"Does having a prince in our group give us free admittance to see the king?" Spike questioned Garret as they continued on their slow walk.
"Uh... yes? I'm sorry, but I've never met him; and I'm not exactly sure on the procedures on doing just that. I do know that any citizen is allowed to see him, but I've just never bothered to do it," Garret admitted.
Shyfrost shifted again around the griffon’s neck to get more comfortable. "But you know where he is, right?"
"Yes. Our infrastructure is not overly complicated. The king resides in the center of our 'kingdom'. Normally we would just fly up and find it, but I don't think we can all be carried, well..."
Shadow Mirror held up a hoof defensively. "Don't get any bright ideas. I can carry a few, but not these fillies as well." Especially not these fillies, he added silently.
"...Right,” Garret nodded. “It shouldn't take too long on foot. We'll just have to stick together."
"In my clan," Rover started, "the leader would always be on the move so he can watch over and ensure its survival. I find it odd that so many leaders stay in one place."
"Princess Celestia does that sometimes," Sweetie Belle said after walking up to Rover. "Well, I've seen her down in Ponyville a few times which is kinda far from her castle."
"Your pony princess does not sound too crazy, then."
"Why would you think she's crazy, Mr. Rover?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I think all leaders are crazy, but being able to control the sun and the moon makes her quite powerful."
Apple Bloom frowned. "So? She's not mean or nuffin."
Rover shrugged but remained silent. Apple Bloom dropped it and turned to Sweetie Belle, who was looking worried.
"What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking of my parents, I'm sure they're gonna ground me or something when they eventually find out about me running off."
Apple Bloom nodded, it did make sense. She shuddered at the thought of of what Applejack was gonna do. She then turned to Scootaloo, who was looking relaxed and even happy as she trotted along.
"Hey, Scoots?"
"Hmm? What's up, Apple Bloom?"
"What do you think your parents are gonna do when they find out you ran off?"
Scootaloo's eyes widened in horror but only for a moment. "Uh, probably get pretty mad. Why?"
"We were just thinking of our guardians is all. Ah guess we're feeling nervous."
Scootaloo nodded. "Okay. When do you think we'll get to this griffon king?"
Apple Bloom was about to point out that it seemed like she was dodging the issue of their guardians, but thought better of it. "Ah don't know. Soon? Ah hope?"
"Better be soon, I can't do any tricks on this gravel.” She kicked at the ground angrily. “I can barely ride at all. It’s so boring!”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Would it kill ya to try something else for fun?"
"Like what?"
"Uh... you could try talking to the others, or us I suppose."
Scootaloo pondered this before shrugging. "I guess I'll try talking to one of them."
Sweetie smiled and said nothing.
Scootaloo walked up to Shadow and started walking alongside him. "’Sup?" she said.
"Nothing, what's up with you?"
"Not much. Is it hard being a changeling?" Scootaloo asked.
"Hmm, it depends on who you ask." Scootaloo tilted her head to the side at this strange answer, and Shadow Mirror continued, "To me, nah. I prefer being alone, though it’s quite refreshing to travel in such a large group."
"What do you mean, being alone?"
"Well, ponies aren't exactly the trusting type. No offense. But they tend to shy away from things that are different, and that includes changelings."
Scootaloo frowned. She didn't understand why ponies had to be this way.
"To be fair, a lot of us changelings do deceive ponies in a not-so-nice way. I never did, though. I was in disguise a lot, sure; but I'd like to think I earned my love instead of taking it," Shadow Mirror finished with a wink at the filly.
She smiled. "That's pretty cool. But you're saying you prefer being on your own because you have to? Because ponies won't trust ya?"
"I guess. Its not so bad when you’re on your own."
"Yeah, I know the feeling," Scootaloo muttered.
Shadow looked at the filly in a new light. No one had heard what she said, except for him. She sounded bitter, like something big was buried there.
"Something you need to talk about?"
Scootaloo looked at the changeling and sighed. "No, I think I'm good. Thanks, though."
"Sure."
The filly pegasus remained silent for a while and hung off towards the back of the group. Her fellow crusaders failed to notice this. She had never thought of things from the changeling's perspective before. Scootaloo had reasons to keep secrets, big reasons. To her, these secrets were just a given; there wasn't anything she could do about them and that was that.
The group had found themselves inside of a rather large canyon. It was mostly vacant with very few griffons flying through. The shade was a welcome change to the sweltering heat.
Scootaloo had been lost in her thoughts for a while, which is why she failed to notice a long rainbow trail up in the sky.
"Is that..." Spike began to ask, but the trail started to grow closer and he knew there was no doubt.
"Rainbow Dash?" Shyfrost finished, shielding his eyes.
The group shared uneasy looks, which was further justified when their artifacts began to glow once more. The sheer speed Rainbow Dash was going at almost made it look like she was attempting a sonic rainboom again, but she was aimed down at them. They could only watch as she neared them. Scootaloo noticed the group had paused and looked up.
“Rainbow Dash?!” she yelled out loud in bewilderment.
Just as she was as close as she could get without landing, a flash happened. From Scootaloo’s perspective, though, there were two. The filly was far enough away from the bearers of the artifacts to see one surrounding Rainbow Dash and one surrounding her group. Rainbow Dash had stopped in mid air, but by squinting her eyes she could tell that there was a resistance of some kind. As if the rainbow maned mare was trying to pull of a Sonic Rainboom but couldn’t quite muster up the strength.
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, she had to keep trying, but she also had to figure out why this was so hard. Through the blinding flash she noticed her necklace of the Element of Loyalty was reacting violently. The lightning bolt shaped gem was flashing different shades of black. In sheer desperation, she backed off and flew high up into the air. The two flashes stopped and her gem stopped flashing. It still looked odd, and she could tell just by looking at it that it was no longer the red color that it was supposed to be. She sighed and flew back towards Pinkie.
Scootaloo stood there rooted to the spot. “What just happened?” she asked as Dash flew away.
Shyfrost rubbed his amulet. “No idea. Spike?”
“Nope, I got nothing. Well.... wait she’s coming back!” he yelled out to the now disoriented group to warn them. Only she landed in less than ten seconds flat, with no necklace on her neck.
“Okay,” Dash started and looked around the group in bewilderment, “somepony better start explaining what’s going on, now!”
They all looked at each other, wondering who would be the unlucky speaker. The fillies knew that Rainbow’s best friends couldn't be far behind, and thus they were in trouble. Shyfrost had an explanation, but wasn’t exactly sure how to word it quick enough for the impatient mare. Prince Valor was still trying to figure out how a pony could have a naturally occurring rainbow colored mane. Rover regarded her with caution but remained quiet. Shadow Mirror and Garret shared a look, but both of them assumed Shyfrsot would speak up. He didn’t.
“Well? Cause that definitely looked like a strong magical reaction to me!” Dash practically yelled back, her eyes wild and frantic.
“Uh, what do you mean?” Shyfrost asked.
“Princess Celestia told us that the Elements of Harmony have been reacting to some weird magic somewhere in Equestria. She told us to keep them on us at all times and to look out for something like that. Do you guys have something magical or something on you?” Dash asked, looking from left to right to the strange group and meeting every one of their eyes.
“Um, yeah...” Shyfrost admitted.
“Then you have to see the princess, like now! She needs to fix the Elements! Oh, and you three fillies are in a lot of trouble!”
“Rainbow Dash, we’re kind of on a mission here... wait, were you just looking for us?” Spike asked.
“Um, kind of. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but yeah. What mission?”
Prince Valor cleared his throat. “There was a threat issued on my kingdom. I’m Prince Valor, and-”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can it! The Elements come first, and if they’re broken and one of you are the cause then you need to see the Princesses.”
“Actually, Dash, I think this is more important. We need to see if the other more detached kingdoms are in danger first. If they are, then Canterlot might be in danger too,” Spike replied.
Rainbow huffed. “Spike! If they’re in danger, then how are we supposed to kick butt and stop them without the Elements working right?”
Spike had to admit, she had a good point. “Well, I-”
Shyfrost stepped forward and placed his hand up for him to stop talking. “If our artifacts, which we’re still trying to figure out what they do, are causing this, then we should keep going on our, um, mission. The leaders of the other nations seem to know some things about them and maybe they can help us fix those Elements.”
“Well, I- hmm.” Rainbow Dash took a seat and started to think. As the seconds ticked by, Spike couldn't help but notice that she was alone.
“Hey, Dash? Where are the others?” he asked.
“Pinkie’s up in her hot air balloon with our Elements.”
“Uh huh, but what about Twilight and the others?” Spike crossed his arms, waiting for her reply.
“...They’re looking for something to cause a ‘strong magical response’, but it looks like I found it first! And their dragons, of course...”
Spike and Shyfrost gave each other an embarrassed smile.
“But I also need to speak with Scootaloo,” Rainbow finished. Scootaloo looked at her in curiosity. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged glances.
“Um, not us?” Sweetie questioned, breaking the silence.
“Yeah! Why aren’t we in trouble?” Apple Bloom wondered out loud. Then she cursed under her breath for even thinking that.
“Oh, you two are in deep trouble as well, but this concerns me and the squirt!” she confirmed. Scootaloo stared her down. The filly didn’t feel fear or anxiety, just curiosity. What had she discovered? She hadn’t been gone for that long... then it clicked. It wasn’t anything that the filly had left behind as evidence for her secrets to be spilled; no, it was what wasn’t even there in the first place.
“Um, what is it?” Scootaloo finally spoke.
“Oh nothing too big, but we really should be talking in private.” Rainbow Dash put emphasis on the word private, almost with a grin. The entire group had started to dart their eyes back and forth.
Scootaloo was trapped. Even if she tried to avoid Rainbow Dash by thinking up something clever for her new group of friends to distract the mare with, she would still eventually find a way to talk to her in private. Just standing there in silence was already making her two filly crusader friends look on in almost shock. This was Rainbow Dash, the mare that she basically worshipped (or at the very least Rainbow Dash, was in first place above the other Elements of Harmony on her list). Scootaloo gave a fake grin.
“Well, sure! Um, but there’s nowhere private around here...” Scootaloo said, looking around and seeing no trees or big rocks or anything else to hide behind.
“No problem! Just hop on!” Rainbow leaned down and waited with a smirk on her face.
Scootaloo blinked twice upon hearing this. Never before in her entire life had Rainbow Dash offered something even close to this. In fact, no pony had ever offered something like this before. She grinned and was about to hop on without hesitation; after all, how often does a rainbow maned mare offer a free ride on their backs?
“Hold it, Scoots!” Apple Bloom called out, Scootaloo groaned and turned around. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, huddle!” Scootaloo blinked, the one command that could override one from Rainbow Dash or any adult for that matter. In a few seconds the three were huddled together, Shyfrost decided to stay out of it.
“What’s up?” Scootaloo asked.
“Don’t you think this sounds a little fishy, Scoots? How do we know this isn't just a way to get us all to head home?” Sweetie reasoned.
“Oh yeah... but, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do that!” Scootaloo could not see her idol ever being that uncool.
“Ah don’t know Scoots. Why would she ever want to talk to you? No offense, but this ain’t ever happened before...”
“Apple Bloom...” Scootaloo pleaded with a silent whine. “It’s Rainbow Dash...”
“Ah got an idea... just follow my lead,” Apple Bloom replied with a wink. She then turned around.
“Okay, Rainbow Dash. How do we know you won’t try and take us home or take Scootaloo home when you fly away?”
“Um, well-”
“We don’t know.” Apple Bloom replied for her. “So how about Shadow Mirror over there flies up with you, he’ll be away from a distance but if you don’t return her, then he will.” Apple Bloom finished with a smug look on her face.
Shadow Mirror raised a hoof indignantly. “Um, since when do fillies tell me what to do?” he asked, but was ignored.
“Deal, now hop on already!”
Scootaloo did so, jumping on and wrapping her hooves around her neck. Dash flew up into the air and was soon followed by a hesitant changeling who was still in disguise.
“Where are we going?” Scootaloo yelled over the wind.
“The hot air balloon, just hang on!” Dash then swerved to the left and sped up. Scootaloo gritted her teeth as the wind flew through her mane. This was much faster than she had ever gone on her scooter.
Soon the duo landed in the balloon with a bored looking Pinkie. The pink mare perked up instantly. “Hi, Scootaloo! What’s up?” she asked.
“Um, us?” Scootaloo chuckled slightly and turned to Dash. “What gives? You said you wanted to talk to me in private...”
“What gives? This involves Pinkie too!” Dash declared. She wasn’t angry, but she did want to get straight to business
Pinkie gasped. “It does?!” she asked excitedly. “I like being involved! This is gonna be great!”
Dash stared at the mare with a blank expression for a bit, before Pinkie got it and giggled and settled down ever so slightly. Dash sighed. “Yes, she is. Now then, why did you tell Pinkie that I was your big sister?”
“When did I... um, no, I didn’t!” Scootaloo switched emotions very quickly, from confusion to understanding and then horror at being caught. After that, she was hit with the realization that she was up in the air with no means of escape, staring at the two mares that could ruin everything for her. She quickly decided that a flat-out denial was her best shot, but she overlooked one big thing.
“Twitchy, twitch!” Pinkie gasped loudly. “Somepony is lying to me! Somepony that I know...” Pinkie tilted her head upwards and started tapping her chin in an almost comical manner. Rainbow Dash was nearly speechless. Sometimes Pinkie could be a bit much. Realization struck, and Pinkie wilted sadly. “Hey, wait a minute... It’s you!” she said, pointing an accusing hoof at Scootaloo. “You're lying again, Scootaloo! Why?!” Pinkie looked down at the filly with tears brimming in her eyes.
Scootaloo looked down. She had certainly never meant to cause her to cry. She looked from Dash to Pinkie. Pinkie looked genuinely hurt, almost like a filly who had just dropped her ice cream cone. Dash held a stoic expression on her face, Scootaloo knew that she was about to get what she wanted. She snapped. “I lied, okay! Happy?!”
Pinkie looked down and sighed. She was not happy. She was not.
Neither was Rainbow Dash. “But why? We came looking for you and normally I wouldn’t go this far for something like this... I mean, I care; but not that much...” Dash stammered.
Pinkie wiped her tears away and spoke. “But Dash, you could have just sent a letter to the princess and she could send one to Twilight. I think it was obvious that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were traveling with the dragons; at least, I kind of assumed so. You didn’t have to go on this adventure,” Pinkie reasoned with a smile.
Dash had been trying to hide her emotions and prove that she didn’t care about some filly, but Pinkie had just ruined that. Well, leaving on the trip ruined that and she just now came to that conclusion. She did care about Scootaloo, but for her own reasons. “Pinkie! But you... oh never mind. Listen, Scootaloo, where have you been living? Where are your parents or guardians... or whatever? The police records-”
“Police records?! Did you go behind my back?” Scootaloo was hurt and felt tears of her own brimming in her eyes. It started to make a bit more sense on why Rainbow Dash was here.
Dash sighed. “I’m not trying to go behind your back. We noticed that nopony had been looking for you, which made no sense to me. I mean, Applejack is looking for Apple Bloom and Rarity for Sweetie Belle. And Pinkie mentioned that one time with your lie. Just, please, tell us what’s going on?”
“That’s none of your business! I don’t care if you are Rainbow Dash! You don’t have any right to know.” Scootaloo huffed and turned around in the tiny balloon, not wanting to face her idol.
“But we need to know, if your parents aren’t looking for you... look, we need to know. And you're not leaving this balloon until you tell us.” Dash spoke forcefully, but Scootaloo was not going to back down. The filly huffed and took in a deep breath, she knew if she just waited them out then Shadow Mirror would take her back, and she’d be on her adventure again before she knew it!
Pinkie looked at Dash, who rolled her eyes and tapped a hoof impatiently. Meanwhile, Scootaloo looked almost hurt that this was going on. Realizing that she had to be the bigger mare and take the first step, Rainbow Dash thought about what to say before carefully selecting her words. “You know... we wouldn’t have come all this way if we didn’t care about you, Scootaloo. Twilight and our friends are working on this magical case thing and we only left because of you.”
The fillies ears perked up at this. “Do you, Dash?” Scootaloo asked after turning around. Rainbow almost felt annoyed. ‘Dash’ was a nickname her friends used, not some little filly! But maybe she was being too harsh, in her head at least.
“I do... I guess,” Dash muttered. That last part earned her a sharp jab in the stomach from Pinkie. “I do,” she reaffirmed. “I really do.”
“Look, its a really long story and kind of insane. You would think I’m insane...”
“No we wouldn’t! Right, Dashie?” Pinkie put her hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder and smiled.
“I’ve heard my fair share of nuts before, you can trust us. We won’t laugh or think you're crazy.” Dash grinned and waited.
“Um, okay.” Scootaloo fiddled with her hooves. “You remember when Twilight did that time travel spell? I think she was sent back like three days?”
“Oh yeah! That was fun!” Pinkie beamed.
Dash laughed. “I still have a hard time believing that she did that, but whatever.”
“Uh huh, uh huh...” Scootaloo uttered, feeling more nervous than she had ever remembered being. “I’m...” She bit her lip and saw four eyes on her, her breathing started to quicken to the point of it becoming profoundly noticeable. Dash sighed.
“Just relax kid, I’m sure its not that bad.”
Oh, but it was; and that sentence alone uttered out by her idol almost made it worse. “I’m... from... the future.”
The high altitude wind and noise from the balloon almost seemed to stop making any form of sound. Pinkie stared at her, trying to find any form of a joke and the same with Dash. Finally Dash chuckled.
“Right... so where are you actually from?”
Scootaloo frowned. “I told you, I’m from fifty years in the future! Well... almost fifty.”
“Kid, the time travel spell from Twilight is temporary. She explained it to us. So where are you really from?”
Scootaloo gaped in horror. Why wouldn’t they believe her? It was the honest truth! Dash was hopeless, she wasn’t going to believe her. So she turned to Pinkie, who was deep in thought. Her body was hunched over, and every once in a while she would tap her chin as if pondering deep cosmic mysteries.
“Scootaloo, say that again.” Pinkie said.
“What?”
“Where you’re from.”
“I’m from the future.”
Pinkie looked back at her tail and... nothing. No twitches or any odd noises. “Dashie, my Pinkie Sense didn’t go off...”
“Uh...” Dash thought long and hard, she had to find a loophole in her sense. The alternative, believing Scootaloo, just sounded too crazy! Until it came to her. “So what? She could believe she’s from the future, and then it wouldn’t be a lie because she really believed it.”
Pinkie pondered this. At this point, her deep musings and constantly losing herself in thought were almost starting to get annoying. Then, she had an idea.
“Dashie, do you believe that you’ll get to be a Wonderbolt some day?”
“Huh?”
“Answer the question, do you believe that?”
“Of course I do!” She grinned and imagined herself at that very moment, when she would join the Wonderbolts! Then she frowned and turned back to reality. “Why?”
“Well, my tail didn’t twitch then.”
Rainbow groaned. “Duh! Because I believe that!”
Pinkie sighed. “But that doesn’t mean it will happen. You can believe you will--and for what it’s worth, I believe in you--but it could end up being a lie eventually.”
“Um...” Did that make sense? Dash had to admit, this was the most amount of sense her friend had ever tried to make. “But, then... her thing could still be a lie...”
“No, because she was talking about something that already happened. Sure, she could be nuts--” Scootaloo scowled angrily at Pinkie here, “--but I don’t think she is, and I think she’s telling the truth.”
“Well, I... even if I did believe her- no, I mean- okay, fine! She’s from the future, fine!”
Scootaloo grinned and laughed. “‘Kay, cool... can I return to my adventure now?”
“No! That still doesn't explain why you're here! How did you go back to the past and why?”
“I told you, it’s a long story.”
“It can’t be that long. Just spit it out and we’ll set you back down on the ground.” Dash replied back.
“Fine. I used to live at Ponyville Orphanage, they built it years from now. And- Ooph, Pinkie!”
Pinkie started hugging the filly. Well, perhaps ‘squeezing and placing in mortal danger’ might have been a bit more accurate. “You’re an orphan?!” she wailed. “That’s so sad...”
Scootaloo was fuming and struggling to free herself from Pinkie’s iron grasp. “Of course I am! Why would I go back in time if I had a family?! Now, would you let me finish?” she snapped.
Pinkie stopped crying immediately and dropped her on her bottom and fumed herself. “Fine, but you're not getting a cupcake, Miss Rudey-pants!”
“‘Kay. Anyway, as it turns out, the Cutie Mark Crusaders club becomes big in the future. There’s clubs in every town to help fillies and colts find their special talents. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would visit me a lot... they were nice. Even though they were really old. They kind of made me feel like I had a family....” Scootaloo looked on longingly into space before shaking her head. “Anyway, one day Scootaloo stopped visiting-”
“Okay, hold up here! You’re Scootaloo!” Dash accused.
“And you're interrupting me!” Scootaloo retorted. “Let me finish!” The two had their faces practically pressed up against each other angrily. Dash sighed once more and waited. “Anyway, Scootaloo stopped showing up, which was weird... but it was soon after that that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle declared their retirement from the club... and from me. Oh, my name is Blaze Wings, by the way. My real name, at least. I got really depressed until my unicorn friend, who’s this kind of sleazy stallion that I sometimes hung out with, offered me a chance to go back in time. I guess they had invented permanent spells at some point that got banned pretty quickly. They work because.... because... what was that explanation- oh yeah! When you go back in time you make a new dimension or something. You can’t change the past, so it makes a new one!” she declared with a happy grin and then frowned. “Or it sends you to a new one... I’m really not sure how it works, but eh... that’s more unicorn stuff anyway.”
Dash scratched her head a few times. “Huh?”
“Yeah, it took me awhile to figure out what that meant. Basically, it sends you back in time but creates a new timeline. I can’t change the past--that would be impossible--but I made a new one which is here. At least, I think that’s how it worked. I just wanted to see my friends again... when they were my age. But, I soon found no Scootaloo here. Eventually, I figured out that I’m supposed to be Scootaloo... I guess. I’ve been living in the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse ever sense.”
“But then how did you enroll in school?” Dash asked, feeling amazing for shrugging off the shocking explanation so quickly.
“Well... remember when I said that Scootaloo disappeared? The old one I mean?”
“Yeah...”
“I guess she came back with me, but I don’t know where she is. She could've died from old age at this point... but she left me a letter. It said that the spell works by... man, this is hard to remember... oh! By making the new timeline, it removes any trace of you from it, or finds one without you in it.” She recited this line from memory. “So I’m supposed to be Scootaloo, I think, even though my name is Blaze Wings. If, say, Twilight had gone back, then she would not find a younger Twilight; it would only be her and a new timeline.”
Pinkie nodded. “So you’re a ‘Scootaloo’ from a timeline or “dimension” that’s fifty years in the future? But this Scootaloo grew up in that Ponyville.. hmm...” She thought for a while before rendering her verdict. “Makes perfect sense to me!” she grinned.
“It does?” Dash and Scootaloo asked in unison.
“Sure!”
“Can you tell me? Cause I still don’t get it and I’m the one that traveled back in time. Just because I look like Scootaloo doesn’t mean I am her. I’m Blaze Wings, I always have been. How can I be Scootaloo if that was Scootaloo who helped me? Her note left me instructions on how to enroll in school and she told me that she helped me go to this timeline because of how down I looked. She didn’t say much else though...”
“Well, the general theory about other universes is that for every single action a new timeline can open up, one for each of the possibilities. That means every second a new timeline diverges and is created. Like, in another dimension, there’s a Pinkie Pie right now who decided to brush her teeth with vanilla frosting instead of chocolate frosting this morning.”
Scootaloo wasn’t sure if this was helping after all.
Pinkie continued, “So it doesn’t sound that creepy that by going back in time you made a new timeline. As for you being Scootaloo, maybe you just look like her. It’s not impossible to have an orange coat and a magenta colored tail. If this “old Scootaloo” traveled back too, then she would make a new timeline with only her as the Scootaloo, so no filly. You said the time travel spell that you looked like her, so this “old Scootaloo” gave you the chance to live as she did!”
Dash and Scootaloo were dumbfounded and stared at Pinkie. The pink mare saw them and grinned sheepishly. “What? I read a lot of comic books and they’re always dealing with different dimensions and time travel theories and junk like that.”
“Oh Pinkie... hmm. Okay squirt, you’re from the future from some weird spell that makes timelines. Fine. And your real name is Blaze Wings?”
“Yeah...” Blaze kept fiddling with her hooves.
“Do you want to be called Blaze or Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo looked up in horror. “It can’t be Blaze... my friends can’t know about this! They’d think I’m some kind of freak!” Scootaloo pleaded with eyes wide and lower lip trembling.
“Oh c’mon! I bet they’d think you're awesome!” Dash cheered.
“No, they’d hate me for ruining their lives. I made a timeline and things are happening differently. I doubt the CMC will be famous at this point. Hay, I know that Shyfrost didn’t exist where I’m from, but Spike does. I’ve never even heard about an orange frost dragon, and I knew Fluttershy in, um, my future.”
Pinkie raised a hoof. “Oh, so this timeline has new events happening? Lke in issue number thirty seven of-”
Dash interrupted her. “They won’t be mad, Scoot- er Blaze. Just explain your situation, and you’ll do fine.” Dash reached over and placed her hoof under the young fillies chin and gave her a reassuring smile. The filly smiled back, but then frowned again.
“But, then everypony’s gonna know. And Ponyville doesn’t have an orphanage! They’ll send me away...”
“Oh...” Dash’s mood dampered upon hearing this. “Uh...” She looked to Pinkie who was deep in thought again, she thanked Celestia for that.
Pinkie perked up for a split second. “Scoots, how have you been eating exactly?”
“I have a paper route, I don’t steal if that’s what you mean, well I used to borrow some apples but I paid Applejack back in secret...”
Pinkie nodded and went back to thinking, the lack of a tail twitch was enough for evidence on the stealing part. She tapped her chin a few times. This time, she was really deep in thought, trying to come up with the perfect solution for a seemingly impossible problem. Then, Pinkie chuckled.
“Scoots, I don’t know how things work in your time,” Pinkie started, and the filly’s eyes widened slightly, “but in this time, there’s not that many orphanages in Equestria. There’s a couple, but I doubt they would take in a filly at your age...”
This was news to Scootaloo. In her future, runaways were dealt with swiftly, booted back to a ‘home’. She hadn’t stopped to consider the earlier development of this Equestria, things were progressive where she was from, but not here.
“So, I can just stay in Ponyville? And nopony cares?”
“Sure we care! We can’t have a little filly like you on your own... right, Dashie?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah... uh, I don’t suppose you thought that far ahead, Pinkie?” Dash turned to the mare with a pleading look. Scootaloo looked between the two, feeling left out of the conversation suddenly. So she tried to assert herself, proving her own independence.
“I take pretty good care of myself, thank you. I don’t steal, I bathe, I brush my teeth, I go to school, I have a job and-”
Dash waved her hoof to stop. “That’s all fine, except the job part. It would be one thing if you were using the job to save up for something, but a filly shouldn't work for her food. That’s just wrong, Blaze.”
The filly rolled her eyes. “So what do you want me to do? Starve? A fillies gotta eat, and bits don’t grow on trees!”
Dash smirked and remained silent for a while. It didn’t take a genius to notice the similarities to the time traveling (or was it dimension?) filly and herself. Still, Dash really had no clue what to do with her and the clock was ticking. This Shadow Mirror kept giving the balloon nervous glances. Dash then looked over at Pinkie who was reading a comic book of all things.
“Pinkie! What are you doing?” Dash demanded.
Pinkie blinked and threw the comic away over the balloon. “Oh sorry, I was just reading about Warp Stone, the amazing-”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s great, Pinkie. But who is Blaze gonna stay with?”
Pinkie giggled to the confusion of both pegasus ponies. “Isn’t that obvious?”
“No....” She drawled out slowly.
“Really? Huh, well duh, she can just live with you!” Pinkie exclaimed with a grin.
“What?!” Dash’s scream could be heard from miles away. To her horror, she looked over to Blaze, who had an open mouthed gape that quickly warped into a childish grin, the kind that was very difficult to say no to. Her brain tried to rationalize it, tried to think of a logical approach to saying no. But she couldn’t, so her mind picked the alternative. The last thing she saw before blacking out was an orange filly attempting to wrap her hooves around Dash in a hug.