Our Girl Scootaloo 3 of 3

by Cozy Mark IV

Ch 3.5 Welcome to Earth

Our Girl Scootaloo

Part 3 of 3

by Cozy Mark IV & Jan. McNeville

Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fan-made work of prose. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro. Please support the official release

Chapter Three point Five: Welcome to Earth

Despite Celestia's best efforts to fly smoothly from roof to roof, the cool night air had woken the little foal, and it had only taken a moment for her to realize she wasn't in her room and was being stolen away by a strange pony she had never seen before. One look down had convinced her not to struggle, and Sophie Belle had taken to clutching her stuffed lion and crying for her mom in a way that tore at Celestia's heart.

“Hush Scootaloo. I've got you. We're going home, back where it's safe, where no one will hurt you.”

This seemed to have little effect, and the terrified foal continued to sob as she was carried away. Minutes passed as Celestia paused here and there to look for the others, when her attention was abruptly called back to Scootaloo, who had stopped crying.

“Mommy, I'm scared!”

“Easy Scootaloo, I'm not going to -”

“You promise?” Scootaloo asked with a sniffle.

Celestia paused on the rooftop and really looked at her tiny passenger who was staring off into the distance at nothing.

“I love you too Mommy.”

The tiny Scootaloo looked around and seemed to see her again. “My Mommy's coming.”

Celestia felt bewildered by this, but did her best to play along. “She is?”

“Yes. She sounds angry.”

Despite the absurdity of this exchange, Celestia felt uneasy, and she soon resumed her search for the others, hopping from roof to roof, trying to stick to the higher buildings that afforded cover and a better view.

She was dimly aware of a quiet thrumming sound somewhere in the distance, and as she landed on a five story apartment building near the downtown, the sound was suddenly no longer quiet or distant. With an incredible roar a huge white and red flying machine seemed to appear above and to her left, swinging low like a pendulum on a string as it fell almost to roof level and whipped by a few hundred feet away before circling around and hovering off to her right.

“Mommy!” The little foal cried out in delight.

Celestia tried to get her bearings as a blinding light switched on, turning the dim cloudy day into bright sunlight in a circle around her and the child. Moments later a bright orange thing, impossible to see properly in the blinding light, landed on the rooftop in a crunch of gravel, and a mother's voice boomed from the hovering machine.

“Put my daughter down!”

Celestia shielded her eyes with a hoof and saw a bright orange pony with a purple mane and goggles pointing some kind of gun at her with what looked like human hands.

“Scootaloo?!?”

There was another crunch of gravel to her left and she looked over to see Rainbow Dash staring at her with wide eyes. “Princess?? You're the kidnapper?!”

In shock, her concentration faltered, and Sophie Belle tumbled to the ground, where she immediately picked herself up and ran to her mother, stuffed lion held in her mouth. Seeing this, the search light faded and the helicopter moved off to a safe distance as mother and daughter hugged each other tight, though Scootaloo's weapon never wavered from Celestia.

Rainbow's mouth was hanging open in shock as all this played out, and it took a moment before she managed: “Your daughter is a pony?!”

Celestia's shocked expression only faded as she looked from the black plastic thing in Scootaloo's hand to the bright green dot skipping about on her flank. The end of the thing was a rectangle colored with ominous looking yellow and black diagonal stripes, and while she didn't understand it, the threatening feeling was hard to ignore.

“Scootaloo? Is that you?” she asked.

Scootaloo's eyes were still red from crying, and her face was contorted in rage as she sheltered her foal behind her and took a step forward.
“You arrogant ass! You could have gotten her killed! Tell me why I shouldn't shock the everloving shit out of you?!”

There was a moments pause as Celestia tried to think, but the moment was broken when Agent Tyler climbed into view over the edge of the roof and paused to lean against the fire escape. Everyone stared at her as she calmly took a sip from the coffee cup in her right hand.

After an interminable moment she looked up.

“If you've all finished, I would propose we take this discussion to the coffee shop on Fourth and Main. My treat.”

…

After an embarrassed silence, Agent Tyler had climbed back down the fire escape out of sight. Scootaloo carefully seated her foal on her back and held her snug in her arms as she walked to the edge of the roof. She turned back only once to give Celestia a cold look.

“Are you coming or what?”

And with that she disappeared over the edge of the building, spreading her wings and landing on the street below.

Rainbow and Celestia looked at each other in shock. At length Celestia managed: “It... appears your prodigy has been busy.”

…

The two ponies followed Scootaloo and Agent Tyler to the coffee shop where the baristas already had a table waiting. After they had all come inside the empty shop, one of the two employees shut the door and hung up the closed sign in the window.

“This is my favorite coffee shop, how did you know?” Scootaloo asked Agent Tyler.

“Don't be silly, Scoot, we've all known for some time. My job is to keep you safe, and I take that commitment very seriously even if you don't always see the results.” She looked at the two employees behind the counter. “Isn't that right?”

“Yes, Ma'am!”

“Wait, they work for you?! But I know Bob and Joan! I've been coming here for years, and...” As she looked at them both agents gave her sheepish grins. “Why didn't you tell me?”

Bob cleared his throat. “Well, in our defense, you never asked.”

“But- I-” Scootaloo sputtered before conceding she was outmatched. “Just give me my usual.”

“One large 'Coffee of doom' coming right up. And we brewed up a special one for Sophie Belle.” He leaned in and whispered. “Decaf of course.”

For the first time in nearly ten minutes the little foal perked up from her safe spot nestled on her mothers back. “I get coffee?”

Scootaloo smiled and nuzzled Sophie Belle. “Yes, I think after tonight you have showed how brave you are, and you deserve some.”

Sophie Belle gave a squeal of delight and looked longingly at the offered cup as Joan put a lid and straw onto it and set the cup on the floor for her. She jumped down and took a huge sip, then made a face and looked up at her mom.

“Do I like coffee?”

Scootaloo stroked her behind the ears as she replied. “Yes, you do. Now drink your coffee like a warrior.”

Sophie Belle's face lit up and she resumed drinking as though the cup contained a wonderful treat.

At length, Scootaloo got her own drink and took a seat at her favorite table in the now empty shop with Sophie Belle and her stuffed lion tucked carefully behind her. Agent Tyler brought drinks for Rainbow and Celestia and gestured for them to join her at the table with Scootaloo. Rainbow sat right down, but Celestia approached warily as Agent Tyler regarded her with a level gaze and Scootaloo glared at her.

Celestia hung her head. “I must apologize for what I have done tonight. It was never my intention to take a foal from her loving mare.”

Scootaloo's glare could have formed icicles on a pot of boiling water.
“But you didn't mind if you stole her from a loving mother or father provided they didn't have hooves?”

The silence stretched on.

“I... I had not considered that. Does it matter?”

“My husband would sure think so. He was frantic when he called to tell me someone had kidnapped Sophie Belle.”

Rainbow began choking on her drink after trying to blow it out her nose. “Your husband is a human?!”

Scootaloo wheeled on Rainbow. “Do either of you have a problem with that?”

“But... humans aren't...” Rainbow stammered.
“Oh shut up. Some humans are hot, you just haven't watched enough sports.” Dashy finished with a catcall that left Rainbow blushing.

Celestia reluctantly took a seat on the booth, which creaked under her weight. “I am sorry. We came here to rescue you and take you home. It did not occur to me that you would be a mother.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow jumped in. “How the hay did that work anyhow? You and me were the only two who went missing.”

Scootaloo bit back one of the nastier retorts she kept for people who disparaged her daughters and replied in a level tone. “My daughters, Sophie Belle and Chaya are nearly-exact genetic copies of myself. They are clones. We had no idea if anyone would ever come looking for me, and after all the years it was beginning to look doubtful. My husband and I both wanted children, and we had a standing offer of free child care and support should we choose this way.”

She looked steadily at both ponies across the table as she continued. “I love my daughters with all my heart. And you” she rounded on Celestia, “should be glad I didn't electrocute you after the way you scared Sophie Belle.”

In the seat next to her there was a sudden burst of coughing and they all looked at Agent Tyler.
“You didn't zap her?!? Considering how long it took them to catch up I just figured...”

Scootaloo put a hand on her shoulder. “I was trying to keep the peace. I have been hoping for this day most of my life, even if it isn't going quite the way I planned.” She added with a glare at Celestia.

“Wow. You have more restraint than I do,” Agent Tyler remarked contemplatively, grinning in that eerie way she had. Celestia wasn't entirely used to human facial expressions, but it seemed to her that a friendly grin that didn't reach the eyes and a stare that said 'I don't know what the legal term is for assassinating an alicorn princess, but you touch my friend's kid again and we will all find out,' might not exactly be what one would call cogitatively up-to-spec. And it was funny, how very transparent the agent's intentions were from her gaze.

Scootaloo tightened her grip on Tyler's shoulder and nodded to Sophie Belle still enjoying her coffee behind them.

“Perhaps later.” Scootaloo turned back to their guests. “From what Rainbow and Dashie have told me, you are here to find 'Scootaloo' and take her back with her family to Equestria, right? Well at present, there are three of me, or none, depending on how you define it. I believe we have a few things to work out.”

“Yes, we do,” Celestia agreed, adopting her more normal persona. “We have come to bring you home, but your family, at least your human family must remain here in this world.”

Scootaloo bristled. “Oh really? You despise humans that much?”

“You did not tell her?” Celestia asked Rainbow, who shrugged. “I would welcome all of you if I could, but Humans cannot survive in Equestria. Anyone you brought with you would not return.”

Scootaloo's mood was not improving. “That sounds wonderfully threatening, yet vague and non-specific.”

“It is not a pleasant subject to speak of. The last humans to come to Equestria came in two groups nearly 90 years ago, and they all died horribly.”

Scootaloo had begun to glare at her again and was tapping her hoof in irritation. “I work as a doctor in an ER. I've seen a lot of death. You're going to have to be more specific.”

“I... I can not talk about it...” Celestai managed as she shrunk down in her seat, the memories of it all taking a visible toll on her.

“Yet you have no problem making life choices for me based on what happened? I am a doctor, Celestia, I am working though my residency to practice medicine, and I have seen a lot. Show me what you got.”

Celestia closed her eyes and shuddered, then reached out with her magic and touched Scootaloo's head.

Nothing happened.

She concentrated harder and her magic enveloped Scootaloo, lifting her off the floor where, to her credit, she crossed her arms and continued her level stare at Celestai. After a few more moments Celestia opened her eyes and set Scootaloo down.

“I don't understand. Why can I not transfer my memories to you?”

“You expect me to know?”
Scootaloo sighed. “It seems there is a lot you don't know about this world. Do you know what would have happened to anyone else who did what you have tonight?”

Celestia hung her head once more which seemed to irritate Scootaloo further.

“You kidnapped my daughter, the wrong pony I would add, you scattered your fellow ponies over who knows how big an area, and now you tell me that I must abandon my husband and my friends because of some incident you can't even explain to me?!

Celestia and Rainbow both cringed at this, and Scootaloo continued.

“And until someone tells you otherwise you are to keep your hooves firmly on the ground! I'm still getting the shivers thinking about how close you came to hurting my daughter.”

That got Celestia's attention.

“Surely you cannot believe I would ever harm one so innocent? I am very sorry for what I did, but you must know I would never harm your child.”

“You arrogant...!” Scootaloo fought back another blast of rage, and instead of staring at the princess, she took a moment to cuddle her daughter who had finished her decaf coffee and was hugging her stuffed lion, sticking close by after her ordeal, though the lateness of the hour had her nodding off where she stood.

“Mommy? Can we go home now?” The little foal yawned and her eyes fluttered as she tried to keep them open. Joan had been keeping an eye on them and appeared with an appropriate car seat for the little one.

“Of course Sophie Belle, you have been so good today. Just climb in here and we'll get you back home into your own bed.”

The little foal yawned again, but allowed her mother to buckle her into the car seat.

“Now you be good for Joan okay? She's going to take you home to daddy.”

“Okay... I love you Mommy.”

Scootaloo stroked her head with on hand. “I love you too Sophie Belle.”

Scootaloo gently rocked the car seat back and forth until she could hear cute little snores.

She looked up at Joan. “Are you trained in how to care for my little one?”

“Of course. We keep all the supplies here and ready should we ever need them.”

“Thank you. Please watch over her, I suspect I will have my hands full for a while.”

Joan just smiled. “You know we are here to take care of you. You only have to ask.”

Scootaloo nodded, then turned to the other agent behind the counter. “Bob, do you mind if I run off with that six-foot aluminum flag pole on the front of the shop?”

“Um, I guess so...”

“Thanks.” She turned to Rainbow and Celestia. “Now, its time you understood how much danger you just put yourself and my daughter in. Its time for a flying lesson.” Her voice had a hard, no-nonsense edge to it as she faced the princess down from across the table. “You will follow exactly the path I do. You will not fly off left, right, up or down. This will take about ten minutes, then we will come back here. Do you understand?”

Both Rainbow and Celestia were somewhat insulted, but given the circumstances, neither chose to argue. They walked out the door and followed after Scootaloo as she took flight and tracked up and north, away from the main street towards the outskirts of town. After a five-minute flight they landed in a field some distance from a series of tall metal towers with cables hanging between them.

“Now we walk. Dashie, I suspect you know what those are, but I want to hear it from you, Princess. What are those?”

Celestia stared up at the wires hanging from the poles hundreds of feet in the air. She could hear a faint crackle and pop every now and then, just on the edge of hearing even on this quiet night. “I don't know Scootaloo. But they don't seem... right. I wouldn't fly near them.”

“And if it was foggy tonight, could you still avoid them?”

“I... I don't know.”

“That's a good answer.” Scootaloo breathed in a friendlier tone. “You are willing to admit when you don't know something, and that's very important. Humans use these wires to transmit high voltage electricity to their cities and houses. I need you to stay here. Do not move from this spot until I return. I'm going to show you what would have happened to you and my daughter if you had blundered into one of these nearly invisible wires.”

Scootaloo trotted a few hundred feet clear of the power lines, pulled out the aluminum flag pole and flew up and over the lines, keeping several hundred feet clear at all times. When she was directly above the lines, she dropped the six foot pole, then turned and covered her eyes.

On the ground, Rainbow and Celestia watched the tiny speck of a pony drop the pole. It was going to miss all the lines and fall straight through.
'What did she expect to happ-'

A blinding flash of lightning jumped from one line to the pole and then to another line, followed instantly by a tremendous BANG like a thunderclap. They were both momentarily blinded by the light, but as the after images faded, they could see the remnants of the pole glowing white hot as they fell and started fires on the ground. Scootaloo returned and did her best to kick dirt over the burning metal as the two mares stood open-mouthed.

“That... that is what would have happened if I had approached the wires?!” Celestia managed.

“Yes. The bigger the wire, the bigger the bang. Even if you have some kind of lightning proof ass, my daughter does not. This is one of several reasons I am angry with you.”

“But... How? How can such a thing be allowed if it is so dangerous?!”

Scootaloo actually face palmed. “Because humans can't fly without machines! And to earn a flying machine license takes at least forty hours of training, during which things like this are mentioned.”

She sighed as her anger ebbed a bit. “We would be only too happy to teach you everything you want to know about this world, but please take it slow for the next few days. Despite everything that has happened, I have been looking forward to this day for most of my life. I didn't know for sure that you would ever come, and it means so much that you did! Just please, stop jumping to conclusions and charging off on your own. We will sort everything out and figure out a way to make everyone happy, just please bear with me, okay? You have a lot to learn about this world and my history, and I am just as eager to find out about your world.

Comments

[Mother3Forever]

Well, that answers my first questions. Celestia knows diddly SHIT about Earth.

[Spect]

3267622

And she is making a big assumption about what happened to the humans who came to Equestria. Mainly that there's no way for humans to survive. Depending on the issue there could be dozens of potential solutions. Forewarned of problems, humans are pretty clever at finding ways of surviving where it would seem impossible.

[nighters]

umm question where can i find your story called our girl scootaloo 2 of 3?

[Cozy Mark IV]

OGS is divided into three parts; finding to the end of high school, the college years including medical school, meeting her husband David, and giving birth to the twins, and lastly, part three, the 'rescue' and all the reprocusions that follow.
Unfortunaly, while 1 and 3 are nearly done, I only have a couple chapters of two ready. In a few weeks or months I hope to have part two ready to begin posting, but it just isn't done yet. Sorry.

[Scarheart]

I'm willing to bet the humans who came to Equestria already had some disease on them (Spanish Flu, maybe? Polio?).

[AppleTank]

Technology FTW
Though one does worry about viruses.