiled broadly, putting a foreleg around the pegasus’ shoulders and giving her a little squeeze.  “No problem, kid.”

Urchin

The rest of the walk back to the townhouse was largely uneventful.  The biting early Spring breeze pushed Scootaloo to walk as close to Vinyl as she could, leaching what heat she could from the larger mare’s body.  Vinyl made a conscious effort to stand between Scootaloo and the wind.  The winter wrap-up had been a few days ago, but the pegasus ponies were still keeping the ambient temperature just a few degrees above freezing, to allow early spring plants the chance to sprout before the heat brought out the bugs that would eat their tender young leaves.  The chill in the air prompted Vinyl to repeat a question she hadn’t yet really gotten an answer to.  “So, if you’re an orphan, where do you live, exactly?”

“Well,” Scootaloo said, “usually I live in a clubhouse me and my friends fixed up in the Sweet Apple orchard.”

“Oh, so you actually do spend most nights indoors?”

“Yeah...it’s still pretty cold, and there’s no bathroom or anything, but it’s better than sleeping in the woods.”

“I bet,” Vinyl said.  “So you usually live in the clubhouse?  Where do you live the rest of the time?”

“Sometimes I get to spend the night with my friends.  I...I really like sleepovers,” she said, her cheeks turning pink.  “When I sleep over, I get dinner, breakfast, and I get to sleep in a bed...it’s almost like having a home.”  She looked away, the blush on her cheeks darkening further.

Vinyl’s heart ached for the little filly.  “Well, you can sleep over at my place tonight, if you want.”

Scootaloo looked back at her with wide, hopeful eyes.  “You mean it?”

Vinyl smiled.  “Sure.”  She reflected on the wisdom of making promises she wasn’t sure her significant other would let her keep, but decided it was worth the risk.  She would deal with Octavia when the time came.

The little pegasus beamed.  “Oh, thank you, thank you!”  Her buzzing wings lifted her a few inches off the ground in her excitement.  “Wow...it’s been a while.  Applebloom’s been busy helping her sister with the planting season, and Sweetie Belle’s on vacation with her family, so I’ve just been sleeping in the clubhouse.”  She grimaced.  “It’s been kind of...rough.”  Scootaloo glanced over her shoulder at a particularly visible patch of stained, matted fur.  “Could I...um...that is, if you don’t mind...do you think I could...” she lowered her voice to just above a whisper, “take a bath?”

Vinyl struggled to contain the sympathetic interjection the little filly’s request invoked.  “Of course you can, Scoot.  My house is your house tonight.  Whatever you need, you just let me know, and I’ll do what I can, alright?”

Scootaloo blushed deeply.  “Oh...I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“It’s no trouble, kid.  I promise.  I just want to make sure you get a good meal and a good night’s sleep, alright?”  She smiled warmly.  “Nopony should have to live out of a clubhouse and trash cans.”

Scootaloo smiled back.  “Okay.  Thanks, Vinyl.”

Vinyl grinned as she stopped in front of the house she and Octavia shared.  “No problem.  Now come on, this is my place.  Time for you to meet my better half.”

~~~

As soon as she pushed the door open, Vinyl knew there would be complications.  The front hallway was dark, lit only by the flickering of a dozen candles situated at romantically strategic locations, illuminating a distinctly intentional path directly toward the bedroom.  Soft strains of cello music--J. S. Buck’s ‘Air’, arranged by the pony currently playing it--wafted down the hall towards the ponies standing in the doorway.  Vinyl winced at the realization of what she was about to ruin, but leaned down to Scootaloo just the same and said, “Um, why don’t you stay here for a minute.  I...I might need to explain this to my, er...my marefriend.”

Scootaloo looked confused, but nodded just the same.  Vinyl walked down the hall, simultaneously eagerly anticipating and dreading the moment she laid eyes on her beloved.  As soon as she peeked around the corner into the bedroom, she knew it would be harder than she had expected to keep her promise to the filly in the foyer.  There were several dozen more candles spread throughout the bedroom, casting a warm, shimmering light across the bed centered in the room upon which sat two trays of magnificent-looking food, two glasses of wine, and two small vases holding tender white rosebuds.  Between the trays sat the most amazing sight Vinyl had ever laid eyes on.  A beautiful grey earth pony with a jet black mane and tail was sitting on the bed, her hooves curled around a cello leaning against her shoulder.  She was drawing the bow smoothly and expertly across the strings, evoking a haunting melody that sent shivers down Vinyl’s spine and made her knees weak.  The unicorn stood in the doorway for several seconds, transfixed by the vision before her.  When she finally managed to find her voice, she could only say one word.  “O-Octavia...”

The silver-coated earth pony opened her eyes and glanced at Vinyl from beneath her silken mane.  The unicorn’s heart froze as her gaze met the smoldering violet pools, half-lidded and sultry.  Octavia smirked as Vinyl found herself struck utterly dumb.  “Well, for once it seems you have nothing to say.”

Vinyl’s mouth opened and closed fruitlessly a couple times before she managed to swallow hard and nod.  Octavia’s smirk widened into a grin as she continued playing, using her ebony tail to beckon Vinyl into the room.  The unicorn did as she was bade, stumbling over her own hooves as she approached the bed.  Her previous purpose was forgotten, lost in the swirling torrent of affection and desire flooding her mind.  As the last tremulous note slowly faded, Octavia set the cello aside and reached out to drape her hooves around Vinyl’s shoulders.  “I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to this evening, Vinyl.”  She pushed the shades up off of Vinyl’s eyes, revealing the wide, crimson irises behind them.

Vinyl chuckled nervously, blushing.  “Y-yeah, me too, Tavi.”

“It’s been ages since we’ve had an evening just to ourselves.  No interruptions, no obligations, no commitments...just you...” she leaned forward and kissed Vinyl’s cheek, “and me,” she shifted over and kissed the opposite cheek, “and the whole night to do whatever we want,” she hissed, pressing her nose against Vinyl’s and drawing the stunned unicorn into a sultry embrace.

Several moments of rushing animalistic instinct silenced Vinyl’s rational mind while Octavia held her close, flicking a restless tongue across her unconsciously parted lips.  When the kiss finally ended and Octavia sat back to survey the effects and grin, it was all Vinyl could do to shove aside the rising tide of desire and remind herself that there was in fact an obligation standing in the entryway behind her.  “Octavia, I...uh...I...” she struggled to decide where to start.

Octavia giggled and flicked the unicorn’s nose with a playful hoof.  “You don’t need to say anything, silly pony.”  She leaned back on the bed, crossing her back legs coyly.  “Come on, it’s dinner ti--”  Suddenly, the earth pony froze, her eyes tripling in size in an instant as she looked past Vinyl into the hallway.

Vinyl’s blood ran cold as she slowly looked over her shoulder, hoping to see a burglar or a murderer or anything except what she knew she was about to.  Instead, she saw Scootaloo’s little purple-maned head poking anxiously around the edge of the doorway.  The filly looked up at Vinyl.  “I...uh...I thought you might have...forgotten me...” she said, her voice trailing off into silence.

Vinyl shook her head, struggling to put a smile on her face.  “Nope!  Nope, haven’t forgotten you.  Just, ah...about to tell Octavia here what we talked about earlier.”

“Oh,” Scootaloo said, blushing faintly.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt...”

Vinyl managed a genuine smile.  “Don’t worry, kid.  It’ll be fine.  Just go into the living room...third door on the left...and I’ll be out in a little while, ‘kay?”

Scootaloo nodded, cast a fearful look at the earth pony behind Vinyl, and then disappeared.  Vinyl listened to her quiet hoofsteps go down the hallway and then change timbre as she stepped onto the denser wood of the living room floor.  She went to the door, looked into the hall to make sure Scootaloo was really out of earshot, then carefully closed the door, turning around and falling against it with a shallow sigh.

Then she shrieked in terror as she looked up to see Octavia standing mere millimeters away with an expression of the purest rage on her face.  “Don’t kill me!” the ivory unicorn pleaded, cowering behind her hooves.

“What--is--she--doing--here?” Octavia said, punctuating every word with a fierce poke in Vinyl’s chest.

“Ow!” Vinyl said, recoiling and covering her ribs with her hooves.  “Wait a second, just let me explain!”

“Explain?!”  Octavia’s eyes flashed dangerously.  “How do you explain kidnapping someone’s foal?”

“I didn’t kidnap her, I found her in the alley behind...the...club...”  Vinyl’s explanation faltered and died on her lips as the earth pony stared at her, incredulous.

“You found her?  Are you insane?”  Octavia suddenly stepped back, putting her hooves on her head and pacing anxiously a few steps back and forth in front of her.  “For Celestia’s sake, Vinyl, I can’t even imagine--”

“Octavia...” Vinyl said, trying to interrupt.

“--of all the most unbelievable--”

“Octavia...”

“--irresponsible--”

“Tavi!”

“--asinine--”

“Tavi!” the unicorn shouted, startling her fillyfriend into silence.  Vinyl spoke quickly, “Tavi, she’s an orphan.”

“An orphan?” Octavia repeated, the fury on her face swiftly fading.

Vinyl nodded.  “She’s homeless.  She’s been living in some clubhouse and eating scraps out of the trash.”

Octavia deflated slightly.  “Homeless...Vinyl...”

Vinyl held up her hooves defensively.  “I know, I know, it was stupid of me to get involved, but I just...I saw her digging in the trash behind the club, and I couldn’t leave her there, Tavi.”

“No,” Octavia agreed cautiously, rubbing the back of her neck with an anxious hoof, “but why didn’t you...I don’t know, tell someone?”

“Well, I, uh...promised her I wouldn’t.”

“You promised,” Octavia deadpanned.  Vinyl nodded, wincing.  The earth pony heaved an exasperated sigh.  “Of course you did.”

“I’m sorry, Tavi.  I didn’t think, I just saw her there, and I...my heart broke for her, you know?”  Octavia didn’t say anything, so Vinyl pushed on, yearning to make her beloved understand.  “I couldn’t stand the idea of some poor filly spending the night on the street, living on scraps or worse, and she just seemed so scared of the orphanage, I couldn’t send her back to someplace she hated so much, and I just figured...I don’t know, I just thought we could give her something to eat, maybe let her take a bath and spend the night...just, you know, give her someplace to live...just for one day...right?” she pleaded, silently begging Octavia to agree with her.

The earth pony didn’t say anything.  Instead, she gestured for Vinyl to move aside, away from the door.  Vinyl did so, and Octavia slowly pulled the door open, walking out into the hallway.  Vinyl followed her, nerves buzzing anxiously.  The earth pony clopped into the living room where Scootaloo was sitting in the middle of the floor, her expression utterly terrified.  Vinyl was about to say something reassuring, but Octavia went straight up to the little filly and sat down next to her, smiling broadly.  “Hi, there,” she said.

“H-hi,” Scootaloo said, visibly shaking.

Octavia kept smiling.  “I’m Octavia.  What’s your name, sweetie?”

“S-scootaloo.”  The filly’s voice was barely audible.

“That’s a neat name,” Octavia said.  “Are you hungry, Scootaloo?”

The little orange pegasus looked up at Octavia, her eyes wide.  “Um...yes, ma’am.”

Octavia chuckled.  “Oh, please call me Octavia.  ‘Ma’am’ makes me feel so stuffy and old.”

“Okay...Octavia.”  Scootaloo smiled.  The shaking had stopped, and Vinyl could see her slowly relaxing.

“Tell you what,” the grey mare said, “why don’t you go take a nice hot bath, and when you get out, I’ll have a big dinner ready for you.  How does that sound?”

“Pretty good,” Scootaloo said, smiling more.

“Good.  Vinyl,” she said, looking at the unicorn, “be a dear and show our guest where the bathroom is.  Make sure you give her a towel too, please.”

Vinyl nodded.  “Sure thing, Tavi.”  She led the little filly back down the hallway, grabbing a fluffy blue towel from the linen closet on the way.  “Here you go, Scoots,” she said, pushing open the bathroom door.  “Soap’s in the corner over there, hot ‘n’ cold are where they’re supposed to be.  If you need anything, just give us a yell, alright?”

The little pegasus smiled up at her.  “Okay.  Thanks, Vinyl.”

Vinyl chuckled, ruffling Scootaloo’s mane.  “No problem, kid.”  She shut the door behind the filly and went back to the kitchen, where she could hear Octavia already digging through the icebox.  “Hey, Tavi, I just wanted to say--”

She was suddenly interrupted as Octavia snatched her by the neck and planted a fierce, passionate kiss on her muzzle.  Pleasantly stunned, the unicorn melted into the embrace until Octavia released her to collapse onto the kitchen floor.  “Uh...huh...what?” she panted.

“Vinyl,” Octavia said, staring into her eyes, “you are the dumbest, most impulsive, most foolhardy...” she sighed, smiling, “...sweetest, most generous, most caring mare I have ever met.”  She reached out and hugged the unicorn tightly.  “Thank you.  You did the right thing.”

Vinyl was thoroughly bemused.  “I...I did good?”

Octavia giggled and kissed her cheek.  “Yes, Vinyl.  You did good.”  Vinyl beamed as Octavia returned to the icebox.  “Now come on, help me get something fixed up for that poor little thing.  She’s awfully skinny.”

Vinyl nodded, opening cabinets and collecting plates and glasses.  Historically, her greatest contribution in the kitchen was staying out of the way.  Setting the kitchen on fire making hay smoothies had been the last straw, and Octavia had forbidden her from actually turning anything on anymore.  Instead, she carefully used her magic to grab a pitcher of milk from the icebox and pour a glass.  As she poured, her stomach rumbled fiercely, reminding her that Scootaloo wasn’t the only one who was hungry.  “Um, hey Tavi, what about the food in the bedroom?”

“Oh yeah,” Octavia said, suddenly reappearing from behind the icebox door.  “You want to go grab those?  We can all eat together.”

“Sure thing.”  The unicorn carefully leaned closer to the bathroom door as she passed it, listening to make sure Scootaloo was alright.  Quiet splashes and humming confirmed that she was, and Vinyl quickly returned with the trays, placing them on the dining room table before rejoining Octavia in the kitchen.

The grey mare was already half done with a tall, delicious-looking buttercup and daffodil sandwich, garnished with a pile of grated carrots and mustard greens.  Vinyl’s stomach growled furiously at the sight.  Octavia glanced over at her and smirked.  “Oh, no you don’t.  You’re going to eat the portabella steak I made for you when this was still a date night.”

Vinyl blushed, embarrassed.  “Uh, yeah...sorry about that.  I mean...I really was looking forward to it, I promise!  It’s just...”

Octavia giggled.  “Relax, Vy.  I’m sorry, too, but I think this is a little more important.”  Vinyl smiled.  “Speaking of, you haven’t really told me exactly how you ended up bringing home a stray filly.”

“Uh, heh, yeah,” Vinyl said, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.  “Well, you see, I finished the set early, like I promised you I would...”

Octavia smiled.  “I know you keep your promises, Vinyl; you don’t have to convince me.”

“And I went out the back door to get away from the crowds, and, well...there she was.  Just...digging in the trash.”

“Aw...the poor thing...”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.  She tried to get away, but I, er...well, at first, I caught her with my magic, but--”

“Vinyl!” Octavia cried, cuffing the unicorn around the ear.  “How could you?”

“I didn’t have a choice!” Vinyl whimpered.  “She would’ve gotten away, and who knows what would have happened to her.”  Octavia sighed, but didn’t say anything else.  Vinyl continued, “Anyway, I told her she could leave if she really wanted to, but that I just wanted to talk to her.  She almost did, too, when I put her down.”  Vinyl chuckled.  “I was worried what you’d think if I told you I let an orphan get away without making sure she was okay.”  Octavia rolled her eyes and smiled.  “But it didn’t matter, because she came back.  We talked, and I told her to come home with me so she could get a decent meal, a bath, and have someplace to sleep for the night.”

“I see...” Octavia raised an eyebrow at her.  “So you had already promised her all these things before you even brought her home to see if I would be okay with it?”

“Um...maybe?”

Octavia sighed.  “I wish I could say I was surprised.  Well, luckily for you, you did just exactly what I would expect you to.  Including,” she added, “giving her the option to leave.  That’s probably the most important part.”

Vinyl smiled, blushing faintly.  “Oh, well, I just figured she wouldn’t trust me if I forced her to come home with me.  At least this way she knows I’m not trying to control her or anything.”

“Exactly,” Octavia said, smiling.  “And it made all the difference in the world, I’m sure.”  Both mares’ ears flicked in the direction of the bathroom as they heard the water suddenly start rushing into the drain.  “Sounds like Scootaloo’s done.  You wanna check on her while I get everything finished up in here?”  Vinyl nodded and started towards the door.  “Oh, and while you’re in the area, could you blow out all the candles?”  Octavia smiled wryly.  “I don’t think we’ll get to enjoy them properly tonight.”

Vinyl giggled as she left.  “No...probably not.”

Ragamuffin

"Hey, Scoot, you might was to slow down a bit," Vinyl giggled as she watched the filly ravenously attack her sandwich.  "You don't want to make yourself sick, do you?"

Scootaloo paused for an instant, then continued her rampage unabated.  Vinyl shook her head and smiled, returning to her own dinner.  It was at least as hard for her to resist stuffing the entire giant mushroom cap in her mouth; Octavia's skill set was broad and varied, and thankfully included cooking, something the ivory unicorn had given up attempting many years ago.  The thick mushroom dripped with a light cream sauce that enhanced its own natural flavors, and Vinyl found herself closing her eyes blissfully as she chewed.

The meal had thus far been rather subdued, as after the immediate shock registered on Scootaloo's face faded enough for her to actually fit her mouth around the giant sandwich Octavia had created for her, the trio had sat at the dinner table in relative silence, each enjoying their meal with varying enthusiasm.  As a result, it came as no surprise that the filly was the first to complete her main course, and flowed seamlessly into devouring the side dish.  

Octavia chose this moment to start conversing with the little pegasus.  "So, Scootaloo," she said, daintily carving a reasonably-sized bite of the mushroom on her plate, "I'd ask if you enjoyed your meal, but I think I can figure that much out for myself."  She smiled warmly at the filly, who grinned sheepishly and nodded.

"Yes, ma'am.  Thank you very much."

Octavia shook her head with mild exasperation.  "Scootaloo, I thought I told you to call me Octavia.  You make me feel old when you say 'ma'am' like that."

"Sorry," Scootaloo said, blushing faintly.

Vinyl snickered.  "You could just call her Mama Tavi, you know."

"Vinyl!" the earth pony hissed at her mate from across the room, futilely attempting to cuff her shoulder from the other side of the table.

Scootaloo just laughed.  "I can't call you that!  You're not my mama."  The little filly smiled.  "I'll call you Octavia, though."  She looked over at Vinyl.  "Is it alright if I keep calling you Vinyl?"

The unicorn grinned.  "That's my name, kid."

"Scootaloo," Octavia said, "Vinyl tells me she...met you behind the nightclub she was performing at tonight."  The pegasus nodded.  "That's an awful long way from Sweet Apple Acres.  What were you doing all the way out there?"

"Oh," Scootaloo muttered, her face turning bright red and her ears flattening against her head as she poked awkwardly at a carrot.  "Well, I didn't really mean to go so far out of town, but...see, I was actually hanging around near Sugar Cube Corner, because I...I hadn't eaten in a couple days, and Pinkie Pie sometimes gives me cupcakes or muffins or other stuff that's gone stale, and even when she doesn't give it to me, they're throwing stuff out all the time."  Vinyl and Octavia exchanged a pained look.  Scootaloo didn't appear to notice, focused on abusing the carrot on her plate.  "The Cakes don't really like me that much, though, because...well, I think it's because Pinkie's always trying to give me free food, and she's not really supposed to.  They've gotten a lot worse since the foals were born, and last night...I guess Mr. Cake just got tired of me, because he came chasing after me with a broom, yelling that he was tired of me hanging around and that he was going to talk to my parents about it.  I got scared, 'cause I didn't want him to find out I was living in the orchard, so I jumped into a cart that was going by and hid.  When I finally looked out again, I was miles away and the sun was starting to go down."  She tapped her hooves together, her voice thickening slightly as she struggled not to tear up.  "I asked a couple ponies for help, but no one really stopped or said anything to me.  One stallion even kicked me in the side and told me to get away from him."  She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing tears to slide out of the corners and down her cheeks.  "After that, I didn't really want to ask anypony else, and I was starting to get really tired, so I just went into the alley to find somewhere to sleep.  Then I saw somepony come out of the club and throw a bunch of food, in the trash.  I don't really like digging in the trash, because that usually makes me sick...but I thought it might be safe because it looked fresh enough."  She took a couple deep breaths as she finished her story, and when she spoke again, her voice had returned to normal.  "Anyway, that's when Vinyl found me."  She smiled at the ivory unicorn.  "And I'm really glad she did."

Vinyl smiled, her chest swelling with joy.  "Me too, Scoot.  I'm glad to hear you weren't out there for too long."

Scootaloo nodded.  "I don't like that part of town...it's scary, and the ponies aren't very nice."

Octavia shook her head, scowling sideways at Vinyl.  "No, they aren't.  I don't like that part of town either."  The unicorn withered under her mate's glare, but Octavia didn't maintain it for long.  Instead, she smiled at Scootaloo, reaching out and placing a hoof on her shoulder.  "Well, I'm glad she found you too.  I'd hate to think of you having to spend a night starving in the cold like that."

"Yeah...the clubhouse isn't a great home, but it's got a roof, and no one ever bothers me out there."

"How long have you been living in the clubhouse, Scootaloo?" Vinyl asked.

The filly shrugged, chewing absently on a mouthful of carrots.  "I dunno.  I don't really pay much attention to what day it is.  I just wake up, try to find something to eat, go to school, hang out with my friends, and get back to the clubhouse without anyone noticing."

"Oh, you go to school?" Octavia asked, her eyes lighting up.

Scootaloo nodded.  "Yeah.  I didn't want to at first, but Sweetie Belle said I should come with her one day, and I did.  Miss Cheerilee is really nice, and she seemed real happy to have me there, so I stayed."  She smiled.  "It's fun, actually.  It's kind of boring, sometimes, but I like when we do math and stuff."

"I'm glad to hear that," Octavia said, smiling.  "At least you spend some time every day with an adult keeping an eye on you."

Scootaloo suddenly scowled.  "I don't need someone to keep an eye on me!  I do just fine all on my own!"

Octavia frowned.  "Scootaloo, you must understand, it's not safe for a filly your age to be--"

"I'm not a baby," Scootaloo huffed, drawing herself up in her chair.  "I've been taking care of myself for a long time, and I don't need anypony's help!"

"She didn't mean it that way," Vinyl said, holding up a hoof to stem Octavia's imminent protest.  "We know you can take care of yourself.  It's obvious you've been doing a pretty good job so far."  Scootaloo smiled proudly.  "But it's good for us to know that you've been going to school, because Miss Cheerilee could make sure you weren't sick, or hurt, or lost or something."

The little pegasus settled back into her chair, huffing.  "I guess...I still don't need anypony to keep an eye on me."

"Scootaloo," Octavia said diplomatically, "there's nothing wrong with needing someone to watch out for you.  Take Vinyl for instance," she said, glancing sideways at the unicorn.  "I can't leave her alone for more than a day or two because I know if I do, she'll just eat corn flakes and sleep in the middle of the living room floor until she suffocates in a heap of her own trash."

"Tavi," Vinyl whined, pouting, "that's mean!"

"But true," Octavia insisted, pointing an accusatory hoof in her direction.  "I know, because I've come home from concerts in Canterlot before to find you passed out in the middle of the floor with magazines and corn flakes boxes all over the room."

"One time!" Vinyl said, throwing up her hooves in exasperation.

"Still."  Octavia looked at Scootaloo, who was giggling at the exchange.  "You see, Scootaloo, even adults need someone to keep an eye on them sometimes, even if just to make sure they're taking care of themselves properly.  I'm sure you can take care of yourself better than Vinyl can, but I'd still prefer to know someone's helping you make sure."

Scootaloo nodded.  "I guess that's alright."

Vinyl smirked.  "Good.  Now come on, you wanna go play Goldeneye?  Tavi won't play with me."  She grinned and muttered conspiratorially to the filly.  "She's kinda really bad at it."

"I am not!" Octavia said, her cheeks flushing.  "I just don't see the appeal of killing one another, that's all."

"Sure, sure!" Vinyl soothed, holding up her hooves defensively.  Then she leaned over and added, "not that she's ever killed anyone in that game anyway."

Scootaloo giggled as Octavia rolled her eyes.  "Alright, get out of here, you two.  At least that game will keep you out of my mane while I clean up."  

Vinyl hopped up out of her chair and trotted around the table, kissing Octavia on the cheek as she did.  "C'mon, Scoot.  Let's go."

"Okay!"  Scootaloo jumped down out of her chair and followed Vinyl, pausing as she passed Octavia.  "Thank you for dinner.  It was really good."

Octavia smiled, vaguely surprised.  "Why, you're quite welcome, sweetie.  I'm glad you enjoyed it."  The little filly smiled back and then cantered out into the living room where Vinyl was already getting set up, only slightly hindered by her uncanny ability to get tangled in any bit of cord or string more than a few hooves long.  Octavia watched the pair chat and laugh together for a few minutes before shaking her head with amusement and turning back to her meal, now able to finish it in relative peace while she listened to the excited palaver of her mate and their new--temporary--charge.

~~~

"So just as the evil Pegleg was about to board the helpless civilian schooner, the dashing rogue stallion Picaroon burst out of the brig, swinging the sword he'd taken from the jailor!"  Vinyl enthusiastically leapt up onto her chair and struck a dramatic pose.

Scootaloo sat forward in bed, her wings stuck out straight and her eyes shining.  "Then what did he do?" she asked, breathless.

Vinyl smirked and shrugged.  "Oh, well, he just went up to Pegleg and asked if he wouldn't mind letting the schooner go, of course.  Diplomacy and whatever."

Scootaloo laughed.  "That's silly!  Picaroon wouldn't do that."

"Oh really?" Vinyl said, hopping down off the chair.  "Well, what would he do, then?"

"He'd charge forward, flying over all the other pirates, and then he'd tackle Pegleg to the deck and fight him to the death, like this!" Scootaloo suddenly leaped out of bed and into Vinyl's midsection, tackling the unicorn to the floor.

"Ow, hey!" Vinyl laughed as the little pegasus sat on top of her, grabbing one of her arms and tugging it behind her back.  "I give up!"

"Haha!" Scootaloo grinned triumphantly, sitting up and letting Vinyl's arm go.

Suddenly, the unicorn sat upright, grabbing the filly around the middle.  "I have you now, Picaroon!  Never let your guard down!"  She began tickling Scootaloo mercilessly.

"Ack!  No, stop!"  She laughed, struggling against the older mare's grasp.

"Do you surrender?"

"Never!"  Scootaloo giggled, still wriggling.  She managed to get free enough to return the tickling assault on her captor, who she discovered had a crippling weakness to just such an attack.

"No, wait!  Aaaah!" Vinyl shrieked as she collapsed into fits of laughter, rolling on the floor in a futile attempt to escape Scootaloo's prodding hooves.

"Do you surrender?" Scootaloo asked, grinning.

"Yes, yes!" Vinyl laughed as Scootaloo relented and sat astride her conquered foe.

"Glad to see you two are well on your way to bed."  Octavia's voice suddenly drew Vinyl's attention to the door, where the earth pony was standing with a mix of exasperation and amusement on her face.  This was an expression that Vinyl was all too familiar with, as she saw it almost every time Octavia looked at her when they had been apart for more than fifteen minutes at a time.

Vinyl grinned sheepishly.  "I was just...ah, telling her a bedtime story."

Octavia smirked.  "I gathered.  Come on, Scootaloo, storytime's over."  She stepped into the room and gently nudged Scootaloo off of Vinyl and back towards the bed.

"Aw..." the little filly protested, but went quietly anyway.  She climbed back into the temporary bed that folded out of the sofa in the living room.  Octavia pulled the covers back up over her and tucked them into the sides of the mattress as best she could.

"I know it's probably not as nice as what you get when you sleep over at some of your friends' houses, but--"

"No, no!" Scootaloo interrupted her, shaking her head fervently.  "It's great!  It's a lot better than the clubhouse floor."

Octavia smiled.  "Well, I should hope so.  Anyway, we'll just be down the hall if you need anything, so just give us a shout, okay?"

Scootaloo nodded, suddenly unable to stifle a yawn that left tears in the corners of her eyes.  "Okay."

Vinyl smiled as she got up and rubbed the little filly's head with a hoof.  "G'night, Scoots."

"Pleasant dreams, sweetheart," Octavia added as she left the room, turning out the lights as she closed the door behind her.

As soon as the door was closed, Octavia heaved a deep sigh.  "That poor little girl...can you imagine?  Living on the streets, digging in trash cans for food..."

"Yeah," Vinyl said.  Then she smiled.  "Good thing she won't have to do that anymore, right?"  Octavia didn't say anything.  The smile faded from Vinyl's face.  "Right, Tavi?"

Octavia bit her lip anxiously.  "I...I don't know, Vinyl.  I'm not sure what we could do for her.  She doesn't want to go back to the orphanage, but I don't know of any alternative."

Vinyl snorted.  "Don't be silly, Tavi.  Of course there's an alternative."

"What?"

"Yeah."  The unicorn grinned broadly and gestured to Octavia and herself.

Her marefriend blinked, confused.  Then, comprehension dawned and a horrified look spread across her face.  "Oh, no.  No, no, no.  We are not--"

"Oh, come on, Tavi!"

"No, Vinyl!  We don't have the time, we don't have the space, we don't have the money...no!" she repeated as Vinyl bobbed her head enthusiastically.

"Come on, sure we do!  You work during the day, I work at night, one of us is always home..."

"Vinyl..."

"We could move into a bigger place closer to the farm..."

"Vinyl, stop it!"  Octavia said, putting her hooves over her ears.  "Look, even if it was an option, it's not the kind of decision we could make after one night with her, alright?  Let's..." she sighed, "let's sleep on it, at least.  That's not a yes!" she added, as Vinyl grinned and started bouncing happily on her hooves.

"But it's not a no!" the unicorn sang, prancing around her mate in the hallway.

Octavia shook her head, unable to resist the smile that seeing Vinyl happy always brought to her face.  "I suppose not."  She sighed again.  "Come on, Vinyl, it's been a long night.  Let's go to bed."

Vinyl stepped forward and gave her a long, passionate kiss, only pulling away when the earth pony started gasping, breathless.  "Thank you, Tavi.  I love you, you know that?"

Octavia smiled as she recovered.  "I do.  Celestia knows why, but I love you, too."

Vinyl grinned, flipping her mate on the nose with her tail as she passed.  "For the stability...and the predictability."

The other mare giggled.  "Yeah, that must be it."

Wastrel

The following day, Octavia rose with the sun, much as she did every morning.  The gentle shafts of light streaming through the window next to the bed danced playfully across her face as the sun peeked slowly over the horizon, casting aside the somber blackness of night and welcoming back the day.  The earth pony smiled to herself as she lay in bed, keeping her eyes closed as she relished the simple bliss of a peaceful, nearly silent morning, only occasionally punctuated by the tentative singing of the birds who had joined the sun in this early confluence of natural ecstasy and beauty.

SNNRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKK

Octavia's eyes snapped open and then immediately slid closed again in an exasperated grimace as a rasping snore shattered the tenuous majesty of the morning and brought her careening back to real life.  The earth pony sighed as she listened to the unicorn beside her breathe, her deep slumber occasionally eliciting another alarmingly loud snore that made any illusions Octavia may have been nursing about attempting to fall back asleep laughably impossible.  Instead, the silver mare tossed aside the bedclothes and got up, stretching, yawning, and then slowly stumbling into the bathroom for a shower.  A few minutes later, she reappeared, a towel still wrapped around her mane and her spirits considerably buoyed.  She even chuckled softly to herself as Vinyl snored again, making little grunting sounds as she exhaled, her legs kicking slightly as she dreamed.  The earth pony trotted over to the bed and kissed her lover's cheek, which brought a broad, comical grin to the sleeping unicorn's muzzle.

Octavia giggled.  "Vinyl, you are a silly, silly filly.  What would my old friends think if they found out who I settled down with?"  She shook her head, smiling, and left the ivory mare to sleep, tangled in the bedsheets with her electric blue mane strewn wildly about her head.

Walking out into the kitchen for breakfast, Octavia was shocked to see Scootaloo already sitting in the dining room, her shock of magenta hair spiking out in all directions and her chin resting on the table.  Much to her concern, she saw the filly was frowning slightly, worry creasing her brow.  As soon as she noticed Octavia's arrival, though, the little pegasus sat up and smiled at her.  "Morning."

"Good morning, sweetheart," Octavia said, smiling back.  "You're up awfully early."

She shrugged.  "I don't really have an alarm clock in the clubhouse.  I just go to bed when the sun goes down and wake up when it comes back up."

"That's a good habit to get into," Octavia said, trotting over to the icebox and pulling it open.  "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes, please," Scootaloo said, her voice strangely tight and polite.

Octavia took note of the change in tone, but didn't mention it.  "What are you interested in?  Some oatmeal, perhaps?  Eggs, toast, fruit?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter to me.  I'll eat whatever you want to make."

Octavia sighed lightly, smiling.  "Scootaloo, you are a guest in my home.  Surely you don't mind if I cater to your wants just a little, do you?"

"I guess not," she said, tapping her hooves together, unsure.

"Good.  Now, what are you hungry for this morning?"

"Um...you wouldn't happen to have..." Scootaloo blushed and lowered her voice, "I mean, you couldn't make...waffles, could you?"

Octavia smiled brightly.  "Of course I can, sweetie."  Suddenly, an idea struck her.  "In fact, why don't you help me out?  That way you can make sure I'm doing it right."

"Okay," the little pegasus said, grinning and hopping down off of her chair.

"Wonderful.  First, I'm going to need you to look down there and grab the waffle iron for me," Octavia said.  "Don't worry about the scorch marks; it used to belong to Vinyl before we moved in together."

Scootaloo pulled out the blackened utensil and brought it over to her.  "Are you and Vinyl married?" she asked.

Octavia blushed and laughed nervously.  "Ahem, ah...no.  No, we're not.  We're just partners.  Marefriends."

"Oh," the filly said.  "Are you going to get married?"

The blush deepened.  "Well...maybe.  I mean...we've talked about it a little, but never very seriously."  She plugged in the iron and began to collect the ingredients on the counter, lining them up in front of her while it heated up.

"That's too bad," Scootaloo said matter-of-factly.

"Really," Octavia said, pulling a stool up to the counter and gesturing for the pegasus to climb up on top of it.  "Why do you say that?"

"Well," she said, clambering up on top of the stool, "everypony should have someone they love, who loves them back, and they should get married, so they can be together forever."

"I see," the earth pony giggled, filling measuring cups and sliding them over for Scootaloo to pour into a mixing bowl.  "Well, I wouldn't worry too much about that.  We've been together for a while; I don't think we're going to part ways any time soon."

"That's good," Scootaloo grinned briefly, but the smile quickly faded and her face fell into the same nervous expression she'd had when Octavia had first walked in.  

This time, the earth pony decided to say something.  "Scootaloo...is something wrong?"

"No," the filly responded too quickly, and she pulled a brave facade back onto her face.

Octavia frowned.  "Sweetie, please tell me what's the matter.  I promise I just want to help, but I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong."  Scootaloo didn't respond.  "Please?" Octavia prompted.

Scootaloo glanced up at her.  "I...I heard you and Vinyl talking.  Last night."  Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and she looked away, sniffing and brushing them away with her hooves.

"Oh," Octavia said, her stomach suddenly tightening.  "Well..."

"I don't want to go back to the orphanage," Scootaloo said quietly, still not looking at Octavia.  "But if you don't want me to stay, I can go back to the clubhouse."  She tapped her hooves together, frowning down at the counter.  "If you don't mind too much...I'd like to come visit sometimes, but I don't want to--"

Scootaloo was suddenly interrupted as Octavia threw her arms around the filly's shoulders, pulling her into a fierce hug.  "Oh, Scootaloo, it's not that!  I want you to stay."  She held Scootaloo at arm's length and smiled through eyes shimmering with frustrated tears.  "I want you to stay very much, it's just...I know this is hard for you to understand, but...well, Vinyl is sweet, but she doesn't always think things all the way through."  The explanation sounded feeble even to her, and Octavia struggled to come up with a firmer one.

Scootaloo didn't give her the opportunity.  "It's okay.  I understand.  I mean," the filly sat back on the stool, her shoulders hunching dejectedly, "I didn't really expect to stay more than a night, anyway."  She forced a faint smile.  "It was nice, though, staying here with you and Vinyl.  It really felt..." she blushed as her voice trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Octavia put a hoof under her chin and forced the filly to look at her.  "Felt...?" she prompted.

A tear slid down each of Scootaloo's cheeks as she looked into Octavia's eyes.  "It felt like having a home."

Octavia sighed, letting tears run down her cheeks as well.  "Alright, Scootaloo, alright.  You win.  You can stay."

Scootaloo's eyes suddenly lit up, and her little wings buzzed furiously with joy.  "You mean it?" she shrieked.  "You really mean I can stay?"  Octavia nodded, smiling weakly.  The little pegasus suddenly leaped into her arms, wrapping her hooves around the silver mare's neck and hugging her tightly, her flailing wings making it difficult for Octavia to return the embrace.

The earth pony laughed.  "Yeah, I mean it, Scootaloo.  You're a sweet filly, and I can't bear the thought of you having to spend another night on the street, and if you really don't want to go back to the orphanage, I'm not going to force you to."  She grinned.  "Plus, it'll be nice for Vinyl to have someone her own maturity level to play with."

Scootaloo giggled even as Octavia felt tears soaking into the fur of her neck.  She smiled to herself and hugged the filly tightly, relishing the warmth and pure unbridled euphoria Scootaloo was emanating.  It reminded her of the first time she had agreed to go on a date with Vinyl, some years previous.  That same bright-eyed excitement, the unabashed joy...that had worked out pretty well, she remarked to herself.  Why couldn't this?

~~~

"So, you have your lunch, right?" Octavia asked, glancing up at the bright red schoolhouse just coming into view down the road.

"Yes."

"And you know to wait here for Vinyl this afternoon, right?"

"Yes, Octavia," Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes with her voice.  Once again, Octavia recognized the tone; it was one that Vinyl was very fond of.  

She chuckled softly to herself, letting it slide.  "Alright, then."  They paused outside the schoolhouse, and Octavia smiled down at the filly.  "Have a good day, Scootaloo.  Pay attention, work hard, listen to your teacher."

"I know, I know," Scootaloo said, this time actually rolling her eyes.  The gesture lost much of its impact when she grinned up at the Octavia afterwards.  "Thanks for walking with me.  The clubhouse is a lot closer to school than your house is."

"You're quite welcome, sweetheart."

Scootaloo flinched very lightly at the endearment, glancing around to make sure no other fillies had heard.  Once she had determined they were more or less alone in the front yard of the schoolhouse, she suddenly dove forward to give Octavia a quick hug.  The silver mare didn't even have a chance to reciprocate before the little pegasus took off into the school, giving her a smile and a wave before she disappeared into the building.

Octavia stood in the yard for a few moments, deliberating over whether she should go through with her original plan or not, but before she could make a decision, it was made for her, as the pink-maned magenta school teacher came out of the schoolhouse and walked over to her, smiling.  "Good morning!  Can I help you?"

Octavia shook her head.  "Oh, no, thank you.  I was just dropping Scootaloo off."

"Scootaloo?" the teacher said, her eyes lighting up.  "Are you her mother?"

The earth pony laughed nervously.  "Ah, no.  No, I'm just taking care of her."

"I see."  A flash of disappointment crossed the other mare's face, but only momentarily.  She quickly recovered her cheerful smile.  "Well, thank you for bringing her.  I don't believe we've met.  My name is Cheerilee."  She held out a welcoming hoof.

Octavia shook the proffered hoof warmly.  "Good morning, Cheerilee, I'm Octavia.  My...partner and I are fairly new in town."

"Oh, I see.  Well, welcome to Ponyville!" she said, grinning widely.  "How do you like it so far?"

"A lot, actually," Octavia said honestly.  "Everypony is exceptionally friendly, and the whole town is beautiful, clean, and just feels very...homey."

Cheerilee nodded.  "Mmhm.  I've been to a couple other cities in Equestria, but nothing beats coming home to Ponyville."

"I believe it."

A moment of silence passed between the mares before Cheerilee cleared her throat and said, "So...you're Scootaloo's caretaker, are you?"

Octavia nodded.  "For the time being, yes."

"How long have you been, ah...'taking care' of her?"  Octavia thought she heard a hint of anger riding just underneath the cheery tone of the question, and it took her only a moment to realize why.

"One day," she responded dryly.  "I know what you're thinking, but please understand we would never neglect her like that."  Cheerilee didn't look particularly convinced, so Octavia pressed further.  "She's an orphan, Cheerilee.  Vinyl--my partner--found her digging in the trash behind the Black Stable, and brought her home.  We fed her, bathed her, gave her a place to spend the night...we're hoping to find a more permanent arrangement, but for right now, she's living with us."

Cheerilee didn't immediately respond, searching Octavia's face for any sign of a bluff.  Then she sighed and nodded.  "I suppose I believe you.  She did seem unusually cheerful this morning."  She glanced over her shoulder, frowning at the schoolhouse door.  "It's just that, well...like you said, she's a sweet girl.  She's very smart, and has tons of potential, but she just..."  She sighed, looking at the ground.  "I can always tell when she's spent the night with one of her friends, because she comes to school with a completely different attitude.  She's cheerful, focused, enthusiastic...but then there are all the other times when she's sluggish, moody, inattentive...she's just not the same.  I don't really know where she comes from on those days, but I know she's not being taken care of properly.  I kept hoping she would talk to me about it, or that I'd be able to find out for myself, but she's very proud, and I think she knows I've been keeping tabs on her, because I've never been able to follow her all the way home before."

Octavia nodded.  "She told us that she's been living in a clubhouse in the Sweet Apple orchard."

"The Crusaders' clubhouse?"

"I...don't know.  She didn't say what clubhouse."

"Oh, she hasn't told you about the Cutie Mark Crusaders yet."  Cheerilee giggled as Octavia shook her head.  "Well, she will.  She and her friends are very proud of their little club.  They're trying to earn their cutie marks together."

"I was unaware that you could 'try' to earn a cutie mark."

"You can't," Cheerilee smirked.  "But that doesn't stop them from trying.  And they do seem to have a lot of fun doing it.  Anyway, without that little club, and her friends--and their extraordinarily patient sisters--I think Scootaloo would be a lot worse off than she already is."

"So you knew?"

"That she was an orphan?  No," Cheerilee shook her head.  "I suppose I knew it was a possibility, but she didn't look as ragged or malnourished as I would have expected an orphan to look.  I always assumed she just had very inattentive parents.  They never come to parent-teacher conferences, and since I didn't know where she lived, I couldn't visit them myself.  She's always been evasive about her address, and she wouldn't give me a straight answer, so I just assumed she was ashamed of her family--it's not particularly uncommon."

"No, I would imagine not," Octavia said, thinking back to her own parents.  She wasn't exactly ashamed of them, but she certainly never offered to introduce anyone to them if she could help it.  "She is very smart," she agreed.  "She's been taking relatively good care of herself, getting food from Sugar Cube Corner when she wasn't able to sleep over at one of her friends' houses, and sleeping in the clubhouse for shelter."

"I'm not surprised at all.  She's very resourceful, and she has so much potential."  She smiled broadly.  "I'm glad to hear someone's finally managed to catch her and take her home with them.  I wish I could have done it myself, but..." the smile faded slightly, "well, I've already got twenty foals to take care of during the week.  I'm not sure I could give one filly the attention she deserves."

"I understand," Octavia said.  "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure we're quite prepared for the...unique challenge associated, but...well, sometimes you just have to take a chance, when somepony else needs you to."

Cheerilee smiled broadly.  "I'm glad you feel that way.  Thank you, Octavia."

"For what?"

"For giving Scootaloo a second chance.  She deserves it."

Octavia smiled, remembering the previous night, listening to Scootaloo laughing and talking with Vinyl, watching her enjoying what must have been her first truly substantial meal in days, seeing the smile on her face as she helped make waffles that morning.  "Believe me, Cheerilee, it is my pleasure."

Waif

Octavia paused several steps away from the front door of Ponyville's only fashion outlet and stared up at the opulent building.  The Carousel Boutique struck a tenuous balance of looking ostentatious without being garish.  It caught the eye, certainly, but thankfully didn't make the viewer regret it.  She was pausing because she wasn't quite sure what she was about to say, or how she expected the proprietor of the store before her to respond.  As her conversation with Cheerilee had drawn to a close, she had asked the schoolteacher if there were any other ponies in town who might know more about Scootaloo, and her first suggestion had been to talk to her best friends' families, or more specifically...

"Miss Rarity and Applejack," she said, gesturing vaguely back towards the town.  "Rarity runs the Carousel Boutique."

"Oh, that big dress shop in the south?"

Cheerilee nodded.  "Not only is she Sweetie Belle's sister, and therefore knows Scootaloo quite well, but she's also something of a connoisseur of gossip; if there's anything dark and juicy to be known, she's the one to ask."

"I see.  She's Sweetie Belle's sister, you say?  Why not talk to Sweetie's parents?"

"Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents both work during the day, and Sweetie usually stays with her sister after school until they come to pick her up.  I'm not sure they've ever met Scootaloo, come to think of it," the magenta mare tapped her chin thoughtfully.  "But Rarity certainly has.  They've spent the night at the boutique many, many times."  She chuckled softly.  "Apparently it's not exactly Scootaloo's favorite place to hang out."

Octavia tried to imagine Vinyl attempting to amuse herself in a dressmaker's shop.  "No, it probably wouldn't be.  Well, what about Applebloom?  Why not talk to her parents?"

Cheerilee's face suddenly darkened considerably, and the smile vanished.  "Oh, the Apples...well..." she swallowed, and her voice tightened, "they, um...passed away.  Several years ago."

"Oh, my goodness," Octavia gasped, "I'm so sorry."

"Applebloom was very young at the time.  I'm not sure how much she remembers, but she was there when it happened, so I'm afraid she remembers more than she should.  We talk about it very, very infrequently, mostly just when I can tell she's been having nightmares about it again.  In any event, she just lives with her two older siblings, Applejack and Big Macintosh, and their grandmother, Granny Smith."

"I see..."

"Scootaloo is particularly fond of the Apples, for obvious reasons, and she and Sweetie Belle sleep over at the farmhouse more than they don't.  If anyone knew something unusual about Scootaloo, it would be the Apple family."

"Should I talk to them first, then?"

Cheerilee shook her head.  "No, in fact, I would recommend you spoke to Rarity first.  She may not know as much as the Apples, but she might know something they don't.  The first time I saw Scootaloo, she was coming to school with Sweetie Belle, and apparently she was only coming because Rarity had threatened to make her try on clothes all day if she didn't."  The mare giggled.  "No matter what anyone says about her, that unicorn does seem to have a unique way with foals."

Octavia smiled.  "Well, thank you, Miss Cheerilee.  I'll do just that.  Oh, and don't worry if a vaguely disturbing, spiky-haired white unicorn mare with bright red eyes and no maturity or sense of decorum comes to take Scootaloo away this afternoon," she said dryly.  "That's just my partner, Vinyl, and she wouldn't know tact if someone threw a brick of it at her head."

Cheerilee laughed.  "I see.  Did you say...she was your partner?"  The tone and the look were both familiar to Octavia.

She bristled very slightly.  "Yes, she has been my fillyfriend for several years.  Is that an issue?"

Cheerilee smiled, shaking her head.  "Not at all.  I was just making sure I had heard you correctly."  

Octavia relaxed.  "Oh, okay.  Sorry, it's just...well, we used to live in Manehatten, and ponies were mostly okay with it there, but we did have a few...incidents when we moved here.  It wasn't a big deal; we kind of expected as much, coming to a small town from such a cosmopolitan city, but every so often..."

"Say no more," Cheerilee said, waving a hoof dismissively.  "Despite what you might think, Ponyville's a pretty accepting place.  I'm honestly surprised you had any troubles at all, especially since...well, I suppose you haven't met Twilight Sparkle yet, have you?"

"The Honorable Hero of Equestria?  We haven't the pleasure."

"You should stop by and talk to her sometime.  She's actually quite down to earth, and very pleasant.  Don't let the hype put your off," she remarked, correctly deciphering Octavia's skeptical expression.  "I think you'll find you have more in common than you might expect."

It was a suggestion Octavia planned to take sometime in the future, but right now, she had to convince herself to take the remaining fifteen or so steps up to the front door of the Boutique.  Reminding herself it was for Scootaloo's benefit, she sighed and trudged up to the door and knocked on it.

She had only tapped her hoof on the wood once when the door swung swiftly inwards, revealing a beaming white unicorn with a beautifully styled purple mane standing in the entryway, her horn and the door glowing with a light blue aura.  "I was WONDERING when you'd finally muster up the courage to come and grace my vestibule!  Please, come in!"  Without warning, the unicorn dashed out of the boutique and urgently nudged Octavia inside, slamming the door behind them.  "Oh, I just can not wait to start designing for you.  You have such beautiful ebony hair, and your eyes are simply stunning!  I have just the fabric to make them pop.  Don't move a muscle!"  She dashed away, leaving a stunned Octavia to suddenly find herself standing on a fitting podium in the middle of the boutique, surrounded by full-length mirrors.

Before she could properly regain her bearings, the unicorn reappeared with a bolt of brilliant amethyst satin chasing her.  "This will look simply smashing on you, darling.  And I must say, you have such a...regal frame.  I can't wait to see how this satin hangs off of--"

"Excuse me!" Octavia interrupted the designer's tirade with slightly more force than she'd intended.  She cleared her throat and tried again, blushing lightly.  "I mean...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I'm actually not here for a dress."

"You're not?" the unicorn said, shock plain on her face.  "Oh, I thought for sure...you have such a beautiful face, and you carry yourself with such poise, I assumed...well, no matter!  Perhaps another time."  She smiled brightly and levitated the bolt over to a table already covered in five more, each wound in an elegant, magnificent--and doubtless extraordinarily expensive--fabric.  "So, what can I do for you, then?  A makeover, perhaps?  I'm not much of a hairdresser, but I can certainly see what I can do!  Your hair really is quite beautiful; if you wore it up, perhaps..."

"No, no thank you," Octavia said, the blush deepening slightly as the unicorn raised a hoof to reposition a lock of her mane.  "I actually just wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

"Questions?  Whatever about, darling?"

"Are you...Rarity?"  The query sounded ridiculous the instant she said it.  This was Carousel Boutique, of whom Rarity was the owner, and this unicorn was clearly the only inhabitant of the building.

The designer didn't bat an eye.  "The one and only, my dear.  And to whom do I owe the pleasure?"

"My name's Octavia Philharmonica, and I--"

The unicorn gasped.  "Miss Philharmonica!  Oh my stars, I had no idea...oh, but I should have recognized you immediately!"

"You...know who I am?" Octavia gaped.

"But of course!  You play cello and bass viola for the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra, do you not?"

"Well, yes, but that doesn't usually garner fans for individual musicians."

"Well," Rarity gushed, "you are hardly just any musician, now are you?"

Octavia blushed fiercely at the praise.  "Oh, my...that may be a little strong...I mean, I appreciate the compliment, but I simply do what I love, and am fortunate enough to make a living out of it."

"And we are fortunate as well, Miss Philharmonica."  Rarity smiled broadly, walking over to an ornate record player in the corner of the boutique.  As soon as she dropped the needle onto the record already there, Octavia realized she recognized the music being played.

"The Six Suites..." she murmured.  After several seconds, a second realization struck her.  "This...this is my recording.  It's the first solo recording I ever performed."  She stared at the grinning white unicorn.  "But this record only sold a few dozen copies.  It was just a demo, for when I was auditioning for the Canterlot Symphony and the Manehattan Philharmonic.  How did you...?"

"I have dear friends in high--and often quite distinguished--places, my dear," Rarity beamed.  "As it happens, I was visiting a friend in Canterlot, and he insisted I hear this record.  He was quite complimentary of it, and I must say he could have been even moreso.  It is simply magnificent."

"I'm sure it's not all that," Octavia said, struggling not to beam as her face burned with a proud blush.

"Oh, but it is.  I was so taken by your performance that I asked Fancy--that's Fancy Pants, the friend I spoke of--if I could perhaps borrow the album for some time, and he insisted I keep it, that he could obtain another copy.  Apparently they are quite rare, though, and very valuable."

Octavia's head was spinning.  She had had no idea that the only solo recording she had ever produced was so popular.  At the time, she had been severely disappointed in it, as sales had been less than lackluster, and critics had lambasted the performance for the various minor technical and creative liberties she had taken in recording it.  It had impressed both of the orchestras she'd sent a copy to, though, and had garnered the earth pony her current role as the Canterlot Symphonic's lead cellist, but she had always assumed the recording itself would feature as a minor footnote in her life, an attempt to impress that had gone terribly awry.  Never in a million years could she have imagined that it would be at all popular, or valuable.  This realization had the modest pony reeling, and it was several seconds before she could regain enough of her senses to remind herself that she had come to the boutique for a reason.

"Well, I...I really do appreciate the praise, but--"

"Praise you well deserve, my dear!  I wonder if I could trouble you to sign the album itself?  I would be ever so grateful."

"Um...perhaps in a moment.  But I really did come here for a reason."

"Oh, of course you did!  My stars, how rude of me."  Rarity put a dramatic hoof to her forehead.  "Here I am, nattering on about fame you didn't even realize you had, when you simply wanted to come and chat.  Sincerest apologies, Miss Philharmonica.  What can I do for you?"

"It's...no problem.  Like I said, I just had a couple questions."

"Well, let us go to the sitting room, then, and you may ask them."  The white unicorn led her visitor into another room of the boutique.  This one was less glamorous than the fitting room, much cozier and more homey.  A small fireplace in the corner crackled quietly, putting out just the right amount of heat to make the room feel snug without being sultry.  Several overstuffed red velvet sitting chairs surrounded a polished wooden coffee table with a modest bouquet in the middle.  Rarity indicated for Octavia to situate herself on one of the chairs and then sat in the chair next to hers.  "Now, my dear, you wished to interview me, I believe?"

"Um, yes...well..." suddenly Octavia realized she had no idea how to broach the subject.  Exactly how did one explain that they had 'acquired' an orphan?  "You're Sweetie Belle's sister, right?"

Rarity almost rolled her eyes, but managed to turn the gesture into a slightly exasperated smile instead.  "Yes, I am.  She hasn't gotten herself into trouble again, has she?  I swear, that little filly spends at least as much time trying to get into things as I have to spend getting her back out again."

"Oh, no, nothing like that.  I was just making sure, because I actually wanted to ask you about one of her friends, Scootaloo."

"The little orange pegasus?" Rarity asked dryly.  "Yes, I know her, as well.  A...rather unrefined little mare, much like her idol, Rainbow Dash.  Strong of spirit, somewhat lacking in common sense.  What can I tell you about her?"

"Well, I was actually about to ask you exactly the same question.  What do you know about Scootaloo?"

Rarity tapped a thoughtful hoof on her chin.  "I suppose I know as much as there is to know, but that doesn't exactly constitute a great deal of information.  I've known her for perhaps two or three years, ever since Sweetie Belle first brought her over, begging to let her spend the night.  I acquiesced, mostly because she seemed so adamant about it, although I had my reservations.  Scootaloo was...well, not particularly well-kept.  Thin, filthy...I must admit, I was concerned for her well-being that night, but I said nothing.  As it turned out, she ended up more refined, more polite, and less...difficult, than my sister."  She laughed, a bright, almost superficial sound.  "How odd, that a ruffian like that would prove more courteous and less, shall we say, pesky than my sister, who has spent much of her life watching from my shadow.  In any event, it happens that she is only this way the first several times she interacts with somepony.  After she becomes comfortable with you, she becomes much more querulous, although she manages still to remain generally respectful.  Very clever, too.  As I said, she lacks in common sense, as is not particularly surprising for a filly--and a pegasus--but she is quite intelligent.  She often helps Sweetie Belle with her schoolwork, particularly math and science.  She doesn't seem to read much, but she will sometimes amuse herself by doing additional schoolwork beyond what her teacher has assigned her."

"She did say she likes math," Octavia agreed, nodding.

"Oh, you've spoken to her?" Rarity said with moderate surprise.

"Yes, I...well, actually," she hesitated for a moment.  "As it happens, my partner and I have recently discovered that Scootaloo is...well, was...an orphan."

"An orphan!" Rarity said, dismay plain on her face.  "Oh my dear, had I but known!  Oh, the poor thing, I can't imagine...but she never said anything of the sort!"

Octavia nodded grimly.  "She didn't want to go back to the orphanage.  Apparently she used to live in one, and it was...an unpleasant experience."

"I'm sure.  No wonder she was so eager to spend the night that evening...I knew she seemed slightly undernourished and a little dirty, but I just assumed...oh, I wish I'd been more insistent!  I did try to contact her parents, you must understand, but she was so evasive, and I never did manage to get a straight answer out of her.  I just presumed her parents were...well, like mine, actually.  Absent during the day, but generally present at night, when they came home.  I mean, sure, she was thin, but look at Rainbow Dash!  Pegasi are always slim and athletic.  How could I have known she was--"

"Rarity," Octavia interrupted the fashionista's self-flagellating lament, "you couldn't have.  No one could have.  If Vinyl hadn't found her digging in the trash behind the Black Stable, she wouldn't have known Scootaloo was in any sort of trouble at all."

"Digging in the trash...oh my stars..."  She shook her head.  "Well, this really is awful news...but you said she 'was' an orphan?"

Octavia nodded.  "Well, you see, Vinyl and I talked about it, and after...well, not a whole lot of discussion, to be honest, we decided we wanted to see if we could adopt her."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Rarity beamed.  "I'm so happy for her, and for you!  No filly should have to raise themselves, least of all one with such potential.  Vinyl is your...partner, you said?"

"Yes, she's my marefriend."

"I see.  Well, to each their own," Rarity smiled.  "I'm sure you will be perfectly excellent parents to her.  But why come to me?" she asked.  "What could you possibly need of me, then?"

"I was hoping you might be able to help me track down her parents, actually.  I wanted to do it right, you know, get her parents to agree, or at least find the orphanage she used to live at and have them make it official."

"Oh, of course.  That makes perfect sense.  I wish I could help you," Rarity said, her face falling slightly.  "But I don't know a lot more than you do.  As I said, Sweetie Belle simply brought her home one evening, introduced her as her new best friend," the unicorn giggled at this, "and then disappeared to her room.  I haven't really spent a great deal of time conversing with the little dear, to be honest.  I mostly play Mean Miss Mare, if you catch my drift, making sure they go to bed on time, bathe, eat, and so forth."

Octavia laughed.  "I know precisely what you mean. As it happens, I spend most of my time playing the same character, albeit with my mate, and not my daughter or sister."

"Your partner is, shall we say, less refined than you, I suppose?"

"We could say that, yes.  We could also say she is a catastrophe of indelicacy, devoid of maturity."  Octavia sighed and smiled.  "And incredibly, the love of my life."

Rarity giggled.  "Say no more, darling.  Love is a strange and fickle beast, the vagaries of which we mortals can ill understand."

"And how."  The two ponies laughed together.

Tatterdemalion

The two mares conversed for several more minutes, discussing classical music, fine dining, and Octavia's unique taste in mates.

"It took some time for me to think of her even as just a friend," she remarked, smiling down into the cup of tea Rarity had just placed in front of her.  "She was so brash, so obnoxious, and just so...unusual.  Initially, I think it was probably my sense of propriety that encouraged me to engage her in conversation to begin with.  I was so astounded that anypony could be so openly tactless that I thought for sure I could teach her how to be a proper mare."  She blushed faintly, the smile broadening.  "As it turned out, I was the one who ended up learning a few lessons, mostly about letting my mane down and not worrying so much about what other ponies thought.  Obviously," she said, gesturing to her bowtie and her smoothly brushed mane, "I do still take care of myself, and I do maintain some level of decorum, but, well..."  The earth pony chuckled softly.  "Sometimes you just have to have a flour fight in the kitchen with someone you love."

Rarity laughed and took a sip of tea from the cup hovering in front of her.  "Well, having never partaken myself, I'll have to take your word for it."

"It's exactly as filthy--and as much fun--as you might expect."

"You are quite fortunate to have found someone you care so much about.  Are you married?"

Octavia blushed.  She had never been asked that question twice in one day.  She couldn't even remember the last time anyone had bothered to ask at all.  "No, we aren't.  Not that we never will, but we've simply not made the...decision, I suppose."

Rarity smiled knowingly.  "Far be it from me to comment on matter with which I have admittedly little experience, but I must say you sound as though you have found your perfect match.  Perhaps it is time to...decide."

"Maybe," the earth pony coughed uneasily.  "Anyway, it's been lovely, Miss Rarity--"

"Oh, please, darling, call me Rarity.  'Miss' is for customers and admirers, not for friends."  The unicorn smiled warmly, looking suddenly more genuine and personable than she had yet that morning.

"Alright, Rarity.  It really has been wonderful, but I must be going.  I have an errand or two to complete this afternoon before I must be home to take Scootaloo off of Vinyl's hooves."

"Of course.  Oh, but before you go!"  The unicorn's horn glowed with telekinetic magic as the record still playing quietly in the corner was suddenly interrupted and floated over towards the pair.  A quill floated out of a nearby desk, and Rarity was suddenly wearing an expression of deepest sycophancy.  "If you would do me the sincerest honor..."

Octavia had, feeling just a little foolish, but elated just the same.  Afterwards, she had nodded politely at Rarity's insistence that they meet up again soon, perhaps for a spa date, but left with no firm plans.  She had to admit a spa day sounded like great fun, and it would certainly feel more...distinguished if she were to go with Rarity than if she went with Vinyl, whom she suspected would spend most of the time surreptitiously eating the cucumber slices intended for the mud masks.  She made a mental note to get back in touch with the friendly--if a tad bit superficial--fashionista.

Now, though, Octavia realized she was swiftly heading in precisely the opposite social direction as she trotted down the path towards Sweet Apple Acres.  The pristinely groomed dirt roads of the town gave way to a rocky, rutted trail that was only distinguishable from the surrounding area by the rough-hewn wooden fences on either side of it.  The indistinct but pleasant scent of a crisp spring afternoon gave way to the much more intense and specific aromas of a fruit and flower farm.  The bright, clean scent of lemons wafted across the stronger, sweeter essence of oranges.  Almost lost in the powerful citrus bouquet was the much more delicate combination of young daffodils and the heady, succulent perfume of freshly blooming magnolia trees.  This struck the earth pony as odd, considering she was approaching a farm called "Sweet Apple Acres," but as she got closer to the barn, she realized that while the bulk of the farm did appear to be covered in an apple orchard, there were several plots that contained other varieties of plants, including the lemon, orange, and magnolia trees she'd already identified, as well as large beds of daffodils, phlox, and snowdrops just barely peeking out of the loamy earth.  The scent of the apple trees was barely noticeable, as the vast plantation had yet to bloom, the early spring frost keeping the timid flowers from blossoming.  Octavia smiled broadly, pausing in the middle of the road to take a deep breath through her nose, the sultry aroma flooding her senses with a euphoric giddiness.  Her mouth watered at the prospect of tasting any of the vegetation, with a special consideration for the tender, minute blooms of the snowdrop, her personal favorite.  

Octavia's stomach suddenly growled furiously.  Breakfast had been several hours ago, and whilst walking all over Ponyville, the only additional sustenance she'd had all day were a few light biscuits that Rarity had brought out to share with the tea.  With a pang of hunger, and just a hint of guilt, the silver-coated mare glanced anxiously up and down the path before gingerly walking over to the nearest bed of snowdrops and taking a closer, deeper sniff.

"What the hay do you think yer doin'?"

Octavia started so violently at the rustic voice that she almost leapt into the bed of flowers and hid.  Instead, she simply whirled around to face the speaker, shouting, "I wasn't going to eat any!  I just wanted to smell them!"

A bright orange earth pony mare in a worn brown leather hat stepped back, holding up a hoof in a defensive posture.  "Whoa there, sugar cube.  Didn' mean t' startle ya.  I jus' wanted t' make sure ya weren't gonna take anythin' without askin', is all."

"Oh," Octavia straightened, brushing the edges of her bowtie self-consciously.  "No, I was just...entranced by their aroma.  You have grown a lovely bed of snowdrops here; it's been some time since I've seen any in the wild, and these are particularly beautiful."

"Well, thank ye kindly, miss..." the orange pony smiled broadly as she trailed off.

"Oh, Octavia.  Octavia Philharmonica," she responded to the prompt.

The farmer chuckled softly.  "That there's a mouthful.  Mind if I jus' call ya Octy?"

Octavia did mind, but she decided not to say so.  It was a minor irritation, one she had had to cope with many times before, as most ponies found her name somewhat of a chore to enunciate in full.  At least she had chosen 'Octy' instead of Lyra's personal favorite 'Opie.'  "Not at all.  And what might I call you?"

The mare doffed her hat and grinned.  "Name's Applejack, proud proprietor 'n' part owner a Sweet Apple Acres--only th' best plantation anywhere in Equestria."  She gestured at Octavia with mock ferocity.  "An' don' let nopony tell you otherwise, y'hear?"

Octavia smiled.  "I wouldn't worry about it.  I believe you."  She glanced at the vibrant trees and flowers all around her.  "I can see for myself that you run a beautiful farm."

"Well thank ye kindly," Applejack repeated, beaming with pride.  "I saw y'all eyeballin' the snowdrops there.  It's a little early for 'em, but did ye wanna try a couple?"

"Oh, no, I'm not hungry," Octavia lied.  Her stomach suddenly growled again, catching both ponies' attention and bringing a light blush to her cheeks as it betrayed her deception.

Applejack grinned and chuckled.  "Ah think yer stomach might have a diff'rent opinion on th' matter.  Here, I'll grab ya a bunch t' snack on while you find yer way to brunch."

"That's very kind of you, but I don't have any money on me right now.  I'll certainly come by again another time, though."  

"Oh, ponyfeathers," the orange mare scoffed, trotting over to the bed and deftly snapping several of the flowers from their stems with careful, practiced bites.  "Don' even worry about it."  She gathered the bouquet into her hooves and offered them to Octavia.

The silver mare shook her head fervently.  "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly--"

"Nonsense.  'S the least I c'n do fer a new friend.  Take 'em, Ah insist."

Octavia was about to refuse again when she caught the hard edge in the other mare's eye that suggested there was no conversational path that ended in Octavia leaving without the flowers.  The silver pony sighed shallowly and smiled, taking the bouquet from the farmer.  "Well, if you insist.  I really do appreciate it, and I promise I'll pay for them eventually."

"Now, Octy, you know I cain' accept payment fer a gift.  I saw you lookin' at those snowdrops an' I knew you wanted to have a few.  I jus' wanted ya t'ask, tha's all."  She smiled.  "'Sides, one bouquet ain't gonna hurt us none, an' you look like a classy sort a pony who c'n appreciate nice flowers."

Octavia sighed again, this time combining the exasperated sound with a shake of her head.  "Oh, very well.  They are beautiful, Applejack.  Thank you."

"Try one!"

The silver mare did as she was ordered, carefully selecting and nipping off one of the larger blooms that was just barely opening.  The icy fresh flavor immediately chilled the tip of her tongue and spread swiftly through her mouth, the slightest hint of sweetness cutting through the sharp bitterness of the young flower.  She closed her eyes and savored the morsel for a moment or two before swallowing it with a level of satisfaction well beyond what the tiny flower should have provided.  When she opened her eyes again, Applejack was grinning widely at her.  "Whatcha think?"

Octavia beamed.  "They are sublime.  Thank you so much."

The other mare waved a hoof dismissively.  "Aw, shucks.  'Tweren't nothin' ay'tall.  Now, did y'all come by jus' ta browse, 'r were ya lookin' ta place an order?"

"Oh," Octavia said, awkwardly shifting the flowers from hoof to hoof, "actually, neither.  Not that your orchards and flowers aren't wonderful," she gestured to the bouquet, "but I honestly came by just to talk."

"Talk, huh?"  Applejack tilted her head curiously.  "What'cha wanna talk about?"

"You're Apple Bloom's sister, correct?"

"Sure am.  Why?  Don' tell me she's gone and gotten herself in another scrape," the earth pony lamented in precisely the same tone that Rarity had used earlier in the day.

"No, no, nothing like that.  I actually only ask because I'm trying to collect some information about one of her friends.  Do you know Scootaloo?"

"Her little pegasus pal.  Yeah, I know 'er."  Applejack's eyes suddenly narrowed.  "Why?  What d'ya think ya need ta know?"

The sudden change in tone and expression startled the silver pony somewhat.  "Nothing bad, I promise!  I just was trying to get some details about her past, possibly fill in some of the blanks about her present, and maybe figure out what her future might look like.  I was concerned--"

"Well," Applejack suddenly cut her off, her tone frosting even further, "not that it's any o' yer bus'ness, but she lives here, with the Apples.  She has fer as long as anypony's concerned, and she'll continue t'do so fer as long as she needs.  Anythin' more'n that an' you'll have'ta ask her, 'cause I ain't betrayin' her trust in me, if'n you don' mind."  The mare suddenly turned around and started back down the path towards the farmhouse.

"No, no, wait!"  Octavia shouted, dropping the flowers and running around in front of her.  "I'm sorry, I think I gave you the wrong impression.  I'm not just some random stranger asking, I...okay, I know Scootaloo is--was, an orphan.  I know she's been living in the clubhouse and surviving on the kindness of her friends and their family."

Applejack's face registered a modicum of surprise, but she maintained her frosty demeanor.  "Well, if'n ya knew all that, why'd y'ask?"

Octavia sighed.  "I'm still trying to figure out how to address this, but...my partner and I have decided that we'd like to adopt Scootal--"  The mare was suddenly silenced as Applejack dove forward to embrace her in a rib-cracking hug.

"Oh, thank Celestia!  Ah cain't even tell ya how happy Ah am t'hear somepony say that!  When ya started askin' about her past an' her future, I thought...well, she won' tell us much--wouldn' even tell us she was livin' in the clubhouse, but shucks, we know this here farm like th' back of our hooves; ain't much goes on here we don' know about--we figured she must'a been hidin' from somethin', so we didn' ask too many questions.  Are ya really plannin' on adoptin' her?"

Octavia tried to respond, but Applejack's hug was still stifling her.  She made some strangled whimpers to alert the powerful earth pony to her plight, and the zealous mare released her, sitting back and brushing her off with a sheepish grin.  "Hehe, sorry about that.  Guess I got a li'l excited."

Octavia panted as delicately as she could muster, trying to catch her breath.  "It's...it's quite alright.  I understand completely."  She straightened her bowtie and ran a hoof through her mildly disturbed mane.  "To answer your question, nothing is set in stone yet, but yes, that is the plan.  We...I would prefer to get some sort of official recognition first, but that requires some more details that I simply can't get from her, details like where she actually came from, and--if at all possible--whether her parents are still alive, and where they might live now.  Barring that, I suppose we would at least need to know where she used to live--what orphanage she came from--so we can get their official consent, lest they come and try to claim her again someday."

Applejack nodded.  "That makes sense, Ah s'pose.  An' Ah wish Ah could help ya, but, well, it's hard t' get a straight answer outta that filly.  If y'all know Scoots, then ya know how stubborn she can be."

"Oh yes," Octavia agreed, nodding somberly.  "We know quite well.  I think that's part of her charm, though.  At least, that's part of what makes her so charming to me.  She's rather like my marefriend in that regard.  They're both quite bullhead--"

"Wait, yer marefriend?" Applejack suddenly cut her off with a look of surprise.  "Yer partner's a girl?"

"Um...yes?" Octavia said.  "Why, what difference does that make?"

"Well...none, Ah guess.  Ah jus' though when ya said y'all were gonna adopt Scoots, I just figured you musta been married."

"Well, we could be," Octavia bristled slightly.  "We simply haven't decided to cross that bridge yet.  But even if we didn't, I don't see how that would affect our ability to raise a filly."

Applejack shook her head, not exactly smiling, but no longer visibly disturbed, either.  "Ah suppose.  Well, whatever makes you happy, Ah guess.  An' I don't reckon it matters much, so long as Scoot's got someplace to call home."

"I'm so glad you approve," Octavia deadpanned, somewhat miffed.

The orange earth pony sighed and smiled wryly.  "Ah, shucks.  Don't y'all mind me none.  Ah guess Ah'm just ol' fashioned, that's all.  If yer happy, that's all that matters, right?"

"I should certainly hope so," Octavia spat, and then immediately regretted her venomous tone.  She took a deep breath and tried again.  "I mean, yes, once upon a time, I might well have agreed with you.  I used to be of a rather old-fashioned mindset myself, but...well, falling in love has a strange way of making you reconsider your stance on a lot of things."

Applejack chuckled softly, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.  "Yeah...Ah've heard as much from some ah mah friends, too.  Anyhow, if'n y'all really want ta know more 'bout Scoots 'n' her past, ye'll wanna talk to Rainbow Dash.  Li'l filly follows that crazy pegasus all over the place.  If she's told anypony anythin', RD'd be the one."

Octavia sighed shallowly in disappointment, having hit yet another dead end.  "Oh well.  Thank you for your help, anyway, and especially for the flowers.  I...hope I didn't offend you, snapping like I did."

"Shoot no.  If anyone should be apologizin', it's me.  I was outta line, an' 'tweren't none a mah business."  She held out a hoof to the other mare.  "Bygones 'n' all that."

Octavia smiled as she shook the proffered hoof.  "Quite."

"Great!  Now, we best hurry if we're gonna make it to brunch before Big Mac takes all the best parts an' leaves us nothin' but the seeds and skins."  Applejack was suddenly behind her, leaning a shoulder against her flank and pushing her towards the farmhouse.  Octavia could just barely hear a the unmistakable clanging of a worn iron triangle echoing through the orchard.

"Wait, what?" Octavia said, utterly bewildered but unable to resist the stronger pony's shoving.  "I can't stay, I have to--"

"Fiddlesticks!  Nopony should work through lunch, an' it's the least I can do, since I cain't help you with Scootaloo."

"But you already--the flowers--and yelling!"  Octavia struggled to muster a coherent and sufficient argument, but her stomach suddenly growled again, indicating her appetite had only be whetted by the flower she'd sampled moments ago.  She sighed in defeat and acquiesced to Applejack's shoving, allowing herself to be led to the farmhouse.  "Fine, fine...but just a sandwich or something.  I refuse to take advantage of your kindness...no matter how much you may want me to."

Applejack grinned and winked.  "Whatever you say, Octy."

Gamin

Vinyl knew something was amiss as soon as she woke up.  Where Octavia was able to rise with the sun--or, when the day was overcast, the very gentle chiming of the small golden alarm clock on her bedside table--her ivory marefriend was a much heavier sleeper.   Normally the unicorn was roused by the sudden thunderous cacophony of her favorite dance track booming out of the powerful stereo she used as an alarm.  She had even learned to time the music so she could tell how much longer she could lounge in bed before she actually had to be up and about.  Today, though, was different.  Instead of waking up to the throbbing strains of electronic music that she had become accustomed to, Vinyl awoke to silence.  Well, relative silence, anyway.  The street outside their apartment was bustling and alive with ponies going about their day, conversing, shouting, laughing.  Carts rattled as they were pulled down the dirt roads, fillies shrieked and laughed as they played in the--

Fillies.

Vinyl sat bolt upright in bed, her heart suddenly pounding.  Scootaloo!  What time was it?  She looked over at the sound system's display to check the clock and discovered why she had overslept.  The display was blank, the magic that normally kept it illuminated apparently exhausting sometime during the night.  The unicorn groaned as she realized she hadn't recharged the stereo's magic reservoir last night like she had planned to.  Powerful systems like this one normally required diligent and frequent recharges to continue to function autonomously; larger ones like the systems she typically DJ'ed with couldn't function on their own, and required a constant flow of magic to play, normally supplied by the jockey behind the turntable.  Vinyl had known the stereo's reserves were failing, but had put off recharging them because it took a fair amount of magic, and she had had several gigs to perform in quick succession.  She hadn't wanted to exhaust herself by pouring a ton of magic into her home system and risk petering out in the middle of a set.  Now, though, that decision seemed foolish, as she had--as she often did--forgotten about it completely, and now, she realized as she glanced across the bed to check Octavia's mechanical clock, she had overslept her alarm by almost three hours.

Frantic, the unicorn leapt out of bed, bolting down the hallway towards the front door.  Her horn flared suddenly as she yanked it open in front of her, then back closed once she was out in the street.  Her original plan had been to wake up with two hours to spare, have some breakfast (or brunch, as it would be), and take a leisurely walk to the schoolhouse, arriving just in time to meet Scootaloo and bring her home.  Now, she fretted, she'd be lucky to show up before Scootaloo was the only filly left at the schoolhouse, or worse, decided she'd been abandoned and went back to the clubhouse.  The ivory unicorn galloped down the street, all the way across town, and finally, some minutes later, she sprinted up the path to the bright red schoolhouse.  Vinyl's heart sank as she realized the yard was completely empty, class having ended almost an hour earlier.  All the fillies and colts had already left, including, apparently, Scootaloo.  Vinyl sighed heavily, her bed-tossed mane falling across her eyes as her head sank to the ground, tears of anger threatening to fill her eyes.  One thing, she thought to herself, you had one job today.  Wake up on time, pick Scootaloo up, bring her home.  You couldn't even pull that off.  Guilt ached in her throat as she shook her head, struggling not to cry as she imagined what Octavia would say if she found out what Vinyl had done.

"Vinyl?"  The ivory unicorn's head suddenly darted upwards as a familiar voice called out to her from above.  Glancing into the sky over her head, the DJ was pleased and only a little surprised to see the brilliant rainbow-hued mane and cyan coat of one of her oldest--and best--Ponyvillian friends.

"Dash?" she asked, struggling to crane her neck into a more comfortable position to examine the constantly moving pegasus.

The cyan mare grinned broadly and swooped down to land lightly in front of her.  "THE one and only," she quipped with her characteristic arrogance.  She held out a hoof to the blue-maned unicorn.  "Haven't seen you in a while, filly."

Vinyl smiled as she bumped hooves with the pegasus.  "Took the words right out of my mouth, Dash.  What've you been up to?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged.  "Same ol', same ol'.  You know how it is.  One day you're kickin' lightning out of clouds for fun on Nightmare Night, then the next thing you know, they've made you head of the weather team and you find yourself sitting in a presentation on cumulonimbus composition theory and you can't remember how it happened."

Vinyl laughed.  "Sounds...interesting?"

The pegasus rolled her eyes.  "It isn't.  Well, not to anyone else, anyway.  I have to at least look interested, though, you know, for my crews.  Don't want them thinking they can slack just because I do.  But enough about me, filly, what've you been up to?  I keep hearing ponies toss your name around; sounds like you've gotten pretty popular around town."

The unicorn shrugged, mimicking Rainbow's gesture almost perfectly.  "I do what I do, you know.  I can't help if I'm the only one who does it quite as...perfectly."  She grinned as Rainbow rolled her eyes, groaning.

"Oh, puh-lease.  You're starting to sound like me."

Vinyl smirked, poking the pegasus in the chest.  "Hey, at least I only sound like you.  I'll worry when I start to look like you, too."

"Worry?  Please.  You'll get down on your knees and thank Celestia if you ever wake up with my--" she kissed her hoof and ran it through her mane theatrically--"dashing good looks."  She held a glamor pose for a few moments before both mares burst out laughing.

"Seriously, though," Rainbow said when they had recovered their senses somewhat, "what're you doin' on this side of town?  I thought you and Octavia lived up in the North Quarter."

"We do," Vinyl nodded, "but...well..."  Vinyl tried to decide where to start.  "It's a long story, I guess.  I'm not sure I've got time to tell it all..."

"Scootaloo?" Dash asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I--yeah, how did you know?" the unicorn asked, incredulous.

The pegasus gestured with a wing back towards town.  "Because she's up in my cloud home right now...probably still sniffing, if I had to guess," she added frostily.

Vinyl winced.  "Sniffing?"

Rainbow nodded.  "And that's only if she hasn't actually broken down and started crying yet."

"Aw, buck..." the unicorn said, sighing heavily and dropping her head in shame.  "I was afraid of that."  She looked back up at Rainbow from beneath her electric blue bangs, guilt preventing her from actually making eye contact with the other mare.  "I really did mean to be here on time, you know."

"I don't know, but I'll buy it."

"Seriously, Dash," Vinyl said, raising her head slightly, a glint of desperation flashing across the tears collecting in her eyes again.  "I set my alarm for one o'clock, I was gonna get up, get ready, and be here like twenty minutes before school ended, just so I could be here when they got out, but my stereo...you know how those things go through magic, right?"  She locked eyes with Rainbow, searching the cyan mare's face for any signs of understanding.  "I mean, you remember how I always had to recharge yours when I came to visit, right?"

Dash nodded, her face still largely inscrutable.  "Sure.  I also remember they had a little light on them that went on when they needed charging.  Or does yours not have one?" she asked sarcastically, knowing the answer.

Vinyl closed her eyes, another wave of disappointed anger in herself rising in the back of her throat.  "Yeah," she sighed, "yeah, it does.  And it was on last night."  She looked at the ground between Dash's hooves.  "But I was so tired, what with that week-long schedule of sets, and then bringing Scootaloo home and taking care of her, talking to Tavi about what we were going to do with her, and worrying about the future...I just didn't have the energy, Dash.  I thought...I hoped, I guess, that it would last just one more night."  She settled back on her flanks, unable to stop a guilty, angry tear from sliding down her cheek.  "I should've given it a little boost, just to make sure, but..."  She looked up at Rainbow, another tear escaping her eyelids and creeping down her face.  "I'm sorry, Dash, I really am.  She must be so mad at me..."

Several moments of tense silence passed between the pair before the blue pegasus sighed and sat down as well.  "She's not mad, Vy.  Not really.  She wants to be, I think, but mostly she's just hurt."

"I bet," the unicorn said miserably.  "How long was she waiting for me?"

"About an hour," Rainbow deadpanned.  "At least, I assume she was waiting an hour.  I didn't even notice anything was up until I came by around half past three and she was sitting here all by herself.  Even then, I only noticed because usually she and her friends are totally inseparable.  I flew down to see what was up, and she told me she was waiting for someone.  Apparently she'd told her friends to go on home and leave her be because someone was coming to get her.  I asked her if she wanted me to sit and wait with her, and--being Scootaloo--she just shrugged and said I could if I wanted.  So I did."  She paused long enough to heave a sigh.  "I know a lot of ponies don't really give me much credit for being too emotional or anything like that, but Scoot's been my biggest fan for as long as I can remember, so I try to keep an eye on her if I can, you know?  I could tell she was upset, but she wasn't talking, and she was working pretty hard to hide it.  Anyway, after it was pretty obvious no one was coming--" Vinyl winced visibly "--I asked her if she wanted to come wait in my house for a while.  That seemed to cheer her up a lot; I don't have too many visitors, and she's never been one of them.  The second we got there, though, she started worrying that you had come after all, and that you'd be worried when you couldn't find her.  I told her I'd come do a flyover and make sure, but I gotta say I didn't actually expect to see you."  Rainbow's face darkened severely as she finished talking.  "You blew this one, Vy.  You know she's got issues already; this isn't exactly helping."

"I know, I know," Vinyl groaned, laying out in the dirt and covering her face with her hooves.  "If there was any way I could--wait, how do you know she has issues?" she interrupted herself, blinking out from under her wild mane.  "What do you know about her?"

Rainbow shrugged.  "I told you she's my biggest fan, right?  I've indulged her a couple times, hung out with her and her friends, gone to a couple plays or whatever.  She and I talk sometimes, and she's told me a lot of stuff I don't think she's ever told anyone else."

Vinyl's eyes lit up.  "Really?  Like what?"

"Like none of your business," Rainbow said.  It wasn't malicious or snide, but very calm and matter-of-fact.  "If she wants to tell you, she will, but until that happens, whatever she tells me stays between the two of us."

Vinyl nodded, sheepish.  "Yeah, I...that makes sense.  Sorry, I didn't mean to pry.  It's just...well, you know she's an orphan, right?"

Rainbow nodded.  "I know she hates that word."

"What, 'orphan'?"

"Yeah.  She says it makes it sound like she was abandoned, which she insists isn't the case.  She's a runaway, not an orphan."

"Either way, you know she's homeless, right?"

The blue pegasus sighed and nodded.  "Yeah, I do.  I don't think too many ponies do, though.  Her friends probably know, since the three of them talk about everything, and I bet the Apples know, since she's living on their property and all."

"Well," Vinyl said, "Tavi and I were thinking about trying to...change that."

"How so?"

"We're thinking about trying to adopt her."

"Really?"  Rainbow's face suddenly broke into a grin.  "That's awesome!  But wait...how did you even find out she's a runaway?  It's not like she goes around telling everypony."

"It was pretty obvious when I found her digging in the trash behind the club last night," Vinyl intoned.  "We had a chat, I managed to convince her to come home with me, and here we are.  Tavi isn't exactly sold on the idea yet, but I think she'll come around.  We can't just let her live in the clubhouse forever."

Dash sighed.  "No, you're right.  And to tell you the truth, I've kind of thought about adopting Scootaloo myself a few times, but I couldn't, because she'd have to live with me in my cloud home, and, well..."  The pegasus glanced around conspiratorially and lowered her voice.  "She can't fly."

"I know."  Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise, and Vinyl continued.  "She mentioned it in passing.  She didn't exactly say why or how, but she did say that was one of the worst things about living at the orphanage.  She knew she'd never get adopted because, and I quote, 'No one wants a pegasus who can't fly.'"  Vinyl sighed.  "Which I think is ridiculous, because Scootaloo's the sweetest, most polite, most adorable little filly I've ever met.  I can't believe nopony would want to adopt her if they just spent ten minutes getting to know her."

"That's just it," Rainbow said, her voice darkening slightly.  "Nopony would bother talking to them if they could help it.  It's all about picking the best, the smartest, the most athletic.  All the while, the most wonderful young fillies get left out in the cold, just wishing somepony would give them a chance."

Vinyl nodded, her face grim.  "Well, we're not going to make that mistake.  I don't care what it takes, we're going to make Scootaloo our daughter."  The hardened expression suddenly faded to a more sheepish one.  "That is...if she still wants us to."

Rainbow smirked.  "Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem.  You'd be surprised at how much she gushed about you before I took her back to my place."

Vinyl groaned.  "Don't tell me that!  It just makes it worse."

"Good," Dash said sternly.  "You should feel bad.  It means you really care about her, and even if she's mad now, if you come in telling her how guilty you feel, I think she'll appreciate it.  I'll even put in the good word for you."

Vinyl smiled faintly.  "Thanks, Dash."

Rainbow grinned and poked the unicorn with a hoof.  "Hey, what are friends for, huh?"

Carrying another pony up into a cloud home might have been a challenge for any other pegasus, but Rainbow Dash had spent the better part of her life training incessantly for her eventual tryouts for the Wonderbolt aerial acrobatic team, and her flying muscles were exceptionally more powerful than average, at times topping out at an incredible 20 wingpower, easily twice the best performance of any normal pegasus.  This made it all but trivial for her to tote Vinyl up into the clouds where the unicorn discovered she had forgotten to cast a cloudwalking spell before Rainbow put her down, leading to a heartstopping five seconds of freefall before Rainbow caught her and brought her back up, howling with laughter the whole way.

Vinyl blushed fiercely as she cast the spell she had learned several years ago when Rainbow had first invited her to spend the night in her cloud palace.  "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, featherbrain," she muttered.

"Thanks, I will," Rainbow giggled.  "I've never heard anypony make a sound like that before!  'Just like old tiEEEEEEE!'" Rainbow mimicked the last words Vinyl had said before beginning her descent, then threw herself to the cloud floor and continued cackling.

Vinyl rolled her eyes and went up to the front door of the cloud castle.  "I see your ego hasn't faded any.  Was that always there?" she asked, gesturing to the glinting mockup of the pegasus' cutie mark situated over the entrance.

Rainbow recovered enough to look up at the image.  "Oh, nah.  I just put it up a while ago.  I change stuff from time to time, you know, spice things up a bit."

Vinyl looked around at the rest of the cloud home.  "Yeah, I can see that."

"I'll give you the grand tour sometime.  You know, when we're not trying to get you back on Scootaloo's good side."  Vinyl grimaced as Rainbow trotted past her and threw the front door open.  "Hey, Scoot, I'm home!" she shouted into the foyer, her voice oddly muted by the thick clouds that passed for walls.

Vinyl's heart jumped as she heard the familiar voice of the little orange pegasus calling back.  "Hey, Dash!"  The voice got louder as Scootaloo came out to the front from somewhere deep in the house.  "I was just thinking, do you think it would be okay if I spent the night--"  She stopped suddenly as she rounded a corner and saw that Dash was not alone in the entryway.  Her face flashed through shock, then joy, and then settled into a hard, angry sulk as she realized who the other pony was.  "Oh," she deadpanned, her normally exuberant voice thick with disdain, "it's you."  Vinyl forced a smile she hoped was more disarming than it felt.  Scootaloo was unmoved.  "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick you up, of course," the unicorn responded, her nervous grin widening.  The filly didn't respond.

Several seconds of awkward silence passed through the misty foyer before Rainbow Dash forced a cough, breaking the standoff.  "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I think you guys have some catching up to do, and I've got some...stuff to, uh, work on.  In my room.  I'll just get out of your hair."  She floated down next to Scootaloo and hesitated momentarily, muttering something inaudible into the filly's ear.  Vinyl tried to read the expression on the little orange pegasus' face.  It was fairly easy.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and then narrowed them at Vinyl, looking daggers at her.  "Do I have to?" she whined, glancing over at Rainbow Dash.  

The cyan mare smiled wanly and ruffled the littler female's mane.  "Yeah, kid.  Just trust me, alright?  Have I ever steered you wrong before?"

"Well, you did try to help me earn my cutie mark in quarray eel wrangling."

"Okay, but--"

"And there was that time you tried to teach me how to fly by dropping me out over the lake and telling me to glide."

"In my defense--"

"And then there was that trick you tried to show me on my scooter, which it turned out you need wings to do."

"Right, but I couldn't--"

"And that one time--"

"Okay, okay!" Rainbow cut her off, flailing her forelegs.  "But when have I ever steered you wrong when it really mattered?"  Scootaloo opened her mouth again, but Rainbow put a hoof to her muzzle.  "Never mind.  Just...trust me on this one, okay?"

Scootaloo sighed.  "Alright, Dash."  The older pegasus mussed her mane one more time before swooping up, around, and out of the room, deeper into the house.

The two remaining ponies stood in the foyer for several more seconds of silence before Vinyl cleared her throat to break the ice.  "So...I see you and Dash are pretty good friends."

Scootaloo shrugged.  "Not really."

The unicorn raised an eyebrow at her.  "What do you mean?  You seemed pretty friendly just a second ago."

"She's just helping me out.  She's pretty cool that way.  I don't think she wants to be my 'friend,' though."

"Why wouldn't she?"

Scootaloo scowled, her frosty demeanor hardening.  "Why are you here?"

Vinyl reflexively grimaced at the jab, but struggled to pull a smile back to her face.  "I'm here to pick you up, of course.  Tavi said I would, right?"

"She said you'd meet me at the schoolhouse," Scootaloo said.  "You didn't."

"I know, and I'm really--"

"If you don't want me around, you can just say so," Scootaloo spat, her anger not quite masking the faint moistness in her eyes.

Vinyl's heart sank at the accusation.  "That's not it at all.  I just--"

"I'm used to it, you know, being unwanted."  Scootaloo's voice trembled as she struggled to maintain her composure.  "It's not like this is the first time somepony's tried to get rid of me."

"I'm not trying--"

"Rarity doesn't like it when I stay at the boutique because she thinks I'm going to mess it up, and Applejack doesn't want me to stay in the orchard when they're not around, because they think I'm going to steal something."  Her voice got slightly louder and more tremulous as she spoke.

"You know that's not--"

"And even Rainbow Dash didn't want to bring me here today.  She doesn't think I know, but I can tell when somepony doesn't want me around."  Her facade cracked, taking her voice with it and bringing tears streaming down her cheeks.  "She didn't even want to sit next to me in the schoolyard until she saw I was crying, you know."  The little filly swiped furiously at the tears on her face.  "I wish I hadn't.  I wish she'd just stayed away.  I hate it when somepony feels sad for me and thinks they have to take care of me.  I don't want you to pretend, alright?" she nearly shouted, her voice still oddly muffled by the heavy atmosphere of the cloud home.

"I'm not pretending, Scootaloo, I really am sorry."

"I believe you," the filly said, her voice suddenly soft.  "I know you didn't want to make me feel bad.  Nopony ever does.  But you don't have to take care of me because you feel like you have to, alright?"

"That's not why--"

"Stop lying to me!" she shouted, her voice cracking fiercely and sending the last word into a pained shriek.  "I'm not a baby, I don't need you to hold my hoof!  Just leave me alone!"  With this, the filly turned and ran back around the corner, deeper into the house.  Vinyl sat, dumbfounded, as she heard the sound of a door opening and then slamming, followed by the unmistakeable and heart-wrenching sounds of Scootaloo openly sobbing.  

As if summoned by the sound, Rainbow Dash suddenly reappeared from somewhere upstairs.  "Wow," she muttered awkwardly.  "What did you say?"  Vinyl gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut to resist the frustrated and desperate tears welling up in them.  Upon seeing her pained expression, Rainbow backtracked.  "Sorry, I was kidding.  That was kinda mean."

"No," Vinyl said, shaking her head.  "You were right.  This is all my fault.  I can't believe it...the easiest thing in the world, just wake up and be somewhere on time.  I couldn't even do that right."  She hung her head in shame, a lump painfully rising in the back of her throat.

"Aw, come on," Rainbow said, floating down to put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.  "It's just one time, right?  She'll get over it, you know.  She's a filly; they overreact sometimes."

"No, Rainbow!" Vinyl suddenly snapped at the pegasus.  "It's not just one time, it's just one MORE time!  It's the most important time!  The only time it really mattered, the one chance I had to prove to Scootaloo and Octavia that I can handle something this important, and I screwed it up!"  The tears were flowing now, running down her cheeks in hot streaks of shame, leaving cold trails of guilt and frustration in their wake.  "I kind of thought this one time, I'd be able to take something seriously, you know?  Maybe prove to my marefriend that she can trust me with important stuff, but I can't!"  A sob interrupted her tirade and she covered her muzzle with her hooves, hoping to stem to tide.

Rainbow Dash was on the floor next to her now, wrapping her forelegs and her wings around the distraught unicorn.  "Hey, shh...Vy, calm down, alright?  It's not as bad as all that.  Look, I know you...you're just like me, you know.  We're both kind of flakey sometimes, but when it really counts, we know how to get things done, right?"

"No, Dash," Vinyl said, pushing out of Rainbow's grip and walking back towards the front door.  "Not this time.  I really screwed up.  Just...take care of Scoot for a while, could you?"

"What, like...let her stay here?  Why?  Where are you going?"

"Home.  I have to do some thinking."

"Vy--"  Rainbow called after her, but the unicorn had already left, slamming the door angrily behind herself.