//------------------------------// // Family // Story: Unexpected // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// Another three months passed, Cirrus had never bothered Scootaloo or her friends again, and in fact after awhile had vanished from school. While Scootaloo didn't know what had happened, she suspected at least that his parents had sent him off somewhere, she didn't really care, he was the last pony she wanted to think about right now. Strangely everything was starting to feel almost normal again now. She still had to worry about her extra passenger which meant she couldn't do as much as she usually did, but everything was actually still feeling kind of ordinary at this point. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were still being as supportive as ever, Sweetie even accompanied her to her doctor's appointments at the hospital. Which was where she was now. "So, are you having any problems with your pregnancy?" The Doctor asked as she checked Scootaloo over. "Does strange cravings for whatever seems to catch my attention at the time count?" Scootaloo asked with a chuckle and the doctor just laughed a little. "Other than that, not really. I'm feeling like I'm finally starting to get used to this strangely, but I know this little one probably has something planned at this rate." "Yeah, if she's anything like her mom they're going to be causing a lot of trouble," Sweetie added with a chuckle which made Scootaloo roll her eyes a little. "So, do you want to finally know what you're having Scootaloo? I know you've been kind of uneasy about that in our past checkups," the Doctor offered. "I know this is difficult for young mothers, but you're doing just fine." Scootaloo paused a moment, she had been thinking long and hard about what she was going to do with the foal after they were born. She had finally reached the decision that she was going to try and keep them, she wasn't going to subject her foal to the same thing she had gone through growing up, that was not something she would want to do. Strangely that had kept her from really wanting to know the foal's gender, or even what kind of pony he or she was going to be. She could've found out months ago but had asked the Doctor to just tell her whether or not the foal was going to be healthy. Now that she had made a choice however, maybe it was time to get an answer finally. She took a deep breath and looked at Sweetie who gave her a smile. "Sure, I'd love to know what I'm having," she said with a smile and placed her hoof on her stomach gently. "I know I've been kind of iffy on it before, but it was just because I still had a lot to think about. I've made my decision and I'm sticking to it." "Okay Scootaloo, I understand," the doctor said with a smile as her horn began to glow and she gently touched the still developing foal with her magic like she had done so many times before. This time though she wanted to know more than anything, there wasn't going to be any more mystery at least. She smiled a little as she looked over at Sweetie Belle who took her hoof in her's and squeezed it gently. The doctor's horn started to glow and a shape of a developing fetus. Scootaloo looked at it curiously, she had never really thought about what the foal might look like, she could even see the small developing wings. "Well, it looks like you're going to have a Pegasus," Sweetie said with a smile as she squeezed Scootaloo's hoof again. "So, is it a filly or a colt?" "Well, lets see," the doctor said and moved the projection around, it was hard for Scootaloo and Sweetie to make out any features on the foal but the Doctor smiled a little and gave Scootaloo a nod. "Looks like you're having a filly, and she looks very healthy as before. What do you think?" Scootaloo just stared at the still developing foal that was growing in her womb. She had a hard time accepting all of this sometimes, but seeing the foal like this actually made it feel even more real than it already did. It was strange to think about being a mother, but what was she going to do? She knew that she wanted to keep the foal, but things weren't going to be easy for her, or for her friends. "Well, it looks like everything is pretty good," Sweetie said with a smile. "Are you going to be okay? You seem a bit more distracted than usual." "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just kind of thinking about what's going on is all," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she looked at the projection again. "Its weird to think about all of this, I just have to figure out exactly what I'm going to do, I hope I can at least." "You still don't know what you're going to do about the family situation?" The Doctor asked as she looked over at Scootaloo who shook her head. "I know that it can't be easy for you, but I know that everything is going to be just fine if you manage to figure everything out. You're not the first pony to be in this situation, and I'm sure that everything will be okay if you just put your faith in your friends. I'm sure that everything will be okay, just give them a chance." "I will," Scootaloo said with a smile as the projection vanished and she gave Sweetie a nod. "Thank you Sweetie, it means a lot that you're here for me." Sweetie smiled and gave Scootaloo a light hug. The doctor smiled and let the two fillies hug for a long moment. She didn't like the situation that Scootaloo was in and just wanted her to get through this okay given everything she was going through. "Come on, lets go tell Apple Bloom, and I think Rainbow wanted to see you about something," Sweetie said as the released the hug. "Okay, thank you doc," Scootaloo said as they headed out of the doctor's office together. 00000 Rainbow took a deep breath as she looked up at the banner and decorations that they had gotten set up for Scootaloo. It was hard to believe that she had actually managed to get through everything without freaking out, but the paperwork and the background check had all gone through just a few days ago. "I'm proud of you Rainbow," Twilight said as Rainbow finished putting the last of the decorations up on the wall. "When is Scootaloo going to be here?" "Sweetie said she'd bring her here from the doctor's office after they met up with Apple Bloom, do they have the cloudwalking spell on them?" Rainbow asked as she looked over at Twilight. "Yeah, I made sure I did it this morning," Twilight said with a nod as she looked over at Rainbow and sighed a little. "I'm impressed that you're actually going to do this, I know its not going to be easy given everything that's going to come with it." "Yeah, I know, I mean I've never really thought of myself as a mother, I just am glad that I'm getting a chance to be able to manage somehow," Rainbow said with a sigh as she looked over at Fluttershy who gave her a smile. "But, this is what needs to be done if I want to help Scootaloo, I don't regret it." She paused for a long moment as she looked over at Twilight and her other friends who were there. She hadn't yet come clean to them about being Scootaloo's biological mother other than Fluttershy of course, she didn't know how she would tell them to be honest. Though if she did, would they understand? Twilight had basically raised Spike with the help of Celestia, Rarity had taken care of Sweetie Belle for years, and Applejack and her family had taken care of Apple Bloom ever since she was just a baby. But Rainbow, she had been given the chance to be a mother, to have that bond and she had given it away, even if she had tried to make up for it later, that was something she regretted. Now she was putting herself in a position to hopefully make up for it, but she'd still have to do better. "How do you do it Twilight?" Rainbow asked as she looked over at Twilight who just tilted her head and looked at her curiously. "Do what, Rainbow?" "Be a single mom like you do with Spike, I mean I know you don't call yourself his mother, but you did kinda raise him and everything," Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her head a little, this was something she had a hard time talking about and wasn't sure how Twilight would react. "I know that's kind of a personal question for you, but I wanted to know if you could give me any advice on how to help Scootaloo." Twilight looked at Rainbow and smiled a little, she hadn't ever really expected Rainbow Dash to ask for advice on that kind of thing, but she didn't mind. Actually she felt it was a sign that Rainbow was really starting to mature, and given her situation that was probably a good thing. "Well I won't lie and say its going to be easy for you or Scootaloo," Twilight finally said as she trotted over to the prismatic maned mare. "You're going to have to make some sacrifices, especially when the new baby arrives, you're probably not going to be able to goof off as much as you usually do. Scootaloo's going to count on you and the others to help her if she needs it, are you really going to be ready for that?" "Aww, do I have to? Of course I'm going to be ready for it, I've been getting ready for this for months," Rainbow said with a smirk, but really she had realized that already and was already starting to ease more into this. "But I know what you mean, I honestly..." She paused and trailed off a moment, she wasn't sure how she was going to tell Twilight this still. She still needed to figure out how she was going to tell Scootaloo, her friends should've been easy compared to that but she couldn't figure out how to put the words together. "Rainbow, is everything okay?" Twilight asked as she looked at Rainbow. "You've been acting weird ever since we found out that Scootaloo was pregnant. What's wrong, you know you can tell me anything right?" Rainbow nodded slowly before she sighed, she was going to have to come clean about this eventually and now was probably as good a time as any. She took a deep breath and looked at Twilight, she had to tell her now given that Scootaloo was probably going to be done at the doctor soon. "Scootaloo is... my daughter..." Rainbow finally admitted as she looked down at her hooves and Twilight's eyes went wide. "When I was her age, I got in a relationship with a colt and wound up Pregnant, I put her up for adoption because I didn't think I could be a good enough mother to her." "And that's changed now because you're seeing her go through the same thing you did," Twilight said and Rainbow nodded. "I had no idea, this must be hard on you." "Yeah, it is, but its why I want to do this, I want to make things right again and do what I can to help her," Rainbow said with a sigh as Fluttershy walked over to her and gave her a hug. "I messed up over 15 years ago and Scootaloo is paying for it now, I just hope that I can do something to help her out when she needs it." "Really, I'd say you already have," Twilight said with a smile. "You've been there when she needed you, while you weren't her mother, you were still there for her and that's what really counts. Now, I'm guessing Scootaloo doesn't know this yet, but you're probably going to have to approach this cautiously. She does deserve to know the truth, but you don't want to hurt her in the process." Rainbow nodded and was about to say something else when the door opened and Blueberry came in with the last of the paperwork. She gave Rainbow a smile which she returned with a nod. "Is everything ready?" Rainbow asked the matron who nodded. "Oh good, I just have to wait for Scootaloo to arrive I guess." "Do you have everything set up?" Blueberry asked. "Yeah, we got her bedroom together over the weekend, and we've got a room set aside for a nursery for the baby," Rainbow said as she looked over at Fluttershy who just smiled. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing here, Blueberry?" "Rainbow, you've had one of the closest bonds with a filly I've ever seen," Blueberry said with a smile. "I'm actually more surprised you haven't adopted her already, I saw it when I first met you, even before I knew you two were related, I knew there was something special between the two of you." "Well, I mean, I kinda wanted to help the kid out, even if I wasn't going to he her mom you know?" Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I just wanted to make up for what I had done and, it felt like the best way to do it. Maybe I should have done this a long time ago, but now we're here and I want to make up for everything I did wrong before, you know what I mean?" Blueberry smiled and nodded as she gave Rainbow the last of the paperwork which she signed. She took a deep breath and looked at the papers, it was hard to believe it but she was actually doing this, this was going to be a different experience than anything she had ever done before. But she still knew that she had to do it if she wanted to be there for Scootaloo and her grandchild. No matter what, she would never make the same mistake she did before. 00000 "So, what do you think Rainbow Dash wanted to see me about?" Scootaloo asked as she and her friends took the cloud staircase that Rainbow had set up for them awhile back up towards the cloud house. "She said she wanted to talk to me about something important, but she didn't go into any real detail." "Who knows, maybe she's got something exciting planned," Sweetie said with a smile as she looked over at Apple Bloom who nodded. "Maybe she got together with Pinkie and prepared some sort of party, who knows." "Maybe, really I feel like I've been on my hooves all day and I just want to get back home and relax a little," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she looked down at her stomach. She was already showing a bit at this point, there was hardly any real point in trying to cover up the fact that she was pregnant to anypony that she met. Some of them had been a bit more, judgmental than her friends and classmates, but she didn't really care what they thought. She was going to try and raise this foal, even if she had to do it in the orphanage before she was too old to stay there anymore. "Don't worry about it Scoots, everything will be just fine," Sweetie said with a smile as they headed up to the front door and knocked on it. "Its open," Rainbow's voice said from inside and the three friends headed inside where Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy were waiting with smiles. "Hey Scootaloo, how are you doing? How's the baby doing?" "She's still healthy," Scootaloo said as she looked down at her stomach with a smile. "Oh, did you finally find out what you're having then?" Fluttershy asked curiously as Scootaloo took a seat on one of the chairs with a relaxed smile. "Yeah, its going to be a Pegasus Filly," she said with a smile as she looked up at Rainbow who flinched just a little, but Scootaloo didn't really notice. "After I decided I wanted to keep the foal I, felt it was the best time to find out what I was carrying if you know what I mean." Rainbow nodded in understanding and smiled as she hugged Scootaloo gently. She was still doing her best to try and figure out what she could do to help the fill out, things weren't going to be that easy but she'd be able to do that at least. She smiled a little and held her daughter close, even if she wasn't going to tell her the truth yet, but she knew that she'd hopefully be willing to at least listen to her when the time was right. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Scootaloo asked as she looked around at them, it was like they had been getting something ready for her but it was hard to tell just what. "Well Scootaloo, there's something that I've been working on for a few months now ever since I found out you were pregnant," Rainbow said with a smile as she let go of Scootaloo and Blueberry walked into the room carrying some papers. "Hey Scootaloo," Blueberry said with a smile as she gave the papers over to Scootaloo and she took them. "What is..." Scootaloo said as she started to unroll the papers and looked at them, her eyes went wide when she realized just what it said. "These are... adoption papers for me?" "Yeah, given everything you're going through... I thought you could use some help..." Rainbow said with a smile as she offered a hoof to Scootaloo and smiled. "What do you say kiddo, want to have me as your mom?" Scootaloo paused for a long moment as she just stared at the papers. She couldn't believe it, ever since she was a little filly she had dreamed of the possibility that Rainbow Dash might want to adopt her, but she had never dared even consider it especially after all these years. Now here she was, looking at the papers that would actually make it official, and she couldn't say anything, the experience had actually left her speechless. "Do you really mean it?" she finally managed to ask as she looked up at Rainbow Dash who gave her a smile. "Scootaloo, I've been thinking about this for a long time and working to make it possible," Rainbow said as she wrapped her wing around Scootaloo gently. "But I wanted to make sure that it was what you wanted first. I know this is going to be a challenge for both of us, but we can do it, together." There was a moment of silence as they all waited for Scootaloo to say something. The teenager was still in a state of shock over what was being offered to her. She finally smiled and hugged Rainbow Dash tightly as she started to cry into the older mare's mane. "Thank you..." she said through her tears as she kept hugging her, Rainbow just smiled and hugged her back, the two held it for a long moment before Scootaloo finally released it and got the papers together and signed them. "Now come on you two, lets have a little fun," Sweetie said with a smile as they got up and headed into the kitchen where a cake and some food was all set up. "Oh, before I forget some of the others at the Orphanage wanted you to have this Scootaloo," Blueberry said with a smile as she gave Scootaloo a makeshift card that had been drawn by hoof. "They wanted to come and surprise you, but they had to work on their homework for Ms. Cheerilee, I told them that I'd bring it to you and you could maybe visit when you have time." Scootaloo smiled as she opened it, they were pictures of her with two younger looking ponies that looked like they were having fun. She smiled sadly, the card was from Wintergreen and Hazel, two fillies that lived at the orphanage who she had become close to. When it looked like she wasn't likely to be adopted anytime soon, Blueberry had asked her to start helping out with the other foals, and the two of them had started to look up to her like a big sister. There was a scrawled message in crayon that read, "Congrats on being adopted Scootaloo!" "Those two..." Scootaloo said with a soft smile as she just looked at the picture again, she felt like she was going to cry once more when she realized she was leaving her friends at the orphanage behind. "I'm going to miss hanging out with them." "You know, you don't have to leave them behind," Rainbow pointed out and Scootaloo's ears perked up a little. "I mean, I could still help around the Orphanage and you can come with me. I'm sure the other foals would love to see you." "Yeah, you're right of course," Scootaloo said with a light chuckle and looked at Blueberry. "I mean if that's okay, I don't know how often I'd be able to come by, but I'd love to be able to help out as best I can still." "Well of course, don't worry about it," Blueberry said as she took a seat at the table, she was starting to cry a little too. "Its just, you've always been one of the best fillies I've ever taken care of Scootaloo. I'm happy for you, and I had hoped this wouldn't be goodbye forever." Scootaloo smiled and shook her head. "Of course not, I'd love to see you more," Scootaloo said and then thought for a long moment. "Ms. Blueberry, there's something I'd like to ask of you. Could you, be my daughter's godmother?" "Really, you'd ask that of me?" Blueberry asked with a surprised look on her face. "Of course, you raised me, and I turned out okay, I can't think of anypony I'd rather trust with her," Scootaloo said with a smile. "I'd be honored," Blueberry said and hugged Scootaloo tightly. Scootaloo just smiled and hugged her back, it was nice to know that she could still count on everypony that cared about her when she needed them.