Chapters Next
Close
Comfort1,742 words
Choices1,753 words
Home1,690 words
Secrets1,636 words

Comfort

Rainbow Dash's POV

It was a few months after I had officially adopted Scootaloo, I had taken her in for a routine checkup at the Doctor's office. I had been concerned for awhile now, Scootaloo had never been able to fly, but she was old enough by now that she should be able to, so I asked the Doctor to check her wings.

I just hoped that whatever the Doctor said was good news.

"Ms. Dash?" The Doctor's voice said from the door and I turned to look at him.

"Is my daughter okay, Doc?" I asked nervously.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news," the Doctor said, taking a deep breath. "The good news is that for the most part, Scootaloo is a healthy Pegasus filly."

I breathed a sigh of relief, that was something at least, maybe it was even good news for her. If she was healthy filly, then maybe she just wasn't ready to fly yet, right?

"The bad news..." The Doctor said, hesitating a moment. "Scootaloo has a, rare condition called Pegasus Magical Deficiency Syndrome, her body can't produce enough magic to sustain a prolonged flight..."

I had been afraid of that, I had heard of it before in Cloudsdale, it was rare and tended to run in families. It was probably on her father's side but... this meant that Scootaloo would never be able to fly."

"I'm sorry Ms. Dash, I know this can't be easy for you," the Doctor said. "There are Ponies looking into it, but its so rare that it's hard to study."
"Have you told her yet?" I asked him.

"No, not yet, the nurse is in there with her now," the Doctor replied. "Do you want to be the one to tell her?"

"I should, yes," I replied. "She's my daughter, it'll be better if she hears it from me."

The Doctor nodded and ushered me through the door.

00000

Scootaloo's POV.

I always hated going to the Doctor, it seemed like they were always poking me with needles or using magic to scan me or whatever. Today's visit was no different, but mom had insisted so, yeah.

Actually it was kind of weird, in addition to all the usual things, the doc had run some sort of device over my wings, that had been new. I wasn't sure what to think of that, but maybe mom had requested it.

"Hey Squirt," I heard mom say as she came inside.

"Mom!" I said excitedly, I had gotten used to calling her mom by now at least over the last few months. She looked nervous all of a sudden as I hopped off the table. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm sorry Scootaloo... there's something I need to tell you..." Mom said. "The doctor said you'll never be able to fly more than just at a hover."

I felt like my world went crashing down, I had never been able to fly of course, but I had always held out the hope that I would be able to fly someday.

"But its going to be okay," mom continued as she wrapped her forelegs around me in a gentle hug. "Do you remember what I told you before the Equestria Games?"

"Of course, how can I forget?" I said with a nod. "You said that whether or not I could fly, I'd always be awesome."

"And its true," mom said. "You're awesome, no matter what. Sure you can't fly, but that doesn't change who you are."

"Thank you," I said softly as I hugged back and mom nuzzled me gently.

"Come on, lets go get checked out and you can go see your friends," mom said as we headed back out of the room.

00000

I hopped off my scooter at the clubhouse where Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were, I ran up the stairs and went inside.

"Oh hey Scootaloo, how'd it go at tha doctor's?" Apple Bloom asked as I closed the door behind me.

I paused a moment, I might as well tell them the truth right, they were my best friends in all of Equestria, I shouldn't keep any secrets from them. I'd have expected them to do the same with me of course.

"I... can't fly..." I said, looking down at my hooves.

"Uh, yeah, isn't that why you've been taking lessons from Rainbow Dash... I mean your mom?" Sweetie Belle asked, they were still getting used to it after a few months, but I let it pass.

"The Doctor said that I can't fly because of some medical condition," I said with a sigh, I was surprised when the two of them hugged me. "Hey, what have I said about hugs?"

"Come on Scoots, you know you need a hug right now," Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah, flyin' has been yer dream fer as long as we've known yah," Apple Bloom said with a smile. "Come on, don't let yerself get all down about it, yah will always be our friend Scootaloo."

"That's right, you're an awesome Pony no matter what," Sweetie Belle added. "And an even better friend."

"Thanks you guys, that means a lot," I said, trying not to cry as we finally broke the hug. "So what's the plan for today?"

I really did have the best friends, no the best family anypony could ask for. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had always been there for me, they were almost like my sisters, even though I had always only seen Rainbow Dash as my sister before learning she was my mom.

It was days like this I felt like the luckiest Pony in the world.

00000

Rainbow Dash's POV.

"Hey Rainbow, how can I help you?" Twilight asked me as I walked into the library in her castle.

"I was wondering if you made any progress on figuring out what that thing was that attacked Scootaloo in the Castle a few months ago?" I asked, it had been bugging me since that day, and I just hoped that she could give me some sort of answer.

"I'm sorry, no," Twilight said. "At least not a definite identity, I even tried talking to Celestia and Luna because of what Luna told Scootaloo, but they haven't given me a straight answer either."

I paused at that, you'd think at least Celestia would be willing to tell Twilight, something about this was really weird. Why would they not want to talk about these, things?

"What about what Luna said, about creatures that terrorized Equestria?" I asked her.

"Well, I did find a book," Twilight continued, that figured, but at least it made sense, she levitated a book off a shelf. "Abnormalities and Abominations of the Old World, it didn't give anything that matched the description of what you saw, but it had an interesting chapter."

She levitated it over to me and opened it up to a bookmarked page.

Chapter 4:
The Eldritch Horrors
In the old days of Equestria, when our world was still in a state of chaos and disharmony, great monstrosities walked the land. These beings were of pure magical energy that terrorized and struck fear into even the bravest of ponies. These creatures, the Eldritch Horrors as they came to be known, had the power of a god, and some say would even step upon worlds like Ponies would step on ants.
Many of them were destroyed in the early days of Equestria, but many more were too powerful to even kill. The Draconqui progenitor Anarchy, the terror from beyond the stars Nightmare, the Silent Killer of the North, and many more. Beings of such terrifying power that not even the Princesses would dare utter their name for fear of bringing them down on Equestria. Some were imprisoned using the Elements of Harmony, but still others are out there, biding their time as they wait for a chance to unleash their evil upon Equestria once more.
What can stop these creatures once and for all is always unique to each one, and to figure out what their weakness is hard to determine. If you are to face off against one of these Horrors, tread with extreme caution.

"You think, whatever we encountered was one of these Eldritch Horrors?" I asked, looking at Twilight.

"Well, it fits what we do know about it so far," Twilight said with a shrug. "How's Scootaloo holding up by the way?"

"She's fine, though... we found out today that she won't ever be able to fly," I said with a sigh.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Twilight said, I knew she was being genuine about that. "Is there anything else?"

"No, that's all I needed to know," I said with a weak smile. "Thanks for your help."

"Don't worry, I'll keep looking into this," Twilight said. "But if it is imprisoned, shouldn't we be okay?"

"Hopefully," I said with a shrug before I headed back out of the Castle and towards my cloud mansion.

00000

As I landed in front of my mansion, checking to make sure the steps I had made for Scootaloo (that ladder wasn't very practical if she was living here) was still stable when I saw Derpy flying towards me.

"Hey Derpy," I said with a smile as she landed next to me. "What's up?'

"I have a letter for you, Rainbow Dash," she said as she took a letter out and gave it to me. "Have a good day!"

She took off again as I went inside and looked at the envelope. It was for me alright, but the return address was from Las Pegasus. Did my parents maybe go there and forget to tell me or something? I shrugged and got it open, taking out the piece of paper inside and unfolding it carefully.

Rainbow Dash,
I'm sorry for being out of your life for so long, but after I learned that you were pregnant I couldn't take the pressure and had to run away. I was a coward for doing this, and I shouldn't have abandoned you and our child.
I'm currently on a train to Ponyville, I don't care what you think of me, but I want to at least see my child once. If you'll give me a chance that is.
Sincerely,
Stratosphere.

I had to read it several times to make sure that I read it right, I couldn't believe it...

Stratosphere, Scootaloo's father, was on his way to Ponyville right now.

Author's Note:

Huh, that didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to come up with, anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.

2,754 views

Chapters Next