Scootaloo’s New Family
By Alaborn
Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.
Prologue
“Time for dinner!”
Scootaloo rushed to the table, racing her younger brothers Dasher and Striker. They ran down the hallway from the living room to the kitchen, Scootaloo running down the center, her brothers at each side. She began to pull ahead. Her brothers smiled; she noticed it too late.
Dasher and Striker leaned in, trapping her between them. She was taller, but they had earth pony strength and bulk on their side. She stumbled, and they got to the kitchen table first, sitting on the bench next to the big platter of biscuits. By the time she made it to the table, they had already taken the largest biscuits.
“Scootaloo, wash your hooves,” her mother said as she placed a stew pot on the table.
“But Mom!”
“No buts. We don’t want to get more tree sap on the table,” she said.
“That only happened once or twice!”
The glare she got from her mother told Scootaloo not to argue further. She washed her hooves in the sink before returning to the table, squeezing in with her mother, father, and two brothers around a table better suited to seat four ponies. All the best food was already on her brothers’ plates. She compensated by taking a big spoonful of mashed potatoes.
And so it was, just like every other dinner. Scootaloo fought with her brothers over the food. Her mother was distracted with feeding her twin baby brothers. And her father, when he wasn’t at work during dinner, brought his work to the dinner table.
“Ow!” Scootaloo said. She rubbed her right wing; something had snagged one of her downy feathers. She immediately looked to Striker, seated to her right. The six-year-old colt just sat there with an innocent expression on his face, happily chewing on his larger, flakier biscuit.
“How was your last day of school, Scootaloo?” her mother said.
“Fine. We didn’t do much, just one last test and that speech. And then we had a party, but Miss Cheerilee had to ruin things by giving us a summer reading list. And... you’re not even listening to me.”
“That’s nice, dear.” Scootaloo’s mother was focused on trying to get one toddler, then the other, to eat from a bowl of mashed carrots.
There was a soft splat sound. Scootaloo looked up, and saw a spoonful of mashed potatoes resting on the brim of that stupid khaki Hydra Hunter hat Dasher always wore.
“Scootaloo, don’t fling mashed potatoes at your brother,” her mother said.
“Oh, sure, now you pay attention,” she was tempted to say, but she knew that phrase never went over well. Instead, she replied with a simple statement of fact. “I didn’t do it.”
“Really? Then what is this?” Her mother pulled a bit of orange fluff out of the glob of mashed potatoes.
“I didn’t do it!” Scootaloo said, a mixture of anger and exasperation showing in her voice. She turned to her brother. “Striker!”
“Yes, big sister?” he replied innocently.
“Don’t fling mashed potatoes and then try to frame me.”
“But I didn’t!” he said. And then he looked to their mother, with the saddest puppy dog eyes.
“Scootaloo, don’t try to get your brother in trouble,” she said.
“Ugh!” She turned to her father. Of course, he wasn’t watching, either. He had his hooves on an adding machine, and occasionally made marks on a spreadsheet with the pencil in his mouth. “Dad, can’t you put away the work for once?”
“This isn’t work,” her father said.
“Huh?”
“This was a particularly fine bit of accounting I did earlier today, and I just wanted to relive it.”
“What? You can’t be serious, Dad!”
Her father smiled warmly. “When you get your cutie mark, Scootaloo, then you’ll understand.”
“ARGH! I can’t take any more of this!” Scootaloo jumped up from the table and headed to the front door. She strapped on her helmet.
“Where do you think you’re going, young lady?” her mother said.
“I need to talk to Princess Twilight,” she replied.
Her mother started to respond, but she felt her husband’s hoof on her foreleg. “Let her go, dear. She needs to blow off some steam.”
“And that’s the kind of thing I go through every night!” Scootaloo said after recounting the details of her evening to Twilight Sparkle.
The young princess sighed. She had grown comfortable in her tutor role with the energetic little filly and her often destructive friends, but once again she found herself cast in the role of all-purpose advisor. There were some topics where no amount of reading could replace actual experience, and this was one of them. Still, she had to try something.
“I have the worst family in all of Equestria!” Scootaloo proclaimed.
“Did you know your parents have spoken with me, asking my advice on how to help you grow into your own mare?” Twilight Sparkle said.
“And what good has that done? Nothing ever changes!”
“Being a parent is the most difficult job in the world, Scootaloo.”
“More difficult than being princess?” Scootaloo countered.
Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat. “Anyway, they’re doing the best job they can.”
“ANYPONY could do a better job!”
“Do you really believe that, Scootaloo?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
The filly nodded her head vigorously.
“Very well, then. By the power vested in me as Princess of Equestria, I hereby grant you, Scootaloo, the freedom to find yourself a better family. You will no longer be in the care of your current family while this decree is in place.”
Her eyes brightened. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“All right!” Scootaloo immediately ran for the exit, only to be picked up by Twilight Sparkle’s magic.
Twilight Sparkle placed Scootaloo on the couch. “There are ground rules you need to understand, Scootaloo. First of all, when you’re not in the care of a prospective family, you will be in my care, or the care of somepony I designate.”
“Sure thing, Twilight!” Scootaloo said.
“Second, you need to let me know what family you’re with. Third, you will stay with that family until you decide either to make the adoption official, or decide that they’re not the right family for you. Fourth, no second chances. Once you choose a family, and decide you can’t live with them, that decision is final.”
“That’s all fine. I’ll have a better family in ten seconds flat!”
“Finally, you must make your decision before school starts next year. If you haven’t found a family by then, Scootaloo, you will have to go back to the orphanage.”
“Fine,” Scootaloo said. “Wait. Did you say ‘back to the orphanage’?”
Twilight Sparkle nodded.
“But I just spent the last fifteen minutes telling you about my family!” Scootaloo said.
“You did?” She gazed off and scratched her chin with a hoof.
“You see? That’s the problem! My family’s so boring, you forget all about them the minute you don’t see them!”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t have a family right now.”
“Oh.” Scootaloo looked to the door. “Then let’s fix that!”
“Go ahead, Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo rushed out the door and hopped on her scooter.
Twilight Sparkle teleported to the balcony and watched Scootaloo tear off down the streets of Ponyville. Any doubt of where she was going ended when she faintly heard her yell “Rainbow Dash!”