Homecoming

by sasukex125

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Sad
Length: 7705

Tagalong gets adopted by his family and has to adjust to life in Ponyville.

Tagalong's backstory, the first in my series of 6

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-05 04:00:01 UTC

The decision no pony should have to make

~~A DECISION NOPONY SHOULD HAVE TO MAKE~~

Just days after the birth of their new twins, Aldous and Pam return home and try to plan for their inevitable financial downfall. Pam puts the twins in a crib and sits in the kitchen. Aldous  walks slowly into the kitchen where Pam is sitting at the table, looking at bills and crunching numbers. He sat in the chair next to her and spoke up.

"Pam, we need to talk about the foals." stated Aldous, the urgency of the matter

slightly raising the pitch of his voice. Pam could see in his eyes that he was about to drop a

bombshell. "We're going to have to give up the kids."

Pam's mind exploded with emotions; anger at her husband, sorrow at the thought of giving up her own children, and frustration at their monetary situation. She had only just come back from the hospital after giving birth to the foals.

"Aldous, I am NOT giving up my children!" shouted Pam, her voice cracking with rage and fear.

"Pam, we don't have a choice! Do you think that I want to give up my own children?" His voice cracked as well. They could both tell that they were about to break down under the pressure of living in serious debt. Now that an adoption center was an option, Pam continues crunching numbers. Aldous stared at his wife, watching the tears roll down the side of her face, while at the same time trying to hold back his own tears.  The keys on the calculator click rapidly, then suddenly stop. Pam's ears perk up.

"Aldous, we don't have to give up both foals... we can keep one of them..."

Now the most difficult decision of Aldous's and Pam's lives was on the table: Which child should they keep? After about two hours of arguing, they made up their minds. They would have to give up Tagalong. Aldous reassured Pam that Tagalong would be better off in an orphanage because he's a boy, and would be able to handle whatever was thrown at him. Pam slowly nodded her head in agreement, believing whatever her husband told her just to make herself feel better about the situation. She wondered what it would be like for Scootaloo to grow up not knowing she had a fraternal twin brother somewhere in Equestria.

After reluctantly packing his diaper bag, Pam grabbed the tiny colt and flew to Manehattan on a cold September night. When she arrived in the metropolitan city, the streets were empty and there few lights still on. As she walked down the empty streets, Pam noticed a huge, gray building, at least six stories high. It looked more like an apartment complex than an orphanage. She stared at the fading sign that read "Manehattan Adoption Center", as if she was jotting down the name in her memory. Pam hurried inside to get the whole ordeal over with. She saw a grey earth pony at the front desk, wearing a white coat with a pink heart patch on the left breast pocket.

"Hello there dearie. How can I help you?" she said, in a surprisingly cheerful in tone.

"Um, yes... I need to put my son up for adoption... we just had him, but we're running into some harsh financial troubles and we wouldn't want him to grow up dealing with that sort of thing..." She was looking at the floor, thinking that if she looked at the mare, she'd see hatred in her eyes.

"Well dearie," she said, once again in a cheerful tone, "I can help you there. My name is Ms. Carie. I'm the supervisor of the orphanage. I know how hard this can be emotionally for you; I was adopted when I was a filly. My birth parents were in a similar situation. Now, does the little guy have a name?" She was rubbing Tagalong's chin with her hoof.

"Yes... his name is Tagalong. Will he be alright here? I mean, you'll make sure that he goes to a good home, right?" Pam was starting to tear up, sniffling and lightly weeping.

"Of course, dearie. We don't actually put the foals up for adoption until they're a bit older; at least 2 or 3 years old. This is simply to make sure that they're in a stable condition and have the proper medical care that they need before they’re adopted." Her voice was very understanding and comforting.

"Thank you ma'am." Pam now had to bring herself to leave the orphanage, and her child. She gave Tagalong a final goodbye kiss on his cheek and started to cry. Giving up her child to a complete stranger was the most difficult thing that she'd ever had to do.

Pam left the orphanage feeling relieved, knowing that her child was safe from the

troubles that would face the rest of the family for years. When Pam returned home, she

immediately ran into her room and looked at Scootaloo in the crib, stroked the filly's mane and said, "Things are going to get better... I promise you, Scootaloo...” The tiny foal merely cooed and babbled. Aldous walked into the room right after Pam and held her close to him while she wept, letting out a 'shh' or an 'everything’s going to be alright' every so often. She felt horrible for abandoning her own son, but knew that it was the only option that they had. That night, Tagalong lied in a crib in his new home, already asleep.

Reunion

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.

Breakthrough

It had been about three weeks since Pam and Aldous had brought back Tagalong from the orphanage. He rarely spoke to anypony. He hardly spoke to his parents, never spoke to anypony at school; he never even spoke to his twin sister. He would occasionally say ‘good morning’, or simply ‘hi’, but that was about all anypony could expect from Tagalong at this point. Late one night, after dinner, Tagalong was in his room lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door that made him sit up, then a voice.

"Tagalong, it's me, Scootaloo." called his little sister. Reluctantly, he got up and opened the door to let her in. She walked in and stood in the middle of his room, while he lied back down on his bed and continued his staring contest with the ceiling. Scootaloo approached the bed and sat down on the edge of it.

"I was kinda hoping to talk to you. I just want you to know that I know what happened to you over there at the orphanage and all, and that you don't have to be nervous or scared in Ponyville. The ponies are a lot different here." Tagalong said nothing. He just looked at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face. Scootaloo was getting impatient and she wanted to know that he was at least listening to her.

"Hey, are you okay? What's the matter?" Tagalong rolled over, dragging the comforter with him and wrapping himself up in it. Scootaloo was getting frustrated and began to raise her voice at him. "Hey! Why aren't you listening to me? All I'm trying to do is help you but you keep pushing me away!" Tagalong threw off the covers, revealing his enraged face.

"Nopony asked you to help me! Nopony asked you to butt into my business! Just leave me alone!" shouted Tagalong, now furious with his little sister.

"Nopony should have to ask me to help you! You're my brother; I WANT to help you out so we can be friends, but you know what? I give up; this is pointless! You’re never going to talk to anypony, not even your sister!" yelled an enraged Scootaloo at the surprised colt. His ears perked up as Scootaloo continued her rant, "Why did I even try to help you? You never talk to anypony at home, at school, at--" Scootaloo suddenly stopped talking. Tagalong had started crying. Through his sniffles and tears, he finally spoke to her the way she wanted him to.

"You're right... you're right... I’m sorry..." he continued to cry. Scootaloo felt worse than she did before. She didn't want to make him cry, in fact, just the opposite. She went in to comfort him, and instead hurt the traumatized colt even more. Scootaloo jumped onto the bed and sat next to Tagalong, patting him on the back with her hoof. She knew that he was emotional, but this was just too much for her. She felt that if she didn’t get him to stop crying, that she would start to cry as well. Tagalong sniffled a bit more, rubbed his eyes with his hooves and continued, "I'm sorry for pushing you away, Scootaloo."

"It's okay, bro. No hard feelings." Scootaloo tried her best to sympathize with the broken pony. "It's just that I've never had anyone actually be there for me, other than Ms. Carie, but she was too busy to deal with me and the entire orphanage." He had stopped crying and started talking about his experiences at the orphanage, how the boys would make fun of him for being rejected by every potential family that tried to adopt him because of his timidness around new ponies. How they would tease him for not having a cutie mark yet, how they would pick on him for being an outcast, and how they would make fun of him for not being able to fly.

"Well, you're here now, and that's all that matters." Scootaloo suddenly gave him a hug.

"Ah, no fair, I wasn't ready!" He said, now in a happy voice. He hugged his sister back and then she asked him to join everypony in the living room for family night. Tagalong, now in a happier disposition, followed his sister.

He was greeted by Pam and Aldous who were sitting in the living room, saying things like, 'look who it is!' and 'come and sit with us!’ Tagalong had finally come out of his shell with his family, and he was happy that he did. They played charades, board games, and even told stories for hours. Scootaloo felt accomplished and she now had a brother and a friend.

Meets and greets

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.

Prologue

We all want to believe that everypony gets to live a happy life, but unfortunately,

that's not the world we actually live in. Tagalong's story begins on a normal day like any other, his mother, Pam, rests in a maternity ward after giving birth to two foals, Tagalong and Scootaloo, after six hours of labor.

However, she's not as excited as you'd think she'd be. Pam and her husband Aldous still have to deal their family's financial troubles. Pam was a confectionist and had to sell her bakery because of declining sales and rising rent prices. Aldous, who was an earth pony, was having difficulties holding down a job and was barely able to make ends meet to support the two of them, and now with two new foals, Manehattan would be a much more difficult and much less hospitable city to raise two newborns in.