Mother

by MrConradTheDuck

Rating: teen
Tags: Fluttershy, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo, Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Sad
Length: 5280

During an off-hoof conversation with Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo decided to find out who her parents are and, despite Rainbows insistence that she doesn't, the filly goes on the search. But what does the truth entail?

During an off-hoof conversation with Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo decided to find out who her parents are. What starts off as a simple question may lead her through a terrible tribulation, but what will finding answer provoke? Will the truth be worth knowing, or will Scootaloo and those around her be for the worse if these answer come fruition? Come on a short tale and discover the secret of Scootaloo's parentage, and the dark memories of a certain mare behind it all.

Note: Despite rewriting this story a gazillion frickin' times, I still suck. But, I wanted to write somethin' for mudda's day, so, yeee. If you don't like it, it's because I bad. Oh well.

Published 2014-05-11 16:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-11 16:20:03 UTC

Mother

It was an average summers day in Ponyville, as had been scheduled of course. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, after having read the latest Daring Do book together, were huddled together beneath a tree by the lake. Rainbow, ever the rule bender, had snuck a small cloud nearby to help release an air current to keep the two cool. Nestled together, the excitement of the book filled Scootaloo’s head with wonderment and intrigue.

“Dash, if Ahuizotl is the ancient child of the Sun Emperor how come he didn’t know about the Solar Magic? Oh, and if Daring Do was the Chosen of the Azbit Children of Neighus, how come every time she battled Ahuizotl before he wasn’t sealed in the Crypt of the Neighcropolis. Oh oh, and…” a sky blue hoof was stuffed in the excited orange filly’s mouth

“Look, if you really wanna figure it out, you’re gonna’ have to get to a library and read the other books,” Rainbow spoke with an air of coolness and calmness that inspired Scootaloo to do much the same

“Oh, yeah, I knew that.” Scootaloo blushed and nestled closer to her idol “It’s still cool how much stuff you can find at the library, did you know Celestia had, like, 12 children! Oh oh, and Twilight got a book from the Crystal Empire, she told us about it during Twilight time, apparently, Cadence isn’t the first Crystal princess!”

“You sure are learning a bunch of stuff from Twilight, huh?” Rainbow asked nonchalantly

“Oh yeah, she talks a lot sometimes, and a lot of it’s boring, but sometimes she says neat stuff, like, oh, did you know Pinkie and Applejack might be related!?” She exclaimed, lifting to her little orange hoofs, flapping her tiny wings.

“Yeah, she is, like, one of my best friends you know. They have tons of family records in the library.” Rainbow mentioned half mindedly “I looked through them myself, though I wasn’t related to anyone cool, well, actually there is this one earth pony who apparently invented carrot cake, but carrot cake sucks, I mean, who puts veggies in a cake!”

“O-oh yeah, that is lame…” Scootaloo stammered as she actually had a fondness for carrot cake.

“I mean, no offense to Carrot Cake, but, she’s named after something gross,” Rainbow added.

“Hey, Dash, do you think they have records on who my family could be?” Scootaloo buzzed excitedly.

Hearing the question made Rainbow’s eyes widen, her voice was lost and her mind was filled with self-scolding as if she completely fumbled something up, something she’d been hiding for a long time. Thinking as quick as she can she stammered out “N-no, I uh, don’t think they keep stuff on orphans…” she spit out causing the orange filly to look down dejectedly. Seeing her disappointment, Rainbow lifted her muzzle with a hoof “Come on now, it doesn’t really matter, right? I mean, what would you even look for…” she giggled nervously.

“Well… I mean, my mom and dad for starters… maybe…” Rainbow cut the filly off immediately

“Look, kid, I don’t think that’s a good idea, I mean… even if you know who they are it won’t change much, right… so…” Rainbow tried to persuade the filly but she seemed resolute

“I… I know my parents don’t want me, but… I just wanna know their names…” she mumbled near the end, trailing off a bit

“Look, if your parents don’t want you then who cares, right?” Rainbow said, hoping that would end the thought

Sighing in defeat, Scootaloo slunk down to her belly “Yeah, you’re right…” she said, though in her heart she knew that wasn’t the end of it.

A week later, Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle were at the library, under the tutelage of Twilight Sparkle, this week they were in a joint effort of learning about the ocean after an off remark by a friend of a friend that thought a shark would be a cool cutie mark.

“And that is why sharks never stop moving… ever.” Twilight ended, dropping her chalk

Raising her hoof, Applebloom asked, “What about other things, like Dolphins or Octopuses or, or…” Applebloom stopped to think to no avail

Laughing, Twilight floated over some other books “Well, I don’t know that much about marine life, but if you really want to know, you’ll need an expert.”

“Like a fisherman, or deep sea diver, oh-oh, or one of those guys at the water parks that do all the tricks with the Dolphins!” Sweetie Belle squeaked

“No silly, I meant more like Fluttershy, she knows everything you could ever want on animals, and considering Twilight Time’s about up, you should go see her,” Twilight recommended, causing the other fillies to raise off the floor and look at one another excitedly.

“Ahm gonna go talk to her an’ get mah cutie mark now!” Applebloom exclaimed, rushing off with Sweetie Belle at her side, stopping when they noticed Scoots wasn’t behind them “C’mon, we gotta’ get movin’”

“Oh, um, I want to talk to Twilight a bit first, you go ahead without me,” Scootaloo said, prompting a shrug from Applebloom as the other fillies ran off

Perking up, Twilight moved closer to the orange filly “What can I do for you? I’m always happy to help!’ she smiled

“Well, you see…” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly “I wanted to see family history documents or whatever they're called.” she explained, despite Dash’s words, Scootaloo still felt it worth a try at least.

“Oh,” Twilight trailed off, getting where the conversation was going “I guess you’re curious about some things, huh?” Scootaloo nodded lightly, and never one to withhold knowledge if she could help it, Twilight began to levitate over several documents. “Let’s get started then.”

After several hours of extensive study, the two came across zero evidence as to Scootaloo’s parentage, in fact, the two found nothing on Scootaloo at all “Well this can’t be right, you’re not in any files here…” she said confused “Aren’t you from Ponyville?” she asked

“Oh, no, the caretakers said I’m from Cloudsdale, or, I was born there. They moved me here when I was a baby because they had to renovate the orphanage there and I was just never moved back, even though a bunch of other pegasi was.”

“Would’ve helped to know ahead of time Scootaloo.” Twilight muttered in annoyance before sighing “Well, I can order the documents and when I get them in, I’ll call for you.”

“Awesome, thanks, Twilight!” she hugged the fledgling princess “I’m going to catch up with the others, see ya!” Scootaloo exclaimed with a wave of her hoof as she bolted out of the library happily

“Alright girls, now, just toss it up and watch.” Fluttershy urged Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, both of whom held a fish in their mouths before a hungry Seal.

“But, I mean, isn’t it wrong, the poor fishies’ll…” Sweetie Belle started but Fluttershy just giggled

“I know it seems weird, we ponies only eat veggies and sweets, but other hungry critters need meat. It’s the way of life, the circle of nature that keeps Equestria in balance and Harmony,” she spoke sweetly, comforting the girls. After the little pep talk, Applebloom tossed her fish into the air as the seal leapt to snatch it up, eating happily. “Your turn Sweetie.” Fluttershy urged as Scootaloo approached the group from behind

“Hey, girls!” Scootaloo shouted, prompting the timid Fluttershy to barrel into the water, hiding beneath the inquisitive seal. A few seconds passed as Fluttershy broke water to peek, noticing that it was only Scootaloo.

“Oh, it’s you.” Fluttershy said, trying her best to slow the beating of her heart “That was… surprising…”

The crusaders looked at the mare with half lidded eyes “And yalls really helped save Equestria?”

“And stared down a dragon apparently…” Scootaloo added.

“Oh, well…” Fluttershy blushed, coughing to try and change the subject “So, uh, are you here to learn about aquatic life?”

“Yeah, I want a shark as my cutie mark!” she pump-hoofed, causing Fluttershy to giggle

“Well, I don’t know about that, but it’s always fun to learn about animals. Maybe one day you’ll each get a pet of your own?” she asked, a soft smiled on her muzzle

“Woah, yeah, I never thought of that. I should get a turtle like Dash!” Scootaloo shouted

“Tortoise.” Fluttershy corrected

“Well, ah want something cool, like, ooh, ah want a wolf!” Applebloom yelled ecstatically, lifted almost a foot off the ground in one excited hop.

"Oh, well I don't know about a wolf..." Fluttershy muttered softly before perking up "Oh, but if you get permission I'm more then happy to show you all the critters available, I have kitties and birdies and-" Fluttershy was cut off

“Well, as cool as all that sounds, it’s gettin’ late. We spent all day waitin’ fer Scoots.” Applebloom spoke, tapping a chin to her hoof

“Yeah, what did you talk to Twilight for anyways?” Sweetie questioned

“Oh, yeah, I asked Twilight if she could get something from Cloudsdale, a book full of family history and information. We’re going to find out who my parents are.” Scootaloo explained, though the words fell cold onto a certain pegasus.

The fillies continued talking, their words drowned out as Fluttershy became enveloped by her hair, eyes in dead horror as she stared at the ground. Almost as if from the lips of a ghost, Fluttershy spoke in monotone“I have something I have to do, please leave now.” at first the girls were confused, wondering if they’d said something wrong, but upon looking at Fluttershy, an eerie sense of dread filled them each, prompting them to leave without a word.

Later that night, Fluttershy entered the library as Twilight was going through a series of books happily. She turned to see the buttery mare was clearly upset, or maybe terrified. Nervously, Twilight got up from her seat and hurried to Fluttershy who just stared at her. “Fluttershy, w-what’s wrong, is something happening?” she asked, but her friend just shook her head. The next minute passed in silence as Fluttershy steeled her nerves.

Looking Twilight in the eye, Fluttershy spoke “You need to do something for me, never ask why, and never tell anypony.” she spoke with a deathly seriousness that sparked a twinge of worry and fear in Twilight

“You’re scaring me Fluttershy, please, what-” Fluttershy cut her off immediately

“Twilight, just do it.” She spoke demandingly, her tone somewhat threatening, clearly out of character and something that made Twilight feel almost sick inside.

Twilight pondered for a moment, wondering what could possibly be going on, possible threat after possible threat continued to enter and exit her conscious, however, after all of that it was still Fluttershy, the mare who’d never asked anything of anyone, and yet, still the same pony who’d practically sell herself for something as mundane as a book to make her friends happy, how could she say no? Giving in, Twilight smiled and answered: “Whatever you need.”

Sighing in relief, Fluttershy took a deep breath that exited in a shuddering gasp. Slowly she readied her words before speaking “I want you to tell Scootaloo that you couldn’t get her files, then, I want every document destroyed, no looking at them, no recording them, no hiding them. Then, have the birth records and family history erased.” Twilight’s mouth was agape, this felt incredibly sudden and surreal, many questions danced in her head but only one passed her lips.

“Why?” she said, and that was a mistake. Fluttershy’s eyes grew dead, not merely lifeless, but something that seemed to suck the life out of everything around her, the stare continued to bore into Twilight who, besides their first encounter with Discord, never knew she could be anything other than sweet and kind, but here she was determined and cold. Gritting her teeth, Twilight delved into thought, but it didn’t take long for Twilight to give her answer “I can’t… I mean I can, but, morally, without knowing why I couldn’t.”

Fluttershy didn’t budge, not an inch of her dark gaze flinched even a bit. “It’s none of your business why, I just need this done, for everyone's sake.”

Twilight heard in her voice the only answer she needed, though not a clear one, it was one that was shrouded in something dark and unpleasant to the mare, and Twilight felt despite the benefit of a real answer, her actions were undoubtedly spilling it’s truth without hesitation “You’re…” Twilight began, causing the mare's face to begin filling with fear “I mean, are you?” Fluttershy let her pink curtains hide her face, soft whimpers pushed passed the pink brush. “Oh… oh gosh, I just… look, maybe…”

“No!” Fluttershy shouted, “This has to happen, it has too… things are better this way… please.” she pleaded, she went from strong to weak in moments and her voice was frail and began to fade into shaky whimpers.

Silence befell the two, the situation was awkward at best, but Twilight knew something far more traumatic had to surround this mystery, something this simple surely couldn’t provoke such distress, even in Fluttershy, timid as she was. Twilight, however, couldn’t leave her friend like this, clearly, this was something she needed a friend for, any friend. Twilight wanted to be that friend. So, with a shake of her head, she denied the mare “I’m sorry, but… I want you to talk to somepony, anypony, even if it’s not me… maybe we can help, or fix this.”

Tears began to form on Fluttershy’s face, and despite how hard she tried to fight the tears they eventually came, bringing her to her knees “It can’t be fixed… everything’s wrong, but if she doesn’t know… if nopony knows…” her voice trailed, weak and desperate to be away from the situation.

“Certainly somepony else knows, right? Look, I won’t tell her right away when I get the order in, but, I just need to know you’re ok, I mean, I can’t imagine why you’d be so upset over this. Though, maybe I couldn’t understand, but still…” Twilight trailed off as well, looking away briefly before turning back to the mare who continued to descend deeper into a breakdown, unable to do much else she laid beside the mare and covered her with a wing awkwardly.

Fluttershy accepted the embrace, delving into Twilights side and crying mercilessly. The crying didn’t seem to have an end in sight, but eventually, words broke through the sounds of strained shuddering “I just don’t want her to know, I don’t want her to feel bad… things are good now, they should stay the way they are…”

“Things change Fluttershy, you have to accept that. What could be so bad that you have to hide it from Scootaloo?” Twilight’s curiosity was piqued, and she felt as if without the answer her conscious would never be whole.

“I-I can’t… I c-c-can’t…” she whimpered, shaking furiously.

“Look Fluttershy, I do want to help, but I don’t think I can do anything without some kind of answer.” She insisted, using her wing to pull the mare closer “No matter how bad it is, you need to tell me if you want this done.”

Despite Fluttershy’s insistence, she just wanted the situation resolved as quickly as possible, and with no other option she could think of, she spoke. slowly, the words came, Fluttershy poured out every bit of the painful memory, her words went from terrified to cold, to sick, then eventually it was as if Fluttershy shut down, the words forming a sentience itself and controlling her as tear after tear rolled down her face. Every word, every sentence was told in such excruciating detail that the mere thought would be burned in Twilight’s head for the rest of her life. The proverbial dust settled, Fluttershy had stopped talking, but from the looks of her sunken, red eyes it had taken far more out of her then Twilight could imagine.

Twilight, in horror and disbelief, held back tears, her emotions, and several desires to release the contents of her stomach for how sickened she was, but despite all that she had to speak. Opening her muzzle, she mouthed many things unable to speak until finally her voice found life “I just, I mean… I…” and just as quickly that life faded, what could she say, what should she say? She couldn’t understand the pain, she could barely comprehend it, and yet her every fiber needed to do something to make things better, but she couldn’t, nothing short of wiping her memory could reverse the pain and that was an unethical choice. Shaking her head, Twilight forced whatever words out she could “I don’t- I don’t know what I s-should say or do, a-and, um, ahem, I don’t think there is… there isn’t anything I can say, I don’t think, but… I don’t think you should hide this… not from her and more importantly not from yourself…”

Fluttershy closed her eyes, shook her head and covered her ears with her hooves, shaking violently as her shuddering breath meeked out over and over how she “Wanted it all to go away.” Twilight had always wondered about Fluttershy, why she was so meek, scared, her every action was based on some unknown fear of the shadows and perhaps this was part of it, but she could only feel that it went on further than that, regardless, she had to take what she knew and what she knew filled her with more emotions than she’d ever felt before.

Finally, Twilight resolved again to make words, even though her last attempts caused a burning pain in her chest, she had to “It can’t go away Fluttershy…” she spoke tenderly, running a hoof through her hair, but she wouldn’t listen, she just repeated the same thing over and over again ‘Make it go away, please make it go away.’ and Twilight could in some part see why, it was awful, wrong, sick, everything wrong in the world summed up in the torment of a single, innocent mare. But perhaps, there was hope. Fluttershy was fragile, but not broken, for all her cracks she still held strong under pressure, where it truly mattered, and maybe it was Fluttershy who needed to be reminded.

“Fluttershy, please listen.” she said, causing the mare to finally lift her head and quit her chanting “I don’t know what you’ve gone through, or what has happened to you over your life, but every time I see you… I felt that, maybe, it’s too hard for you to talk about, so I said nothing, but that was wrong of me. I said I’d be there for you, all of you, but when something seemed too touchy I avoided it.” Twilight lifted the mares head up so the two looked eye to eye “Fluttershy, believe when I say I know you can…” she bit her lip, looking for the best word for the situation “Overcome this, you may seem weak but I know you’re strong, maybe stronger than all of us, because, after all you might have been through, you still smile and try and show the world kindness, even if it seems you’ve been given none in return. Letting you bottle this up, I just, I can’t let you do that, because, though I can’t equate to what you’ve been through, I can promise you trying to hide this… is unhealthy…” Twilight spoke pleadingly, and in a way, Fluttershy felt her words, and they helped her, just a little bit, but it wasn’t enough.

Fluttershy shook her head, the trembling began anew, and she nuzzled closer to Twilight for more, much-needed comfort. The two sat in silence again, Fluttershy drinking in the warmth of her friend and letting her words reach into her. She wanted to be stronger, she always has, but what didn’t end in failure, ended in hurting others and even then she still felt so small. She wanted to overcome a lot of the pain she’d endured, for every time she’d crumbled to the pressure she wanted to move beyond some of her past, but she just didn’t feel this could be it.

Still, she felt comfort, like a child cradled by a mother, and she also felt tired, and as the minutes passed her weariness got the best of her.

When morning came she was on a bed across from Twilight, the sun was just peeking over the horizon and the summer breeze had picked up. Her body was weak and exhausted, but still, she pulled herself from beneath the covers to indulge in the smell and feeling of the air wafting in from the window. She still felt shaky, however, last night was the first time in a long time she’d spoken of it, and still, the thought broke her will with such ease, despite all she’d done, and when she looked back she’d done a lot. Faced several evil entities, a Dragon, and even befriended an entity of chaos who was just the sweetest when you got to know him. She felt out of place, barely knowing who she was at times, but that rarely mattered because all she wanted to be was kind, to make others happy even if she couldn’t find it in herself to be happy as well.

She turned to her sleeping friend, a smile rising from her softly breathing form. Silently thanking Twilight, Fluttershy took off into the morning towards her cabin, she wanted to sort things out herself, and if it got too hard she knew she could go to somepony.

A month later, outside of the Ponyville library, an excited pegasus filly watched as several boxes were moved into the library, a few marked from Cloudsdale. Once the last box had entered, the filly ran inside to find Twilight, only to see not but Spike who, in a hazy grog, signed some papers before a mail pony made his leave. Curious, Scootaloo ran to the baby dragon. “Spike, hold up!” she shouted, stopping in front of him “Where’s Twilight.”

With a yawn, he muttered “Canterlot, business, why?”

Blinking a bit, Scootaloo smiled and said: “She was ordering something for me, umm, do you mind if I look for it?”

Shrugging, the baby dragon took his leave back up to his bed. Taking that as a yes, Scootaloo dug through the Cloudsdale box until she came upon a book detailing the birth records of the year she was born and beamed, she was excited, her veins rushed and her heart pumped, despite all she’d been told she wanted nothing more than to pour through the book without hesitation, but hesitation lingered. A lot of things came to her mind, things that crept on her, like what if her parents were bad people, or crazy. What if they weren’t gone but passed? Her smile faded as the thoughts took hold and made her second guess her decision, but so what? It wouldn’t change anything, it couldn't, right? Either way, she was still Scootaloo, and with that, she broke the book open.

On the other end of Ponyville, Twilight had exited the train, greeted by her friends as usual as they enveloped her in a big hug. The group spoke for a while, many things were exchanged but as they walked on the six dwindled to two. “So, did you have fun?” Fluttershy asked warmly

“Not really I guess, it was just a lot of standing around and saying nice sounding things, even though if you think about it, most of it was anything but nice. Still, it’s good to be back and I believe I just got a shipment in, so hopefully Spike’s got that put-away. I’m actually very eager to get home, because now that I'm a princess, I was able to order some rare passages from what was believed to be Starswirls personal journal, gee, I’m too excited.” The alicorn raved as Fluttershy intently listened, happy to hear her friend so happy, however, her smile died when she took notice of something sitting near her door. A scooter. “Oh no…” she mouthed as she ran forward, prompting Fluttershy to look around only to notice the same, and her heart sank.

The two ran into the library, and in the center of the room, among several boxes was Scootaloo, who just sat there, staring at a book, eyes wide and mouth open as she stared dead into the pages. In that moment, Fluttershy’s world went black, her heart began to skip beats, tears rolled down her face and her body went slump. Silence, a deep, perpetrating, choking silence filled the air, it was thick, almost palpable in the way it clung to everyone's lungs. And then finally, the filly moved, turning to Fluttershy and staring at her as if a knife had been run through her chest, and Fluttershy did the same, in that moment the two only knew one thing, pain.

Finally, the silence broke as Scootaloo opened her mouth “You…” the word was simple, but seething with confusion, sadness, and anger with enough force to bring Fluttershy to her knees.

The silence took over again, Fluttershy had long since retreated to the protective curtain of her mane and shuddered under the gaze of the filly, who had since broken into tears that tapped loudly against the wood below. Finally, as if a knife had been pressed to her throat, Fluttershy spoke “I-I’m s-sorry…” her voice was barely a whisper, but in the quiet of the situation, was louder than a falling pin.

Twilight, in all this pain, felt only regret for her carelessness, but remained to herself, letting nothing but the shame occupy her mind. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had yet to move since hiding her face away, almost as his preparing herself for an assault that she could do not but defend against.

As her bottled emotions gurgled up into her throat, Scootaloo asked a question everypony saw coming “Why…” she sniffled, nothing but sad, sad confusion remained as the hurt filly begged for an answer “Why didn’t you want me… w-what did I do…” she roughly pushed her hooves against her eyes, now fighting to breath “W-why di-di-did you… *sniff* why did you…” the filly crumbled as well, sinking to the ground into fetal position, holding herself tight as she shook, sobbing into the wood beneath her. “Why didn’t you want me…” she muttered one last time before her voice shrank into a series of sorrowful wailing.

Looking through her hair, Fluttershy watched Scootaloo cry, the very sight as if driving needle after needle through her skin, the pain cut deep, and her heart ached, and in that breaking heart of hers, she realized that no amount of fear was worth watching her child so miserable. With every bit of willpower she had, Fluttershy lifted herself up and slowly made her way beside Scootaloo, and once there, she laid at her side, bringing the filly beneath her chest and covered them both with her wings, before humming sweetly to her.

Scootaloo, under the protective coddling of Fluttershy, seemed to melt, a warmth she’d never imagined washed over her as she felt indestructible under the older mare. Never had she felt this kind of safety. As Twilight watched the two embrace, she smiled, nothing before had touched her so much, the sight, for all the woe that surrounded it, was beautiful and was more natural for the two then she’d ever seen, and so, wanting not to disturb them, she left for a while so the two could be alone, going so far as to teleport Spike out with her.

Scootaloo had let the pleasant tones of her mother sooth her, the pain of just a while ago washing away as she sunk deeper and deeper into the long desired embrace. She had to admit, she was nervous, but despite the questions she had she just didn’t want this to end, but knew it would have to eventually. With an anxious breath, Scootaloo spoke uneasily “So… uh… do you hate me?” it was the first thing she could ask, she felt as if the answer was clear but needed the words spoken regardless.

“Of course not, I could never hate you,” Fluttershy spoke her words like honey over the filly.

“Oh… then why did you…” she asked, unable to finish but knowing the point was made regardless.

With a sigh, Fluttershy had gathered the courage to speak “Because I was afraid… I was afraid of a lot of things, many things you’re too young to hear… but still, I was alone, nopony would help me, I had nothing to give you.” she stopped to consider her words before continuing “Something… something very bad happened to me… and it’s hurt me a lot, so bad it still haunts me…”

Shifting uncomfortably, Scootaloo felt terrible, she had read more than her mother's identity in that book and the thought, though so terribly foreign to a filly her age, was understandable enough get a vague point across “...I’m sorry…” she muttered, feeling an unbearable guilt fall over her, like somehow the tragedy had been her fault.

Just as quickly as the words came, Fluttershy held the filly even tighter “Never, ever apologize. It’s not your fault, I’d never ever blame you and I don’t ever want to hear you apologize for it again!!” her voice was stern but filled with so much love and concern, one that only a mother could provide “It’s not your fault… a very, very bad pony… he… he… he hurt me, but he’s gone, he’s never coming back… and no matter what, I love you, I always have, and I just wanted you to be happy… I gave you up because I couldn’t take care of you, and no matter how bad I wanted you, I had to let you go…” Fluttershy, face fresh with tears once more, moved to wipe her eyes only to see the filly pushing them away with a hoof. “I… I never wanted to let you go, and if I could I promise I would have kept you…”

Scootaloo took in the words, letting the words hold her tightly only to remember the words in the book “But… but I… it said…” she started, but was hushed by Fluttershy

“It doesn’t matter… how, or why you were born… what matters is I love you, I always will, and- and if you want, we can, um… we can talk about it when you’re older, but not now.” she said, easing the fillies concerns once and for all.

The two lingered in the embrace for a while, soaking in the love and affection the two had wanted from one another for so, so long. They felt whole, and that’s the way it was always meant to be. As the time passed, eventually the two moved from their spot to look at one another, smiling, truly happy to have the truth out, and as silly as it was, Scootaloo had one more question “Um, Fluttershy…” she started, prompting Fluttershy to hum in response “Can I… can I call you mom?” and with a smile and a nod, the two departed the library, to begin their new life as mother and daughter.

Author's Note

Holy hell I suck. Whelp, if I don't try I can't improve I guess, but man, I don't know. I just wanted this to be good, but whatever, if I can just escape with mediocrity I guess it'll be a good enough start~