"You're doing great squirt, you'll be flying in no time at this rate!" Rainbow said with a smile as she and Scootaloo finished their most recent flying practice session.
"You really think so?"
"Yeah, give it enough time and you'll be flying circles around even me," Rainbow said with a smile as she ruffled the filly's mane.
Scootaloo smiled a little at that, Rainbow had been doing a lot to help her fly, even though it didn't ever really seem to go anywhere the two enjoyed spending time together as sisters. Sometimes she wished that Rainbow was her real sister though, it would certainly help matters.
"Hey, why don't I fly you home? Its getting pretty late and all," Rainbow suggested, it was about time for the moon to come up it was true.
Scootaloo paused a moment, honestly she hadn't ever really had Rainbow Dash over much other than the one time before the Equestria Games. There wasn't much point, she had rarely ever been home herself since her parents were gone all the time.
"Uh, sure, I guess," Scootaloo said as she climbed onto Rainbow's back and she took off. "You remember where it is right?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Rainbow said with a laugh as she flew off towards the filly's home. "You know, I don't think I've ever met your parents, I mean they weren't there when I visited last."
"Oh, umm..." Scootaloo started to say, she wasn't sure how to explain to Rainbow that her parents were always away on business. "My parents are honestly away right now."
"Oh, then who's watching you?"
This was the moment of truth, Scootaloo had never really told Rainbow about her family, not because she didn't think that Rainbow wouldn't like them, they just never really had the chance to talk about them.
"My aunt and her, special somepony," Scootaloo said with a nod as they came for a nod outside of the house. "They should be home now if you want to go meet them."
"Sure!" Rainbow said with a smile as Scootaloo climbed off her back and used a key to open the door.
"Aunt Holiday, I'm home," Scootaloo said as she entered the house with Rainbow close behind.
"Oh hey Scootaloo," a mare's voice said from the top of the stairs as an Earth pony mare walked downstairs and gave the filly a hug.
"Hey there," Rainbow said, she was a little surprised that Scootaloo's aunt was an Earth Pony, but hey, there was the Cakes, anything could happen. "I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm..."
"Oh, Scootaloo has told us everything about you, its so nice to finally meet you!" Holiday said as she shook Rainbow's hoof with a smile on her face. "You've really helped our little Scootaloo out a lot, thank you."
"Hey, its what I do," Rainbow said with a smile as she shook the mare's hoof. "Sorry I never really got to visit before, Scootaloo mentioned you and your special somepony have been taking care of her?"
"Oh right, her parents are very busy ponies and are hardly ever even in Ponyville," Holiday said with a shake of her head. "But we're happy to take care of our favorite niece, isn't that right Scoots?"
"Aww, I'm your only niece," Scootaloo said with a laugh as Holiday ruffled her mane.
"Hey Lofty, come down here, Rainbow Dash is here!" Holiday called up the stairs and another pony came down.
Rainbow was a bit surprised to see a sturdy looking Pegasus mare coming down the stairs with her wings folded at her sides.
"Oh, wow, I didn't know you two were..." Rainbow started to say.
"Lesbians?" Lofty asked as she put her wing around Holiday. "Its okay, we don't really get noticed around town enough for anypony to pick up on it."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm just surprised is all," Rainbow said with a smile. "Sorry, Scootaloo hasn't ever really talked about her family."
"Its fine, we really only recently moved in," Holiday said with a sigh. "Scootaloo's parents are usually too busy to spend time with her and she has this tendency to escape her babysitters."
"Yeah, I've heard, I think she managed to exhaust Pinkie once, I didn't even think that was possible," Rainbow said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, that didn't last long," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "Hey, can Rainbow stay for dinner?"
"Well, if she wants to," Lofty said as she looked at Rainbow. "What do you think, we'd be glad to have Scootaloo's big sister here for dinner."
"Sure, I'd love to join you," Rainbow said with a smile.
00000
While Scootaloo and Lofty went to get dinner ready Rainbow was looking around the house curiously. She found some pictures of Scootaloo with an older pony couple that she figured was probably her parents. She wondered why she had never really seen her parents around town, they had mentioned that they tended to be busy but that didn't explain everything about it.
"Rainbow Dash?" A mare's voice asked and she turned to see Holiday watching her curiously.
"Yeah, can I help you?"
"I just wanted to say thank you for helping Scootaloo out," Holiday said with a nod. "I know you didn't exactly sign up to be her big sister, but it means a lot that she found somepony willing to be there for her."
"You're welcome," Rainbow said with a smile as she trotted over to the Earth Pony mare. "How long have you two been living here?"
"Just a few months, its not exactly been easy on her to not have her parents around, so we've been trying to do our best to help her," Holiday said with a sigh.
"What kind of work do they do that keeps them away from their daughter?"
"They run a small company in Fillydelphia and it keeps them busy and moving around Equestria for work, it keeps them from home a lot and when they are here they're always busy," Holiday said then paused a long moment. "In truth Rainbow, they're probably never coming back, at least not her mom."
"Wait, why?" Rainbow asked shocked at the implication. "Why in Celestia's name would they leave their daughter behind like that?"
"We didn't want to tell Scootaloo but they've been going through a divorce," Holiday said with a sigh. "Her mom ran out on my brother and he's trying his best but there's not much he can do with all the work he has to do. He asked us to take care of her while he's gone, and we're just trying to do our best."
Okay, now this made a lot more sense if that was why her parents were gone so much. If her Dad was trying to keep everything together it couldn't be easy for him to juggle his job and his daughter, but that didn't mean he shouldn't try.
"Why didn't he just move her to Fillydelphia?"
"Because of you and the Crusaders," Holiday said with a light smile. "You're the best thing that ever happened to that filly, you give her hope that she'll have a better future than just being neglected. Rainbow, you may not have been born into this family but she considers you a big sister and that's good enough for me, you're part of our family to all of us."
Rainbow was stunned by that, she had never really thought about it like that before. Sure she and Scootaloo had become close, but to actually be considered part of Scootaloo's family? She actually smiled a little and brushed a tear from her eye at that.
"Hey, she's a good kid, we consider her just as much part of our family too," Rainbow said with a smile. "I guess that makes you family too. Is there anything else I could do to help?"
"Yeah, it does," Holiday said with a smile. "Just keep doing what you're doing and be the big sister she wants you to be, that's enough for us."
"Well, I'll try my best," Rainbow said with a smile. "Scootaloo is a good kid, I'm just glad she has family when she needs it. I mean, she told me about, you know..."
"Yeah, its why we're here. Its not that her parents don't try, but its not the same as being here all the time."
Rainbow nodded sadly, it struck her just how different her and Scootaloo's upbringings had been and now she understood why she had latched onto her and her family so much. Rainbow had always kind of taken for granted that her parents tended to hover over her and make a big deal of every little thing while Scootaloo's parents were hardly even there.
She didn't understand why parents, especially one with a filly like Scootaloo would just basically leave her to her own devices. At least something had changed though, and that was what mattered to her.
"Rainbow, Holiday, its dinner time," Lofty called up from downstairs.
"Come on, lets get going," Holiday said and the two mares headed downstairs.
00000
"So, how did flying practice go today Scootaloo?" Holiday asked as she looked at the filly.
"Okay I guess, I managed to stay in the air a little longer but I haven't really had much luck yet," Scootaloo said as she took a bite of her sandwich.
"Hey, don't worry about it, some Pegasi are just late bloomers," Lofty said as she gave Scootaloo a smile.
"Yeah, but usually we're flying by now," Scootaloo said with a sigh as her aunts exchanged a look. "I just wish I could fly already."
"Well, you never know," Rainbow said with a smile. "I'll be there to help you as much as I can, that's what sisters do for each other."
"Yeah, I know," Scootaloo said with a nod as she finished her sandwich. "But on the bright side things are going great with the Crusaders. Our Day Camp was so successful we're thinking about making it a regular thing, it would be a good way to help ponies."
Rainbow smiled, she liked that Scootaloo was willing to help ponies, it showed that she had a good heart and that would help her later on. Rainbow saw a lot of herself in the filly, both good and bad, and that alone made her a good pony.
She just hoped that would never change about her.
"So, what do you two do?" Rainbow asked the two older mares.
"Well, I'm an artist," Holiday said with a light smile. "So I pretty much work out of home which is nice, it made the move here easier."
"I'm finishing up working in Cloudsdale's weather factory, I've been trying to get transferred over to the Weather Team for Ponyville but its been kind of slow lately."
"Well, I could put in a good word for you," Rainbow said. "If you think it would help I mean."
Lofty smiled a bit at that and nodded. "Thank you Rainbow, that means a lot."
"So, ummm... how long have you two been together?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, we've been married for about 8 years now but we were dating for about... what would you say dear, 3 years?" Holiday asked.
"Yeah, starting right after college," Lofty said with a smile. "I still remember when you asked me out, you were so nervous you accidentally asked if I wanted to mate, right in front of my parents!"
"You'll never let me live that down will you?" Holiday asked with a laugh as she leaned over and gave Lofty a kiss. "Still, you said yes once you realized what I meant."
"What can I say, I have a thing for cute Earth Pony mares," Lofty said with a smirk. "I think your brother was jealous though."
"Sure until he met your cute best friend," Holiday pointed out and the two mares just laughed.
Rainbow looked over at Scootaloo and smiled a little when she saw the filly smiling. Rainbow put her wing around her little sister and pulled her close.
"You don't think they're weird do you?" Scootaloo asked as she looked up at Rainbow.
"Scoots, you're talking to a mare that hangs out with Pinkie Pie, these two don't even register on the weird meter," Rainbow said. "Besides, I like them, and I'm just happy you have somepony to be there for you when I can't be."
Scootaloo's smile brightened as she hugged Rainbow tightly. Rainbow just smiled and hugged her back.
They may not be related by blood, but they were all family because of this sweet little filly. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
Author's Note
Well guys, you know by now that I'm a huge Scootaloo fan, and after the recent announcement I wanted to do something involving her aunts. Yeah, I know its not in the show yet, but its good enough for me right now.
I actually look forward to writing more about these two in the future. I wanted to know who Scootaloo's family was and I got my wish in ways I never could have imagined, welcome to the family Holiday and Lofty.
And before you comment on the lesbian thing, please remember that this is a fanfic.
