The Perfect Gift
Scootaloo had nearly screamed in frustration when she looked at the calendar that morning, she’d completely forgotten about the date. Mother’s Day, it was tomorrow! How could she ever have forgotten? Scootaloo groaned as she fell face first into her pillow, just wanting to die right then and there. She’d been meaning to get her mother (Well, adoptive mother) a gift for weeks now, and for various reasons -Mostly crusading related- she’d been putting it off.
Scootaloo groaned, and muttered something quite rude to herself under her breath. How rude? Well, let’s just say if Applejack or Fluttershy ever heard it, they’d wash Scootaloo’s mouth out with a bar of soap and that would be the end of it.
Scootaloo sniffled, fighting back tears as she looked towards her dresser, whereupon it lay a photo of her and her adoptive mother smiling, a certificate in their hooves. An adoption certificate, to be precise.
Scootaloo sighed to herself and wiped away her tears. She wouldn’t let anyone see her cry, not even her mother if she happened to walk in. It then struck Scootaloo, it had been one year exactly, on the dot to that day. She still remembered it in fact, every last detail. The time Rainbow came to the Sunny Smiles Orphanage and adopted her.
Scootaloo had always been one who survived on what was left. While all the other foals and fillies gorged themselves on the best food and got to play with the best toys, she was always the last in line. At this point, she had gotten used to it. She didn’t have many high ambitions or need to get the best things out of life. After all, she still had her friends, and outside of class, they were all that she needed.
Still, she wished that, deep down in her heart, she could have a real mother and father of her own; even if they were just adoptive parents.
“Just one day.” Scootaloo kept on telling herself, over and over and over again. “One day, I’ll finally have a mom or dad of my own to hang out with.”
“Scootaloo?”
One of the caretakers poked her head out of the door and walked up to the filly, sitting on her bed. “There’s somepony here to see you. And from the looks of it, you might be surprised.”
“Surprised?” Scootaloo parroted, looking up at the tender-hearted mare. “How surprised we talkin’ about?”
“Well, just you wait and see.” The mare stood up and started to lead Scootaloo out of the room. “I think this might be the last day you ever spend at the orphanage.”
“R-really?” Scootaloo’s eyes lit up almost instantaneously at those words. Was she finally about to be given a real family? With a real mother and father who would love her?
When Scootaloo arrived at the lobby of the orphanage, she met a familiar face, and her whole heart began to melt. There, standing before her, was Rainbow Dash, with an adoption form in her muzzle. This was a dream come true for her. Not only was she about to get adopted, but it was by none other than her idol, the one and only Rainbow Dash. She was so tempted to pinch herself to make sure it wasn’t a dream, but decided against it so as not to ruin the moment.
“Rainbow Dash!” She squealed and barrelled into Rainbow’s leg, hugging it as tight as she could.
“Hey, Squirt,” Rainbow smiled and patted Scootaloo on the back. “Surprise.”
“Is this really happening?” Scootaloo asked, crying as she buried her face into Rainbow’s leg. “Am I about to get adopted by you? For realsies?”
“Yep.” Rainbow nodded. “Just gotta sign my name a couple times, then we’re gonna head on home straight away. Sound good?”
“Of course it sounds good!” Scootaloo nodded, slathering her tears all over Rainbow’s leg. “Let’s go, Rainbow! I wanna come home with you as soon as possible!”
Rainbow looked down at the teary kid, then up at the mare who has escorted her. “So, where do I sign?”
“Just here a couple of times, Rainbow,” The mare (The matron of the orphanage) smiled and tapped both points with her hoof. “Here.” And she hoofed a quill over to Rainbow, who walked over to the desk and started to write her name.
As Scootaloo watched Rainbow finish with the adoption papers, she felt a number of things come to the surface. Most of it being pure euphoria. She wanted to scream, dance, and prance around like a giddy little foal over the fact that not only was she finally getting a family, but one with the greatest pony ever to have flown the planet. If this was a dream, it was one she never wanted to wake up from.
“So kid, ready to go to your new home?” Rainbow asked, and all she got in response was a nearly bone-crushing hug from Scootaloo, as the matron watched with teary eyes.
Back in the present, Scootaloo’s resolve affirmed itself. “I’ve got to do something, just for Mom. She took me in, when nobody else would have me,” Scootaloo thought to herself. “But what?” she questioned, as she climbed off the bed and slowly and ever so carefully opened the door to the hallway that lay beyond.
The lights were mostly off in the hallway, and Scootaloo vaguely remembered Rainbow had laid herself down for a nap a hour or so before. Lining the hallway were the many trophies and ribbons Rainbow had earned during her career with the Wonderbolts amongst various other accomplishments, each a specific point of pride for her.
Now, most ponies would have believed these were a bragging point for Rainbow, just for her to show off how awesome she was and for her to bask in her own glory, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
In fact, Rainbow had specifically placed all of these awards where they were for Scootaloo to see, not just to let her know she had the best mother in the world -which was something Scootaloo would firmly attest to many times over- but to give her daughter something to aspire to. And possibly, one day, actually break all of those records Rainbow had set.
Scootaloo very much intended to do that. After all, wasn’t it a foal’s job to surpass their parents?
Suddenly, Scootaloo got an idea, looking at a picture of the Wonderbolts, or more accurately one of their recruiting posters. In it, Spitfire, Soarin’, and Fleetfoot stood proudly with the sun against their backs, as silhouetted flyers soared high above them.
“I wonder… Could the Cakes recreate this in cake form?” Scootaloo thought to herself, rubbing her chin in thought. She then slapped herself on the forehead. “What am I saying? Of course they can! With Pinkie’s help, they can create anything!” she reminded herself, remembering the towering colossus of a cake (Could one even really call it that?) that was the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. Scootaloo quickly whipped out a camera, and snapped a photo of the poster.
Grabbing her bags, Scootaloo rushed out the front door kicking up a ton of dust in the air with her scooter as she rocketed off towards Sugarcube Corner…
Sugarcube Corner was bustling with ponies as always, in fact, poor Scoots had to pretty much squeeze in through the crowd as she made her way to the counter. But eventually, she managed to make her way to one of the stools and with a little buzzing of her wings, managed to hop up on one of them.
“Scootaloo, always a pleasure!” Mr. Cake said, as he handed another pony a smoothie. The young pegasus was a familiar sight around the shop, usually accompanied by her friends. “So, what can I do you for? Banana Smoothie, it’d be on the house after you helping babysit the twins last Friday!” he exclaimed, and Scootaloo grimaced at the memory, remembering how she’d gotten carrots all over her muzzle. Needless to say, a bath was required and Scootaloo absolutely. Hated. Baths. Even if they were given to her by her mother.
“Actually, I’d like to request a commission,” Scootaloo replied, catching Mr. Cake off guard as she showed him the photo. “T-That is, if you’re up to the task, and I can pay for it…” she murmured to herself nervously.
“Nonsense, I did say anything I did for you today would be on the house didn’t I?” Mr. Cake said with a wink. “Besides, I welcome the challenge! Can’t be any harder than the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness right?” he asked.
“...Didn’t Pinkie eat that?” Scootaloo asked, eyebrow raised, having heard the story from her mother.
“Besides the point. Believe me Scootaloo, just come back tomorrow and you’ll have your cake,” he replied. “Or more accurately, Rainbow will have her cake.”
“How did you…?” the young filly trailed off.
“Wasn’t that hard to guess.”
After waving Mr. Cake goodbye, Scootaloo punched the air, this was going to be absolutely perfect!
The night passed quickly, and Scootaloo returned later that next morning to pick up the now finished cake. Rainbow was out busting clouds, so she wouldn’t know what her daughter was planning. Speaking of Scootaloo, her eyes widened as soon as she saw what could only be described as a masterpiece of both cake making, and cake decorating. Clearly, as ever, the Cakes had shown once again why they were reputed as master bakers, unseating that griffon from Canterlot named Gustave le Grand in the process. Pinkie had probably helped, but then again maybe not as she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.
Now, the cake itself, as explained by Mr. Cake, used Sponge Cake as the basis, and had been practically slathered in Fondant and other fancy ingredients Scootaloo could barely pronounce to recreate the image she’d given the couple. But in the end, it had all paid off, as every detail, even the minor ones, had been paid attention to, and even the silhouetted unknown members of the Wonderbolts had been re-created with a drool-worthy coating of dark chocolate frosting. Which, as it happened, Scootaloo knew to be Rainbow’s personal favorite type. And to top it all off, the words: “Happy Mother’s Day, Rainbow Dash” had been written in buttercream yellow frosting below the image.
Soon, it was loaded onto the back of Scootaloo’s scooter in a fancy white box, and tied down with lashings. “Now, take care not to go too fast,” Mr Cake had warned. “Otherwise, I’m not sure how well those fastenings will hold!”
“I’ll be careful, don’t you worry!” Scootaloo replied, tossing him a salute with her hoof before zipping off down the streets of Ponyville like a little orange blur.
“This is going to be just perfect!” Scootaloo thought as she rushed back towards her house, never noticing the small rock in her path. The scooter did a little hop, but that was enough as the cake shook loose. As Scootaloo’s face hit the dirt, and the scooter the grass, the young filly’s eyes could only watch in horror at what happened next.
The cake flipped end over end, and things seemed to happen in slow motion for a brief time as Scootaloo watched, before everything resumed normal speed as it hit the ground with a loud splat.
Scootaloo desperately tried to piece what little remained of the cake back together, but it was all for nothing really. The cake was ruined. Realizing this fact, Scootaloo’s eyes began to well up with tears as her lip quivered. She began to try and fight them, but the dam did eventually break, and she began crying.
As it happened, Rainbow had been taking a small break on a cloud after clearing the skies for today, before she intended on heading back home to see how the kid was doing. Her ears suddenly perked up, as she heard a very familiar cry she hadn’t heard since…
“The camping trip to Winsome Falls!” Rainbow realized, eyes widening, and she looked down to see her daughter, her daughter sobbing her little heart out, her favorite scooter laying by her side in the grass. Her maternal instincts kicking in, Scootaloo soon found herself pulled into a warm, comforting hug by Rainbow.
“Shh, shh,” Rainbow whispered as she rubbed Scootaloo’s back, her daughter sobbing into her chest fur. Rainbow reacted instinctively and pulled her in closer, wrapping her wings around her as she did so. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“T-The cake...” Scootaloo eventually answered, her voice raspy and her throat raw from crying.
Rainbow walked over to the site of the disaster and saw what little remained of the cake. Her heart broke a little as she saw the piece that had her name on it, and though she’d never admit to it as she sighed: “Oh squirt…” her eyes teared up a little as well.
“I… I just wanted it to be perfect, just for you! A-And then I didn’t see the rock and-” Scootaloo began, before she started sniffling once more as tears threatened to return.
“Why’d you go through all this trouble kid?” Rainbow asked. “Just some flowers would have been nice.”
“Be-because…” Scootaloo whispered, unable to get the words out. Right then, as she nuzzled her daughter, Rainbow remembered what yesterday was.
“Of course, the adoption! How could I have been so stupid!?!” Rainbow chastised herself for her own forgetfulness. “Scootaloo had been bounced from foster home to foster home for years! She told me so herself! Of course, she’d want to do something special for me!”
Rainbow looked at her daughter seriously. “Scoots, while I do appreciate the sentiment, I really do, you really didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me. Just knowing that I have you is the best gift a mother could ask for.”
“R-Really?” Scootaloo asked as she looked up at her mother with tear-filled eyes.
“Yeah, really,” Rainbow replied, wiping those tears away with a wing. “Now come on kid, Iet’s just go home. I’ll buy you some ice cream, that sound alright?” she asked, and when Scootaloo nodded, Rainbow smiled.
“Yeah, thought so. Just remember kid, I’ll always be here for you, never forget that.”
“I-I won’t!”
Okay, so I was literally grasping at straws for ideas here for a piece for this day, until my good friend Ruinqueen challenged me to write a happy Scootaloo/Rainbow Dash mother and daughter piece, considering between us we have three stories of her giving Scootaloo up when she was a child. Now, I admit I didn't have any room to work in the actual blood relation angle (Also, huge thanks to Shadowmane PX-41 for writing the actual adoption scene, give him some love, will you?) but I figured this would do well enough.
Also, apologies about that shameless reference to the Abyss's story at the end. ...Actually, not sorry at all.
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Awww, great fic, a shame you had to leave out the blood relation thing, but I'll take it anyway. Its sweet, adorable, and just overall great. Thank you!
8922795
You're quite welcome. Was an absolute pleasure to write.
I didn't listen to the warnings. Didn't listen!
Short and sweet I like it!
8922872
Hey, that's how I like to do my oneshots.
8922856
Worth it though right?
8922918 Well, yeah of course.
Stories rarely get me to tear up. You achieved that with Scootaloo losing the cake and Rainbow comforting her.
I love this story, short and simple and so heartwarming, this was worth the read.
Nice, it got featured. That would explain how it overshadowed me although we published around the same time lol.
8923405
I'm honestly not sure exactly why it got featured, really. Maybe I have more followers, might have something to do with it. Or it's just the simple fact of the matter that people love Rainbow and Scootaloo centered stories.
8923411 All of that is pretty much true. You have more followers and the ironic part is I did a story with those two on fathers day and it had a 18-5 ratio(although it was rushed since I wrote it in 2 weeks and had a week worth of editing). Nevertheless, congrats
8923433
Thank you. Do you want to know the really funny thing here? And I'm sorry if I sound like I was bragging, but this was a bit of a rush job, written mostly yesterday and in the early hours of today. I was surprised this turned out as well as it did.
My
Heart
Is
Meltinnggg rn
8923435 Then you have natural talent. I wrote mine back in November and had to re-write it, edit it and go over it 3 times each. But who knows? Maybe it'll change since it hasn't been 12 hours yet and it has a good ratio so far.
Featured, congrats!
8923486
Which was a surprise to me honestly. This fic was one of those rush jobs. I honestly wasn't expecting anything of the sort.
Well duh. You ask in blissful ignorance why the story is featured...
Its cuz it's a great one shot. Well done
Oh my goodness I just absolutely loved the pure loving feelings in this!
awww
Which one of the Abyss's stories is that one?
8923674
This one.
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Sad
- Slice of Life
After Rainbow finds Scootaloo trudging beneath her house in a vicious snowstorm, she takes her in, only to discover something shocking.This was adorable.
This was great.
Alright, I liked this fic overall. But let's break it down, shall we?
This is a stylistic choice, but I find that parantheses and other displaced punctuation can make a paragraph look clunky. Not wrong, just a note I wanted to give my two cents on.
I like your voice for Scootaloo here. I was going to say she's a little hamfisted dramatic, but kids are sometimes. No worries there.
This is very cute, but seems a little... forced. Like, almost too convenient. But, very adorable nonetheless.
Your use of detail is nice here. Simple, sweet, and gives us a taste of the environment. Well done.
Just a quick note, your detail in describing the dessert is nice, but a bit long-winded. If you shortened it up a bit and maybe worked it into a more active scene, like when she would give the cake to Rainbow, it'd have more oomph. Just my opinion, though.
Your voice for Rainbow is really good overall, but this seems a little too fancy for her. But like I said, good voice for her overall.
Okay, this was a cute piece and did its mission well. I've never been a huge fan of Scootadoption stories just because they're a bit overdone, but you really did well here. It was simplified and focused on just a cute moment as opposed to dragging out the emotions.
Well done!
I loved the story. That ending was so beautiful and sweet. Good work.
9267943
Thank you! I tried to aim for a bit of tearjerking, but still very heartwarming at the same time.
9267949
Well good job with that. It pulled at my heartstrings.
A short, simple and sweet story. Glad I got to read it. Also, didn't mind the reference at the end though.