Twilight sat speechless, as the words that Axiom told her gradually began to sink in. Not that it was just his observations that indicated Scootaloo's feelings - Twilight had witnessed, and felt, them herself. How could it have been that Scootaloo, after seemingly only an afternoon of "quality" time with Twilight, had gone from practically loathing her with envy to feeling the same familial happiness that Twilight and her brother shared? Twilight didn't know what to make of it - she certainly tried to be as tender and kind as she could to a filly in need, but she hadn't expected to make such an impression. She wondered what it said about her social skills - a far cry from her days as a shut in student - and wondered what Scootaloo's emotional state must be like for her to latch so strongly to a pony that offered a semblance of care to her.
More pressing to the situation she was currently in with the Seers, she wasn't sure why that seemed an issue.
"I'm uh..." Twilight lifted herself off the crystal floor. "I'm just as surprised as you, honestly. I had no idea she felt that way about me. I - I was just trying to help her."
"From the looks of it, she seemed to need it," Axiom said blithely, further adding to Twilight's myriad of mixed feelings. "It's not often we see that strong of bond forged in such a short amount of time. Not outside of family, least of all" he added for emphasis.
Axiom's declaration did not ease Twilight's spinning mind one iota. She pawed at the floor with her shaky hoof, wracking her brain to try and figure out what exactly that meant for her, and for Scootaloo. Smart though she was, Twilight had no idea. What was Twilight supposed to say to Scootaloo now that she knew just how much of an impression she'd made? Pretending she didn't know that Scootaloo viewed her as near to family as one apparently could didn't seem fair to Scootaloo, not at all.
On the topic of fairness, however, Twilight was standing here before the Cabinet of Seers, and she had promised Scootaloo that she would try to find out if the filly would fly. She saw no reason why, despite the unexpected revelation about Scootaloo's impromptu attachment, that Twilight should break her word.
"I don't suppose," she began meekly, "that we could start again? I sort of made a promise."
The Seers had spent most of the time during Twilight's visit watching her curiously, fascinated by a new princess to interact with. Yet now, not one of them were looking at her, except for Audile. While the rest of the Seers were looking down uncomfortably at their hooves resting in their chairs, Audile looked intensely at Twilight, biting her lip. After several more seconds of increasingly awkward silence, the sound of a marker squeaking across Audile's whiteboard echoed around the room. The unicorn faltered for just a second, and then flipped the whiteboard over for Twilight to read.
Ax: From the looks of it, she seemed to need it. It's not often we see that strong of bond forged in such a short amount of time. Not outside of family, least of all.
PTS: I don't suppose that we could start again? I sort of made a promise.
Me: We can't.
"We can't," Twilight whispered softly, growing even more confused. "What do you mean you can't?"
Audile looked helplessly down the row of chairs to the other Seers to help explain in a manner more efficient than scribbling on a board. After another moment of awkward silence, Atlas came to her friend's aid, fiddling with her compass all the while.
"We're not allowed to. It's one of the rules," she said nervously. "Didn't Princess Celestia say anything?"
Twilight remembered that Princess Celestia had asked Twilight about her relationship with Scootaloo. Princess Celestia had even advised Twilight against looking into her future, as though she could innately sense the truth about the young pegasus pony. Yet, Celestia never mentioned any rules.
"We have two rules," Axiom explained wearily, "the first is that, for reasons I'm sure you can discern, we cannot see into the future of an alicorn, or once they become an alicorn, in some cases," he added.
Twilight nodded her head. Scenarios of power hungry ponies using knowledge of the future for personal gain was a topic that filled several works in her "fiction" shelf, and it was likely best they stayed there. "I guess that makes sense. What's the second?"
"The second is a little bit more complicated, and much more situational," Axiom began slowly, as if he'd not uttered these words for a very long time and was struggling to recite them. "If another pony forms a strong emotional bond with an alicorn, positive or negative, we can't show their future from that point onward."
Twilight pieced it together aloud, the implication of the rule becoming clearer with each word. "So then... because I helped Scootaloo to feel better, and because she was grateful for it, she-"
"-That was more than simple gratitude, your majesty," Axiom interrupted quietly, the choice of words making up for his soft tone. "Millions are grateful to Princess Celestia, but she could consult us about them without issue. Though I suppose your modesty is not unexpected, I think you underestimate just how happy and loved you made her feel. Judging from what we just witnessed, she seems to be a very emotional filly, suffering from a crushing amount of stress from all sorts of angles."
Twilight both admired and detested how truthfully Axiom spoke, and how his demeanor made words that would be tough to hear otherwise more bearable. "I didn't know..." Twilight whispered sadly.
"I know - we know," Axiom corrected, earning a series of solemnly supportive nods from the other Seers. "For better or worse, your generous gift of comfort to a hurting filly has..."
"Cut her off?" Twilight asked knowingly, looking at Archive as she spoke. "Isn't that what you said? Before showing me Shining Armor getting his cutie mark? You said we were both 'cut off' pretty early."
"Did I say that?" Archive replied with genuine confusion, "I honestly don't remember." Twilight knew that it wasn't his fault, but she had a hard time hiding her frustration as she sighed impatiently.
"Archive is right," Alumni stepped in politely. "Once Shining Armor began to show keen interest in joining the royal guard after earning his cutie mark, he started to spend more time outside of school studying it. Joining after school programs, physical training, things of that nature. With you still being a filly, your parents hired a foal sitter."
"Cadance..." Twilight murmured in acknowledgment.
"You always were the one she loved to sit for the most," Alumni said with a smile, earning a reluctant one from Twilight in return. "And once they met, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence began to develop strong feelings for one another as well."
"I see," Twilight said simply, shoulders slumped in defeat. She had been so close. Now, how was she going to tell Scootaloo that the Seers couldn't help? What would Scootaloo say when she knew the reason why they couldn't? Twilight could already guess that Scootaloo would be embarrassed beyond belief, regretting her willingness to accept help from a kind soul that offered it, and worse yet, become angry at herself for letting it happen.
But then, what if Twilight lied to her about it? Said the Seers couldn't help for some "other" reason? Immediately, Twilight pushed the idea from her head. Scootaloo had made it very clear that she wanted nothing but the truth from the princess, good or bad, and placating her was exactly what Scootaloo had rallied so hard against. More simple was the fact that, above all else, Twilight made a promise, and Twilight intended to keep it.
"I want to thank you all, for everything," Twilight's voice broke the silence as she stood up and stretched her legs. "But I suppose..." She trailed off, looking at the door behind her throne.
"I am very sorry that we could not help you, your majesty," Axiom hopped from his chair, offering his hoof to the princess. "I hope that this doesn't reflect too negatively on your visit today."
Twilight took his hoof and gave it a firm shake. "Not at all," she said as pleasantly as her mood would allow, which wasn't much. "Well, okay, I'm a little disappointed, but-"
"Wait!"
Axiom and Twilight's hooves dropped to the floor mid-shake at the interruption from Archive. The stallion stood up in his chair, clearly excited, but judging from his expression, equally nervous.
"I think I can help," he said.
"Archive," Axiom addressed the Seer warningly, the tone of his voice making even Twilight uneasy. "You know we can't."
"No, no, no! I would never dream of it," Archive waved his hooves frantically. "It's just, when Princess Twilight first mentioned Scootaloo, and her situation, I remembered something. Something in Scootaloo's past that I think might hold the answer to her - your - question."
Twilight's heart skipped a beat. "Really?"
"Yes!"
"And it's in her past?" Axiom checked again, the caution in his voice diminished, yet still present.
"It is," Archive insisted, "by quite a margin."
Axiom sighed in relief, and trotted to his chair alongside Antenna's bed, a twinkle in his eye that was a far cry from the somber disappointment just moments ago. "Princess Twilight, your throne?"
"Right," she wasted no time in settling in the crimson cushions, eager to see exactly what in Scootaloo's past would hold the answer to that burning question. As Antenna began to glow and hum once more, Twilight looked over to Archive and offered a wide grin. "Thank you!" she mouthed to him. Archive glanced back to her with a surprising sadness in his eyes.
"Don't thank me yet," his words cut through the air seconds before the familiar blackness engulfed the princess.
Twilight's world vanished before her as Antenna's glow and hum came to a crescendo. In the blackness, Twilight experienced a pleasant combination of contentment and curiosity. It gave her hope for what was hopefully coming next.
"Curious choice," Atlas' voice sounded throughout the void. "Audile, Appear, you're set."
Twilight didn't quite know what exactly the Seers had to do in order to bring these visions to fruition, but Audile did her part first. The silence gave way to a low growl, interspersed with a rhythmic thumping sound. Twilight recognized the sound from that very morning when she was journeying to Canterlot. Though Twilight couldn't see it yet, she knew that she was on a train.
Then, the darkness surrounding her melted away. Yet, Twilight didn't see what appeared to be a train car. Twilight was enveloped in dark blue, and the only thing that she could make out was a faint light above her, filtering through a blue sheet, like the sun through a curtain. Where was she? Twilight found herself growing frustrated at her inability to move or look around freely during these visions. But before she could dwell on what she couldn't do, Twilight's own curiosity was piqued by the sound of two voices speaking.
"I can't believe the Wonderbolts are still going to accept you after so many delays," said the voice of a stallion from the other side of the veil above Twilight. There was a shuffling sound as the voice spoke, and a shadow passed across the blue linen.
"It's not so much that they'll accept me," replied a female voice. "It's more like they are begging me to join! My instructor at the WBA told me that she'd never seen such raw ability, and she didn't give out praise easy."
"Raw ability," the stallion chuckled softly. "Doesn't hurt you that your dad is one of their lead physicians, or that you had some help... I'm amazed you're still a mare after all those steroids."
The comment apparantly struck a nerve to the mare. "Shut up!" she growled in a low voice. "I was already an awesome flier, the... supplements just helped a bit is all."
"If you say so. And what about her?"
Twilight, and the pony she was "inhabiting" felt a burst of excitement as the blue sheet filtering the light was lifted. The contrasting brightness was blinding, and all Twilight could see above her before the pony closed its eyes reflexively were two massive figures looming over her. As quickly as the sheet had been lifted, it lowered once more, leaving Twilight in her blue tinted cocoon again. She felt a twinge of sadness, and, as if to protest, her mouth opened, and an incoherent babble emerged.
It was as if a lightbulb had gone off in Twilight's head. As her tiny forelegs stretched above her, searching for the two figures that had appeared and then vanished in the darkness, Twilight knew exactly what was happening here. She was Scootaloo again, only this time, she was just a foal. She and the two ponies above her were on a train, with Scootaloo nestled snugly in a covered basket. And these two ponies... if Twilight had to guess, they must have been Scootaloo's parents.
"When you had that dream," the father said, "didn't you say she was miserable because she couldn't fly? You know what they say drugs and stuff can do to foals in the womb."
"That? That was a just a stupid dream," the mother insisted staunchly. "That whole Princess' Blessing thing is a bunch of mumbo jumbo. I don't know why I even asked about it."
"That's not what you said when you woke up crying in the middle of the night on my couch."
"Like you've never had a nightmare so real you couldn't tell you were dreaming," she shuddered. "No - as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I stopped dosing. She'll be fine."
The three ponies sat in silence for a few minutes, with nothing but the hypnotic sounds of the train rolling along the tracks, and, if Twilight wasn't mistaken, the static pattering of rain against the train car windows. Scootaloo's eyes began to droop, and the warmth of the basket she was tucked in was growing ever more comfortable. She issued a startled squeak as the brakes of the train began to shriek. Scootaloo felt a minute jerk when the momentum of the car stopped.
"I've got her," the father said, and the basket was lifted up. Twilight could feel herself swinging through the air, and could tell the from the dancing lights and shadows through the blanket that the family had left the train. "So, where do we go from here?"
The light and sounds of a train station had all but vanished, replaced with the darkness of the night sky. Raindrops gently collided with the cover of the basket, another calming metronome that was having a tranquilizing effect on Scootaloo. Suddenly, distant though it was, the low rumble of thunder sounded, and Twilight could feel a creeping fear taking over Scootaloo's state of mind.
"I'm... I'm not sure," said the voice of Scootaloo's mother. "I've never been to Ponyville before."
The clouds of thunder must have rolled closer, because the rumbling had grown louder.
"Really?"
"It's not like I was going to ask Mrs. Days the street address of an orphanage!"
"Who?"
"She was my maternity nurse."
"So, then how do you know that there's even one here?"
"Mrs. Days said she volunteers there all of the time," the mother explained. "I could hardly listen to her fawn about how much she loves the fillies and colts, and then ask her where to go to abandon mine. I might not be in college like you, but I'm not stupid."
"I never said-"
"Whatever," the mother's voice dripped with crossness. "Come on, this little hamlet can't be that big."
A thunderclap sounded above, and Scootaloo's fear exploded in tandem. Tears began to form in her eyes, and the foal started whining softly. Against the falling rain, Scootaloo's parents didn't seem to notice. Twilight felt an increasing sense of desperation as Scootaloo's volume increased, the longing for something familiar and caring in this dark, strange, frightening place growing ever more apparent.
"Oh... um, she's-" the stallion said coming to a halt. "I think she's scared."
"Oh goodness, poor thing," Scootaloo's mother said. "Here-"
The blanket was lifted again, and silhouetted against the partially cloud covered moon were the indistinct figures of Scootaloo's parents. Twilight couldn't discern any features on the two ponies, Scootaloo must have known who they were. Her little limbs reached up, flailing about while the foal babbled urgently. Cold water drizzled on to her fur, and she panicked even more. Wings flared on one of the ponies, and a set of hooves reached in and scooped Scootaloo and the blanket swaddling her up.
"Shh... it's okay," the mother whispered softly, pulling Scootaloo towards her chest. "Mommy's got you. It's okay... it's alright..."
Scootaloo's eyes were shut tight, and her muzzle was placed firmly against the mare's warm chest. Twilight could hear another metronome in the form of Scootaloo's mother's heartbeat. Combined with the quiet flapping of the wings and the coaxing whispers, the effect on Scootaloo's mood was remarkable. Fearful babbles turned into contented coos. Another thunderclap sounded, and Scootaloo paid it absolutely no mind.
"Should we keep going?" the father's voice asked tepidly.
"Yeah... let's go."
The trio continued to walk through a version of Ponyville that was familiar to Twilight, yet distorted by Scootaloo's perspective. Not only did the rain and exaggerated shadows obscured many of the landmarks, but everything seemed so much larger from the filly's point of view. Thunder boomed at regular intervals, and on the occassion, lightning illuminated the village of Ponyville. However, Twilight rarely got to see the results of it; Scootaloo instinctively closed her eyes and burrowed her tiny muzzle into her mother's chest whenever the sky flashed unexpectedly.
After several more minutes of walking accompanied by exasperated sighs, the parents came to a halt underneath one of the storefront awnings along the marketplace. Scootaloo peered out curiously, trying to discern what was on the other side of the blackened display case inside the store, but it was to little avail.
"This place is a lot bigger than I thought it was," the father sighed.
"You're telling me," said the mother's voice close to Scootaloo's ear. "Big enough to hide an orphanage. It's not as run down as I thought it would be either."
"We can't keep walking around in the rain though, not with a foal at least."
"I know, I know!" the mother groaned, her distressed tone of voice inspiring similar emotions in her foal. "But I think I have an idea. Here, take her," the mother pulled a reluctant Scootaloo away from her barrel.
"What? Are you sure?"
"She's yours too," the mother reminded him, and Twilight could practically hear her eyes roll while she said it. "Just sit down on your haunches, and hold her with your forelegs." There was a clumsy exchange, and Scootaloo wriggled about from within her prison of blankets to try to make sense of what was happening to her. A cry began to gurgle out of Scootaloo's throat, and her mother was quick to assuage it. "Shhhhh! It's okay! Hold her close to your chest, keep her warm. I think she likes that."
The mother was right, and the effect of being pressed firmly against her father's warm, steadily breathing chest was instantly soothing for the infant. "It's okay, I've got you. You're fine," the father whispered into Scootaloo's ear to the filly's delight. "What were you thinking?" he directed the question to the mare.
"I'm a pegasus," she said simply. "I'll fly up and see if I can't get a good look for it."
The father's chin rubbed against the top of Scootaloo's head as he nodded. There was a flapping of wings, and a whooshing sound as the mother presumably took off, leaving the father and daughter alone under the scarcely illuminated storefront.
"Heya, kiddo..." the father stroked her daughter's mane. "You're a cute little thing, you know that?"
Scootaloo likely had no idea what her father was saying, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She chirruped happily in response, and her father giggled back in turn.
"Yeah, you are. You'll get picked up in no time at all, I know it." The stroking grew almost imperceptibly firmer. "When you grow up, I - I do hope you won't think badly of us." he whispered shakily, his voice sounding as though it were coming close to breaking.
Scootaloo, though she couldn't speak or understand what in the world the stallion was saying, could tell that something was amiss. As if to mimic the comforting motions of her parents, she lightly tickled the ribs she was clinging to with her frail hooves.
"Oh goodness," his voice cracked at last, as another clap of thunder erupted above. Scootaloo stopped her massage and squeezed her father tightly, as the sound of rushing wings flooded her ears. "You're -" the stallion cleared his throat. "You're back. Anything?"
"No, I couldn't see a darn thing," the mother answered.
"Nothing?"
"Why don't you try and look around with rain pelting you in the face, at night, during a storm, tell me what you see?"
"Point taken... do we keep looking?"
There was a long pause. Then -
"I have an idea," the mother spoke quietly.
"I'm all ears."
"This place... this place seems nice, right? I mean, it's no Canterlot, but it's certainly not a dump like we thought it would be."
"I suppose."
"So..." the mare started slowly, "what if instead of wandering about in a rain storm, and risking getting sick or whatever to try and find an orphanage..."
"Okay?"
"What if we found a house - a nice place, of course - and just sort of..."
Scootaloo's father's grip tightened on his daughter. "You can't be serious?"
"I suppose you have a better suggestion? This is hardly a time to take the moral high ground, considering we came all the way out to some little village that we've never set hoof in before for the sole purpose of giving her up."
"That... We can't just leave her on someponies doorstep! What if - what if they don't want her? What if they can't take her in?"
"What if they are like us, you mean," the mother said blankly. "Only difference is, they'll know where the orphanage is. Or at least, they'll be able to ask about it without being ashamed of making a stupid mistake one night."
"I..."
The three sat still for several minutes, listening to the sounds of rain pummel the awning above and the thunder periodically rumbling. Then, the staccato sounds of other ponies laughing in the distance disrupted their trance.
"...You said a nice place?" the father asked, scratching Scootaloo's velvety ears.
"Yeah," the mare answered glumly. "I saw pretty big homes down the road."
There was yet another pregnant pause.
"Alright," the father relented. "Can you take her? I sort of need my front legs to walk."
"Sure. I think the storm's might be slowing down too, so she should be alright in her basket. It's probably better we do that here, than instead of when we get there."
"Better?"
"Easier," the mother said. "Look how tightly you're holding her."
With Scootaloo once again nestled in her basket, and on the verge of sleep, they began to walk down the street. After a couple of minutes, they stopped again, and the shift in momentum aroused Scootaloo from her slumber.
"You weren't kidding," the father whistled, "this place is straight out of Canterlot. I wonder who lives here?"
"It's probably best we don't know. And look, this place has a shelter over the doorstep, it's perfect."
"Guess you were wrong about the storm? It's picking up again."
"I guess. It's why I'm not a weather pony."
The mother was hovering in the air, with Scootaloo in tow. The father's hoofsteps sounded from behind Scootaloo in the basket, punctuated moreso now by the solid rock he was walking on, as opposed to the mud and grass of Ponyville at large. They stopped again, and Scootaloo felt the dampened vibration through her blankets of the basket hitting the ground.
"I guess this is really it, huh?"
"Looks like it," the mother replied. "Are we sure about this?"
"Do we have much of a choice?"
"Not really," the father sighed, "though I wish we did,"
"Maybe - maybe we can come back someday?" the mother suggested hopefully. "Once you finish your degree and get a nice job selling homes or whatever it was you said, and I finish my Wonderbolts Initiate stuff and make the big time, you know? Once things settle down."
"That would be perfect," the father's sillhouette nodded through the blanket. "Don't think me callous for saying this, but now just isn't..."
"The best time, right?"
"Right."
Scootaloo's quiet humming was drowned out by another growl of thunder.
"I was thinking," the mother started shakily. "Do you think we should give her a name? You know, so we can find her again?"
"Oh, right, that makes sense..." the father trailed off. "What um, what were you thinking?"
"I was hoping you might have an idea, actually."
"Well, she's orange," the father mused, "so maybe 'Tangerine' or 'Orange?' perhaps?"
"Maybe I should give it a try instead," she muttered quickly.
"Oh, and I suppose you have a better suggestion?"
"I did have one, actually."
"What? Was it from that "mumbo-jumbo" dream?"
"Yeah, well - why not? I was thinking maybe... 'Hummingbird.'" Her suggestion was partially muffled by another, louder, crash of thunder.
"You said Hummingbird?" he asked with a healthy dose of skepticism. "That seems..."
"Her wings buzzed a lot when she was trying to take off," the mother explained defensively. "And it's better than naming a pegasus after a fruit, isn't it? That's an earth pony thing, no offense."
"No, no, it's a better name than what I came up with," the father admitted. "It's just... if what you saw was true, and she really couldn't fly-"
"-she will!"
"Shhhh!" he hissed when Scootaloo began to stir at her mother's raised voice. "But if she can't, then naming her after a bird, that's kind of... Do you know what I mean?"
The mare sighed a long deep sigh. "You're right."
"Was there anything else? In the dream, I mean."
The mother took a moment or so, presumably to collect her thoughts, before replying. "There was, actually. She had a scooter."
"A scooter?"
"Yeah. It was a big blue wooden scooter, with red wheels and red handlebars. With silver axles," she added.
"You remember that really well, all things considered. You were fuzzy on the rest of it."
"I'd know it anywhere," the mother remarked with a hint of melancholy. "It seemed really important to her, she loved that thing."
"So how about Scooter?" Scootaloo's father asked over another crash of thunder. Scootaloo grew alert, even fearful at first, but when she heard the familiar voices after the "roar," she relaxed once again.
"Your college education at work," the mother chuckled. "Plus, that sounds like a boys name."
"Plankenwheel?"
"And that sounds like a horror movie villain!"
"Rollerboard?"
"Stop - just stop! She wasn't a scooter, she used it a lot-"
"Scootalot?"
"Would you just-" she ceased her nitpicking of his suggestion. "Actually, that one isn't bad. No, that's not bad at all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it fits nicely. Scootalot... Do you have anything to write it down with in your satchel?"
There was a wet splatting noise as the satchel hit the ground. After a few seconds of shuffling the father said, "I've got a pen that should work, but my notebook is drenched. I'd probably just rip it apart trying to write on it. But... what about my train pass? It stayed dry in this binder."
"Is your name on it?"
"Doesn't look like it. No, there's nothing. Perfect! Now... Shcootaloth," his voice was muffled by the pen in his mouth. "Can you shpell that for me?"
"Aren't you the one in school?"
The pen clattered on the stone doorstep as the father spit it out. "Pbt! For numbers and accounting, not reading and writing," he said staunchly.
"Fine... you ready?"
More clicking. "Mhhm."
"S-C-O-O-T-A-L-O-" The mother droned slowly, but wasn't able to finish spelling the word before another thunderclap sounded, drowning her out.
"...What wath that lath part?"
"O-T!"
There was a scratching of pen on cardboard, and then the pen hit the ground, rattling to a stop. "Oh dear," the father whispered. Scootaloo barely heard it, but the mother couldn't quite make it out.
"What? What did you do?"
"You told me to write the 'o' twice!" the stallion defended himself.
"You wrote Scootaloo," the mother said bluntly.
"I'm sorry, okay? Look, I misheard you. Do you have your ticket?"
"Will you relax?" the mother shushed him. "It's fine. 'Scootaloo.' I like that, better than Scootalot. It's still got the scooter part of it, but It rhymes and flows really well."
"Scootaloo," the father parroted. "Scootaloooo."
"Don't hurt yourself," she joked. "Bring it here, and we'll put in with her." There was a shuffling of hoofsteps, and the blanket was lifted again, the porch light above blinding the startled filly inside. Drops of water dripped from her parents' wet manes, a precarious drop landing on the foal's muzzle, eliciting a faint sneeze. When Scootaloo's eyes opened again, her vision was filled with a brand new toy for her to play with - a cardboard ticket with her name scrawled upon it, the last 'o' noticeably offset from the rest. No sooner than when the ticket was tucked in the basket with her did she fumble with her tiny hooves to bring the ticket to her mouth to see what it tasted like. The corner she suckled on tasted, predictably, like cardboard.
"Our Scootaloo," the stallion muttered, tousling the filly's barely present mane. Even with her mouth full, Scootaloo had room to giggle. Her father's hoof retreated slowly. "I guess it's about that time, though... We probably don't want to have to explain why we're on someponies porch with a filly in a basket."
"Right," Scootaloo's mother agreed. "You go ahead, I'll knock on the door and catch up with you."
"Not getting second thoughts?"
"No, I'll be right there."
The clop of hooves against stone faded in the distance, blending with the sound of rain. Scootaloo's mother reached in to the basket, and softly massaged the foal's cheek with her hoof.
"Our Scootaloo," the mare whispered tearfully. As if she recognized her name already, Scootaloo's hooves abandoned her ticket and grasped, as effectively as they could, her mother's hoof, holding it in place. The silhouetted figure leaned in close, and planted a tiny kiss on her daughter's forehead.
"I'm sorry," the mare spoke almost inaudibly. "I hope that dream was just a dream, Scootaloo. You deserve so much better."
A far cry from the slow and soft mannerisms from before, the mother jerkily backed out and away from the basket. Scootaloo's forelegs were held aloft, the filly babbling incoherent pleas for her mother all the while, but the blue sheet once again shrouded Scootaloo in the dim confines of her basket instead. There were three loud knocks upon the wooden door, quickly followed by a scrabbling of hooves, choked sobbing, and then a rustling of wings.
The door creaked open, and the light from inside the home washed over the basket, filtering through the pseudo-curtain, meeting Scootaloo's widened violet eyes, and the filly felt a rush of wonder. The light blue inside of the basket began to warp and bend, and then, there was nothing.
Twilight found herself collapsed again on the floor before the Seers, her eyes red and puffy from tears she didn't even know she had spilled as she watched the vision unfold. With shaking limbs, she rose from the floor, and used her right foreleg to wipe her eyes, though they had already dried. Scootaloo's empathic sense of joy had all but vanished.
IS SHE A SEER!?
6920037
What gives you that impression?
Are we going to find out who Scootaloo's parents are? Or are you just going to leave that a mystery?
6920269
Might not even be important to the story in any way to know.
6920223 I don't know. Just a guess.
Well. Uh. That's... that's gonna be a difficult conversation to have.
Dang. Poor kid, It'd have been better if it'd been an accident that orphaned her.
You wrote this that long ago? Wow... Anyway, I think the latter half of the chapter works quite well. You get enough of a sense of what Scootaloo's parents are like and it shows in their dialogue. Nicely done.
6920683 Perhaps not, but I'm still curious. I'm betting on the mother being Spitfire. As for the dad...not too sure.
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw2079_medium.jpg
The sadness is so sad that I had to sleep on this, but now that I am back we learned some things:
* Ponies have names appropriate to their CutieMarks because their parents have prophetic dreams.
* Princess Twilight Sparkle has enough information for finding the parents:
* She knows when the events happened.
* She knows that the mother just became a WonderBolt.
* She knows that the Maternal Grand Mother is a Doctor to the WonderBolts.
* She knows that the father was in university at the time.
It should take less than a day for finding the parents of Scootaloo.
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The implication is that Twilight would banish her to live on her own. Scootaloo, as you'll find, is not unfamiliar with those conditions.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8b/0a/ce/8b0acecbfe1e28a7f37fc70d8aedb26c.gif right now!
6924287 She also knows that neither parent came back to Ponyville looking for Scootaloo in the intervening years, although not the reasons. They might never have gotten back together again. Their careers might have dragged them further away from a lifestyle suited to raising a child. They might have found themselves in new relationships, possibly even raised new families. One or both might be dead. Or they may simply have... forgotten - or suppressed the memory. Or, this being Equestria, they might have been subjected to a magical effect. There are a lot of possibilities.
But yes, Twilight should be able to track down at least the mother. Even if the details in the vision were not sufficient to establish identity, she has the Cabinet right there in front of her - surely they can ID the ponies and their current whereabouts through Scootaloo's original emotional link, or if not they can go Twilight - Rainbow - current Wonderbolts - older Wonderbolts - attending doctors - daughters. It'd be a pretty big plot hole if she didn't use the Cabinet to immediately find out this information without a very good reason.
Just pondering - can the Cabinet sort of work around the strong-bond-for-an-alicorn limitation by showing the future of ponies who are likely to be affected by the target's life? I'm thinking that the Cabinet could look into the futures of Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, for starters, and check if any of them ever see Scootaloo flying, or mention Scootaloo having a flying-based job. It seems unlikely that all three of those ponies would fall out of Scootaloo's life permanently.
Or does the limitation also veil any part of any pony's life where they interact with or talk about a strong-bonded pony? Or hear some other pony talking about them, or see a picture of them, or anything of that nature?
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6924287 and what exactly would the point of finding her parents be?
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Her parents owe Scootaloo over a decade of foal-support and Scootaloo probably wants to know who they are.
6934053 They might want to be reminded of Scootaloo's existence. Scootaloo might want to know if they're alive or dead. Scoots' mom, too, might have medical records relating to substance abuse which would lend insight into the cause of Scootaloo's inability to fly, and therefore give a better idea about whether it's addressable or not.
Not to mention that there may be legal issues involved, particularly those of inheritance and (depending on Equestrian law) whether the parents are liable for retroactive costs - particularly for any years where they may have had sufficient income to support a child. Although given that this fic doesn't appear to be delving into the Equestrian legal system, it doesn't seem likely that there will be much exploration of that side of things.
Then there's the issue of whether any of Scootaloo's grandparents are alive and would want to know of the existence of their granddaughter...
6934409 so far scootaloo hasn't expressed any real interest in finding out, (note that she didn't ask twi about them) and I'm not sure what legal system the author is using but it seems like if you give your child up for adoption you are then free of any legal obligation.
6934638 the medical and granparent thing is intresting...hadn't really thought of that.
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Scootaloo does not want anypony to know that she is an orphan because she does not what to go back to the orphanage. She may very much want to know who her parents are.
6934805 She may...but unless I'm wrong, nowhere in the story (where Scootaloo thinks of all sorts of stuff, so it's not like we just don't know) does she ever wonder about her parents.
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Twilight would not ask about the parents, because at this point, she thinks that Scootaloo is living with parents already. Two pegasi that bought a house in Ponyville since Scootaloo can't fly yet, despite both working in Cloudsdale (in Disaster Button chapter). So, as far as she's concerned, there's no reason to. All it would do is cause tension between Scoots adoptive parents and real ones.
The grandparents don't know they have a grandfilly. After she found she was pregnant, the mother went to stay with the father (she slept on his couch, as mentitled in the flashback). She was ashamed that she had a one night stand. Since her father is a Wonderbolt physician/doctor, he would have been an obvious choice to take care of her... but if there were any developmental complications with Scootaloo as a result of steroid use, her father would recognize it. So she kept her pregnancy a secret for the sake of her career.
If you remember, Raylan, I actually HAD a whole bunch of explanations penned for a whole bunch of scenarios involving the parents, but I couldn't organically put it in a dialogue only flashback without coming across as spoon fed exposition.
6935013 Oh just because you wrote this you think you get to be the authority here?
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Not authority, no! Perish the thought.
Consider it.... insight to self created scenario, one which I have exclusive information about the workings and details of.
That's like... subject matter expert. The last word. But not authority.
DAMN IT now I want a new chapter
Wow! There is honestly no better way to describe this story than just wow! The fact it is still "Incomplete" is astounding as you've provided so much intricate details, insights, thoughts, emotions, and other astounding insights that I honestly don't know how you could possibly make this work better beyond bringing a degree of finality to what, in all essence, is a true epic!
Personally, there is just too much I could compliment you on. This said, if you'd be interested, I'd be most welcome to talk to you about this work through Private Messages / Letters here on FiM Fiction. It'd take me forever to break apart all of which makes me glad I spent the many hours reading to get to where I am now with this story.
The simplest comments I can give you is that it comes off very professionally written. There's no doubt you put a lot of thought into this work. Everything has a solid purpose whether it be Cheerilee's reaction to the events at school to how Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom show genuine concern over how their friend has behaved as a result of conditions she has yet to share.
It pleases me greatly to have been referenced to this story. I plan on bookmarking it for future reference once I am recovered from my recent eye surgeries that keep me from accessing the buttons to do so. (Being blind doesn't stop me from reading FiM Fiction that is referred to me through links, but some links aren't able to be accessed through my audible reading tool).
I very much look forward to seeing how you wrap this whole thing up. It's a genuine labor-of-love, I'm sure. As one who admires Scootaloo, I certainly can say this is the best telling of Scoots' life I've ever read and will likely ever read. :)
All caught up! Wow, this has been a great story so far! Poor Scoots, having all the pressures of adulthood on her when she's still a filly. I find it equal parts sad and inspiring that she works so hard at her jobs to keep her house and independence.
Geez, so that's why her wings are the way they are? At least we know now that it looks like her wings weren't the reason for her parents putting her up for adoption, but rather it sounds as though they were young and busy up and comers who just didn't have the money or the time to raise a child properly.
Gracious, all this revelation, yet with Twilight still not knowing whether or not Scootaloo will be able to fly, it leaves me to wonder if Twilight will spill all of the beans, some of the beans, or none of the beans. After all, she didn't promise Scoots that she'd tell her everything the seers said, yet I think Twilight would still tell her what she saw, unless she thought that it'd be too much for Scootaloo to handle. Then again, she already promised Scootaloo that she'd give her the harsh unvarnished truth with the flying thing, so she might tell her everything that happened here. I'm looking forward to finding out!
Seems to me that Twi has enough information to investigate and figure out who Scootaloo's parents are now, based on Scootaloo's maternal grandfather being/having been a physician for the Wonderbolts, and her mother potentially being a Wonderbolt too. From there, all she has to do is find out what steroids Scootaloo's mother was using, forcibly getting the information if necessary, then look at similar cases to see if other pegasi whose mothers sued steroids in the womb were able to fly later in life or not.
Twilight also knows now of course Scootaloo was abandoned by her parents. It's a good thing she only saw Scootaloo's smackdown of DT and not the words Diamond Tiara said, because the line Scootaloo omitted in her report to Cheerilee about what DT said about her parents would have probably left Twilight seething with fury. Now she just has to clue in that no, Scootaloo wasn't in fact adopted by whomever's doorstep she was left at.
...I wonder if they left her at Filthy Rich's place, and DT actually knows Scootaloo's parents gave her up as a result instead of just throwing out words to see if they stick.
>Naming dream
Oh god, another story going there, without even considering the consequences—
>Princess's Curse
...proceed.
Finding another world where time stands still, as a way to offer sanctuary to those ponies who would otherwise be driven absolutely bonkers with a talent for future sight. Interesting idea. It's still kind of eh... horribly violating and invasive. It's not so much that they were reading her mind, or that they were controlling her mind, forcing her to think of the past, or that they were doing so involuntarily but what really made me cringe was how Twilight didn't even seem to realize this was happening. Also Shining Armor always makes me cringe.
I hate to say that this seemed like a cop-out, but the ponies really should have suspected what was going on with Scootaloo, before the seers were like "TWILIGHT YOU GODDAMNED MORON SHE IS AN ABANDONED RUNAWAY ORPHAN CRIPPLE LIKE YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THE MOMENT CHEERILEE SAID SHE NEVER MET HER PARENTS." Since they remained blissfully ignorant to those facts all this time, hitting us over the head with it via magic shenanigans felt less like a grim confirmation, and more like the author going, "What do I do? I already made my characters too dumb to figure it out! Oh, I know, I'll use a plot device!"
As tempting as it is to beat Twilight to a bloody pulp with a clue-by-four, a less satisfying answer from the seers might have been nice. Or them not being able to delve into a pony's past, which isn't exactly what you expect seers of the future to do. Then all Twilight would have to work with is the brief moment in which they saw Scootaloo in the near future in some emotional engagement with Twilight, before they pulled out and said she's cut off. Like say, snuggling together sometime in the future sharing a cup of cocoa. And Twilight is like, "Sorry Scootaloo, all they would tell me is that we're destined one day to share a mug of cocoa together." Then Scoots could be disappointed, and lose her house, and be all moe on the rainy cobblestones, while Twilight obsessively researched Scootaloo's condition desperate to give the filly a good answer about her wings, despite not knowing what Scootaloo's real problem is. Then she can't find Scoots, and nopony knows where the parents are, only the Crusaders raise alarm that their friend is missing. Find Scootaloo, save her from being an hero, get her confession, take her home to the treebrary where they recover over a cup of hot cocoa. And then Twi mentions that Scootaloo's wings indicate a condition some foals get whose parents use pegasteroids, and Scootaloo's tired of being upset and just says "Yeah, I figured."
Or, you know, you could write just your own story, and not write the story I happe to demand.
I hope this will be continued one day.
Is this story dead
So... moar?
What exactly was it that Scootaloo's mother saw in that dream? I mean, did she have her cutie mark yet? Because if so, then the Cabinet of Seers gave her a dream of an impossible future. I'm still questioning whether the Seers don't reveal an alicorn's future as a rule, or if they are incapable of showing an alicorn's future. And if that's the case, then Scootaloo's parents couldn't have been shown a future where Scootaloo has her cutie mark. Either that, or they saw a future where events happened, but were events that didn't take into account Scootaloo bonding with Twilight.
And even if they can see into the an alicorn's future, but are just forbidden to do so, wouldn't it be dishonest of them not to express that fact from the start? Because if they had foreseen Scootaloo's future (as her mother's dream), would they not have recognized Twilight in that future as being an alicorn?
So how I see it, either the Seers predicted a false future for Scootaloo for her parents (meaning that the Seers prediction is not a set in stone future), or the Seers didn't look far enough into her future to see her cutie mark (meaning that the Seers didn't predict far enough into the future to determine if she will or will not be able to fly). Either way, it means that Scootaloo's future is not set in stone unless the Seers have intentionally lied about something.
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P.S. I do hope you get around to continuing this story soon.
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I really like the questions you are asking. Almost prescient.
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When I make comments and ask questions like that, it's because I view the events from one of two possibilities. The first is that I do see these deeper meanings to what's written, and potentially catch something and make an educated guess at what will later happen. The second is that I see inconsistencies and hope to rectify any potential plot holes.
So potentially, I either impress the author, or I help them fix any potential issues.
What makes this story interesting is the reveal of Scootaloo's parents. Most stories will go the "abusive/hateful parent" route. Others will go the "loving but incapable/sick/dying" route. This is unique in the sense that it does neither of those. I suppose it qualifies as "incapable" based on the latter idea. Scootaloo's parents loved her and were torn apart about giving her up. But the reason for giving her up was purely selfish. The father's position is understandable. He was still going to school to earn a degree. But the mother... it's apparent that she loved Scootaloo a lot. But it's still disturbing that her desire to get into the Wonderbolts outweighed her love for Scootaloo. They also are aware that they don't have the moral high ground. It's also ironic that her affinity for making bad choices is the reason why giving Scootaloo up was a good choice.
You did a good job at making the readers hate Scootaloo's parents' decisions, but also keep that hate with the decisions and not the ponies themselves. I don't know what to say about that aside from my opinion of it being praise-worthy depth. It's ironic that the characters with the most depth in this story (in my opinion) so far are characters that likely will never appear again and we may never even know the names of. (With all this irony, I'd think that you, HMXTaylorLee, are a seer.)
Also, you technically predicted canon. Scootaloo's father is an Earth Pony, and her mother is a Pegasus. So if you so choose, you could retcon Scootaloo's canon parents into the roles you made for her fictional parents (assuming that you didn't already have plans for them).
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What would be ironic is if the realtor that Scootaloo got her house from is owned by her biological father. That would be real irony right there. But it was mentioned that the father was going to school for "selling homes or whatever it was".