Sisters Reunited

by SuperPinkBrony12

Confession in Ponypalooza

Pinkie made an immediate beeline for the train station, determined to get home to her fillyhood rock farm as soon as possible. Normally she would prefer to give her family a heads up about her arrival, but with what she'd just learned even a quick letter home was something the party pony felt she didn't have time for.

So focused was she on getting answers, that Pinkie Pie didn't pay attention to where she was going. She bumped straight into a filly. And not just any filly, a very familiar pegasus filly with a coat that was an unmistakable orange in color.

Fortunately, Scootaloo just shook off the impact like it had never happened. Still, it hurt ever so slightly, and she made sure to let Pinkie know that in no uncertain terms. "Ow. Pinkie, what's the big deal? Usually you shout something before you pop up out of nowhere."

"I'm so so so SO sorry!" Pinkie quickly exclaimed! Now that she was aware of her possible connection to Scootaloo, she felt obligated to be more concerned about the filly's well being than before. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you? Nothing's broken or bruised, is it?" She examined the pegasus all over, thoroughly checking for even the slightest hint that her collision had caused injury.

Scootaloo, for her part, just groaned. She was used to nopony ever batting an eye whenever she crashed her scooter or otherwise became hurt (which was quite often given the young pegasus' love of extreme sports and seeming inability to sit still). This sort of patronizing stuff always got on her nerves, no matter who it was that was doing it to her. "I'm fine, Pinkie," She lightly groaned, brushing the party pony aside with a stray hoof. "It's not like I crashed my scooter without wearing a helmet or anything."

"I just wanted to make sure you're fine" Pinkie explained. "And it looks like everything is indeed a-okay. You're one hundred and ten percent fine."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Scootaloo nodded her head, too polite to point out this wasn't an actual number. "I mean, why wouldn't I be fine?"

In response to the filly's question, the mare with a mane not unlike cotton candy opened her mouth, fully prepared to spill out the startling secret she'd just discovered. But then she hesitated, a nagging voice in the back of her mind told her that she didn't know for sure Scootaloo was her sister. Maybe there'd been a bookkeeping error, or something?

The odds of any such inaccuracies in a genealogical record were slim at best, but Pinkie didn't want to get Scootaloo's hopes up prematurely about something. If she raised the possibility that they were sisters, and then learned they weren't related, an entire celebration would have to be called off. And for a party pony like Pinkie, that was a big no-no. So she shut her mouth for now, opening it only briefly to say. "It's nothing, just wanted to make sure. Gotta go now, bye bye!" And then she bounced away.

The tomboyish pegasus stood there for a few seconds after Pinkie's departure, the most perplexed and puzzled look plastered on her face. She quickly shrugged it off though. "Pinkie Pie's always been weird, she's probably just planning a surprise party for me or something." She thought to herself, and her confusion faded. The filly then trotted off, hoping to find her friends and fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

---

Soon Pinkie arrived in Ponypalooza, departing from the train the second the carriage doors swung open. Her destination was already clearly in mind, her family rock farm. There were only two ponies who could clarify everything.

The rock farm itself was easy to spot, its drab colors stood out even amidst the bleakness of the surrounding landscape. On any other occasion, the party pony would be beside herself with joy, ready to rush up to the door and say hello to her family.

This time was different. Things were quite serious, and all Pinkie could concentrate on was getting some answers. So she just trotted up to the door, carefully knocking on it three times.

When the door opened a second later, there stood Pinkie's parents: Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz. There was no mistaking them, Igneous had a coat of moderate amber, a two tone grey mane and tail alternatively styled bushy and straight, brilliant amber eyes, a black stetson hat with a matching black tie that hung from a grey collar, and a cutie mark depicting a pickax. And Cloudy had a light cobalt bluish gray coat, a grayish opal mane and tail styled like a mop, light arctic blue eyes hidden behind a pair of yellow trim glasses with similarly colored bead chains, a black scarf with white lines and a small gold locket underneath it, and a cutie mark depicting three rocks. No other ponies in Equestria matched all of those features.

Igneous was the first to speak up. "Greetings to you, Pinkamina Diane Pie. 'Tis wonderful to see you again." He warmly greeted.

"What be the reason for your visit today, daughter?" Cloudy innocently inquired of her special guest. "Usually you give your father and I advanced notice of your expected arrivals."

"Sorry for just showing up like this, but there's something I really need to know," Pinkie explained to both of her parents. "It involves a secret I just discovered this morning. A secret I'd spent my whole life up til now not knowing."

Igneous and Cloudy exchanged worried glances, and Cloudy's lip quivered. "Do you mean to tell us that you..." Cloudy began.

"-I know about Scootaloo," Pinkie interrupted, glaring at her parents. "Yes, that's right, that's her name. But then, you two would know all about that, because she's my younger sister, and that means she's your daughter."

An uncomfortable silence befell the rock farm once those words had left Pinkie's lips. Nopony dared to speak a word for several minutes.

Unsurprisingly, it was Pinkie broke that silence. But her expression did not change in the slightest, her blue eyes remained fixated on her parents, making it perfectly clear that she wasn't going to leave until she got some answers. "Why?"

"Why what?" Igneous replied. Of course he knew that was a stupid response, he could already deduce what his second youngest (third youngest he reminded himself) was asking.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep this secret from me?" Pinkie remarked through gritted teeth. "All this time, I had a fifth sister, and she was living right under my pink nose. Yet you let me believe Marble and I were the last daughters to be born to you for years."

Cloudy sighed, her lips still quivering. "Pinkamina..." She began, struggling to find the right words as her tone of voice appeared to indicate regret. "It's not that we thought you couldn't handle the truth. Your father and I both agreed it was for the best."

"To do what?" Pinkie growled in protest. "To just dump her in Ponyville and forget she ever existed?! At least you were kind enough to leave her at the town orphanage, but even then you just abandoned her without even letting her know who her mommy and daddy were, or even give her a chance to say goodbye," She then questioned. "Did the others know? Am I the only one who was kept in the dark?"

"No, Pinkamina," Cloudy confirmed with a sigh. "We told nopony about our fifth daughter. Your father and I were the only ones to know I had given birth to a pegasus. Limestone, Maud, and Marble are just as unaware as you are now."

Igneous added in his own sorrowful tone. "The decision to give up our youngest daughter... was not one that we arrived at easily. We considered every possible alternative, I even vowed that I would sooner give up rock farming than abandon a child I had helped to bring into this world," A sigh of sadness escaped his lips. "Alas, your mother persuaded me otherwise."

Cloudy explained. "We decided that a rock farm was no place to raise a pegasus, especially not one born to earth ponies like us. But we knew of no other couples willing to adopt, especially not pegasus ones. The Ponyville Orphanage was our only remaining option. They were willing to take Scootaloo in and raise her in a way that we could not."

"You and Marble were only ten years old when it happened," Igneous sorrowfully admitted. "Even Limestone, we thought, was too young to know the truth. We had already kept Cloudy's pregnancy secret from you, we were too ashamed to sit you down and explain our decision to give up your baby sister. I know that is no excuse for what we did."

"We planned to tell you eventually, but you left the rock farm before we could decide when the time was right," Cloudy concluded. "And now it seems our decision has come back to haunt us."

Pinkie arched an eyebrow towards her parents. "There's just one more thing I want to know. How did you manage to conceal the fact that Mom was pregnant? Shouldn't me or one of my other sisters have noticed?"

Igneous sighed again as he explained. "You remember the time shortly before you and Marble celebrated your half birthday between ten and eleven?" When Pinkie nodded, the stallion went on to say. "Then you also remember how that was the time when I told you all your mother was sick with horsey hives and had to be confined to bed. It was to cover for her pregnancy."

"And the doctors?" Pinkie asked intently.

"Surely you remember how that was the day your mother was taken to the hospital, and Limestone watched the rock farm in our absence," Igneous added on to his explanation. "And when we came back a few days later, we'd already given Scootaloo up for adoption. We were the only ones who knew."

---

Pinkie sat in complete silence for several minutes, slowly processing all the information that had just been relayed to her. All of a sudden, her mom's mysterious bout of horsey hives and strange behavior in the week prior to her confinement made so much more sense than it had before.

This time, it was Cloudy who broke the silence that settled over the rock farm once again. "We don't expect to be forgiven by you, Pinkamina. And neither do we ask for your understanding," The elderly mare then commented. "All we ask, is that you not disown us now that you know the truth."

For a moment, Pinkie spoke not a word. She just continued to glare at her parents, as though debating whether to even continue talking to them. Then, she rose to her hooves and declared. "I... don't know what I'm going to do with you now that I know everything about why you gave up Scootaloo. You're my family though, and I know I'm probably gonna forgive you eventually. Right now though, there's a certain filly in Ponyville who deserves to know the truth. And I intend for her to hear it from me." And with those last words, she took off, bound for the train station and back to Ponyville.

"Pinkamina, wait!" Cloudy cried out, throwing up a hoof in protest.

But Igneous lowered his wife's hoof and shook his head. "Let her go, Cloudy. It's best if she has time to think about us, and about what we did. Besides, we have more pressing concerns," Adjusting his stetson, the stallion declared. "It is high time we informed the rest of our daughters: Limestone, Maudileena, and Marble. They too must know the truth."

Author's Note:

In the original version of this fic, Igneous and Cloudy gave Scootaloo up for adoption because Igneous did not like pegasi at the time of Cloudy's birth. While I won't deny that sort of thing probably happens in real life, I feel like in fiction it's an overdone cliche in adoption tales for the biological parents to be closed minded and/or bigoted. That way it's easier to make the foster parents seem nice.

You're probably wondering why the Cakes are tagged here. Well, since the spoiler tag doesn't work in author's notes, I can't say much. But rest assured that there's a good reason why the Cakes are tagged.

Comments

[FurryBrony]

The Spoiler tag may not work in Author's Notes, but it does work in comments. Meaning if someone asks, you can tell them and hide it in spoilers.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

8883638 Yes, I know that. I don't know why it only works in comments, and I really wish they would fix it for stories.

Edit: Never mind, at least for old fics it seems to work.

[i_am_the_jam]

Is Scootaloo REALLY Igneus' daughter?

[SuperPinkBrony12]

8884055 Yes. I'll explain how in a later chapter, but let's just say the Pie family tree doesn't only consist of earth ponies.