//------------------------------// // Reactions // Story: Unexpected // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// Scootaloo stared up at the ceiling of her room at the orphanage, she was still having a hard time believing that she was actually pregnant. What was she going to do? How was she going to deal with a foal when she herself had never even really had parents? She sighed a little, she had never really known her biological family and had always been kind of shuffled between orphanages and foster homes ever since she was a little filly. She really had no idea what she was going to do, she couldn't put another foal through that kind of thing, but she couldn't handle it herself either. She placed her hoof on her stomach, it was weird to think that there was a little life growing inside her right now. She had messed up, its not even that Cirrus had forced her to do it, she had been more than willing to go along with it and now she was stuck in this position. She sighed a little, what was she going to do about this? Her friends were willing to help her out of course, but that wasn't the same as being able to have somepony there all the time when she needed them. This wasn't going to be easy on any of them, she knew that, but the'd figure it out. "Hey Scootaloo, how are you feeling?" The Matron asked as she came in with a plate of cookies. "Some of the other foals made these and I thought you might want some." "Thanks," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she picked up one of the cookies and took a bite. "I'm... I honestly don't know how I feel at this point. I'm still kind of processing the whole thing to be honest and I have no idea what to think." "I understand," the matron said with a sigh as Scootaloo just took another bite of her cookie. "What are you thinking about doing with the foal?" "Honestly, I don't know at this point," Scootaloo admitted with a shake of her head. "I've never really thought about this before, I don't think I'm ready for this..." "Let me let you in on a little secret, nopony is really ready to be a parent," the Matron said with a sigh as she looked at Scootaloo. "Some ponies who wind up in your situation don't know what to do either and they wind up giving up the foal for adoption, or even just abandon them. I don't think you'd want to do that kind of thing though. I know it hasn't always been easy for you in the system..." "Yeah, I mean you've been great, you've always been there for me when I needed you, even before I had my friends," Scootaloo said with a weak smile, she was nothing like the head of the last orphanage she had been at. "I don't know if I've ever told you that have I?" "Not in those words, no," the Matron said with a smile as she hugged Scootaloo gently. "Scootaloo, you're one of the strongest ponies I've ever met. You've managed to weather more than a few storms in your life, and I know you'll make it through this somehow and you'll do whatever you feel is right. You're a good pony, you'll do what is best for the foal, and for yourself." Scootaloo smiled and nodded as she finished her cookie. "Thank you... I just have to figure out how to tell Cirrus now, I just hope something will come out of this." "Don't worry Scoots, you'll be just fine," the Matron said as she headed back outside. Scootaloo took a deep breath and laid back on the bed as she stared up at the ceiling once more. That had helped her a little but she still had a lot to think about right now, she just had to hope that everything would be okay. "Well little filly or colt, its you and me against the world," she said with a soft smile as she looked down at her stomach, it was weird talking to somepony growing in her like this. "Its a great big world out here, with lots of things that will make things hard for us, but you've got your aunts to help take care of you. I just hope that everything will be okay..." She pulled the covers up over her and yawned as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. 00000 In another part of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was having a much harder time getting to sleep than Scootaloo was. She was pacing back and forth on the floor of her cloud house as Fluttershy watched. "Rainbow, are you trying to wear a hole in the floor?" Fluttershy asked as she looked over at her marefriend who finally stopped and sighed. "I know this isn't easy for you, but pacing isn't going to do any good." "Not easy for me? She's going through the same thing I was when..." Rainbow started to say before she let the sentence trail off. "Its like history is repeating itself right now, and I don't even know what I'm going to do." "Well, ruining your floor isn't a good place to start," Fluttershy said with a light chuckle as she hugged Rainbow Dash and gave her a light kiss on the nose. "Why didn't you ever tell her before now?" "I... don't know," Rainbow admitted with a shake of her head. "Now its going to be even worse if I do tell her, she's going to hate me for keeping it hidden from her for this long. What should I do Fluttershy?" "I think you should do whatever you feel is best," Fluttershy said with a smile as she nuzzled Rainbow gently. "Scootaloo is in a tough spot right now, she needs somepony who can help her through it and who cares about her. I can't think of anypony in Equestria who would be better suited for that than you." "Should I tell her the truth?" Rainbow asked softly. "She's always looked up to me as a sister, but what will she do if she knew I was her mother?" "Well, she might be mad at first," Fluttershy admitted as she placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder as her eyes went wide a little. "She's in a delicate spot right now, but she needs to know that you're going to be there for her. You should at least do that, maybe talk to the matron about adopting her at least, the truth can come in time." Rainbow sighed a little, she had a hard time admitting it to anypony other than Fluttershy but she had been in the same position Scootaloo found herself in now. She had made the decision to give her daughter up for adoption 15 years ago and now it was coming back to haunt her. She hadn't wanted to make the choice but she wasn't ready, she had never even told her parents, mostly because they would've made too big a deal over it like everything else she did. Giving up Scootaloo had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do, she had tried to make up for it by being her big sister but it didn't help that much. "I should've told her a long time ago, maybe this whole thing wouldn't have happened if I had been honest with her," she admitted with a shake of her head. She had to admit something, something that she had rarely ever admitted to anypony, but Fluttershy was the one pony in Equestria she was willing to admit it to. "I'm scared... I don't know what I'm going to do to be honest, I don't know how to be a mother, can I really help Scootaloo when she needs it most?" "Rainbow, you don't have to be perfect," Fluttershy said with a reassuring smile. "Scootaloo needs somepony to be there for her, now more than ever. She's a strong filly, but this is something that she's going to have to have help on, from all of us, and the two of you won't be alone, we'll be here for you at all times." Rainbow smiled a little and hugged Fluttershy tightly. She was lucky to have such a wonderful and understanding marefriend, she didn't want to admit it to Scootaloo but she had this weird feeling about Cirrus. Maybe it was nothing, but there was something about him that didn't quite sit right with her, and she was afraid that it was all about to come to a head. "Just don't go doing anything rash, I know you want to protect Scootaloo but you don't need to beat up her coltfriend before he gets a chance to even know he's going to be a father," Fluttershy said with a shake of her head. "Just because some colt ran out on you doesn't mean the same thing is going to happen to Scootaloo." "I know, I know, but I'm still worried," Rainbow said as she rolled her eyes a little. "Okay, I won't do any bodily harm to him yet, but I reserve the right to revisit that idea further down the line depending on his behavior, okay?" "I understand Rainbow, you want to help your daughter, I just hope that everything will be okay," Fluttershy said with a sigh as she nuzzled Rainbow gently. "I love you Rainbow, your loyalty to your friends and family is part of why I love you so much... I just hope that everything will be okay. Just promise me that you won't do anything rash, okay?" Rainbow sighed and nodded, she knew that Fluttershy was just trying to help her out and she was happy to have her for that. She just wished that she knew what to do, everything was getting more and more complicated and she had no idea what to do. "Okay Fluttershy, for you I won't do anything to hurt him," Rainbow finally said with a nod. "I promise." "Good, now come on, lets get to bed," Fluttershy said with a smile as she lead Rainbow into the other room, the two had all night to worry about what was going to happen, they just had to hope that everything would be okay. 00000 Sweetie Belle was just as nervous as Rainbow and Scootaloo were, she honestly had no idea what to think about everything that was going on with Scootaloo. She sighed a little, it was hard to believe that one of her friends may actually be having a foal, when they were only 15 years old. She certainly didn't expect it to be Scootaloo, sure she was the only one of the three of them that were actually in a relationship with somepony, but she had thought she wouldn't do that. She wasn't sure what Apple Bloom's reasons were, but Sweetie just hadn't ever been interested in colts and hadn't found the right pony to be her special somepony. Now she wasn't sure if she ever really would, she sighed a little and looked out the window towards where the orphanage was that Scootaloo lived in. "Scootaloo, I don't know what you must be thinking about right now..." she said softly as she sighed a little and placed her hoof on the window. "I just have to hope that we'll be able to figure something out, together as friends." She sighed as there was a knock at the door, that would be Rarity checking on her probably. "Come in," she said with a nod as she turned to look at the door as Rarity came in with a worried look on her face. "Hey Rarity, what's up?" "I was just worried about you is all," Rarity said with a shake of her head as she took a seat on the bed. "You seemed a bit out of it when you came home today, is everything okay?" "I'm just, trying to figure something out is all," Sweetie said as she took a seat next to Rarity. "Its been, complicated really, things haven't been easy for Scootaloo lately because... well, that's a long story really." "Well Sweetie, you can always talk to me about anything," Rarity said as she put her foreleg around her little sister gently. "What's bothering you?" Sweetie sighed and told Rarity what she had learned today from Scootaloo. Rarity listened intently to her and frowned a little at the news that Scootaloo might be pregnant, she had as hard a time believing it as is. She finally sighed as Sweetie finished and nodded in understanding. "I see, that is certainly a problem," Rarity said with a shake of her head. "So what do you think about all of this Sweetie?" "Honestly? I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing," Sweetie said with a sigh as she played with her two toned mane. "I mean, Scootaloo is a great friend and all, I want to help her, but... I don't really know what to think about this. I mean, she's going to have a foal, at our age... I want to help her, but at the same time I don't really know what to feel about it. I almost feel like there's something more I can do to help her... what do you think I should do?" "I think you should follow your heart Sweetie," Rarity said with a nod as she hugged her little sister gently. "Scootaloo needs her friends there to support her, I know that this isn't going to be easy for any of you, but she's counting on you to be the friend she needs you to be. That's all you can be right now given what's going on, and that's all she'd ever ask of you. You should treat her the way you'd want to be treated if you were in her position." Sweetie paused a moment before she nodded a little, she actually smiled at that. It was still hard to imagine what was going to happen in the future but she knew that they would be there to face that future together. "Out of curiosity, what would you do if it was me and not Scootaloo?" "Geld the colt, ground you, and then be the best aunt I can be of course," Rarity said with a chuckle as she released her little sister from the hug. "You're going to be just fine, I know it. Scootaloo is lucky that she has such good friends being willing to help her through this. If there's ever anything I can do to help, just let me know, okay?" Sweetie smiled and nodded in agreement. That was all she needed to know, Rarity was a great big sister and she just had to hope that everything would be okay. "Thank you Rarity," Sweetie said with a smile as she yawned a little and stretched out. "I should get some sleep I guess, good night Rarity." "Good night Sweetie," Rarity said with a smile as she got off the bed and let her little sister lay down on the bed before she headed out of the room. "How's she doin', Rares?" Applejack asked as Rarity quietly shut the door to the bedroom. "She's doing fine," Rarity said with a sigh as she closed the door. "It just sometimes feels like she and her friends are growing up too fast, do you know what I mean?" "Yeah, Ah understand what yah mean," Applejack said with a sigh as they headed downstairs. "Sorry we didn't get ta have tha evenin' yah wanted, but Ah'll make it up ta yah somehow, Ah promise." "Don't worry about it darling, I had things to deal with, we'll figure out something," Rarity said with a smile as she nuzzled Applejack gently. "There's no point in beating yourself up over it, lets get going." Applejack nodded and the two headed downstairs together. 00000 Scootaloo was more nervous than she had ever felt before as she walked towards the school with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. She had already told them that there was no real doubt that she was pregnant, now it was just a matter of telling Cirrus, that was what worried her the most at this point. Over the past month or so they had seemed to grow a little bit apart, Cirrus said he had to focus on his schoolwork for the upcoming finals and Scootaloo was generally okay with that. She was still a little worried though, it felt like he had been avoiding her almost. "Scoots, yer gonna be just fine," Apple Bloom said reassuringly as she placed her hoof on Scootaloo's withers. "Ah promise, everythin' is goin' ta be okay." "If you say so," Scootaloo said as she looked over at Sweetie Belle who gave her a reassuring nod. "I honestly don't know what to think at this point, I just, well we'll see how it goes I guess." Her friends nodded as they came around the corner and froze a little. Cirrus was standing there talking with another filly and giving her a charming smile, he hadn't even noticed that Scootaloo and her friends were there yet. "So, my Uncle is in the Wonderbolts," Cirrus said with a sultry tone as he gave the filly a flirtatious smile. "Oh really?" The filly asked curiously as she looked at Cirrus, neither of them had noticed the Crusaders yet. "Oh sure, he's one of the big name ones too, he's always flying in the shows and everything," Cirrus said with a grin. "He sometimes lets me sit in on their training sessions. I could, maybe arrange for you to come along next time if you'd be interested." Scootaloo was livid, he was actually flirting with another filly? What in Celestia's name was going on? The anger in her was rising and she couldn't control it much longer. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were just as shocked at this development as they watched their friend get angrier and angrier. "Scootaloo, don't do something you'll regret..." Sweetie said, but it was too late, Scootaloo was already storming up to the colt with an angry look on her face. "CIRRUS!" "What? Oh hey baby, I was just, telling her that I'd give her my math notes and..." Cirrus started to say, but he was cut short by the look that Scootaloo gave him, if looks could kill he'd have burst into flame at this point. "You heard what I was saying didn't you?" "Oh yes, every word," Scootaloo said with a snarl and looked at him. "What was I to you, some sort of conquest? I gave you everything, and you do, THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?" "Umm, what's going on here?" The other filly asked bewildered. "Are you two a thing or something?" "Oh, well see..." Cirrus said, he realized that he had been caught between two mares and neither of them were looking very happy with him right now. "I was just..." "Just what, just cheating on me?" Scootaloo growled as she glared at him with such intensity that even Fluttershy's state wouldn't compare. "I'm not some filly to use and discard Cirrus, and you're just a plothead. I wouldn't listen to a word he's saying, his Uncle works for the Wonderbolts sure, as a Janitor cleaning up after the shows, he couldn't get you into a practice session if his life depended on it. Don't waste your time on jerks like this, and tell your friends the same thing." The filly nodded and ran off leaving the three Crusaders and a very scared looking Cirrus. "Scoots, baby, she meant nothing to me..." Cirrus tried to say, but Scootaloo wasn't having any of it. She swung her hoof around and it connected with his jaw, sending him sprawling on the ground as he looked up at her trembling. "What was that for?" "For being a cheating plothead, and for getting me pregnant," Scootaloo said and stormed off with her two friends close behind. Cirrus just sat there for a long moment before her words finally sank in, and he realized just how much trouble he was in.