"Come on, Rainbow. Talk to us."

Zephyr and Fluttershy were in her cottage with a very nervous Rainbow Dash. Ever since the "Chaos Incident", Rainbow had been avoiding the siblings while refusing to make eye-contact, always trying her best to not look guilty. When Fluttershy finally went to Zephyr somewhat tearfully over it, he decided to drag in Rainbow and talk to her about it.

As most would have expected, it wasn't a smooth start..

Dash shuddered while continuing to avoid eye-contact. "I-I'm sure there's nothing important t-to talk about!"

"I know that's a lie..." Zephyr gives her a concerned look.

Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was desperate to hear anything from her long-time friend. "P-please Rainbow. I-I'm worried about you."

"I'm just thinking that y-you need some time away f-from me, that's--"

Zephyr, knowing exactly why Rainbow was acting like this, decided to bite the cannonball and go with what he thought. "Does your behavior recently have anything to do with what happened a few days ago?"

That got a grimace out of her before she tried-- and failed-- to reconstruct her bravado. "N-no, I-I'm already o-over what h-happened then!"

After a sigh from Zephyr, it was his turn to try and reach her. "Rainbow, I implore you to talk to us about it. Whatever it is, it's tearing you apart." His plea was punctuated by Fluttershy putting a comforting hoof over hers with a reassuring smile.

"D-don't you guys h-hate me?" When Rainbow saw their confused looks she finally blurted, "I'm the one who almost KILLED Zephyr!" With that, she covers her head with her wings.

Fluttershy looked at Zephyr as he shook his head. "I told you before, that wasn't your fault."

"It is! Stop trying to lie to me--"

"I'm not lying, Rainbow! What happened back then was purely an accident. Accidents happen and I knew what I was getting into by challenging you to a race like that." She lowered her wings and, for the first time in awhile, had eye-contact with the siblings. She looked really close to tears too, which dampened Zephyr's own spirit. Seeing a mare as tough and proud as her so close to breaking down was hard on the heart.

Seeing it as well, Fluttershy brought her friend into a hug. "Please don't beat yourself up about it, Rainbow. That was purely out of your control... it was out of everypony's control."

"Y-you guys... forgive me?"

Zephyr walked over and patted her on the withers with a small smile. "I said this to Twilight and I'll say it again. Believe in your friends and embrace that belief by forgiving failure. I forgive you."

Fluttershy breaks the hug and smiles. "I forgive you as well. Besides, I'm hardly innocent in that whole thing either..." That got a soft shove from Zephyr, not wanting her to dwell on it either.

Rainbow looks at the two before giving a small smile herself. "I... thank you."

Now that they were able to erase Rainbow's guilt somewhat, Zephyr checked his watch. The crusaders were getting out of school soon and Rarity asked him to send Sweetie Belle home right away for something important. There was one last thing Zephyr wanted to get out of the way before that. "So... about that race..."

She jumped before waving her hooves in front of her. "Nonono, I can't race you right after a race like THAT!"

That got a raised an eyebrow. "That sham was not an actual race, but okay." As all three of them exit, a mischievous thought crossed Zephyr's mind. "Oh, I know the actual reason why you don't want to race me!"

"Huh? The actual reason?"

"You're too slow!"

"YOU LITTLE--" Zephyr takes off like a lightning bolt while laughing madly with Rainbow in hot pursuit, leaving an amused Fluttershy behind. Zephyr was laughing so hard, he could barely slow down to avoid running into a cloud. She lands on the cloud with a bit of a knowing smirk. "Who's too slow now, huh?"

THERE'S the Rainbow I know and love.

Zephyr gives her an impish smile and the both of them share another laugh, though they could of sworn to have heard Pinkie giggling as well.

Arriving on time, Zephyr managed to catch the crusaders right after school. They were once again discussing what they could do for cutie marks... or rather, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were discussing it while Scootaloo was oddly silent. Zephyr, despite not wanting to ruin the mood, got their attention when he cleared his throat. "I enjoy seeing you fillies discussing ideas, but I have to be a killjoy and say that Rarity needs you, Sweetie Belle."

That sounded like an awkwardly worded sentence...

Sweetie Belle gasped. "Oh no, I completely forgot! Sorry girls, but we'll have to discuss this tomorrow." With that, she gallops off as fast as her tiny legs could carry her.

Scootaloo sighed. "Well... if we aren't doing anything, I'll be... going back..." She rides away, depression clearly around her.

Zephyr looked over at Applebloom, who also sighed. "She's been like that for the past few days or so."

"Do you know what's wrong?"

"Her birthday is coming up."

This immediately got a confused look from Zephyr. "I thought foals loved celebrating their birthdays."

"Ah thought so as well. Yet, from what ah heard from the other orphans, she always gets depressed around her birthday." She droops her head in sadness. "It always happened and no-pony could help her..."

Zephyr looks back in the direction Scootaloo was traveling, feeling rather powerless in the moment. "If only there was a way..." He turns back to Applebloom. "Not even Pinkie Pie could cheer her up?"

"No, she always happened to be away for it, though ah doubt that was her intention." She shook her head. "It's been getting me an' Sweetie down too. Ah just wish somepony... anypony could help her..." With that, she trudged back to the farm.

If only there was a way... if only-- wait a minute.

It started small, but an idea finally made itself known to Zephyr and he pondered it a bit before deciding that it was one way, maybe the only way, to permanently cheer Scootaloo up for her birthday. "Hey Applebloom, do you know when her birthday is?"

She turned around with a confused look. "It's in three days."

Okay, that should be enough time to get things perfect.

"Thanks! I want to try doing something for her on her birthday, that's why I needed to know. Don't worry, I'll do my best to help her!"

She gives Zephyr a hopeful look. "Ah hope it will at least make her feel a bit better."

With any luck, it will be more than a bit. "Alright, well I'm off. Have a safe trek back." Applebloom waves at Zephyr before he took off.

The first place he went was Sugar Cube Corner, as he wanted to speak to Pinkie about--

"Speak to me about what?"

That jump scare immediately floored Zephyr again. "PINKIE! Don't pop out of nowhere like that! You know how I can be!"

"Sorry! That's just how I roll, though."

One facehoof after getting back up, Zephyr shook it off. "Right, well I'm here to discuss something with you."

"Is it perhaps a party?" A nod and she squealed with joy. "Ohmygosh! What kind of party? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Are you aware of any birthdays coming up?"

She thought for a bit before pulling a notepad out of her hair, inexplicably gaining a pencil behind her ear in the process. She flipped through a few pages before gasping. "Oh no! Scootaloo's birthday is coming up and I missed her last two parties! Thank you so much for reminding me!"

"Ah yes, about that. I'm going to have to ask you to refrain from doing so."

"WHAT! Why would you want to--"

"Doing so here. I want to host the party at my house."

Pinkie was giving Zephyr a surprised look with her mouth hanging open like she was cut off from talking. She then gave him a smile. "Oooh, you sly pony you, you had me fooled for a second there."

That definitely got her an exasperated look. "What do you take me for, a cruel pony?"

"I'm just teasing you."

Figures...

"But why do you want it at your house?"

Zephyr couldn't help but smirk a bit. "It's for the surprise I have planned out."

"Oh, what is it? I want to know, is it a surprise for Scootaloo, or for everypony present?"

"It's... a surprise!" She falls onto her face. "Come on, Pinkie.I know I can trust you with secrets and what-not, but I want it to be a surprise for as many ponies as possible, including the guest of honor."

"Ooh, sounds like you got things planned out!"

"I do, though some of the details will need to be ironed out before then. So... will you host the party at my place?"

She salutes. "That will be no prob-lemo!"

"I'm counting on you. I need to go someplace and discuss something for my surprise to work out." With that, Zephyr took his leave.

Three days later, Schootaloo's Birthday

"Come on, Scootaloo. We could have a sleep-over as part of your birthday!" Both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were actively trying to encourage the distraught pegasus filly.

She lets out a sigh. "Do whatever you girls want to..." This got a worried look out of her friends.

Zephyr shakes his head as he came up beside her. "Don't be like that, Scoots. If it helps, I can host your sleep-over at my place this time around... if you want to, I mean."

"Sure... that's fine." With that, Scootaloo starts trudging towards Ponyville. The other two fillies look at Zephyr and he gives them a wink before following.

On the way, the group kept encouraging her and discussing what they could do for activities. Upon reaching Zephyr's house, he held the door open. "Birthday filly first." Scootaloo simply walked in with no objections.

3... 2... 1...

"SURPRISE!"

After hearing the expected small cry of surprise from Scootaloo, Zephyr quickly followed her in with her friends. "Did you really think we would skip giving you a birthday party?"

Pinkie suddenly came forward and held one of Scootaloo's hooves in both of hers with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry for missing two of your birthdays in the past. As my attempt to make up for them, I made this one extra special!"

"Y-you didn't have to." She was stammering at the moment.

Zephyr saw the turnout for the party, including his friends, little sister, both parents, a few other ponies from around town, and a bunch of foals in the group. Out of the corner of his eye, he also saw the mare who ran the orphanage.

When Scootaloo didn't move from the entrance, too dumbfounded to process it all, Zephyr rolled his eyes and gently pushed her forward with a wing. "Come on, the party won't start without you."

"Yeah, Squirt. All of us wanted to celebrate with you." Rainbow flew forward a bit with a smile.

"Y-you came to my party a-as well?" Scootaloo rushed forward to hug Rainbow when she nodded. "Thank you!"

Pinkie popped up in the middle of the crowd. "Come on, everypony. Let's get this party STARTED!"

Everypony mingled for a bit until Scootaloo wanted to have cake. When Pinkie brought it out from the main floor spare bedroom, Many were amazed at how big it was, despite only having nine candles. Pinkie explained it was one of many things she did to make up for missed birthdays as ponies started singing. After the birthday song, Scoots blew out all of them in one go.

"What was your wish?" Zephyr couldn't help but roll his eyes at the question one of the foals dared asking.

Pinkie tutted. "You know she can't say. It's bad luck telling ponies your wish until it comes true."

"Ah reckon she'll tell us when she's good an' ready." Applejack chuckled.

After the cake came the games. Most of the older ponies stood back as the foals played various games Pinkie managed to bring along. Applejack and Rarity got hooked into playing a game as well, much to the latter's dismay and to the amusement of everypony else.

Eventually, the time came for Scootaloo to start opening her presents. There was a decent turnout, nine in total, compared to previous years where she only got one or two.

Applejack had gotten her a smaller stetson, which she wore with a bit of a goofy grin. She even tried mimicking the accent, only to blush in embarrassment when it sounded nothing like the Apples.

Rarity gave her a well designed dress that really suited her. She looked a bit torn between liking it and not liking it, so Zephyr made sure to whisper to her that she would eventually need one. She only rolled her eyes at that.

Pinkie gave her a box of cookies, much to some pony's confusion. Zephyr brushed it off when Scootaloo chomped on one happily, saying it's better than normal.

Twilight gave her a book titled "Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone". I've never heard of the title, which led to Twilight telling Zephyr he was welcome to borrow a copy from the library if the interest was there. Scootaloo liked it a lot.

Fluttershy gave a feather charm bracelet made of black and white feathers, made specifically for her. Despite the material used, it looked amazing and Scootaloo put it on immediately.

Rainbow gave her Wonderbolt posters and a pair of goggles, which made her quite happy as well.

There was a collaborative gift from both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle which consisted of a modified crusader's cape of her color and a pair of wings surrounding the emblem. It was another simple gift but it had it's own value, judging by her happy expression as she put it on.

Scootaloo picked up the second-last gift and read the tag, which confused her a bit. "From the Windstorms/Earthwings?"

Harpsong shook her head in amusement. "Think of that as a collaboration between two families."

"No offense but... it seems kind of small for a collaboration of that caliber."

That got an eye roll from Zephyr. "Open it and see what's inside then."

She did so and all that fell out was a scroll. This confused almost everypony at once, though Applejack spoke up first. "What in tarnation?"

Twilight eyed the scroll. "Maybe it says something important?"

"I can't see words being that important." Scootaloo stated as she undid the scroll, which got a small smirk from Zephyr. She read it for a bit, only to lock up with a shocked face before looking at him and his family. "I... I..."

Seeing as no-pony else was currently in a position to read the scroll, Zephyr broke the ice. "Cat got your tongue... little sister?"

The effect was instantaneous as she rushed forward to tackle him, crying out in joy, before doing the same to the rest of the family. Rarity picked up the scroll and read it, only to get her own shocked face. "My word... this is an adoption form!"

Patting Scootaloo on the head when she tackled Zephyr again, everypony else except for Rainbow and Safe Haven, the mare running the orphanage, gathered around the scroll held in Rarity's magic to read it.

Pinkie let out a loud squee. "So THAT'S the surprise you were talking about! That's about the sweetest thing to give somepony on her birthday, and I work at a bakery!"

Applejack shook her head. "Well ah'll be."

Safe Haven stepped forward, which made Scootaloo turn to her with tear-filled eyes. "Congratulations, you finally have a family that you belong to now."

"A-am I dreaming? Oh dear Luna, I hope I'm not dreaming!" After Zephyr poked her in the wing, which got a squeak out of her, she started crying even more with joy. "I'm not... I can't believe it! I've finally... I finally got my wish!"

Medishy walked over and gave her a nuzzle. "Welcome to the family, Scootaloo." He got another hug out of her.

Safe Haven walked over to Zephyr. "I've never seen her so happy before. Thank you for taking her in." After nodding to her, Zephyr looked at Rainbow and she smiles back. They had a conversation over what he was going to do before he gathered his family for the surprise.

"How come you're asking me?"

"You're her idol and big sister figure. I... just wanted to see if you had any objections to my course of action."

"Of course not. Besides, I... doubt I would of made a good big sister anyways. Even if I did eventually take her under my wing, I wouldn't be able to adopt her, I can only be a surrogate sister."

"You you still can be one..."

"For now, not yet. I'll still be there if she needs me, though. She needs a true family before anything else, in my opinion."

“Don’t forget your last gift!” Pinkie held up the box that was marked 'from Zephyr'.

“I don’t know, I doubt I can top what anypony else gave.”

Harpsong rolled her eyes. “It’s the thought that counts.”

Scootaloo opened the gift, which was a blue box. When she opened it, she saw the pendant he got for her. “This… is this?”

Rarity looked at the pendant in awe. “A sunstone and moonstone pendant. Zephyr dear, you went all out for her, didn’t you?”

“I hated seeing her depressed like that. I wanted to do all I could for her.” He got yet another hug from the filly. Zephyr mentally laughed when he remembered the look on the jeweler's face upon ordering the pendant.

"Come on, Scootaloo, get close with your new family!" Zephyr was jarred out of his thoughts and saw Pinkie holding a camera. He quickly got in position with Fluttershy on one side and Scootaloo on the other. She was in between him and Medishy, who had Harpsong on his other side. "Big smiles!"

"And here's your new room, Scoots." Zephyr showed his new little sister her bedroom. It was a little barren outside of the necessities, which made him cringe at how lazy it seemed. "Sorry it's a little... bland."

"I don't care, that's easy to fix with some decor. I'm just... still so happy." She gives him another hug.

"Careful, she might turn into a bur if she keeps that up." Zephyr turns to give Harpsong a flat glare and she shakes her head in amusement. "Still, thanks for letting all of us stay here for the night."

"Of course. No sense introducing Scoots to her new family, only for most of them to leave right after."

She raises an eyebrow. "Fluttershy as well? She lives in the same town unlike me and Medi."

"Why not?" Fluttershy walked up the stairs and greeted everypony present with a smile. Then she gave Zephyr a worried look. "Are you sure there's enough bedding for us all?"

"Hm... there's only three bedrooms total in this house." Zephyr pondered it for a bit. Mom and dad have the spare bedroom and Scootaloo has her own. I wasn't about to make her share her new bed, but I'm worried about what she might think if Fluttershy slept with me. "I'll sleep on the couch for tonight."

Fluttershy gave her brother a flat look. "Oh no you don't, mister. I'll sleep on the--"

"You might be family, Fluttershy, but you're still my guest. It would be rude of me if I didn't--"

"Uhm..." All three of them look at Scootaloo. "I-Is it okay if I sleep with one of you tonight?"

The three younger ponies looked at each other until Harpsong smiled. "Why don't all three of you share Zephyr's bed? There's enough room after all." With that, she went back downstairs.

Zephyr deadpans at her retreating figure before looking at his two sisters. "Is... that fine with you two?"

Scootaloo nodded. "I just... wanted to be close to my new family for the night..."

Fluttershy smiled before yawning. "Then... should we go to bed now?"

"We should. It's late, and Scootaloo has school tomorrow."

"I don't wanna--" She was cut off by a loud yawn.

That got a tired chuckle from Zephyr. "You'll need your rest, especially after today."

Fluttershy agreed with him as the sibling trio went into Zephyr's bedroom. After Fluttershy got in, Scootaloo snuggled up beside her and Zephyr sandwiched her in a way that was comfortable.

The last thing he saw before drifting off into sleep was the picture Pinkie took. The five of them were all smiling, with Scootaloo having the biggest one.

Author's Note

I'm sure some of you are looking at this and thinking "oh look, another story where MC adopts Scootaloo, like that hasn't been done to death".

Scootaloo's my favorite crusader, plus I wanted to try giving the whole adoption thing a unique twist. Of the fics that I've seen with this, most of them have her adopted right out of nowhere. I wanted to make it out of nowhere with a reason why it was like that.

Anyways, let me know if it was at all heartwarming to you, or if there's anything I could do to improve it.