Flatline

by The Blue EM2

Thank you Lord for This New Day

To all who lived in Canterlot, it seemed as if this day would simply be another day. It was a cold Saturday in February, the sort of day when most people would simply bundle up warm and stay indoors to avoid the cold.

Not Scootaloo though.

Up at 7 every morning, irrespective of whether it was a school day or not, the young girl would often try to be outdoors or doing things with her friends, although at the moment they were down one member as Apple Bloom was yet to return from visiting her cousin in New York.

So today, Scootaloo was going to meet up with Sweetie Belle and Cozy Glow at the mall, then this evening she was going to...erm, ‘go out’ with Rumble. There was no denying that she liked him, and he liked her back, but she wasn’t willing to go all the way just yet. To a certain degree, they were testing the water with relationships, which was entirely understandable given they were only 12 years old.

So, that morning, like any other, just as her alarm ceased sounding, Scootaloo hopped out of bed and took a look out of the window. The snow was still pooled on the ground, and the sun was still below the crest of the world, yet to rise and bless the world with its glorious rays. Furthermore, there was no rain forecast, which was a good thing. Scootaloo hated rain, as it made the ground wet and soggy, which was the worst possible condition in which to play soccer or other sports. The city had not entirely woken up yet, as the early morning streetcar was yet to roll past.

Scootaloo checked her watch. “Well, your late,” she said. She knew the streetcar schedule from heart, and knew the streetcar was meant to pass her house at exactly 7:03. It actually rumbled through at 7:05, making an absolute racket as it crunched over ice, sparks showering from the overhead power lines.

Scootaloo smiled, and thought back over her numerous adventures that had happened that year. Just a few weeks ago, they had got an old railroad running again, running up into the Everfree hills. Getting that running once again had been an absolute blast, as had being able to run trains.

Of course, some of it hadn’t been so fun. Being accused of cyberbullying was not one of them. Scootaloo groaned as she ran her hand over her stomach. She still had a partial bruise from where Misty Fly had punched her. But at least Rainbow Dash had saved her, and they-together-had taken Anon-a-Miss down. If the Dazzlings had intended to drive them apart, they had failed miserably. If anything, the Rainbooms and Crusaders were stronger than ever.

Even if she still had nightmares about Anon-a-Miss.

Scootaloo forced those thoughts down in her mind and went on to something else. Oh yes!

They had got to meet Apple Bloom’s cousin from the East Coast, Babs Seed, and she had been a great friend. They had even helped her overcome her fears regarding bullying, and according to Apple Bloom was now doing a lot better in New York. Scootaloo was looking forward to hearing from Apple Bloom of what she had got up to in New York.

There were also some more embarrassing memories, such as accidently blocking up the yard at Canterlot depot, or triumphant ones, such as successfully getting a stricken APT back to Canterlot. Although the competing airlines were not flying into Canterlot, as the airport had been cancelled, the plan was to bring the trains back into service when the technical issues were resolved.

So, Scootaloo went off to the shower, walking past her parents’ room as she did so. After a rather uneventful shower (apart from briefly going deaf due to water in her ear), she headed back, and got changed into her usual outfit, adding a grey hoodie to the ensemble. She then removed it, and decided to change out her usual grey shirt for a turquoise one. She wanted to surprise Rumble, and thought a slight change of outfit would do the trick.

She walked out into the kitchen, and popped some bread into the toaster. She smiled as she pushed it down, remembering how Sweetie Belle had nearly blown it up that time. Boy had they been in hot water that time!

She looked over as she heard the door open, and in stepped Cheerilee with a smile. “Good morning Scootaloo,” she said, her voice full of maternal warmth.

“Hi mom,” Scootaloo replied. “You’re up early.”

“No point just lying about in bed,” Cheerilee answered in turn. “Besides, you get waking up early from me. Your dad can be a bit of a problem, though.”

“No I am not,” Will groaned, as he walked in. “How’d ya sleep, champ?”

“Good, thanks,” Scootaloo replied.

“No nightmares?”

Scootaloo shook her head.

“That’s a relief.”

Momentarily, the family sat down to breakfast.

“So, what’s anyone doing today?” Cheerilee asked.

“I’m seeing some of my mates from the base,” Will answered. Will had only recently transferred to Canterlot Airbase, or PCSed, as it is termed, as he wanted to spend more time with his family. Although he’d been there when Scootaloo was born, he felt he didn’t know her very well, and wanted to be there for what remained of her childhood.

“I’m popping over to the mall to see my friends,” Scootaloo replied, “and hopefully seeing Rumble this evening.”

Cheerilee laughed. “Seeing your crush, are we?”

“MOM!” Scootaloo exclaimed, going bright red as she did so.

“I’m just teasing you, I know you’re just friends.”

“Yeah,” Will said quietly. “They’re just friends.”

Both mother and daughter shot him a glare, before resuming the conversation. “Will you be seeing Apple Bloom back in?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo nodded. “We’ll be there at the station to pick her up.”

After breakfast, Scootaloo headed out into the world toward the mall, hopping aboard a streetcar in order to get there faster. It was a good way to travel, seeing the world race by you from the seat of a streetcar, not to mention it conserved the environment.

Scootaloo had been looking forward to this for several days now. Sadly, the day would be remembered for the wrong reasons.

Hopping off at McCraken Drive, Scootaloo went inside the mall to meet her friends, who waved to her.

“Hi Scootaloo!” called Sweetie Belle, who got up and crashed into her, giving her a tackle hug.

“Hey!” Scootaloo replied. “I’m happy to see you two, but I kinda need to breathe!”

Cozy Glow walked over as well. “Would you like a drink Scootaloo?” she asked.

“Sure!” the orange-skinned girl replied, as they walked over to the nearby coffee shop. They each got hot chocolates, as they needed it in these temperatures, and sat down once again, idly chatting about the day.

“So, what’s Rarity up to?”

“Still seeing that Blueblood guy, I’m afraid,” Sweetie Belle sighed. “I keep trying to tell her that he’s a bad guy, but she won’t listen. She claims to have ‘found her prince’.”

Scootaloo snorted. “Cause Button Mash so isn’t yours. Doesn’t he have a fixation with ‘saving princesses’?”

Sweetie Belle blushed. “Well, he is kinda handsome,” she admitted. “But that fixation is from when he was younger and played Mario games!”

“Well, I did take him on in World of Tanks that one time,” Scootaloo noted.

“How about you and Rumble?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Nothing to report since last time,” Scootaloo admitted. “I wonder if the cat got his tongue, because I’ve noticed he’s really quiet around me at the moment.”

“That sounds odd,” Sweetie Belle commented. “Some days Button won’t stop talking!”

“Maybe it’s a sign of how he feels about you,” Cozy observed. “There was one boy in Wales I liked who, for some reason, struggled to speak to me, or even maintain eye contact.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Well, shall we take a look around?” she asked. She got up to go, and turned to walk deeper into the mall.

Before she knew what was happening, she found herself pitching forward, and all went black.

Author's Note:

The idea for this story came from this one, which I found over the Christmas holidays: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/414252/finding-paradise-an-eqg-tale

It is a beautiful story, but very sad, and left me in tears when I had finished it. I hope you choose to stay onboard for this journey.

Comments

[CrossoverFanficReader]

interesting so far, though i have one teeny tiny little question to ask, and bear with me here.

*inhale*

WHY THE CLIFFHANGER!

[The Blue EM2]

9476482
Because cliffhangers are a useful narrative tool.

[CrossoverFanficReader]

9476484
i know, i was just being melodramatic.
also gotta point out the fact that i've yet to actually see a fic with Cheerilee(forgive me if i messed that up) as Scootaloo's mother.

[The Blue EM2]

9476512
I use that as a motif in my stories, given we still don't know who her mom is. I first saw it done in a story called Scootaloo's Guardian, where Cheerilee adopts her after learning Scootaloo has been living out of a cardboard box for years.

Another, Bloom Filter (which incidentally inspired me to write fanfiction again) has Cheerilee as Scootaloo's biological mother. At first I found it a little odd, but when I compared images of them, I noticed a resemblance. Besides, I can't stand the idea of my precious Scoots being an orphan.

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

gah the fuckin cliffhanger!