Snow fell as the last bell of the day rang, signaling that school was over and Christmas break could begin. The doors of Ponyville Elementary burst open, with kids running after one another, talking, laughing and discussing their Christmas plans.
In the herd of excited kids were Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. The latter two of the three buzzing about finally getting time to actually be with their sisters and the rest of their family.
Scootaloo stayed quiet through it all, mumbling her responses when it required one. The ten year old scuffed her shoe against the tightly packed snow, sending a flurry of it into the air as her friends continued.
"Applejack said she got me something good!" Applebloom gushed happily. "Ah bet it's that Sapphire Shores CD Ah've been wanting since September!"
Sweetie Belle squealed. "Same here! Though Rarity probably just made me another dress. What do you think Rainbow Dash got you, Scootaloo?" She asked, turning to the purple haired girl.
"Huh?" Scootaloo blinked, her attention being drawn back to the conversation as they continued their walk home.
"Do you think Rainbow got you anything? I mean she is kind of like a sister to you." Sweetie said with a shrug.
Scootaloo shrugged herself. "Uh yeah. Maybe. I don't know. I mean I'm sure she did but she hasn't said anything about it," She sighed. "Besides, Christmas isn't really my thing, y'know?"
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom nodded, understanding. "Well Ah'm sure she's got something cooking up for you." Applebloom assured her. "Christmas is the day after tomorrow."
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed. "Have some faith in your big sis." She patted a gloved hand on her back. "Trust me, she's not gonna leave you hanging."
They stopped walking once they reached the steps of her foster home. Scootaloo sighed heavily and waved goodbye to her friends before pushing through the door of the house.
"She's always so sad this time of year," Sweetie mused sadly once she was sure Scootaloo had gone up the stairs and out of earshot. "It's a shame she doesn't have a hint of extended family either."
Applebloom pulled her bomber hat lower on her ears as they started walking again. "Ah would say we're her family, but it's not the same. She wants more than just sisters. She wants a real family. A whole one."
She watched a snowflake land on her nose and melt. "Ah can't say Ah don't know how it feels because Ah do, but Ah knew my parents. Ah got time with mines. Ah'm not even sure if she knows hers."
Sweetie Belle sighed. "We should do something for her. Maybe ask Pinkie if we can have a Christmas party at the Corner so that way she doesn't feel left out."
Applebloom stopped short and turned to her friend. "Sweetie Belle, you're a genius!" She exclaimed, shaking her.
"Huh?" The other girl asked in confusion.
"C'mon! Let's head over to the Corner right now!" The redhead shouted, dragging Sweetie Belle in the direction of the sweets shop.
Scootaloo stomped the snow off her feet, unzipping her jacket and throwing it on the railing post at the bottom of the steps. She stopped to realize that there was murmuring coming from the living room.
Taking off her snow boots so that she wouldn't make any noise, Scootaloo tip toed to the doorway and hid behind the wall, straining to listen in.
"So....that's it?" A raspy voice asked, excitedly. Scootaloo recognized this to be Rainbow Dash. But what was Rainbow doing at her foster home?
"Yep. That's it. Soon as the papers finalize she's all yours," Her foster mother said with a laugh. "I'm sure you'll treat her just fine."
"Treat who just fine?" Scootaloo asked, leaning in the doorway. She couldn't help but wonder what was going on here.
Both women jumped at her sudden entrance.
"Scoots! Hey! Heheh, didn't see you there! How's it going?!" Rainbow Dash squeaked out nervously.
Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. "What's going on here?" She could see that both women were visibly uncomfortable.
"We were just.." Her foster mother started.
"We were just discussing a deal on buying a car!" Dash finished for her.
Scootaloo's foster mother nodded wildly. "Right! And the papers I was talking about were papers from the bank! You know, insurance and all that. Adult stuff!"
Scootaloo had a feeling that they weren't telling the truth, but shrugged it off. "Oh. Well, okay. It's nice seeing you, Dash."
"You too, Squirt." Dash nodded back at her with a smile.
Scootaloo turned and headed up to her room. Both women on the couch let out a sigh of relief.
"Boy, that was a close one." Dash muttered.
"I would have called you over earlier if I knew she was going to be home so soon." Scootaloo's foster mother told the athlete apologetically.
Dash shrugged. "Eh, its fine. Besides, she has no idea what's about to happen to her. I'd like to keep it that way."
"You? A mom? HA!" Applejack guffawed. "Whoo-wee! That'd be the day!" She said, slapping her knee and wiping a tear from her eye. Her laughs got louder as the prospect seemed even more ridiculous.
Dash frowned deeply at the farmer as she fell to her knees. Her laughing fit had started when Dash had came to Sugarcube Corner and asked her and the other girls what they'd think about her being a mother. "What, you think I can't handle it?!" She barked defensively.
Rarity gave her a sympathetic look. "Not that you can't handle it dearie, just...we aren't sure you're exactly ready to take on such a...big task."
Dash clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. She knew she should have kept her mouth shut. She was going to tell them about the present, but now she knew it'd be against her better judgment to do so. "Yeah, thanks for the support you guys." She mumbled sarcastically.
Fluttershy, the only one out of the five who truly knew why Dash brought the question up, came to her defense. "Applejack! That's not very nice! If that's the case, then that could be said of all of us! I mean, you, Twilight, and Rarity are workaholics, Pinkie has the attention span of a goldfish, and I'm an absolute pushover when it comes to children!" The pinkette finished, pointing to herself.
Twilight nodded. "Fluttershy's right. We all have flaws that could make us seem unfit. We can't just make fun of Dash like we don't have our own. Though I have to correct you on the fact that I am not a workaholic!"
"Oh yeah? What about the time Spike had ta come and get us because you passed out from not eatin'?" Applejack asked with her hands on her hips.
"That was one time!" Twilight protested, crossing her arms.
"It happened twice!" Applejack corrected her. "In the same month!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Look, Fluttershy has a point. We don't have room to talk."
"Though, and excuse my intrusive nature, but why exactly did you decide to ask us this question out of the blue?" Rarity pointed a perfectly manicured finger at the athlete in question.
Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. "Well...You guys remember how I was talking about that gift for Scootaloo for months?"
The others nodded, somewhat vaguely remembering certain various instances.
"Well...The gift is..." Rainbow paused, not sure how to phrase her words. "I'm gonna adopt Scoots. I'm gonna be her mother. They're finalizing the papers tomorrow and by tomorrow night I'll have a kid."
Mouths around the room hung agape, the silence enforcing the fact that they were all speechless.
"That's...whoa." Twilight mumbled, her words not exactly coming back to her yet.
"That's....very mature of you Rainbow Dash! Oh I'm sure you'll be a fine mother for Scootaloo!" Rarity praised, clapping her hands excitedly.
"Damn, and here Ah thought ya done gone and got yourself knocked up by some fella," Applejack said running a hand through her dirty blonde hair. "Shoot, now Ah feel bad. Sorry fer laughin' in your face, sug." She sent her an apologetic look.
Rainbow shrugged. "It's aiight. Just don't tell Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. They might get too excited and spill the beans."
"Too bad you guys weren't watching the door!"
Everyone turned to see both aforementioned girls posted up against the front door of the sweets shop, arms folded and smug grins on their rosey, cold bitten faces.
Rainbow smirked. "I guess the cat's out of the bag then, huh?" She asked, going over to them and playfully patting their heads.
"You mean chicken," Sweetie Belle corrected, earning a confused look from the prism haired woman and a snort from Applebloom.
"An' we came ta ask if we could throw a Christmas party here! Ya know, so she doesn't feel left out!" Applebloom gushed, jumping up and down, causing the women to titter.
"A party?!" Pinkie said, sticking her head out the kitchen. "That's a super duper amazing idea! That way we can all be here when Rainbow tells Scootaloo the big news! It could be a Christmas slash Congrats-On-Getting-Adopted party! It's perfect!"
"We just have to keep the second part a secret," Fluttershy reminded all of them. "Girls, do you think you could keep this a secret for a day?"
"Yeah! We'll help ya set up and everythin' too! Right Sweetie Belle?!" Applebloom nudged the paler girl in the side.
"Huh?! Hold on, I didn't sign up for that!" Sweetie Belle protested, causing the other girls to bust out in laughter.
Scootaloo sighed, staring out her window. The cold late December air whipped at her face as she looked out into the night. All across her vision there were warm lights glowing from houses. Distant laughter was heard as a couple passed on the street. The snow that had fallen earlier had frozen over a bit, creating a crunching noise whenever someone stepped on it.
She hadn’t looked out into the night in a while, it was something that had somewhat comforted her when she was younger. A star in the sky twinkled brightly, making her blink.
Shaking her head, she returned her attention to the sky. The star seemed to shine brighter than before. “I’m crazy for even thinking this is a good idea, but...Santa, if you’re out there, really out there, I just, all I want for Christmas...I just want a real family. Or maybe just someone who will love me and care for me. That’s all I want.” She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. “That’s my only wish.”
She opened her eyes just in time to see the star she had been gazing at so intently or at least, one close to it, fall. Sighing, Scootaloo closed her window and crawled into her bed, settling into a dreamless, but very hope filled, sleep.
The next afternoon Rainbow trudged over to Fluttershy’s house after everyone had finished setting up for the party for the following afternoon. The entire time she knew that the meeker girl could sense something was bothering her, so she had asked if she could come over. Of course Fluttershy said it was okay and now here she was standing in front of her door, shivering.
She knocked once, and a moment later she was face to face with the animal caretaker. “Are you alright? You seemed a little out of it earlier,” The pinkette told her conversationally as she went over to the stove to start a pot for some tea.
Rainbow took off her coat and threw it over the couch as she sat down. She hugged herself even though she had been out of the cold for almost five minutes now. “Well, the papers got approved earlier this morning.”
There was a crash from the kitchen and Fluttershy came running back in the living room. “Oh Rainbow! That’s exciting!” She exclaimed, hugging her. When she pulled back she saw a look of doubt on the tanner girls face. “You don’t look very happy.”
“I’m sorry...it’s just, I’m nervous, ya know? I was an only child and I have no experience caring for other people. I”m scared I might mess this up and she’ll never talk to me again.” Dash ran a hand through her hair.
Fluttershy’s gave her a confused look. “Well why do you think that?”
Dash let out a dry laugh. “C’mon, Flutters. You and I both know that I’m the last person out of all of us who would be able to raise a kid.” She raised an eyebrow expectantly at her childhood friend.
Fluttershy went back into the kitchen as the kettle began to whistle. “Well, do you honestly believe that? I mean you’ve been taking her places, having sleepovers with her, and spending so much time with her you might as well be her mother.” She poured the steaming hot water into two cups and put a tea bag in hers and some hot cocoa mix in Dash’s. She then brought the two mugs over to the coffee table and set them down.
“Now I’m no therapist, but where is all this self doubt coming from? You were so excited yesterday and confident in yourself,” Fluttershy blew on her tea a little bit before taking a tentative sip. “Is there anything that might have caused this?”
Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I just got to thinking, like, what if I can’t be a good role model for her? What if she can’t take me seriously as a mom and continues to see me as nothin’ but a sister?” She tugged at her hair in frustration. “The last thing I wanna do is drive us apart!”
Fluttershy scooted closer to Rainbow and gently coaxed her into putting her hands down. “You won’t, because I have faith in you. And the other girls might not show it, but they do too. And I’m sure if there’s anyone Scootaloo would want as a mother, it’s you. She looks up to you, Dash. She already sees you as a good role model. You can do no wrong in her eyes.”
“That’s the problem! I don’t want her to think I’m some perfect superhero or something and that I don’t have flaws!” Dash buried her face in her hands. “I’m scared. I’m scared that I’m not good enough.”
“If you truly thought that, would you have gone through this whole process?” Fluttershy asked with a quirked brow.
“Huh?” Dash mumbled.
“If you really truly believed someone like you didn’t have what it takes to be a mother to Scootaloo, would you have gone through the process of all of this? Something that takes months? There’s no backing out now and you know it. Rainbow you care about Scootaloo a lot. I can see it. We all can. You’ll be a great mother for her. I promise.” Fluttershy smiled at her warmly.
Dash breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks Fluttershy. You know, you really know how to girl up sometimes.” She said, putting an arm around the other girl.
Fluttershy’s eyebrows knitted. “I thought the term was ‘man up’?”
Dash shook her head. “Nah, I can’t see you as a man!” She threw her head back and laughed as the snow outside picked up again.
Christmas Day
“Where are you guys leading me to?” Scootaloo asked Applebloom and Sweetie Belle as they lead her through town blindfolded. The had showed up to her house earlier that afternoon saying they had something to show her. Even after a good amount of questions and frustrated groans, she got no answer but “you’ll see,” or “just wait,”. The purple haired girl had given up altogether on trying to get an answer out of them, so she just let them continue to drag her along.
They helped her up some steps and she heard the familiar jingle of a bell above a door as they opened it, but stepped inside to an empty and quiet shop. Or, at least, it seemed empty and quiet. The two girls removed the blindfold from over her eyes and she opened them, jumping with a start when she saw everyone smiling at her before yelling “Surprise!”
Scootaloo’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked around the room and saw that she was in Sugarcube Corner and that the walls were decorated with red, white, gold, and green streamers, handmade snowflakes and reindeer. “Huh?”
Rainbow stepped forward. “We did this for you, Squirt. We didn’t want you to be alone on Christmas. Not anymore. And you have your friends to thank for that.” She nodded at Applebloom and Sweetie Belle who both grinned sheepishly.
“You guys? This was your idea?” She asked, her eyebrows raised.
“Yeah,” Sweetie replied excitedly.
“We wanted to let ya know how much we all care about ya. Especially Rainbow Dash.” Applebloom told her.
Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “R-Really?” She said, turning back to the older girl.
Rainbow Dash ruffled her hair. “Of course, Squirt. I’d do anything to make you happy.” She gave her a warm smile.
“Alright, Alright! Enough heart felt! Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie Pie shouted, turning on the music and pulling a huge bag presents seemingly out of nowhere. She pushed Scootaloo in a plush chair and put a king’s crown on her.
“This is your special day, so you get only the best gifts fit for a king!” The pink haired party planner snorted with laughter. She handed the bag of presents to Scootaloo and squealed with excitement as the child’s eyes lit up with tears.
“These...these are all for me?” She whispered, choking back tears.
“Yep! Go ahead! Open them!” Rainbow encouraged with a knowing smirk.
The first couple of presents were small things like books, games, etc, and then bigger things like posters of the Wonderbolts. The last gift was a small white box with a red bow tied onto it that had been stuffed in the bottom of the bag. Scootaloo looked around confused, and Rainbow Dash prompted her to open it.
Inside was a small silver key. “What’s this for?” She asked.
“You’ll see soon enough. C’mon. Let’s have some fun first before we get to that.” Dash said, grinning and pulling Scootaloo out of the chair as Pinkie Pie started up the music.
After all the partying was over, Rainbow had offered to walk Scootaloo home. The snow had completely stopped at this point, and because it was so late out, all that could be heard was the joint sounds of their breathing and snow crunching footsteps. With her hands in her pockets, the older girl asked, “So, did ya have fun?”
Scootaloo nodded, swinging the sack of gifts in her right hand back and forth. “Sure did!” She beamed. She then mumbled, looking down, “I can’t believe you guys did all of that for me though...”
Dash put an arm around her. “Why not? You’re a good kid. You deserve to be just as happy as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. And, most importantly, you deserve to be loved. Remember that.” She looked up and grinned. “We’re home!” She announced.
Scootaloo gave her a confused look. “But this is your house,” She said, tilting her head. “Why would ‘home’ be your house?”
Rainbow ruffled her hair. “You’ll see.”
They entered the house, Scootaloo staying by the door to take off her snow caked boots while Dash clomped around, turning on different lights. When she was done, lighting the once dark home, she returned to Scootaloo who was giving her another perplexed look.
“Do you still have the key?” She simply asked, pointing to the red sack in Scootaloo’s hand.
It took her a moment, but Scootaloo finally fished it out and nodded.
“Okay, follow me,” Dash instructed.
They made their way up the stairs and Dash lead her down a hallway to a closed door with a red bow on it. She smiled brightly. “Behind this door is your last, but biggest Christmas present of all. It took a lot of work, but, I know you’ll love it.” She stepped away from the door so that Scootaloo could open it.
Scootaloo looked unsurely at her, but with a firm nod from Rainbow she put the key in the the keyhole and turned it. The heavy door slowly creaked open to reveal a bedroom. “H-Huh?” the younger girl questioned.
Rainbow leaned forward and turned on the light.
And then realization flooded on to Scootaloo’s face. The bedroom was painted a light blue, clouds drawn in certain areas to look like the afternoon sky. All along the walls were different books, books she knew didn’t belong to her. There were toys scattered everywhere, and Wonderbolt posters lining the walls. But what stood out most to her was her scooter, propped up against a brand new mahogany desk.
"Me and Applejack had moved everything just before the party." Rainbow told her with tears in her eyes. “Welcome home, Squirt.”
“W-When you were at my foster home the other day, you weren’t talking about a car, were you?” Scootaloo said, choking back tears. “You, you were talking about me, weren’t you?”
Rainbow nodded. “Yep. Congratulations, Scoots. You finally have what you’ve always wanted. A mother.”
“A family,” Scootaloo whispered, in awe. It happened. It finally happened. She had a mother. Someone to truly love her, and care for her, to greet her when she comes home from school and do things with on Mother’s day. A real mother. Becoming so overwhelmed, she started to cry.
Rainbow pulled her in a tight hug.
“This is the best gift anyone has ever given me.” Scootaloo sniffed. She gazed up at Rainbow bleary eyed. “Thank you. So much.” She tightened her grip on Rainbow as if she never wanted to let the older girl go.
“I love you,” A hesitant expression crossed Scootaloo’s face before it was filled with excitement. “....Mom.”
Dash’s eyes widened at the word, her heart racing. “I love you too, Squirt.” She finally murmured, after a moment, kissing the top of her beautiful daughter’s head.
Author's Note
i said friday but here it is...Saturday. Haha. I'm going away for a week so there wont be any updates until a week from now. But i'm pretty sure you'll guys will get something before the new year. If not, then Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 
