Homecoming

Now that he had started being more social, Scootaloo decided to introduce Tagalong to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Who are we going to see?" Tagalong asked Scootaloo, who was opening the door.

"My friends. I'm sure you'll like them!" she responded, running outside, Tagalong right behind her. They ran down to Sweet Apple Acres to meet Apple Bloom. When they arrived at the ranch, they stopped at the gate and saw Apple Bloom with Applejack bucking apples out of trees in the field. Scootaloo ran down the trail with Tagalong not far behind.

"Apple Bloom! Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo called out. The apple-bucking filly turned around and saw Scootaloo standing in front of her, panting after the long run.

"Well howdy there, Scootaloo," called Applejack. "Go on and play with yer friend,

there, Apple Bloom."

"Actually Applejack," Scootaloo announced, "I'd like you to meet somepony."

"Well, shoot, who? I'm always game for meetin' new ponies!" asked the smiling earth pony, bucking a tree. Scootaloo pushed Tagalong in front of her, who was still a bit nervous about meeting new ponies.

"This is my brother Tagalong. He just moved in with me and my family!"

"Well howdy there, Tagalong. Welcome to Ponyville and to Sweet Apple Acres, home of the best apples in all of Equestria! I'm Applejack; pleased to make yer acquaintance!" the proud earth pony said with a great deal of modesty. Applejack gave Tagalong an apple. Tagalong loosened up a bit and laughed a little. He took a big bite of the shiny red apple. It was the best apple he’d ever eaten! The flavor was intense, but in a good way. Tagalong figured that the Apple family earned their title as the best apple growers in Equestria.

Finishing the apple in one last bite, then swallowing, Tagalong spoke up, "Nice to meet you, Applejack."

"And I'm Apple Bloom! You might know me from class." she explained to him. Her face didn't ring a bell because he'd had his face in his hooves for most of the time he was at school, ignoring everypony who tried to talk to him. "And that's my brother Big Macintosh!" Apple Bloom announced, pointing a hoof toward the red stallion carrying baskets of apples back to the barn.

"C'mon guys, let’s go find Sweetie Belle! I bet she's at Carousel Boutique!" Scootaloo exclaimed. All three ponies raced down to Rarity's Boutique, passing up many ponies on the way. When they arrived at the boutique, they were greeted by a very happy filly.

"Oh, hi Apple Bloom, hi Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle paused for a second and stared at Tagalong, then quickly looked away. "H-hi, Tagalong." she mumbled out. The filly's face was turning scarlet.

“Wait,” Scootaloo spoke up, “you know him already?”. She looked more puzzled than anypony else.

Sweetie Belle giggled then said “I know him from class! Well, let's go inside. Rarity's been dying to meet you, Tagalong!” Tagalong noticed Sweetie Belle's blushing face, which confused him because he didn’t know what a crush was.

When they entered Carousel Boutique, Rarity rushed to the front and exclaimed, "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, the home of the most magnificent dresses in all of Eques--" she was cut short by Sweetie Belle, who introduced her to Tagalong. "Oh, so this is the new colt in town that you've been talking about, Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie Belle blushed again. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom started giggling. They figured out what was going on long before Tagalong did. "Well, I'm Rarity, the best dressmaker in Equestria, if I do say so myself." spoke the proud unicorn, in an almost bragging 'fashion'.

“Nice to meet you, Rarity,” Tagalong said. He was looking all around Rarity’s shop.

“Oh, darling, you simply must try on my new line of formal colt and stallion attire!” exclaimed Rarity, her eyes glittering with excitement. “You’ll look simply fabulous!”.

Sweetie Belle ran between the two ponies and said, “Rarity, not now please! Can I go play with my friends?” Rarity looked at her fashion line, then back at the little filly.

“Of course you can, little sister. I know who you really want to spend your time with. I’ve had many crushes in my day, and I --”. Rarity was suddenly silenced by a pair of hooves covering her mouth. Sweetie Belle was blushing again, the other fillies were giggling away, while Tagalong was puzzled.

"Can we go now? All this frilly business is makin' my head hurt!" complained Apple Bloom. The feeling was mutual between the other three ponies.

They left the boutique and headed towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse, walking this time, as they had exhausted themselves by running all across Ponyville. Scootaloo walked ahead with Apple Bloom, whispering to her, the two fillies giggling about something. Sweetie Belle stayed close to Tagalong while they made their way to the clubhouse. Tagalong looked over at Sweetie Belle, who quickly turned away, blushing yet again. The silence was broken by Scootaloo’s and Apple Bloom’s sudden giggles, which made Tagalong curious as to what they were talking about.

When they arrived, Tagalong tapped Scootaloo on the back.

"Yeah?" she asked. He waited for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to fully enter the clubhouse before speaking.

"I don't know about this, Scootaloo... what if they don’t like me?" he worriedly asked.

"Come on, that's crazy! They think you're cool! And I think Sweetie Belle thinks a bit more of you..." Tagalong looked confused again. Scootaloo shrugged, and then gave him a pat on the back. "Don't worry, it’ll be fine." she reassured him as they both headed up to the clubhouse. Once inside, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were sitting on the floor waiting patiently for the twins to get inside.  Tagalong sat between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as Scootaloo walked up in front of the three ponies and started the meeting. "Okay, Cutie Mark Crusaders, let's begin!" announced Scootaloo "First order of business: adding Tagalong as an honorary member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders! All in favor, say 'aye'!"

"AYE!" yelled the three crusaders in perfect unison.

"Then it's settled! Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Tagalong!" Scootaloo said with glee in her voice. The three fillies cheered and Sweetie Belle hugged Tagalong. Tagalong felt welcomed now and he wanted to meet some more ponies.

"Is there anypony else we can meet?" he asked Apple Bloom.

"We could meet my sister's friends. We always seem to hang out with them!" said Apple Bloom.

"Good idea! And I can introduce you to my hero!" beamed Scootaloo.

"Your hero?" questioned Tagalong.

"Yeah! Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said with excitement. As quick as they had gotten to the clubhouse, they had left in a flash. They raced off to find Rainbow Dash, figuring she must be taking a nap on a cloud, or practicing her mind-blowing aerial stunts. Instead, they found the cyan pegasus flying around, talking to Fluttershy, but they couldn't make out what they were saying. "Hey, Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy!" Scootaloo called out. Both pegasi turned to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their newly added member.

"Hey Squirt! Who's your friend?" asked Rainbow Dash, hinting towards Tagalong.

"Yes, who is he? I've never seen him around Ponyville before. My, he looks just like you, Scootaloo!" said Fluttershy, in her normal whispering voice.

"That's because he's my twin brother! His name's Tagalong!" Scootaloo proudly proclaimed. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash swooped down to the ground and landed with perfect precision, while Fluttershy gracefully hovered down.

"Cool! I didn't know that you had a twin, Squirt." Rainbow Dash had a hoof extended toward Tagalong. "I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer ever to come out of Cloudsdale!" she proudly announced. Tagalong connected hooves with the pegasus.

“Wow, you must be in the Wonderbolts then, huh, Rainbow Dash!” said Tagalong with excitement in his eyes. He had always admired the Wonderbolts, and had always wanted to meet one. They were the one thing that made his life in the orphanage bearable, the only ponies that gave him hope to carry on. Rainbow’s face went blank at the question.

“Uh, not yet. But one day, I will be!” Rainbow Dash said with a fiery passion in her voice.

"I'm Fluttershy. It’s nice to meet you, Tagalong," said the shy pegasus. Tagalong greeted her as well.

"Hi, Fluttershy. I'm a bit shy myself, so I guess we have something in common!" he said, with a slight smile. Fluttershy smiled back at the colt. Rainbow Dash poked Tagalong in his left wing with her hoof which caused him to flinch a little.

"So, how powerful are these wings, kid?" Rainbow asked, as if to invoke a race.

Tagalong started to tense up, and then said, "Well, I never actually learned how to fly...nopony ever taught me". Tagalong explained. “You see, when I was in the orphanage, nopony had time to teach me how to fly, or anything like that, and that gave the bullies something else to pick on me about.”

“Orphanage? Bullies?” Fluttershy exclaimed, “Oh, my! You poor thing!” She felt sorry for what he went through.

"Wow, you’re one tough little guy, huh?" asked Rainbow Dash, dropping the subject of flight. She had newfound respect for this little colt.

"Well, it was nice to meet you guys, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy." Tagalong said. “We’d better be on our way”. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both nodded, and then flew off. He turned to the three crusaders. "Well, who else should we meet?" he asked.

"Well, there's Twilight Sparkle and Spike, then there's--" Apple Bloom was cut short.

"Oh! We can go meet Pinkie Pie!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, her voice rising in pitch.

"Yeah, Pinkie Pie! Maybe she'll make us some cupcakes!" Scootaloo said excitedly. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go, crusaders!" Scootaloo ran ahead if the other three, heading towards Sugar Cube Corner. When they arrived at the pastry shop, Scootaloo rushed in with Tagalong, followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. When Tagalong looked around inside, he saw the brightly colored pastries and decor. Then he noticed his mother Pam at the front counter, helping customers with their purchases.

"Hi mom!" the twins called.

"Hi kids! Good afternoon Tagalong. I'm surprised to see you out of the house!" she said, with a grand smile upon her face.

"Yeah, well, Scootaloo wanted to introduce me to all of her friends, so..." he was still a bit tense, even around his own mother.

“Hey mom, where’s Pinkie?” Scootaloo asked, hopping up, trying to look over the counter.

“Oh, she’s in the back with Mrs. Cake. Would you want me to see if she can visit for a bit?” asked Pam.

“Please!” all four ponies said in excitement to see the notorious party pony. Pam left the counter to fetch Pinkie. The crusaders looked at each other, then back at the counter to see a very happy Pinkie Pie smiling at them, particularly at Tagalong.

She gasped and shouted, “Oh, my gosh! There is a new pony in Ponyville! I heard, but I’ve never seen you around town before! Well, I might have! You look an awful lot like Scootaloo, so I might not have been able to tell you two apart” Pinkie was talking so fast that it scared Tagalong a bit. “Oh, I know! I have to throw you a party! Yeah, a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” Pinkie giggled and bounced upstairs to plan her party. The four ponies looked at each other again in disbelief.

“Well, that’s just Pinkie Pie.” said a smiling Sweetie Belle. The three fillies giggled while Tagalong smiled. They left Sugarcube Corner, the twins waving goodbye to their mother, who waved back.

“Come on, you guys, lets go see Twilight!” suggested Sweetie Belle, who ran off in a hurry, the other crusaders not far behind. They raced down the streets of Ponyville to the library where Twilight and Spike could always be found. When the crusaders turned the corner, Sweetie Belle ran into Spike, who was carrying a stack of books that were knocked down in the collision. Sweetie Belle and Spike both rubbed their heads and groaned after their skulls connected with a loud clonk. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo helped Spike to pick up the books while Tagalong helped Sweetie Belle to her feet.

“Ow, my bad. I really need to watch where I’m going.” apologized Spike. Sweetie Belle, still a bit dizzy from the crash, apologized as well.

“No, it’s my fault. Are you alright?” she asked the baby dragon, who now had all the books back in his arms.

“Ah, this is nothing. Where are you guys off to in such a rush anyways?” he asked. His attention was turned to Tagalong. “Oh, I know you! You’re Tagalong, right? Twilight told me all about you! I gotta say, you must be happy to be in a nice town like Ponyville now, huh?”. All four ponies looked bewildered.

“Wait, what? How do you know him already, Spike?” asked a puzzled Scootaloo, rubbing her head.

“Come on back to the library with me. Twilight will explain everything.” said the dragon. The ponies followed him to the Ponyville Library, when Spike opened the door with his foot and called out to Twilight. “Twilight! I’m back! And I brought somepony you’d like to meet!”. He placed the stack of books on a table as Twilight Sparkle walked down the staircase and connected eyes with Tagalong.

“So you must be Pam’s son Tagalong. Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to finally meet you!”. Tagalong stared at the purple unicorn. How could she know all of this already?

“Well, you already know who I am. How is that?” he asked Twilight. The three fillies nodded in agreement, as they also were curious to hear.

“Well, you see, when I was a filly, your mother was a good friend of my mother. She used to live in Canterlot before she married your dad and she was a close family friend, like an aunt to me, but after she moved, we couldn’t get a hold of her. We had no clue that she moved to Manehattan. My parents said that if they knew that your parents were in such a financial bind, they would have sent money in an instant. Anyways, when I first arrived in Ponyville, I saw her walking down the street, and I struck up a conversation. She told me everything about what happened with you. I hope you’re finding Ponyville a better home than the orphanage.” Tagalong was stunned. He never knew that anypony could care about somepony else like that; to never forget about them for almost a decade.

“Wow, that’s amazing! Well, it... was really nice meeting you Twilight. You too, Spike.” Tagalong said, exchanging looks with the mare and the dragon. Twilight smiled and nodded at him.

“Oh, you bet. You’ve always got friends here, Tagalong!” Spike announced. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie popped in front of Tagalong and blew a party horn that unfurled and hit him in the nose.

“Surprise! Happy Birthday!” she shouted. Everypony was amazed at how quickly and suddenly a party had unraveled in the library, complete with decorations, colorful balloons, snack tables, confetti, and streamers.

“Uh, Pinkie, it’s not his birthday!” shouted Scootaloo through the blasting party music. Pinkie Pie looked at the filly, then giggled.

“Oops! Welcome to Ponyville!” she corrected herself. One after the other, ponies started piling into the library. Tagalong recognized Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash instantly, but didn’t know anypony else. Pinkie placed a party hat on Tagalong’s head and popped a cookie in his mouth. “Come on! Let’s dance!” she said, pulling him into the middle of the library. He was really nervous, then realized, “This is a party for me!”. He finally let loose and danced with his friends. After hours of partying, ponies started thanking Pinkie Pie and Tagalong for the party and headed home, while his new friends stayed back with him.

Tagalong looked at all them, then spoke up, “Thank you, all of you. I needed this a lot.” his voice was happy, the happiest that he’d ever been.

“Of course! That’s what friends are for!” Pinkie said, giggling a bit while she spoke.

“We’ll always be here for ya, pal!” Rainbow Dashed announced with a tough disposition.

“Y’all have friends here now! If you need a hoof, you know where the Apple family is!” said Applejack. Tagalong felt like crying, but out of happiness this time. He held back the tears and looked back at his newfound friends. He was finally where he belonged. Finally where he should be, with family and friends.

After the last of Tagalong’s new friends left the library, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom noticed that it was starting to get dark, and they started heading to their respective homes with their sisters. Scootaloo and Tagalong waved goodbye to their friends as they walked off into the distance. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew off, and Pinkie bounced back to Sugarcube Corner.

Scootaloo suddenly spoke up, “Hey, Tagalong, do you want to see something amazing?”. He looked at his sister, then nodded.

“Sure. What is it?” he asked.

“Follow me.” She led him far from the town, through the brush and woods, and finally, onto a gigantic hill that overlooked all of Ponyville. When they reached the hill, the sun had started to set, and turned the sky an amazing shade of orange. Tagalong could see his home in Ponyville, he could see Canterlot and Cloudsdale. He even caught a glimpse of the grey building where he had grown up, far off in the distance in the glow of Manehattan. Then, he looked at Ponyville, bustling with activity. His new friends lived there; he lived there. His life had changed so drastically over the course of only a few weeks. Scootaloo nudged him with her elbow and he looked at her.

“The worst part is over now,” she said, sitting next to her brother, hoof on his shoulder, “from here on out, it only gets better. It’s a new journey for you, and you have all the time in the world to discover what comes next.” The sky was turning red, as the sun slowly set behind the clouds.