//------------------------------// // Scootaloo's Wish: Part 6 // Story: Make a Wish // by Perpetual Lurker //------------------------------// BOOM Colors exploded behind Rainbow Dash as she broke the sound barrier, and for a moment, time appeared to slow to a crawl, the following milliseconds feeling like an eternity to the pegasus. Scootaloo continued to fall below her, eyes wide with terror as she approached the cloud below. At the speed she was falling, it didn't matter how soft the cloud was, the impact would be nearly as strong as if she had hit solid ground. I can do this! I have to do this! Rainbow Dash pushed her wings harder than she ever had before, gaining on her sister and nearly getting close enough to snatch the filly up with her front legs. She only had one shot, and her timing had to be perfect. Now! Reaching for her sister, the blue pegasus began to pull into a hair pin turn to avoid the cloud. She missed. Scootaloo's body hit the cloud with a sickening thud, and time came rushing back to its normal speed. "Scootaloo!" The filly's mother rushed rushed to the site of the impact, trying to focus on her medical training through the fear and adrenaline. She could see Rainbow Dash in the distance, attempting to recover from the momentum of her Sonic Rainboom. It would take her a minute to get back to her sister. Step one: check to see if the scene is safe. It had been a long time since she had needed to give emergency care to anypony, much less her own daughter, and it took all of her focus to remember the basics. The first step was easy, considering that the accident was a fall. Step two: ascertain the severity of the victim's injuries. The mare's heart skipped a beat as she reached Scootaloo and began to asses her condition. It wasn't good. Scootaloo laid on her side, three of her legs bent in ways that no pony's leg was meant to bend. She was still breathing, but it was shallow and ragged, suggesting at least a few broken ribs and possibly a punctured lung. Her wings seemed to be in decent shape, however, the artificial wings (or what was left of them) having taken the brunt of the damage. Step three- "Stay away from her!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she landed in front of her mother, taking a defensive position over Scootaloo. "Rainbow Dash, I'm just trying to-" "No! You've done more than enough already! If you had just left us alone in the first place, none of this would have happened!" The rainbow-maned pegasus was on the verge of tears, her expression a mix of anger and devastation. "But you just had to show up unannounced and kidnap her for your little experiment, here, didn't you?" "Unannounced? We sent you a letter! You even read the letter!" "I never read anything you send me! I even told you that the one time I did write back to you!" What? But he said... "None of that matters now! Scootaloo needs help, and-" "And I will help her!" Rainbow Dash shouted back, refusing to let her mother finish speaking. "I'm taking Scootaloo to the hospital. If you really care, you'll let me and just go away!" Taking as much care as she could, the pegasus gently scooped her sister up with her front legs and took flight, leaving her mother where she stood. This was supposed to be our chance to fix things... to be a family again... the mare thought, completely at a loss for what to do. She barely even noticed her husband landing next to her. "I'm sorry, I got here as fast as I could, I just had to grab something from my workshop first," he said, opening up what appeared to be an empty saddlebag. "What is that for?" "I need to gather as many pieces of those wings as I can so I can better understand how they failed. If I can work out the kinks in the design, then I should have a new prototype ready for Scootaloo to test by the time she-" His wife's hoof struck him across the face, cutting him off mid-sentence. "You... Rainbow Dash was right! This really was just all just one big experiment to you, wasn't it? All that talk of bringing us together again, that was all just a lie? You lied to Scootaloo, and you lied to me!" The white maned pegasus stomped a hoof in anger and glared at the stallion. "I never-" "Rainbow Dash never even opened that letter. You did. You planted that seed of doubt in our minds, all so you could keep Scootaloo here for your own personal glory, didn't you?" "It was never about me!" the stallion shouted. "It's about pegasi everywhere! If I can perfect these wings, then no pegasus will ever have to go flightless again! We'll never have to see another poor, broken soul walk through our doors, devoid of any purpose in life," he explained, motioning to the clinic behind him. "I gave our daughter a purpose! If that purpose turned out to be sacrificing herself for the greater good, then so be it! We should be proud of her!" "Can you even hear what you're saying? The 'greater good?' 'Sacrificing herself?' This is our daughter, and those were just wings! There's more to her than that! I am proud of Scootaloo, but not because she put on your pair of shoddy wings! I'm proud because our little filly is growing up into a strong, independent young mare, one that can decide her own purpose, wings or no wings!" The mare's anger subsided a bit, and she gave her husband a forlorn, disappointed look. "This... This isn't the stallion I married. That pony would have never let anything tear his family apart, and I should have realized that years ago when our daughters left us in the first place." She turned and began to walk away, looking back to say one last thing. "I'm going after Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. You... You need to think long and hard about what your priorities are. If you can't realize what's really important in your life... then I don't think I'll be coming back." With that, the pegasus took off towards the hospital. It's time to make things right. "Hey, I think she's waking up!" Rainbow Dash's voice echoed through the gray haze that filled Scootaloo's mind. "Well, what do ya know? Looks like the little champ's going to pull through after all!" said another voice. I... know that voice... "Hey, Scoots! Ya there? You got a really awesome visitor!" "Ahmrgwake..." Scootaloo groaned as she opened her eyes, only to be blinded by the bright lights of the hospital room. As she waited for eyes to adjust, the first thing she noticed was that she couldn't move. A dull, distant feeling of pain shot through her body every time she tried. Even when she could finally see straight enough to notice the casts covering most of her legs and the bandages around the rest of her, everything still felt fuzzy and out of focus. None of that stopped her from recognizing the uniformed stallion standing beside her sister, though. "...Dad? What are you doing here?" I thought he didn't care for Cloudsdale... "Wow, those must be some powerful painkillers. She's mistaken me for your father now!" her not-father said, chuckling a bit. "Scootaloo, this is Dawn Flash, one of the best fliers in the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash said, excitedly introducing the pony. "Hello there, Scootaloo!" Dawn Flash smiled cheerfully. "I heard you were pulling off some pretty impressive moves before taking a that big fall. Keep it up when you're all healed up, but try to be more careful, okay?" "Okay..." Dad's a Wonderbolt? "I'll be more careful next time, Dad..." "Scootaloo..." Dash sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, guess she's not really all here at the moment." "Oh, that's fine. I've visited kids before who didn't even wake up while I was there. It's not your fault." "Not my fault... Yeah..." "Here, how about I give you something to remember this little visit by?" Grabbing a pen clipped to his uniform in his mouth, Dawn Flash scribbled a large signature on the filly's cast. "There, that should do it! I've got a practice flight to get to, so I need to get going. Get well soon!" With a smile on his face, he turned to leave, but was stopped by Rainbow Dash. "Thanks again for doing this. It'll really mean a lot to her, once she's coherent again, that is. Things have been... rough lately for the two of us." "Think nothing of it! I'm always around cheering up kids in the hospital. Just a way to give back and help my fellow pony." He extended a hoof to Dash to shake. "I've heard some pretty good things about you, too. Your sister's not the only one I should be telling to keep up the good work." "Heh, yeah. I've got some pretty sweet moves," the mare boasted as she flexed her wings before accepting the hoofshake. "I bet you do. I'll keep an eye out the next time we hold open tryouts, though that probably won't be for a good while. The team is pretty full as it is. Fly safe, Rainbow Dash. Just don't forget to let you hooves touch the ground every once in the while. Too much time with your head in the clouds isn't good for anypony." "I'll keep it in mind." Rainbow Dash replied as the pegasus exited the room. Once again alone with her sister, the pegasus walked over and stood next to the bed, her sister's condition immediately removing whatever ego boost Dawn Flash had given her. "Déjà vu, eh, Scoots? Two hospitalizations in one week, that's gotta be a new record, right?" "Yeah... De... Dej... What you said..." Scootaloo answered, feeling as though she was watching the world from somewhere far away. Unable to hold on to consciousness, she soon slipped back into a troubled sleep. "Mom, can I ask you something?" "You can ask me anything, Scootaloo!" "Have you ever done something that you really regret?" "Why do you ask that?" "Well, the Crusaders and I really screwed up on Hearts and Hooves Day last week, and we nearly messed up the lives of two really great ponies. We only barely managed to fix things in time, and if we hadn't... well... I just hate the fact that I did something so stupid! What if it was permanent? And it was my fault? How are you supposed to make up for something you can't fix?" "We all make mistakes, dear, and we all have to face the consequences of them. What's important is that you learn from your experiences, and do everything in your power to make the best of it." "You made mistakes that you regret?" "Of course I have! My choices in the past once caused a poor colt to leave his home, family, and dreams behind, but you can't let regret hold you forever. The experiences that have resulted from our mistakes are something that we wouldn't trade for the world. Did you learn something important from your mistake?" "Yeah..." "Then hold on to the result of your mistake. It can never be changed, but you can build off of it. Experience is the foundation of who you are, but it's up to you to lay the bricks..." The sounds of shouting eventually dragged Scootaloo out of her slumber. Her mind was still a bit hazy, but she could at least think clearly if she tried. She soon recognized the voices as Rainbow Dash and and her mother, arguing over something. The filly strained her neck, trying to get a better view of the two of them as they talked. It was difficult to focus, but she tried her best. She needed to know what had happened. "Do you really think you can just trot in her and 'make things right' after what you did?" Rainbow Dash asked, glaring at the other mare. "What we did doesn't matter anymore," her mother answered, meeting Dash's gaze. "What?!" Dash shouted, flaring her wings in anger. "Do you remember what Dad called Scootaloo after she was born? An accident! He said she was never meant to happen, and that you had to put for up for adoption! I couldn't just let you do that to her! To me!" An... accident? The words hit Scootaloo like a blow to the head. My wish did this... I did this... "We thought we didn't have a choice, Rainbow Dash! That's why it doesn't matter! We weren't ready for another foal, much less one that couldn't fly! The clinic was struggling, and we didn't have the money to take care of her, especially since we would have had to move somewhere safe for her..." "I don't care! You put the dumb clinic above your own daughters!" "And I was wrong!" "But but that's just- Wait, what?" "I was wrong, Rainbow. Both your father and I were wrong, and you father is still wrong." The mare sat down, hanging her head in shame. "We did have a choice, but we refused to see it. We could have started over, worked together as a family to make it through. Instead, we refused to take responsibility, and you decided to take that responsibility in our place. This is all our fault, though I wish your father could see that..." No it isn't, Scootaloo thought, slumping back into the bed. This is all my fault, not theirs. They would be a perfectly happy family if not for me... "I... I don't know what to say," Rainbow Dash said, that last hints of anger draining from her voice. "You don't have to say anything, dear. You don't even have to forgive me. I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and that I'm here to help, if you'll have me." I'm sorry, too... Scootaloo silently apologized. She wanted to say it out loud, but to them, she had nothing to apologize for. All she could do was lie quietly and cry. Two days had passed since Scootaloo's injury, and life was slowly beginning to reach a semblance of normalcy for Rainbow Dash, save for two large problems. The first was Scootaloo herself. Once the doctors in Cloudsdale had deemed her condition stable, Scootaloo was discharged under the condition that she be confined to their house for at least a week, and that she avoid any strenuous activities until the casts came off, and even then, the prognosis wasn't looking good. When she fell, she landed hooves first. According to the doctors, that probably saved her life. Unfortunately, the impact had badly mangled three of her legs to the point that she would likely live with the injury for the rest of her life. While she would likely be able to walk just fine once the bones healed, she would probably never be able to move any faster than a slow trot again without long, extensive therapy and recovery time. It wasn't the injury that troubled Rainbow Dash, though. Their mother had accompanied them back to Ponyville, insisting that she personally oversee Scootaloo's treatment and therapy. She said it was the least she could to to make it up to them. Scootaloo's wings had come out of the incident in good shape, too, meaning that she would still be able to ride her scooter, and eventually fly, reducing the impact her handicap could have on her day to day life. No, what troubled Rainbow Dash was her sister's response to being informed of her condition. All she did was nod quietly, hardly reacting to the news in the slightest. In fact, for the past two days, she had hardly reacted to anything, only giving one or two word answers when spoken to and rarely choosing to leave her room. With all that had happened in the past week, it looked like all of the trauma had finally caught up with the filly. The second problem, though, was far larger in scope. Princess Celestia had given Rainbow Dash a mission, which she was no closer to carrying out than she had been two days ago... "Somewhere in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash, there is a pony whose wish is the root cause of many other wishes," the Princess had explained. "I call this wish the Keystone, because it's existence supports the existence of many other wishes." "What is that supposed to mean?" "It means that if that wish were to somehow be undone, it would cause a chain reaction that could undo many changes as well." "So, we just need to find that wish and reverse it, so that everything can go back to normal, right?" "It's not nearly that simple, but that is a part of it. Twilight is pouring all of her time and energy into researching the implications of all of this, but in the meantime, your job is to try and find the Keystone." "And how am I supposed to do that?" "The Keystone will be the wish that has altered the past the most, thus affecting the eventual wishes of other ponies. It won't be easy, but finding out what ponies wished for something that altered the past is imperative. From there, you should be able to narrow it down. I have faith in you Rainbow Dash... So, now what? Rainbow Dash stood on the balcony of the cloud house, gazing out over Ponyville. She had asked around, and even enlisted her friends to search for the Keystone, but there was nothing to be found. Almost everypony they could find had made wishes that were simple, on the spot changes to reality. No need to tamper with the past. The simplicity of it all was actually frustrating. Even her own wish, which had altered the past at least a little bit, hadn't affected anypony in Ponyville, meaning that it was unlikely that her own wish was the Keystone. No conflicts, no huge disasters, nothing! How can a whole town full of ponies make wishes and not have them clash with anypony else? Anything like that would stand out and make this so much easier... "It's a beautiful view, isn't it?" Dash's mother said, stepping out onto the balcony. "It's rather hard to appreciate the view from Cloudsdale. Everything is so insignificant looking from up there, and all of the detail is lost. Just another reminder of how out of touch I've been, I guess." "Yeah, it's pretty, I guess. Not really my thing," Rainbow Dash replied, continuing to stare out at the town. "You're worried about Scootaloo, aren't you?" "Of course I am! What kind of sister would I be if I wasn't? I've never seen her like this before. Then again, she's never been through quite so much before, either..." "You know," her mother began, "when your father an I first arrived to pick her up, she seemed so happy, as if she didn't care about what had happened in the past. She was just glad to be a family again. I made a promise to her, right here on this balcony, that I wouldn't let anything hurt her anymore." The older mare sighed and shook her head. "I was a fool, making a promise that I should have known I couldn't keep. All I did was make things harder on her. I betrayed her." "Hey, if you're stupid, then I'm stupid right along with you," her daughter stated. "I made the same promise, and I couldn't even catch her when she fell..." A long silence fell over the pair at the mention of the fall. Eventually, Dash spoke up again. "Dad's not coming back, is he?" "No. He has his own dreams, his own ideas. After a certain point, we only factored into them as assets. I think that is what hurt Scootaloo most of all... She trusted him so much. It takes a lot of faith to put the past behind you like that, and to have that faith shattered..." Clouds. Clouds always shifted, never keeping quite the same shape. Even the semi-solid structural clouds that made up the cloud house would swirl and shift slightly, creating a swirling pattern of whites and grays over Scootaloo's bed. The filly stared at these patterns, letting them occupy her mind for as long as they could. She was tired of thinking, tired of rationalizing. The only conclusion she could reach was that she had ruined everything, and that never shifted. I give up, she finally thought, shifting uncomfortably in her bed, the casts on her legs scraping together. There's nothing I can do. My old parents are gone forever. Rainbow Dash's childhood has been ruined. One of my new parents almost got me killed, and now they've broken up... None of that can change. All I can do is try to make it up to them... "Oh really?" A distorted voice echoed in Scootaloo's mind, feeling as if it came from every direction at once. "I know something else you could do." Who- "It doesn't matter who I am. I just want to offer a solution," The voice said, cutting off her question before she could even think it. "What if I told you that you could take it all back?" "She did know about why you left us in the first place, right?" Dash's mother asked. "Of course she did," Rainbow Dash said. "She's known for years. It's impossible to raise a filly with no parents and not have them find out why." Which still makes it all the stranger that she trusted him... The observation continued to trouble the pegasus, as she remembered what Scootaloo had said to her just before the fall. "Dad told me to put these wings through anything I could think of to test them out! He'd never tell me to do that if there was any chance of-" The rainbow-maned pegasus shuddered as the memory of the fall flashed before her eyes once more. She should have known better than to trust him like that! It's almost as if she didn't remember... Slowly, things began to come together in her mind. "Memories! That's it!" Rainbow Dash shouted and galloped back into the house, heading towards Scootaloo's room. "Rainbow Dash, what are you talking about? What memories?" Her mother called after her, struggling to keep up. It all makes sense now! The strange behavior, walking out to the middle of nowhere expecting something to be there, not knowing what our parents had done, all of that is caused by her memories! She doesn't remember anything because she remembers things the way they were, just like with my own wish. Her wish altered the past! It could be the Keystone! Rainbow Dash quickly reached Scootaloo's room and knocked on the door. "Hey, Scoots, can I come in? I need to talk to you about something." There was no answer. "Maybe she fell asleep?" her mother suggested as she finally caught up. "Maybe, but this is important." Dash knocked on her sister's door once more. "Scoots! Can you hear me? I need to talk to you!" After being answered by more silence, Dash opted to just open the door anyway. "I'm coming in, Scootaloo, you need to wake up. Let's get those lazy eyes open and-" Scootaloo's bed was empty, and the filly was nowhere to be found.