Scootaloo suspected nothing out of the ordinary when her mom, Dizzy Twister, and her dad, Quick Shot had asked her to stay at home on what was a beautiful early Summer day. A day that the pegasus filly had originally hoped to spend on Crusader activities with her friends. But family always came first, the little pegasus knew this. It was probably just another talk about the importance of safety and maintaining good grades in school.
But when Scootaloo was seated at the kitchen table, it was possible to notice that her parents looked more nervous and concerned than usual. Dizzy paced about, seemingly unable to sit or even stand still for a moment. Quick was picking up an old newspaper and pretending he hadn't read it yet. It seemed like neither one was really interested in having the conversation they knew they needed to have.
"Is this about where babies come from?" Scootaloo wondered to herself. "The last several times I've asked, Mom and Dad always say 'Not until you're older.' Why would they need to lie, though? I know there's no such thing as a stork, Pinkie said she didn't see one drop off the Cake Twins when they were born."
At last, Dizzy was able to bring herself to take a seat at the table. Using an amber colored wing she pushed her pink with pale raspberry highlights mane out of her face, making sure her rose colored eyes were locked firmly on Scootaloo's grayish purple ones. Quick had also finally looked up from his newspaper, his dark purple eyes only briefly looking back to it.
For a minute or so nopony said anything. Scootaloo had no idea what the conversation would be about, and her mom and dad seemed to be silently weighing how best to begin discussing what needed to be discussed.
But the silence was broken before long as Quick coughed and cleared his throat. "Scootaloo..." He began, his deep voice sounding noticeably more somber than it tended to be. "There's... something your mom and I have been meaning to tell you for a long time. Something we probably should've told you much sooner."
The tomboyish pegasus felt her wings stir just a little, like a cold breeze had just blown past. "Is it about my wings? Is something wrong with them, and I'll never fly?" She reluctantly asked. "I don't want to believe it's true, but I'm starting to think it might be."
Dizzy shook her head. "This has nothing to do with your wings," She paused for a moment in hesitation, her lips seemed to quiver and tremble. But she shed not a single tear, somehow she willed herself to keep her rose colored eyes dry. "There's no easy way to tell you this, but Quick and I... we're not your parents."
"What?! How could you not be?!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she rose from her seat and stood on the edge of the table with her front hooves. "Please tell me this is just your idea of a joke!"
"Why would we joke about something like this, Scootaloo?" Quick sternly replied. "I know it must be hard to believe, but you're not our daughter. Not biologically, anyway."
The filly's expression changed from one of frustration to one of confusion. "Wait, you mean Mom didn't give birth to me? But, what other way could I possibly exist? I always remember you two being my mom and dad, how could Mom not have given birth to me?"
Dizzy gave the answer. "Because you were adopted, Scootaloo. You were but a little foal, hardly a month old."
"Dizzy and I, we'd always wanted a foal of our own," Quick added as he put a hoof around his wife and sighed. "But between my hockey career, and her job at the weather factory, we never found the time to have one. I thought we might never have a foal, or that we'd end up having one much later in our lives."
The amber coated pegasus finished the joined sentence by explaining. "We meant to tell you much sooner, long before you got your cutie mark."
"So why didn't you? Why would you keep something like this a secret from me?!" Scootaloo demanded as she snorted and blew steam from her nostrils. "Have you been lying to me about everything this whole time?! Is my real name something else entirely?!"
Dizzy shook her head. "No, Scootaloo. Your name has always been what it is. It's the only thing that Quick and I had to go on when we received you. Whoever your birth parents were, they gave you up anonymously."
"Anonwhat?" Scootaloo remarked as her eyes widened a bit.
"It means they chose not to be identified by name," Quick explained to the filly. "They left nothing behind except a note. Dizzy and I kept it, so that when the time was right we'd share it with you. I'm sorry that we held off on telling you for so long. We thought about it often, even before you were in preschool. But it seemed like every time we wanted to tell you, something else would come up. Or you'd just look so happy that we didn't want to disrupt you."
The young pegasus looked at the two pegasi as they finished their explanation. She was silent for a moment, realization was slow to sink in. But come to think of it, she swore she could faintly remember something. A distant memory of an earth pony and a pegasus. "I thought it was just a dream. Or was it?" She thought to herself. And it was then that she knew what to say. "Could I... see the note?" She asked. Right now she didn't know what to think, or what to call Dizzy and Quick. True, they were still technically her mom and dad. But why had her birth parents given her away? The note was her only lead.
It was soon brought over by Quick, and Scootaloo snatched it up without a word. Her grayish purple eyes scanned over the document carefully, slowing reading and re-reading every single word, every sentence. It was in a kind of hoof writing she'd never seen before, but she knew it couldn't have belonged to either Dizzy or Quick. Their hoof writing was definitely more polished than the kind of writing that was seen here. It looked like it had been hastily written up by somepony or someponies with shaky hooves. Still, the words on the paper were readable after a bit of adjustment. And they read as follows:
To all whom it concerns,
We hereby relinquish custody of our only daughter, Scootaloo. Entrusting her to the care of whoever wishes to adopt her.
We only ask that you raise her well, ensure that her needs are met, and that when the time is right you will tell her that she was adopted. Whether you wish to tell her about us is up to you.
If so, please let her know that we love her. But we believe this is what is best for her.
Signed,
Mr. and Mrs. Peters
There it was, plain as day for all to see. Yet no matter how many times she read it, Scootaloo still couldn't quite understand it. So many questions were flowing through her mind, but the big one that she was currently fixated on had only one word that needed to be said. "Why?"
"Why what, Scootaloo?" Dizzy questioned.
Scootaloo spun around, locking eyes with her adopted parents (boy it did feel weird to consider such a term). "Why was I abandoned? Was I not good enough for my parents? Did they just decide to dump me here and forget I ever existed? Was there something wrong with me? Or maybe they just didn't love me?" That last question was enough to cause a few tears to leak out of her eyes.
Quick trotted over and pulled Scootaloo close with a wing. "I can't make any judgements about who your parents were, what kind of ponies they were, or why they did what they did. But I can assure you, there was nothing wrong with you when Dizzy and I adopted you all those years ago. From day one, you were quite a lively foal. Dizzy and I had to learn on the fly, figuratively and literally."
Dizzy added with a sincere smile. "And we couldn't be prouder of the wonderful pony we've had the privilege to raise as if she were our own child. In fact, in a way it truly felt like you were our daughter in more than just name. As time went by that became easier and easier to believe. Perhaps that's part of why Quick and I held off on telling you for so long."
"But if you'd rather stop calling us 'Mom' and 'Dad' now, that's fine. You can simply call us 'Mr. and Mrs. Twister' if you so desire." Quick suggested.
Scootaloo shook her head at the idea. "I don't know about a lot of things, but I definitely know I'm not gonna stop calling you two my mom and dad. I've never known anypony else my entire life who could fill the horseshoes you two have filled," A sigh escaped from her lips. "I just wish I had some way to know about my birth parents. Some way of knowing why they gave me up for adoption."
"Are you sure you really want to know that?" Dizzy inquired of the younger pegasus. "Maybe you're better off not knowing. You said it yourself, your parents might have left you because they didn't love you or wanted to forget about you. Would you really want to find out that was the case?"
"I want to know the truth, the answers to my questions!" Scootaloo vowed as her eyes seemed to suddenly light up. "Scratch that, I need to know! I don't know if I'll ever be able to sleep again without knowing. Because maybe something else is responsible for them giving me up for adoption. It can't hurt to look on the bright side, right?"
Quick and Dizzy exchanged nervous glances with each other. But they knew Scootaloo well enough to know that when she got into a mood like this, there usually wasn't any swaying her away from it. And truth be told they had both had been kind of curious themselves about the circumstances by which Scootaloo's parents had given her up.
"Well, Dizzy, my dear, what do you think?" Quick questioned his wife.
Dizzy put a wing to her chin and started to ponder. After a moment of thinking, she declared. "I suppose there's really no harm in at least 'trying' to find answers."
Scootaloo buzzed her wings, leaping up into the air! "Wahoo! Yeah!"
The amber coated mare quickly gestured a hoof to temper Scootaloo's excitement. "Settle down, Scootaloo. I'm not making any promises. It's possible that there is no way to track down your birth parents, or that they'll even be willing to talk if we can find them."
"Well, it can't hurt to try!" Scootaloo encouraged, her enthusiasm only slightly dampened. "So how do we start?! What should we do?!" Then she gasped! "Wait, I know! The letter! I'll bet there's a way to compare the hoof writing on it to something else! And that'll totally point me in the right direction!"
"I was thinking the same thing, actually," Quick Shot commented. "Though my idea involved going to Town Hall and asking Mayor Mare. If anypony can help point us in the right direction, it's her. She was around when we adopted you, after all. Seems like she's been mayor of this town for longer than anypony can remember."
And so it was that the trio of pegasi made their way to Town Hall, quickly scheduling an appointment with Mayor Mare herself so as to (hopefully) cut through the red tape and eliminate any bureaucratic hoops that might stand in their way.
The elderly earth pony mare (or so she seemed to be, Scootaloo was one of the only ponies who knew the mare secretly dyed her mane to look gray) had a smile upon her face as she welcomed Scootaloo, Dizzy Twister, and Quick Shot into her office. "Ah, the Twister family. Always nice to meet fine, upstanding members of the community. What can I help you with today?"
Quick carefully presented the hoof written letter from Scootaloo's parents to Mayor Mare. "I assume you recognize this."
It took Mayor Mare a moment to read through the whole thing, she gave a firm nod. "I recognize it clear as day. I suppose you've come to ask for information about Scootaloo's biological parents, seeing as there's no orphanage here in Ponyville."
Dizzy Twister nodded back. "If you wouldn't mind. Scootaloo is really hoping to find out more about why she was given away, and what her biological parents were like."
Mayor Mare smiled, adjusting her brilliant yellow glasses with a hoof. "Well, I'll see what I can dig up from the archives. Wait here, please."
All three pegasi reluctantly obeyed, even Scootaloo who could not sit still for even a moment. Too many questions nagged at her, too many potential scenarios played out in her mind.
It seemed to take hours before Mayor Mare returned with a scroll in hoof. Her mane looked a bit frazzled and disheveled, but she didn't seem to be aware of it. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. Our archival system is very disorganized, really should get around to sorting it all out one of these days," Then she cleared her throat, coughing into a hoof. "Anyway, this was all I could find. It's not much, but hopefully it's a lead."
Unfolding the scroll upon her desk, Mayor Mare revealed that it was some kind of birth certificate. The top left corner had a picture of a baby pegasus that was an unmistakable light orange in color with a faint wisp of moderate pinkish-purple for a mane. And any doubt as to whom the pony depicted in it was was cleared away by the name printed on it: Scootaloo Peters.
A ways down from it, past various information documenting the date and time of birth, was listed a pair of names that Scootaloo had never heard of before: Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood, both of whom were listed as having Peters for a last name.
Scootaloo felt her heart flutter ever so faintly! Could that be it?! Were those the names of her birth parents?!
"There are no records of either of these ponies living in Ponyville at any point," Mayor Mare explained to her guests. "However, Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood are said to live in Shire Lanka. At least, according to this certificate. I'm not sure if their address has changed, but it's probably as good a place as any to start searching."
"But Shire Lanka is a long way away! Even the trains almost never stop there!" Dizzy exclaimed as her rose colored eyes widened.
"Well you're in luck, then. The next train to Shire Lanka leaves this afternoon," Mayor Mare replied. "Might wanna hurry, there are usually tickets still available for Shire Lanka, but only if the train hasn't arrived in Ponyville. If you miss it, it'll be a month's wait for the next one."
Scootaloo immediately hung her head. "Guess that means we can't go, then. Just when I thought my search was finally going somewhere."
But Quick simply wrapped a wing around his adopted daughter "Chin up, slugger. If we start planning and saving now, I'm sure we can make the trip out there next month. You'll see, it'll be here before you even know it."
"But why can't we go on the train this afternoon? I really don't wanna have to wait a whole month to find out why my birth parents left me here." The tomboyish filly sighed and groaned.
Dizzy was quick to explain to the filly. "Because the tickets are expensive, Scootaloo, especially for a round trip. Plus, Quick and I would need to put in for time off, just the trip out to Shire Lanka and back would take several days. And that's without accounting for the stops ether on the way there, or the way back."
"What if we just booked a hot air balloon out to there? There's a balloon pony in town!" Scootaloo suggested.
"That balloon is usually just for tourists, or for quick travel to Cloudsdale," Dizzy told Scootaloo. "Maybe it would be possible to take it to Shire Lanka, but even then it would still cost a lot of money."
The tomboyish filly immediately adopted her best pleading look as she begged. "Can we at least look into it? Please?"
Try as they might, Quick and Dizzy simply couldn't bring themselves to ignore the look Scootaloo was giving them. A reluctant Quick answered. "Alright, I'll do that. But it won't be until next weekend at least that we'll be able to fly out to Shire Lanka."
Later that same day, Quick returned with good news. "I've found a balloonist who knows the route to Shire Lanka, and a balloon port that we can land at. But we can only stay for a day in Shire Lanka, then we have to go back to Ponyville. If we miss the balloon ride home, we're stuck in Shire Lanka until the next train comes along. And we're not missing the balloon no matter what."
"Okay," Scootaloo nodded and started jumping up and down. "Oh, next weekend can't come soon enough!"
And to the immense relief of the tomboyish pegasus, the next weekend arrived in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Although this wasn't her first balloon ride, Scootaloo found herself so excited that she couldn't help but skip and prance the whole way to the balloon port. Any worries she might have had about her birth parents were at the back of her mind.
That is, until the balloon landed in Shire Lanka and Scootaloo and her foster parents left the balloon port. Mayor Mare had given them the address for Snap Shutter and Mane Goodall, it was a humble two story cottage in the heart of what could best described as a forest town. Ponies seemed to live in trees, and had pathways that connected to places high up in the treetops, with rope bridges and ladders to go from place to place.
Trotting up to the front door, all those concerns that had previously been far away now came flooding back to Scootaloo in an instant. She was finally about to hopefully meet her birth parents, and learn just why it was that they had given her up for adoption as a foal, not even so much as leaving a note or a photo for her to remember them by.
Dizzy rapped an amber hoof against the door of the cottage, knocking three times in quick succession. For a moment there was no answer, just the sounds of forest animals far off in the distance.
Then the door slowly opened, peaking out at the trio of pegasi was a pair of eyes that looked to be a reddish purple in color. And they were attached to an earth pony stallion of somewhat sturdy build. He seemed to have a coat that was the same color as slightly roasted chestnuts, and a cutie mark depicting a camera and a roll of film. "'Ello?" The stallion greeted at first, not appearing to recognize Scootaloo. "You mates called?"
Quick Shot cleared his throat. "Sorry to bother you, but would you happen to know if this is the place where we can find Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood?"
At that the stallion's eyes lit up and a goofy smile formed on his face. "Why, that would be here, mate! I'm Snap Shutter!" And he turned to the interior of the cottage and gave a whistle. "Hun, you ain't gonna believe this! Our daughter's come to visit us!"
The sound of energetic hoofsteps could be heard growing louder by the second. Soon, a pegasus mare with a coat only slightly lighter brown than the stallion appeared. She sported lovely light yellow and white locks for a mane and tail, light purple eyes, and a cutie mark depicting a compass above a gust of wind. "Scootaloo?! Is it really you?!" She asked.
Scootaloo slowly nodded. "Y-yeah, that's me. So, are you my..." She struggled to get the obvious words to come out. "Parents? Like you know, my birth parents."
Snap Shutter nodded. "Yup, that'd be us alright. I'm Snap Shutter, and this here's my wife, Mane Allgood. And let me tell ya, she's a real beaut. Best in the whole wide world of Equestria."
Mane Allgood blushed as her cheeks grew red. "Stop it, Snap Shutter. No need to lay it on so thick," Then she turned to eye Scootaloo. "My, you've grown up awfully fast."
Scootaloo gave a firm nod. "Yeah, I did. But I have so many questions!"
"I reckon you do, mate," Snap Shutter replied as he rustled Scootaloo's mane with a hoof. "Tell ya what? How's about you and your foster parents come on inside the cottage, and Mane and I'll tell ya all you want to know."
"That would be nice, but we're on a bit of a schedule. Can't stay for too long, or we'll miss the balloon ride back to Ponyville." Dizzy explained.
Mane Allgood simply smiled and waved a hoof. "Oh, we won't keep ya too long. It ain't every day ya get visitors like these. Usually, the most Snap Shutter and I have for company besides ourselves, are whatever rare and exotic animals we happen to cross paths with. No worries though, we make sure to keep 'em caged up around the house. Only let 'em out when we're sure nopony's around."
"Wait till you lot meet Marshmallow, the newest member of our little family," Snap Shutter offered. "He's still just a young cragadile, but dang if the bloke ain't a bloody hoofful. I swear, ya take your eye off him for one second, and he's gone and chewed up somepony's furniture."
Scootaloo gasped in amazement! "You have a pet cragadile?! Oh, I have got to see this! You must have an entire zoo of cool animals!"
Dizzy and Quick were, needless to say, not as thrilled with the idea. Nevertheless, they decided to accept Snap and Mane's offer and trotted into the cottage.
Snap and Mane did indeed have a young cragadile, as well as creatures like cockatrices, and even a manticore. Thankfully, all were tamed and in crates, so they were of no harm to anypony.
Snap in particular made sure of that. "Any of you blokes mess with me daughter, and you'll answer to me! And I don't think any of you lot need a reminder of how powerful I can be." He made sure to warn the animals, all of which obeyed.
But Scootaloo couldn't help but notice a tiny detail about Snap's face. What appeared to be marks of some sort. "Where'd you get those?" She questioned the tall stallion.
Snap Shot laughed. "Just a little souvenir from the time I got trapped in a chimera's cave. Had to fight my way out with just my bare hooves."
"Seems like you and Mane go on all sorts of adventures together." Scootaloo commented in amazement as she was brought into the kitchen, where Mane Goodall was hard at work fixing up a snack of some sort.
Snap Shutter grinned, adjusting a dark green bowler hat with teeth from an unknown creature that hung on the rim. "Yup, reckon we do, mate. It's dangerous work, but somepony's gotta do it. It helps the ponies of Equestria to understand more about 'em."
Mane Allgood, meanwhile, smiled as she put the finishing touches on a pasta and potato sandwich on sourdough. She presented it to Scootaloo. "Heard from your foster parents that this is your favorite snack. Reckoned I could put me skills in the kitchen to good use. I always cook the meals whenever Snap and I are on one of our adventures."
"It's true. Best I can manage is cold cereal and toast. I burn just about everything else," Snap Shutter admitted with a laugh. "Now go on, eat it up. You must be starving after your trip out here."
The eager filly didn't need to be told twice. She dug into the sandwich and devoured in it a matter of mere seconds, wiping away the crumbs from her cheeks with a hoof. "Delish!" She happily declared.
"Glad you liked it. Anything for the number one filly in the world!" Mane proudly smiled, sitting down next to her husband. Once Scootaloo had finished digesting the sandwich and set her plate aside, Mane proceeded to ask. "So, Mrs. Twister was it?"
"Dizzy Twister to be exact." Dizzy replied.
"Dizzy Twister," Mane corrected herself. "Reckon you told Scootaloo the truth about where she comes from, right? Brought her out here to meet her mom and dad?"
"We weren't exactly sure if we would ever track you down. But yes, we did tell her truth. All of it." Quick Shot commented as his tone of voice became noticeably stern, more so than normal.
Scootaloo looked at Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood. The questions she had before only been able to dream of asking now finally came flooding to the forefront of her mind. "Why did you give me up for adoption as a foal? Why did you just leave me in Ponyville? No note, no goodbye, nothing. You might as well have just left me in a basket on somepony's doorstep, and took off."
Even Dizzy's face seemed to contort itself into a noticeable frown. "I don't like to judge other ponies. But having seen the kind of life the two of you live, I think I have a pretty good idea why you wouldn't want a foal."
At that, Scootaloo gasped in horror! "Don't tell me, I was just a mistake! You never intended to have me, but you did! And then you didn't know what to do with me!" She angrily and accusingly pointed a hoof at Snap and Mane.
Snap shook his head. "Mate, don't go shooting off in a million different directions. We most certainly didn't have you by accident."
"Then why did you decide not to raise me?" Scootaloo questioned. "This lifestyle is so awesome! I would've loved growing up having the two coolest adventure ponies of all time for parents! Everypony would've been so jealous!"
Mane confessed to Scootaloo. "Our life's work is dangerous, Scootaloo. We thought we were ready for a foal, that we could take on the added responsibility. We tried, Celestia as our witness we sure tried! But just like us you were a born adventurer, seemed like you wanted to do everything and anything except what a foal should do."
Snap added. "Kept having you wander off and scare the living daylights out of your mum and I. More than once we feared the worst, feared one of them dangerous creatures had gobbled you up for a snack. Every other day you seemed to almost give your old stallion a heart attack with your constant wandering off," Then he sighed. "Mane and I, we just couldn't keep up. You were too much for us. And unfortunately, nopony was willing to foalsit ya on short notice whenever we had to leave town. You deserved a better life, a life with parents who had time to raise you and keep you out of danger."
"But why Ponyville? Wouldn't Cloudsdale have been a better choice for a pegasus like me?" Scootaloo asked.
"Hard for an earth pony like me to walk on clouds without falling through," Snap Shutter explained. "Plus, we'd already been to Ponyville once before. It was the closest town with a suitable hospital when the time came for your mum to have you," He wiped some sweat from his brows. "Now that's one adventure I could live without repeating."
Mane Allgood laughed as she blushed. "You know I didn't mean those things I said to you in the delivery room, Snap. They always say the first pregnancy's the hardest."
Dizzy coughed into a hoof, determined to change the subject away from less suitable lines of conversation. "So, what made you two decide to just give her up anonymously. If I ever had to give up a child, I'd at least want them to have to know who their biological mother was."
"Oh, darn it all, knew we were forgetting something!" Mane grumbled. "You were supposed to remind me, Snap! We were supposed to leave a note with the adoption ponies."
"Well, sometimes when you're in a rush, the most obvious of things can slip your mind. Can't tell ya how many times I've forgotten that I was supposed to turn the stove off." Snap apologized to his wife.
Mane then eyed Scootaloo. "All the same, it seems like you've grown into a fine young mare. You've even got your cutie mark and everything."
Scootaloo nodded. "Sure do, all thanks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"
"The what now?" Snap Shutter pondered.
Scootaloo grinned from ear to ear. "It's a club I formed with two other ponies my age, we originally just formed it to figure out what our special talents were and how we'd get our cutie marks. But then we decided we were so good at helping other ponies solve their cutie mark problems, so we stayed in business. Did I mention how we're now official tutors at Princess Twilight's School of Friendship?! We've even gotten honorary diplomas from it, because Twilight says we're such good friendship teachers!"
Mane Allgood smiled sincerely. "My, it seems like you've had a life every bit as thrilling as the ones Snap Shutter and I have lived."
"Which is why I reckon you're probably not looking to move back in with us, are you?" Snap Shutter inquired of Scootaloo.
Scootaloo shook her head. "No. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I got to finally know my birth parents, and you guys are awesome! But I've already got a loving family, and friends back in Ponyville! There's no way I can just up and abandon all of that for two ponies I hardly even know."
"Fair enough, probably the smart thing for a tyke like you," Mane encouraged. "But iffn you ever be wanting to come back to Shire Lanka, our door's always open for a visit. Just be sure to watch your step, the animals don't exactly like being stepped on."
"Speaking of which, I think it's about time we let Marshmallow out of his crate," Snap Shutter suggested. "And I suppose the three of you will be heading back to Ponyville?"
Dizzy nodded, trying to hide how antsy she'd become at the mention of the young cragadile. "Most definitely. Our balloon will be leaving shortly. Besides, my husband and I aren't exactly cragadile ponies if you know what I mean."
Snap faintly giggled. "Oh, he's harmless, really. Wouldn't hurt a fly. Just so long as you don't get between him and food that is."
"All the more reason why I believe we'll be departing now," Quick encouraged. "It was nice meeting you two, though. And by all means, visit Ponyville sometime. I'm sure you'll see just how great a place it is for a filly like Scootaloo."
"Reckon we will, mate. Whenever we find time that is," Snap Shutter cautioned. "You know us adventure ponies, when adventure comes a knocking you can't exactly say no."