Orphaned Dream

by Lise

The Scootaloo State Paradox (raw unedited)

"You're my uncle?" Scootaloo gasped. Does that mean I get to have wings like those? Let me see anypony make fun of me then! I'll be able to go to Cloudsdale and back in, like, one minute! "Year, right!" Despite the temptation there was no way she would believe such a story. "I know I'm not adopted! I've seen photos and everything."

"Such limited thinking," the stallion sighed. "Let's take care of your wings first."

Scootaloo tensed up. In her mind she was imagining bright lights and powerful magic, maybe even the rainbow Twilight and her friends often used. Instead, the stallion bonked her on the head.

"Hey!" She recoiled back. There was hardly any pain at all, but the action felt unpleasant. "What'd you do that for?"

"Just look at your wings." His annoyance was starting to show.

She did. All feathers were in place and in perfect condition. Whatever he had done seemed to have an affect. Unless, of course, it was an illusion. Cautiously, Scootaloo spanned her wings and flapped several times.

"How do I know I'll be like this outside the dream?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Essence, if I wanted you crippled I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to find you." By the looks of him, it wasn't obvious whether he regretted his decision or not. "Not that you bothered to do anything about them yourself. You had more spirit in you when you were five. Look at you now, a pathetic excuse of a dream. If your parents were alive, they—"

"My parents are alive!" Scootaloo couldn't keep her rage. To her astonishment, it manifested as a flaming gust of wind, destroying everything it touched. Buildings were reduced to ash as the wave passed through them continuing to the horizon. The sky melted out of existence, even the ground collapsed into an endless white.

The stallion didn't seem impressed. With a single he removed the gathered flames off his body. The annoyance with which he did it, made it look as if he was shaking off mud. A blink of the eye later, Scootaloo found herself lying on the floor of Twilight's library.

Not this again! She groaned. I don't want to relive things twice! not when I can't tell the difference between reality and a dream!

"Truly magnificent!" Twilight said, a giant book obscuring her face. "Also, there are a few things mentioned in Starswirl's correspondence with Clover. If it is to be believed, he actually got to meet an entire herd of dream ponies and even became friends with one. Naturally, some researches argue that was all metaphors and the event never took place. But only imagine if they were real!"

"Umm, thanks, Twilight, but I think I should be going." Why do my legs feel so stiff? "It's getting late." And my parents are probably worried.

"Late? But we just started?" Twilight emerged from her book fort. "You were so eager just a moment ago..."

I bet. A minute for you reading means a day for the rest of Equestria. Mom is probably worried crazy by now. The girls as well. Do I have lots of explaining to— She made an attempt to step forward, but stumbled on the ground instead. This was unexpected. Never before had her legs just spontaneously given up on her.

"Scootaloo, what's wrong?" There was alarm in Twilight's voice. Why are my hooves like jelly? The pegasus lifted one of them, then slowly pressed it into her face. So soft... Her mouth twisted in a smile. Moments later, everything lost form.

* * *

"You can fight it!" the colt shouted. Blue sparks passed through his white mane. "It'll devour you!"

"That's for me to worry about," the mare said patiently. She was twice his size and, unlike him, covered in a magnificent mist of molten gold. "You just make sure Essence is safe."

"But he'll destroy you!" The colt wouldn't back down. "I don't care what Mesmer says! The nightmare is way too strong for—"

"Whisper!" The mare's coat flashed a warning.

Why are they yelling at each other? Scootaloo wondered. She knew they had always been close, although Whisper did have a nasty temper. Everything he did was to impress his sister. Even the stupid things. This time, it seemed different. Scootaloo couldn't understand why all of them were so tense. Even her father stood beside her, not saying a word.

"Go get ready," the mare said through her teeth. "You will take Essence away and that is final!"

"See if I care!" Whisper shouted and jumped into the air.

Scootaloo watched him enter a passing dream and vanish from view. I hope he's not upset. She liked Whisper. They would often play when her parents were away, riding through the dreamscape, or exploring dreams. Once, Whisper had even shown her nightmares in the distance. Worried, Scootaloo turned towards her father. He patted her gently on the head.

"I hate it when he's like this!" Scootaloo's mother stomped on the ground with her forehoof. A flaming cradle emerged from nothingness.

"He'll come back," Mesmer said calmly. "It's against his nature to disappoint you. Even if you lied to him."

"He doesn't need to know," the mare carefully picked up Scootaloo with her mist and placed her into the cradle. "Why worry him with the inevitable."

* * *

Scootaloo's head was thumping. Feels worse than that me time I ran into a brick wall. She stirred. Something was restricting her movement, and it felt soft. Oh Celestia, not another dream! There had been far too many of those, so many that she wasn't even sure that last week had even been real. What if her entire life had been a dream? What if Everything was just my imagination? Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, my cutie-mark, even Ponyville.

"Thank you, Mister!" She spat out every word. Could I get back to worrying about puberty, please? She opened her eyes.

A hospital room. This never was a good start. Moving her head, Scootaloo tried to get a better idea of her surroundings. A few empty chairs, a nightstand, a bed—everything expected from a place like this. Fortunately, no IV solution.

"Hello?" Scootaloo said as loud as she cloud. "I'm awake." After the amount of times she had woken up here, she had determined this to be the best approach. Then again, she usually knew the reason for her visit.

Seconds later passed in silence, then the door swung open and the room was filled with ponies. In the instants of freedom, Scootaloo managed to recognize her parents, the CMC, their sisters, as well as Rainbow Dash, who had come in her Wonderbolt uniform. So coo—

"Orange!" her mother shouted, making Scootaloo blush with shame. Not in front of Rainbow Dash, Mon! You're making me look lame. "Thank the clouds you are alright! When Princess Twilight told us you were ill, we were so worried!"

"I'm fine, Mom." The filly tried to push her mother's wing away. "Why am I here?"

"You fainted in Twilight's library, squirt," Rainbow explained. Scootaloo could tell she was worried as well, despite trying to remain cool and collected. "What have I told you about eating and sleeping properly? Skipping breakfast and lunch? Missing sleep for two nights in a row?" Four, Scootaloo corrected. "You're lucky you're not a Wonderbolt yet, or I'd have you..." Her words trailed off as she ruffled the filly's mane. Best near-big sister ever!

"So I fainted, huh?" Scootaloo asked. That was one possible explanation, thought in light of recent events, not a very convincing one. Bet it has something to do with dream walking stallion.

"Isn't that enough?" Her mother frowned. "Were you hoping it to be something more serious?"

Scootaloo was just about to answer, when Nurse Redheart entered the room. With a glance and a cough she quickly managed to bring silence, get everypony outside, and make Scootaloo feel guilty for being here yet again. The irony if it was, that this time it really wasn't the filly's fault.

"Silver Lining's gotten old," a voice said. A stallion was sitting in one if the chairs nearby. His coat and mane were a shimmering blue. The voice, however, was quite familiar. "Didn't think she'd remain attached to you for so long."

"Great... you're back." With a grumble, Scootaloo turned to the other side of the bed. Which means this is another dream. I'm really starting to get tired of them.

"Then stop playing around a come with me!" the stallion said sharply. "I need to prepare you. You're no use weak."

"Hey, now!" If this is a dream, it means I'm in no pain. It also means I can do anything I choose. A flap of her wings and she was sitting on the bed. Another and a bowl of caramelized tulips appeared beside her. Two can play at that game! "Who says I'm weak?"

"I do." The bowl vanished replaced by a block of ice. "You think the nightmares will be as kind? Essence, they'll shred you to pieces before you get a chance to think. If you want to avenge your parents everything must come naturally."

"Again with my parents thing! I told you I'm not adopted!" Scootaloo expected her reaction to be as destructive as the last time she yelled in a dream. Instead nothing happened. The room, the extremely fake room, remained just as it was, the annoying dream pony sitting nesrby.

"You're doing yourself no favors denying it."

"Look! They were right here. Well, no because this is a dream, but I know my parents! They've been taking care of me since I was a filly."

"Ask them." For the first time the stallion smiled. "Go ahead and ask them. Shatter this dream, return home, and see what they tell you."

There it was again, that feeling of uncertainty that made her stomach twist and turn. Until this morning Scootaloo had been certain Silver Lining and Night Rider were her parents. Even now she was convinced that they were. But what if she was wrong? For one thing she also remembered having another set of parents. Could those have been real? Or was she just going crazy?

"They'll prove I'm right!" The filly jumped to the ground. "You'll see. And then you'll leave me alone!"

"Show me and I will." He nodded in agreement. "Now shatter it."

Shatter the dream. Scootaloo looked at her hoof. It didn't sound difficult. I just have to focus. Taking a deep breath, she slammed it into the floor. A thin line emerged, passing through ceiling, walls and everything else in its way, including the stallion himself. Scootaloo waited for something to happen. Nothing did.

"Come on!" she shouted. "Why doesn't anything cool happen when I d—"

A deafening crack split the room into oblivion. Sure! Now it works!

"Scootaloo? Scootaloo! Are you alright?" The filly felt somepony shaking her. Opening her eyes, she focused on the still blurry purple face. Twilight "Thank the stars! You had me worried!" The alicorn hugged her tightly, making Scootaloo instantly regret she wasn't in hospital.

"Okay?" She attempted to break free.

"Have you been eating well? I think there are some leftovers in the kitchen."

Enough with the eating already! "Thanks, Twilight, but I really need to get going. My parents are probably worried about me." This sounds so familiar. Have I said it before?

"Yes, that's perfectly understandable." Twilight nodded like a responsible parent, which she wasn't. "Do you want me to teleport you home? That way you can be sure you don't faint again on the way back,"

"No!" Scootaloo nearly screamed. "I'll walk... Thanks, Princess!" She dashed out of the library before Twilight could change her mind. Dreams, teleportation spells, there really was no telling which was worse.

Talk about the most messed up day ever, Scootaloo thought as she rushed out of the castle. And it was only going to get worse. Ponies passed by her, yet even now she couldn't tell how many of them she actually knew. She looked at Derpy gathering letters from the ground and shoving them into her saddlebag. The mailmare had been doing that for years. Ever since Scootaloo was old enough to go to school on her own, she would see the clumsy pegasus get in one mess or another... And there were the flower ponies. Scootaloo never missed an occasion to snatch a flower zooming by on her scooter. Their flowers always tasted fresh and sweet, just as the filly liked them. Were those mares part of her imagination? There was no way of knowing.

The walk home felt far faster than she had hoped. Standing in front of the door, Scootaloo stared blankly at it, afraid to continue. Okay, now what? I wake them up and go "Mom, Dad, am I adopted?" She cringed at the thought. There was no right way to ask such things. To make matters worse, she was absolutely sure they'd take it the wrong way. A long talk about puberty would follow, them the dreaded "birds and the bees."

Maybe I'll wait just a minute longer. The minute became five, then ten, then thirty. When the sun finally set, Scootaloo knew she could delay no more. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. A strong smell of pineapple hit her right in the muzzle. Her mother was making her favourite—caramelized roasted pineapple with mango trimmings. That made the filly's task all the more difficult.

"Hello, Mom." She entered the kitchen. Her father was there as well, getting ready for his shift. "Dad," the filly added, going to her seat.

"Hello, Orange." The usual happy greeting. "You're a bit late. Had fun with your friends?"

"Err, yes. Yes, Mom." She stared blankly at t he table in front of her. No! Can't do this! A plate with steaming pineapple slices was placed in front of her. Seconds later her mother tapped her gently on the back.

"Eat up. I don't know when I'll have the time to make this again," Silver Lining said. "I'll be starting work on next season's planning, and with the increased farmland in Equestria weather patterns will keep me busy for a while."

"Okay." Scootaloo took a bite. Nice, crisp and sugary. "Mom, Dad, can I ask you something?"

Both her parents looked at her. Damn it, "Uncle"! Why did you have to put me thought this? A few seconds passed in silence and stillness. Scootaloo hoped that one of they would say something, anything to make her change her mind. Instead, they waited patiently.

"Am I..." This is really, really stupid! "Do I have an uncle?" She changed her question. And I wonder why Apple Bloom calls me chicken. I can't even ask one simple question!

"Uncle?" Night Rider glanced at his wife before turning back to Scootaloo. "No, Princess, you don't. You do have an aunt, but she's never come visit us."

"Oh." Scootaloo looked back down at her plate.

"Is anything the matter, dear?" Her mother asked. "You have been behaving strange all morning."

"It's just that—"Come on, me! Just spit it out!"—I had a dream last night. And in it Mayor Mayer told me I was actually adopted."

"Is that it?" The relief in Silver Lining's voice could be felt throughout the entire room. "Oh, Orange, we all have nightmares sometimes. You should have just told us." She went to the filly and gave her a wing hug. "Of course you are our child. I had you right in Ponyville Hospital. Your father was a nervous wreck, of course."

"Right, right." Night Rider nodded tensely.

"You really have nothing to worry about. It's normal to have these thoughts. Just a normal stage of puberty."

"I guess so." There we go again. Also, in your face, "Uncle!" That was that. She wasn't adopted. Everything she thought was real, was indeed real. Now she could go back to her normal teenage life, and pretend this never happened... Except she couldn't. If everything was as nice and simple, then why was she having these strange dreams? "I'll go to bed early." She suddenly left the table. "I'm not feeling to well."

Nopony stopped her as she went to her room. Nopony even said a word. Not that she could imagine that they would. After such an awkward conversation she was lucky they didn't start yelling at her, or crying. Seeing her parents crying would have been worse.

"Buck you to the moon!" She flopped on her bed. "Told you they are my real parents!"

"Everypony lies," the familiar voice said above her.

"Go away!" Scootaloo buried her face in the pillow. I didn't even feel falling asleep.

"You aren't asleep. Just slowly remembering things," the voice said. "Far too slowly, though."

"Can't you just leave me alone?!" Scootaloo felt her anger envelop her like a flame. "You say I am, they say I'm not! Who do I trust?"

"Not yourself, that's for sure." Scootaloo grit her teeth. She really hated him right now. "How about I ask her?" the voice suggested.

"Huh?" The filly hunted around. How is that even... You know what, I don't even care anymore! Sure, why not?

The instant she thought about it, her room disappeared replaced by a lush cloud meadow. Whiteness extended as far as the eye could see, occasionally broken by a patch of rose bushes. Looking in amazement, Svootaloo was sure of two things: she had no idea where she was, and she really hated when others read her thoughts and acted on them without permission.

"Your mother's dream," the stallion said. He was in his winged firm again, this time entirely white with flickers of blue lightning rushing through his mane. "Not very imaginative. She's been having it ever before she adopted you."

"I'm telling you—"

"That gazebo over there." He pointed his hoof towards something that Scootaloo could have sworn didn't exist a moment ago. "That's where she's at. How about we have a word with her?"

Scootaloo so much wanted to say no, yet her muzzle help like lead. As monstrous as it was, part of her actually wanted to witness the conversation. She could blame the dream pony all she wanted, she could blame the dream they were in, the nightmares she had been having, but all that would be a lie. She wanted to know.

"Will you pull the gazebo here, or must I?" the stallion asked annoyed.

"What's in it?"

"Your mother, of course."

"If my mother was there, you would have just brought her here," Scotaloo said. "There's something you want me to see inside. What is it?"

Her reaction made the stallion smile. "Will you look at that? Little Essence is starting to think, after all." He stomped on the cloud ground, causing the gazebo instantly moved in front of them. "Answers. Go inside and you'll learn everything."

Scootaloo hesitated. The gazebo looked empty. There was no sign of her mother, or anything else, for that matter. The feels could see right through it. Then why was she so afraid? It was only wood after all. Wood in a dream that she had full control over. Trembling, her hoof moved up, then stepped on the wooden floor of the gazebo.

There's a trick. With you there always is a trick. Question is, what exactly is—

"Infertile!" The ghostly image of a mare appeared. "I am Infertile! The words were soaked with sadness.

"I'll get us an audience with the Princess." Another ghostly figure appeared, this one a stallion. "She'll be able to—"

"If she could, don't you think somepony would have mentioned it by now?!" the mare snapped in anger.

Mother? Father? Scootaloo wanted to take a step back, but her hooves had glued to the floor. What in Tartarus are you making me watch? There was no doubt, these were her parents, a much younger version of them, at least. They were having an argument before her very eyes, an argument as how to go on with their lives.

"No!" Scootaloo shouted. "I don't want to watch this!"

"Hey, you two!" A colt appeared. He was much younger, but in him Scootaloo recognized her uncle. No, not just her uncle. It was Whisper, the same that had looked after her in the dreamscape. On his back was a cradle of living fire. "You want a baby, right?

"What are you?!" Scootaloo's father asked. "How did you appear like that?

"Make it stop!" Scootaloo turned to look away, but Whisper's older self pushed her head back towards the scene.

"You must watch it to the end," he said firmly, as the scene unfolded. "A desperate childless couple, a foolish colt that made a promise to his sister. Don't turn away! Look as the offer is made!"

"She's not safe place for her in the dreamscape," the younger Whisper urged. "But you can hide her in reality.

"No!" Scootaloo's father refused.

"Yes! Scootaloo's mother said at the same time. It wasn't a surprise that her views wouldn't match his. "We can't have a child, she put her hoof in Night Rider's. And the dream will die if we don't help her.

"Silver, I won't let you give birth to a dream..." Night spoke the words, but it was clear he had lost. It was written all over his face.

Scootaloo's head was pounding again. The more she watched, the more memories flooded her mind. Memories she had left in the dreamscape. And they hurt so much! As if somepony had torn a tree in two and tried to put it back together again ten years later.

"I could have stopped him," the older Whisper said. "But I didn't. I was an idiot who just wanted to get rid of you for what you did to my sister." A glint of cold hatred flashed in the corner of his eye. "By giving birth to you she made herself nightmare bait. In whatever dream she'd go the nightmares would follow. Until the day she decided to stop running." Tears were running down Scootaloo's cheeks. However, that didn't stop Whisper from continuing. "That's why I searched for a childless, desperate pair. I wanted to get rid of you, to cast you into reality. And I did."

"I wasn't born here," Scootaloo sobbed despite herself. All the tears the five-year old dream had kept locked for fifteen years now wanted to get out. "I was adopted..."

"You were both. Adopted and born into reality thought those two," he pointed at the ghostly couple. "That's why your wings don't grow. Reality can't handle them, so it doesn't allow them to exist. That's why you rarely talk with anypony about your parents; because you know they are not your real ones."

The dream scene came to its conclusion. Scootaloo watched as the younger Whisper gave the fiery cradle to her mother, her adoptive mother, then vanished out of existence. That was Scootaloo in there, sixteen years ago, an year before she was born in Ponyville. She remembered how scared she had felt, but also how strongly she trusted her uncle. She remembered thinking he would never do her harm.

"Why?" she asked. "Why do this to me? I believed in you! Do you have me so much that you want to cast me out of reality as well? I was happy before you came! My greatest fears were would I be able to fly and how would I survive puberty. I didn't need this! I didn't need any of if! I would have remained simple Scootaloo and nothing more!"

"And you would have destroyed yourself." Whisper removed his hoof from her face. "Until you remembered how to be Essence, you would have kept sending nightmares to yourself until they devoured your mind." He stepped away, not wanting to look her in the eye. "I made a promise and I kept it. You are safe now. The nightmares won't bother you again."

"But what am I?" She kicked the ground. The gazebo instantly disappeared. "What am I, Whisper? Am I an a pony or a dream? Am I an orphan or not? How can I tell anymore?"

Looking over his shoulder, the stallion smiled. "Such limited thinking," he said softly. "You are both."

Comments

[Zyrian]

*Visitor

[superfun]

Well then...
That was confusing. Which was probably intentional, but I feel like stories should be written so that either the characters understand what's going on, or the audience does.
And I'm not quite sure what exactly happened at the end...

[Karakorum]

With some polishing up, this will be a wonderful story! Quite an intriguing concept of Scootaloo as a pony of dreams.

[B_Munro]

Well, it's well-written enough (even unedited) that I won't downvote it, but Look at my OCS! They're so cool and the TRUE MASTERS OF DREAMLAND, unlike borin' Old Luna WHO KNOWS NOTHING is the sort of world-building that makes me go just meh.

[Lise]

7302369
7302410

:( Argh. Minus he'd this st 0500 local time and can't touch it till the contest is over :(
(Will probably add a few chapters I wasn't able to add due to time).

Huge thanks for the comments :) Means a lot, especially in the raw state it is. :D

[Lise]

7302701
:) Thankee :D Definitely needs more than a polish! Something I'll hopefully get to seriously after the contest :)

[Lise]

7302722 :D Thanks!
Sadly, I never got time to add Luna and dispel the myth :)
My version of the creatures here is that they are descendants of Hypnos (god of sleep) and a bit cocky as a result :)
Luna does indeed have more power than them :) (also can be in reality, and fight nightmares, which they can't :))

Huge thanks for the feedback! Will add these elements in the post-contest fix and make the difference in power levels clearer :D

[Snowliasion]

Intruiging.

[Lise]

7306139 :) That's the intention, yes :) as well as have it go through external edit also.

[Fistfire]

Love the story. Please continue it after the contest.

I was getting a blend of The Matrix and Harry Potter while reading this. Even in its raw state, I was able to follow it pretty well.

[Kanterlot]

This is certainly novel! Never have I seen such circumstances! I hope you would continue this

[Kirbs]

Huh, Inception anyone?

[Lise]

7319174 :) Actually, was more inspired by Sandman (the comic) and Ghost in the Shell 2 :)
Inception has a similar idea, though :)

[Lise]

7306541 ;) Thanks. Will do, after the contest. (Rewriting, fixing, and adding 4 more chapters as originally planned :))

[Emperor Grogar]

Parents are overrated.