Rainbow yawned as she woke up the next morning, she got to her hooves and trotted out into the main room when she found somepony she wasn't expecting waiting for her. Fluttershy was seated on the couch talking with Twilight.
"Hey Fluttershy, what are you doing here?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, umm, well, Discord came here because Celestia wanted to talk to him about something," Fluttershy said softly. "And, well, I wanted to see you and Scootaloo, so I asked him if he could bring me here."
"We were just talking about what's been going on," Twilight said with a nod.
"Umm, is it true that Discord really turned Scootaloo into an Alicorn?" Fluttershy asked, Rainbow nodded, which caused the yellow Pegasus to blink. "Wow... that's... umm..."
"Yeah, I know," Rainbow said with a sigh. "She's handling it pretty well, but its not exactly going to be easy on her. I'm really glad you're here Fluttershy."
"Of course, I'm always here for you Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said with a smile as she gave Rainbow a light kiss on the cheek. "You know that I'd do anything to help you, right?"
"I know, and that's why I love you," Rainbow said with a smile as she hugged Fluttershy gently before giving Twilight a nod. "So, has Discord said anything yet?"
"I don't know honestly, he's been behind closed doors with Celestia since he arrived," Twilight said. "I don't get it really, I think Celestia is still trying to keep this under wraps until Scootaloo is ready."
"Well, I'm glad she'll be okay," Fluttershy said. "Discord didn't really tell me that much, is it possible this is about, you know, what you told us about the other day?"
Rainbow just kind of shrugged at that as Scootaloo walked in with a yawn. "Morning Rainbow, Twilight, hey Fluttershy."
"Hey Squirt, how'd you sleep last night?" Rainbow asked as the filly got up on the couch next to her.
"Pretty good, had a kind of weird dream, but Luna helped me out," Scootaloo said with a smile. "So what are we going to be working on today, Twilight?"
"Well, we'll still have to work you through the basics," Twilight said then looked thoughtful. "I might have another idea, there is a pony who would be able to help you as well, I'd just have to send word to her."
"Who's that?" Rainbow asked.
"Princess Cadance," Twilight said. "She used to be a Pegasus too so she'd have experience learning how to use Alicorn magic from a Pegasus perspective. She might be able to help you out with that, I can send her a letter in a little bit."
Scootaloo nodded and they went to go and get some breakfast.
00000
"It seems that you have a lot of explaining to do, Discord," Celestia said, she and Luna were in Celestia's private quarters talking with Discord. "It is highly irregular for a new Alicorn to be created, let alone through chaos magic. What do you have to say for yourself, Discord?"
"Is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to help her?" Discord asked with a raised eyebrow. "She can't fly, and she and her friends saved me from my imprisonment, I was simply paying her back. I have no ulterior motives for what I did other than to help a filly fulfill her lifelong dream."
"Your reasons may have been pure Discord, but your actions have consequences," Luna said with a sigh. "You created a new Alicorn, and that is going to change the balance of things in Equestria. You have changed things, things that cannot be undone without doing a lot of damage to the filly who you wanted to help, and to Equestria."
Discord paused a little at that, he hadn't expected that. He had genuinely been trying to help, but he hadn't thought of the ramifications of his actions, at least not completely. Now he had no choice but to own up to his actions, and that wasn't going to be easy to do.
"Discord, we are not unsympathetic to what you tried to do," Celestia finally said. "Ponies like Scootaloo are a rare occurrence, but we are not blind to it. Perhaps given time we can figure out a solution, but we cannot just make every pony with the same condition an Alicorn. What do you suggest we do if more ponies start to want the same thing?"
"Of course you can't just give them all that," Discord said with a shake of his head, that would be a bit too much chaos even for him. "But what you can do is give Scootaloo a chance. She's a good filly, and what she needs is a chance to prove herself, perhaps she'll be able to help other ponies like herself."
"Discord, you are right of course, we have to make the best of what's happened," Luna said with a sigh and looked at Celestia. "What do you think, sister?"
"I believe you are both right of course," Celestia said before looking at Discord harshly. "Of course, for your actions Discord, you will have to be punished."
"I understand," Discord said as Luna looked at Celestia strangely for a moment.
"Good, because your punishment is that it will be your job to make sure that she is kept safe," Celestia said. "Along with Rainbow Dash of course, but you created this situation so you will have to take responsibility for it by ensuring that nothing happens to her. Do you understand, Discord?"
"I do," Discord said with a nod. "I swear as a god of chaos, that I will make sure that no being will hurt Scootaloo, no matter what the cost to myself."
"Very good," Celestia said. "I will hold you to that, and I suspect so will Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy."
Discord gulped a little and vanished with a snap of his claw.
"Do you believe him, Celestia?" Luna asked as she looked at her sister for a long moment. "I mean, you remember the last time an Alicorn was created through chaos magic..."
"Yes, I do," Celestia said with a sigh, it had been a long time ago before Luna became Nightmare Moon, one of her students had delved into the forbidden magic and, the results were unpleasant to say the least. "That was an act of evil though, chaos is not inherently evil magic any more than order is."
"Yes, I know," Luna said with a sigh, Nightmare Moon had been as much a being of order as she was evil. "I do not want any harm to come to the child, I hope that you are right in your decision."
"Me too Luna, me too," Celestia said with a sigh.
00000
Scootaloo sighed as she finished breakfast, she looked at the older ponies around her who were talking to each other. She really was only half listening to what they were talking about right now, which mostly seemed to be about getting Fluttershy caught up on what was going on.
She sighed a little as she tried to levitate the fork, it felt almost like she was trying to fly again, every time she tried to do it she would fail miserably. It drove her crazy, why couldn't she do something as simple as just levitation? That was a basic Unicorn spell from what Sweetie Belle told her, but she couldn't do it.
"Uh, Scootaloo..." Rainbow said and she snapped out of her musings and looked surprised to see that the fork was levitating in front of her with a light purple aura, the filly was so surprised that she dropped it. "You did great Scootaloo, I knew you could do it!"
"Well done Scootaloo, you've taken the first step towards mastering your Alicorn abilities," Twilight said with a smile. "You'll still need some work to gain control, but you're doing great so far."
"That's wonderful, Scootaloo," Fluttershy said with a smile as Rainbow hugged Scootaloo gently.
"Thanks," Scootaloo said with a smile as she hugged Rainbow back, she was so glad that she had been able to do it, no matter how tricky it had been to do. "I can't believe that I was able to actually do it... I didn't even realize that I was doing it."
"Well, who knows, maybe you can do some things without knowing it like I can notice things without paying attention to them specifically," Rainbow said with a shrug. "Don't worry about it, you did a great job, keep it up and you'll master your magic in no time."
Scootaloo smiled as a guard opened the door and walked in.
"Princess Twilight, Ladies Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo, Princess Celestia wants to speak with all of you in her private quarters," the guard said with a salute. "You're to come with me."
"Of course," Twilight said and the four ponies got up and followed the guard out of the dining area.
00000
"How are you feeling today, Scootaloo?" Celestia asked the filly. "Luna told me about your dream and feelings this morning."
"Better I guess," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "I'm still kind of getting used to the whole thing, but I actually managed to levitate something this morning, that's something at least."
"That's good," Celestia said with a smile before frowning a little. "I had a word with Discord earlier... he explained his actions to myself and Luna, but I believe that you should hear him for yourself. Discord?"
Discord floated into the room and cringed a little at Rainbow Dash's glare. "I want to apologize, I did what I believed was right in order to help Scootaloo after learning she couldn't fly. I didn't consider the consequences of my actions at the time, and I acted without thinking."
"You, really just wanted to help me?" Scootaloo asked and Discord nodded at that, she looked at Celestia. "Your highness... I don't really know what to do..."
"Scootaloo, it is your decision whether or not you forgive Discord," Celestia said. "What I can tell you is that he's being honest, and while you are not ready to be made a Princess just yet, you will have to make many difficult decisions once you are."
Scootaloo looked back at Rainbow Dash who looked a little apprehensive about the whole thing, but she nodded. "Go ahead Scoots, besides if he's lying he'll have to answer to me and Fluttershy."
"And if that doesn't convince me nothing will," Discord says.
"Alright Discord, I forgive you," Scootaloo said with a smile, and Discord nodded with a sigh of relief. "I admit, this whole thing is taking a lot of getting used to... but I want to thank you for trying to help."
"You're welcome Scootaloo," Discord said with a smile and he vanished in a flash of light.
"Rainbow Dash, how about you and Fluttershy take Scootaloo to see more of the castle, I would like to speak with Twilight in private for a few minutes," Celestia said, Rainbow and Fluttershy nodded as they headed out with Scootaloo. "What do you think of her progress, Twilight?"
"Well, she's progressing well at least," Twilight said with a sigh. "I sent word to Cadance in hopes that she'll be able to help us out, but I don't know really. Do you have any ideas?"
"I might have one," Celestia said with a smile. "I will make all the arrangements, for now we should give Scootaloo a day to relax, she has been through a lot, and she deserves it."
Twilight nodded and went off to find the others.
00000
After awhile they were outside in the palace gardens, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were watching Scootaloo ride around on her scooter. Rainbow smiled a little as she nuzzled Fluttershy gently.
"She's doing great," Fluttershy said with a smile. "With all that's going on she deserves a chance to try and live a normal life."
"Well, as normal as you can get when your foster mother is Rainbow Dash," Rainbow said with a chuckle. "Do you think we should tell her about us?"
"I think it should wait at least until things calm down," Fluttershy said and Rainbow nodded in agreement. "I'm proud of you Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow smiled and held Fluttershy close to her.
In the meantime Scootaloo came in for a stop before she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.
"Oh my gosh Scootaloo, is that really you?"