//------------------------------//
// Cakes and Pies 
// Story: Sisters Reunited 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Scootaloo soon took to baking like a duck takes to water, albeit with a great deal of assistance from Pinkie Pie. And in the process of helping to bake a cake, the tomboyish filly got traces of flour and cake batter all over her coat and mane.

When Mrs. Cake got a good look at Scootaloo, her face was an odd mix of enjoyment and frustration. "Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed. "Just look at you, Scootaloo, you're a mess!"

Scootaloo couldn't help but blush ever so faintly. "I guess baking a cake isn't really a piece of cake." She then chuckled in spite of herself, at the joke she had made.

Mrs. Cake just sighed. "Well, I think my new filly has earned herself a free bath."

Scootaloo shook her head in protest. "It's fine, Mom. I can just rinse off in the kitchen sink really quick, it'll be like it never even happened," The pegasus then added. "Besides, I've been covered in far worse than flour and cake batter."

But the earth pony mare wasn't going to take no for an answer. "I have to make sure I get every last trace of flour and cake batter off of you," She protested. "Not to mention, I don't know when the last time is you had a bath or shower. I want a nice, squeaky clean filly in my house. Now come on, you're getting a bath whether you like it or not."

"Do I have to?" Scootaloo pouted, her whine sounding not unlike that of a filly being scolded by her parents.

The plump earth pony mare only giggled, thinking to herself. "It's just like when Pinkie Pie first came to live with Carrot Cake and I. She absolutely hated the idea of a bath. I just hope my new filly doesn't put up as much of a fight."

Fortunately for both Cakes, Scootaloo cooperated with very little hesitation or other means of resistance. She did protest a little at not being allowed to scrub herself clean, but that was as far as her complaints went. In fact, as the bath went on, the pegasus actually started to enjoy herself. The warm waters felt so soothing and relaxing, just the thing for those aching muscles of her (walking or riding around on her scooter all day every day took its toll).

Once the bath was done and Scootaloo had been dried off, the filly was led back downstairs. Mr. Cake patted his new daughter lightly on the forehead as he told her. "We'll have to give you some baking lessons, it seems. For right now, just leave the baking to us, okay?"

"Okay." Scootaloo nodded.

Mr. Cake then happened to glance over towards the dining room, where his two other children were currently seated in their high chairs. And it was then that an idea came to him. "In fact, why don't you do your old stallion a little favor?" He suggested, pointing a hoof to the twins' location. "I need to fix their bottles, and Cup Cake and Pinkie are busy cleaning up the aftermath of your baking session. So can you watch the twins for me really quick?"

The tomboyish filly glanced over to the twins' location, eyeing them as if she thought they were planning something.

Mr. Cake laughed. "Don't worry, they've already been changed, and they haven't eaten anything yet."

That prompted a much needed sigh of relief from the little pegasus. "Okay then, I guess I watch my little brother and sister." She nodded, adopting a small salute. In her mind, she was thinking to herself. "It feels weird to be calling the twins that, but it also feels so right."





Despite having already been introduced to Scootaloo, Pound and Pumpkin Cake were not sure what to make of their new "big sister" figure. Would she be as fun to play with as their other big sister, Pinkie Pie? Or would she be more like their parents, who as fun as they were, were never on the same level as Pinkie.

Scootaloo looked at the twins, unsure of what to say or do.

All of a sudden, Pound Cake started to cry. And Pumpkin Cake did the same. Together their wails became so loud, Scootaloo had to plug her ears!

Frantically, the filly pleaded with the toddlers. "H-hey now, don't cry! Please!"

But the twins didn't listen, they just continued to cry.

"Come on, Scootaloo! Think! Do something! There's gotta be a way to cheer them up!" Scootaloo frantically thought to herself, trying to rack her brain for a way to stop the loud wails assaulting her ears! Then suddenly, something came to her. Something she faintly recalled the orphanage caretakers doing to her when she was a foal. But would it work on the twins in the same way?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Scootaloo trotted up to Pound Cake (feeling a slightly stronger bond with him since he was a pegasus like her) and reached out an orange hoof to touch his nose. Then she quickly pulled it back and playfully shouted. "Hey Pound, got your nose!"

Pound stopped crying, and so did his sister. He just motioned his hooves to where his nose was (or in his mind, where it should be) and babbled something. Pumpkin also stopped crying, looking over to her brother and appearing to giggle at his behavior.

"Do you wanna play too, Pumpkin?" Scootaloo asked, trotting over to the little unicorn and doing the same thing she'd just done with Pound. "Got your nose too! Now I've got two noses!"

Pumpkin started to imitate what her brother had just done, as it was Pound's turn to giggle.

Scootaloo proceeded to "accidentally" switch the noses, giving Pound's nose to Pumpkin and Pumpkin's nose to Pound. "Oopsie," She playfully cooed. "I got my noses mixed up. Don't worry, Scootaloo's gonna make it all better."

When Mr. Cake trotted out of the kitchen with two baby bottles in tow, and made his way over to the twins to feed them, he couldn't help but aw in spite of himself. For he saw Scootaloo playing with the twins, bouncing them alternatively on her knee, while the twins alternatively suckled on their hooves or played with her mane.

It really warmed his heart to see his new daughter getting along so well with his other children. His wife had been worried that the twins would be jealous of Scootaloo, and a part of him had silently worried the same. But looking at the adorable scene before him, he could see that he had been mistaken.





The rest of the day passed in a blur for all involved, but especially for Scootaloo, who was slowly but surely getting used to being part of the Cake family.

There was one part of being adopted by the Cakes that the filly didn't like though, having an enforced bedtime.

"But I'm not tired." Scootaloo protested, as she was led upstairs to her bedroom that evening.

"Ah ah ah, no buts, my little filly," Mrs. Cake lightly scolded. "Now that you're living here, you have to live by our rules. And that means going to your room when you're told."

Scootaloo pouted. "It's so not fair, it's not even that late out. It's only eight o'clock, I used to stay up much later than that."

Mr. Cake only replied by saying. "Well, that was then, and this is now. You're a growing filly, Scootaloo. And a growing filly needs her rest. Trust me, when you get to my age, you'll start to value sleep."

"Can't I just stay for a little bit later? Just this once?" Scootaloo pleaded desperately with her best pair of puppy dog eyes.

But the Cakes were wise to such tactics, Pinkie Pie alone had subjected them to similar faces on so many different occasions that they'd lost track. They simply ushered Scootaloo into her bedroom and helped her into bed, then kissed her goodnight and turned out the light.





Several days passed by in the blink of an eye for everyone except Pinkie Pie. To her, it felt like for every one that passed, two more had taken place. So many wonderful memories were being made, and her little sister seemed to be adjusting to her new life so well. What could possibly happen now to disrupt the happiness?

As if the universe knew what the party pony was thinking, a week after Scootaloo had been adopted and settled in, there came a letter with the morning mail. The address was a familiar one to Pinkie Pie (there weren't many locations in Ponypalooza to begin with, so it wasn't like she would've had to take a guess).

And when the letter was opened and read aloud at the dining room table, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. The letter read as follows:

To the officially adopted parents of Scootaloo,

It has come to our attention that you have obtained legal custody of our daughter, the very one we gave up all those years ago.

We wish to invite you and our daughter Pinkamina back to Ponypalooza, alongside Scootaloo, so that we may see for ourselves the kind of family she has been adopted into.

And we also feel the time has come for Scootaloo to know why we, as her birth parents, gave her up for adoption.

Hoping to hear from you soon,

Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz

It was Mr. Cake that was the first one to say a word once the letter had been read. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in accepting their invitation," He commented thoughtfully. "Truth be told, I've been wanting to meet those two ever since Pinkie Pie told us about them."

Mrs. Cake was a bit more hesitant. "Honey bun, are you sure this is such a good idea? Scootaloo has just gotten used to being part of our family. She doesn't even have any sort of memories of Ponypalooza, and her parents gave her up for adoption the moment she was born," She frowned. "I'm not sure I want to meet them so soon after this big change in our lives. Also, let's not forget, Scootaloo's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks."

"You make it sound like my parents are these horrible, evil ponies," Pinkie remarked with concern. "But they're not. I know why they gave Scootaloo up for adoption. And I'm sure if we all go to Ponypalooza and hear them out, you'll all understand. Trust me, I was as upset as you all are when I first heard the news. And I'm still holding a bit of a grudge against them, and grudge rhymes with fudge."

Pinkie trailed off into an irrelevant list of the many words that rhyme with fudge, as Scootaloo eyed the letter and declared firmly. "I'm going to Ponypalooza! I have to know the truth!"





And so it was that Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo, and the Cakes (including Pound and Pumpkin) all found themselves boarding a train for Ponypalooza the very next day. The train ride passed in silence for the most part, nopony dared to say a word (aside from Pound and Pumpkin, who were excited to be on their very first train ride).

Upon departing from the train station in Ponypalooza, Pinkie led everypony right to the front doorstep of the rock farm she'd once called home. As if on cue, Igneous and Cloudy came out to greet their guests, silently motioning for them to come inside.

The first thing Pinkie asked her parents (once formal greetings had been exchanged) was: "Did you tell my other sisters the truth? Do they all know about Scootaloo?"

Cloudy nodded in confirmation. "We briefed them all the very day after you left. Limeamina is still not speaking to us, Maudileena has said very little about it, and Marblelina has remained as quiet as she was before."

"You mean Limestone, Maud, and Marble, right?" Scootaloo inquired of her birth parents. "Pinkie told me about them, including the funny names they all go by around her."

"Such is how we humble rock farmers prefer to name our children," Igneous explained, finding it rather difficult to look his youngest daughter in the eyes. Even a simple glance in her direction made him feel like he was being judged. "Now then, let us adjourn to the dining room and have a seat. If any of you are interested, my darling Cloudy would be delighted to fix you all a delicious helping of rock soup."

But aside from Pinkie, no one accepted the offer for the free food. Still, all took a seat at the rather vast table. Cloudy, true to her husband's word, set to work on fixing the soup for Pinkie.

It was only once Pinkie had finished off the liquidy food (including the rock in the pan) that anypony bothered to say a word. Before then, they'd all been content to just make brief eye contact or stare off in any number of directions.

And the one who broke the silence, was Scootaloo herself. Glaring at both of her biological parents, she only spoke one pertinent word. "Why?"

"Beg your pardon?" Igneous inquired, although he knew what the filly was likely going to ask next.

"Why'd you do it?" Scootaloo growled. "Why did you just give me up for adoption the moment I was born? I didn't even get a say in the matter, and for years I never knew my parents. I always assumed my birth parents would have a good reason for leaving me at the orphanage, but all this time you were alive and well, and I never even knew!"

Igneous let out a long and painful sigh of sorrow. "I see Pinkamina did not tell you what we told her. For your sake, I shall repeat what Cloudy and I had to say to her," And he confessed also. "It was not a decision we came to lightly. But in the end, we both agreed that a rock farm was no place to raise a pegasus filly. We had no experience dealing with pegasi whatsoever, we would be at a loss on how to properly raise one. And since we knew of no other couples willing to adopt, especially not pegasus ones, the Ponyville Orphanage was the only option that remained."

"But, how could you guys even have me? You seem to be descended entirely from earth ponies!" Scootaloo questioned. "And I thought it was weird when the Cakes had a pegasus and a unicorn for babies."

Cloudy shook her head. "We were as shocked as you are, Scootaloo. After the doctors told me you were a pegasus, Igneous and I researched the entire Pie family tree," Clearing her throat, the elderly mare explained in more detail. "What we found was shocking! It turns out that there is indeed some pegasus blood in the Pie family tree, on my side of the family. You know of Surprise, right?"

Scootaloo nodded in confirmation. "Isn't she one of the Wonderbolts?"

"Ah, so that's what she has chosen to make her calling in life," Igneous commented in surprise. "Anyway, it turns out that Surprise's grandfather and great grandfather were both earth ponies, rock farmers at that. And Surprise's grandfather was also Cloudy's grandfather, and thus my grandfather-in-law. It seems that recessive pegasus heritage finally cropped up in our fifth daughter, after four times being denied. Though having a relative in Surprise probably explains why Pinkamina turned out the way she did. We always wondered if they might be connected in some way."

"So you just gave me up for adoption, because you thought you couldn't take proper care of me?" Scootaloo remarked, narrowing her eyes at her birth parents.

Cloudy sighed, as she and her husband hung their heads in shame. "We know now that it was wrong of us both to do so, to send you off without even a second thought as to what might be best for you. We never even tried to make it work in the end."

"And yet it seems to have worked out for the better anyway. Perhaps it was meant to be," Igneous pondered, looking at wistfully his youngest daughter. "But do you think you can forgive us? If not today, then perhaps sometime in the future?"

But Scootaloo immediately rose from her seat at the table as she shouted in annoyance. "No!" And she stormed off, though not before adding as a parting shot. "I don't know if I can ever forgive you guys for what you did. At the least you could've left me with some kind of note or picture, so I might grow up to know about my roots. But instead, you just decided to abandon me because I was a pegasus. And now I have a much better family, one that really cares about me."