//------------------------------// // Dreamland in the Past // Story: My Mother // by MailleMaker //------------------------------// Wait, where am I, thought Scootaloo, I thought that when we all jumped, we were supposed to land in the field near Sweet Apple Acres. Looking around, she saw that, instead of being in a field, she was in Cloudsdale. How in the world did I get here? Then, seeing a rainbow maned, cyan blue pony talking to another pony, she ran over to her. "Hey, Rainbow Dash, how did I land in Cloudsdale if I was skydiving in Ponyville near Sweet Apple Acres?" "Hey, can you not see that I was having a conversation here!" yelled a Rainbow Dash in a higher pitched voice than usual. "Rainbow Dash? It's me Scootaloo? Don't you know me?" asked Scootaloo, confused by Rainbow Dash's weird behavior. "Never met a Scootaloo before, so can you please just buzz off?!" yelled Dash. Hurt by Rainbow Dash's outburst, Scootaloo took a few steps back before taking a closer look at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash looked different, she seemed shorter and her voice had been more high pitched then it usually was. Getting a better look at her surroundings, Scootaloo realized that, not only was she in Cloudsdale, but she was also at a school, most likely a flight school. Glancing back at Rainbow Dash, she noticed, for the first time, the stallion standing next to her. He was a dark, dark orange color and had a mane so dark purple, it almost looked black. His eyes were gray, the same gray as his cutie mark which was a skateboard. Because he was taller than Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo guessed he was older. As she watched, she saw Rainbow Dash walk away, and once Rainbow Dash was out of the sight, the orange stallion began walking over to her. "Hey Squirt," he greeted her, "let me introduce myself, I'm Skeeter." After a moment of awkward silence, he continued, "I would just like to apologize for Rainbow Dash's behavior. She can be a little rude at times but usually she means well." "I''m Scootaloo. And it's okay, maybe Rainbow Dash is just having a bad day." Then, to find out where she was, she asked, "What school is this?" "What school is this?' he echoed, obviously thinking she was crazy. "It's Cloudsdale High School of Flight. How can you not know that?' "I'm not familiar with this area, so I wasn't sure," Scootaloo quickly answered, not wanting to appear like she was senseless. "I thought you seemed a tad small, even for a freshman. Rainbow Dash is a freshman so I have some means of comparison. Though, I'm a senior which means anypony else seems rather small," Skeeter chuckled. Then, hearing a bell sound, he went on, "Well, it was nice to meet you, I gotta go." And with that he quickly flew to the front of the school and went in. This just keeps getting stranger and stranger, Scootaloo thought to herself. First, I land in Cloudsdale, and now Rainbow Dash is a freshman? This seems like some joke. Maybe Discord? But before she could continue her thought, Discord himself appeared. "Well Scootaloo, I would never have thought you would blame something on moi. Though I do admit, this does seem like a joke of some sort. Maybe it was that slightly above average illusionist Trixie using one of slightly above average illusions," pondered Discord. Then, conjuring a black magicians cap he reached inside and pulled out a very bewildered Trixie. "Ahhh!!! The Great and Powerful Trixie has been dragged through a magicians hat by Discord!!!" And with that she promptly fainted which caused Discord to shove her back through the hat. "Hm, how odd. I thought we had become friends on our journey to the Changeling hive," Discord wondered aloud, looking into the magician hat's black inkiness. "Discord?" asked Scootaloo, finally finding her voice. Discord, who has been observing his magicians hat for any magic flaws looked up. "Yes Scootaloo?" "Well, a minute ago I was talking to-" then correcting herself she continued, "I was TRYING to talk to Rainbow Dash but she just yelled at me to 'buzz off'. Then after I walked some ways away, I turned back to look at her and I noticed that she was shorter and her voice was higher pitched. Discord, I'm beginning to think that we are in the past, but I'm not sure how." "That would explain a few things. Especially how Trixie reacted; if we're in the past, Trixie would have never met me, which excuses her behavior. But I still would like to know why you're in the past. Seeing how you were skydiving in the present. Or wait, would that have been the future and would now be the present or would we be in the past and skydiving be in the present?" Discord asked, seemingly confusing himself. "I think that we would be in the past," said Scootaloo, who had been thinking about it herself. "If we're in the past, do you think we could find my parents? I've never met them." "You have parents?" asked Discord. "Oh wait, everypony has parents, well everypony except me, being the Lord of Chaos and all," chuckled Discord. "Well, it would't hurt to look would it? If Rainbow Dash is a freshman this year, it would make it ten years into past. How old are you Scootaloo?" "I'm only nine," sighed Scootaloo sadly, "which means that I wouldn't even have been born." "How unfortunate. How about instead of looking for your parents, we look for a way back to the present," said Discord, trying to be practical. (Which was surprising for the Lord of Chaos, who had probably never been practical in all of his life.) "Yeah, I guess that would be the sensibly thing to do," agreed Scootaloo. While they had been speaking, a gray fog had rolled in, which was odd considering how they were literally standing on clouds already. After taking a startled glance around, Scootaloo turned to talk to Discord, but was only met with the sight of the thick, gray fog. "Discord? Where did you go?" Scootaloo asked into the fog. ''Scootalooo, Scootalooo,'' said a voice into the fog. "Discord? will you stop please, you're scaring me,'' Scootaloo whispered into the fog, which had seemed to closer around her, pressing tighter and tighter around her. ''Scootalooo, Scootalooo," the voice from the fog once again, this time tapping her on the flank. "Please stop," Scootaloo whimpered, curling up into a miserably ball on the now cold, hard ground. "Scootalooo, Scootaloo," the voices taunted. "Scootalooo, Scootalooo-" "Stop," A voice rang out in the darkness, "this is wrong.'' Startled, Scootaloo looked up and saw that the fog had diminished and a Princess Luna was walking toward her. "Scootaloo, are you okay?" Princess Luna asked compassionately. "You're dream got rather carried away." "Dream, this is only a dream? But it was so real. Rainbow Dash, Discord, Trixie-" "Scootaloo," Princess Luna cut her off, "it is only a dream, though it was accurate. You did see into a small portion of the past. How? Even I am not sure. Discord was really in your dream though. The real Discord. How he got here is a mystery to me, but most of his doings are exactly that, a mystery." Then pausing for a breath, Princess Luna continued. "Scootaloo, you were in an accident, a very big accident. Your parachute didn't open and you hit your head on a stone, placing you in a coma." "A coma? Then how am I dreaming?" Scootaloo asked, quite confused. "Most coma patients don't dream, though for some reason you are an exception. In the waking world, Twilight cast a spell upon you to wake you up and partially healed you. It didn't immediately wake you, it only caused a nightmare. I will be leaving you momentarily, but don't be afraid of things to come Scootaloo. Always be brave." And with her final statement, she walked back through the moon and out of Scootaloo's dream. "Scootaloo, Scootaloo! why aren't you waking up?" she heard, though the voice was far away. It kinda sounded like Rainbow Dash. Letting out a groan, she heard the voice calling her again. "Rainbow Dash?'' she asked, cracking her eyes open but immediately regretting it. The bright light from the sun shining in the window was overwhelming. "SCOOTALOO!!!'' Rainbow Dash yelled, grabbing Scootaloo into a bear hug, causing her to wince in pain. She fully opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash laying on top of her crying. "Rainbow Dash?" she asked, her voice sounding dry and scratchy. "Rainbow Dash, could you please get off me?'' "Scootatoo, you're okay. Oh thank Celestia, you're okay," said Rainbow Dash, her tears slowly drying up as she let go of Scootaloo. "Squirt, don't you ever scare me like that again," she scolded, though it was hard for her to be harsh at the moment so her scolding was accompanied by a smile. "Sorry Rainbow Dash-" "No, don't you apologize." Rainbow Dash said, cutting off Scootaloo. "It was my fault. If I hadn't forgotten to take you skydiving, you would be just fine right now and none of this would have ever happened." "Well, Scootaloo darling, I know your friends will be delighted to see you once you are back on your hooves," said Rarity, kind of cutting into the two's conversation. "Yes, Ah agree, the girls were downright worried about ya," added Applejack. "I am just glad my spell worked," Twilight said, though she was still wobbling slightly on her hooves. "Applejack, Rarity, would you mind helping me home?" she asked with a little smile, "I don't currently trust my magic to teleport home, and I'm too tired to fly back." The two mares nodded an agreement and the trio left the room. Leaving Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo in the together. "Rainbow Dash," said Scootaloo, once the mares were gone. "Yeah Squirt, what's wrong?" asked Rainbow Dash, worried that Scootaloo was more hurt than they previously thought. "I'm still kinda tired. Would it be okay if I go back to sleep?" "Squirt, you don't have to ask to go back to sleep, if you're tired then sleep," said Rainbow Dash, glad that nothing was seriously wrong. "Okay then," Scootaloo said with a yawn. She turned over and was soon fast asleep. Rainbow Dash sat down in the chair next to the bed and, as a promise to herself and Scootaloo, thought, I will never let anything or anypony come between us again.