Chapter 5
Tough Times
_____________________________________________________________________
“Mornin’, Twilight.”
“Morning, Applejack,” Twilight smiled at the farm pony as she stood outside the Apple Family house, Sunset next to her in her carrier.
It had been three weeks since Twilight had taken in the foal Sunset Shimmer. Two days after Twilight had decided to be her mother; she’d gone with Sunset to the adoption agency and made it official. Sunset Shimmer was now Sunset Shimmer-Sparkle.
The hyphen name was Sunset’s idea. Twilight had thought it sounded a little weird, but since her daughter wanted to have her mother’s last name, she agreed.
Over those weeks, Twilight had been bringing Sunset to Sweet Apple Acres to play with Applebloom and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders.
She smiled warmly as the four played, one of the CMC sometimes letting Sunset ride on their back as they ran around.
The weeks had had a lot more eventfulness though. Sunset had been in on Fluttershy using her Flutterguy voice to hide Big Mac losing his voice so the Pony Tones could perform, she’d had to calm Sunset down after she’d been woken from her afternoon nap when the CMC had brought all the fillies and colts from school to their Twilight Time session and she’d had to ask Cheerliee to watch Sunset when she and the girls had to help the Breezies get back to their world by her using a spell to turn them all into Breezies themselves.
It had been an exhausting time for the new mother, but she was taking it in her stride.
“Are the girls in?” Twilight asked as Applejack let her in.
“...Yeah.”
Twilight stopped and looked at Applejack. Her tone was of worry.
“Applejack, is something wrong?” Twilight asked.
Applejack looked surprised, then relaxed. “Guess Ah can’t hide anythin’ fr’m you, can Ah, Twi?”
She sighed and motioned for Twilight to follow her. They went into the living room and sat down on the couch, Twilight levitating Sunset out of the carrier and onto her lap.
“Sum’in’s been bothering me,” Applejack said, not looking at Twilight. “It’s about Scootaloo.”
Twilight and Sunset both blinked. “Scootaloo?”
“Sum’in’ Rainbow told me after she an’ the girls got back fr’m the Crystal Empire.”
Twilight nodded, indicating for her to go on.
“I never realized Scoots was an orphan,” Applejack slumped her shoulders.
Sunset looked up at Twilight, who sighed. “I’ve known for a while now.”
Both Sunset and Applejack looked at her in shock.
“How?” was all the farm pony could ask.
“Her independence,” Twilight said quietly.
She’d noticed right from the beginning that Scootaloo was more independent than most fillies her age. And after Rainbow told her how Scootaloo had been desperate for Rainbow to be like her big sister on the camping trip they’d taken with Applejack, Rarity and their sisters, it had clicked in Twilight’s mind.
“So, what do we do about it?” Applejack asked. She seemed genuinely worried that a filly like Scootaloo didn’t have a family.
“Well, I can think of one thing,” Twilight said, not noticing she’d tightened her grip ever so slightly around Sunset.
“An’ what’s that?” Applejack asked, leaning forward. “She’s my sister’s best friend. I’d do anythang to help.”
“Adoption.”
Applejack’s face went blank at the word. Then she raised an eyebrow. “Yer askin’ me ta adopt Scootaloo?”
“I never said that,” Twilight said, looking away, a small blush appearing on her face.
“You mean you?”
Sunset’s voice made Twilight flinch, before she turned to see Applejack giving her a very confused look.
“Why in tarnation would you adopt Scootaloo?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Ya’ll already got yer hooves full with Sunset, dontcha?”
“I guess it’s a motherly reflex,” Twilight murmured, her blush growing by the second. “Now that I’m a mother... I don’t want a filly I know to suffer without a family.”
Applejack shook her head. “I’d suggest thinking this through a little first, Twi. Ya’ll already caring fer one foal. And... well... Scoots has a few other problems ya’d need to think about.”
Twilight blinked, then frowned at her friend. “What do you mean “problems”?”
Applejack sighed, she was doing that a lot today, Twilight noted.
Applejack looked firmly at Twilight. “Twi, you ever notice, despite her bein’ a Pegasus, how little Scootaloo flies?”
Twilight cocked her head as she thought of this. Now that she ran over her memories, she’d never really seen the orange Pegasus fly. Hover, yes. Make it all the way to the interior roof of Sugarcube Corner, yes, that was only three weeks ago. But fly? No. She’d never seen Scootaloo actually fly before.
“What are you getting at?”
Applejack took a deep breath, looking like she was about to say something taboo. “Her wing’re deformed.”
It took a few seconds for what she’d said to process through Twilight’s mind, but before she could respond, the farm pony went on.
“Ah don’t pretend Ah know much about flying, but Ah know when somethin’ has too small the wings ta fly and Scoots’ wing’re too small for a filly her age.”
She got up and walked over to a small picture of her little sister and her friends.
“Ah know Rainbow’s been tryin’ to be brave about it, she knows how much that filly looks up ta her and’s been tryin’ ta help her fly better. But even if she were ta help Scoots for a thousand years, I don’ thank it’d do much diff’rence. Her wings just ain’t able to help ’er fly.”
Twilight had put her hooves over Sunset’s ears. She didn’t want her to know this. It’d show every time she was around Scootaloo. Foals were a little too honest, even when they were trying not to be. Pound and Pumpkin Cake were a prime example.
“There’s not much we can really do though,” the alicorn sighed, shaking her head. “If somepony had gotten her help when she was a newborn, her wings could’ve been fixed. But, now that’s she grown so much...”
“It wouldn't help none,” Applejack nodded, her face fallen.
Twilight sighed. “Maybe Sunset shouldn’t play with Scootaloo and the others today. Even though she hasn’t heard much, she knows enough that it’ll be on her mind.”
Applejack nodded again. “’Sides, I ain’t even seen Scoots around t’day. Only Sweetie Belle came ta play. Don’t know why, but that Pegasus has been avoidin’ me since two days ago.”
Twilight nodded, taking her hooves off of Sunset’s ears and lowered her into her carrier.
Sunset didn’t complain, meaning she understood she shouldn’t play with the CMC today, not after she’d learned about Scootaloo being an orphan.
Luckily she didn’t know the rest. It would have broken her heart and Twilight wouldn’t allow that to happen to her filly.
As she bid Applejack farewell and the two of them headed off, Twilight’s mind was stuck on Scootaloo.
Though she rarely showed it, the Pegasus was very touchy about family matters, which Twilight understood.
It couldn’t be easy for Scootaloo, having to friends with such loving families, while all she had was a room and a few belongings.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Sunset calling to her.
She looked into the carrier to see the filly giving her a pleading look. She was hungry.
Twilight’s smile returned. She lifted Sunset out with her hooves, levitated a bottle of milk from the basket of the carrier, sat on her haunches and started feeding her.
_____________________________________________________________________
“Gotcha!” Scootaloo cried, leaping at Applebloom, who ducked, the gape where she’d been leaving the Pegasus to sprawl on the ground.
“Missed me, missed me, now ya gotta kiss me,” Applebloom playfully teased, then ran off.
Scootaloo grinned, shaking her head. “Say what you will about Earth Ponies not being able to fly or use magic, they’re dang... fast...”
She’d started getting up, when she’d spotted something outside the school gate.
Twilight was sitting across the school. She was holding Sunset in her forelimb, feeding her.
The smile on both their faces made the Pegasus tear up a little.
When she realized she was crying she wiped her eyes with her forehoof and checked that none of the others kids had seen.
Sure enough, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were still running, playing tag with Dinky and several other fillies and colts.
She turned back to watching Twilight feed Sunset.
She sat there, just watching, seeing the look on both their faces. Mother and daughter. A family.
Scootaloo was so jealous of Sunset. She was from the other world, had somehow gotten sent to Equestia, turned into a foal and ended up having Twilight as a mom since she couldn’t return to her world, especially now she was a baby.
If only she were so lucky. Every time a pony couple or a single pony had come to the orphanage, looking for a foal to adopt, they’d taken one look at her wings and then moved to the next filly or colt.
She cursed herself. She’d been taking lessons from Rainbow ever since that time Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had teased her about not being able to fly.
She’d gotten better. She was able to fly really high now compared to her best efforts when she’d been trying to do it so she could fly at the flag carrying competition, but she was nowhere near a good flyer yet. Heck, even Pound Cake could fly better than her, and he was a baby!
The bell signalling the end of lunch sounded and Scootaloo joined the rest of the fillies and colts as they headed in, hiding her sadness by acting tough, like she always did.
_____________________________________________________________________
Several days after their talk with Applejack, late one the afternoon, Twilight was reorganizing the library for the third time that day while Sunset was playing with a Wonderbolts toy Rainbow Dash had gotten her. It was Fleet Foot. While one of the lesser known of the Wonderbolts, Sunset liked her because she reminded her of her favorite soccer player by the same name, back in the other world.
She’d started making sure she stopped referring to it as her world. Now that she was a baby, she was going to be living in Equestria for a long time. Even when she was old enough to return to that world as a human, would she really want to?
The other Sunset Shimmer had clearly taken over her life since they’d met what still seemed like only three weeks ago for her and her returning wouldn’t do any good. If anything, it would cause a huge problem.
The fact that was if the media found out there were two of her, one younger than the other, it could risk Equestria being discovered and she knew the government wouldn’t sit idly by while there was a world filled with unicorns with spells that could easily outshine their own military weapons and then it would been an inter-dimensional war.
Besides that, it was clear the other Sunset Shimmer liked her life in that world far better than Sunset had. She seemed on top of the world when Twilight had first arrived from what her mother had told her about her adventure into that world.
But for Sunset, there she was an orphan in the foster care system, though clearly enough time had passed that the other Sunset Shimmer was living on her own now, while here, she had a mother and friends who played with her and didn’t judge her.
At that moment the door to the library banged open, startling both ponies.
Sunset threw her doll into the air and Twilight dropped the books she’d been levitating, one of them hitting Sunset on her head, making her cry out.
Standing in the doorway were Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.
“Girls, what’s going?” Twilight asked, taking Sunset in her hooves and hushing her. Despite everything, Sunset had started whimpering like a normal foal because of the pain in her head.
Both fillies responded at the same time. “Scootaloo wasn’t at school today!”
Twilight looked up from her daughter to the fillies, an eyebrow raised. “Maybe she was sick and had to stay in her room today?”
Both fillies shook their heads frantically.
“She’s not even at the orphanage!” Sweetie Belle cried, her voice squeaky with fright. “I went over and they said they hadn’t seen her since she left for school several days ago.”
Sunset felt a small flicker of panic, overriding the pain from being hit on the head with a book.
Scootaloo was an orphan. If she hadn’t been at the orphanage last night, something must have happened.
Sunset had never really liked the orphanage she’d been in, and even when she’d gotten into the foster care system it had only been a bit better, but she knew it was worse being on your own.
She tried it when she was six. She’d gone hungry more nights than she could bother to count and when she’d ended up in the foster care system, she’d welcomed it.
If Scootaloo was on her own, there was no telling what could happen to her. Ponyville was a nice place and she hadn’t heard of any crimes ever happening, from what her mother had told her, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t maybe that one pony with a dark heart hidden under a friendly exterior.
“Girls, stay here and watch Sunset for me,” Twilight said, giving Sunset to Applebloom. “I’m gonna go out and look for her.”
And before any of them could say anything Twilight was out the door and gone.
Sunset looked up at Applebloom. “I weally hope my mom finds her.”
“Me too, Sunset,” Applebloom sighed, looking away, her eyes slightly watering. “Me too.”
_____________________________________________________________________
Scootaloo trudged through the alley she now called home, stepping over some empty plastic cups and stopped at the box sitting by the right-side wall.
She walked into it and closed the flaps.
She didn’t look at the few posters she’d brought from her room at the orphanage, lay down and rolled onto her side, ignoring the growling of her stomach.
She hated not having regular meals, but she didn’t want to be at the orphanage anymore either. What was the point when nopony was going to adopt her anyway?
The only things she had left were her Cutie Mark Crusaders cape, her saddle bags and her scooter.
But even with her few possessions, she still preferred living like this than at the orphanage.
All the other fillies and colts still teased her about her wings and how she’d never find a family because of them.
Whenever she tried to stop them by saying how Rainbow Dash had taken her on as something like a little sister, they just laughed and called her a liar, saying that Rainbow Dash would never want to be her sister.
With that, the fact nopony would adopt her and how none of the staff had tried to stop the teasing, she was better off living on her own.
“Oh, dear Scootaloo. I never thought I’d see you sink this low.”
Scootaloo’s eyes shot open and she glared at the wall of the box. She knew that voice. Hard not too when he’d caused so much chaos and then how little he’d helped when those plants from the Everfree, which, according to Rainbow Dash, he’d planted a little over a thousand years ago, had been attacking.
“Leave me alone, Discord,” she said, closing her eyes and looking at the other wall of the box.
“Well, isn’t that a bit rude?”
Scootaloo felt herself suddenly being held by her tail as she looked at the ground of the alley.
She turned her head and glared at the draconequus as he held her like a doll by her tail.
“Let. Me. Down.”
Discord gently lowered her to the ground and she turned to face him, still glaring.
“Come now, Scootaloo, is that any way to be to a friend?” he asked, looking offended.
Scootaloo snorted. “Since when have we been friends?”
Discord shrugged. “Okay, you got me. But can’t a guy want to help somepony in need?”
Scootaloo turned away. “Why would you help me?”
“Because I don’t like seeing a little filly in so much distress?”
Scootaloo shot him a glare from over her shoulder.
“Alright, alright,” he said, holding his paw and claw in front of him. “You’re got me; I do like watching ponies in distress. It’s still amusing, even if I have been reformed.”
Scootaloo wasn’t so sure he was reformed. He still caused a lot of trouble wherever he went. The only question was what kind of trouble would he be causing her?
“Anyway,” Discord continued, acting kinder than Scootaloo knew he normally would, “I noticed how stressed you’ve been and I thought this might make you feel better.”
He held out his claw and a cup of blue tea appeared in a tea-cup above it.
Scootaloo turned around, an eyebrow cocked. “Tea? You know I don’t drink tea, Discord. I’m a filly.”
“Oh please,” Discord waved her words away— literally, her words seemed to appear out of thin air and he waved them away. “When Celestia was a filly she drank tea all the time, even when she was younger than you.”
Scootaloo frowned. “She did?”
She wasn’t bothering to question how Discord would know this. She knew he’d been around since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were a lot younger.
“Indeed,” Discord nodded, holding the cup out and she took it. “I promise, drink this and things will be better for you.”
Scootaloo didn’t really trust the draconequus, but her stomach was begging for something and this tea would help, even if only a little.
She took a sip, not noticing the mischievous grin plastered on Discord’s face.
_____________________________________________________________________
“Scootaloo?” Twilight called as she ran through the streets. “Scootaloo, where are you?”
It was dark now and she’d had to illuminate her horn so she could keep looking for Scootaloo.
She been searching for the filly for several hours now, but it was as if the Pegasus had simply vanished.
Twilight stopped to catch her breath near an alley way.
When she had enough oxygen back in her lungs to let her think clearly, she noticed a sound that made her pause. It was a sound she’d become familiar to since taking in Sunset.
Crying. Foal crying.
She turned her head. It was coming from the alley.
Curious, Twilight made her way through the alley, stepping over bits of trash here and there.
When she reached the source of the crying she stood still.
A small orange Pegasus foal with a crop of purple mane was lying on the ground in a pool of what looked like its own pee.
It was crying, flailing its tiny hooves around, screaming at the top of its lungs.
Twilight picked the foal up in her magic and carried it to her and held it in her forehooves.
This made it stop crying and it looked up at her with eyes a light shade of lavender. Tears were still in its eyes.
The poor thing. Who would go and leave a little foal in an alley all on its own like this? It was female. It wasn’t even wearing a diaper.
“Who went and left you all alone like this?” she asked, her heart hurting. Now that she was a mother, the idea that somepony could do something this horrible to a foal made her blood boil.
“Scooawoo,” she said, looking up at Twilight with both fear... and anger?
“What do you mean, little one?” she asked, though wondered why, since she doubted the foal could communicate in conversation.
“Scooawoo!” the foal cried again, looking firmly up at Twilight.
“Scooawoo?” Twilight was puzzled, then she smiled. “Oh, you heard me calling for Scootaloo. I guess you wouldn’t be able to tell me if you’ve seen her, huh?”
“NO!” the filly screamed, flailing her forelegs around. “Scooawoo! Iw'm Scooawoo!”
Twilight blinked. She looked into the alley and her eyes fell on several things that caught her attention. One of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' capes lying on the ground and Scootaloo's scooter resting behind a cardboard box, her saddlebags resting onto of it.
She looked back down at the foal. “Could you repeat that, little one?”
It couldn’t be. There was no way. This filly couldn’t possibly be...
“Scooawoo, Twiwight!” the tiny pony screamed, glaring at her. “I. AM. SCOOAWOO!”
Twilight gasped. “Scootaloo? Is... Is that really you?”
The filly nodded, whimpering.
Twilight stared, her eyes wide. “But, I don’t understand. How did this happen?”
“Well, I believe I did my part.”
Twilight groaned. She knew that voice. Every time she heard it her brain got ready for the impact of a serious headache.
There was a popping sound and Discord appeared, floating above her.
“He did dis!” Scootaloo shouted, pointing a hoof at the draconequus. “Have gave me tea dat turwned me to a baby! I din’a ask for dis!”
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the mismatched creature. “Is this true, Discord?”
Discord shrugged. “I don’t see why she’s so upset. I told her things would be fine if she drank the tea I made with the last of my Baby Berries and—”
“You made tea with WHAT?” Twilight screamed, her face going red.
Discord put his paw over his mouth, hiding the snicker. “Well, I couldn’t let that bunch you left at your zebra friend’s hut go to waste now, could I?”
Twilight blinked. The bunch she left... Oh no. She face-hoofed. She’d dropped her telekinetic hold on those berries when Zecora told her to show her where they’d found the berries.
“I sensed my last bush was recently activated, so I went to take care of it,” Discord explained, acting as if this wasn’t serious at all. “Image how happy I was when I found you’d destroyed it—”
“Wait. Your bush?” Twilight could feel the urge to turn Discord back to stone at that moment biting at her forethoughts.
Discord blinked. “Oh! You didn’t know? The Baby Berry bushes were my own creation. However, once I saw they were causing too much chaos, even for me, I didn’t stop Celestia and Luna from destroying them. I didn’t help, but I didn’t stop them. I am the spirit of chaos, after all. I needed to uphold my reputation.”
“Wait. You created the Baby Berries?” Twilight’s left eyebrow was twitching.
“Yes,” Discord nodded, seemingly oblivious to Twilight’s anger. “Had I known they’d cause more chaos than even I would like however, I’d never have done so.”
“Then why did you give Scootaloo tea you’d made with the last of them?” Twilight demanded.
Discord shrugged. “I wouldn’t want food to go to waste.” He ignored Twilight’s faster twitching eye. “Besides, things are better for her now, are they not?”
The tone of his voice when he asked the question made Twilight pause, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Well, now that she’s a foal, I highly doubt you’re just going to just leave her all alone, are you, Princess Twilight?” he smirked, leaning in a little. “I don’t see you putting her into an orphanage at this age either. Do you?”
And with that he vanished, leaving Twilight with the now foal Scootaloo.
“When I get my hooves on him...” she muttered, grinding her teeth.
Twilight suddenly became aware that Scootaloo wasn’t saying anything. She looked down to see the little Pegasus had fallen asleep, curled up against Twilight’s chest.
Despite her anger at Discord, Twilight smiled gently. “Let’s get you to the library, Scootaloo,” she whispered, flapping her wings and heading back in the direction of the library. “We’ll handle this tomorrow.”
_____________________________________________________________________
As Twilight walked into the library she saw Spike putting a few of the books she’d dropped when Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had come charging in back on their shelves.
The entire library was cleaned up. Spike must have put everything away while she’d been out looking for the filly now sleeping against her chest.
She glanced around and noticed the other fillies were gone.
“I’m guessing Applejack and Rarity came by and took their sisters home?” she asked, closing the door behind her with her magic as she walked in.
“Yeah,” Spike said, not looking around as he placed the last book on the shelf. “They apologize since you asked those two to watch Sunset while you were out, but they needed to get to bed since they have school tomorrow. So, did you find Scootaloo?” he asked as he turned around and hopped down from the ladder he’d been using to reach the highest shelf.
“... Sort of,” she replied, shifting the foreleg she was holding the filly in a little to keep her comfortable.
Spike noticed how she was holding her leg and frowned. “What’s up, Twi? And, if you found her, where is Scootaloo? Did you take her straight back to the orphanage?”
Twilight shook her head and lowered her foreleg a little so Spike could see what she was holding.
The baby dragon’s eyes went wide. “That isn’t...?” Twilight’s nod confirmed his answer. “But... how?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Discord. He tricked Scootaloo into drinking some tea he’d made using the last of the Baby Berries.”
Spike raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Why?”
Twilight snorted. “He said he didn’t want to waste food.”
“Likely story,” Spike frowned, folding his arms.
“Although... he said the other reason was so things would be better for Scootaloo,” Twilight murmured, looking down at the sleeping filly.
“And you believe that?” Spike asked, giving Twilight a skeptical look.
“At first I didn’t,” Twilight said, as Scootaloo gave a small yawn and curled a little closer to her. “But then he said he couldn't see me leaving her alone now she’s a foal or putting her back in the orphanage. And... I think he's right.”
“Twi?” Spike asked, stepping forward. “You’re not thinking of adopting Scootaloo too, are you?”
Twilight sighed. “Let’s just get her cleaned up, diapered and put to bed for now, okay, Spike? We’ll figure this out tomorrow.”
Spike seemed to decide she had a point and they headed upstairs.
Twilight quickly cleaned Scootaloo, doing her best not to wake the small filly, then put a diaper on her and lowered her into Sunset’s crib next to a sleeping Sunset.
With the foals taken care of, Twilight and Spike got into bed and went to sleep.