Homecoming

The bell of the Ponyville schoolhouse rang and the door was overrun with fillies and colts pushing their way through one another, trying to go home.

"Come on, crusaders! We've got to go to Rarity's!" shouted Scootaloo to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as they raced down the streets of Ponyville. Scootaloo had grown into an eight year old filly, and now had friends in school. Aldous had found a stable job in Ponyville as an assistant to the Mayor, so the family relocated to the small town. Pam also found work at Sugarcube Corner with Mr. and Mrs. Cake. In a few years time, they had been able to rent a small house, pay off their debts, and then buy an even bigger house. They watched their little filly grow up without her twin brother, something that broke the parents' hearts.

Pam and Aldous missed their little colt and desperately wanted to see him again, to see what he had become. Pam had always believed that Tagalong was adopted, living in a better home than the one they could have provided at the time, but a feeling was getting to her that he was still there, a mother’s instinct that her child was in trouble. The feeling had finally gotten to her, and she’d planned to go back to the orphanage to find out what happened to Tagalong.

"Wait, why are we goin' to Rarity's again?" asked Apple Bloom, nearly out of breath from running for so long.

"Don't you remember?" asked Sweetie Belle, "My sister said that she'd watch us tonight and let us sleep over at her place!". Scootaloo skidded to a halt right before she bumped into her father.

"Whoa! Watch where you're goin', kiddo! We wouldn't want anypony to get hurt now, would we?"

"Sorry dad, but we're in a hurry! We’ve got to get to Carousel Boutique to meet up with Rarity!" stated Scootaloo, out of breath and panting from running across town.

"Well, as long as she's going to be watching you, your mother and I were going to go to Manehattan tonight for some business."

"What kind of business?" asked a puzzled Scootaloo. Her parents had no business going to Manehattan... well, not that she knew of.

"Just business, kiddo. Now get a move on!" he said, nudging her with his hoof.

"Alright dad, I'll see you tomorrow!" yelled Scootaloo as she ran down the street. He waved a hoof good-bye and headed back to his home. Unbeknownst to Scootaloo, Pam and Aldous had planned to head into Manehattan to go to the orphanage and find out who adopted her twin brother Tagalong. Pam was so excited that she'd be able to know that her child was alright and safe.

At around 9 o'clock, Pam and Aldous went to Manehattan to get information on their little colt. When they arrived in the city, it was bustling with activity, as compared to the cold night that Pam had taken a foal Tagalong to the center. Pam walked down the same street and stopped in front of the same gray building. Pam noticed the once faded sign at the front of the orphanage had been replaced with a newer, brighter one.

With a gulp, she said "This is the place...".

They walked in and were greeted by Ms. Carie, the same mare who had met Pam only eight years before.

"Hello again, dearie!" Ms. Carie said in the same gleeful tone she used eight years

ago. "I remember you!" she piped up. Aldous looked at his wife and back at Ms. Carie.

"Yes, uh, we were wondering if we could get some information on our child that we had to put up for adoption. We just want to know if he's been adopted and if he's in a good home." Aldous was hopeful for the best response possible from this mare. "His name is Tagalong."

"Oh, you’re 'his' birth parents," said Ms. Carie, her cheery tone had dissipated into one of sympathy. "Yes. Follow me." Ms. Carie led Aldous and Pam up the stairs,  three stories up the building until they reached a room with  bronze name plate on the door that read "TAGALONG". Pam and Aldous were thrilled that their child was still here and that they could take him back home to his family. "Now, I must warn you," Ms. Carie said, "he's very... how should I put this... complicated. You see, during his stay here, he wasn't exactly the most popular colt on the block. He's been bullied by the other colts here for most of his life."

“Well, how was it that he was never adopted?” Aldous asked the mare.

“He was so shy and fearful of the adopting families that he never spoke to them or looked at them. They just didn’t want to have to deal with a child that had those kinds of issues, so they changed their minds and adopted another child instead. He’s had to deal with ponies like those for eight years.” Ms. Carie’s eyes had a light in them that showed how much she had cared for Tagalong while he was in the orphanage.

Pam's heart sank, Aldous was dumbstruck, and with that, Ms. Carie slowly opened the door. As the door creaked open, the top of a fuchsia mane could be seen sticking out from behind the bed. Pam and Aldous walked in and went around the bed and saw a young colt sitting on the floor coloring a picture of himself and two older ponies, the words “my family” scrawled across the top. He looked up at Pam and their eyes connected. Pam burst out in tears and hugged Tagalong, crying incoherent phrases through her tears. Even Aldous couldn't help but cry at the sight of a mother being reunited with her son. Tagalong, who was being squeezed by Pam, pushed her away, which shocked everypony except Ms. Carie, and he demanded to know who she was.

"Tagalong, sweetie, these are your parents." said Ms. Carie, once again, in a happy tone of voice. “your real parents.”

"My... parents?" questioned the colt. "No. they can't be! If they were, why are they

here now?" he asked.

"Honey, they've come back for you. They never forgot about you. That's why they're here now." Tagalong only frowned, his purple eyes filled with emotions. Pam regained her grasp of her son and refused to let go. Ms. Carie led the family back downstairs, Tagalong reluctantly following behind. When they had reached the bottom floor, Ms Carie pulled Pam aside while Aldous was filling out the adoption forms.

"Dearie, I really wish that you'd come back sooner to save that poor little colt some of the anguish that he had to endure." Pam instantly felt like she had failed her son and herself. "And I know that you didn't want to give him up, after all, who would? The good thing is that you can take him away from here and give him a better life." Ms. Carie smiled at Pam, and Pam reluctantly smiled back.

"Pam, are you ready?" asked Aldous. Pam's eyes snapped toward him, then towards Tagalong.

"Yeah, I'm ready." she said, in a slightly depressed voice. They thanked Ms. Carie for taking care of Tagalong and left the orphanage. As they walked back to Ponyville, Tagalong at their side, Pam couldn't help but think of how much he's been through. She looked at him the whole way back, thinking of how lucky they were that they had their son back.

When they had reached their home, it was nearly 1 o'clock in the morning. Aldous opened the door and Pam carried Tagalong's bag to the last room of the house. It was a room that had been there since they moved as a guest room. Pam walked Tagalong into his new room, unpacked his bag, fixed the bed and he instantly fell asleep. This bed was far more comfortable than the one at the orphanage. Pam and Aldous both looked at Tagalong; he looked almost exactly like Scootaloo. But as soon as they knew it, they too, had fallen asleep.

In the morning, Pam woke up. She had thought that it was all a crazy dream. However, when she walked into the kitchen, she found Aldous cooking a humongous stack of pancakes for Tagalong. Pam's heart soared; it wasn't a dream, she really did have her son back.

"Morning, hon." beamed Aldous, who was covered in bits of pancake batter. A hungry looking Tagalong sat at the table, fork in hoof, and ready to chow down.

"Good morning. And a good morning to you, Tagalong!" Pam said enthusiastically.

"Morning..." he mumbled. He was really nervous about being in a new environment. The orphanage was all he knew. He had to deal with being bullied all the time, and now there was no need to worry, yet he still did.

"Pam, dear, what time do you go into work today?" asked Aldous wiping batter off his face with a napkin.

"Oh, I’m not going in today. I’m going to spend all day with my little man!" Pam chimed in. Aldous placed the stack of pancakes in front of Tagalong, who started eating them as fast as they were put in front of him.

"Alright, well then be sure to enroll Tagalong in school. Maybe if he's lucky, he'll get into Scootaloo's class."

"Scootaloo?" asked Tagalong, through a muzzle full of pancakes. "Who's Scootaloo?".

"Tagalong, she's your sister." Tagalong was surprised. He has a sister? This was quite as shock to him as he’d never had anypony to relate to.

“Speaking of which, did you want me to drop her off at school?” asked Aldous.

“No, I’m sure she’s already at school with her friends.” replied Pam. She hugged Tagalong, who had continued eating his pancakes.

After Aldous had left for work, and spending six hours at home with Pam, talking, playing games and just being around one another, she took Tagalong with her to the schoolhouse to get Scootaloo and enroll him in school. Tagalong didn’t like being in public so much, so he looked at the dirt road as they walked to the schoolhouse. When they arrived, the bell rang and young fillies and colts ran out of the schoolhouse to head home.

Pam was waiting outside for Scootaloo. She turned to her side, and Tagalong was gone. She found him hiding behind a wall. He was too nervous to be seen by the other school children, let alone to go to school the next day. Pam told him that he had nothing to worry about. However, Tagalong still couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“Let’s go to the clubhouse, girls!” said Sweetie Belle to the other fillies

"Sorry, I can't. My mom's picking me up today." rang in Scootaloo's voice from

around the corner.

"Aw!" groaned both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Tagalong caught a glimpse of the other crusaders before being dragged along with Pam to greet Scootaloo.

"Oh, Scootaloo!" Pam called out, walking slowly in the filly’s direction.

"Hi mom!" said Scootaloo. She walked over to her mother, who kept Tagalong hidden behind her.

"Scootaloo, I'd like you to meet somepony very important. Scootaloo this is your brother Tagalong." She moved to reveal a nervous Tagalong, cowering behind his mother.

"Brother? I have a brother? What? How? Since when? I'm so confused..." Scootaloo had a hoof on her head to alleviate her now occurring headache.

"Go on then, say hi to him." she stated, giving the filly a better view of her almost

mirror-like sibling.

"Uh... hi. Tagalong, right? I'm Scootaloo. I guess we're brother and sister now! This is so cool!" The pegasus pony hopped around flapping her wings. "But mom, how do I have a brother?".

"I'll explain when we get back home. Now let's go. We have to talk to Ms. Cheerilee and get Tagalong enrolled in school." Pam led her kids into the schoolhouse to find Cheerilee. When they got into the classroom, Cheerilee was cleaning chalk off of the chalkboard.

"Oh, hello Scootaloo, hello Pam." Cheerilee said. Her attention was drawn to what looked like a second Scootaloo. "And who's this?"

"This is Tagalong, my son. I was hoping to enroll him in your class." explained Pam.

"Well, that's interesting. How come I've never seen you around town, my little pony?" asked an inquisitive Cheerilee, leaning in for a response. Tagalong was silent; he had nothing to say.

"Um, Ms. Cheerilee, it's a long story, and I'd rather not talk about it in front of my

kids right now," said Pam. Cheerilee nodded and focused back on Tagalong, who was still silent.

"Well, let's get you enrolled in school then, Tagalong. I'll put you in Scootaloo's

class, so you can feel a bit more comfortable." Cheerilee had obviously picked up on Tagalong's timidness, and was trying to sympathize with him. After about five minutes worth of paperwork, the family of pegasi left the schoolhouse, waving good-bye to Cheerilee. When they got back home, Pam told the kids to sit down so she could explain why Tagalong hadn't been in the family for eight years.

"You see, you two are twins. You were born on the same day. Tagalong was born first, so he's the oldest. But, your father and I were not exactly well off money wise. We didn't have enough money to pay for our house and our bills, and we certainly wouldn't have enough money to raise two foals at the same time. But, I counted again, and I found out that we could only afford to keep one of you. Tagalong, I’m sorry to say this, but we had no other choice than to put you up for adoption."

Tagalong didn't want to hear any more of this, and he bolted out of the room, down the hall, and slammed his door. Scootaloo stood up, but Pam put her hoof in front of her as a sign to not go after him. Tagalong locked himself in his room and cried. He sobbed all night long, thinking of the fact that his parents had seen him more as a liability than a child. He felt like a burden on his parents, who had given him up so save money. Of course he didn't realize that if they had kept him, they'd be living off the cold streets of Manehattan and not in a warm, cozy home in Ponyville.

While he was in his room, Pam continued to explain to Scootaloo that while he lived at the orphanage, Tagalong was bullied by nearly everypony there, and had developed timidness towards other ponies, even family members.

"That's awful! I feel really bad for him now. Can I please go in there and try and talk to him?" pleaded Scootaloo. Pam insisted that she give Tagalong time to adjust to Ponyvilleian life. Scootaloo frowned, but she also was happy to have a brother, even if he's the oldest twin and had to deal with a troubled past.

The next morning, Scootaloo and Tagalong woke up. The first day of school, the first day of Tagalong’s new life. The twins sat down in the kitchen, greeted their parents, ate breakfast, then headed off to school. As they walked down the road to the schoolhouse, Scootaloo couldn’t help but notice Tagalong’s worried face. She didn’t know what to say or how to help him, so she just walked by his side. As they entered the town square, Tagalong became really nervous, thinking that everypony was looking at him, wondering who he was and what he was doing in Ponyville. He hung his head and walked past other ponies.

When they arrived at school, Scootaloo ran to her friends, then to her seat. Cheerilee introduced Tagalong to the class. The entire class responded, everypony using the same tone: "Hello Tagalong". He was really embarrassed and bolted to his seat, which was directly behind Scootaloo on the left side of the classroom. However, on the right side of the room, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were both looking at Tagalong. Their gazes switched back and forth between him and Scootaloo.

In unison, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said "They look exactly alike!"

"Well, duh! What do you think the word 'twin' means?" chimed in Scootaloo, from across the classroom. She had said it so loud that everypony in the room started comparing the two twins' physical characteristics. Tagalong was turning from orange to red quickly, burying his face in his hooves and refused to move them for the rest of the day. He'd never been put on the spot like that before and he didn't appreciate all the stares.