Earth: Canterlot City: 2015
Scootaloo kicked a small pebble in frustration as she walked home from Canterlot High. They were right, they were always right. As much as she hated to admit it, that brat Diamond Tiara and her flunky Silver Spoon were always right. She really wouldn’t amount to anything in the long run. Most people didn’t after all, they lived their lives, not doing anything special with them, and just passed on to wherever the next world was when their time came. More often than not, they weren’t even a footnote in history really.
“Yeah, bet that’s where I’ll be really. Doubt anyone would care enough to remember me. Well, they’d remember me for one thing at least,”
A little voice nagged in the back of her head. “But what about your friends? Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?”
Scootaloo brushed away the voice dismissively.
“Puh, doubt they’ll care one jot. We’d been ordered to stay away from each other by our parents, after all, all thanks to one stupid Facebook account we created just because we were jealous,” Scootaloo thought to herself as one particular phrase kept ringing out in her mind. Anon-A-Miss, that’s what it was. That one singular cursed phrase kept popping up time and time again. “Honestly, I think that was a good decision. What we did… Our reasoning… We were petty. Hell, stupid is more like it. We shouldn’t be anywhere near each other, we’d just drive people apart and hurt them like we did with the Rainbooms and… Sunset.”
Scootaloo wiped away a tear from her eye as she remembered the words exchanged by the normally inseparable group back at Rainbow’s home.
“It was you all along! You're "Anon-a-Miss"!”
“We trusted you, Sunset! We thought you were our friend!”
“How could you do this? After all we've been through together?” Rarity asked, in tears.
“No, wait, you guys, I didn't do this! I could never hurt any of you!” Sunset had tried to say, but they wouldn’t listen.
“Secret Stealer!” Pinkie had accused.
“You’re not our friend!” Fluttershy screamed
“I’m sorry, but you did this to us. Tell whatever secrets you want. But we don’t have to listen.” Applejack snarled before Rainbow yelled, “Hey, get out!”
Finally, Applejack finished with a “Yer not welcome here, Sunset!”
Just seeing Sunset run out in tears and her former friends throwing words and things at her, Scootaloo thought nothing of it at the time as she felt she was doing the right thing, but now…?
“I’m a bitch. More of a bitch than Sunset ever was. Sure, she was a diva and Queen Bee of the school, but she saved us from the Dazzlings,” Scootaloo continued to think. “And look at how we repay her. We turn on her, and we turn on ourselves. We became the Dazzlings, no magical green gas influence or any of that crap required. We started this out just because we were jealous, but then everyone sent things to us about their friends that were too good and juicy to ignore.”
Scootaloo then corrected her earlier statement. “We… We didn’t just become the Dazzlings, we became something far worse.”
The young teenager shivered and drew her black jacket closer to herself as a cool autumn wind whipped through the air and stirred up red and orange leaves on the sidewalk in front of her. It was a clear day, the one you should be out enjoying with your friends. It was the exact opposite of Scootaloo’s mood. She’d honestly prefer gray clouds and a drenching downpour over this. Honestly, it seemed as if Mother Nature herself was mocking her. God knew she deserved to be mocked, scorned and hated after all she had pulled.
“Really, looking back, all three of us WERE worse than them. We were so petty, so jealous. You’d think that six months detention was enough punishment, right?” Scootaloo continued to think as she walked the slow trudge home. “Puh-leeze, bodyguards had to be assigned to each of us just so we wouldn’t get beaten up by those we hurt and we were removed from all computers except the school assigned ones and even then our activities were monitored. Apple Bloom was right when she told us it was best to break off our friendship. Our parents may have separated us, but Apple Bloom made the right call when she told us it was best we stay away from each other for the time being. And you know what? She’s absolutely right. Our friendship was toxic, we were toxic.”
Scootaloo was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn’t notice where she was going or what she was about to walk into, or rather… Who.
With a thud, she walked right into one of her teachers, Professor Time Turner, the school’s physics teacher who had transferred directly over from some British school. This was about the time there had supposedly been sightings of some giant black bird in some storm clouds a few years back, but those were just odd rumors that not many people put a lot of stock into. Of course, after the weird stuff displayed at CHS these past few years, Scootaloo pondered over the possibility that maybe there was some truth to those rumors after all.
Time Turner, despite seemingly showing up out of nowhere was one of the more popular teachers at Canterlot High, if not the most popular. Scootaloo mostly chalked that up to his looks. After all, with his nicely pressed pinstripe suits, sticky-uppy hair (And that was so a phrase, Scootaloo would swear by it), his light-hearted attitude (Some would say childish, Scootaloo included.) to seemingly everything and his charming smile he was a rather attractive figure. Mind you, more often than not certain students focused on him rather than his lessons. Scootaloo was so wishing she was one of those morons right now, that way she would have seen him coming.
“Sorry, I’m so sorry!” Scootaloo rapidly apologized as she helped Time Turner pick up his binders off the ground.
“Funny, usually I’m the one saying that to people…” Time Turner muttered to himself in an almost inaudible tone of voice as he dusted off his suit. It was brown today, matching the color of his hair almost perfectly. “Though, then again I suspect you have had to do a lot of saying sorry these days don’t you?”
Time Turner’s words cut through Scootaloo like a knife. She knew she deserved his accusing tone and words, When he was angry with you, you knew you had done something to deserve his ire.
“I’m sorry…” Scootaloo whispered, proving his point.
“Yeah, I bet you are,” Time Turner said, but not in a sarcastic biting way. He sounded quite sincere. “Probably beating yourself up in your head aren’t you?”
“How… How do you know?” Scootaloo asked.
“Trust me, I’ve done some things I’m not proud of myself.” He answered and Scootaloo laughed sarcastically.
“Not on my scale, I bet.” She said sourly.
“Probably not, no.” Time Turner answered. “But believe me, I’ve made many mistakes when I shouldn’t have and lost quite a few friends. Some… Well, at least one I can never get back.”
This was said with a sad tone, and Time Turner looked off into the distance. His eyes, the way they looked, made him seem far, far older than he actually looked.
“Come along, walk with me,” Time Turner said as he gestured for her to follow. “Allons-Y!” He cried, using that oft-repeated French phrase everyone heard him say quite often before he gave them a particularly hard pop quiz.
“Sorry, but mom told me never to walk alone with strangers,” Scootaloo said in an absolutely deadpan tone. To his credit, Time Turner didn’t seem all that offended. He actually gave her an impressed and proud smile.
“Good, you listening to your mum like that. Everyone should listen to their mothers. Plus… Well, not exactly a stranger am I?” Time Turner quipped. “Strange, yes, I’ll give you that, but just trust me on this okay?”
Scootaloo honestly didn’t know why, but all of Time Turner, right down to his red trainers to his hair and even his posture radiated an aura of trust. And so she followed.
Scootaloo found herself walking alongside Time Turner, for what reason she didn’t know, and he led her to an old public call box from the United Kingdom. For such an artifact, it seemed to be in good condition, no nicks or the like as if it’s owner was very proud of it. He threw the doors open, but what Scootaloo saw next was seemingly impossible. Inside, was a control room with a coral-like theme, a glowing cylinder in the center of the console and metal grating everywhere.
“That’s… That’s…” Scootaloo stammered out, finding no words as she raced around all four corners of the box, seemingly trying to find out what sort of trick or illusion this could possibly be. Time Turner knew exactly what she was thinking, as he pulled on a long brown coat.
“Nope, I’m not a trickster. Not an illusionist like that wannabe magician you go to school with and I teach.” He commented.
“Then who are you?” Scootaloo asked, unknowingly setting herself up for the immortal question.
“I’m the Doctor.” Time Turner said proudly.
“Doctor Who?” Scootaloo asked inquisitively. Ah, there it was.
“Just the Doctor, no titles or addendums needed.” He replied.
“But… But, you just can’t be just “The Doctor”. That’s impossible!” Scootaloo stammered out, trying to think up a good argument but failing.
“But yet here I stand,” The Doctor replied with a smirk. “Now, I know your story Scootaloo. Jealous that your adoptive sister was spending too much time with Sunset Shimmer, or at least that’s what you keep telling everyone. But you can’t lie to me.”
Scootaloo gaped, how had he found out?
“Alright…” Scootaloo began. “You’re right. I’m not jealous. I… I just thought Sunset got off too easily, that’s all. I mean, everyone forgiving her just like that, even if she did save the school? That’s just not realistic!”
“And yet it happened,” The Doctor pointed out. “Alright, that settles it. I may not be your teacher right now, and you may not be in school, but it’s time for a lesson!”
“And how are you going to give me that? Lecture me?” Scootaloo scoffed in disbelief as the Doctor threw a switch on his console and tossed Scootaloo a heavy fur coat which she put on. Something told her she was going to need it.
“In a sense, but far more fun. Thing is, this isn’t just a fancy call box. It’s a Time Machine. It’s called the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space.” The Doctor remarked and Scootaloo scoffed again.
“What, like the Delorean from Back to the Future?” she asked sarcastically and the Doctor winked at her.
“Oh, so much better,” He boasted. “Far better indeed!”
Then, the room groaned and wheezed, and shook for a few minutes before it stopped and the Doctor threw open the doors to show a small town somewhere up north judging by the freezing cold weather, built mainly of wood with an old beached fishing boat outside of town along with a totem beyond that.
“When… When are we?” Scootaloo asked.
“Oh, you catch on fast! I like that!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Nome, Alaska, 1925 to be exact, give or take a few months. Looks peaceful, doesn’t it?”
Scootaloo nodded and let out a small “Yeah” even as she shivered, her breath becoming visible in the cold.
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong. Right now, this town is in the midst of a crisis. Diphtheria outbreak to be exact. Fairly easy to deal with in your time, but back then…” The Doctor trailed off. “Let me tell you a bit about this disease. A thick coat builds up in the throat and nose along with lesions. This coating builds and builds, making it hard to breathe, Small wonder they call the disease ‘The Strangler.’ Now, if that didn't kill you, the toxin could travel through the bloodstream, shutting down all, and I mean ALL your major organs. Now, until the development of the antitoxin, you were as good as dead if you caught it.”
“How…?” Scootaloo asked before she trailed, looking incredibly green at the way the Doctor described diphtheria.
“How did this little town survive?” the Doctor asked. “Well, that’s a story in itself. A dogsled race was proposed after everything was tried. Planes, boats, trains. They all failed for one reason or another. One team would start at Nenena, the other at Nome. They’d meet in Nulato. A living legend in dog sledding, Leonhard Seppala, was chosen for the 630-mile round trip from Nome to Nulato and back. His dog Togo, of twelve years, was equally famous as well. He had leadership skills, and a great ability to sense danger.”
The Doctor then pulled Scootaloo back in the TARDIS and hurried over to the console, pulling a few more levers. With a great wheeze, the TARDIS floated up above the ground and began to fly across the snowy plains. Scootaloo looked down and saw, far below them, a sled team led by a dog in with a mix of brown, gray and black in his coat coloring.
“Come on boys!” she heard a voice calling, and to her great surprise, realized that she could hear the dog talking! “We’ve got that medicine to deliver! Those kids…they need it!”
“TARDIS, once you travel in it, you get a little bit of a bonus. You can understand any language in the universe, and this includes animals,” the Doctor explained. “Now, Togo and his team, they’d traveled hundreds of miles. Three hundred and fifty to be exact. That’s when the trouble began. A storm, a big one, hit. Temperatures dropped below minus forty, but still, Togo and his team pressed on. They would hand off this serum to a team lead by Gunnar Kaasen and his dog Steele.”
Scootaloo noted the Doctor said Steele’s name in a tone of derision and disgust. It was a tone she’d never heard him take before, not with anyone. Not even with her. What exactly did Steele do to earn the Doctor’s ire, Scootaloo had to wonder to herself.
The TARDIS shuddered again, racing across the snowy skies so fast that the world became a white blur. When the skies settled, Scootaloo looked down to see Steele. Steele was a black and white malamute, circling another dog, a grayish dog with wolfish features and bright, gleaming yellow eyes with a orange bandana around his neck. Nearby, Kaasen lay unconscious with the amber vials of the serum left unattended. All of Steele’s team had gathered to watch the fight break out. Each time Balto got near the serum, Steele knocked him away as Scootaloo’s eyes widened. Balto was pleading to let him take up the task, but Steele wouldn’t give in and physically attacked Balto again and again. Strangely, the dog in question never defended himself.
"I'll get us back, I'm the lead dog... I'm in charge." Steele growled out in a raspy bur fairly frightening tone of voice.
"Then let me take back the medicine, the children... They're getting sicker," Balto pleaded. "I'm not leaving without that medicine." He then said in a firmer tone. As he walked towards the sled, Steele pounced.
"Who do you think you are?" He growled out.
“Now, you see, Steele, he was a petty sort of dog. Balto always had an eye on a very pretty dog named Jenna, so did Steele. Pure-bred dog against a half-wolf. You can guess how this rivalry of theirs began,” the Doctor said. Scootaloo nodded in understanding. Always came down to a girl and/or prejudice in the end didn't it?
“But there’s more to it than that. You see, underneath his heroic exterior, Steele was always in it for the glory. Hell, while Balto would eventually get the serum away from Steele and send him packing, guess what happened? He sabotaged Balto’s trail markers, just so he wouldn’t get the glory of saving Nome!” the Doctor growled, his voice rising in anger and fury by the minute. Scootaloo’s jaw dropped. Sure, she was petty enough to drive a whole school against one girl, but she wasn’t a monster like Steele was. This was a dog pure evil (There was really no other term for it in Scootaloo’s mind.) enough to let a whole town’s children die just because he wanted all of the glory for himself.
"Since-Since when do you need a pedigree to help someone?" Balto asked as he stood back up. The fight escalated with eventually the sled being knocked over and the bottles inside their crate rattling.
"Hey, that stuff is fragile!" One huge brown dog asked while a nervous looking little dog asked "What's with Steele? All Balto wants to do is help!"
“Please tell me that bastard mutt gets what’s comin’ to him…” Scootaloo snarled, her fists clenched not even caring about the cold.
“Trust me, he does. Steele would show up in Nome, telling this false story of how Balto died and asked him to carry on the task, but then guess who showed up not a few hours later?” The Doctor asked. Scootaloo sighed in relief. “Steele, he was disowned by the whole town and Balto got the glory and the girl after all. Even got a statue in New York, still there today with the words Endurance, Fidelity, Intelligence beneath it. As for the run, today it’s memorialized in the Iditarod Dog Sled Race."
The Doctor then turned to Scootaloo.
“Want to see it?” He asked and Scootaloo nodded.
And so, not even a few minutes later they found themselves in Central Park on a misty fall day. Leaves were scattered everywhere and a young girl and a dog played in the background. In the midst of a circular stood a statue of Balto himself, standing proud and tall. Carved into the base of the statue were the words “Endurance, Fidelity, Intelligence.” An old woman stood before the statue with a tearful gaze.
“Thank you Balto,” Scootaloo heard the woman whisper. “I would have been lost without you.” The woman wiped away a tear, then slowly turned and walked away.
“What happened to Togo, did he get any of the glory?” Scootaloo asked. The Doctor shook his head sadly.
“No, everyone hailed Balto as the hero of Nome. Seppala, he died a broken man unfortunately angry at both Balto and Kaasen. However, if it makes you feel any better,” The Doctor noted, upon seeing Scootaloo’s expression. “Togo’s body is still preserved in Fairbanks to this very day and most mushers today hail Togo as the real hero of the run.”
“That’s the lesson you’re trying to teach me… Isn’t it?” Scootaloo realized. “No matter how bad I may be, there’s always someone worse. Someone who isn’t redeemable and yet I can do that, I can actually own up to my mistakes while Steele never did, did he?”
“Actually…” The Doctor trailed off before he pressed more buttons and took them both on another trip through time. There stood Balto, pulling a blond haired man in the garb of a pilot on a makeshift sled made from a wing. Scootaloo gasped, The twosome were about to fall over the edge of a ravine! Suddenly, two paws grabbed Balto. One belonged to a red and white furred husky and the other belonged to a dog Scootaloo never expected. There was Steele, helping his old archenemy up.
“S-Steele…?” Balto gasped out in shock and disbelief. “What… What are you doing here?”
“Your idiot son, boy scout really, talked me into this. After all, can’t let you die from something as simple as a fall when you braved blizzards, bears, angry moose and ice floes from what I hear,” Steele dryly remarked, and Scootaloo could swear she detected a hint of pride in his voice. “Plus, if anything’s going to kill you, it’s me really.”
Scootaloo could then tell that Steele wasn’t being entirely serious as he and Balto’s son pulled the Hero of Nome up. “Come on dad, we gotta get you home. Mom’s waiting, and you know how she gets.”
Balto chuckled. “Yeah, I do. By the way, what changed your mind? Thought you hated Duke, he was going to steal your job and all.”
“Well, being a sled dog’s all about helping people. Guess it took me and Steele here long enough to realize that.”
Steele grumbled “Oh shut your mouth… Any word out of a son of Bingo here isn’t worth jack squat.” using his old insult for Balto.
“You gotta be kidding me… Steele actually changed his ways?” Scootaloo whispered.
The Doctor nodded as he flipped the switch one more time. The TARDIS’ doors closed and the entire vehicle shook and shuddered once more. When it finally became still again, Scootaloo opened the doors to find herself back in Canterlot, in the middle of a park. Of in the distance, she saw her big sister and Sunset playing a game of basketball.
The Doctor gave her a small shove and said: “Go to her.”
Scootaloo nodded as she walked up to Sunset nervously. Both she and Rainbow stopped playing at once and looked at her.
“I… I have something to say,” Scootaloo whispered, and Sunset knelt down next to her placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Go on… Say it.” Sunset replied, having a very good feeling that she knew what this was about.
“I… I was a bitch, and no need to lecture me for my language. I know you’re thinking it, after what I pulled with Anon-A-Miss. Truth, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were just jealous… But for me, I thought you didn’t get enough karma for tormenting the whole school back before the whole she-demon and rainbows thing,” Scootaloo began, tears falling from her eyes and trying to look at anything but Rainbow or Sunset. Rainbow’s eyes widened. This was news to her. “You both, Hell all of you have every right to hate me. I’m… I’m worse than the Dazzlings combined.”
“No, you’re not,” Sunset said, and Scootaloo’s eyes widened as she looked up. “I hated you, yes at first, why shouldn’t I? But I got over it and moved on. I forgave you long ago, just like I forgave Rainbow and my friends. You’re not a monster. You actually want to go out of your way and apologize to me, twice, and even admit your real reasons to me face to face. That speaks more of your character than any action you take.”
“Sunny’s right, squirt. Honestly… You’ve been dealt enough over the last year,” Rainbow put in. “Losing your friends like that, and beating yourself up as don't think I haven't heard you, and this may sound bitchy coming from me, but I think that was your wake-up call.”
“No, it wasn’t. I was told a story, about this monster, who was willing to let a whole town’s children die all because he wasn’t going to get the glory of saving the day. ...Someone like him, that’s evil. I… I think that was my wake-up call as it was,” Scootaloo replied. “You probably don’t believe me, and I know you probably never will trust me ever again, but I wanted to say my piece. Thanks for listening… I guess.”
As Scootaloo slowly walked away, her back turned, she whispered three words. “Endurance, Fidelity, Intelligence. That’s a standard I should live up to from now on…”
Rainbow turned to Sunset.
“What… What did she mean by that?”
Sunset could only say one word. “Balto.” leaving Rainbow confounded.
END
Author's Note
Well, bet none of you were expecting this. I mean, a Anon-A-Miss fic from ME of all people? Well, I suppose I can say I bring some fairly new elements to the table. After all, I've never actually seen a fic of this type with Scootaloo or a history lesson as main focuses I think. (Might be wrong, but who knows eh?) Anyways, a lot of this stuff, excluding the parts with Balto and Steele is actual historical fact. Togo, the statue, the journey today being remembered in the Iditarod, that's all true. You can read about it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_serum_run_to_Nome
Well, hope you bunch enjoyed it. Begins to hum "The Grand Design" from Balto 2.
Edit: Added in the deleted scene from Wings of Change with Steele and Kodi saving Balto and Duke and added in a section about what happened to Togo.
