Those Awful Rumors 'Round Town
Those Awful Rumors 'Round Town
by Present Perfect
"I heard she sleeps in a cardboard box in the gutter." The corners of Silver Spoon's mouth turned up in the daintiest of smirks, and she lifted her chin ever so slightly.
"Well," said Sweetie Belle, "I've been over to her house before, so that doesn't make any sense."
"Me too!" Apple Bloom added. "And I don't much appreciate nosy fillies commentin' on my friends when they ain't here, so leave off!"
Diamond Tiara clucked her tongue. "Ugh, whatever. Nothing says it's her house, dummies. It could always be the orphanage." She laughed primly.
"Diamond Tiara actually has a salient point," Truffle Shuffle said. He shied back as all eyes turned to him. "I-I'm only saying that I, too, have never met her parents."
"Well, uh..." Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her neck, glancing at Sweetie. She only shrugged.
"Maybe it ith her houthe and thee liveth there all by herthelf!"
"Aw, Twist, not you too!" Apple Bloom frowned at her.
Twist cheeks reddened. "Well, I'm jutht thayin'..."
Apple Bloom smacked her hoof against her forehead, grumbling, "If she lives alone, then who does all the chores?"
"No, but I did hear her parents were dead," said Archer, grinning as she marched into their circle.
"Who invited her?" Diamond Tiara whispered to Silver Spoon, who snickered.
Truffle cleared his throat. "I feel it stands to reason that only one of her parents might be dead, in which case the other might work too many jobs to have time for a social life."
"Like, that's stupid." Diamond Tiara flipped her mane. "Who works more than one job, I mean really?"
"Yeah," Silver Spoon added with a snicker. "I bet her parents just can't stand having a flightless filly and refuse to be seen with her in public." She and Diamond burst into hearty cackling.
"That ain't nice!" Apple Bloom stamped her hoof. "Why y'all gotta go talkin' about Scoots behind her back?"
"It'th jutht thepculathion," Twist said, grinning sheepishly. "I really haven't theen her parentth before!"
"What if Princess Celestia was her mother?" Truffle said, hoof to his mouth. "Her inability to fly could be due to inbreeding among the nobility."
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gaped at him.
"Eww!" Silver Spoon said. "Why would you even think about something like that?"
There was a pause before Archer asked, "Well, what if they live in Cloudsdale and sent her here to go to school since she can't fly?"
"What if they're tho thick that Thcoot hathta take care of 'em?"
"What if she's really a changeling and never had parents to begin with?" Sweetie Belle cheered, leaping up and down.
"Ooh, or a space alien?" Archer said, grinning wide.
"E-nough!"
Had Princess Luna been present, she would have rated the volume of Apple Bloom's outburst as worthy of the Royal Canterlot Voice. Apple Bloom held her head low, snorting and panting as she glared at the other foals. They regarded her with wide eyes, raised hooves, and not a few wind-blown manes.
"Sweetie, how can you even let yerself get caught up in this?"
Sweetie Belle's face turned toward the ground. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"As for the rest o' y'all, didn't your parents teach ya not to go guessin' on somepony's personal business when they ain't around?" Apple Bloom ground her teeth together. "That just ain't right!"
"Ugh," Diamond said with another flip of her mane, "like, what's the big deal? We're just wondering out loud about your dumb friend is all."
"Perhaps we should consider asking her ourselves," Truffle said, pointing behind them. "There she is now!"
In a flash, all seven of them surrounded Scootaloo and began pelting her with questions.
"Cardboard box?"
"Celestia?"
"Orphanage?"
"Thpathe alien?"
"What in the flying hay?" Scootaloo backed up against the swingset, eyes wide. "What are you all yelling about?"
As they talked, Apple Bloom grew jitterier by the second. Finally, she burst forward in a rush, shouting, "It's true!" She pinned Scootaloo against the swings, shaking her and babbling. "We ain't never met your parents! What happened to 'em, Scoot? You can tell me, honest! I-I know just what it's like to lose kin!"
Sweetie Belle gaped at Apple Bloom. Crumpling her nose indignantly, she turned to Scootaloo. "We're just wondering because we're concerned. We want to make sure you're being taken care of and stuff."
Scootaloo's face darkened. "Oh, I see what this is. I'm no dodo! I know all about those things everypony says about me!" She hopped out of Apple Bloom's embrace, waggling her head as she adopted a mocking tone. "'Oh, Scoot can't fly 'cuz she's a chicken! She's got no parents, she's homeless, blah-de-blah-de-blah!' You all should be ashamed of yourselves for listening to that garbage."
Apple Bloom winced at her own words being thrown back at her. Everyone except Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon bowed their heads.
"So which is it then, chicken?" Diamond Tiara said, an edge to her voice.
"Yeah," Silver Spoon added. "Orphanage or lonely house?"
Scootaloo glowered at her. "I live in a big house on the other end of town, okay? Not that it's any of your business. And it's not an orphanage either." She kicked her scooter under herself, buzzing her wings. "I've got all the parents I could ever want!"
As Scootaloo zipped out of the playground and down the road, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle turned to one another, frowning in consternation. Their faces soured as Diamond and Silver snickered behind them.
"Hey, who wants to guess about Apple Bloom's parents now?"
Somepony was going home with a black eye that afternoon.
The tears dried as Scootaloo came within sight of her house.
Stay strong. Don't let them get to you. Just like you practiced.
It wasn't like she hadn't been hearing that crap her entire life. It was just that it was a bit harder to take when coming from the best friends she'd ever had. Despite the brash airs she tried to project, she wasn't the most confident pony when alone. Rainbow Dash inspired her to be better than she was, but couldn't be around all the time. She wanted somepony who would be there for her always, to give her the self-assurance she needed, not to mention love and affection, and that was why she had...
No dwelling on the past. You know what that leads to.
She almost wished Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had come by her house again after it happened, just so somepony could back her up when the rumors returned full-force.
"Welcome home, honey!" cried a pale yellow, blue-maned unicorn mare from the front door of her house. Scootaloo skidded to a halt and waved to her.
"Hi, Mom!"
Smiling, her grief momentarily forgotten, Scootaloo placed her scooter in its spot in the front yard. She wiped her hooves on the welcome mat and trotted into the house.
"How was school, champ?" asked a bulky pegasus stallion with the same colors as Scootaloo.
"It was great, Dad!" she said, unbuckling her helmet and placing it on the hat rack.
From the kitchen, a pale yellow, blue-maned unicorn mare poked her head around the door and smiled. "Welcome home, sweetie! Dinner's in the oven."
"Thanks, Mom!" Scootaloo called back.
Another pale yellow, blue-maned unicorn took her backpack and hung it below her helmet. Another orange and purple pegasus stallion gave her a hug. A yellow-and-blue unicorn mare dusted the bookshelves, and another fed the fish. An orange-and-purple pegasus stallion came zipping down the stairs as a pale yellow unicorn with blue mane called after him.
"No flying in the house! You're setting a bad example!"
"Never mind that, sport," the stallion said to Scootaloo, laughing. "How about some hoofball before dinner?"
"Maybe tomorrow, Dad," she said. He laughed again and tousled her mane before taking off out the front door.
Scootaloo sat down in the middle of the living room, watching the bustle of her household. Everywhere she looked, a blue-and-yellow unicorn mare and an orange-and-purple pegasus stallion moved in pairs, cleaning, organizing, laughing and chatting. They read the newspaper; they listened to the radio; they set the table and did the dishes. Four, eight, a dozen... Another pair came in the door, grinning at each other before sharing a kiss. Scootaloo pulled a marker from her backpack and made another tally mark on it.
As she replaced the marker, something welled up in her throat. She tried to hold it back, forcing herself to smile, but tears slid from each eye. She tried sniffing them up, to no avail. Her right eye began to twitch as the tears tracked down her cheeks and into the corners of her smile.
"I... I've got... a-all the p-parents I could... ever w-want..."
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is she unhappy or happy I'm not sure
>:V
So, basically her parents pissed off someone with access to a time loop spell?
Go, Scootaloo!
Take that, theories!
Wow. Scootaloo pours her heart out and gets the outer limits ending.
Such a sad and tragic tale...
4959412
I think you might be right! This could be the work of the mirror pool!
But Fluttershy and bigmac tho
They both show signs that scootaloo might be there child.
• weak flyer
• orange colour
• blond and pink can sorta make lavender mane
Amazing how much difference the littlest things can make. Good to see this posted!
4959596
Glad you approve. :D
...
I like it.
4959630
This does not surprise me. :V
I found this to be a unique story. I liked how you were able to intertwine so many different theories as to Scootaloo's family life and make it all condense into a well-written, intriguing story. Anyway, I enjoyed reading this. Keep up the good work!
That's consecutive nights that you've hit me in the feels. One more and I'm gonna have to look for the ref to call for the bell :/
In seriousness, loved it.
I realize your goal was to put down scootaorphan fics, but the ending of this story could be interpreted as Scootaloo having a mental breakdown. The images of her parents that she is seeing are all part of a construct her mind made when they disappeared, died, abandoned her, etc.
Still, a great story nonetheless.
It's interesting to think that no part here seems superfluous, and still the original minific, at the maximum size of 750 words, had less than half as many words. Goes to show how this story really needed some extra breathing space
I specially enjoyed the children's voices.
And Rod Serling steps out from behind a curtain and begins to monologue about the Twilight Zone.
Then gets jumped by Lyra.
I want to see this as a cartoon.
Wow.....it's like Rod Serling meets Fairly Odd Parents.......
I have no idea what just happened here. Now I gotta read the whole thing.
I imagine Apple Bloom and Diamond get into fights almost daily. Those two love butting heads so much you'd think they had goat blood in them!
I had a sad. Scootamom reference.
Don't care if it wasn't, it totally was. End of story.
(It got a little weird with the Luna and Trixie side story. But overall it was much fun.)
Scoot's parents drowned in the Mirror Pool so now copies just continue to come out on their own every sunset.
Apple Bloom's parents are secret agents traveling the world to keep their enemies from knowing they had children.
Apple Bloom's parents died trying to save Diamond Tiara's mom, yet they all fell down the cliff during a freak mud slide.
Apple Bloom's dad is secretly Filthy Rich. AJ is the mom... Or was that AJ and Big Mac are really her parents? Time for a blood test!
Apple Bloom's parents are really Wonderbolts, those stars were actually them flying over the barn.
Apple Bloom's parents were eaten by Timberwolves.
Actually, Apple Bloom darn well nearly confirmed she lost her parents in this fic. I think Diamond really did just want to push her over the edge for the lols. That filly just gets a weird kick of having Apple Bloom chasing her whilst she pokes fun at her till she gets caught and the routine flying of hooves commences. Those two are hopeless. *sigh*
That line made me smile.
"What a twist!"
4959779
4959754
"The small orange pegasus with the purple hair does not know the pain of being an orphan, that's a fact. Rather, it is how hard the rumors contrast with the truth to the point that she wishes they were true. But instead, she is left surrounded by what others claim she doesn't have to the point excess. . .in the Twilight Zone. . ."
To be honest, when I read the ending. I was dead set on my theory that Scoots was bucking insane! But then again... Literally having that many parents is probably doing that to her. Poor Scootaloo...
Goddammit, Sweetie Belle.
i.imgur.com/BYgk8.jpg
Over-all, pretty decent. Didn't like the ending, though. Felt like the start of one of the weirder Doctor Who episodes.
4959716
If you look back through, there are hints that what's happening is not in Scootaloo's head.
4959723
It helps that it was over 1k words when I drafted it initially. :B It's bigger than that now, but still.
4960061
I'm glad you liked that DT line. :D
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/067/c/b/pipsqueak_by_lockhe4rt-d4s5pa4.png
And you thought it was just his color scheme.
4960112
Scootaloo's like some kind of reverse Batman. 10/10 would read six seasons and a movie.
wt...f
Time Loop Cascade Failure. Loop crash in 3..
I'm confused... Why are her parents constantly appear inside her house?
4961091 It's just the stress of the day piled up with al of those rumors. Makin her see things. Well, that's my guess at least
Someponies got into the mirror pool, I see.
I liked: the premise of taking the Scootaorphan shtick and putting it on its head. Also, some of the childish banter felt very genuine. And, dat intellectual Truffle Shuffle.
I disliked: not understanding why Scootaloo is so sad at the end.
I didn't understand: how NO ONE in town has seen her parents when there's apparently dozens of copies of them! They'd need to buy food and water, right? And have to make money to feed all those mouths? Was I supposed to just suspend all disbelief about the realities of the story the moment I found out there were a jillion Scootaparents and... oh. Random tag. You win this round...
4960276
Well played. :D
4961091
The why is not important.
4961339
No, it's really happening, look again.
4961584
Stop ruining things. D:
4961865
Then what is important?
4962010
The situation as it is, and Scootaloo's reaction to it.
4962181
Still trying to figure out the multiple parents though.
4962232
Just accept it. :)
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/47589/the-many-secret-origins-of-scootaloo
I will read this one too... someday. 
The premise is a little similar.
This cleaned up nicely. In its new, longer version, you gave me enough at the end that I wasn't left grasping at straws or trying to figure out if it was all in Scoots' head--even without the A/N, I got it. Nice job building this one up a bit!
4960112 That would of made an awesome chapter. If this wasn't written already.
Actually, it could work. Like making a contract at a store to trade in your old parents for new ones or have more parents than anypony else so she can get more gifts!
I could see that backfiring so badly.
Well that was something...
4962342
Sorry can't really accept it.
4963438
Not every story works for every reader. Thanks for trying, though. :)
derpicdn.net/img/2014/2/26/561666/medium.jpeg
I understood the ending before the rewrite and the A/N.
4964135
OG surrealism hipster
I originally thought that Scootaloo was part of a commune, till I read that last part properly. Got me right in the gut.
4964378
I don't get it. Care to explain it to the idiot?