DJ’s mind was rattled with guilt the whole way back to Ponyville. Even with Twilight sleeping by his side, he couldn't feel any better. In his mind, he felt responsible for the death of Long Run and Peppy Cheer. It was because of him that they were killed; because Sombra wanted to get to him, they had to pay the price. Scootaloo had to pay the price. As the train began to pull into the Ponyville station, DJ knew what he must do.

Once everypony was off the train, DJ immediately took flight and headed straight for Ponyville. His first and only stop would be the Ponyville Orphanage. DJ had discovered it over a year ago and found out that it had been used very little in recent years. The girls had done a great job at protecting the town, even with all of the monster attacks, no pony was seriously hurt or killed and all of the orphans had been adopted out nearly a year before he ever even arrived in Equestria. Now, however, there was the lone occupant.

As DJ flew in, he saw Scootaloo sitting on the porch of the small, two-story house that served as the orphanage. It was almost as if she was waiting for him. He landed a few meters in front of her and walked right up to Scootaloo. She raised her head as he approached and gave a small, sad smile.

“Hey, DJ,” she said with sadness in her voice, “What’s goin’ on?”

It hurt DJ deep to see her this way, especially when it was his fault. He couldn’t even bring himself to look Scoots in the eye. “Scootaloo, I’m sorry,” was all he could bring himself to say. “I failed your parents; I failed you.” What he did next was enough to cause Scootaloo to cringe. Using his magic, DJ unclipped a lightsaber and placed it between her hooves and activated it. DJ then spread his front legs and sat on his plot, leaving himself open for her to strike.

Scootaloo stared at the glowing blade in her hooves, her eyes wide as she took in the beauty of the weapon, but not understanding why she had been given it. She raised her head to meet DJ’s closed eyes and he spoke to her, “Do as you wish, Scootaloo. It is because of me that your parents are dead, so go ahead and take your revenge. Let out all of your fury on me.”

Now the pegasus filly didn’t know what to think, instead allowed her actions to do it for her. Scootaloo used her hoof to press the deactivation switch on the lightsaber and threw onto the ground in front DJ. She put on a look of defiance and glared at him, but not for long. Soon, Scoots let out a great sigh and lowered her head. DJ, meanwhile, had reopened his eyes and was staring down at the filly expectantly, though was quite surprised to find his deactivated sword at his hooves.

“I don’t get it,” he said after a minute of waiting. “Why aren’t you attacking me? Aren’t you mad because of what I did?”

Scoots lifted up her head, her eyes beginning to water a little, “I never believed what Sombra told me, DJ. After everything Rainbow told me about him and all that you and me have done together, how could I? I don’t want to blame you for my parents’ death, DJ. We’re friends and I want us to stay that way. I really miss them, though, and I really don’t want to stay here,” she said gesturing to the orphanage.

“Can’t Rainbow Dash take you in?” asked Twilight, who approached from nowhere. Neither knew that Twilight had been watching them for several minutes now. Both of them were startled by her, too.

“Twi? How long have you been there?” asked DJ.

“A few minutes. Back to my question though…”

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash visited me last night and we talked for a while,” Scootaloo answered. “She wants to take me in, really she does, but Rainbow can’t afford to do so. Being the captain of the weather team only pays so much and she can only just pay for her own living.” Once again, Scootaloo lowered her head, basking in her sadness and pain.

“Then I guess it’s up to us,” said DJ out of the blue. Both Scootaloo and Twilight looked at him like he had gone mad, well madder. DJ lowered himself down so he could look at Scootaloo at eye level. “Scootaloo, I promised your parents a long time ago that should anything ever happen to them that I would watch over you. And you know me, I never break my promises.”

Twilight was at first startled by her husband’s actions, but now she knew why and couldn’t agree more. When he turned his head to meet her gaze, she smiled warmly and nodded in return. What Scootaloo said next surprised them both, however.

“So, you two are going to adopt me and become my new parents?” she asked with a questioning look. Neither of the two alicorns knew how to respond to that statement, but Twilight tried the best she could.

“Yes, Scootaloo we will adopt you, if that is what you want. But we do not want to replace your parents either. They will always be your mother and father, even when they are gone, but we will try our best to give you everything you need. Would that be alright?” asked Twilight.

Scootaloo thought on what Twilight said for a moment, trying to fully comprehend the situation that was happening around her. After said moment, she smiled at them and nodded. “I would love to go with you guys.” Scootaloo trotted over to DJ and nuzzled his leg. “Thank you, DJ and Twilight. Thank you for watching over me.”

DJ began to rub the filly’s back lovingly, he himself not exactly sure of what just happened. All he knew is that no matter what, he would protect Scootaloo as if she were his own. Scoots would never be in that kind of situation ever again, that DJ would make sure of.

**********

It has been over a month since Scootaloo joined the Sparkle family and things had changed around their household. Nyx was both sorry and excited about everything: sorry because her best friend had lost her parents, but excited that she now had a sister. It warmed their parents’ hearts seeing them adjusting so well, even with the two of them sharing a room. (It was the only way to fit everypony). Spike wasn’t too sure about adopting Scootaloo so soon, but relented when he found out that Scoots could be his assistant. There was almost an evil smile on his face at that thought. Scootaloo herself seemed to be adjusting to everything quite well, given everything that had happened. Thanks to Twilight, she was doing better in school and her flying was beginning to improve with Rainbow coming around more often.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, DJ and Twilight had dropped a bomb on her when they told her that they would be adopting her ‘little sister’. DJ came right out and asked if Rainbow would be the godmother of their two fillies. With everything that had happened in the past year, the young couple wanted to be sure that there would be somepony to look after their children. The cyan pegasus was shocked at first, but agreed almost immediately after that. She was proud that the two of them would entrust her with Scootaloo’s and Nyx’s wellbeing. With that, Rainbow Dash had become another member of the family, something Applejack was having fun with anytime her new ‘sister’ was flying around the farm.

All of their friends were very supportive to the adoption, too. Pinkie even threw them a party for the occasion a day later. What was strange to everypony was that Scootaloo no longer seemed sad at all. Sure there were times when she would cry because she began to think of her parents and reminded her that they were gone, but other than that there was no change in her behavior. Scootaloo didn’t seem at any worse-for-wear.

DJ, however, was still off; Twilight noticed it every day. He had returned to being his normal, wacky self, thankfully, but to Twilight it seemed to be a forced act. Every now and then, she would find her husband sitting alone in a dark room, wallowing sorrow. It got even worse around the time of Long Run and Peppy Cheer’s funeral, as DJ was barely even able to leave the house once it was over. It should have been Scootaloo who was facing all this emotional wait, but DJ seemed to have taken all that from her and placed it upon himself to feel her pain. This didn’t stop him from being a loving father as he would always make time to help Nyx practice her magic or watch Scootaloo practice on her signature scooter. Then came the breaking point; the night that Scootaloo called Twilight and DJ her mom and dad. DJ secluded himself in the basement for the remainder of the night, leaving Twilight to sleep alone in their bed, something that hadn’t happened since DJ returned to her.

Everything seemed normal the next day, as DJ was out and about in the library, even made breakfast for everypony and he was smiling the whole way. Twilight wasn’t buying it, but left him to his own thoughts for now. As the family of five sat down to eat, Twilight noticed that Scootaloo was still calling her mom and DJ was still dad. This time, DJ wasn’t fazed by it though, taking it in stride. This only brought more suspicion from his wife. Twilight decided that tonight, she would finally get him to open up those locked emotions.

The rest of the day had progressed without incident or anything even remotely exciting and now it was time for bed. DJ had just tucked Nyx into her bed and she was out like a light almost immediately. Now, he was pulling the covers up and over Scootaloo, making sure she would be nice and warm through the cold winter night.

“Thanks, Dad,” Scoots said as she curled up under the covers. DJ couldn’t help himself and spoke his mind to her.

“Scootaloo, you don’t have to call me that. I am not your father, so you don’t have to treat me as such. I don’t deserve that from you.”

Scootaloo in turn only sighed. “DJ,” she began, which surprised him, “I am not calling you dad to make you or me feel better. I am doing it so that I can have a sense of normality, I guess. I call you ‘dad’ because I want to, not out responsibility. You have always cared for me in the past, there is no denying that. You were always nice to me, even when you were stroking my ego. You came by our house and visited almost as often as Rainbow Dash and it was, well, nice having you around. It was almost like having a big brother, too. But now I see that it was more like having a second father around.”

Scootaloo got out from under the blankets and hugged her adoptive father tight. “I want you to be my dad, DJ. And Twilight as my mom. Not because you adopted me, but because you care about me just like my real parents did. And I can’t thank you enough for letting me be your daughter.” She released her grip and got back in bed. “And if you tell anypony I said that, then I am going to deny every word of it,” she said with a sly smile.

DJ was close to tears at Scootaloo’s words, but a smile did appear on his face and a small chuckle escaped him. “You know Scootaloo, I was going to wait to give this to you on your birthday, but I think right about now would be a good time for it.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widen and sparkle with glee. “Ooh, a present? Gimme, gimme, gimme!!” She was practically jumping with excitement.

“Well, okay. You see, Scoots, I have a song for everypony who lives here. There is Twilight’s Ballad which is the song that sung to her on the night of our first date. Nyx’s Song, which I use as a lullaby for her. And Spike’s Rock, which is something I have yet to give my little brother, so don’t ruin the surprise for your dragon uncle,” he said with false reprimand. “Now that you live here Scootaloo, I have a song for you, too, and I call it Scootaloo’s Tune. Here it goes,” DJ began to sing a song that he had been thinking of all month, one that was practically meant for Scootaloo.

Staff edit:  Copyrighted lyrics removed

When DJ finished his song, Scootaloo had snuggled into her blanket and had dreary look in her eyes. “What did you think, Scoots?” he asked with a smile.

“I *yawn* liked it, dad. I really liked it. Thanks for the song.”

“You’re welcome, Scootaloo.” He reached down and kissed her on the forehead. “Goodnight, Scoots. Pleasant dreams.” DJ began to walk out the room, when he heard Scootaloo say something back to him.

“I love you dad.”

DJ nearly broke down in tears right there, but chose to be strong until he was out of the room. “And I love you my little daughter, now get some sleep. You still have school in the morning.” Without another word, DJ crept out the room and closed the door to his daughters’ room. ‘Daughters’. I have daughters now. What did I ever do to deserve all this, because whatever it was, I think I might be willing to do it again.

This was not the end of his night, however, as Twilight was waiting outside their room for him. “I think it’s about time we had a talk, DJ,” she said. DJ was surprised by her demanding tone and was soon ushered inside their bedroom, Spike already passed out in his basket. “Now talk,” Twilight demanded, “Why aren’t you acting like yourself, my love. It’s beginning to scare me.”

“*Sigh* Well, you don’t have to worry about one part of it anymore, Twi. It had to do with Scootaloo and we sort—“

“I know, I listened into the entire thing. Loved the song, by the way. Now what is this other part?”

“To be honest, love, I’m scared.” DJ let that hang there for a moment, allowing his thoughts to process on what he would say next. “I’m scared of what I am becoming. You saw me back at the Crystal Empire, Twilight, you saw how I acted towards Sombra. I actually used the Elements of Harmony to take another’s life. I don’t even know how I even used them at all!”

Twilight was unsure of how to respond to this, but a question did come to her mind. “What is scaring you the most, DJ? There seems to be something more pressing in your mind.”

“Twilight, you know how when most ponies take a life in stories, they always regret doing so? Like, they wished there was some way they could have done what they needed to without resorting to killing?” Twilight nodded, not knowing where he was going with this. “Well, I am not feeling that. I do not in any form regret or feel remorse for my actions against King Sombra. In fact, heh, I wish I could go back in time and make him suffer a lot more for what he did. In my opinion, he got off with a quick death, when it should have been slow and painful. That’s what scares me, my love. That I don’t feel the remorse, that I am willing to do it again. I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Twilight was completely aghast. These thoughts never appeared in her husband’s mind before now, and she was beginning to get a little scared herself. Something in her wouldn’t let he be, though. A feeling of strength. “I know what you should do, DJ.” He lifted his head to meet her loving gaze. “You should just be you. DJ Sparkle, the stallion I fell in love with, the father of two wonderful fillies, and friend to all of Ponyville. You don’t need to bear this burden alone, DJ. You have friends and family who are willing to help you and no matter what, we will never be afraid of you. We know who you are and you should know who we are, especially by now.”

DJ simply sat there with a dumbfounded expression, staring at his wife and thinking over her words. Then he smiled and small laugh started coming from him. “Heh, heh, heh. Ah, Twilight, what would I ever do without you?” he said as he nuzzled her cheek.

Twilight returned it with a nuzzle of her own. “I don’t know and I don’t care. We are together forever, a family that always sticks together. That’s what we are, DJ; we are a family.”

“Ohana,” he said.

Twilight pulled back with a look of confusion. “Huh?”

“Ohana, means family,” he explained. “And family means, no one gets left behind or forgotten.”

Twilight smiles at her husband’s words. “I like that,” she says as she leans into him.

“Heh, so do I.” The young couple then climb into bed together and lay down for a good night sleep. As the edges of his consciousness faded into dream, DJ had one last thought. And a distant thank you to Disney for the masterpiece that is ‘Lilo & Stitch’.