Mystery Scootaloo

by thedarktome

Chapter 01 - It Frickin' Begins!...Sort Of

"Alright, Scoots....you got one shot at this," the little orange Pegasus whispered to herself. She squinted her eyes in focus, drowning out the cheering of her friends Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Diamond Tiara, staring down at the ramp in front of her, the stunt that she called......"The Stunt of The Century.

"You got this, Scoots!" Apple Bloom yelled from the platform setup for the group of three.

"You get 'em...it! You get it, Scootaloo!" Diamond Tiara cheered, jumping up and down.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Sweetie Belle asked worriedly, making the two others look at her annoyed. "I mean...that ramp looks pretty rickety."

"What are you talking about, Sweetie, it's fine!" Apple Bloom replied, motioning towards Scootaloo, who was counting down from ten.

"One of the planks is cracked," she retorted nonchalantly, pointing at the supposedly cracked board three feet away from the starting point. "Wait...nevermind, that's just two different boards pushed together. Definitely not safe."

"You're turnin' into ya' sister! Lighten up, this is Scootaloo, she'll make it!"

"I doubt that too! Look, the end point is eight feet away and the beginning ramp is only ten feet long! I really don't think she's gonna-"

"Could you hush, she'll be fine!" Diamond said, poking Sweetie Belle in the side. "You get 'em Scoots!"

"Three....two...one!" The Pegasus pushed her rear hoof back, making herself tilt and roll down the ramp, eventually going over the two boards that were pushed recklessly together.

"See, I told you she would be fine!" Diamond said, not at all ceasing Sweetie Belle's worries as she stared wide-eyed at the fast approaching jump.

"Go! Go! Go!" They started cheering.

Scootaloo's eyes widened along with her smile as she flew off the end, headed for the other side....that was too far away, making her gasp.

"She's not gonna make it," Sweetie said blandly.

"Sweetie, she's going to be fine, see?" Diamond said, pointing towards the filly.

"AHHH-" *CRASH*

"OHHHHHHH!" The three said, looking at the plank the adventurous Pegasus just crashed her head into. They all looked at each other before running off the platform towards the crash site.

"Ugghh....that hurt, man," she muttered, reaching up towards the large gash on her leg, wincing and pulling her hoof back.

"Scootaloo, are you alright?!" Apple Bloom yelled down to her, followed by the rest of them. "Answer me ya' flippy Pegasus!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"No you're not, you got a gash on ya' leg!"

"I do? AWESOME!"

"Not cool!" Sweetie Belle yelled, picking her up in her magic and throwing her in the wagon with her scooter. After hooking herself up, she began to pull her back to town, the other two right behind her.

"Where am I going in this wagon?!"

"To the hospital!"

"WHAT! NO!"

---

"Okay, and how did this happen?" Nurse Redheart said, writing on her clipboard.

"I attempted to do a flip high jump with a vertical three sixty and a horizontal three sixty, complete with a grind that could tear the roof off your house!" Scootaloo yelled in excitement, making the four look at her in wonder. Redheart raised an eyebrow before glancing down at the unicorn who sighed in return.

"She did a jump on a Scooter," she translated blandly.

"It wasn't just any jump!" Scootaloo yelled, looking at her friends. "It was the most magnificent jump that-"

"-you banged and broke your leg and, I suspect, your head on," Apple Bloom finished. "We get it Scoots."

"Nuh uh!"

"Alright, well let's take a look at that leg," the nurse called, getting their attention. She walked out from behind the desk, making her to the filly in the wagon. Looking down at the wound, she knew what had to be done.

"It just needs some cleansing and stitching. Which is what I do." She picked up Scootaloo and placed her on the stretcher setup behind her before pushing her towards a room.

"Can we come?" Diamond asked.

"No, you girls stay here. This might get messy."

Ignoring their disappointed fawning, she rolled Scootaloo into a basic examination room with a table in the center, where she placed her on top of. She told her to lay down and get comfortable while rummaging through the drawers, looking for the kit.

Thirty minutes later, the gash was sealed, allowing the nurse to cut the thread.

"Alright, Scootaloo now that that's over, we gotta tell your parents. Can you tell me their names?" Scootaloo stopped admiring her sealed leg, her eyes going wide as she turned her head slowly to Nurse Redheart.

"I uhhh....I can't remember their names right now," she stammered.

"Well you did hit your head too," she sighed. "Let me go check your file." She walked out of the room and down the hall, leaving Scootaloo alone to look for an escape route. Every single time.

"Once again....gotta run out the window," she whispered, hopping onto the ledge where the window sat and pushed it open. After stepping outside, she closed it back as much as she could before jumping down onto the ground, flinching from the pain that shot up her leg. "God, that hurts. I should really stop trying to do tricks."

After looking around, she crawled through some bushes behind the building, making sure to not make a sound that could catch the nurse pony's attention if she looked out the window to find her. After a few more minutes of dodging other ponies she quickly made her way to the outskirts of town towards the whitetail woods, where she walked five minutes in and jumped onto a very large tree.

"Ponies shouldn't be able to do this," she muttered to herself, climbing up the tree and onto a large branch. "Aww who am I kidding, ponies shouldn't be able to use magic either but there they go." She walked into a large hole in the tree, a previous nest for some falcons that lived there before but now served as her primary home ever since she arrived there in the past.

It was so long ago, six years to be exact. Where she lived at before it had gotten violent to the point where they had to leave. But she was the only one who made it. She lost both of her parents, she'll never forget that. The ponies of Ponyville were never going to find out about that. She's kept it a secret for seven years she could keep it that way for more. Unless ponies begin asking questions around mother's and father's day, where she usually avoids everypony. Hopefully, nopony's noticed that.

She sighed and looked out the doorway of her makeshift home, at the leaves blowing off the branches, signalling the start of fall. Another cold winter coming, she thought. Last winter, she was cooped up in the tree for three days straight with it wide open, having only a very small fire to keep her company. Before it would snow and the winter would approach, she would gather up as much food as she can and camp out, waiting for the cold to be done with as much as she could handle before it was time for school. She didn't really care for the school here, going only because of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Besides that, it would be the last place she ever goes.

And so far, she could feel the cold moving in. The weather ponies were moving the clouds in to block out the sun and have the cold intensify, which was more than likely to happen in the next few days. Of course that was the least of her problems.

The main one was the animals. She had the biggest home out in the woods, so far that she could tell. All the other trees were made to fit the tiny birds. So the hard part was claiming it as hers. She could always dig a hole in the ground, having learned how to do that the hard way after having found no place after the start of winter. As well as keeping a very special place in Ponyville.

She had dug a hole underneath one of the houses in town. Really risky since no one knew about a homeless filly running around. They would probably over react. She was already scared about what would happen if somepony had found her. They'd ask questions, turn it into some giant project to figure her out. They'd look her up, find the Scootaloo of this world, and learn that she's alive and that there's actually two of them. But what all of them didn't know....was that she had magic on her side to help with that.

A few years ago, she had somehow gotten a bit of magic. Okay, a bit was a huge understatement, she had an insane amount of magic. One day, she was by herself walking around deep into the Whitetail Woods when she got a migraine. A big one that had her crying out. Something was telling her to yell to get it out. So she did just that. But it wasn't just any yell. It was the canterlot Royal Voice that only Alicorns get. They use their magic to enhance their voice.

But this was different. This was far louder. She was pretty sure that everyone in Equestria had heard and felt the vibrations. When she opened her eyes from the yelling, the headache was gone, but she was also in a very large crater that had left one third of the white tail woods dead. Nopony was going through there.

Of course she'd never tell them about that, because that'd get the princesses involved. Including Twilight Sparkle who wouldn't give up until she figured it out. She was always the alicorn nosey box. She never left well enough alone. Butt out, princess!

Suddenly, the tree Scootaloo was in shook, making her squeal quietly. Wait....squeal? "Why am I squealing?" She asked herself once the shaking stopped. "What was that?"

Her ears swiveled towards the front of the tree as a round of huffing below and a roar made her jump out of her thoughts. A bear. A freakin' bear was shaking the tree.

"Are ya' sure she's in there, Fluttershy?" A country accent asked below. Wait, Fluttershy? Applejack? What were they doing there.

"Harry's senses are never wrong," A timid voice answered. Yep, Fluttershy.

"I wonder how she got in that tree. I never heard of a pony who can climb before." Twilight?! What?! What are they doing here?! Maybe if she just kept quiet, they'd—

"HEY, SQUIRT!" Rainbow yelled, poking her face into the tree and startling Scootaloo so much that her hidden magic burst out in the form of a bolt, and hit Rainbow square in the face. "OW! WHAT WAS THAT?" She yelled, falling down to the ground.

"Oh my gosh, I have to get out of here," Scootaloo muttered frantically. "I can teleport out, I can teleport out." She closed her eyes and focused on her destination, the beginning of the woods, and sent out the magic. She disappeared in a white flash and reappeared right where she wanted to be.

Looking around, she realized she was all alone, making her sigh in relief. "Phew....that was close. But I'm not safe yet. Gotta get away for awhile. Those ponies just ruined my winter by simply pushing my tree around." She huffed, turned and ran back towards the town, trying her hardest to control her magic.

Whenever she uses her magic, it would burst again at random points out of her control, like a constantly dripping faucet. You can turn it on and turn it back off, but sometimes, water will drip out. For instance, right now she just changed into a bunch of black smoke and flew forward a few yards before going back to her true form right when she ran into the town.

"Don't know what that was," she muttered, trotting past Sugarcube Corner. "But it got me here faster. And undetected."

"SCOOTALOO, STOP!" The filly froze before realization came into her head.

"Why am I stopping?!" She shook her head and began running from the group of ponies after her, weaving in and out of ponies walking past, trying to confuse her pursuers.

"Gosh darn it, she's fast!" Applejack yelled, watching as the filly jumped over a stand and into an alley. "She's goin' in there! Rainbow, stop her!"

Scootaloo huffed as she neared the exit, looking over her shoulder at Princess Twilight who just jumped in. Why did she never have any guards to do something? Don't worry about that, focus on what's in front of you!

She turned back around and gasped before sliding right into Rainbow Dash's hooves. Yelping, she started to push her away, but Rainbow had a strong grip. Come on, magic! Work!

"Ha! Gotcha! Stop squirming, Scoots, we just wanna ask some questions!" She stopped squirming and focused on teleporting again before the others stopped around Rainbow.

"Scootaloo," Princess Twilight huffed, ignoring Scootaloo's grunts. "How come you—"

*Zap* Scootaloo disappeared in a flash again, making the Princess gasp. And look around like the rest of the mane six. "Did she just....tele—" The filly fell on top of Twilight's head after teleporting thirteen feet in the air, then jumped back up and zipped right out of that alleyway, continuing the chase.

"Scootaloo! Stop!" Rainbow yelled, taking to the air again while the others pursued on foot.

"How.....how in Equestria did she teleport?" Princess Twilight asked herself, watching Scootaloo weave through ponies. She suddenly turned into black smoke and split off going farther ahead before coming back together, making Twilight gasp in realization. "BLACK MAGIC! SHE'S SOME TYPE OF ENEMY!"

"Great, wait for it," Scootaloo muttered, looking ahead of her.

"Someone took Scootaloo!"

"There it is. I need my scooter, and I need it now." She adjusted her path turning left onto another street where Twilight teleported in front of her, horn a glow with magic.

"Stop right there, pony!" She ordered, placing a bubble on and around the filly. "Where's Scootaloo?"

"I AM Scootaloo, now let me out!" She started hitting the bubble with her hooves, her magic having stopped for a while.

"Yeah right!" Applejack said, pointing an accusing hoof up at the filly. "I know when a pony lyin' and you lyin' through yo' teeth!"

"Then you're not really good at your job!" Scootaloo retorted, making Applejack gawk. Ignoring that, Scootaloo began to buck the shield. "Let me out of here Princess Twilight! I mean it!"

"Not until you tell us who you are, darling," Rarity said, getting her attention.

"If you would be so kind as to give us—-"

"Buck that, where's Scootaloo?!" Rainbow yelled, flying up to the bubble and cutting off Fluttershy. Scootaloo gasped, doubling back at the intense stare Rainbow was giving her. It was so full of rage.

"L-l-let me out of here!!" She yelled, hitting the bubble harder to get away from that look.

"Not until you tell us where Scootaloo is!" Twilight told her.

"I am Scootaloo!"

"No you're not, Pegasi can't summon spells, where is Scootaloo?!" Applejack yelled.

"I am Scootaloo!"

"WHERE IS SCOOTALOO?!" They all yelled, except Fluttershy.

"AIIIEEEE...." Scootaloo passed out in the bubble in the middle of the yell, confusing the group and more importantly Twilight.

"Why did she.....I'm taking us back to the castle. Hopefully she can give us some answers there."

---

Scootaloo groaned, batting away the hoof that continued poking her while she slept. The best sleep she's ever...wait....hoof?

She cracked an eye open, looking straight into the curious magenta eyes of Celestia. She gasped and jumped up, banging her head on top of the violet box she was held in.

After recovering from that and checking her head for any bumps, she refocused her attention back on the problem at hand. Being in a box. "Let me out of here! Are you nuts?! Let me out, let me out!"

"Twilight.....why is Scootaloo in a box?" Celestia asked nonchalantly, looking at her student who was staring intently at the filly.

"That's not Scootaloo," she explained, catching the filly's attention. "She was using magic. Light and dark. We were searching for her after the nurse at the hospital told us that whenever she was brought in and asked about her parents, she'd leave. And this was the fifth time. So we decided to track her down and ask her some questions about it before she punched Rainbow in the face and disappeared again."

"I didn't punch her!" Scootaloo denied. "I just got scared when her face took on a Pinkie Pie expression. That's horrifying enough when Pinkie's doing it."

"So we went on a chase," Rainbow said ignoring Scootaloo. "And she started teleporting around, turning into smoke and stuff."

"That ain't Scootaloo your highness!" Applejack stated, pointing a hoof at where Scootaloo was previously, all completely unaware of her teleporting out of the containment and creeping towards the door of the library in the castle. "As the Element of Honesty, I know when a pony lyin' and she lyin' through her teeth."

I wanna prove her wrong so bad right now, Scootaloo thought as she walked out of the room and bumped into Spike.

"Oh hey Scootaloo," He greeted as she walked around him.

"Hey Spike, gotta run!" She greeted quickly and quietly, dashing off down the hall and away from the crazy ponies. He watched her run away in confusion before shaking his head and walking into the library.

"So then we kept asking and asking before she passed out. Then Twilight brought her here," Rarity finished.

"I must admit, this is a strange case," Celestia sighed. "And a Pegasus teleporting? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, Princess!" Rainbow said before turning back to the box. "Now tell us who.....aw buck, where'd she go now?"

They all turned towards the box and gasped. "How'd she get out? That's an advanced spell that nopony can get out of!" Twilight yelled in disbelief. "This is what I mean, Celestia! That is not Scootaloo!"

"And where'd she go?!" Applejack inquired.

***

"Thanks, Pinkie!" Scootaloo said, handing the excitable baker a few bits while she walked away with her cupcake.

"You're welcome!" The pink pony replied before hopping into the back.

The customer pushed open the door and walked out, taking small bites out of her vanilla cupcake. God, these things were delicious. Back home they were her favorite snack, almost her favorite food. She could eat these all—

"Scootaloo! There you are!" She stopped and opened her eyes to see Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle standing in front of her with her scooter. "Where have you been?" Apple Bloom asked in worry.

"Held captive in Twilight's castle, I'm pressing charges. You got my scooter!" She took another bite out of her cupcake and walked over to it, checking for damages.

"Yeah! Princess Twilight was lookin' for ya' after the nurse said you always bolt after they ask about your parents," Sweetie Belle confirmed.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Diamond Tiara asked suspiciously.

Scootaloo stopped petting her scooter to continue eating her cupcake. Once she was done, she made a little exit scene. "Oh no! It's almost midnight! I have to go, see ya!" She hopped on her scooter and buzzed away, leaving her confused friends behind.

"The second she said midnight at eleven in the day I knew she was hiding something," Apple Bloom commented, shaking her head as they watched her speed off.

"Hear here," Sweetie agreed.

After a few minutes of riding and looking around to make sure no one was watching, Scootaloo hopped off her scooter and rolled it into the alley with her before looking around again, including to the sky. Rainbow Dash could be watching her from anywhere.

After assuming it was safe, she moved aside a wooden box covering a very large hole in the ground that she stepped into with her scooter. Once in, she turned around and pulled the box back over the hole, shrouding her in darkness as she continued her way on down until she entered a very large area.

She grabbed two objects she felt with her front right hoof and struck them together, creating a small spark. A second time. Third. Fourth before the sticks set in the middle of the area caught flame, lighting the room. The smoke went through a vent above that went out into a different alley. No one would ever notice it.

She grabbed her scooter and rolled it towards one side of the area, where there was a blanket and books while on the other side were pictures drawn by her....as well as photographs of her family that she brought with her. They took up the whole wall. There was approximately one hundred twenty one, she could count them all within a second. Thanks to that magic. Or whatever the heck she had contracted.

Sitting down and facing the wall, Scootaloo stared in sadness at the photo of one of the full family pictures, her fourth birthday, from across the room. She felt a sense of nostalgia while she looked on, the light of the orange flames dancing off her stoic expression before she slowly walked over and looked at it closer.

Her young face had vanilla icing on it, after eating half of the cake on her own. She remembered that. She didn't know how, but she did. On top of the desert, the text said Happy Birthday Lareen Carson. She had long magenta hair back then. Long enough to make any girl jealous at the age of four.

Most ponies don't remember what it was like so long ago, only bits and pieces of it. How she could remember everything was confusing to even try and think about. So she just let it happen. Just let it flood her mind.

Sighing, she darted her eyes away from the photographs and towards the blanket and the books which she would use as a makeshift pillow. This was her sanctuary. Her safespot. She didn't really use this place except on mother's and father's day, all holidays, and whenever she needed to hide. It wasn't as accessible like the other homes she had set up around town.

There was a bundle of wood in the corner for more firewood during the winter. And a sandpile in another for her.....waste and stuff.

Nopony else was allowed down here. Nopony. The memories were becoming overwhelming. She sobbed silently, placing a small hoof on one of the pictures. There was a grown woman with orange skin, blue hair, and magenta eyes on the left and a man with yellow skin, blue eyes, and red hair on the right. Along with a twelve year old girl in the middle with orange skin, magenta eyes, and magenta hair in the middle. She was sixteen when she was forced into the portal, which changed her age.

They were all wearing the biggest smiles they could manage, along with light green shirts that read, "The Carsons". Vanessa Carson, William Carson, and Lareen Carson, their daughter.

"I miss you, mom....dad," she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks as she took it down from the wall and walked over to her makeshift bed with it. She settled down with it in her hooves and fell asleep. Dreaming about what could have been.

---

The embodiments of the Elements of Harmony followed Winona into town, watching as she sniffed the ground leading to an alleyway all the way from the castle.

"So she came through here," Twilight surmised as they walked in, being as quiet as they could. "She tried to out think us by weaving in and out of alleys. This pony's good, but not good enough."

Winona stopped at a box and sniffed around, confusing Applejack before she tried moving it. "Looks like she's underneath that," she whispered.

Twilight used her magic and moved it to the side quietly, revealing the giant burrow.

"She went underground," she whispered, looking in the hole. At the very bottom she could see a light flickering. "And she's in there. Rainbow, you're up."

They looked over to see the Cyan Pegasus rubbing her hooves together before stalking down the hole. It was big enough to fit Celestia so it fit her just fine.

On the way down, she heard light snoring. Perfect, she was asleep. Easy to grab. Once she reached the bottom, she poked her head out and grinned,l. "Scootaloo" was in the midst of sawing logs under a blanket and using books as pillows.

She quietly walked over, preparing to grab her before she took on a confused expression. She had tear streaks on her cheeks and she was holding a white paper that, upon closer expression, was a photograph. She could make that out easily. She couldn't really see what the photo was because it was too close to her coat. Was she crying over the photo? What was on it?

Before she could ponder further, the wall next to her caught her eyes. She glanced over and gasped lightly at all the pictures. There had to be over a hundred of them!

Looking down at the filly for a second to make sure she was still sleeping, she stood up and walked over to the photographs to figure them out. But she didn't understand what she was looking at. It was of....things that looked nothing like ponies. But one of them...bore a strong resemblance to Scootaloo. The bigger ones....must've been parents while the shorter one must've been the filly!

And there were so many. It looked like...like a....shrine. Maybe Twilight knew something about this. Rainbow looked over her shoulder at Scootaloo before grabbing one of them and going back towards the entrance, walking out.

The group looked towards the hole at the sound of shuffling, expecting Rainbow to have the little pegasus, only to see her coming out empty handed with a piece of paper in her mouth.

"What in tar—" Rainbow placed a hoof over Applejack's loud mouth while she turned to Twilight's confused face, motioning for her to block the hole again.

"Why didn't you grab her?" Applejack asked once it was in place. "And what's that in yer' mouth?"

Rainbow turned around and passed the picture to the princess. "Do you know what those are?"

Twilight took it and looked at it before nodding. "Yeah, they're...." She looked around for Lyra before whispering, "Humans. From Earth. I saw them when I went to grab my crown from Sunset Shimmer when she was evil. Why?"

"Well..... there's a whole wall down there with over a hundred of them on it, portraying only these three humans. And this one—" She motioned towards the orange, magenta-haired girl. "Bears a strong resemblance to Scootaloo."

The others gathered around looking at them to see what she was talking about. "She was holding one down there, but I also noticed tear streaks on her face and holding a photo of her own while she was sleeping. She was crying."

Twilight looked from her then back to the photograph while she continued. "I think...I think it was a shrine."

Author's Note:

This chapter took a lot of thought, everyone. I really hope you enjoyed it. Currently creating a plot and a conflict!

Comment what you think about it so far!

Comments

[Marauder15]

Interesting

[raven618]

Unique, unexpected, and very in-depth. You have my attention.

[Whinifree]

Just started this and color me intrigued.

[Zerocool7785]

I like it so far.

[Mare Luna]

Ooh, WildMagicSorcerer!Scootaloo. This is gonna be fun!

[Emperor]

So I mean, I barely pay attention to the tags, so I didn't see the Human tag at first. Instead, I saw that twist coming from a mile away with the mention of Scootaloo saying her and her parents ran from some big disaster, and that there were two Scootaloos in this world (well, I didn't know explicitly until the end of the chapter that she was human, though. It's always possible counterparts are coming from another world where they aren't human, but some other species, after all!)

As for this chapter...my goodness, what is with that pacing? In a single chapter, we go from Scootaloo getting into a training accident, going to the hospital and then running away, sneaking into a treehome and then being caught, teleporting away and then being captured again, teleporting away and running into another safe bunker before being found again? Like, that's enough plot development for several chapters, or a chapter that's three times this size. It's fine if you have an idea and want to write it, but it needs to be paced out better!

As for the idea itself, it's intriguing enough anyways. If Scoots was 16 years old before crossing worlds, it would at least give her an edge in planning stuff out. Just as long as the other CMC don't find out she's secretly like 20 years old now. I still don't get why she'd stop in at Sugarcube Corner for a treat while running away from Twilight and Dashie and Applejack, though

"As the Element of Honesty, I know when a pony lyin' and she lyin' through her teeth."

Well, AJ is very sort of technically correct in that this isn't this world's native Scootaloo, but she's wrong in everything else. I wonder if she'll eat her words. Or her hat

[raven618]

8875630
Ironic, as I apparently forgot about this story until stumbling across it again now. Still a gripping story, except this time I'll actually read it.

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

ooh quite an interesting start