The waking world greeted me with a bit of a hangover. Pinkie and Rainbow had convinced me to try some of AJ’s hard cider last night. As I woke up, I noticed that both Pinkie and Rainbow were in my bed, snuggled up to me. I was concerned that we had done something last night that I couldn’t remember, but when I pulled the sheets down, I found all of us still wearing our clothes from last night. I figured that they would likely enjoy some coffee and breakfast, I pulled myself out of bed and made my way upstairs.

As I finished putting some food and the Coffee on the table, Spike stumbled down the stairs, yawning “M-m-morning D-Dad.” His voice broke as he pulled more air in through his yawn.

I smiled at him, glad that he was getting more comfortable with calling me, dad. “Morning Bud. Did you four have fun last night? I spotted Pip near the end of the night.”

Spike cracked his neck and shook his head to wake himself up “yea, it was a lot of fun. I got a massive haul this year. Everypony…I mean everyone loved my costume.”

I smiled “That’s good to hear. I haven’t seen Sparkles yet, you still good for the joke?”

He seemed confused for all of half a minute, then he remembered. “Oh yeah, totally. This is gonna be great.” He gave me a grin that looked a bit like mine.

I nodded and finished putting things on the table. “Feel free to start eating Bud. Pinkie and Rainbow spent the night, so I’m going to wake them up and tell them food I on the table.” I walked over to the top of the stairs and shouted down “HEY YOU TWO!!! BREAKFAST IS ON THE TABLE, COME AND GET IT.”

Turning back to the kitchen I noticed Twilight at the top of the stairs, and she didn’t look happy with me “Hey Sparkles, did you sleep well?”

Her eyes narrowed for a moment “This is a library so please don’t yell.” She finished walking down the stairs, and I approached her.

Walking up, I pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss “I’m sorry Twi. Rainbow and Pinkie crashed here last night. They convinced me to try some of AJ’s cider, and I guess we all passed out. Did you sleep well?”
She seemed to enjoy the kiss and apparently accepted the apology as she let the frown on her face fall away. She was leaning against me before muttering “I had a bizarre dream last night. I dreamt that you were a decedent of Starswirl the Bearded, and had a bunch of his old stuff.” She chuckled and pulled back from me “Crazy dream right.”

I shared a laugh with her for a few moments before, with a flash I was back in my armor. “Sure, just a dream. Does that mean that I’m not real then?” Her jaw dropped, and her left eye twitched.

Surprisingly, Pinkie walked out of the kitchen instead of the basement. She walked right up to Twilight and closed her mouth and gave her a lite peck. “Silly Twilight, ponies eat cupcakes, not flies.” She walked over to me and flicked my nose, making my armor disappear so that she could give me a hug and a kiss “How are you doing today handsome?”

I feel like I have done well to ignore Pinkie’s abilities, but every so often she does something that makes me question my sanity. “Yea, I’m doing okay. Guessing you found breakfast already, did you bring Rainbow up, or is she still asleep?”

She giggled and answered “She is still downstairs. I didn’t want to wake her up with any movement.” She stopped, licked her finger and held it in the air for a moment before adding “I think she just woke up though. I would expect her to be up here in three, two, and one.”

A blue pair of arms wrapped around my neck from behind. “Hey sexy, you know how awesome it is that you can cook.”

I smirked “I like to think it adds points in my favor. Did you sleep well? Any hangover?”

She winced “a little bit of one. Likely would have had a bigger one if you didn’t make me drink that water last night. And whatever that pill was.”

I kissed her arm “I have found that taking an aspirin before bed and drinking a lot of water after drinking helps keep the hangover at bay. I’m just glad it worked, let’s go get some food.”

Twilight seemed to still be stopped, so I swept her up into my arms and carried her into the kitchen. After depositing her into a seat, I sat down and started eating. About five minutes into the meal I guess Twilight had managed to reboot herself before she shouted across the table. “YOU’RE A DECENDENT OF STARSWIRL THE BEARDED, AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!!!! YOU EVEN HAVE SOME OF HIS ARTIFACTS!!! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!!!”

I twisted a finger in my ear, trying to get it to pop “a couple of things, one as you said not twenty minutes ago, this is a library. Two I didn’t know that I was part pony until like a month ago, three, I didn’t know that you were a fan until yesterday, and finally yes, I do have some artifacts that he left me. If you want to know how it’s possible, well apparently when he disappeared from here, he made a trip over to my world. Once there he apparently turned himself into a human and lived out the remainder of his days there under the name Merlin. Obviously, he must have found someone, because I am a decedent of his. But I guess it answers the question as to whether or not I’m compatible with ponies when it comes to having kids, so that’s cool.”

She turned to Spike, who looked like he didn’t really care about the conversation “How can you be so calm about this? This is a huge moment for the magical community as a whole. Besides you know how much I love Starswirl!” She pouted, and I swear I got hit with diabetes from the cute levels.

I am proud to say that Spike kept a level face when he responded “Meh, I already knew. I don’t get the big deal. Why does it matter that Dad is related? They aren’t the same person, as for the stuff, its Dad’s, so whatever he does with it is his business.”

Twilight looked like she was about to bust a gasket. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ALREADY KNEW!!!? YOU KNEW, AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!!! SPIKE SPARKLE DRAKE, YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO KEEP THINGS LIKE THIS FROM ME.”

Spike flinched at what was apparently his full name. I held my hand up to stop him before he started “I guess that we won’t even get an hour out of the joke Bud.” I turned to Twilight “Twilight, Spike didn’t know until last night. So in a way, yes he already knew. But just because he knew, does not mean that it is fair of you to jump on him for knowing that. I convinced him that it would be a bit of fun if we were to play a little joke on you, and pretend that he knew longer than he did. I didn’t mean anything by it, but I didn’t think you would scream at him about that. I take full responsibility for the joke, so please, don’t take it out on him. If you don’t already have some plans, please feel free to join me down in my room, and we can look at the artifacts together. We can make it a research date day. What do you think?”

I could tell that Twilight was upset about having blown up at the poor kid, but nodded “Yes, that sounds nice. I just have the normal library duties to do though.” She turned to Spike “I’m sorry about yelling at you Spike, you know how I can get when it comes to Starswirl, but that is still no excuse for yelling at you like that. Can you forgive me?”
Spike smiled and got up to hug her “I forgive you Twilight. I’m just glad that Dad took the heat for it.” He chuckled.

Twilight was happy to return the hug and asked “So you seem really comfortable calling Magos, dad now? Did something change?”

He blushed and turned away from her, so I answered “He made me extremely proud last night, and I let him know. Guess that solidified it for him.”

Twilight smiled and pulled Spike a little closer “you make me proud to Spike.” She kissed his head, and he struggled to pull away, being every little bit his age. No teenage boy wants his mom to kiss him.
The meal ended, and we spent the rest of the morning putting the Library together. Twilight and I spent some time looking over my new book, and she even tried out my focus. The thing was remarkable, Twilight cast a simple teleportation spell that was supposed to take her to the other side of the library. When she came back, she told me that she ended up in the library in Canterlot. I’m not sure what the thing was made of, but damn it packs a punch.

As the day came to an end, Pinkie showed up to talk to Twilight. They went upstairs for close to two hours, and when they came down, Pinkie had a mile-wide grin and Twilight was blushing up a storm. I’m guessing that they talked about their relationship and if Twilight’s hair had anything to say about it. I would imagine that they spent some time making out. Wish I would have been allowed to watch, but that would make me a creeper. I was getting ready for bed when Twilight knocked on my door. “Hey, Mag. Can I talk to you?”

I smiled and welcomed her in. “Sure Sparkles, what you want to talk about?”

She shuffled her hooves for a moment before speaking. “Um… well, I was kind of… well, the thing is…”

She was blushing up a storm and had a hard time getting it out. “It’s okay Twilight, what did you want to talk about? I’m not going to judge you negatively, trust me.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself “I was wondering if you wanted to take our relationship to the next level.”

Now Twilight had told me that she had never been in a relationship before, so I wanted to clarify with her before I got my hopes up. “That sounds wonderful, just to be clear though, what you mean by taking it to the next level?”

She blushed before answering “well, I… well could I sleep down here tonight?”

I had kinda figured that she didn’t mean sex, but I was glad that I clarified. “That sounds nice Sparkles. With as often as Pinkie and Rainbow spend the night, I have to admit that I have grown fond of having someone to cuddle with as I fall asleep.”

She did an adorable little dance “yesyesyesyesyesyesyes.” She realized what she was doing rather quickly and stopped “um… I mean, thank you.”

I laughed and pulled her into a hug before pulling her into a kiss, she quickly melted into it. After pulling back I smiled at her “Well then, would you like to hit the sack? I know I’m tired after our all-day study session.” She grinned and hopped on my bed. I laughed at her antics and stripped down to my boxers.

Her face lit up with a blush “W-w-what are you doing?!”
I gave her a quizzical look “what? I always sleep in my boxers. It’s more comfortable.” She blushed more so I added, “Just pretend I’m wearing swimming trunks, it’s not all that different.”

She thought about it for a moment before she realized that I was right. “I-I guess that makes sense.”

I laughed again and got into bed next to her. I leaned over and gave her a peck, “Good night Twilight, may Luna watch over your dreams.” I lied down and felt Twilight cuddle up to me. Overall it was a great day.

__________________________________________________________________

Almost two months have passed since I last updated this, crazy how time has flown by. Rainbow decided that she wanted to spend the day showing me what she does for a living. I sat on a cloud bundled up in a think jacket as I watched her work. She really was amazing as she flew through the air, moving clouds around to cover the ground with a thick layer of snow. I looked down and noticed a tuft of purple hair with an orange coat lying in an alley, just peaking out from under a pile. I muttered to myself “Scootaloo?” before jumping down from the cloud and landed on my feet.

Walking over to the alley behind Sugar Cube Corner I was given my answer. Scootaloo was sleeping under a pile of cardboard with a thin jacket on her. I was very concerned, so I rushed over to make her wake up. When I touched her cheek, she was ice cold. Without thinking I scooped her up and rushed her into the shop “PINKIE, WE NEED TO RUN A WARM BATH RIGHT NOW, I JUST FOUND SCOOTALOO HALF FROZEN IN THE ALLEY!” I could swear I heard a sonic boom as a flash of pink shot up the stairs.

I kept Scoot close to me and started to rub her arms, trying to pass my body heat over to her, whispering all the time “come on Scoots, keep it together. I’ll take care of you. Please be okay. Please.” I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks. I can honestly say that I was terrified right now.

Then the most beautiful sound came from the young woman “ugh… M-Magos? W-where am I?”

A chuckle escaped my lips “W-we’re inside Sugar Cube Corner Scoots. I have you. Pinkie is running you a warm bath so we can get you better. You scared me, kid.” I hugged her tightly to my chest “I don’t know what we would do if we lost you.”

She stayed silent as Pinkie walked into the room “I have her bath ready Maggie, give her to me. I’ll make sure she gets warmed up.” I put her in Pinkie’s arms before she could run off, I pulled her into a passionate kiss.

“Thank you, Pinkie, for being you.” I gave her another small peck before she fled. Rainbow burst into the room, looking confused until she saw me. “Hey Skittles, sorry I ditched you. Something came up and demanded my attention.”

She came over to me and slapped my arm “It had better have been important. I was showing off for no one for like ten minutes without anyone to watch me.” She boasted, but when I didn’t laugh, she looked closer. “Jeeze, did somepony die or something?”

I looked up at her “I just found Scootaloo half frozen in the alley. W-We almost lost her Skittles. If I hadn’t noticed…”

The joy and color drained from her face “W-Where is she Magos, where is Scoots?” She looked terrified, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her.
“She is upstairs with Pinkie in a warm bath. I managed to get her to wake up, but… Why was she sleeping in the alley? Doesn’t she have a home?” I was beginning to get mad now that I wasn’t as terrified of losing her. “Where the FUCK! Are her parents. Why was she left alone?!”

Pinkie walked into the dining area with a hopeful look on her face “Scoot is warmed up and sleeping in my bed. I got a message over to the hospital, Nurse Redheart says that she should be here within the hour.”

I shot up and pulled her into a tight hug, then noticing Rainbow standing close, I pulled her in as well. “Thank the gods that we found her. Thank you Pinks, for acting so quickly. You helped me save her life.” Pinkie clung to me with Rainbow, they both were shaking as we held each other.

Red Heart found us like that when she rushed into the room. “Where is this half frozen pony I was told about?!”

I pulled away from the group and walked up to her. “This way Nurse, I brought her in from the cold and managed to get her to wake up after rubbing her arms for a bit, after that we put her in a warm bath to bring her core temp back up. Pinkie put her in her bed after warming up to get some real rest. Follow me.”

I guided her up to Pinkie’s room, we found Scoots sleeping. Her head had signs of sweat, and I figured that she might have a fever. Red Heart rushed over and started to examine her, I kept watch as she did so, not wanting to leave Scoots alone with a stranger. “So what do you think doc? Please give me something.”

She looked at me for a moment before speaking “You’re a guard right?” I nodded “Good, then I can tell you. She is still rather sick, but she should pull through with the right care. From what I can tell she is suffering from exposure, but it also looks like she is rather malnourished. I also found several bruises that seem fresh and a few that are older but have healed. A lot of this points to neglect and abuse. I know Scootaloo, she and the other fillies in her group come into the clinic sometimes with scraps and cuts from them playing around, but… These aren’t the kind of injuries that are caused by being rough. It looks like somepony had been hitting her.”

I felt the rage grow inside me. I could see the hair that was hanging in front of my face shift from blonde to black, I haven’t been this mad since the trial with AJ’s parents. In a voice that was so calm, it was unnerving “do you have Scootaloo’s home address?”

Red Heart looked terrified “Y-yes. It’s back at the clinic. A-are you okay?”

I responded, still with an even and neutral tone “Good, if you would be so kind as to go fetch it, I have to make a quick trip, but will be right back.” I teleported to the front of Golden Oaks. I entered the library and walked down to my room. I made my way down to my room and grabbed my focus. After summoning my armor, I started to charge my magic, fully intending on teleporting to the throne room.

Spike entered my room just before I left, he seemed upset “Um…dad, is everything okay?”

I looked over at him, my eyes now black holes “I need to take a trip to Canterlot really quick. I have business to conduct with Celestial, I’ll be back soon.” He still looked scared, so I added “Don’t worry Spike, I’ll be back soon. Take care of Twilight while I’m out. I love you.” I shifted away and appeared right in the middle of the throne room.

I must have interrupted day court because a Mare screamed. I ignored the scared mare and walked slowly to the base of the platform that Celestia’s throne sat on. Taking a knee, I spoke “My most humble apologies for my sudden and unannounced arrival Princess. I have had a rather…upsetting, bit of news for you. Its importance explains my sudden arrival.”

I don’t really think that Celestia minded much, but the noble in the room started to make a ruckus. “Princess, why must you let this thing interrupt us. We have essential business to discuss. Can’t you make it wait outside until we are finished!?”

I turned my black eyes to the offender “unless your business dealing involves a literal life or death situation I suggest that you leave. Now! I am here to plead the case of a very sick filly that has been abused by her own parents.”

The stuck-up noble had the nerve to scoff “Oh please, the fate of some present has no real bearing…”

I imagine that he wanted to say more, but it was somewhat tricky with my right hand gripping his windpipe “You will be silent filth, or has it been so long without a knight in the land that you have forgotten what my position means. If I think it to be just, I could have you stripped of your power and wealth, your lands revoked, your holding burned. The only authority that I recognize at this time is of the Goddesses that share that throne.” I threw him back and he fell to the floor “Now I suggest that you follow my advice, and get out.”

He looked like he wanted to say something, but chose the wise path and fled, closely followed by the other nobles, I returned to my kneeling position in front of Celestia “I beg your forgiveness Princess, but he was foolish to challenge me when I am this angry.”

I didn’t expect her to giggle, but that is what she did “I must thank you Sir Magos. But can we please drop the titles? I grow tired of them and would love to speak to my friend. Now, what was that about an abused filly?”

I took a deep breath to calm myself “Scootaloo, the adopted sister of Rainbow Dash is currently asleep in Pinkie’s bed. I found her half frozen sleeping in an alley this morning, close to death. I don’t know why she was there, but when the nurse looked her over, she found signs of abuse. Scoots is apparently severely malnourished and has signs that she had been beaten. I have no idea where her parents are, but I was not going to trust myself to arrest them by myself. I don’t think there would be much left of them if I was.”

She narrowed her eyes “this is a serious charge Magos, I take the wellbeing of the foals of Equestria very seriously. If what you say is true, I’m not sure your version of justice is out of the question. Do you know where the Ponies in question are?”

I shook my head “I don’t Celestia, Nurse Red Heart went back to the clinic to grab the information. I grabbed my focus and came here as soon as I could. She is likely back at Pinkie’s place already.”

Celestia nodded “Then we must make haste.” she turned to her assistant “Raven, please tell Luna that I had to make an emergency trip to Ponyville.”

I looked at the mare in confusion “Where is mom? I thought she was your assistant now?”

Celestia grinned “She had some business to take care of today. She is a goddess after all. She can’t abandon all of her duties to stay here.”

I shrugged “Guess that makes sense. Let’s go.”

I was about to shift back to Ponyville when Celestia put her hand on my shoulder “Let me take us, it’s been awhile since the last time I was able to use my own magic. I need to keep my practice up.”

Her teleports were strange, it didn’t feel like we had teleported, we were just… there. I looked around for a moment before a pink, blue, and purple blur hit me. All speaking at once “Mag, what happened, why is Princess Celestia here. What is going to happen to Scoots?!”

I hugged them all “Shhhh. It’s okay. I brought Celestia here to help with the situation.” Turning to Red Heart “did you bring the information with you?” she nodded “Good. Thank you for being so quick.”

Celestia put her hand on my shoulder “Before we go charging off Magos, I need to check something with young Scootaloo.”

I shrugged and added “Not sure if you are going to get anything out of her. Last I saw she was passed out with a fever.”

Celestia nodded “I understand that Magos, I am going to scan her memories of the last 48 hours to see if I can get proof of the abuse. Also Nurse Redheart, I will need to get your statement as well.”

Taking Nurse Redheart up the stairs, Celestia disappeared. I collapsed into the nearest chair, my head in my hands I started to mutter to myself “if I hadn’t noticed her if we had taken even another twenty minutes in the shower this morning.”

The smell of lavender and ink broke my train of thought. Twilight had managed to put herself right next to me in the chair without me noticing, so lost in my own mind, I didn’t even notice her pressed against me. She lifted my head to look at her “It’s okay Magos, you can’t keep thinking about the ‘what if’s,’ yes, what happened is terrible, yes, if you hadn’t noticed her, she might be gone. But none of that matters right now. What matters is that you didn’t take too long this morning, you did notice her, and you did save her. Today you are the biggest hero in Equestria, and I know that all three of us are happy to have claimed to your heart.”

Twilight has never been a bold mare, she usually is very timid and nervous. She has gained a lot of confidence recently with her training. Adding a little toning to your body will do that for you. But in this moment Twilight apparently decided to be bold. Pulling my head forward she crushed her lips into mine, then pressed her tongue to my lips. My mind emptied in moments, my worries about what was happening, what could have happened, fled. The entire world disappeared into that kiss.

Twilights tongue was wider than mine, longer too. They coiled around each other as she tried to hold her nerve, but after a few moments, I managed to press back and push my tongue into her mouth. I pressed it into her flat teeth, I have to admit that this is the strangest part of kissing one of my girls. It feels almost like they have molars for every tooth, the front ones were a little bit thinner, but they were still much thicker than mine. After I’m not sure how long, Rainbow patted me on the shoulder. I pulled back from the kiss, breathing hard. “Thanks, Sparkles, I really needed that.” I turned to Rainbow and started to speak before turning the full way around “you want your turn Sk…”

Redheart and Celestia stood there with bright red faces, I turned to look back at Twilight, only to just see her cherry red face, right as she teleported away. My arms now empty, fell to my side as I turned to Celestia “um… well…” I coughed

Celestia cleared her throat “well I have confirmed the suspicions, dear Scootaloo has suffered from emotional, mental and physical abuse.” My eyes drilled into Celestia's, trying to convey that I hoped that, bad as it was, that it didn’t go further. She must have understood “That was the extent. She was untouched in other ways.”

I let out a breath that I didn’t know I had started to hold “Thank the gods. Do we know where her parents are?”

Celestia’s eyes turned down “Parent I’m afraid. It would appear that Scootaloo’s Mother passed away some time ago. During her foaling actually. She died to give Scootaloo life.” My heart broke hearing that, but it got worse “From the memories that I scanned, it would appear that her father has blamed her for the loss of his wife. It would appear that Dear Scootaloo looks quite a bit like her mother, and he banished her from home last night. According to the memories, she had grown to look too much like her mother, and it made him angry.”

The rage that Twilight had managed to calm started to kindle again. My voice grew flat again “shall we apprehend the living filth, Celestia?”

Her eyes took a hard edge as she looked at me “Calm yourself Sir Knight, he will be punished, by the courts. You have already gone above and beyond the call of duty this day. I need you to keep a level head as we take care of this.”

I took a deep breath to center myself once more “I’m better. Sorry, Celestia. I just really care about Scoots. I feel responsible for her, no one should have to go through something like that. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, let alone a poor little girl. She’s just… I just... I don’t even know how to say what I’m feeling right now. I just want to see her happy. She deserves that, now that I know what she has been facing, I can say that she deserves it more than most.”

A spark lit in Celestia’s eye, the flash of a plan. “I will hold you to that, Magos.”

The next thing I knew, we were standing in front of what looked like a lovely home. The paint was fresh, the snow was pushed. Everything viewed from the outside to be a beautiful place to live. But I knew the truth. Celestia nodded toward the door. We strode up, and I pounded on it. When it opened a blearily eyed stallion stood there. He had Scoot’s eyes, though his were bloodshot at the moment. They also shared the same mane color, his fur was blue though.

He took a moment to look at me, then turned his head to Celestia. I noticed his grip on the door tighten, then the tale tells twitch of him going to slam the door as if something like that was going to stop a very pissed off demigod, let alone a full-blown goddess. Before he was able to move the door more than six inches, I had put my fist into his gut. He doubled over, the air knocked from his lungs “Resisting arrest before we even tell you what we are here about, looks mighty suspicious fucker, so before you manage to stick your hoof in your mouth, or make me put my fist there. Just know that you don’t have murder listed in the charges against you. I managed to find her before that happened.” I leaned down next to his ear before whispering “But know this, I will make sure that you suffer for what you have done to that sweet little filly. The only good thing that you have ever done for her was to provide the sperm that went into her creation. I will make it my personal goal to see you swing for this. It is the very least that I owe to that girl.”

His eyes widened as the panic set in. I realized that the saying that I used wasn’t something that was said here. He likely thought that I was going to push for the death penalty by hanging. But I wasn’t going to let him know that I just meant that I wanted to see him convicted. After hyperventilating for a moment, he just passed out like a bitch. I heard Celestia sigh “Must you frighten my ponies like that.”

“Don’t tell me this fucker doesn’t deserve it.” she shook her head, so I shrugged “so...to the dungeon with his sorry ass?” she snapped her finger, and poof he was gone. “Cool beans.”

She shook her head again “now that this is taken care of, I’m afraid that we still have the issue of what to do with Dear Scootaloo. She can’t live here by herself, I hate to do it, but it would appear that I have to involve foal services.”

When I heard her say that, my mind flipped back. It had been years since I had thought about my childhood. Those few good years with my father, his face and voice now something familiar, now that I had those gifts from my mother. Replaced by the faceless people that took me away. They left me in the big place, filled with crying children. A prison for abandoned children. I had endured years there, every day wishing that my unknown mother would rescue me. That one day I could have a home again. For me, that day never came. I was taken to a new place two years later. This time to a camp. Where I spent the next ten years, training for a war that we never knew was coming.

I realized that my mind was already made up before I came here. “We can’t do that to her. Her entire life is here Celestia. Her friends, her school. Everything that she has ever known.”

Celestia looked at me “I understand that you didn’t have a nice childhood Magos. But I promise you that she won’t be neglected again.”

I couldn’t hold it back “You’re damn right it won’t happen again. Because I’m going to take care of her. Even if I have to build her a home with my own two hands. I can’t ask her to come back here, to this house. And I don’t want anything to do with it. But I will make sure that she doesn’t have to lose what little she has left here!”

If there was a man on the moon at this point in time, even he could have seen the smug grin on her face. “Very well Magos, I name you as her guardian. I believe that she just woke up, and it would appear that your dear mother is spending a little time with her as well. Shall we return?”

I didn’t question how she knew that Scoots was awake, nor how she knew my mom was there. That is the kind of thing that you just have to roll with when dealing with gods. “Yes, please.” We shifted back to Sugar Cube Corner, I noticed that the girls must have convinced Twilight to come back. Scoots looked much better. She was awake and active. Almost as if she was completely healed. I looked at my mother, and she smiled at me. Walking forward I pulled her into a tight hug “thank you, mom. She deserves every bit of happiness she can get right now. Not having to be sick… Just thanks.”

Mom hugged me back and patted my head. “If you are going to be looking after her, I wanted to make sure that it started off on the right foot. I haven’t told her yet.”

I mouthed ‘thank you’ again. Scoots was talking animatedly with Rainbow. I walked up behind her and crouched down to her level before tapping her shoulder, she turned around. When she saw me, I could see the tears start to form. I could tell from the way that she looked at me, that she understood how close she had been. I pulled forward and wrapped her arms around me, trying to hide her tears. I held her close “shhh shhh shhh, it’s okay. You never have to go back there. He’s gone, and he can never hurt you again.” I pulled back and looked her in the face “You can’t live alone though, you’re too young still.” she looked like she was going to start panicking. Apparently, she realized what was supposed to happen, I shut it down before she could let it go that far. “If you want to, I have volunteered to take care of you. You will stay here in Ponyville, with your friends, all your classmates. But it has to be your choice.”

She was in a bit of disbelief “Y-you mean that I won’t have to go away? Y-you, want me?”

This poor sweet filly had been through so much, she lost her mother before she had a chance to get to know her, she had only know neglect and hatred from her father. And just recently had she managed to find some friends. “Yes, Scoots. I want you. But most of all, I want you to be happy. I can’t say that I know what you went through. But I know what it is like to be in the system. I don’t want that for you. You have friends here, a life, and I want to see you keep those things. So again I say, yes, I want you to stay here, and I would love to be the one that takes care of you. You’ve come to grow on me squirt. So what do you say?”

Her answer was to pull me into another hug. Twilight walked up next to me, placing her hand on my shoulder “where are we going to put her? Spike took the only extra room that we had left.” I felt Scoots grip tighten.

I put my hand on Twilight’s “She can take my room. I’ll just move my trunk into a closet on the main floor. I spent years sleeping on a cot, I don’t mind doing it for a while longer until I can get a house.”

I heard a cough from behind me “that is where I come in dear.”

I looked at my mother with a raised eyebrow. “What is that suppo…”

Before I could finish my thought, we were in a clearing in the White Tail Woods. Not far from the town, but still removed. In the middle of the clearing stood a small shack. Modest, almost like one of those tiny homes from tv. “...ed to mean? Is that a tiny home? Mom, I don’t think that is going to work. I could deal with that, but what about Scootaloo? Girls her age need privacy, at the very least her own room.”

She looked offended “As if I would let my new grandbaby sleep in the same room as the lout of a son that I have. Did you forget who I am?” She strode forward and threw open the door on the tiny abode. The interior was massive. “It is only small on the outside. You are not the only one that has had the idea of making a place larger on the inside.” she looked to lose herself in a memory for a moment as she muttered, “I still don’t know how that man fit a star in his.”

I must have misheard her, but I was still blown away by the size of the entryway. “Mom this is massive. How big is this place?”

She pulled herself out of her memory “Well there are a total of 11 rooms, not counting the master suite, and a nursery. Then you have the dining hall, the training hall, and the swimming pool.”

I gave her a severe look “I could swear that I heard you say nursery.”

She waved her hand “Of course there is. You are a healthy young man, with three beautiful Mares. A mother can dream of more grandchildren can’t she.”

I looked back at Rainbow, who was looking at anything but us, her face tinged red. Pinkie was being...well she was being Pinkie. Mom took us on a tour of the house. We still had a few rooms left when we stepped up to a room with a purple door. A nameplate was hanging on the back ‘Scootaloo.’ The filly in question looked back at us, excitement in her eyes. She looked up at us and asked: “Can I?”

I shrugged “go for it. I have no idea what is in there for you. This place is a surprise to me as well.” She grinned and bolted into the room.

Entering in after her, if found her standing in the center. Her eyes filled with awe. Along one wall was a workbench, on it, tools and replacement parts for a scooter. A brand new one sat folded on top with a ribbon. Next to it were a set of little skis that could be put on in place of wheels. Along another wall were posters of Wonderbolts, each showing some kind of aerial stunt. The light blue walls worked well with the decor. In the corner opposite the workbench was a sitting area with a table. There were a couple of chairs. The large bed stood apart from the rest of the room. The bedding depicted the Wonderbolts logo.

Scoots turned back to my mother and ran at her “thank you thank you thank. This is the best room ever.”

We left her there to look around a bit more. Down the hall to the other side was a green door with Spike’s name on it. I raised my eyebrow at her, and she shrugged “I have a feeling that you will have Spike over quite a bit. Besides, it’s not healthy to have to live so close to work. Why do you think Celestia's castle is so large? It has more to do with keeping her personal life away from the duties of ruling a country, than looking imposing.”

I thought about it for a moment before shrugging “I guess that makes sense, but I don’t see Twilight and Spike wanting to walk that far every day to go to work. And that is saying that they would want to live with me.”

She smiled “It’s there for him if he wants it. Besides, I would love to get to know my new grandson as well. He does call you dad doesn’t he.”

I laughed “Yeah, I guess he does now. Bet that is going to be weird for him. Calls a demigod dad, and his grandma is a goddess. Talk about playground bragging rights.”

We made it to the end of the hallway, to find a set of massive double doors. Mom pressed them open to reveal the master suite. At least the sitting room of them. There was a pair of overstuffed couches facing each other. The dark upholstery made it look like leather. I ran my hand across it to find that it was just cloth. That was good, didn’t want to have to explain that to the girls. They still had an issue with my trophies.

The walls were filled with bookshelves. The shelves themselves were only half full at this point, my finger traced across the spines. Many of them were old stories of the heroes of the past. All of the classical epics. They also had almost every one of my personal favorites as well. My mother spoke “I left room for Twilight and the others. Although I expect that they will not add quite as much as she will.”

I chuckled, “I bet you’re right about that. Sparkles loves her books.”

From the corner of my eye, I could see her blush. Next came the master bedroom. The bed here was massive. Like, could comfortably fit Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, and me with plenty of room left over to stretch out in. At least two more full-grown people could fit in that bed. Scoot must have caught up with us because she spoke out “Wow! That bed is huge.”

We all looked at her, and I responded “It sure is. Makes me wonder if my mom is scheming.”

She had a fake look of hurt on her face. “Well I never, scheming. As if I would do anything like that.”

I gave her a deadpan stare “Yes. of course, because there has never been a Greek god that schemed.” My face broke into a smile, and I pulled her into a hug “Thank you for his mom. You really didn’t have to.”

I leaned into the hug “Yes I did. You deserve a place to call home every bit as much as that little filly does. Think of it as back pay for twenty years of missed birthdays and holidays. I want you to be happy Magos. And if I can achieve that even a little with this small gift. Then it is worth it.”

She pulled back before pulling mine and Scoots handing into her’s “Welcome home.”