In the wake of an adoption interview, Scootaloo finds new facts and events and must figure out what her future will be after the orphanage.
Scootaloo’s life has improved a lot since last Hearth’s Warming Eve, now that an orphanage is building. But soon a couple arrives with their intentions set to change her life forever, and, along with a new truth about her parents, she will find out what some ponies mean in her life.
Note; Alternate Universe tag included due to the fact S4 shows Scootaloo has a room somewhere, but still no answer if she is an orphan or not, so tag included simply as a precaution. Other tag does not indicate humans, just show characters that feature can't be selected at all.
She sat still as the wind rustled the leaves on the nearby branches of the trees. The sun, as usual, bore down its warming light, and she sighed with content. Behind the trees stood the countryside house she now called home, and on the patio, watching the idyllic scenery were her new parents. The mint green unicorn lifted his drink to his lips and took a sip, giving a sigh of satisfaction once the sip had been consumed.
Click
It was all she could have hoped for in her life. Her new home wasn’t far from Ponyville, so she could still see her friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. And best of all, she could still see her idol, Rainbow Dash. She didn’t have to change schools, didn’t have to say goodbye to her friends, how could things get any better?
“Don’t you think this is a little cruel?”
With a yawn, she stood up and trotted back towards the house, where her new adoptive parents smiled, offering her some lemonade. She gladly took the glass, said her thanks and took a sip of the cooling drink.
“Nah, now on three. One…”
High in the sky and some distance away, a pegasus shape figure took to the sky, rainbow trail following. Grinning in excitement, Scootaloo watched the figure began to practise routines. Nothing could be better than seeing Rainbow Dash.
“THREE!”
Scootaloo shot awake as a horn blared a mere inch from her head, screaming in surprise. Beside her, Snowdrops was on the floor, gasping for breath between laughs, and Oca looked ashamed.
“It was her idea!” he shouted, running away as fast as he could.
Glaring at the still laughing white mare with a light blue mane and tail, otherwise known as Snowdrops, Scootaloo climbed out of bed. Grumbling to herself, she began to run the dream through her head again, and was filled with sorrow as she realised it had been a dream. She was still in the orphanage, an unwanted filly that no one outside the walls was willing to let into their lives.
As she began her routine in the bathroom, starting with the trip to the toilet, she heard Snowdrops slowly begin to cease her laughter. The hoofsteps towards the door gave it away that the older mare had come to the bathroom and was now waiting for a good moment to speak.
“Sorry Scoots, but, the look on your face,” she paused to try and compose herself, lest she broke down into laughter again, “just, you slept through breakfast. Luckily, Miss Amethyst kept you some, she said to tell you to come to her office when you were awake to get it.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. In all the times she had slept through breakfast, each one had been met with a message from somepony else to go to the office to get the breakfast Miss Amethyst had prepared for her. Would it really kill her to miss one breakfast?
Pretty annoyed that she was once again going to be forced to eat breakfast, Scootaloo left the bathroom and walked past Snowdrops, not noticing Snowdrops’ smile fade into a frown.
-- The corridors around the orphanage now looked far different. Where before the wallpaper had seemed all too eager to part company with rotting wood planks, the walls were now a bright white. So bright that the lighting could be kept to a minimum, and the reflecting light off the walls made up for it. The floors had also changed, from a slightly sodden wood, to sturdy stone. The changes made Miss Amethyst happy, as less bits were spent on bills for lighting.
Rooms were now separate from each other, with small ensuite bathrooms, but still remained very much as they had been before, fillies on the one floor with an overnight caretaker, and the colts on another floor, the stairway right next to where the caretaker would be. This had been to the joy of all the previous orphans living there, who had become fed up of sharing one large room with at least one other pony.
On the first floor, which had been for rooms in the old building, there now could be found a library that would rival the public one in Ponyville. There was also a recreation room, art room and a larger bathroom for daytime use. In the center of the first floor was a grand staircase.
Scootaloo wasn’t the only pony walking around. With the rebuilding of the orphanage, it had become common for more orphans to be brought in, though just as many, it seemed, would sooner or later leave.
As she got halfway down, where the grand staircase turned back around, Scootaloo stopped and looked out across the main hallway. In the old building, this had been just a narrow corridor where Miss Amethyst’s office could be found, but it was now larger. It contained a special records keeping room with secretary, and a first aid room with nurse. Next to this there were two double doors to the dining room (with kitchen and its often very angry chief), and of course, right next to the doors into the orphanage, Miss Amethyst’s office.
In the middle of the hallway, Miss Amethyst was currently leading a small colt towards two older mares, one mint green unicorn with matching light green mane, and a light yellow earth pony mare with multi colored mane. They stopped nearby, and Scootaloo saw as papers were handed into the unicorn mare’s magic. This was followed by a look of surprise and joy from the colt, who begun to hop excitedly on the spot.
Scootaloo sighed. Another one. While she was happy for him, because it now saved Miss Amethyst from trying to explain why the grandmother he lived with instead of parents wouldn’t wake up the morning of the day he had been brought in, she couldn’t help but feel jealous of the colt. She was older than he was, and yet, her turn to feel that joy, of seeing the adoption papers being given to the new guardians, well, it was beginning to feel like it would never happen.
“Well, good morning, Scooty,” Showstopper greeted her, he was a yellow colt easily ten years older than Scootaloo, his orange mane and tail were neatly brushed, his mane pushed to a point above his right eye, though a cape he almost always wore covered his flanks, “Miss Amethyst is not too pleased, based on how she looked around the dining room this morning, confirmed when she asked us to keep an eye out for you and give you a message.”
“Oh? And what message might that be?” Scootaloo asked.
“Scootaloo! Down here now, missy!” Miss Amethyst called out breaking Scootaloo attention towards Showstopper.
Her ears folded back against her head, and obeying, she trotted down the last flight of stairs, and crossed the hall to Miss Amethyst. The older mare stared at her, and simply pointed a hoof at her office. Walking ahead, Scootaloo saw a decent sized breakfast on the desk in the office. While she took a seat before it, Miss Amethyst entered the room and sat in her chair opposite, and simply observed.
“You have to stop missing breakfast, Scootaloo. Promise me?”
“I try my best Miss Amethyst, but it’s not my fault I don’t wake up on time sometimes.” Scootaloo answered.
The stare Miss Amethyst gave reflected what could be said in words as ‘Sometimes isn’t the right word there, is it, Scootaloo?’. Scootaloo groaned.
“Fine, every day.”
“Now, I just wanted you to know something,” Miss Amethyst paused, as Scootaloo took another bite of some fruit and looked to her, “a couple came in recently. As you know, when a couple comes here looking to adopt, we don’t let them meet any orphans, just folders we have on them. And well, Scootaloo, they asked to put you in their top three orphans to meet.”
Scootaloo almost choked, and had to hit herself hard to prevent it. She looked towards Miss Amethyst, her eyes wide with joy. She had often heard from others how couples would shortlist orphans, and then they would meet and one would become clear as a perfect match. But in all the years she had been there, it had never happened to her.
“This… this isn’t some sort of cruel joke is it?” Scootaloo whispered.
Miss Amethyst took three folders from the top drawer of her desk, searched through them for one, putting the other two back.
“Those three folders are the shortlist of the orphans they would like to meet later today,” she placed the one she still held just within Scootaloo’s sight, the filly’s name right at the top along with a recent photograph of her making Scootaloo break out into a hopeful smile, “and here is your folder. This isn’t a joke, Scootaloo. Someone is considering adopting you.”
-- The main orphanage stood a small distance away from the building where would-be adoptee couples met the orphans that they had considered to adopt. Scootaloo had often seen orphans enter the building and leave, once or twice it had been Snowdrops, but this was a building she had never been inside before.
One thing she had learnt, the couple would always be left in the building, and the orphans brought in after them, so the orphans wouldn’t purposely throw the meeting to not be adopted by those they didn’t like the look of. What she hadn’t been told was that there were two rooms at least.
The first room was where the couple currently were, meeting the second of their shortlist. The second room was where any orphans they wanted to meet would be kept, unable to see the other room, until they were brought in through the door that connected the two.
Scootaloo was bored, having been the last. The other two had been colts, a little younger than her. As she waited in silence for her turn, she begun to wonder if she would have a chance, since she was older.
Her thoughts however were soon interrupted by the door opening. One of the newer employees poked their head around the corner and smiled.
“You may come in now.”
Standing up, and smiling, Scootaloo wondered what would await her on the other side of the door. She had long given up foalish hopes of a Wonderbolt or somepony equally awesome coming to adopt her, and wouldn’t care if Rarity had decided to adopt her simply to have a live model fashion clothing.
What she saw made her reconsider being open to just anypony adopting her. Two unicorns whose clothing screamed ‘Canterlot’ walked in, the stallion was grey with a black mane, and the mare was light olive with a pale blue mane with a white streak in it.
Scootaloo did her best to hide her utter horror, the smile that had been on her face when entering the room never faltered.
Scootaloo never felt more awkward in her life than she did right there. Two rich Canterlot ponies sat there, staring at her, and she couldn’t just leave at least, not until the meeting had finished. They in turn sat there rubbing a hooftip to the other hoofarm, unsure what to do now Scootaloo was in the room.
“So, um.” Scootaloo spoke, but stopped when she wasn’t sure what to actually say.
“It’s nice to meet you, Scootaloo.” Jet Set said, a smile was on her face but it looked more nervous than a proper smile.
“Yeah, same to both of you.” Scootaloo answered.
And silence fell among the three once more, both sides unsure how to proceed. Upper Crust coughed.
“How have your previous interviews gone?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t know. All my life I’ve never once been considered for adoption.” Scootaloo answered, hanging her head and looking sad.
“Never? Why is that?” Upper Crust asked again, his face suggesting to Scootaloo that he was really shocked at this fact.
“If you could find all the ponies who adopted here before and ask them, you’d find the answer, I don’t really know, we don’t meet anyone unless sent to one of these interviews.” Scootaloo answered truthfully.
“So basically, no one has even met you before us?” Jet Set asked. Scootaloo only nodded in reply.
“Then we’re all in the same boat as it were! None of us have done this sort of meeting before today.” he laughed once.
Scootaloo only smiled, choosing not to speak, though she kept wondering why this couple wanted to consider adopting her.
“Anyway we do have some questions for you, would you be willing to answer them?” Upper Crust asked.
“Sure I guess.” Scootaloo answered, nodding her head.
“Ok, the first question, this may be difficult to answer, but what do you know of your parents?” he asked.
Scootaloo shrunk emotionally. Of course they’d want to know that, just to mainly see if she knew.
“I, I don’t know what they were like. I was only told they died in a cart accident when I wasn’t even a year old.” Scootaloo answered.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Upper Crust replied, with more detachment than Scootaloo expected, “the next question, do you have friends here in this Ponyville place?”
“Yeah, my closest friends are Applebloom and Sweetie Belle” Scootaloo answered, withdrawing a little from the recoil of the previous question, “we’re helping each other try to find our cutie marks.”
“And would you hate it if we adopted you and moved you away from this town?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.
“I... have no idea, maybe I would at first, but if I could come see them at weekends, then I guess that would be okay.” Scootaloo answered.
“Well, if we adopt you, our Canterlot home wouldn’t be big enough. However, we do have a place in the countryside, near the Whitetail woods, we could arrange for you to stay there. I think we know all that we need to,” Upper Crust held a hoof to his chin, “just one more question, what was the name of your father?”
Scootaloo looked confused and shocked towards Upper Crust. It had seemed like he’d moved past the parents she never knew, but now he wanted to end the interview on it. “Miss Amethyst has never let me know.” Scootaloo answered.
“Alright, sorry if that brought up bad memories. We were told not to say something like this while meeting you, but I feel we’re going to make a good choice.” Upper Crust said, ending the interview as he used his magic to ring a bell to alert the staff that they’d finished their meeting. Two of the orphanage staff came in, and one hurried Scootaloo out, while Miss Amethyst who had been the other had gone up to the couple and begun to talk.
Scootaloo returned to the main orphanage building thinking about the meeting. It had gone rather well, abruptly as it had ended, Scootaloo thought. Despite being from Canterlot, and appearing stuffy, Jet Set and Upper Crust had been rather easy going and laid back.
She had spoken to the other two orphans that had met the pair, learning from them that while initially kind, the pair had soon soured towards them. This made Scootaloo wonder what caused them to be kind to her the whole time, but sour towards the others.
At first, she reasoned that they simply liked the idea of having a daughter, somepony to dote on, and shower with girly gifts, and the promise of a future with first dates, social dances and even possibly a wedding. But as the day wore on and became night, Scootaloo couldn’t help but wonder if there might be something in her records that could be the true reason behind their motive to adopt her.
The good thing about the orphanage now, was that the records were now in one set room, rather than strewn about in random cabinets like they had been before. The downside being, the office with them was locked when the secretary went home. So it was a good thing she had been too busy to check the door to her office when she had gone home.
Quietly heading to the records, Scootaloo carefully searched until she found the cabinet with all the records starting in ‘S’. It wasn’t long until she had found her own file.
“File number 324587J,” Scootaloo mumbled to herself, “Scootaloo.”
She opened the file and begun to read.
“Arrived to Ponyville orphanage age four months, parents deceased in horrific cart accident. One older sibling whom is too young to look after the foal. Nothing unusual yet. Ah, parents, father was a pegasus named Cloud Twist and mother was an earth pony named Daisy Blossom.”
Scootaloo felt a slight letdown when the file didn’t mention what jobs they had, or indeed the cause of the accident they had been in. This was countered by the fact she learned that somewhere in Equestria she had an older sibling, one she could track down someday, as she paused thinking over who the sibling could be. Maybe they had since become a wonderbolt? It could really make a search worth the effort she thought.
With a yawn, she headed back to bed, resolving to find somewhere the next day she could find more about her parents.
-- Town Hall was not somewhere Scootaloo normally would go at any point of her day. To her, it was the essence of the boredom from school and cranked to eleven. But she endured it, and the waiting times, to get any records of her parents. Family records were always kept it seemed, which must have been a headache to the ones that kept it all in check, as Ponyville was a very old town.
Eventually, after what felt like days to Scootaloo, but was simply half an hour, the clerk returned, placing a file on the desk. Upon the file was simply the name of her father, Cloud Twist. Shaking with anticipation, she opened the file.
There, at the front, was a photograph of Cloud Twist. His orange coat went against the grass green mane, but he was clearly a pegasus. Or had been, Scootaloo had to remind herself. Behind the photo was a list of various records. His birth date, which hospital he had been born in, who his parents were, what school he attended, his wedding date to her mother and the date of his death and where he had been buried.
Behind this was his medical record, which didn’t seem to stand out, nor interest Scootaloo. But what was behind that did interest her. It was a list of his employment. At the top, fairly mundane jobs, the standard for those who had left education behind them, but with no real direction in life yet, so resturant work mostly.
The final entry to the employment record caught her attention however. She had to re-read the line over and over again to believe it, but once it had sunk in, she begun to grow angry. The Canterlot couple didn’t want to adopt her because they liked her, she had suspected as much, they merely sought to add to their wealth and could only get to it through her!
Scootaloo stood up and stormed out of town hall, leaving the record of her father open. The last line simply said; Owner and founder of Cloudsdale Cloud Home Landscaping and Rainbow Falls.
-- Applebloom and Sweetie Belle could only watch as Scootaloo paced back and forth in the clubhouse, her anger apparent in her muttering. They had already been there, waiting for her while she was at town hall, and hadn’t need to ask if she had found good news while there. What the bad news was, however, they couldn’t tell, as Scootaloo had yet to say a word other than a short and rather sharp “hello”.
It took a couple of hours for Scootaloo to calm down and explain to her friends, who had waited patiently, what she had learnt. They seemed sad for her that the Canterlot couple had wanted her just to secure a business, but it made sense, as ponies from Canterlot were all about making bits. The rest of the day was spent trying to cheer Scootaloo up by playing with a ball to hide and seek and even ice cream, which didn’t work, but did serve to distract her.
On returning to the orphanage that evening, Scootaloo witnessed Snowdrops at the front door, all her belongings in a pair of saddlebags, and all the staff at the door. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
“Oh, I hoped I’d get to see you before I left, Scootaloo. I’m leaving the orphanage today.” Snowdrops said, as if the fact her possessions in bags hadn’t been clear enough.
“Did somepony adopt you?” Scootaloo asked, hopeful for her friend and some good news that day.
“No, unfortunately this is a rule set down by all orphanages,” Miss Amethyst interjected, “once an orphan reaches the age of twenty, they have to leave and make their own way in the world. She has her own apartment and a part time job with the local weather team.”
Scootaloo went numb. She failed to hear the promise from Snowdrops to visit when she could, a last goodbye, and Snowdrops walking out of sight into Ponyville. She also failed to feel herself being picked up by one of the staff and taken into the orphanage, and left herself in the lobby. Only Miss Amethyst remained in the end, waiting nervously for Scootaloo to snap out of her shock.
When this finally did happen, Scootaloo looked darkly at Miss Amethyst, who returned the look with one of sorrow.
“Why?” was all Scootaloo asked.
“I never set the rules. If I had things my way, you, Snowdrops and the others that were here before Filthy Rich had this place rebuilt, would live her even if you weren’t adopted. But there’s a governing body which decides that all orphans must leave at a set age.” Miss Amethyst answered, calmly and staring intently at Scootaloo.
Scootaloo didn’t move, she blinked once, but didn’t seem too happy with the answer. Unnoticed by her, Oca, Rina and Showstopper had arrived to the staircase and were looking at her and Miss Amethyst from them.
Showstopper mumbled to himself something on the lines of ‘she’s going to run away.’
“But that’s unfair! She has to go on now with just herself to care for her! And you lied to me, to us! You made me believe we would remain her even if we never got adopted!”
“Now Scootaloo, listen-” she said, reaching a hoof for Scootaloo’s withers.
“NO! You listen! You lied! If I don’t get adopted, then you’ll just throw me aside like trash one day too! And you’ll do it with a smile, just like you did with her! I’m not going to give you the pleasure!”
Before Miss Amethyst could react, Scootaloo bolted for the front doors, kicking them open. Miss Amethyst called out to the other staff, who were slower to react than she was, as she gave chase after Scootaloo down the path to the gates. They had been locked after Snowdrops had left, but Scootaloo found it no problem to slip through the bars, giving her an advantage over the chasing adults, who had to wait for the gates to be opened.
Scootaloo didn’t stop running despite the advantage she had, and had made it to Ponyville itself when she heard Miss Amethyst calling to her, demanding that she stop. Turning a corner and finding an alley, Scootaloo hid behind some boxes, quickly pulling tarpaulin over the gap where she was, and remained still. Miss Amethyst, who had been faster than the other staff had seen Scootaloo run down and turn into the street, but hadn’t been fast enough to see Scootaloo hide in an alley, as such, she continued on and ran right past.
As the beat of running hooves faded, Scootaloo realised that the staff must have split up, hoping to corner and capture her. She remained still and quiet. Thinking, she formulated the idea that they would expect her to head further into the town, and not back towards the orphanage. Checking from the safety of her hiding spot, she first made sure none of them were nearby, and headed in the general direction of the orphanage, before following a path that led elsewhere. Soon, the sun set and the chill of the spring night set in. Her wandering had led her to the side of a lake in the Whitetail woods, eventually coming across an abandoned wood cabin. With nowhere else to spend the night, she looked inside and found it to be dry and warmer than outside, and so wandered in.
With a heavy sigh, Scootaloo settled down for the night, drifting off to sleep despite the chill in the air, comforted only by the stars and moonlight.
-- Miss Amethyst was frantic. She had returned to the orphanage without the runaway Scootaloo, her mood was not helped by the arrival of Jet Set and Upper Crust, who had been told to visit when they wished to see the orphan they wished to adopt, only to learn due to seeing an unadoptable orphan leave, had ran away.
Showstopper watched from across the hall as the Canterlot couple verbally abused Miss Amethyst, and then storm out, stating that they would find Scootaloo, take her in and ensure she would never return to the clumsy care of the orphanage. Miss Amethyst returned to her office, where she broke down in tears. Other staff had gone to Ponyville, seeking help in locating Scootaloo, and no doubt the Canterlot couple would pursue public officials to secure Scootaloo before the orphanage.
Having watched impassively, Showstopper had come to the conclusion that Scootaloo had had a bad day, leading to her actions. This was something he decided would be best to bring up with the secretary. Here, he learnt someone had been in the files, and only Scootaloo’s had been disturbed. When asking further, he learnt her father had run a company prior to his death.
Showstopper started methodically analyzing the situation, looking for something that hadn’t been seen by the other ponies. Scootaloo had been in a bad mood, triggered by the Canterlot couple somehow, and her father had run a company. Perhaps, he reasoned, she assumed they wanted her just to get at this company. And pressing further, Showstopper had found that the company Scootaloo’s father had run was long since dissolved. Maybe Scootaloo herself didn’t know this, and with seeing Snowdrops leaving, her bad mood had caused her to take her feelings out on someone.
Just a bad series of events, which now meant that Scootaloo was somewhere out in the town, probably cold and alone, with a lot of worried ponies. Oh and two angry ones from Canterlot, but maybe a few hours would help calm them down.
Unnoticed by the staff, Showstopper himself walked out of the orphanage and into Ponyville. He had one destination in mind, probably the only one that could find Scootaloo before the couple and see her return to the orphanage before they found her.
Quite a lot of pegasi had been gathered on the news of a missing foal had spread through Ponyville. Fronting the aerial search was Rainbow Dash, who had taken Scootaloo on as a ‘little sister’ figure weeks before. Among the crowd were Jet Set and Upper Crust, currently shouting their displeasure at Filthy Rich, who in turn was trying to calm them down until Scootaloo was found and the reason for her running away could be learnt. Mr. Rich was most unhappy they planned to ignore the adoption system and just take the filly once she was found.
Showstopper found Snowdrops among the rescue team, and despite offering to help, he found himself being escorted back to the orphanage, where the staff told him off.
The search that night failed to find Scootaloo. Big Mac, who had been part of the search efforts, walked back to Sweet Apple Acres with Filthy Rich, Jet Set and Upper Crust (the pair being displeased at having to walk across a farm). As they walked, none of them noticed a yellow filly sneaking after them just out of sight.
“So,” Filthy began, “may I ask why you singled this filly in particular?”
“It’s simple. We have a rather personal reason which we wish to keep private for the moment.” Jet Set replied.
“To elaborate,” Upper Crust continued, “adopting means we will have a better understanding of how to look after a foal. This Scootaloo may be old enough to essentially look after herself, but it’s still a way for us to get used to a youth being in our lives.”
Filthy rolled his eyes, clearly thinking they were unfit to take care of a rock.
“So it has nothing to do with the defunct business her deceased father once owned?”
“Oh, we knew of that, it’s of no consequence to us. We just want to look after a foal, give them a good future while proving we are not self obsessed with ourselves, at least, not all the time. She would even be able to stay here in this town if she wished.” Upper Crust answered.
Applebloom stopped and let the four older ponies walk away, with her brother entering the house alone. She stayed still when Filthy Rich and the canterlot couple left back into town, before she too hurried into the farmhouse. Heading to her room, she was glad it was a weekend tomorrow, it would give her time to find Scootaloo and tell her what she had heard.
-- Alone in the wood hut, Scootaloo stirred, as rays of sunlight fell on her and warmed her coat. Waking up, she looked outside, at the mansion across the lake and sighed.
In the light of the morning, she could see the inside which matched the exterior as she had seen it the night before. Floorboards had rotted away or been consumed by wood eating insects, which clearly had made a feast of the single table and chair first, if the pieces of these that remained were any indication. Returning her attention to the mansion she could see outside the window, she noted how clean and bright the stone and marble walls looked, almost as if the building shone like a gemstone in the light. Before it the garden was well kept, with flowerbeds well maintained and the flowers in them arranged in matching colours.
It was always everypony’s dream to live in such a large home, whoever owned it had succeeded where many had not.
And here she was, alone and running away.
She didn’t know where she would go, just any general direction away from Ponyville. Sure she’d miss her friends, but she could return one day, when she was unimportant to Miss Amethyst, and hopefully get them to forgive her.
Setting out, she wandered through Whitetail woods. Meanwhile, in Ponyville, the search had begun anew, expanding past the town itself since the night had turned up no result. Scootaloo soon reached a trail which led away from Ponyville, though it disappeared upon the horizon giving her no clue as to any towns and cities at the other end.
Hours passed, and a storm had been put in place across the road by some town’s pegasus weather team. Scootaloo disliked the rain, even more so now she was out in it. But her choices were to continue or turn back, and she would never forgive Miss Amethyst for lying to her. In the distance through the wall of water falling from the sky, she saw the outskirts of a town, and pressed on in hopes of finding somewhere out of the rain on her arrival.
Behind her, Snowdrops arrived to the wood hut, noting that the door inside had been left wide open, and in the dust, hoofprints roughly the size of Scootaloo’s own had been left behind. Snowdrops groaned in frustration, clearly having just missed the filly.
--
Back in Ponyville, the search had been called off as a result of the bad weather, much to the protests of Jet Set, Upper Crust and Miss Amethyst, both being in opposition to the other. Miss Amethyst very much wanted to find Scootaloo first and block the adoption attempt by Jet Set and Upper Crust, while they wanted to take Miss Amethyst to court and prove she was unfit for her job, win Scootaloo and cost her the job of controlling the orphanage.
There was at least one mare who was unwilling to give up though. Despite having to return to the town and help set up the storm as part of her first day on the job with the local weather team, Snowdrops set off to follow the path from the wood hut, in hopes of finding Scootaloo.
Her departure from the town caught the attention of Jet Set and Upper Crust, who used magic to call her close enough to talk.
“You are going to look for Scootaloo, correct?” Jet Set asked, looking hopeful.
“I am, what’s it to you two?” Snowdrops snapped. “You want to fire Miss Amethyst!”
“If it’ll help you bring her to us, we’ll reduce the punishment we want for her from being fired to having a leave of absence while the runaway incident is looked into.” Upper Crust replied, hoping this offer would get Snowdrops’ co-operation.
“But its not just that,” Snowdrops paused to think a moment, she crossed her forelegs as she looked at the couple, “why do you want her? Ponies from Canterlot very rarely adopt.”
Both Jet Set and Upper Crust shared a look at each other, with Jet Set nodding her head at her husband. He sighed and looked Snowdrops in the eyes.
“We told Filthy Rich last night that we didn’t want to adopt her for her deceased father’s business, because it died with him. What we didn’t say was,” he bit his lip, “I had a father myself, who was a lawyer, and he passed recently. Among the documents he kept was the will of Scootaloo’s father.”
Snowdrops raised an eyebrow at this, but remained quiet to hear what else Upper Crust had to say.
“It is no secret that Scootaloo’s father was eccentric. It was his own fault for buying the self propelled cart from the designers, they had only built a prototype version. It’s what killed him and his wife, fortunately, their two daughters survived. But it got worse. In the will, he said that if he and his wife died, orphaning the two daughters before they were old enough to care for themselves, then they could never get any inheritance unless someone adopted them before they were twenty.” Upper Crust finished.
“Its true. And just think, with all that money, Scootaloo can have the same sort of life we can provide her once she leaves our care. It’ll make us look good and turn around the terrible tragedy struck life she had gone through so far. It might seem like we want the money, but all we’ll do is take it from her father’s bank account and put it into one that will be useable by her from her 16th birthday.” Jet Set added with a smile.
‘Yeah, and pocket a fair share as a reward for a “good deed” while you're at it.’ Snowdrops thought, outwardly she sighed.
“Fine, if I find her, you’ll be among the first to know, happy?” she questioned, receiving nods as answers. Snowdrops herself was happy that they would now leave her alone in her search to find Scootaloo.
-- Scootaloo was running towards the town she thought she could see, as above her the storm had gotten worse. Thunder and lightning now rumbled and flashed around her, and being in the open, she was exposed to being struck. The rain too had gotten heavier, making it difficult to see more than five feet ahead of her.
She therefore failed to see a dip in the path, one of her forelegs got caught by it, causing her to fall and the bone snapped. She fell and lay in the rain, pain coursed through her, causing her to cry. Overhead, thunder rumbled and struck somewhere far away.
All Scootaloo could think about was how she wished she had run to her room at the orphanage instead of away from Ponyville. At least she wouldn’t have broken her leg and now be laying in the middle of a trail, cold and wet with a thunderstorm in the clouds far above. What was worse, she had no idea how far away the next town actually was, or if she should even move in her state.
As she cried through the pain, she didn’t hear the pounding of hooves drawing near, or notice as Snowdrops landed. Scootaloo also put down the sounds of voices nearby as rumbling of the storm again, but she was soon enveloped by magic, and fell asleep.
Standing nearby were a very wet Snowdrops and Showstopper. After talking to Jet Set and Upper Crust, Snowdrops had gone to check around the orphanage, only to see Showstopper wandering around the streets. She had grown used to Showstopper using his self-taught magician tricks to break orphanage rules, and decided it would be helpful in getting Scootaloo back to the orphanage if she was found.
What they had found wasn’t just a lonely, wet Scootaloo, but a lonely, wet Scootaloo with a broken leg. Showstopper had used magic to lull Scootaloo into sleep so she wouldn’t be a hinderance or move in unexpected ways when getting her to the hospital. He carefully placed the filly on Snowdrops’ back, and using magic to create a shield, he and Snowdrops walked slowly back to Ponyville, both worried about Scootaloo’s health, but happy that she had been found.
-- Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes, noticing right away that her broken foreleg was in a cast being held up slightly, and held in place so she couldn’t move it. Beyond this was a hospital ceiling.
Somepony had found her after she had blacked out, she reasoned, and taken her to a hospital. The leg would take a few weeks to heal, and she would be fine. But would the orphanage have sent out word across Equestria that she was a runaway to be returned to them? She sighed to herself, realising it was now stupid to stay angry at Miss Amethyst. The mare had shown signs that she didn’t like what had happened towards Snowdrops, and the alternative was to try and run away with the staff now knowing she was a runaway risk.
As her eyes finished adjusting to the light in the room, the door to the ward opened, and the pony that walked in made her heart drop. Mayor Mare slowly approached the bed she was in, revealing to Scootaloo that whoever had found her had simply taken her back to Ponyville.
“Scootaloo, it is good that you’re awake,” Mayor Mare began, taking up a seat on the unoccupied bed next to the one Scootaloo was in, “I need to ask you why you ran away. It’s important, I have to make a ruling based on what your answer is.”
Scootaloo didn’t reply right away, considering what would happen depending on how she answered. If she mentioned the Canterlot couple first, they would almost certainly be prevented from adopting her, which seemed like a good idea based on why they actually wanted to in the first place. But if she focused more on what she had seen when Snowdrops had left the orphanage, Miss Amethyst could get fired. The choice wasn’t easy, even though she knew the couple didn’t really want to adopt her because they liked her.
“I had a bad day. First, I found my father owned a business, and this is probably why the couple from Canterlot want to adopt me. Then I saw Snowdrops leaving the orphanage to live on her own. After how I had learnt why the couple really wanted to adopt me, that alone just set me to being so angry, I couldn’t see any reasoning.” Scootaloo bit her lip. When Mayor Mare said nothing, expecting more, Scootaloo continued.
“I ran because I felt lonely, that no one cared, really cared, for me anymore. I realise now, Miss Amethyst doesn’t get to decide if orphans stay forever in the orphanage, someone who probably never meets them makes the choices,” she turned her head to look directly at Mayor Mare, “please don’t fire Miss Amethyst. She really did try to calm me down.”
“I see,” Mayor Mare stood up and remained quiet during the short trip from the bed she sat upon to the door of the ward, “I feel I should tell you, since I’m sure it’ll be forgotten in just a moment. Your father’s business? Once he passed, along with your mother, it went bankrupt. There is nothing they can get by being your guardians, not in terms of a new business to add to what they have at least. Now if you’ll excuse me, there is a matter I must attend to.”
Scootaloo stared, the information slowly sinking in long after Mayor Mare had closed the door and left. Her reason to have been angry up until seeing Snowdrops leaving the orphanage had been an assumption, and the end result was her in a hospital with a broken leg. She let out a frustrated cry, put her head on the pillow and begun counting the tiles on the ceiling.
In the waiting room, Jet Set, Upper Crust, Snowdrops and Miss Amethyst sat, Jet Set and Upper Crust glaring at Miss Amethyst, who returned their looks in kind. The three became hopeful when the door opened and Mayor Mare walked in clearing her throat.
“This time she was awake,” Mayor Mare spoke, pausing as the ponies in the room let go of a breath none had recalled they had even been holding, “and she told me why she ran away. It was the end result of a misunderstanding. She learnt what her father had done for work before his passing, and assumed that was why she was being adopted, the bad news in her mind wasn’t helped when she saw the standard procedure for old orphans at work with Snowdrops.”
“Therefore,” Mayor Mare noted how eager and hopeful the two opposing parties were, “I rule that the runaway was not the fault of Miss Amethyst or the staff of the orphanage, but also, the adoption may not be blocked by the orphanage. The adoptees anger was taken towards the staff, not out on the foal. Unless they prove otherwise once she is in their care, adoption is allowed. Good day.”
Before Miss Amethyst could protest, Mayor Mare had walked out of the room, shutting the door closed before she let out a sigh of relief, rather looking forward to returning to her office for some quiet before the next problem came along. And hopefully not in the form of a certain pink on pink mare. Back in the room, Jet Set, Upper Crust and Miss Amethyst finally looked at each other without any anger or hatred in their eyes, with the paperwork sitting on the table between them.
-- It felt like hours since Mayor Mare had been and gone to Scootaloo. And she had finished counting the ceiling tiles twice over. 3,628. That’s how many tiles there were. She debating if it was even worth counting them again, the answer would be the same each time she counted, and without a clock nearby, she had no idea of how much time she had actually passed.
It came as welcome relief when the door opened, and Scootaloo’s spirits were raised when she saw Snowdrops enter. They immediately dropped again however when Jet Set and Upper Crust walked in behind her, the two unicorns pulling over chairs for themselves as Snowdrops took the unoccupied bed.
“Are you willing to listen to us?” Upper Crust asked Scootaloo, who simply nodded.
“We feel it best to try and explain to you why we are adopting you. You see, your father had a… unique, way of viewing the world,” Jet Set seemed to be biting his lower lip, clearly holding back far more colourful words he really wished to use, she was speaking slowly and purposefully, making sure Scootaloo didn’t misunderstand anything, “while others keep in mind time is limited, your father thought everypony lasted forever. He was so sure that you and your sister would never become orphans, he joked to his lawyer that if he and your mother died, you and your sister could never get your inheritance if you remained orphans to the age of twenty, which is when orphans leave orphanages and live alone.”
“Indeed. As such, when that is just what happened, my grandfather had tried to make him change his will, even up to the night he passed from the world with your mother. Once a pony dies, the will is their final word in the eyes of the law. Recently, I went through these old files and found the copy of his will. We don’t hide how we behaved towards others before, but we felt if we could find his foals and adopt them so they could get their inheritance, it would be a start in making up for our terrible behaviour in the past, while at the same time providing the children a life they deserve, full of any opportunity to get somewhere.” Upper Crust finished, blinking very rarely as he waited for a reaction from Scootaloo.
“And did you adopt my sister?” Scootaloo asked, hoping at last she would get the first real bit of good news.
“We found her, but the orphanage wouldn’t allow the adoption process to go through, as the departure procedure had already been put into effect. We were just five hours too late”, Scootaloo’s heart sank at what Upper Crust had said, “but we weren’t too late for the younger sister, who just happened to be at the same orphanage. Sure we had to go through the shortlisting process, but we always knew our choice would be you.”
Scootaloo said nothing. They seemed to really mean what they were saying, they actually wanted her, not for any business her father used to own, or what he had left behind for her, but to help her. And they had been stopped at adopting her sister. Though maybe they did slightly, she didn’t really know on that.
Her eyes went wide when she ran over one sentence that had been said. Her lost sister had been at the same orphanage, and had been processed to leave…
“My sister was at the same orphanage and made to leave. But… the only pony who left was,” she turned her head to look at Snowdrops, who had a grin that pulled her lips back and bared the teeth in her mouth, “you…”
Snowdrops quickly got off the bed she was sat on and crossed to Scootaloo, lightly holding her while making sure Scootaloo’s injured leg stayed still. And Scootaloo, despite her own promise to never cry at any ‘sappy’ moments, found tears forming in her eyes and running down her cheeks. She didn’t like crying, but maybe tears of joy would be ok.
“And so, Scootaloo,” Jet Set spoke up once the sisters ended their hug, “before we sign the forms, we felt it best to ask you. Will you be alright with us becoming your legal guardians?”
-- Many months later
Dear Diary,
I’ve gotten used to writing in you since I was given you by Miss Amethyst and told to use you every day. It seemed stupid to write to an object like it was alive at first, but I got into the habit and now I can’t picture myself not writing this way.
So today, what can I say? Jet Set and Upper Crust came to visit from Canterlot. They may be busy there, but it is nice they’re keeping their promise to visit me at least once a month. And Snowdrops gets to live here too. She isn’t adopted by them, but they couldn’t say no when I asked if she could live with me.
What else, oh! I saw the wood hut across the lake today. I don’t know why sometimes it is there, and others it isn’t. Its like something is putting it there and taking it away on a whim. Sounds silly right? Who would move a building in and out of sight just for fun?
The mansion is great too. Just last weekend, I had the girls for a sleepover. Applebloom’s cousin, Babs Seed, was in town too to visit, so she joined as well. It was great, though a little weird the butler, Silk Touch, insisted he set up the campfire and hang in the shadows to ensure our safety. We didn’t burn anything though, for once, and it was fun to roast marshmallows.
The thing is, even though I’ve been adopted for a few months now, I still wake up and have to make sure I’m not dreaming still. And as eggheady as this sounds, the wood hut and mansion on opposite sides of the lake represent how my life has been recently. Run down, abandoned and alone before, much like the wood hut, but now I’ve crossed the lake and arrived at another shore, the shore I’ve always dreamed of. They may not be my parents, no one can ever be, but I can have the chances I’d have been denied before.
Well, I gotta go now, Jet Set told me she had something exciting planned for tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep. Goodnight diary!
-Scootaloo
Scootaloo closed the diary, returning the quill to the pot it had been in before she had opened the diary. With a yawn, she crossed her rather large room, which was filled with only toys she felt she would use. The door clicked open, and Upper Crust walked in, tucking her into bed and wishing her goodnight. When he was sure she was deeply asleep, he cross the room to a painting of the Wonderbolts and moved it aside with his magic. Reaching with more magic, he unlocked the safe that was behind it, and placed inside a box, and then he relocked the safe, returned the painting to the wall making sure it looked like it hadn’t moved and also remained too heavy for the young filly to lift, and then quietly, he walked to the door and looked back at the sleeping Scootaloo.
“I hope this can make up for those horrible words I said to you, my friend. I can’t ever take them back, but giving one of your daughters a better life should be more than enough to make clear how sorry I am.”
As the door clicked behind him, Scootaloo groaned lightly in her sleep, shuffling under the covers slightly, and once more became peaceful.