The End
One look at the massive tome detailing the history of the two sisters was all Scootaloo needed to decide that asking Rarity a few simple questions was the more preferable option for completing her assignment. It had been two weeks since Cheerilee had given out the assignment and, at first, Scootaloo’s procrastination was just the garden variety scootering-is-more-fun-than-homework kind. But one way or the other, family appreciation day was approaching and Scootaloo was expected to say something about somepony.
“Hey Rarity,” Scootaloo asked, setting her notebook on the kitchen counter as Rarity peeled carrots for dinner.
“Yes, dear?”
“Can I ask you some questions?” Before Rarity could respond, Scootaloo spoke again. “It's for school,” she quickly clarified, less Rarity thought that this was anything else.
“Of course dear, ask away,” Rarity called over her shoulder.
Scootaloo looked down at her list of prepared inquiries she planned to use to flesh out her report. “What's your favorite color?”
Rarity stopped peeling and brought a hoof to her chin. “Well that is a complicated question. My favorite color depends entirely on the context.” Rarity was about launch into an explanation of lighting and complimentary colors when she noticed Scootaloo roll her eyes. “Aubergine, my favorite color is aubergine.”
Rarity may have said “my favorite color is table” for all Scootaloo understood. Orange was a color, so were blue and red. Some colors had more descriptive names like pearl or aquamarine, but Scootaloo didn't know what an aubergine was, much less what spectrum of light it reflected. “What’s that?”
Rarity levitated a spool of ribbon from a nearby spool in the parlor room. “This is aubergine. I find that it highlights most other colors as well as being bold enough to stand on its own without being garish.”
Scootaloo squinted at the ribbon in front of her. Try as she might to be open to the possibility that there was something Rarity saw that she didn't, she couldn't make herself see anything other than the obvious. “Can't I just say purple?”
Rarity recoiled in shock if not indignation. “Most certainly not. How would you feel if I called your scooter a tricycle?”
“That's silly, my scooter isn’t a tricycle,” Scootaloo shot back.
“And aubergine isn’t purple,” Rarity responded with a barely discernable hmph tacked on for emphasis.
Rarity’s favorite color is aubergine, Scootaloo wrote in her notebook. “What's your favorite food?”
“Well again,” Rarity stopped herself before Scootaloo could change her mind about reading the massive tome about the two princesses. “Just say ice cream. Chocolate if you must be specific.”
There were a few more questions encompassing other things Rarity liked, (Fluttershy, singing and roses being among them) and then Scootaloo left confident enough to write her report.
But it wasn't until after dinner Scootaloo pulled out her chair and sat at her desk.
My Family
A week later Scootaloo sat in her assigned seat with two reports. The first one she had written quickly, it was pretty boilerplate. Rarity likes fashion and ice cream. One neat thing about her is that she is an Element of Harmony. We like to make barley soup together etc etc. Scootaloo knew she could read that and get a passing grade. She might get a note about trying a little harder next time, but she would pass and everypony would forget her report as soon as the next presenter started.
Her second report was different. It didn’t mention barley soup or the Element of Generosity. She knew Cheerilee would love it, but she wasn’t entirely sure how the audience would react and that’s who it was meant for.
There were a lot of fillies and colts in the audience, most of whom she knew, some of whom went to other schools or were homeschooled. What if one of them was like her, desperately searching for some kind of family? And what about all the adults watching? Maybe they were considering adopting; surely they should hear how much it might mean to a child to finally find a home. Didn’t she have some sort of responsibility to share her experience so others could learn from it? Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. “Next up we have Scootaloo. Let’s all give her a round of applause.”
Hesitating for one last second, she grabbed the second one between her teeth and walked up to the lectern.
The paper shook slightly as she placed it down on the slanted surface.
My Family
My Family is Rarity and Sweetie Belle.
Rarity is my mom. I don’t know who my birth mom is, but Rarity cooks me dinner every night and tucks me in when I ask her to. She walks me home from my dance lessons and she makes sure that I do my homework. She likes chocolate ice cream. Sometimes ponies ask me who my “real mom” is and if I ever wonder what’s she’s like. I don’t like those questions. Rarity takes care of me, that makes her my real mom.
Sweetie Belle is my sister. We’re not really related either. I guess we could be since I don’t know who my birth parents are; but I’m pretty sure they’re not Sweetie’s parents. Sweetie is Rarity’s birth sister if that counts for anything. Anyway even though she’s not my birth sister she is always there for me when I need her, and we do lots of fun stuff together. That makes her my sister even if we do have different parents.
The words on the page began to blur and Scootaloo wiped her eyes.
I know my family isn’t like a lot of other families and that we haven’t been a family for very long, but for a long time I didn’t have any family. I tried to convince myself that I was just fine without one, but I wasn’t. I was sad all the time because I thought no one loved me. But then I found this one. Our life isn’t perfect; sometimes we fight and yell at each other. But I’m pretty sure that even when we do fight they love me, and I…I don’t know what I would do without them.
Because that’s what family is, ponies who love you no matter what.
So on this Family Appreciation Day I just want to say that I’m glad I finally have a family to appreciate.
Scootaloo ended her report and dared to look up from the lectern. As soon as she saw the sea of ponies staring back at her she realized she had made a horrible mistake and now was standing in front of a room full of ponies who knew how weak she was. The room began to shrink and her heart started pounding. One thought pushed any others down, she had to leave, immediately. Not even bothering to pick up her report she sprinted as fast as she could toward the stage wings, intent on slipping out the back door and hurrying down the road all the way to the Everfree Forest.
The audience burst into thunderous applause but Scootaloo could barely hear it over the thumping in her chest.
Before she could reach the exit she heard a familiar voice.
“Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo turned to see Rarity waiting by the side entrance which didn't make sense seeing as how Rarity had been in the audience. Scootaloo sprinted towards the exit the very instant her speech had ended which meant the only way Rarity could be backstage now is if she left before the speech ended. Which she would only do if she knew Scootaloo well enough to predict her overwhelming need to flee.
It was pure instinct that drove Scootaloo into the waiting forelegs of the pony she just spoke about. Instinct that told her within that embrace she was safe and loved and nothing else mattered.
The roar subsided and a voice said something about taking a brief recess, but Scootaloo wasn’t sure, she was too busy clinging to Rarity for dear life. Out in the audience even Diamond Tiara clapped, though perhaps not as enthusiastically as her classmates.
“I'm sure that wasn't easy for you,” Rarity said, looking down. Scootaloo shook her head. “I'm very proud of you, dear,” and Scootaloo felt a reassuring squeeze. “You’re pretty sure I love you?” The question was asked with a raised eyebrow and the beginnings of a smile.
“Yeah, ” Scootaloo replied softly.
“Well I’m pretty sure you love me too,” Rarity said with the beginning of a sly grin.
“Thanks, Mom,” Scootaloo whispered.
“You're most welcome, Pumpkin,” Rarity whispered back.
“I think I'm still going to call you ‘Rarity,’” Scootaloo said louder.
“I shall probably still call you ‘Scootaloo.’”
“I'm okay with that.”
“Splendid.” Out of the corner of her eye Rarity saw a white and yellow blur racing toward them. “I do believe we’re about to have company.”
In the span of half a second Scootaloo found herself as the filling in a crusaders hug sandwich, Sweetie on her left and Apple Bloom on her right. She took a moment to awkwardly attempt to acknowledge the gesture, but then without warning Apple Bloom slugged her in the shoulder.
“Hey, what was that for?” Scootaloo said, indigently rubbing her foreleg.
“Cause you said you didn't think anyone loved ya. We love ya and you know it.”
“You know what I meant.”
Both ponies turned to Sweetie Belle, looking to her to cast the deciding vote. “Sorry, Apple Bloom, I’ve got to side with my niece on this one”
“I'm not calling you Auntie Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo shouted, launching herself full throttle at Sweetie. From there the discussion devolved into a general scrum as Rarity watched with a smile.
Thanks to Autumn's wholehearted recommendation, as well as calling in a few favors, the last few months of Rarity’s fostering were waived in favor of granting immediate full custody. All that was left was the signing of the adoption papers.
Theoretically Rarity, Scootaloo and Autumn could have just signed the papers at the Foal Services office, or the Boutique; but this was a celebratory event and happy occasions in Ponyville were pretty much legally mandated to be accompanied by Pinkie Pie sanctioned and planned parties.
The Boutique was closed for the afternoon and decorated with as many balloons as could comfortably fill the space. A big banner hung above the doorway reading congratulations in gold letters. A buffet table with fruit and cake, decorated with flowers donated by Lily and Treble, housed refreshments.
After the guest had arrived, with everyone watching, Rarity magically grabbed a pen and signed her name with a flourish, holding the paper aloft and presenting it to the world. The assembled crowd burst into applause.
Music began to play and the crowd dispersed, some moving towards the refreshments, others hoping to get a chance to offer well wishes in person.
Papers stowed in his saddlebag, Autumn began slowly moving toward the door, taking one last moment to take in the scene. He had heard his colleges describe these moments as bittersweet, but he never really understood that. For him there was nothing melancholy about closing a file, it was the best part of his job, in some ways the only redeeming part. It signaled that he had succeeded in making a child’s life better, what was bittersweet about that? He was about to open the door and quietly slip away when he felt a tug on his tail.
“You’re leaving?” Scootaloo asked, looking up with wide eyes.
Autumn nodded, accompanying the gesture with a shrug. “I have the signed papers, everything’s one hundred percent offical now. There’s nothing left for me to do.”
“I guess this means I’m not going to see you anymore.”
There was a idiom around the office at Foal Services, sort of a dark humour that said once you closed a file you never wanted to see that child again. The unspoken truth being if you did it meant something had gone horribly wrong. Autumn didn’t share the joke with Scootaloo, but it did quickly run through his head. The harsh truth was that he didn’t want to see Scootaloo again, at least not in any official capacity. Their journey had been longer than most and it appeared to have a happy ending. Used to trauma though he was he didn’t dare imagine how hard it would be, for both of them, if he had to reopen Scootaloo’s file. But a glance at Rarity, who could only be described as beaming as she talked to her friends, reassured him. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said smiling to push down the fear. “My office is going to be right where you left it, and if you have another dance recital, I’ll be right there clapping for you.” Scootaloo didn’t look convinced, her eyebrows narrowing. He sighed, “Okay you’re right, things will be different from now on. My job was always to find you a family, and I know it wasn’t as easy as you would have liked but we did it, and it looks to me like it’s a pretty great one.”
Scootaloo took a long look at the assembled guest, her gaze lingering on Rarity and Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, they are pretty great.” She looked up at her case officer slash sort of friend. “I never said thank you,” she said with a regretful grimace.
“You never have to, I was just doing my job.”
Scootaloo shook her head. “No, I do. Family is ponies who care about you, I know that now. And I think maybe if you didn’t care about me, I wouldn’t have found such a great one, so maybe, in a way you were kind of my family.”
Autumn brushed the comment away with a flick of his hoof before it could take root. “Nah, you’re pretty special, I never thought, even for one moment, that I wouldn’t be able to find you a great home.” It was a lie, but it was the kind of lie ponies told because the truth was unnecessary.
“Thank you.”
Now it was Autumns turn to shake his head. “Okay, that’s enough of that. Why don’t you run along and enjoy your party?"
And Scootaloo did.
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This was really good and I'm glad I read this heartwarming story
i can only agree to what DJSkywalker said
It would be pretty awkward for Sweetie Belle to be Scootaloo's aunt, since they're both more or less the same age (at best one might be a few months older than the other).
A toast to this new family! Great to see this story come to a satisfying conclusion and a very well written story.
Brilliant ending.
Congrats on finishing the story!
Btw, if it's really-truly done, you may want to add a "complete" tag to it.
7862823 coulda sworn I did that.
*Applauds* Thank you, and well done.
Move down a line.
____________
This was a satisfying end to a great fic. Although I'm sad that it ended, I'm glad in how it ended.
Sigh... This again. All right ninjas, you saw. Get it on with those onions.
Nice story in the end, loved it. Only nitpick I would have it I thought there be more of a fight for Scoots from the other family.
orig11.deviantart.net/c167/f/2017/010/5/0/oops_by_hillbe-dauxfut.jpg
Great story thank you,,,
Extra space.
That was a very satisfying story to read over the past few years.
I enjoyed seeing a new chapter pop up every now and then, but now that it's finally complete, I'm going to miss it.
Oh well, all good things must pass.
Thank you for sharing this story with everyone, Raylan.
Great fanfic, you did a nice job on this one and I kinda hope you do figure out some sort of sequel.
I truly enjoyed this story. Thank you
stayclassy
Amazing work, Scootaloo's little speech was extremely touching.
Amazing work, thanks for the story, loved it.
This was good stuff and I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks for a great ride.
Oh shiiii-!!
It ends.
This was great. Thanks for writing.
Missing as 's' there.
Other than that, a satisfying end to an emotional story. Well done.
And that's it.
All the most wonderful things have an ending. I have a very small list of things that I consider wonderful or so beautiful, and an even shorter list of those kinds of things being finished. Although I'm sad that it's reached its end; The beginning was great, the journey was incredible, and the ending was the sweetest thing I've ever read on this type of story.
Thank you.
Do you know where I can find hugsforpenguin and HMXTaylorLee? Their accounts are dead.
Dear heavens the feels were strong with this ending! So glad I was able to stick with it all the way through.
While I typically don't like to assign any story of a given genre my 'favourite' as there are usually many that tickle my fancy, this definitely is among the best Scootadopts I've read.
Cheers to you for giving us such a loving, realistic take. Looking forward to see what you produce next!
Well, that was a sweet and heart-warming ending.
And we finally got the Auntie Sweetie-Niece Scootaloo moment
I would had him smile when Scootaloo left then watch only little bit more then walked out the door towards the sunset knowing the job is done. That would be a good ending.
I have seen so much of Scotadotps to the M6, but I never seen anyone do like a Trixie, Shining Armor, Coco, Discord, Luna, Maud, Chesse, and maybe background characters adopted Scootaloo.
Though Trixie would be funny
Great conclusion to a great story. This is by far the best Scootaloo story I have come across so far on the site. The characters and pacing were good, the story was heartfelt and well written and I think you ended it in the right place. I think that this story would be best without a sequel, but an epilogue would be OK. It sad to see it come to an end, but good to see it finally finished. I just realized I haven't followed you yet, I'll have to remedy that.
This story is absolutely beautiful. I am very happy to have found this quite some time ago and follow Scootaloo and Rarity in their struggles. I must say, as much as I enjoy plenty of other stories, this ome really does earn top marks. I loved every part of this story, and I'm not even sad it's over. Like Autumn, I feel that it's just perfect and complete as is.
Sidenote: have a follow, my friend. I'm interested in seeing what you decide to do next.
7863304 I vaguely recall the beginnings of a Trixie Scootadopt somewhere, I don't think it was ever finished. Starlight is another option for a Scootadopt. I'm just not sure where I'd take either of these stories.
7863213 Sadly no
It's a bittersweet moment. I am happy that you finally finished your story. I thank you for the countless hours you put into writing this and the countless hours I happily spent reading it. But I can't help feeling a little sad. It is like saying goodbye to a dear friend. Perhaps Shakespeare said it best: "Parting is such sweet sorrow."
7863430 I am actually kind of surprised that by now there hasn't at least been attempts at Starlight Scootadopts.
I'm proud of seeing this story complete even if I'm going to miss the joy of reading it. Great job, Raylan!
I'm so sad this is over now. I haven't felt this sad since I finished Wonderbolt My Heart years ago.
And no sequel!?! What will I do to fill the void in my life now!?! 
I will miss this story. It was so nice.
Damn. That ending.
I understand but I'm slightly dissapointed, it could be because of the long wait but it seems a little bit short right now.
Like I said, it probably feels that way because I only had this chapter to read right now and I admit I hoped for a sequel, but this is better then nothing.
to be honest, it is just like with romance storys, it doesn't stop to be interessting the moment they say "I love you", which is why I often which they wouldn't end a storie right there and actually show their new life with finally being lovers.
Well good job anyway.
Great story, I really liked how you handled things throughout it, and how you avoided taking easy solutions to difficult problems. The dilemmas and emotions felt believable, and the ending worked just fine and left things feeling resolved.
If you do end up writing another Scootadopt story in the future, my vote would be for either Twilight (only a couple examples I've seen, none of which really were working for me) or someone more unexpected. Hard to say who would work though, most characters have either already been done well enough by other tales, don't create a very strong premise for a longer story on their own, or would require moving from Ponyville and thus breaking up the Crusaders.
7863557 I suspect there haven't been more attempts because the answer to the question "Why Starlight as foster parent" is difficult. Then the question of "then what" rears its head.
7863835 there's some potential for Twilight, but I don't have any good ideas for how that story might go.
I feel the disses towards other people's work in the author's note brings the mood down, even if the works aren't ones I'm particularly fond of. It seems unnecessarily mean to me is all...
The story was great otherwise.
7863894 you mean Fall of Equestria and Cupcakes?
I stand by my characterization.
7863900
It's less that you dissed them & more when you chose to diss them. Doesn't feel like the right note to end on that way, I think.
I feel like it ruins the feel of the feelings at the ending a bit, but that's just my opinion I guess.
This story made my heart happy.
I sat here for a few minutes trying to think of the best way to phrase that sentiment. And those words are what I came up with. Because it's true. I just read the whole thing in one sitting and it is wonderful. Thank you for the wonderful story.
And so, another story has come to an end.
That was a really good story, It was in my to read later list forever glad I picked it up back in August didn't disappoint. Kinda sad to see it end but all good things come to an end.
7863864
I could see season 1 Twilight more or less accidentally adopting her. The library is a public building that isn't completely boring to be in, so Scootaloo might go there on days when the weather is too bad to be outside. This could escalate in a number of ways. Maybe Scootaloo falls asleep behind a shelf one evening and Twilight decides it's too late to make her walk home and offers her the spare room. After all, she used to fall asleep in the library all the time, it's perfectly normal.
Now, at this point, Twilight is not very socially experienced. She doesn't know that she shouldn't just accept it when Scootaloo makes some excuse about her parents or even that it isn't normal for a child to be so unsupervised. So, she is not aware that there is anything abnormal about Scootaloo, even as Scootaloo is spending more and more time at the library.
Oh my god, that ending was beautiful. I am literally crying right now, you glorious bastard.
Thiiiis~ <3
Tears have been shed.
only thing i can think of for a sequel is just another slice of life with the family learning more what it means to be a family. helping each other and fighting for example.
Very nicely done. Thank you for all the effort you've put in on this story.