What Does Family Mean?

by PinkamenaPiePrincess

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 1645

The ponies get into an argument about the definition of family

The main six ponies are so close some might say they're like sisters. Until you start arguing the semantics of what it means to be a family. Does it mean blood relationship and shared ancestry? How about the legal definition? Or does it just mean a group of ponies one cares deeply about? The main six start arguing the definition of family when Rainbow Dash mentions her new relationship with Scootaloo.

Published 2012-12-13 06:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-13 06:40:01 UTC

Family

So it was kind of a normal night around here. Me and the girls were hanging out at Twilight's place chatting about our weekends. Well, me and Applejack and Rarity sort of had the same weekend since we all went camping with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The night took a sour turn when I mentioned something that happened that weekend.

"So me and Scoots are basically sisters now!" I concluded after telling Pinkie, Fluttershy and Twilight about my awesome weekend.

"Wait jus' a second, RD," Applejack said. "Y'all ain't sisters."

"Whatdaya mean "we ain't sisters"?" I asked incredualously. I mean, I'd basically told Scoot I'd be her mentor and awesome big sister substitute. "Just because we're not related doesn't mean we can't be sisters. I mean, we're not real sisters, but we're still sisters unofficially!"

"Y'all can't jus' up an' decide y'all are sisters. Family ain't about the ones ya pick. Family's them that has blood relation to ya, and shares the same ancestry an' all!" Applejack protested. That got on my nerves. Scoot didn't have the best family life. Her "family" treated her like crap.

"Just because you have the perfect family doesn't mean family has to be the same for everypony!" I countered, pissed now. AJ could be so stuck in her ways when it came to family stuff. "Scootaloo's real family kind of sucks, so I can be her sister if I want to be!"

"Um..." Fluttershy tried to interject but I was on a role. Unfortunately, so was AJ.

"Y'all think jus' cause you're nicer ta Scoot than her parents means y'all get to pick her family?"

"No, she asked ME to be like her big sister. And I'm gonna act like her big sister from now on!"

"But y'all cain't say she's your sister. She ain't related to ya by blood!"

Now I was getting mad. My family as a kid hadn't been great to me either. They were still related to me, but my blood family and my family family were two different things in my head.

"Oh, so an adopted kid can't consider her parents her family?" I countered.

"No, I sup'ose they can't," Applejack said bluntly. I really couldn't believe it. AJ was so stuck in her ways she wouldn't even let an adopted kid be considered family.

"Now that's just cruel!" I said.

"I never said they couldn't have love, jus' not a family," Applejack argued.

"So I guess I can stop calling Fluttershy's mom my second mom. Even though thanks to my parents being neglectful jerks, Fluttershy's parents basically raised me!"

"Yep. Guess y'all better stop doin' that. It ain't right. I mean, y'all'er entitled to your opinion an' all but yer opinion's kinda wrong."

I just stood there flabbergasted for a second. Fluttershy was gasping since I'd basically dragged her into it. She probably wasn't going to be too happy. Oh well.

"Fluttershy back me up on this!" I said. Which of course got a squeak out of Flutters. Never trust the shy one to get involved.

"Um...well, I don't really want to get involved," she stammered. Typical.

"Come on Fluttershy, tell us how y'all feel 'bout Rainbow Dash tryin' ta claim yer relations as her family!" Applejack growled. It was unusual for her to lose her temper like this but I guess she prided herself on being the perfect family pony.

"Um, well, I really don't mind, I mean...my parents basically did take care of Rainbow Dash a lot...and well...um..."

"But they ain't her family, are they? I mean, wouldn't that make the two of you sisters?" Applejack countered, which kind of backed Fluttershy into a corner.

"Well, actually, I mean..." Flutters stammered.

"Oh would you all stop it?" Rarity interjected. "I simply cannot stand for you bullying Fluttershy this way over something so silly. MY family is completely messed up due to the fact that I have a sister who's not allowed to be referred to as my sister, even though she's a famous DJ."

Everyone stared at this.
"Y'all have a sister who's famous?" Applejack said finally.
"Well, yes. You remember Vinyl Scratch from the wedding and my fashion show?"
"Yeah," we all said.

"She's my sister, but my parents disowned her and we're not allowed to refer to her as our sister. Sweetie Belle thinks she's a distant cousin. You and Pinkie should remember, Applejack darling, she was a playmate of yours in elementary school."

"Wait...YOU'RE RIGHT!" Pinkie said. "I totally remember now!"

"My point is, family is a much more complicated concept than just a simple definition. One cannot simply put family into a box. Vinyl is still my sister, but my parents, well, mother, refuse to acknowledge her as family and have even have her name removed from all of their records," Rarity said.

"Legality! I knew there was something this argument was missing!" Twilight interjected. "Family is a legal definition as well. Under Equestrian law, adopted kids are considered family, marriage also adds people to your family. For example, Scootaloo isn't Rainbow Dash's sister, but Cadence is my sister under the law, which of course gets shortened to "sister in law". Vinyl has been removed from Rarity's family legally, but blood trumps law in this case. which means legally, she's not Rarity's sister, but biologically she is. Family is defined by a combination of blood relation and marriage and adoption laws."

"Baloney!" Pinkie interjected. Uh-oh. This was about to get weird. "Family are the ponies you love the mostest! You guys are all like my sisters and Mr and Mrs Cake are more like my mommy and daddy than my ma and pa are because my ma and pa totally disowned me when I moved to Ponyville and Pound and Pumpkin are kind of like my little siblings but more like my niece and nephew because I call myself Auntie Pinkie Pie, and family is about who cares about you most of all instead of who legally has rights to you or who you just happened to be born to by total chance!"

Great. The only pony on my side that was actually obviously taking my side, because Fluttershy was totally on my side but just too...Fluttershy to say so was Pinkie. Who nopony was going to take seriously.

"Twilight, y'all've got a point, but jus' cause the law says somepony is family don't mean they are," Applejack said.

"Actually, it does. It's why the term "in-law" exists," Twilight countered. "Adoption also makes someone officially family."

Applejack grumbled.

"I think family is just too complicated to define," Rarity said. Typically she was being the artsy one. "I mean, if we go by Twilight's definition, Vinyl isn't my sister because my mother actually had her legally removed from our family. If we go by Applejack's definition she is still my family because she's blood related to me. If we go by Pinkie's definition, all of you are my family, which I rather like. I say we say that there are people we can treat like family, but aren't our family, and people that are in our family that we might not treat like family. Is that fair?"

Twilight and Applejack ignored her. They were now bickering the way AJ only did with me and Rarity. Fluttershy had a pillow on her head and Pinkie Pie looked like she was about to explode.

"SHUT UP!" I shouted.
Lucky for me everyone did.

"I think we should all just kind of agree to disagree on this one. Legally, Twilight's definition is correct. Biologically, AJ's definition is correct, and in my heart, I know that I'm gonna be at least as much like a sister to Scoot as I can because damn it that kid deserves it. In a way, all of us are right. Pinkie Pie thinks of us and the Cakes as her family, and that's totally ok. Applejack considers us like family, she basically admitted as much when she let Twilight call us her "honorary family" at the cider competition. Twilight's right, under the law, she and Cadence are sisters because she's married to Twi's brother. So can we just shut up for a change and just accept that maybe we disagree about what makes a family but regardless we're all friends?"

Everypony stared at me. Then they nodded.
"For once Rainbow, y'all'er actually the voice of reason in here," AJ said.
"Thanks, I think..."
"Yeah, you totally make total complete sensical sense and stuff!" Pinkie Pie said
"Rainbow Dash, I for one am absolutely ashamed that this turned into an argument. How silly of all of us to get involved in something so...silly!" Rarity said.
"Yes. I think I have a letter to Celestia to write," Twilight said. The others nodded. I grinned. I am awesome.

***

Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that sometimes ponies have different definitions of what it means to be a family. Some think being related by blood is more important. Some think it's being a family under the law that matters. Others think that those you love and care about are your family as much as people you're blood related to. But the important thing is, is friends are the family you choose, even if you don't consider them truly your family, there is an element of choice in who your family is.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Author's Note

Some of the stuff mentioned about Vinyl in this story is taken from a head canon my sister and I developed. It was originally just that Vinyl was Rarity and Sweetie's long lost sister, but had to be revised with the Sisterhooves Social episode.
I also used everyone on purpose so don't try to correct it. It's used in canon.
This is based on an argument I actually got in with people about the definition of family....