//------------------------------//
// Family Values 
// Story: Twilight Transforms a Tiny Alicorn 
// by Mockingbirb 
//------------------------------//

When the ponies returned from the lab, Spike goggled at the tiny pony flying slow circles around the Mane 6.

"Spike?" Twilight said, "Could you take Tiny Hooves here to play in the rumpus room? Please try to keep her from getting into any trouble."

"Sure," Spike said. "Tiny Hooves, I'm Spike. Would you like to see my comic books?" He led the newly-reshaped pony towards that part of the castle.

Twilight led the Mane 6 to a soundproofed conference room.

"So," Twilight said, "What do you think?"

"So far," Applejack said, "this has been one of the weirdest afternoons I've ever had. And not in a good way neither."

Fluttershy said softly, "We have a lot of things we need to talk about."

Twilight nodded. "Let's just accept that I've turned a tiny, sick filly into a tinier, healthier earth pony, pegasus, unicorn hybrid. Maybe she's a real alicorn, maybe she isn't. But what about her home life?"

Rarity said, "A lady doesn't leap to accuse another of mistreating her filly, or of being a scam artist. But some of the things we heard today...shocking."

Applejack said, "Sure makes me grateful for MAH family."

Rarity commented, "Dears, you might have noticed that while much of what that filly said seems to have a...broad ring of truth, some of what she said wasn't even consistent. I think she does suffer from a lot of abuse at home. I think as part of that abuse, her parents have made her very confused about the difference between right and wrong."

Applejack said, "Some of what she said reminds me of Flim and Flam. One of them tells a lie, and the other tries to tell lies that agree with it. With so many lies, sometimes it's hard for ponies like that to keep track."

Twilight pulled some parchment-thin rectangles out of her saddlebags. "When I said I wanted to take readings, I meant it. I've been working on some medical imaging spells."

Rainbow Dash stared at the X-ray-like pictures. "Whoa, what happened to her there, and there? That is NOT a usual sports injury, I can tell you."

Twilight said, "I think somepony broke a few of her foot bones, and the bones were never properly set. And in this scan, I think a few days ago somepony carefully AVOIDED breaking her ribs, but bruised her under the skin, next to a rib. Here, I think somepony kicked her in a kidney."

Rainbow asked, "Don't the doctors even notice this stuff?"

Twilight replied, "Aside from the transformation spell you ponies just saw me do, which is at best an experimental treatment that nopony but us knows about yet...there isn't really any known effective treatment for IEPS. I'm not sure that any real doctors see her on a regular basis. If a doctor does see that filly, I assume the filly's been coached to agree with any lies about how she was injured. Or maybe her mother blackmails some doctor into seeing the filly and keeping quiet about the signs of abuse."

"It makes me sick!" Rainbow shouted.

"I could kick somepony real hard," Applejack said.

"I've never heard or seen anything so horrible!" Rainbow screamed.

Fluttershy said in a soft voice, "I have."

The other ponies, surprised, looked at her.

"Oh," Twilight said, "of course you have."

"Because pets can't talk to most ponies," Fluttershy said, "and they have fewer rights than ponies under Equestrian law, some ponies think they can do anything to pets.

"I've known escaped pets who used to live in Canterlot and Manehattan, who were taught to pick pockets, to fly through windows and steal things, and other...bad tricks. The ponies who trained them didn't have a very good idea of the difference between right and wrong. And those trainers mistreated other ponies too, even foals. You don't want to know what some of those escaped pets have seen."

"I just thought this was going to be some light and cheerful little sleepover for cheering up a sick foal," Rainbow said. "Goes to show sometimes we just don't know what's coming."

"I'll admit I had a few clues," Twilight said.

"Twi? You coulda given us a bit of a heads-up before you sprung all this on us," Applejack said.

"I didn't know for sure, just suspicions. When I first met the patient, the bandages were wound in a way that I didn't think made medical sense. Not how a doctor or a nurse would have wrapped her. More like some laypony just put extra bandages all over her to make her look more pathetic. Or maybe to hide bruises."

"But you're not a doctor, or a nurse," Fluttershy said. "You've read some books."

"You're right. That's why I wasn't sure. You might have been suspicious too, Flutters, because you know a lot about proper medical care for different animals. But maybe you wouldn't have been sure either."

"So you invited the filly for a sleepover," Fluttershy said. "And now we know more."

"But how long until we have to return her to her parents?" Rarity asked. "DO we have to return her to her parents?"

"That filly sure didn't seem to want to go back," Applejack said. "If parents are ponies who love you and take good care of you, I'm not sure that filly even has real parents. Not like they should be."