Written by: Mayhem Darkshadow
Edited by: psychohooves and Avatar of Shadow
Chapter 9: Welcome to the Family
Twilight walked into Scootaloo’s pitch black room, hesitating not to turn on the lights. It was dark even though the blinds were wide open. This was because the clock had just struck four thirty in the morning. Twilight let out a yawn; she hadn't had a cup of coffee yet, and walked over to her daughter's bed. Scootaloo was sprawled out on the bed and she was making small grunts and flapping her wings every few seconds.
Awe she's dreaming, Twilight thought to herself as she smiled at her daughter. She hated that she had to wake Scootaloo up, but they had to get going. It was the Friday before school was out for winter break. One of Scootaloo's first treats was Twilight was letting her skip school today. The only reason though, was because Twilight had asked and Cheerilee said they honestly weren't going to do anything and she was probably going to let them leave before lunch. She told Twilight it didn't really matter if Scootaloo went to school or not.
"Scootaloo," Twilight whispered into the filly's ear as she nuzzled her cheek, "Time to wake up, baby girl, we need to get you fed before we leave."
"Five...more...m-minutes," Scootaloo grumbled. Twilight continued to nuzzle her and tried to push her up. Scootaloo didn't budge though.
"Come on honey, I know it's early. You can sleep on the train ride to Canterlot," Twilight said with a bit more force in her voice. Scootaloo grumbled, let out a yawn, and slowly crawled out of bed. When her hooves hit the floor, she immediately collapsed to the ground. Twilight suppressed a laugh and levitated the tired filly onto her back before making her way downstairs to the kitchen. Spike was already down there sipping a coffee and yawning every few seconds. Twilight plopped Scootaloo down in a chair and put a bowl of oatmeal and a doughnut in front of her.
"Eat up Scootaloo," Twilight told the sleepy filly. Scootaloo mumbled something and slowly ate her breakfast. Twilight poured herself a cup of coffee and sat right next to Scootaloo.
"So, I packed your new Daring Doo book and your blanket for the train ride. I suspect you probably want to spend the entire time sleeping though," Twilight said quietly. Scootaloo mumbled something that sounded like a yes and then shoved a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. Twilight put her hoof on the filly's back and rubbed it slowly. All was quiet until there was a knock on the door.
Who could that be? Twilight wondered immediately. Getting up from her seat, she went and opened the door. She found Thunderlane standing in the doorway.
"Thunderlane...this is a pleasant surprise," Twilight said with a bit of surprise in her voice. Thunderlane shook some snow out of his mane and stepped inside.
"Sorry if this is so sudden, but I wanted to bring my Hearth's Warming gifts before you all left," he explained.
"Oh Thunderlane, you didn't have to buy us gifts," Twilight replied. He gave her a smile and walked with her into the kitchen.
"Of course I did," he told Twilight. Thunderlane opened his bag and first pulled out a leather pouch and tossed it to Spike. The young drake opened the bag and immediately drooled at the sight. It was filled with gems.
"Took Rumble and me forever to find them, but it was well worth the effort," Thunderlane explained with a smile on his face. Spike was beside himself. Not sure how to best show his gratitude, he attached himself to Thunderlane's leg and thanked him a million times over. Thunderlane gave the dragon a noogie.
"No problem buddy, enjoy those," Thunderlane laughed, "Alright, now for Scootaloo."
Scootaloo's head popped up when she heard her name. Thunderlane pulled a thin package out of his saddle bag and gave it to her. Scootaloo set her spoon down and opened the gift. Her body was quickly filled with life.
"Oh wow, a Wonderbolts Scarf!" Scootaloo gasped, "This is so cool Thunderlane, thanks."
Thunderlane ruffled Scootaloo's mane and gave her a smile. "No problem munchkin, I figured you'd like it."
Thunderlane then pulled out one more package from his bag and gave it to Twilight. "I hope you like it Twi."
Twilight opened the box and pulled out a small bottle of perfume. "Oh Thunderlane, you shouldn't have."
"So you like it?" he asked. Twilight stepped forward and gave him a kiss. It completely threw Thunderlane off.
"I love it. Cherry Blossom is my favorite scent. This is just perfect," Twilight told him, "Actually since you're here, I'll give you my gift. Hold on a second while I go get it."
Twilight left the room briefly and was back carrying a small gift. Thunderlane graciously accepted the package and unwrapped it. He was lost for words when he saw what was inside.
"T-Twilight I...I don't know what to say. This is my favorite cologne. They stopped making this years ago. H-How did you get this?" Thunderlane said in absolute shock.
"Well, this is actually a rather funny story. When we went on our second date, I noticed you were wearing cologne. I recognized the scent immediately because, funny enough, this is my Dad's favorite cologne as well. He actually knows someone who worked for the company that makes it and that pony helped me track down a bottle," Twilight explained to her bewildered stallionfriend.
Thunderlane didn't know what to say, so he just embraced Twilight and squeezed her tight. "You have no idea what this means to me Twilight. I've been using this stuff since I was twelve, when my parents bought me my first bottle. I was so sad when they announced they were going to stop making it. This is the best gift ever."
They shared a quick kiss and a hug.
"You're welcome Thunderlane. I knew you would like it," Twilight replied with a giggle.
"I do Twilight," he said, "Anyway, I should probably get going to work. Big snow storm coming in and we need to get ready for it. I'll see you all in a few weeks."
Thunderlane gave Twilight and Scootaloo a hug and Spike a rustle on the head before leaving. Twilight and Spike finished their coffee and then got all of their bags. When Twilight came back into the kitchen to get Scootaloo, she found the filly passed out from exhaustion. Twilight wrapped Scootaloo's new scarf around her neck and levitated Scootaloo onto her back.
"Ready to go Spike?" Twilight called.
"Yeah Twilight, I just went through the checklist for the checklist," Spike called back, "We're all good."
Twilight walked into the main room, looked over everything, including the checklist, and then used a shrinking spell to make all the bags small enough for Spike to carry.
"Alright Spike, I think that's everything. Let's get going.” Spike gave Twilight a rather weak thumbs up as he locked up the door to the Library. It took them ten minutes to get to the train station and that was only because of all the piled up snow.
"At least it's not windy," Spike said with a shiver as they walked along. Twilight had to agree. A cold winter had been predicted and so far the weatherponies were right. For weeks now, the temperature had been below freezing. After suffering through the cold and the snow, they finally made it to the train station. They walked up to the counter and found that pony manning it was asleep.
"Um, excuse me," Twilight said quietly, "Sorry to wake you, but I need three tickets to Canterlot."
The pony gave Twilight an icy stare and handed her the tickets. "A hundred bits ma'am."
Twilight paid the pony and left before she caused any problems. Luckily the train was already there, so they were able to board and get out of the cold. They found themselves a night carriage, which honestly wasn't too hard the whole train was pretty much vacant. Spike curled up on one of the beds and, before they even left the station, was fast asleep. Twilight placed Scootaloo onto the opposite bed and laid down right next to her. Lastly, she grabbed Scootaloo's blanket out of her saddle bag and draped it over the two of them. It was one of many gifts Scootaloo had gotten early. Since they were going out of town, Twilight and all her friends met up a few days ago to exchange gifts. Twilight hadn't known, but they all brought gifts for Scootaloo as well. From Rainbow Dash, the Limited Edition Daring Doo Holiday Novel. Twilight didn't even have this one. Applejack, with a lot of help from Apple Bloom, had taken Scootaloo's old and tired scooter and fixed it up. From Pinkie, no surprise at all, a giant box of sweets. The blanket came from Rarity and Fluttershy. According to Rarity, they had been working on it for weeks. It was red and gold and had the Cutie Mark Crusaders logo in the middle of it. They had informed Twilight and Scootaloo that this was Sweetie Belle's idea. Scootaloo had fallen in love with the blanket and had been sleeping with it every night. As Twilight wrapped the two of them up in the blanket, Scootaloo snuggled up even closer to her mother and grunted a bit.
"Oh Scootaloo, you are a silly little filly," Twilight whispered. Scootaloo smiled and grunted again. Twilight giggled quietly and pulled the current book she was reading out of her own saddle bag. Since she was awake, she figured she'd use the three hours of silence to catch up on her reading.
**********
Four ponies stood on the main platform of the Canterlot Train Station. Three of which were smiling, but remained composed and proper. The other, a pink alicorn, was bouncing up and down and talking rather rapidly.
"Are they here yet? Why aren't they here yet? They should be here by now. I just want to meet my niece," she spat out in excitement. Two of the other ponies, a blue unicorn with a darker mane and a pale white unicorn with a purple and white mane, eyeballed the other composed pony, a white unicorn with a two toned blue mane.
"She's been like this all week. Don't look at me like this is my fault," he shot at them. Night Light and Twilight Velvet snickered and Shining Armor turned and tried to calm down his wife.
"Cadence, you really should calm down," he said calmly, "You are acting like Twilight's friend, Pinkie Pie. Also, other ponies are starting to stare."
Cadence stopped bouncing, but was still jittery. Shining Armor let out a sigh and Night Light and Velvet laughed quietly. None of them could understand how Cadence was so wired at eight in the morning. Everypony was excited to finally meet Twilight's daughter and get to know her. Funny story behind it all was Twilight had only told them a few weeks ago that she was going to come home for the holidays. Then, a week before that, she let them know about Scootaloo. Initially, they had all been angry, apart from Cadence anyway, but only because Twilight had kept something so huge a secret from them. She explained to them in her letters that she wanted them to be as surprised as possible when they arrived, but didn't want to completely withhold the information from them.
"Oh, I see the train!" Cadence shouted in excitement. The three other ponies looked down the track and indeed saw a train approaching. It only took seconds before Cadence was bouncing up and down again, but they let her go at it. The train pulled up to a halt and ponies began to depart. Since not many were on the train, the group was able to easily pick out Twilight, Scootaloo, and Spike.
"Mommy, Daddy, Shining, Cadence," Twilight called. The two groups met halfway and exchanged greetings, hugs, and kisses. Scootaloo, sort of nervous and slightly afraid, hid underneath her mother and remained quiet. It wasn't until Twilight stepped back that Scootaloo was out in the open, surrounded by staring eyes.
"So everyone, I know you have all been dying to meet her. This is my little filly, Scootaloo," Twilight explained. The silence was painful. Scootaloo looked up at the four ponies that were staring at her. She couldn't tell if they were happy or not. Finally, Cadence got down on Scootaloo’s level and spoke softly to her.
"Hi there Scootaloo, I'm Cadence. You were at my wedding weren't you?"
Scootaloo gulped nervously and nodded.
"I remember you were one of my flower fillies. Well I'm glad to finally meet you. I'm sure we're going to be the best of friends," Cadence continued. Scootaloo gave Cadence a smile and opened up a bit more, as did everypony else.
"Oh Twilight, she's adorable," Velvet said with a smile.
"A little cutie," Night Light added.
"Been waiting for this all week, Twilight," Shining Armor said. Twilight smiled. Deep down, she was a bit worried about how the family was going to take to her adopting Scootaloo. So far it seemed to be going okay, but they had only been in Canterlot for five minutes.
"Well, why don't we head on back to the house and have some breakfast. I'm sure you three are hungry," Night Light announced. Literally a second later, there was a loud growling. It was Scootaloo's stomach.
"I believe we have our answer," Twilight chuckled.
**********
The walk back to the Sparkle Household took a fair bit of time. This was for three reasons. One was the snow; the streets were filled with it. Apparently it had dumped down quite a bit last night. Two, was that the house was located on the far side of Canterlot, near the castle mind you. The third thing was that they spent the entire time talking. Really though, everypony, apart from Twilight and Spike, were asking Scootaloo all kinds of questions. The little filly was enjoying all the attention and told them all about herself and all her interests. Twilight was sort of glad that nopony had brought up cutie marks yet. To explain the Cutie Mark Crusaders would take hours, most likely. Twilight also wasn't surprised that by the time they actually reached the house, Scootaloo and Cadence were already best friends.
"Oh, you are so sweet, I could just eat you up," Cadence said with a giggle as they walked inside the house. Scootaloo's cheeks went pink and she laughed nervously. Since breakfast was going to take some time, Cadence took Scootaloo outside to play in the snow. Spike decided to go upstairs and sleep until food was ready. This left Twilight alone with her mother, father, and brother.
"Alright, let the questions begin," she announced as they started cooking. Night Light and Velvet looked at each other.
"If you're thinking that we're going to judge you, sweetheart, we aren't," Night Light responded quickly and calmly. Twilight raised an eyebrow and Velvet continued.
"We don't think there is anything wrong with what you did, Twilight. Your heart was obviously in the right place and Scootaloo seems to be very happy."
"Well, whether or not you all like her; I wouldn't have cared. She's my little girl and I love her to bits," Twilight said with a smile.
"Well, we're glad you do, Twilight and I'm sure I speak for your mother when I say, we already do. We finally have a grandchild to spoil," Nightlight snickered.
Twilight glared playfully at her father. "Not on my watch, Daddy."
Night Light chuckled even harder and Velvet suppressed her own laughter. Twilight smiled and turned to her brother, who had been quiet for quite some time now. Velvet also seemed to notice this and decided to ask why.
"Shiny, you've been rather quiet. Something on your mind?"
Shining Armor let out a sigh and bowed his head onto one of his hooves. "I don't know; I just have weird feelings about this."
Twilight took this comment the wrong way and went on the attack. The attack came in the form of a smack on the head.
"Owe, Twilight, what the hay!" Shining Armor shouted in pain. Twilight glared at her brother and tried to smack him again, but Night Light stopped her.
"If you say that again, I'm going to smack you again. She's been so nervous about today and was worried that you all were going to hate her. What you just said is the last thing I want Scootaloo to hear."
Shinning Armor rubbed his head and then went into explanation. "I don't hate her, Twilight, I think she's absolutely adorable and I can't wait to get to know her better. I only have weird feelings about you having a daughter."
Twilight's glare disappeared and she relaxed. Shinning Armor continued.
"You're my little sister and I'll always think of you as such. I just have a hard time accepting that you're growing up."
Twilight felt her heart jump and in a second, she had her hooves wrapped around her brother. "Oh, Shiny."
The touching moment lasted for all of five seconds because Night Light and Velvet began laughing their muzzles off. The two of them waited for their parents to get a hold of themselves before questioning what was funny. Their parents beat them to the punch though.
"Shining Armor, you sound like an old man. That was not something we expected to come out of your mouth." Velvet explained as she tried to gain control of herself.
Twilight and Shining Armor looked at each other and shrugged it off. After everypony had regained their composure, they managed to knock out breakfast. Scootaloo and Cadence, both covered in a layer of snow, walked into the house just as the plates of food were being set on the table.
"Who's ready for Grandpa's famous Hot Cakes?" Night Light asked as Scootaloo hopped up into her chair.
“Me,” she replied quickly, “I’m so starving I could eat a Manticore.”
The rest of the family sat down and dug in. As soon as Scootaloo put a bite of pancakes into her mouth, her body was filled with bliss.
"They're good aren't they honey?" Twilight asked. The only response she got was a small nod as Scootaloo proceeded to shovel the delicious meal into her mouth. All the adults laughed quietly. Scootaloo cleared her plate and immediately filled it up with more.
"So what's on the agenda for today then?" Twilight asked her parents.
"Not much really," Velvet replied, "Your father has to go in to work, so we probably won't be doing much of anything."
Night Light took a sip of coffee and then addressed Twilight. "Actually, Twinkle, if you'd like to join me, I'm grading exams for my upper level Equestrian History class."
Twilight's face lit up in excitement. It was as if Hearth's Warming Eve had come early. "Of course Daddy, I'd love to help you grade exams."
"It's a date then," laughed Nightlight. Twilight turned to her daughter, who was still voraciously shoveling pancake into her open mouth like a wood chipper.
"That means you get to have some bonding time with Auntie Cadence, Uncle Shiny, and Grandma," Twilight mentioned. Scootaloo looked up from her plate, smiled, and then went back to eating like a cave pony. Twilight shook her head and then turned back to the rest of the family.
"Well, for lunch I think we'll go to the Botanical Cafe. Then maybe we could go ice skating or something," Velvet said, "Assuming Scootaloo is going to be able to eat anything until tomorrow."
At that very moment, Scootaloo let out a small, but satisfying belch as she rubbed her belly. "So...good..."
**********
After breakfast, Twilight and Night Light left for the University. Shining Armor and Cadence offered to clean the kitchen along with Spike. This left Velvet and Scootaloo alone for some Grandma/Granddaughter bonding time. Velvet decided to take Scootaloo up to her office.
"So Mom says that you write books, Grandma?" Scootaloo mentioned as they walked down the hallway. Velvet gave the little filly a nod and a smile.
"Yes I do sweet heart. Twilight says that you’re quite the Daring Doo fan," Velvet replied.
Scootaloo nodded her head in excitement. "I love them. Mom's friend Rainbow Dash got me into them. I'm reading the Limited Print Holiday Novel."
"Ooh, that's a good one," replied Velvet. They reached the closed door at the end of the hallway and Velvet opened it. For a novelist’s room, it was rather clean. On the desk there was a typewriter and a massive pile of papers, both filled and blank. Behind the desk was a wall sized bookshelf filled with everything from biographies about famous Equestrian authors all the way to books about grammar.
“So do you enjoy reading any other books besides Daring Doo Scootaloo?” Velvet asked as she pulled a second chair up to her desk.
“Umm not really,” Scootaloo replied quickly, “Mom wishes I would read more but I don’t really enjoy sitting around for extended periods of time. I don’t know how Mom does it.”
“Oh well your mother get’s her unquenchable thirst for reading from myself. You sound a lot like your uncle. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him pick up a book that he hadn’t been forced to read in the first place,” Velvet responded.
“Books just aren’t my thing I guess,” Scootaloo said with a weak smile hoping she hadn’t insulted her Grandmother.
“Well perhaps I can change your mind,” Velvet mentioned as she pulled a book sitting on the desk towards her, “This is the last book I wrote in my mystery series. Do you want me to read a bit to you?”
“Umm...I don’t know...I’ve never really liked any of the mystery books Mom tried to make me read,” Scootaloo said plainly.
“I promise you’ll like it,” Velvet said with a convincing smile. Scootaloo almost said no but figured she should just make Velvet happy.
“Sure maybe just like the first chapter or something,” Scootaloo replied. Velvet smiled, put on a pair of reading glasses, and then open the book in her hooves with magic.
"It was a grey and dreary day as Detective Cooperfield walked up the long drive of one of the most prestigious estates in Canterlot. The call had come to him early in the morning. The family that owned the estate had requested his service to solve a crime. He had a gut feeling that it was going to be a long day..."
**********
Velvet ended up reading to Scootaloo until around the time the whole family left for lunch. Scootaloo was so completely enthralled by just the first chapters that she asked Velvet to keep going. She had also requested that they read more later on. Velvet was happy to oblige.
The walk to the Cafe was a rather short walk from the Sparkle household. Everypony was glad about this because it was rather cold outside. The Cafe, however, was pleasantly warm and inviting. They were seated immediately, near the fire none the less, and then left to their own accord. Scootaloo was completely baffled by what to order as she drooled over the menu. Shining Armor noticed this and whispered into his niece’s ear.
"Your mother's favorite dish is the Creamy Tomato Soup and the Daisy and Rose Petal Sandwich. She's been ordering it ever since she was your age. Might want to give it a try."
Scootaloo gave her Uncle a smile and put her menu down. Their waiter came back and took their orders. As soon as he left, Shining Armor brought up a question most of the family had on their minds.
"So Scootaloo, your mother was telling us you and your friends have your own little group, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Care to explain?"
Scootaloo took a sip from her drink, brought in a deep breath, and then went into detailed explanation. This went on nonstop until they got their food arrived fifteen minutes later. Even though she hadn’t explained everything there was steam pouring out of Velvet and Shining's ears and Cadence's eyes were rolling around in her head. Spike found all this rather funny and was laughing his scales off.
"Don't worry," he told them, "It's made absolutely no sense to every pony they've ever explained it to."
Scootaloo frowned at the baby dragon and slugged him on the shoulder. It hurt her more than it hurt him. All the adults were, of course, not paying attention because they were still trying to contemplate what had just been explained to them. Scootaloo just smiled and went about eating her food. Not able to make heads or tails of any of the information the rest of the family did the same.
**********
The family finished their lunch rather slowly and then left the restaurant. They had opted to not go skating because it had started snowing while they were eating. Velvet suggested they could go do some shopping and Cadence was on board for that. Scootaloo, however, was not. Shining Armor noticed this and came to his nieces rescue in the form of a request.
"I actually need to slide in to work and pick up some papers," Shining Armor explained to his mother and wife, "Maybe you'd like to come with me Scootaloo?"
Scootaloo jumped on this opportunity if it meant she didn't have to go shopping. Velvet and Cadence seemed a bit disappointed. One of them whispered about a lost opportunity to try on dresses. They all walked together to the shopping district and then Scootaloo and Shining Armor broke off and made a bee line for the castle.
"Thanks for getting me out of that, Uncle Shining," Scootaloo mentioned as they walked along. Shining Armor gave her a smile and a nod.
"I feel your pain. Don't tell your Auntie or your Grandma, but I hate going shopping with them. I say we procrastinate on getting those papers. I'll take you on a tour of the castle grounds. That should eat up a bunch of time," Shining Armor told his niece. The two of them approached the front gates and the two guards outside saluted and let them in. Scootaloo noticed that they were both eyeballing her, but didn't say anything. Shining Armor also noticed this and figured that at some point, somepony was going to ask why a filly was following him around. That actually came much quicker than he thought when one of the few ponies that was his superior, Captain Steelbolt, walked up to him.
"Captain Armor!" Steelbolt called, "I thought you were on vacation lad?"
Shining Armor gave the Captain a salute and replied quickly. "Yes sir, I am, but I needed to swing by and pick up my cadet evaluations."
Steelbolt gave a hearty chuckle and patted Shining Armor on the shoulder. "Ah, procrastinated on those, did we lad. I'll match you on that. Paperwork is the worst part of this job." Steelbolt gave another powerful laugh and then noticed Scootaloo standing close to her Uncle. He raised an eyebrow, but gave her a smile.
"And who do we have here?" he asked Shining Armor, "Is this your daughter, me boy? I didn't realize you and the Princess decided to adopt."
Shining Armor had actually forgotten for a moment that Scootaloo was with him. "No sir, this is actually my niece."
"Yer niece?" Steelbolt replied, slightly baffled, "Do you have another sibling I don't know about, lad?"
"No sir, my only sibling is my sister, Twilight," Shining Armor explained, "This is her daughter."
Steelbolt seemed to be unable to comprehend this. Probably because he had known the Sparkle family since Shining was a Cadet. "But yer sister is just a wee lass. Just a filly herself."
Shining Armor chuckled quietly. "She's twenty-one, sir. Scootaloo is her adoptive daughter."
"Awe, the wee fillies name is Scootaloo," smiled Steelbolt, "Well she's a mighty cute one, Shining."
Scootaloo's cheeks went pink and she turned away bashfully. Steelbolt gave her a wink and her whole face went red. "Well, I won't be taking any more of yer time," Steelbolt said cheerfully.
Shining Armor and Steelbolt saluted each other and they went their separate ways. Once they were far enough away, Scootaloo let out a small giggle. "He's an...energetic individual."
Shining Armor gave her a light knock on her shoulder and chuckled. "Yes he is, but if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be a Captain today."
**********
The two of them spent the next few hours walking around the castle grounds. They did not go into the castle itself, but Shining Armor wouldn't tell Scootaloo why. The last stop that they made was Shining Armor’s office. It was a lot larger than Scootaloo expected. While Shining Armor dug through his desk for the particular papers he needed, Scootaloo looked at some of the awards and items he had placed about. The one item she focused on for quite a bit was her Uncle’s helmet. For some reason she could just see herself wearing one. Strutting around in glittering armor, protecting ponies she cared about. Shining Armor, who had actually found his papers a few minutes ago, noticed this and watched Scootaloo closely. Then, using some magic, he picked the helmet up off the shelf and plopped it onto Scootaloo's head.
"Military service is a standing tradition in our family," Shining Armor explained, "Grandpa, I believe, is the only stallion in the family for two centuries to not join."
Scootaloo, who was a little thrown off by how light the helmet was, thought about how cool it would be to follow that tradition. "Have any mares in the family been soldiers?"
Shining Armor thought about this. "I don't think so. Why? Want to be a solider like your Uncle"
"It would be cool to be a soldier," Scootaloo said. Shining Armor pulled the helmet off and gave Scootaloo a pat on the head.
"I don't know if your mother would go for that, but keep it in your mind if it's something you're interested in," he said. Scootaloo laughed at the comment about Twilight and Shining Armor joined in on it not a moment later. While Shining dug around for his papers the two of them exchanged jokes and funny stories at Twilight’s expense, promising of course that Twilight never found out.
**********
After they got the papers, Shining Armor took Scootaloo to his and Cadence's house so he could drop the papers off in his home office. They took a small amount of time and did a walk-through of the house. Scootaloo was most interested in all trinkets and items her Aunt and Uncle had from all their travels, both together and separately. Once they were done, they took the long route back to the Sparkle household and spent the entire time talking.
"You two took your time," Velvet called as they entered the house. The two of them walked into the foyer and found the family relaxing around the fire. Night Light and Twilight were chatting about Magical History. Cadence and Velvet were reading a magazine and seemed to be currently engrossed in an article about the Wonderbolts. Spike seemed to be missing, but he was actually sitting right up by the fire.
"Yeah, we spent some time walking around the castle grounds as well as mine and Cadence's house," Shining Armor explained.
"Well it sounds like you two had fun," Twilight said with a smile, "Did you behave for your Uncle, Scootaloo?"
"Yes Mom, I did. Uncle Shiny and me had a lot of fun," Scootaloo replied.
Shining Armor ruffled his niece's mane playfully. "She was a little Angel."
"Well you two got home just in time," Velvet stated, "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes. I made Great Grandma's famous Alfredo lasagna. Why don't you two go wash up and then we'll eat."
As soon as Velvet said that, Scootaloo looked up at her Uncle and lowered her eyebrows. "Race you to the bathroom, Uncle Shining."
Scootaloo shot off like a bullet and Shining Armor chased after her. The rest of the family laughed at them. "I'm glad to see those two got to bond today," Night Light mentioned. The rest of the family agreed.
"Twilight, I actually have a question about Scootaloo if you wouldn't mind answering it," Velvet said. Twilight looked over at her mother with a sort of confused look.
"Sure Mom, what is it?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Well, I've been watching Scootaloo and noticed she always walks. Can she not fly?"
Twilight shook her head. "She can fly, but not that well. My friend Rainbow Dash has been working with her, but we haven’t seen that much progress."
"Does she have Stiff Bone Disease?" Cadence asked, "Or is it something genetic?"
Twilight shook her head. "We aren’t sure, but we’re pretty sure malnourishment caused a stunt in growth. Poor girl thought she was never going to be able to fly."
There was some silence as the rest of the family thought about what Twilight said. That was interrupted by a ding from a timer. "Ooh, supper’s ready," Velvet said loudly as she rushed into the kitchen. The rest of the family got out of their seats, but were cut off by orange and white blurs.
"I'm gonna beat you, Uncle Shining," Scootaloo shouted at the top of her lungs.
"I don't think so, munchkin," Shining Armor shouted back playfully. Twilight and Cadence snickered and Night Light shook his head.
"Don't break anything you two," Cadence laughed.
**********
After dinner, another surprise came for Scootaloo, a trip to Donut Joe's. Scootaloo could only drool about the treats that she was going to be able to choose from, and that was only because Cadence was describing them all to her in great detail as they walked to the shop. There weren't drips of saliva coming out of Scootaloo's mouth so much as a waterfall.
"The Triple Chocolate Devil's Food Cake is probably my favorite," Cadence told Scootaloo as they walked into the shop. Twilight laughed at the two of them. The walk over to the shop had been rather eventful. Somehow, every friend of either Velvet and Night Light or Cadence and Shining seemed to be out. All of them had asked the same two questions. Did Shining Armor and Cadence decide to adopt or had Velvet and Night Light adopted Scootaloo. When they were told that Scootaloo was actually Twilight's daughter, there were mixed responses. Some ponies were happy, some were a bit confused, and some didn't believe it. Scootaloo didn’t seemed to be bothered at all, mostly because Cadence had her full attention all the way to the shop.s
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Sparkle Family," Donut Joe called from the counter. The Sparkle Family had known Joe since he first opened his donut shop and he was constantly saying that they were his best customers. This was probably why, despite the fact the shop should have closed an hour ago, Joe was still here waiting for them.
"You are the best for staying open late, Joe," Night Light said as they walked up to the counter. The two of them shook hooves and then Joe noticed Scootaloo.
"Who is this little filly?" he asked them all, "Did you two decide to adopt a kid, Night Light?"
Night Light shook his head. "You’re probably the twelfth person to ask, but no we didn't. This is Twilight's daughter, Scootaloo."
Joe's eyes widened a little bit from shock, but he didn't burst out like most of the other ponies. "So you're a Mom now, Twilight? Seems like just the other day you were coming in here with Velvet."
Twilight’s cheeks went pink and she smiled. Joe gave her a wink. He then looked down at Scootaloo, who was eyeballing all the delicious treats.
"Let's start with the little one then," he said, "What can I get you, Scootaloo."
"Can we skip me," Scootaloo replied, "I can't make up my mind; there are too many good choices and Mom said I can only have two things."
As soon as Night Light and Velvet heard this, Grandparent mode was engaged. "Now Grandma and I won't have that," Nightlight told Scootaloo, "When you are at Grandma and Grandpa's, your mother has no say. Have whatever you want, Scootaloo."
"Yes and if your mother gives you a hard time at all, you come and get one of us," Velvet added.
Twilight knew her parents were poking fun at her, but she still tried to have a say in all this. "Mom, Dad, don't undermine me in front of my daughter."
Velvet and Night Light burst into laughter. "That's what Grandparents are for, sweetheart," Night Light said, "Now order whatever you want, Scootaloo."
Scootaloo let out a squee of delight. This is the best day ever.
**********
Four donuts and two cups of hot chocolate later, Scootaloo was riding on Twilight's back, groaning happily. Everypony was rather surprised that she was able to eat and drink that much. Twilight felt this was a just punishment.
"Do we know now that we should maybe listen to Mommy?" Twilight mentioned as they walked along. Scootaloo groaned a bit more and nodded her head. Nopony seemed to be on Twilight's side though. The rest of the family felt bad for Scootaloo despite the fact she brought it on herself.
"Don't you be mean to my sweet little nieceipoo," Cadence shot as she gave Scootaloo a smile and a wink. Twilight glared at her sister in-law even though she knew everypony was messing with her. As they reached a fork in the road, Shining Armor and Cadence departed from the group after they said their goodbyes.
"Alright you two don't forget breakfast is at eight tomorrow morning," Velvet called as Shining Armor and Cadence walked away. The rest of the walk back to the house was quiet and uneventful. Scootaloo had passed out and the rest of the family was pretty tired as well. When they finally got home, they all decided to go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.
"Night, Mom and Dad," Twilight said quietly as she walked into her old room with Spike and Scootaloo in tow.
"Night, Twinkle," they both called. Twilight smiled and shut the door to the bedroom. It looked like her parents hadn't moved anything since her last visit. In fact, most of her stuff from when she was a filly was still sitting clean and cared for on the many shelves. Spike went straight for his bed and was out in a second. Twilight levitated Scootaloo onto the bed and then nudged her in an attempt to get her to wake.
"Hey munchkin, I need you to wake up and get ready for bed," Twilight whispered in her daughter’s ear. Scootaloo groaned and slowly woke up. Twilight smiled and rubbed her head. Scootaloo jumped off the bed and slowly trudged her way to the bathroom. Twilight followed closely and the two of them silently got ready for bed.
"Don't forget to use the bathroom, Scootsy, you drank quite a lot of coco," Twilight mentioned as she finished flossing. Scootaloo grumbled and did as she was told. Twilight finally finished just as Scootaloo was done using the toilet. As soon as she washed her hooves, Scootaloo went right back to bed. Twilight used the bathroom herself and then followed in suit. She immediately remembered how comfortable her bed was. Twilight reached over and gave Scootaloo a kiss good night and then drifted off into sleep. They were going to need all the rest they could get. Tomorrow was going to be a very eventful day.