"You actually found a lead, mom?"

Right before those who lived in Ponyville returned home, Harpsong managed to catch Zephyr, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy to give them the news. "It is indeed one... and a sad one as well that explains why Scootaloo was an orphan..."

"Even if it is sad... even if she doesn't need it, Squirt deserves that closure. I'm sure some part of her still wonders why she was abandoned by her parents." Rainbow made sure to say that, knowing full well she would feel the same way.

Harpsong sighed as she brought out a letter. "Then... a bit of background first. As I was searching around for any lead on Scootaloo's mother, I realized that my radius was too broad. I narrowed it down to the one place Scootaloo lived her entire life."

Fluttershy nodded. "Ponyville, right? I find it hard to believe orphanages would transfer foals around haphazardly... u-unless there are one's in Manehattan who do that."

"Not that I know of, but you are correct. So I wrote to the doctors of the Ponyville hospital, asking if they had any information and... I just got a letter from the current head doctor." Harpsong bring it out with a sad look. "You... should read it for yourselves..."

Handing the letter to Zephyr, who held it out in his primary wings so the two mares could read it as well, they analyzed the letter:

To whom it may concern;

If you are reading this, I am no longer alive and my foal is under your care. I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for giving my, as of writing this, unborn filly the loving home I will be unable to provide.

It all started with a fling with my lover, one that came about due to a night of uncontrollable passion. Despite my family despising any race besides Unicorns, I fell in love with a Pegasus stallion who had stolen my heart even when it was stone cold because of my upbringing. Yet... for all the love we had, it was too soon for me and now I am paying the price.

To my lover, who will remain unnamed for his own sake, I'm sorry I abandoned you without a word. I knew full well you'd try and take responsibility for our baby and I feared the retribution my family would bring onto you for "soiling" me with tainted blood. For your sake... and for the baby's, I chose to flee to a place where all ponies could live together peacefully.

But it seems my fate was sealed the moment I refused to abort my foal. According to the doctor, my body is too frail to survive foalbirth. Yet even with the specter of death hanging over me, all I can feel is love towards the life inside of me. My only regrets are not telling my lover "I love you" and giving my foal the family and life she deserves.

As to my two requests to you, dear reader, one is that you please do not search for my family. They are "Unicorn Supremacists" and see other races as inferior, only to be used as tools or means to an end. I want to keep my daughter as far away from them as possible for fear of what they may use her for... provided they don't have her "vanished" for daring to be born of their family.

The other... I beg of you, give her the life and love I never could. I have been writing letters to my daughter for her to read once she's old enough, but whether they reach her or not matters little to me. If her ignorance of my fate is her happiness, then so be it.

The hour of my delivery is upon me. This will be my final message, should I not survive. No matter what happens, I love you... my dearest filly, Scootaloo.

Signed, Serene Glow

The tears flowed freely from two of the three who just read the letter, Fluttershy especially. "Scootaloo's mom... didn't survive giving birth to her..."

"The letter I got from the doctor in question alongside that one mentioned that, if we truly wanted to give Scootaloo closure over her, we would need to show the previous head doctor that letter to get all the letters Serene wrote. The question is... do you wish to go through with this?"

Zephyr closed his tear-filled eyes before gaining a determined look. "We came this far, we may as well see it through. Serene... deserves to have her story heard by Scoots..."

"Only if she wants to... though it'll be sad if she decides she doesn't care..." Rainbow added with a sad glance at the letter.

"We'll ask her if she cares about knowing her biological family. If not, we'll keep Serene's letters safe until the day she does."

Harpsong nods at the three in front of her. "I wish I could come with, but I need to refrain from traveling for now. All I ask is that if she goes through with it... she'll no doubt want family on hoof." With nothing else to discuss besides her children telling her to take care of herself, Harpsong saw the 3 off with their friends. "Scootaloo... no matter what, you'll never be alone again..."

Upon arriving back in Ponyville, Zephyr made sure to head towards the Ponyville Hospital after an offhoof comment to Twilight about Harpsong doing Genealogy studies. When he arrived, he requested Doctor Horse and showed him the letters. "I can tell you now that it was my predecessor who had dealt with that. His failure to help Serene survive was what drove him into retirement out of shame and regret. Maybe... I'll tell you where he lives, all I ask is that you put his regrets to rest..."

"Don't worry, I will."

Upon arriving and knocking, the aged stallion looked confused until he saw Serene's letter, upon which he was saddened. "Oh, Serene... my inability to save you... was my greatest failure..." Heading inside for a moment, he comes back out with a wooden box that sounded full of paper. "Here are all the letters she wrote to her daughter as she stayed within the hospital. Whether they are read or not... I can finally say that my duty is done."

Rainbow arrived to give the old doctor a Wonderbolt salute. "You did everything you could, sir. Rest easy and enjoy your retirement."

As the two went to their destination, Zephyr's steps suddenly slowed. "I... know I said we should see this through... but now thoughts of "what if it's too early for her" suddenly pervade my mind. To have a filly Scoots' age go through something like this..."

"Squirt is the strongest filly I know, but... I understand. Let's confirm if she really thinks her mother abandoned her before we give the box to her. If not, we can keep it safe until she's older.

With the letters acquired, the two went to Zephyr's home where Fluttershy had taken Scootaloo. The filly was confused as to what was going on. "Big bro, Rainbow Dash, big sis has been acting weird since she got home..."

"Erm... I-I was just about to ask if you cared about what happened to your birth parents."

That got a surprised look from Scootaloo. "Sometimes I wonder if I was abandoned by them and not wanted... if you found anything out, no matter how painful--"

"Then... this is for you, Scoots." Zephyr hands her the box full of letters. "If you want, you can head to your room to read them. They're... for you."

The filly took the box with uncertainty as she headed upstairs to her room, with the older ponies choosing to sit in the living room and wait. When Scootaloo got settled, she opened the box and found a multitude of letters addressed to her and opened the first one.

To my dearest Scootaloo;

By the time you read this, I am no longer of this world. As much as I would have loved to have been there for you... for your life, fate has chosen to rip us apart.

Please understand, this was never my intention... or your father's intention to leave you alone in the world. But as I gaze at the moon in the sky while I write this, the sadness I feel is overwhelming. For you to have to suffer my life choices is more than I could bear... and yet the universe deems it so.

I wish I could witness your coming of age-- the day you earn your Cutie Mark. I wish I could watch you make friends you can share your foalhood with. I wish I could be there as you marry the one you love. I wish... I could be there... to say "I love you".

But my chances say... I cannot. And yet, I pray to the two sisters that your life will not be harsh, that you will still find friends to share life's joys with. That... you can find a family that will love you where I could not.

But know now and forevermore... I love you, my precious filly, until my final moments...

Scootaloo had tears running down her face as she continued reading all of the letters. Each one written had her mother outlining everything she wanted to do with her daughter, all the family activities they could've done together. And the constant theme of how much she loved her filly.

It was too much for Scootaloo to bear.

"Mom...

"Mom...

"Mom..!"

As the three adults sat in the living room, they could hear Scootaloo crying out for her mom. Yet, as painful as it was for them, they stayed sitting and let her cry her grief out. Eventually, the tell-tale pattering of tiny hooves on the stairs rang out and the filly dove into Zephyr's embrace, still weeping. Knowing what she wanted, he cocooned her in his wings as Rainbow and Fluttershy embraced the two as well.

And as the embrace happened, Serene's spirit watched over them with a soft smile, an eternity of gratitude in her soul as she moved on, finally at peace.

"May you never want for familial love ever again, my little Scootaloo..."

Applejack and Granny Smith were on their way to the Ponyville graveyard when they saw four ponies there already. Zephyr had just handed Scootaloo a bouquet of black roses and white chrysanthemums to leave at a certain grave.

Here rests Serene Glow

She sacrificed everything
So that her foal could live

Granny Smith knew instantly what was going on. "I guess little Scootaloo found out who her birth mother was..."

Applejack removes her stetson and puts it over her chest. "It's a shame... she had to go through this so young..."

"At the very least she got closure. Not a lot of foals can say the same..."

Author's Note

I'm very much aware that Scootaloo DOES have living parents in the official canon, but my story was started LOOOONG before season 9 of the show came out, back when the popular theory was that she was an orphan(When I stopped writing, season 5 had barely just came out). However, this begs the question of if my story would now classify as an "alt universe" or not. Let me know what you think, but I'll keep going this way with her story.

Also, this chapter was somewhat inspired by a character questline in a game called Honkai Star Rail. Though I won't post a video of it due to spoilers, if you're curious enough, it deals with a character named Pela.