Scootaloo cheered as she shot through the sky held in the powerful forehooves of Spitfire. The filly closed her eyes and extended her wings. The wind felt amazing and the sharp twists and turns made her feel alive. The force of Spitfire’s maneuvers as she kept pace with Soarin and Rainbow was intense! Scootaloo’s small body was yanked one way then another and another.
Scootaloo opened her eyes once more just as the Wonderbolt trio looped around some large trees. The young filly’s eyes widened as her hooves brushed the leaves. She glanced upward and caught a glance of Spitfire’s face. The champion flyer was deep in concentration.
“Soarin!”
“Ready!”
“Huh?” Scootaloo’s voice was ripped from her as she found herself shooting through the air like a rogue cannonball. Heart in her throat, the teenage filly watched as the grassland filled her vision. She was going to crash!
With a yank, Scootaloo found herself snatched out of the sky by strong pale blue hooves.
Soarin smirked at his shocked filly as he looped around to rejoin his wife. “Did you like that?”
Heart still pounding, a grin ripped across Scootaloo’s muzzle. “Again! Do it again!”
“Okay.” Soarin shot skyward and launched his daughter right through a cloud.
Scootaloo’s joy filled cry followed her. The hovering blue Wonderbolt watched as his daughter began to fall toward the earth. He smirked to himself as she crashed through a small cloud. “Aim is perfect as always...”
Scootaloo herself was all smiles as held her forehooves out in front of herself, wings out, pretending to dive bomb. She waved to Spitfire and Rainbow Dash as the two mares fell into position on either side of her.
Scootaloo began to tense and unleashed an excited cry as they pulled up in a tight U formation, looped around and around and around till suddenly they shot off again toward town. The trio banked high and fast then Spitfire released her again. Scootaloo crashed through a rather damp cloud and landed on the strong blue back of Soarin.
The stallion grinned as his daughter clutched on for dear life. He slowed down to kick a cloud. “Nice of you to drop by, Scootaloo.”
The orange filly giggled. “Thanks.”
“Your jokes are still terrible, Soarin,” Spitfire commented as she drew level with the pair.
“I thought it was okay.” Scootaloo piped up.
Soarin grinned, delighted to hear such praise.
Rainbow Dash spotted her fillyfriend on the horizon and her elated smile faded she dipped to the trio’s level and pointed to the incoming mare. “Guys, I think it’s time.”
“Awww... but that was so much fun, do it again! Please!” Scooaloo begged.
Soarin shared a giddy grin with his wife. “What if we make the trip into town fun for you too?”
“That would be super cool.”
“Alright,” Spitfire replied keenly. “Hey rookie, want to join in our game of filly toss?”
“Sure. We might shock Flutters though.”
“She’ll get over it. I’m sure.” Spitfire replied cooly as she grabbed Scootaloo from her husband’s back.
As Scootaloo felt herself leave the strong shoulders of Soarin a funny feeling passed through her. The sudden areal hug felt warm and safe. Kind of like how Fluttershy’s hugs made her feel. The odd feeling was quickly forgotten as she found herself tossed into the sky again and adrenaline flooded her body.
After carefully passing the baby around and enjoying their first cuddles with newborn Scooaloo, Spitfire’s parents took their leave to rest. Soarin's parents arrived as Stormy Flare lingered in the doorway. Dawnrush and Tyson mutly greeted the tired looking mare then took their turn to fawn over their granddaughter.
"She's beautiful," Dawnrush murmured as she beheld the tiny filly.
"Yeah." Soarin agreed.
"Hope you didn't make mommy work too hard little one," Tyson joked as he scooped Scootaloo up.
Spitfire's gaze followed her foal, "Scootaloo was worth it."
"Cool name." Tyson grinned as he tenderly nuzzled his grandfoal.
Scootaloo broke into a distressed wail and Dawnrush hastially took the tiny filly off her husband.
Tyson pouted as his wife promptly calmed Scootaloo down, gently rocking her back and forth as she hummed softly. Once Scootaloo had quietened down, Dawnrush placed the tiny orange filly back into Spitfire's waiting forehooves. Spitfire nodded in thanks.
Tyson and Dawnrush lingered another few minutes, fawning over Scootaloo. The peaceful atmosphere was broken as the door opened and a nurse walked in.
“With your permission, I just need to take your foal away for a moment.” The unicorn nurse waited for Spitfire's tired nod then lifted Scootaloo up in her magic. “Don’t worry. We just need to run a few standard tests and clean her up. You should rest.”
The shattered couple found themselves in agreement with their nurse. Spitfire eyed the door as it closed behind the unicorn. With her foal gone, it suddenly felt like all remaining strength had left her. “I could sleep now...”
Soarin turned to his wife. “Want cuddles?”
“Now? I look terrible and feel ugh...” Spitfire sank into the bed.
“Doesn’t stop me from doing this...” Soarin leaned in and gave his exhausted wife a kiss on the forehead. She accepted it with her eyes closed.
"I think that's our cue to leave," Tyson murmured.
"We will return once you've managed to rest," Dawnrush added and gave Spitfire a quick hug. "It's been wonderful to see our grandfoal."
Spitfire nodded, sleepily in thanks. "Yeah..."
Soarin gave his parents a lingering hug. "Thanks for coming."
"We would not miss this moment for the world." Dawnrush gave her son a quick nuzzle. "I'm proud of you."
Tyson withdrew and gave his wife a tug. "Alright, I think these two need some time alone to recover. We'll be back before you know it."
"Thanks, Dad." Soarin returned to Spitfire's side as his parents wandered on out. As soon as the door closed the young stallion sagged. “Wanna freshen up while we wait for Scootaoo’s tests to be finished? I can help you shower.”
“Sure. Whatever...” Spitfire dragged herself slowly up.
Soarin hastened to help, cutting her efforts off and bearing her tired body.
The couple quietly showered and then wandered back into their private room. They eyed the bed their foal had been born on. Spitfire rubbed at her much smaller, but still not entirely back to normal tummy. “Feels so weird to be thin again.”
A cheeky smirk crossed Soarin’s muzzle. “I can always fix that.”
Spitfire shot her husband a dangerous look. “Not funny Soar.”
“I... yeah. I take that back.” He wrapped his wife in a loose hug.
The tough mare collapsed into her husband’s hooves. “Good. Cause right now, I don’t want to through that pain again...”
“So... cuddles?” Soarin tentatively asked.
Spitfire nodded.
The blue stallion pressed a kiss to his wife’s snout. “One sec, I’ll just clean up so we can nap.”
Soarin hurried to the bed and shoved the sheets off the other side. Presenting a cleaned bed, he eagerly assisted his mare back up and they quickly settled into cuddles. Soarin lovingly wrapped his wife in a hug and laid his wing over the top. As blue feathers settled over yellow, the young mother’s eyes fluttered closed.
“I’ll wake you soon as our girl is returned,” Soarin murmured.
With no response, the young stallion withdrew slightly to check. She was asleep.
“You did good Spitty. I love you.” Soarin allowed his eyes to close too.
The room fell into peaceful silence for a few moments till the door creaked open. Soarin eagerly met the eye of the pegasus who had wandered in. The mare carried fresh sheets but was otherwise unburdened. She was quick to notice the dumped bedding.
“How long is our daughter gonna be out there?” Whispered Soarin.
“Should be anytime soon sir. I’ll just take your sheets and leave this in case your wife wakes up...” She placed the fresh bedding on the chair next to the large bed.
Soarin simply nodded then returned his attention back to his mare. He ignored the shuffling and relaxed once the door closed again.
The young stallion did his best to keep watch. Yet as the early hours of the morning brought forth the dawn and the sun rose, Soarin realized he had dozed off for an hour or so at some point. Yet even as Soarin’s belly rumbled, demanding breakfast, he refused to acknowledge it.
Where was Scootaloo..?
A nurse poked her head into the room and eyed the young couple.
“Hey, nurse.” Soarin quietly addressed the pale blue unicorn.
The young looking unicorn mare perked up. “How may I be of help?”
“Uh... where’s our baby? I thought she would be returned to us by now.”
The unicorn glanced down at her notes with a frown and paused. “One moment. I will find out.”
“Thanks.” Soarin scowled once the attendant turned her back. He wondered why their little girl was still gone and how the staff could possibly not know where she was. Surely her scans and stuff had been finished ages ago, right?
After a few moments, Soarin grew bored. He began to fidget and play with the yellow feathers in reach.
A giggle broke from the sleeping mare and Soarin froze. Maybe it wasn’t a great idea to wake Spitfire right now.
“Whaaa...” Spitfire mumbled. She cracked one eye open and met her husband’s gaze. “Wheres-”
“They’re looking for her.”
“Looking?” Spitfire gave a shake and rounded groggily on her husband. “What do you mean looking? Did our baby get lost?”
A frantic swirl of emotions blasted the young stallion as he tried to calm his wife. “No. Bad choice of words..! She’s fine. It’s all fine. They will be bringing her in soon.”
Spitfire relaxed. With a huge sigh, she sank back into her husband’s loving hold. “Oh thank goodness...”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you panic dear.”
“Just... don’t do that again.” Spitfire closed her eyes and snuggled back up to her husband.
Centred within the lower levels of the castle of friendship, there were two large rooms. One played host to Twilight’s experiments and was packed with all kinds of weird and wonderful objects.
Opposite the experimental space was the castle hospital. A sterile space that had mostly been used to treat small injuries the six mares had suffered in their adventures. The hospital bay currently had two unicorn doctors, Twilight and Luna standing over Scootaloo, who lay on the operating table in the middle of the room. The filly in question was deep in a magical sleep with a bright pink and blue swirl of the two doctors surrounding her.
On the far side of the room Scootaloo’s parents, both by blood and adoption watched on. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sat side by side, torn between watching and trying to not pay attention to the magic that surrounded their friend.
After some quietly exchanged words, the unicorn’s magic faded. Luna nodded in thanks to the pair as she powered up her own horn. The two doctors stepped up alongside their charge and watched carefully their horns smouldering with magic, ready to help if required.
Aided by Twilight, Luna plunged her magic into the young filly. The pair wove spells together in a swirling matrix of dark blue and purple that lit the room with an ethereal glow.
Luna straightened up as her magic found exactly what the two medical ponies had found. “Twilight, feel that.”
A frown slipped across the younger alicorn’s face. “There’s nothing there.”
“Feel my probe. Tis there. Exactly as described by thy staff.”
After a moment of deep concentration, Twilight perked up. “Wait! it’s faint... I think I can feel... something?”
“That is her well of pegasus magic.”
Twilight’s magic faltered for a moment.
“Focus, Love.”
“Sorry!” Twilight’s horn flared as she hurried to reestablish the link. “But ...how? It's so low and unusual.”
Luna leant forward as she continued to work in silence for a few moments.
Sweetie leaned toward Apple Bloom, “what do you think it means if her pegasus magic is low? She hasn’t used it up already has she?”
“No.” Spitfire sighed. “I don’t think she was born with as much as a normal pegasus. Or... it was... not right in some way.”
The two fillies looked up at the older mare in shock.
“How do you know?” Sweetie Belle wondered out loud.
“Can I please have Scootaloo’s parents over here?” Luna asked as the magic from her horn blossomed.
“Um, sure.” Soarin stood and led his wife over to their daughter.
The two fillies shared a shocked glance. “Her what?”
“Parents?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “My cool little filly has the two coolest Wonderbolts as her mom and dad. Isn't that awesome?”
Sweetie Belle fainted.
Apple Bloom looked at Rainbow Dash like she had grown a second head. “But- but... what? How?”
Early morning in Ponyville general hospital, a young couple was asleep.
A knock on the door sounded.
Both ponies jolted awake.
“Uh, come in,” Spitfire called out.
An older unicorn mare strode in. She carried a tiny wrapped up foal. Hints of orange and cerise peeked out from the soft white fabric. “Hello. I am returning your little bundle of joy.”
Both parents lit up with joy. Spitfire tenderly plucked the foal from the other mare’s care. “Thank you.”
Soarin blinked back a few tears of joy as he lovingly nuzzled his baby.
“I have a few questions. If you don’t mind.” The unicorn spoke up.
Soarin glanced at his wife, still busy doting over their foal. He shrugged. “Sure.”
“During your pregnancy, were you involved in any major crashes?”
That caught the attention of the young mother. Spitfire glanced up from her baby and gave her husband a wary look. “No.”
“Have you consumed any alcohol?”
Spitfire huffed. “What do you think? I was underage till a week ago.”
“Is that a yes, or a no?” The nurse continued to stare.”We don’t judge. But if am to be of any service, I must know.”
“She’s been good,” Soarin interjected then gave his mare a quick nuzzle. “Don’t worry.”
A sigh escaped the older mare. “Well… what about a big fight and serious damage to your lower barrel.”
“I- No. Wait… My father did hit me once. But it was very early in the pregnancy. Before I really started gaining weight.”
The nurse sighed. “How bad was it?”
“It hurt. But didn’t break anything or keep her down for long.” Soarin spoke up.
The unicorn’s horn lit and she again scanned their baby. “Unfortunate. But It sounds like your father did not do this. One final question; have you over exerted your vessel at any during your pregnancy? The likes that would have required a great deal of bed rest to recover."
"Well, no. Soarin made sure I didn't do anything too stupid." Spitfire replied. Her husband grinned, clearly pleased with the mention. With a shrug, the young mare continued; "most I can think of is a few of the fun nights we had in bed."
Quick to catch on, a brief smile cracked the serious nurse's lips. "I can promise you, there is nothing wrong with a little loving. Especially with a husband who appears to be so caring." The budding smile faded as she gazed at the foal for a few sombre moments. "I hate to tell you both this, but your foal appears to have a rare magical imbalance.”
Yellow hooves tightened around the precious young filly. "Get lost. Our foal is perfect." Spitfire gave the unicorn a dirty look.
"I am quite serious."
Spitfire scoffed. “How do you know about this if it's so rare?”
The nurse sighed. “Because I’ve seen it before. Once when I was fresh out of med school. Then one other more recent case in a small hospital just outside of Las Pegasus.”
“And what happened to the foals?”
“They, well...” The nurse glanced down at the tiny filly as silence fell. A resigned sigh escaped the older mare. “They never flew.”
“What?” Soarin exclaimed.
“Excuse me?!” Spitfire sat up.
Jostled by her parents' outburst the babe began to cry. Both young parents shared a panicked glance. Spitfire frantically tried to calm her foal down.
Scootaloo cried harder as her mother rocked her back and forth.
“Let me try...” Soarin announced as he snatched Scootaloo up and began to coo very softly as he swayed very slowly. So dainty his movements were, it was almost as though he expected to break his precious charge at any moment.
Scooaloo’s cries slowly faded till she gave a little stretch and snuggled deeper into her surprised father’s hold.
“It... it worked..?” Soarin gazed down at his daughter, filled with joy but also totally shocked by his own success.
Spitfire scowled enviously at the stallion by her side. She held out her forelegs demanding the return of her babe.
Soarin grinned impishly back. "She's mine too hon." At the cheeky stallion's whisper, Spitfire poked her tongue out at him then settled down.
Victorious, Soarin very slowly snuggled up to his wife and angled himself so that their daughter slipped into a shared cuddle. There in the middle, she safely lay, able to feel the slow rise and fall of both parents warm chests. With a contented nicker, she closed her eyes once more.
“Sorry...” Spitfire whispered to their guest.
“No, I understand. It can’t be an easy thing to hear. I’m sorry for bearing bad news at such a happy time.” The unicorn nurse glanced down at the tiny filly and a sad smile lit her face.
“Are you sure both ponies never flew?” Soarin whispered.
The nurse nervously glanced down at her clipboard. “While I admit... I never saw them grown up, I do not recall reports of either pegasus flying in their youth.”
Spitfire and Soarin shared a concerned look. The young mother shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe it... no. Scootaoo will fly.”
The nurse backed up a little. “I’m sorry. Her wings will function, that much I can assure you. But without the proper magic to back it up, she may never fly.”
That got Spitfire's hackles up again. “Are you saying I may as well have birthed an earth pony?”
A disgruntled cry from Scooaloo caused the angry mother to relax. She shot the elder nurse a dirty look.
“I...” The nurse stepped back from the suddenly angry mother. “No. But please consider that your filly may be safer if you find someplace outside of Cloudsdale to raise her. Someplace on the ground. Like... here or Canterlot.”
A look of horror was passed between the young couple. Soarin gawped and stuttered a bit, unable to comprehend quite what he was being told.
“No... it can’t be...” Spitfire clutched her precious baby close as if to guard Scootaloo against the bad news.
Several moments of awkward silence followed.
“I’ll give you both some time.” The nurse ducked away. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for sharing... that... uh-” Soarin sighed. “And she's gone.”
“She has to fly... she must.” Spitfire tenderly nuzzled her baby.
“She’s our filly. Of course she will.” Soarin placed a loving kiss on his mare’s head.
“But what if the nurse is right?”
“Then...” A long, slow sigh broke forth from the young stallion. “I guess our choice of orphanage might just be the safest place for her after all.”