Tears of a Tuna Chapter 2: I Believe There's Meaning

>You awoke the next day feeling pretty chipper
>The sun was shining through your window and giving you a light kiss on the cheek
>You won the daily race to the bathroom, so you got to shower first this time
>You had some a nice bowl of cereal for breakfast and even finished your half of the daily chores before work
>You waved Lyra goodbye and walked out the door
>Your walking down the dirt path, waving to everyp0ny you see on the way
>Everything's going your way today, you even have a little extra time before your needed at Sweet Apple Achers
>You decide to look for Scootaloo and help her look for Rainbow Dash
>You find Scoots walking around staring at the sky so you prop her on your shoulders to give her a better look
>She's surprised at first, but notices you instantly
"See her yet?"
>"Nope, but I'm not giving up"
>Scootaloo looks up and down and left and right and northeast and southwest but just can't seem to find her
>An idea then sparks in your head
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" you yell towards the sky, in no real direction
>Almost instantly Scootaloo spots her zooming towards you
>"Look there she is!" she exclaims, pointing to your left
>Works every time
>She lands in front of you ears propped up and smiling widely
>"What's up Anon?"
"Scoot here has a question for you"
>You lift her off your shoulders and place her on the ground
>"Wow it's really you!" she says excitedly
>"THE one and only," Rainbow says with a confident smile and a flap of her wings, "so what do ya need?"
>"I was just kinda wondering," she looks downwards digging her hoof into the ground, "if maybe you would possibly..."
>"Spit it out kid, I don't have all day" Rainbow Dash blurts out rudely
>That outburst causes you to raise an eyebrow and stare daggers at her
>She get's the hint and waits patiently annoyed
>"Well uhm...y-you wanna h-hang out sometime?" she gives Rainbow and awkwardly wide smile and starts sweating
>She rolls her eyes and opens her mouth to say no until she sees you still staring daggers at her
>"F-f...Okay...champ" she rustles Scoots mane with her hoof playfully and looks at you with an awkward smile
>Your not pleased but it will have to do for now
"Well I see you two are busy, I'll just head to work now"
>"Wait uhm...Anon?" Rainbow Dash says
"Hmm?" you turn to listen to Rainbow
>"Uh...tell...Applejack I said...hey" she looks down disappointed that she couldn't ask you out again
"Will do" you turn back around and start walking to work

---

>"Well ya gotta give 'er an A for effort ah suppose" Big Mac insists while lifting a crate of apples
"Yeah I guess, but I never thought Rainbow Dash was the type to get cold feet" you say checking off another crate in your notepad
>"Eeeyup" He set's another crate in the pile while you check it off
>"Whutchu two talkin about?" Applejack says walking into the barn's cellar
>"Sis, turn's out yore friend Rainbow has chicken feet"
>"Rainbow?! now that's horse radish"
"It's true every time she tries to ask me out, she either changes the subject or just freezes," you take account the next crate of apples, "by the way today's excuse was to tell you hey"
>Big Mac laughs and almost would have fell over if it weren't the pile of crates of apples in front of him
>"If ya know Rainbow wants ta date ya why don't you ask her out?"
>You drop your pen and notepad and blush like there's no tomorrow
"Well...uhm...I...uh..."
>Big Mac falls on the floor and laughs to his hearts content
>"Heh heh, no so tough a NOW are ya?!" she taps you on the shoulder and laughs
"Shut up Applejack"
>Sun set rolls around in no time and that mean quitin time
>"Welp see ya tomorrow Anon," Big Mac says with a wave, "good luck with ya lady problems heh heh heh"
"And when was the last time you asked a mare out?" you say smugly
>He blushes a shade of red even visible on his coat
>"Heh heh he gotcha Mac" Applejack adds
>You walk away from from the farm laughing victoriously
>You take notice of the amount of ponies in the market square of Ponyville
>Their all staring at something but what could it be?
>You break through the crowd to try and get a good look at what everyp0ny's looking at
>"Are you sure your okay sweetie?" You hear one of them say
>"Don't worry I'm fine" wait a minute, you know that voice
"Scootaloo?"
>Everyp0ny turns to you and makes a path to a running little filly
"Scootaloo what's wrong?" you shout to her
>"Nothing, I'm fine!" she shouts back
>You turn to the pony who asked if she was alright
"What's wrong? what happened?" you ask politely
>"I was just about to close up shop when that little filly walked by with a black eye"
"Woah woah! come again?"
>"She had a black eye and when I asked her about it she just said she was fine"
"Thank you, I have to go" you said walking in the direction she ran
>Once the crowd dispersed you broke into a full blown sprint to try and catch up with Scoots
>I swear, if Rainbow Dash did this, she's through

---

>You ran as fast as you could, looking in every direction to see where Scoot might be
>...or Rainbow Dash
>Thinking about her made you sick, you even questioned your friendship with her once or twice
>Alright calm down, I don't have all the facts right now, maybe it was just some bully that I need to beat the shit out of or it might have been an accident
>If it were an accident then why would she be running?
>Maybe she just need to get home right now I mean it is sunset
>Then why isn't she running to her orphanage
>You stop momentarily to gather your thoughts and find some clues as to where Scoot might have gone
>You see Fluttershy walking home and run to her
"Fluttershy!"
>She turns to see you and notices your worried look
>"Hi Anon, what's wrong?"
"I'm looking for Scootaloo or Rainbow Dash have you seen either of them
>"Well they came to my cottage earlier, Rainbow Dash seemed to be really upset and annoyed"
"Have you seen either lately?"
>"I'm sorry but no"
You groan for a second but give her a smile "Thanks for the help anyway"
>You wave goodbye to Fluttershy and return to running
>Maybe the rest of the gang will know where Rainbow is, or maybe even Scootaloo
>You head to Twiight's library first since it's the closest
>You gently knock on the door and Spike greets you with a brofist
"I'm sorry to intrude but have you or Twilight seen Scootaloo?"
>"I saw her running to the Carousel Boutique" Spike says
>You rustle his spikes and give him a smile
"Thanks buddy, see you guys later"
>You do a full power sprint towards Rarity's store
>You stop at the door and knock like a gentleman
>"Oh hello Anonymous," Rarity says motioning you to come in, "I already know why you're here"
"So she's here?"
>"Yes you will find her in Sweetie Bell's room"
"Thanks," you start to walk to the hallway she pointed to until you realized you've never explored Rarity's house, and you don't plan on it, "uhm which way is that?"
>She sighs and tells you to follow her
>You reach Sweetie Bell's room in no time and sure enough there was Scootaloo
>She was being comforted by Sweetie Bell and crying
>Every teardrop and sob felt like a shard of glass jammed into your heart as you approached her
"Scootaloo"
>She looks up to you and right on her face is the black eye everyp0ny was talking about
"Does it still hurt?," you say gently holding her cheek in the palm of your hand
>She sniffles before speaking, "Yeah"
"May I ask how this happened?"
>Her eye that isn't swollen begins to tear up
>"Please Anon, please don't"
"Then convince me not to"
>She knew you knew what happened and what you were going to do next
>"I'm sorry but I'm confused"
You let out a sigh, "Rainbow Dash did this, didn't she?"
>She averts your gaze and nods slowly
>Rarity lets out a gasp, "But Rainbow would never hurt anyp0ny,"
"I'm as confused as you are but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna do anything about it"
>You start walking to the door
>"Anon please, it wasn't her fault"
>You turn to let Scoot speak
>"It's just that...she was tired from us waking her up early"
"Scootaloo, please forgive me for saying this, but that is complete bullshit"
>She begins crying and holds on to your leg
>"Please Anon, please don't hurt her, she's my most favorite pony in the world," her sobs start getting louder, "I'm begging you Anon, please let me handle this"
>You stand there confused and feel your anger rising
You take a deep breath "Okay Scootaloo, but if she slips up again..."
>"Then I promise not to stop you, but trust me I can handle this"
>You kneel down and wipe the tears from her face
"Heh at least I kept one promise"
>Scootaloo smiles and you both exit the Carousel Boutique
"Sorry for cause all that drama in there" you say to Rarity
>"...Anonymous, this is just my opinion, but I think Scootaloo has bitten off more than she can chew"
"Don't worry if she can't handle it then I will"
>You wave goodbye to Rarity and walk home
>On your walk you punch a light post to let out some of your anger
>How could Rainbow do something like this
>This is just unforgivable
>Fuck that this is beyond unforgivable
>You punch another light post before entering your house
>"Hey Anon, you're later than usual," she can tell from your hung head something was wrong, "somethin on your mind" Lyra asked
"I'll tell ya in the morning Ly' right now I'm really tired"
>"Okay"
>You walk upstairs and enter your room
>You look into your mirror and sit on your bed
>You stare and the carpet and then at the moon in your window
>You can feel a tear fall down your cheek
"I'm sorry"

---

(Scootaloo POV)
>You toss and turn in your sleep, your eye was still swollen which made things even more difficult
>You just couldn't sleep; your mind kept racing back and forth due to the events of today
>Buck! It just feels like this day just won't end, I just want to forget, you thought to yourself
>Everything that happened today has been on repeat for, you guess, 20 minutes
>Every detail played in your head as you tried desperately to rationalize it
>The day started normally with you and Anon searching for Rainbow Dash
>Anon called to Rainbow and she just appeared like that
>She agreed to spend some time with me and then...
>You swallowed a lump that formed in your throat
>She started getting really mad, but why?
>Wait a minute...she was going to ask Anon something but she couldn't
>Could she have a crush on him?
>Maybe she was mad that Anon didn't like her or maybe she was disappointed that she couldn't get the courage to ask him out
>Maybe I was just in the line of fire and she was really taking her anger out on Anon
>The more you thought about it the more Anon seemed to come up in every scenario
>You place a hoof on your eye, it still stings but the swelling went down a bit
>You reapply the ice pack given to you by the fosterfoal caretaker
>She's so nice, you say with a smile
>You sit up and stare out your window
>Your thoughts played out more scenarios and Anon was in all of them
>Maybe…This is Anon's fault, one thought said
>You shook your head
>No, Anon's too nice, he's done nothing but protect me, and he even got me away from those bucking parents of mine
>But, Rainbow wouldn't hurt me for no reason and she seemed pretty upset when Anon walked away
>You didn't want to believe those thoughts, Anon was your friend; hell your best friend, you couldn't just blame it all on him even when he wasn't there
>You didn't want to think anymore, you just decided to ask Rainbow about it tomorrow and sort it out then
>You place the ice pack on your bedside table and lay on your side
>Now if only I could get some sleep, you said with a yawn

---

(Anon & Scootaloo POV)
>You groggily shuffle out of bed
>You got no sleep last night, thinking about the events that happened yesterday
>You slowly but surely walk to the bathroom
>It's already occupied by Lyra/some other fosterfoal
>When she/he exits you immediately rush into the bathroom
>While Anon brushed his teeth Lyra bombarded him with questions
>While Scootaloo brushed her mane some other foal yelled hurry up. Dick, you thought
>You exit the bathroom clean but still tired and lifeless
>You walk to the kitchen for some breakfast
>Anon ate eggs and pancakes as a bribe from Lyra, to try and get him to talk
>Scootaloo had the same but her's was more of a get well gesture from the caretaker. Everp0ny else had cereal, and she couldn't help but feel all kinds of badass as she got looks of jealousy from the others
>Anon ignored Lyra and walked outside
>Scootaloo ignored her haters and walked outside
>You were on a mission to find Rainbow Dash and get some answers
>"Rainbow Dash!" you called...
(Anon POV)
>You look ahead of you and Scootaloo was doing the same thing as you did
>You both walked towards each other awkwardly
>As if today couldn't get any weirder
>"Sooo...you’re looking for Rainbow Dash too?" she says avoiding your gaze
"Yep" you say doing the same
>"You’re not gonna hurt her right?" she says facing you
"No, if you think you can handle this then I won't interfere," you face her with serious on the face, "unless I have to"
>"Hey guys!" Rainbow Dash called from you side "What's up"
>She looked nervous and she should be, she knew how you felt about Scootaloo and she knew what she did
>You stay quiet because you didn't want Scoot to know why you called to her
>You look over and Scoot is looking at you, somehow waiting for something
>"Uhhh?...did you guys want something or what?" she says obviously aware of the silence
>You decided to give no fucks and come right out with it
"Why did you hit Scootaloo?"
>"Why did you hit me"
>You both managed to speak in unison and it freaked you out
>"W-w-what do you mean?" she lets out an awkward chuckle
"You already know what I mean" You anger was reaching it boiling point
>"The black eye? Remember?" Scootaloo adds
>"Oh my look at the time gotta go" she tries to zoom off but you catch her tail and stop her
>She flapped her wings as hard as she could, but you weren't letting go
>Luckily Scootaloo held on to your pant leg and pulled with all her might, or she might have gotten away
>She eventually tires out and lands with a solid thunk from her hooves
>You and Scoot look at her
>Your anger rising beyond levels you even knew you had
>You wanted answers and you wanted them now
>You look over to Scoot and she's flapping her tiny wings in anger
>Rainbow finally cracks under the combined weight of both your stares and Scoots flapping
>”…Ok I know I have some explaining to do, but look it was just a fluke, I didn’t mean for it to happen it just kinda happened,” She turns to Scootaloo, “so hey why don’t I make it up to ya kiddo, and take you to the beach?”
>You continually stare daggers at Rainbow Dash, but Scootaloo lights up with excitement
>”Really?!” she says hovering inches off the ground
>”Yeah, if Anon’ll come too” she gives you adorable puppy dog eyes
>Even Scootaloo gives you puppy dog eyes
>You can’t handle this level of adorable so you embrace Scoot and Rainbow in a hug filled with love and snuggles
“How could I say no to those eyes?” you say with a smile
>You think you even heard some kind of squee sound effect come from both of them
>You let go and look at Rainbow seriously
“But remember, I got my eye on you”
>”Don’t worry Anon I got this,” She says with a confident smile
>With that in mind, the three of you walk to Sunshine Shores, past Ponyville Park
>Scootaloo rides on your shoulders as Rainbow Dash hovers beside you
>The only one who was really walking was you, but you didn’t mind because it wasn’t that far
>When you reached the beach Scoot hops off your shoulders and builds a sandcastle
>You look over to Rainbow and she’s got that confident grin her face
>You get one too and the two of you begin and sandcastle competition, Rainbow was testing for speed and you were testing for quality
>So safe to say you both won and you decided to go for a swim…ok not really but you really wanted to
>You sat on the beach with Rainbow watching Scootaloo accomplish what you couldn’t
>You still smiled anyway; the sand was nice, warm, and incredibly soft
>Plus Rainbow had behaved the entire time so you had nothing to worry about
>”Sooo… uh Anon?”
>You turned to Rainbow; her cheeks were a rosy red and wings flared out from side to side
>”You…uhm like the beach?” she says staring down and smiling
“Yeah it’s nice during the summer”
>Silence
>You go back to watching Scoot and you feel Rainbow kiss you on the cheek
>It makes you jump and you look at Rainbow
>She looks at you with nervous bedroom eyes and rubs your leg with her hoof
“Rainbow could you please control yourself; a child is right there”
>She gasps
>”So you would rut me if Scootaloo wasn’t here?” she says with a really wide grin
“…Only on our third date, like a gentleman” you say awkwardly
>You blush and return to watching Scootaloo; averting eye contact with Rainbow at all costs
>You could hear her punch the sand and call herself an idiot
>Few minutes pass and Scootaloo makes some new friends as they play together on the beach
>It was good that Scoot could make friends so quickly
>Meanwhile Rainbow’s attempts at making
>She had laid her head on your lap and you’re not feeling too comfortable right now
>Your instincts kick in and you start mindlessly petting her, she reacts by softly cooing so you stop
>She gives you those damn eyes again and you return to petting
>”Anon…”
“Yeah?”
>”You know I like you right?”
“Yeah”
>”I mean like, like you”
“Yeah I know”
>”Good”
“And I thought you didn’t like mushy stuff” you say with a chuckle
>She blushes again and returns with silence
>After a while and a few games with Scootaloo, you all decide to walk back home
>This time you’re not the only one walking
>”Today was so much fun!” exclaimed Scootaloo “Thanks Rainbow Dash”
>”Don’t mention it kiddo, and thanks for being there Anon”
“Well you know me” you say with a chuckle
>You walk Scootaloo to her orphanage and, being the gentleman you are, Rainbow home
>While on the walk you and Rainbow start chatting about stuff
>”So…does this count as the first date?” she asked
“I guess” you reply
>”Cool, so that means 2 more and I can rut you like there’s no tomorrow”
>You stop and stare at her
“You think about sex a lot little missy, and maybe”
>”Oh,” she looks down with disappointment, “Well this is my place, I’ll see ya around, maybe?”
“Sure” you say with a smile
>She smiles back and fly’s  into her cloud home, if you’re not mistaken you think your heard her shout ‘yes!’  as she entered
>All seemed right once more and you guess you can forgive Rainbow this time
>You chuckle warmly as you walk home to get some sleep