Chapter 5: Family

FALLOUT EQUESTRIA: SURVIVOR'S GUILT

CHAPTER 5: STABLE 13
PART 3: FAMILY

I nearly gasped in surprise when I saw the ground so far below me, I was flying, I was actually flying! I mean I wasn't controlling my body since I was re-living Rainbow Dash's memories, but still, it was one of the most amazing sensations I've ever felt!

"Rainbow Dash!" A voice called up to my host and I looked down to see, myself when I was just a filly, but it was me.

"Hey squirt!" My host said and few down to land next to the younger me. "Did you have a good time the other day with my parents?"

"Yeah, I had fun, they're really nice," the younger me said with a sad smile. "I just wish I had a family like that sometimes, you know?"

"I know what you mean, Scootaloo," my host said as she hugged the younger version of me softly. "What about your foster parents?"

"They're okay I guess, but its not the same," the younger me said as she hugged my host tightly, burying her muzzle in her chest as she started to cry. "You and your family are the best thing that ever happened to me I just wish that... you know..."

"We could be your family for real?" My host asked as she stroked the younger me's mane gently. "Its okay Scootaloo, I understand. I promise that I'll do everything I can to help you."

"Really?" She asked as she looked up at me.

"Really," My host answered and nuzzled her gently. "You're the best little sister I could ask for Scootaloo, I promise that whatever happens, I'll always be there for you."

Young me smiled and let go. "Thanks Rainbow, I feel a lot better," she said and picked up her scooter and rode off.

My host watched her go thoughtfully as if she was coming up with a plan. Whatever Rainbow Dash was going to do next was something that was fuzzy for some reason, but I knew this was what she wanted me to see.

"I'm going to make sure that you're happy Scootaloo," she said to herself with a confident tone in her voice. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure that I can."

She took off again and flew off towards Cloudsdale, and with that the world went white again.

---Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistle's House---

As I entered the second memory, I blinked a little when I realized that I was in a familiar place again. I was in Rainbow Dash's parents' house, I had visited it enough times that I recognized it even after all these years.

"Rainbow, I couldn't be prouder of you for what you're doing," a familiar voice said as my host turned around to see her dad Bow Hot Hoof looking at her with a big smile. "I know she's going to be happy."

"Yeah," my host said with a smile. "Its been a long few months, but Twilight's been a great help in getting it done. What matters now is that she gets to be happy, and this is the best chance of it happening."

She paused for a long moment as she thought about this. "Dad... I'm not even sure if I'm ready for this... can I take on this big a responsibility?"

"Rainbow, I've got a lot of faith in you, so does your mom," her dad said with a smile as he placed a hoof on my host's shoulder. "The fact that you're so willing to help out Scootaloo means that you're going to do fine. Besides, you've got us and your friends backing you up, you'll be okay."

My host smiled and hugged him gently. That had helped her a lot at least, I could feel the boost in confidence that it gave her. "Thanks Dad, that means a lot to me."

I honestly had no idea exactly what they were talking about. I was starting to wish that I had never tried to have my memories messed with because it had done nothing but give me more trouble than before.

Why had I forgotten so much? Whatever had happened here was likely one of the most important days in my life, but I couldn't remember what happened. Rainbow Dash must've realized this, so she wanted to give me the ability to remember it like she did.

"We're home!" A mare's voice said as Windy Willows came in with the younger me running up and hugging my host.

"Hey squirt, did you two have fun?" My host asked with a smile as she ruffled young me's mane.

"Yep, we went all over Cloudsdale, it was so cool!" Young me said excitedly. "Thank you so much, all of you."

"Anything for you," Windy said with a smile as they all hugged the young me. "But there's something else that Rainbow has for you. Rainbow?"

"What is it?" Young me asked, looking at my host curiously. "Is it a present? I'll bet its something awesome."

"You're right, it is," my host said and took some papers out and gave them over to young me. "Read them and you'll see."

"Lets see..." Young me said as she started to read the words before her eyes went wide. "These are... adoption papers?"

"That's right Scootaloo," my host said as she wrapped her wings around young me. "I've been working to get this for months... so I could adopt you as my daughter."

I was stunned, Rainbow Dash had adopted me? This was really the most important thing that she had wanted me to see?

Now it all was coming flooding back to me, when I was just a filly she had adopted me to give me a chance to be happy. She had sacrificed a lot to take care of me, and it had been why she wound up not going on that mission with the Wonderbolts to take on the Gem Pirates.

I had lost my parents growing up, Rainbow Dash had become the mom I had always needed, and her parents loved me unconditionally as their granddaughter. It had been the happiest years of my life leading up to the war.

They were my family, my real family... and I had forgotten about them just because of a stupid spell.

"Thank you," young me said crying as my host and her parents hugged her. "Thank you so much, all of you."

"You're welcome Scootaloo," my host said.

"Welcome to the family Scootaloo," Bow Hot Hoof said with a smile. "We're glad to have you."

"I'm glad to be part, thank you," young me said through her tears and hugged them more.

I smiled to myself and the world turned to white once again. I had finally gotten a chance to see my family once more, that was better than anything else I could've asked for.

I just wasn't sure I wanted to see what was going to happen next.

---Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's House---

When I connected with the third Memory Orb I found myself in a cloud house again, but this one was Rainbow Dash's in Ponyville. She was packing up her things as she got ready to leave.

"You're really going aren't you?" A voice said from behind my host, she turned to see me again, but this time I was older, I had to be at least 18. "You're going to fight the Zebras."

"I'm sorry Scootaloo, but this is something I have to do," my host said as she turned away, starting to cry a little. "Its something that I have to do, for Equestria."

"Then I'll go with you!" Younger me shouted, trying not to cry. "Equestria needs ponies to help with the war, I can fight too!"

My heart sank at that, I never had even gotten the chance to do that. Not long after this I went to a recruiting station to join the army, but as soon as they found out that I was flightless I was rejected.

They said that a handicapped pony could never serve in battle. Once again, my stupid wings had gotten in the way of what I needed to do. But still, that drove me to make Stable-Tec with my friends.

I had helped Equestria in my own way, back then that was all the world could ask of me wasn't it?

"Scootaloo, your place isn't in battle," my host said as she just cried more as she walked over to young me and hugged her gently. "We don't just need soldiers, we need ponies that can stay behind and help on the homefront. Keep doing what you do best Scootaloo, be with your friends and help ponies. That's the most we can ask of you, promise me that you'll do that."

"I promise," young me said with a weak smile as she hugged Rainbow Dash. "Just, stay safe out there okay? I don't want to lose you..."

"I promise," my host said sadly as she hugged young me. "I love you Scootaloo, you're the best daughter I could've asked for."

"I love you too mom..." Young me said. "I'm going to be the best pony I can be, and I'll do everything I can to make sure that Equestria is safe. I promise you."

"I know you will, I believe in you," my host said as she slipped on her saddlebags. "I'll come home as often as I can."

"I just wish you didn't have to go now..." Young me said sadly.

"Me too Scootaloo... me too," Rainbow said as she gave young me one more hug before heading out the door.

As she started to fly off, she was still crying.

I could feel her regret, even if she believed that this was the right thing to do, she still wished that she could've stayed with me.

I wished she could too... maybe then things would've gone differently.

But I didn't have much time to dwell on that as the world around me turned white again as the memory orb ended.

---Wilderness---

When I connected to the fourth memory orb, I found myself once again in the air. This time however there was a strange green glow to the ground below me and the sky was covered with clouds.

That meant that this memory was after the megaspells went off, and as I saw the dying forest below me, I knew exactly where she was. There was only one place she could be going to now.

As she flew over the forest she looked down to see a familiar orange and purple colored pony. She froze for a moment and flew down.

"Scootaloo!" She said rushing over to my unconscious body and cradling it in her forelegs. "Come on squirt, wake up, please don't die on me..."

"Rainbow... Dash?" I said weakly as my eyes opened and I looked up at my host weekly. "You made it..."

"That's right Scootaloo, I'm here, you're going to be okay, I promise," my host said, briefly looking back to her by now mostly empty bags.

"Good, bye Rainbow Dash..." I said weekly. "Thank you... for being my big sister. Please, don't..."

She closed her eyes, she was still breathing, but she didn't look like she was going to wake up again. I could feel my host start to cry more, she knew that if she didn't act fast she'd lose me forever.

She gathered my unconscious form up onto her back and flew off as fast as she could. She checked on me every so often as she headed north, but was starting to realize that I wasn't going to make it to her intended destination.

She changed direction until she reached the storage facility that I had woken up in. I remembered now that this was a Ministry of Awesome facility that had been kept under wraps, it was probably how the Enclave had never found me.

She set me into the pod and looked down at my body sadly.

"I'm sorry Scootaloo... I wish I could've spent more time with you," she said crying more. "This is your only chance to make it out of this alive... I promise someday, you will wake up... and Equestria will be better for it."

She watched the pod close up and placed her hoof on the glass.

"Good bye Scootaloo, be safe, and hope you wake up in a better world than the one you left."

She flew off towards the north again, and to Stable 13.

---Stable 13, Rainbow's Quarters---

The final memory orb wasn't a normal one, it was something I recognized as a Black Opal, which meant it had been made with a Recollector instead of like with the normal Memory Orb making process.

We were in a set of quarters in Stable 13, instead of being from Rainbow Dash's perspective, but I was at least in a mare's body (I couldn't imagine being in a Stallion's body, thank Celestia).
Rainbow Dash was seated in a chair across from me, she looked a lot older than she had before and was dressed in the Stable 13 jumpsuit. She gave my host a reassuring smile as she leaned back.

"Mom, are you sure about this?" My host asked, I was in Rainbow Dash's daughter's body then.

"Yeah, I'm sure Iris," Rainbow said with a smile. "This is something that I want to leave for your older sister, if she ever comes here."

"Okay," my host said with a nod. "Just don't make it too weird, okay?"

Rainbow nodded and cleared her throat before she began to speak. "Scootaloo, I know this is a lot for you to take in, but I wanted to leave these messages for you. There are so many things I should've told you, things that I wanted to say, but I knew that you wouldn't understand until your memories were restored."

She paused for a long moment as if she was trying to figure out what to say next. It was as if what she had to say was hurting her, I could feel the sadness in my host as she watched her mother speak.

"You were always one of the strongest ponies I ever knew, if I had gone though half the things you did I'd have gone insane a long time ago. You're brave, you stayed strong no matter what, and for that I couldn't be prouder than I am now. I know you made mistakes, but you did a lot of good too. I have faith that whatever kind of world you wake up to, you'll be able to find a way to survive."

She smiles and closes her eyes.

"I wish I could see you again but I'm old... I've seen and done a lot of things in my life, but my daughters are most important to me. I wish you could meet Iris, something tells me you two would get along great, but you probably have your own family now."

I looked around a little, there were pictures on the wall that I could see of Rainbow Dash with a young filly with a yellow coat and rainbow mane. I smiled a little to myself as I saw another picture of me and Rainbow Dash when I was just a filly.

She never forgot me.

"Good bye Scootaloo, stay strong and help Equestria, I know you're going to do great things."
She closed her eyes and smiled as the world around me turned white again.

---Stable 13, Spectrum's Quarters---

"Look who's finally awake," Spectrum said as I looked up at her after I finished the Black Opal. "Did that help you any?"

"A little," I said rubbing my head, I felt the most rested I had been since I first arrived in the Wasteland. "I just, wish that she could've told me herself."

"Don't worry Scootaloo, I understand," Spectrum said with a smile. "I'm just glad that I was able to give you these messages, and I have more."

She took out several holotapes that had Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on them and gave them to me.

"Thank you," I said a bit surprised but I put them away anyway.

"She recorded a bunch of these for you, motherly advice and everything in case you ever needed it or just wanted to hear her voice," Spectrum said with a smile.

"Thank you," I said and hugged Spectrum tightly. "I'm glad I got to meet you."

"Me too Scootaloo, just don't tell anypony I'm here," Spectrum said and I nodded in understanding, if the Enclave knew she existed they'd try and use her.

"I promise I won't," I said with a smile and a nod. "I hope someday you'll be able to leave the Stable."

"Me too," Spectrum said, and we just shared a hug for awhile.

It was good to know she was out there somewhere.

00000

A couple more days passed before we were called rather unexpectedly to the main server room where Cipher had been working. The green and white Unicorn looked up at me with a tired smile.

"Did you find anything?" I asked as Arc Light and Midnight came in behind me.

"I did, and I've got some good news," Cipher said. "I decrypted the files and I've been working with another pony to sift through all of it, but I found exactly what you wanted, come take a look."

I walked over next to her and was surprised to find that there was a whole family tree starting from me and Sky Walker, going all the way down through the generations. Most of them had deceased next to them, though strangely there was one that was still encrypted, but there was three names that caught my attention

Highwind - Harmony
|
Serenity.

"Her current status is unknown in the files, but Midnight here was able to shed some light on this," Cipher added and Midnight nodded.

"During the war we met with a pony from the Crystal Wasteland who said she had found and adopted a Pegasus filly named Serenity after a battle with the Enclave Remnant," Midnight said. "And the military records of her parents do say that they served in the Crystal Wasteland under General Marigold before she died."

"Well that's great!" Arc said. "You found your family Scootaloo, now what are you going to do?"

"Well, I'd like to meet her," I said. "So, the Crystal Wasteland?"

"Yeah, there's a bit of a tricky thing there," Midnight said with a sigh. "We're supposed to keep anypony from going much farther north than here because of the Changeling situation. I'm sorry Scootaloo, but until that's over, you can't go there."

My heart fell with that, but I didn't have much of a choice, I just had to hope that they won't last much longer.

---Dayrunner Village---

A few more weeks passed, we helped around the Stable and the village before the news finally came that we had been waiting for.

The Changelings had been defeated by a group called the Crystal Crusaders, ponies that had banded together in order to save the Crystal Wasteland from the Changeling invasion and had stopped the General in charge of their forces.

Another two weeks passed before we were finally granted permission to go. We started gathering up our food and dressed warmly as Midnight came to our house.

"You'll be accompanying a caravan that we're sending north to establish trade with Crystal City," Midnight told me. "The pony you're looking for is their mayor, she should be able to help you out, I hope."

"Thank you Midnight," I said as we shook hooves. "You've been a great help, I just wish there was some way we could repay you."

"Just do your best out there, and if you ever run into the Enclave, get them good for me," Midnight said with a grin.

"We will," I said with a smile as I looked at Arc and Schooner. "Are we ready to go?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Arc said with a nod, and with that we left the Village and started north.

I put in the first of the holotapes Rainbow Dash had left for me, and started to listen.

"Hey Scootaloo, I'm here to give you the best advice I can about life. I knew from when you were a foal that you were destined for great things in the future, who knows maybe someday you'll be even more awesome than I am. No, you're already more awesome than I am, you're stronger than I ever could be Scootaloo. Stay strong, and keep us close to your heart, and you will change the world."

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Hunter of the Past.
Details: Your quest to learn more about your family and the past has given you a better understanding of the world around you. You gain an extra point in perception and intelligence.