“Soon” happened to be two days later, as Scootaloo was out with the Crusaders in Canterlot. Something to do with Rarity having a big dress order they had to save. Either way, it gave her time to speak to Scootaloo’s aunts. For some reason, Rainbow had tagged along. While Twilight was initially against it, it was still somewhat awkward after their reading night. Rainbow explained to her something about being in for a bit and a pound, but Twilight was sure Rainbow said the phrase wrong. Plus, she knew she wouldn’t have time to argue and explain the sunk cost fallacy to her, so she decided to let her tag along anyway.
They all sat around their dining table for tea, and Twilight had just explained the events leading up to her visit and questioning Scootaloo.
“So, what else were you wanting to know?” Mrs. Holiday asked.
“Well, I was hoping for a clearer picture of them and on Scootaloo’s life. She doesn’t think anything is wrong and is somewhat vague. To be perfectly honest, I am worried about Scootaloo. She is obsessed with Rainbow Dash, flying, and her cutie mark. She craves attention. I think she might even be suppressing her negative thoughts on her parents’ lack of presence.”
She sighed, continuing, “I just… I want to be there for her, but I cannot help but feel like I could be doing more for her if I knew what was happening to her.”
Mrs. Lofty put her hooves on Twilight’s and gave her a soft smile, “You have been a wonderful influence in her life, and it is alright you’re feeling this way.”
Mrs. Holiday added, “For sure, she spends so much of her time with us just talking about the great evenings she spends with you. Thank you for watching over her, Twilight.”
This brought a smile to her face. Rainbow was quick to give her a pat on the back with a sly grin, so you knew she was thinking “I told you so”.
Mrs. Lofty started back up the conversation, “What were your specific questions?”
Twilight didn’t need to think long on the list of questions she had already prepared for the occasion.
“How often does Scootaloo see her parents? Does she sometimes react negatively to topics about her parents or her parents themselves? What was Scootaloo like before I moved here? Do her parents love her?”
Mrs. Lofty responded to the first question, “Well, if I had to estimate I’d say every couple of years? They should be coming back within the next year.”
Mrs. Holiday continued the second answer, “She’s been weird about it. She is so excited anytime they come back and see her. She’ll rant and rave about how cool and important they are, but if they aren’t here then she must think about certain aspects of them, she’ll become a little sad before trying to brush it away. Because of that, we hardly ever talk about them unless it’s about them visiting. She does love getting letters from them, though. No matter how infrequent they are.”
“So, they hardly even write to her?!” Twilight exasperated.
Mrs. Lofty let out a sigh, answering, “Sadly, yes. They are often moving around from place to place and can never write nor receive letters.”
“So, they don’t deserve to even be called her parents,” Rainbow spoke up.
Up until now, Twilight had been doing most of the conversing with the aunts. To her surprise, Rainbow was seething venom next to her. She had expected Rainbow to be angry as well, maybe even just as much, but she was practically ready to fly to who knows where to sock Scootaloo’s parents in the face. Before she could even attempt to calm her down, Rainbow spoke up again.
“How dare they treat Scootaloo like that!” Rainbow yelled, “those good for nothings don’t deserve an amazing filly like her!”
Twilight then put her hoof over Rainbow’s for support, “It’ll be alright, Dash. You’ve been amazing to her and more than make up for their lack of involvement.”
Memories of them cuddling a couple of days ago came flooding back causing Twilight to snatch away her hoof. This garnered looks of confusion from the room. Twilight did her best to calm the rising blush in her face and move the topic along.
Clearing her throat, she continued, “Anyway, please continue.”
She swore she saw a blush on Rainbow’s face as she turned away and stared out the window. The aunts looked between each other again, but this time had somewhat sly smirks on their faces before continuing the topic.
“Oh, she was fine, well enough. Not really what some would deem a troubled child,” Mrs. Holiday said, “I could tell she was bothered by something, but she did her best to hide it.”
Mrs. Lofty added, “We’ve tried our hardest to be the best aunts we can be, but it’s so hard with us unable to be there for her consistently.”
Twilight reassured them, “Just as Rainbow, I’m confident you both did so much for her. She wouldn’t be the filly we have today without any of you.”
Mrs. Lofty spoke, “Thank you, Twilight.”
Mrs. Holiday continued with a nod, her expression slowly shifting sadder, “About her parents loving her, I don’t know if we’re qualified to answer that. They do, I mean, but it’s not that simple. They love Scootaloo and are happy they had her, but she wasn’t supposed to happen yet. They talked about how they would have kids much later in their life. They knew they would be too busy to take care and properly love her. She just came into the world too early.”
Rainbow seemed to only grow angrier at this, yelling, “So they are choosing their jobs over her?!”
“You have to understand, this was their dream. To work together and help Equestria with their discoveries while traveling the world.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly. They think some stupid jobs are more important than their daughter.” Rainbow said with a snort.
Twilight finally spoke up, “While I don’t agree with Rainbow’s wording, she is right. No matter the circumstance they are essentially abandoning her for their jobs.”
“We’ve tried to talk to them about it before,” Lofty said, “they just go off on how important their work is, and I think Scootaloo believes it too.”
“Is that why she’ll put herself down as a failure?” Rainbow asked, “She thinks she’s worth less time than some jobs?”
“You’re right Rainbow,” Twilight said, turning to Rainbow, “She must be so turbulent inside and hating herself with how important she thinks her parents are.”
She was beginning to freak out a little. Everything made sense now. All of Scootaloo’s behavior and family life fell into place. She had no idea how to help her. Just as soon as she started freaking out, she was grounded again. Rainbow grabbed her hoof and was gently squeezing it.
“Listen, Twi, it’s alright,” Rainbow said, trying her best to comfort Twilight, “we’re still an amazing part of her life, and I’m sure she cherishes all of our time together.”
Twilight had to admit, Rainbow was being very oddly romantic right now. She really wanted to say something about agreeing with her, but right now she swore Rainbow was hypnotizing her with those eyes. She really didn’t have time to sort through these feelings and determine if Rainbow was making moves on her when she was still stressing over Scootaloo. Luckily, Mrs. Holiday cleared her throat and brought her back to her senses, as she turned towards them and saw the innocent-looking smile on their faces.
“She’s right,” Holiday said, “Scootaloo loves you both, and I know she considers you both as close as family.”
“Family, you say,” Rainbow said, starting to think aloud, “what if Twilight or I adopted her?”
This caused Twilight to do a spit take with the tea she was calming herself down drinking. Both aunts had somewhat confused faces from this, while Twilight was just in shock.
“What?” Rainbow justified herself, “Scootaloo loves us like family. We take care of her to the extent of being a family member. She needs consistent parental figures in her life. This seems like a logical thing you would be on board with.”
Twilight couldn’t believe the suggestion. “There’s more to this than logic, Rainbow. We cannot just take Scootaloo away from her parents, no matter how neglectful they are.”
“We ask them to give us custody and become her guardians.”
This was way too out there for her. She turned to the aunts for support.
“Well, she does have a point,” Mrs. Holiday stated, “I know the little scamp would love it.”
Mrs. Lofty added, “The only thing that could stop you is her parents saying no. Even if they do, you could still act as her guardians since either way she's still going to stay in Ponyville with minimal supervision."
What in Equestria was happening? Why were they so on board with it?!
"Since they supposedly do love her, there is no way they will agree to just give up their daughter."
"Twilight, please, we both know you're smart enough to convince them," Rainbow explained, "you've practically been raising her yourself since you started speculating about this, and I want to be there for her as well."
"This is too much, you cannot expect me to just agree to become her guardian on the spot,” Twilight said, being a little overwhelmed by this, “I do not even know how to raise a child!”
Rainbow only gave her a blank look as a response.
“Spike is different,” she stammered out, “we were both growing up together, so he’s also like a brother to me.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes at Twilight and turned to the aunts. They, in turn, also were rolling their eyes.
“It’s alright, Twilight,” Mrs. Lofty comforted her, “think it over. At the very least, I know Scootaloo is happy with you two around and that’s what matters.”
“We just want that filly to be happy,” Mrs. Holiday agreed, before teasing her, “you two are so good together, I know you’d be perfect parents for her.”
This brought a blush to Twilight’s face. After glancing over, she saw Rainbow was as well. Their eyes briefly met before Twilight awkwardly looked away. She turned her attention back towards the hosts.
“That’s all I needed to know, thank you both for answering my questions,” Twilight said, showing her appreciation.
“Do not worry about it, we’re both so thankful you have been bringing Scootaloo so much joy,” Mrs. Lofty said, thanking them.
Rainbow Dash left not too long after they had finished wrapping up their Scootaloo conversation. Twilight stuck around for a bit and continued having tea with them before retiring for the day. Her mind stuck on the idea of adopting Scootaloo. No matter how much she claimed she could not do it, that never took the smile on her face away.