Twilight smiled politely as she scrawled down yet another sentence, finishing her third page of notes since beginning the interview.
As the earth pony in question finished their answer, she nodded. “That’s great to hear! And how about way of life before and after? Did you experience any major changes?”
The elderly pony nodded his head side to side. “It took some getting used to, but the doctor’s did a wonderful job. Once I figured it all out again, it was like nothing ever happened. Now, things aren’t immaculate, of course; but…well, it’s like wearing a pair of sunglasses. Some tints may be a bit different, the ground may look closer or further away than you remember it, but you can still see, you know?”
The studious mare nodded in understanding, jotting down the gist of the analogy. “Of course! Thank you, that was an excellent way of putting it. If you don’t mind, I have one last question.”
The stallion smiled kindly at Twilight. “I don’t mind at all, go ahead.”
Giving him a small smile, Twilight picked his brain. “What would you argue to try and attempt to convince somepony to consider it?”
Rainbow Dash awoke from a shallow sleep to the sound of little hooves pounding across the cloud. Her eyes opened in time to see Scootaloo desperately shoving open her bathroom door, bolting inside.
Her legs kicked in automatically as she heard, for the third time that night, the filly losing her dinner.
Tugging her comforter around her, she rubbed her exhausted eyes as she rose up from the hallway floor, rushing in after Scootaloo and flipping on the light.
She breathed a sigh of relief, thanking her lucky stars that Scootaloo had actually made it this time.
The filly clung to the toilet, gagging as she spilled her guts into the bowl. Another heave ended with a cough as Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof between Scootaloo’s wings, the filly so caught up in her sickness to even have an initial reaction to her guardian’s presence.
Scootaloo gave a pitiful moan, pained tears dripping down her cheeks. Spitting, she shakily took Rainbow’s hoof.
“I’m sorry,” she tapped, hugging a foreleg to her aching stomach.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Rainbow answered at once, pressing a hoof to Scootaloo’s forehead, mentally gauging her temperature. Still feverish, but not any worse. “You’re sick. You can’t help that.”
Scootaloo nodded weakly, too tired to make some kind of counter-argument.
Rainbow Dash waited a moment, looking at the filly’s face for any kind of signal to being sick again. “Are you done?”
The filly blinked sleepily, giving a nod. “I feel a little better now,” she slowly tapped on Rainbow’s fetlock.
“Good,” Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. “That should mean this won’t happen anymore tonight.”
Scootaloo hummed her own relieved sigh, offering a small smile to Rainbow Dash. The mare helped her filly up, guiding her to the sink and helping her clear her mouth of any remaining foul taste.
She scooped up the feverish filly, holding her close and carrying her into her room. As she was about to lay Scootaloo back down, the filly grabbed her hoof.
“Can you stay with me?” she asked.
Rainbow Dash paused, glancing down at the bed that was too small for her. “You wanna go to my room?” she offered.
Scootaloo hesitated, clutching Rainbow Dash’s hoof. “Can…can you…hold me?”
The mare blinked as the filly broke out in a blush that had nothing to do with her fever. Rainbow breathed a sigh through her nose, a little smile finding her face. “Sure, kiddo.”
Her mind presented her with all the mental notes she had taken nearly eight months ago as she settled down, leaning against Scootaloo’s bed. She adjusted the filly, gently pulling her head into her chest and passing a hoof through her mane as she began to lightly rock her.
At once, Scootaloo relaxed in her hold, giving a content hum as she nuzzled her hot face into Rainbow’s chest fur, easily falling into a peaceful sleep.
Rainbow Dash gazed down at the precious thing in her forelegs, her heavy heart lightening at the promise of her sickness slowly but surely easing up.
A stomach bug had been going around the school. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, not yet knowing they had it, had unintentionally given it to Scootaloo.
Scootaloo was currently the only one still sick with it.
What had lasted only a couple days for her friends had stretched on for nearly a week for the little pegasus. Worried sick herself, Rainbow Dash had run to Twilight for help. After gathering as much information as she could from the frantic pegasus, and some research on the unicorn’s part, Twilight was able to find an answer for Rainbow Dash.
Her friend’s words played through like they had a million times already, and Rainbow Dash highlighted for the millionth time the mental note to get Scootaloo started on some multivitamins.
‘You said Scootaloo was born premature, correct?’ Twilight had asked.
‘Yeah, why?’
Twilight had breathed a small sigh. ‘According to a scientific reference I found, sometimes foals born prematurely have a harder time fighting illnesses due to a weakened immune system. This tends to wear off more and more as they grow up, but occasionally there will be times where fighting off an infection is a little harder if it is an illness they have never faced before, or if it is a more aggressive strain.’
‘So…she’ll be okay?’
‘She’ll be fine,’ Twilight had smiled. ‘It’ll just take a little longer than normal for it to get out of her system.’
Rainbow Dash let out another sigh, remembering how she’d relayed the news to Scootaloo, who at the time had asked if she was dying. Such a question, of course, had only made Rainbow Dash even more worried; but with the worst of it finally over, she couldn’t help but relax as she held her filly close.
Her shoulders releasing their remaining tension, she tightened her hold on Scootaloo, laying her head upon the filly’s mattress and continuing her slowing ministrations.
The hoof she held in the purple mane finally crept to a stop as her consciousness slipped away into peaceful dreams.
Cyan hooves secured the knot in front of her chest, adjusting the quilt as it lay over her right shoulder and tucked under her left foreleg, ensuring her team jacket was still visible underneath the body-wide wrap.
Though it had been two weeks since Scootaloo recovered from her illness, Rainbow Dash wasn’t taking any chances. Going so far as to hoof over leadership of the flight team to Raindrops, she intended on staying in town and keeping Scootaloo on her at all times, not allowing any chance for the filly to get sick again as the weather changed from freezing winter to warming spring. She’d even requested to be taken off the bird migration list, something she’d intended on doing with Scootaloo now soured and silenced because of her worries.
The filly in the quilt bundle shifted on her back, Rainbow Dash reaching up to the little hoof on her neck. “Let me know when you start getting too warm, okay? The weather’s gonna be changing pretty quick today, andI don’t want you getting too hot, okay?”
A little face nodded into her withers. “Okay.”
Rainbow Dash gave a little nod, shouldering Scootaloo into a more comfortable position onto her back before stepping out her door and taking flight, gliding down to town square.
Inside the pocket of warmth on her guardian’s back, Scootaloo waited patiently, having already accepted today would be a pretty boring day for herself. Yet, she couldn’t really argue with Rainbow Dash, either. She really didn’t want to get sick again anytime soon.
It had only taken two days for her to fully regain her appetite and feel like herself again after that last night, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t terrified of that happening again. She readily accepted the gummy vitamins Rainbow Dash gave her, though her imagination was a bit disappointed when she wasn’t immediately super strong like some of the foalish books Foggy had read to her about being healthy had said.
A gust of chilly wind stung her face, and she gripped her little cocoon closed, feeling Rainbow’s back muscles working with every stroke of her wings, making a game out of guessing when her sister would speed up and when she would slow down.
Rainbow Dash frowned to herself, wishing Scootaloo could spend the day helping and playing with her friends, having already vowed to herself a thousand times over to try and make it up to Scootaloo when all was said and done.
Even so, Scootaloo hadn’t complained once, even as the morning came well under way, one hour turning to three of monotonous cloud-clearing and roof shoveling.
By the time lunch rolled around, the sky was partly cloudy, the lake was well on its way to melting, and most of the animals were awake. Rainbow herself no longer shivered against the occasional breeze, and Scootaloo was beginning to shimmy out of the bundle more and more.
After a confirmation from Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash stopped by the Cloudominium to drop off the blanket, both of them beginning to feel hot with it; and with the warmer weather, Rainbow Dash felt far more comfortable with allowing Scootaloo to leave her side. Spying two familiar fillies next to Rarity, Rainbow smiled as she lighted upon the grass and brought her charge over to the nest-making table.
“Hey, Rare!”
“Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash, darling,” Rarity greeted, setting aside yet another completed basket. “What can I do for you?”
Rainbow grinned as she helped Scootaloo down. “Would you mind letting Scoots work with you for a bit while we finish some things up? It’s starting to get a bit hot in the upper atmosphere, and I’ve been carrying her around all day.”
A light giggle trotted from Rarity’s mouth. “Oh, absolutely, darling, without a question!” She gestured to the seat beside her. “Sit her right by me, I’ll walk her through everything.”
“Thanks, Rarity, you’re the best.” Rainbow did as she was told, settling Scootaloo right beside Rarity as the unicorn traced her name sign and Rainbow Dash explained what was going on. With an interested little coo, and confirmation from Scootaloo that she’d be fine, Rainbow took off to wrap up winter.
Rarity unpacked a nest kit and set all the parts in front of Scootaloo, trying to space out each piece so as not to confuse the poor dear while also keeping them well within reach. With a self-satisfied nod, she took Scootaloo’s hooves and placed them on the first twig. “I laid out all the necessary supplies for you. Go ahead and have a feel.”
Scootaloo hummed curiously, running her hooves along the table and feeling the prickle of twigs and the brush of twine, mentally placing and tallying up all she had to work with.
A hoof brushed her own, Rarity’s delicate touch saying, “Here’s my nest as a reference.” No sooner than it was tapped was Scootaloo’s hoof gently taken and placed upon a rough wall of twigs. Her other hoof joined it, the two sensitive appendages carefully feeling the way the nest bent and curved into a perfect circular bowl. Within a couple moments, she nodded to herself as she figured out the ways in which the twigs intertwined with each other, with the occasional differently-textured material that was definitely not a stick.
Her throat vibrated in a hum as she felt the odd fabric, feeling three different distinctions between the strips: bumpy, skinny smooth, and wide smooth. “What are these?” she asked Rarity’s hoof.
“Those are some ribbons for the nest, darling,” the mare answered. Scootaloo’s hoof was taken and run along the three ribbon textures. “This one’s red, this one’s blue, and this one’s yellow,” Rarity’s hoof explained as the filly’s hoof was guided along the bumpy, skinny smooth, and wide smooth textures, respectively. “Feel free to arrange those within the nest as you see fit, it doesn't matter what order. I picked spring-like colors for these.”
Scootaloo hummed in interest, nodding her head and finding her own sets of bumpy red, skinny smooth blue, and wide smooth yellow ribbon. A little giggle bounced from her throat. She had no idea textures could be related to seasons! Or that they had cool names like red and blue!
Her mental hoof went wild as she began picking up piece after piece, gently bending and weaving the sticks together, using her ‘red’ ribbon to hold them together. ‘Red must be because they’re bumpy! Red’s a short word, just like the bumps! And ‘L’ is a flat letter*, so that must have something to do with the smoothness of it. And since yellow has two ‘L’s, that means it’s bigger and smooth!” She giggled. “And it’s just warm enough to make you smile, so it’ll make the birds happy and warm!”
Rarity watched on in proud delight as the little filly almost expertly incorporated the ribbons, giving a beautiful pattern that also left the avian habitat one of the most structurally-sound nests she’d ever seen, Scootaloo giggling to herself as she seemed to quite enjoy herself. After several long moments, Scootaloo tucked in the final piece of ribbon and presented her work to Rarity, smiling brightly. The white unicorn gave her a gentle hug. “That’s wonderful, darling! You’re a natural!”
With a self-celebratory clap, Scootaloo asked for another kit, happily making nests with Rarity for the rest of the afternoon and enjoying different combinations of red, blue, and yellow she could make.
Three little fillies trekked through a dark wood, two of them mildly troubled by the observation as sight became more obscured by the dark shadows of the trees on top of the already-deep-set darkness of night.
But they had a mission, and they weren’t about to back down because of a little darkness.
Two fillies guided their friend over a twisting root, the little pegasus smiling gratefully and giving a little hum. Their ears flicked as they heard the shuffling of her feathers under her cape, the three of them wearing identical articles of clothing that marked them as members of theirclub. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other as they heard Scootaloo’s feathers fwip along the golden silk, their friend having told them she liked the way it felt on her feathers when they asked if she wanted wing holes.
A rustling in the brush caught their attention, and they stopped, halting their friend in the process as they looked, seeing the chicken head pop out of the bush.
Scootaloo giggled to herself as she felt the smooth silk for probably the hundredth time with her feathers, her friends stopping her as she felt their subtle movements, assuming they were looking around. She gasped as Apple Bloom collided into her, sending her into Sweetie Belle, the three fillies tripping over each other’s hooves and hitting the ground.
Before she could even ask what was going on, Scootaloo was yanked up, her friends pulling her along in a sudden gallop. Fear instantly established itself in her chest, unable and unwilling to stop and ask her friends what was wrong.
So fast they went, that they were unable to stop themselves when they eventually tripped over each other’s hooves, tumbling over each other before finally coming to a stop.
Desperately, Scootaloo grabbed the first foreleg that brushed against her. “What’s going on?!”
“It’s a Cockatrice!” the answering hoof trembled.
With a throat-jump of shock, Scootaloo was pulled up by her friends, the fillies pressing against each other and the two hearing fillies jolting at everything that moved, three little minds racing to find a way out.
Scootaloo gasped as a thought galloped through her mind, and she whirled around, grabbing her two friends and turning them to face her. She took a hoof from both, tapping simultaneously on their fetlocks, “You’re not supposed to look at it, right?”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged a glance. “Right,” Sweetie Belle answered on Scootaloo’s shoulder.
“Why?” Apple Bloom added.
Their best friend hesitated. “I think I might be immune to it.”
A moment of confused thought passed before two pairs of eyes widened, the other fillies coming to the same conclusion. Scootaloo took their pause as an affirmative answer, and quickly tapped, “Point me in the direction we came from. Then get behind me and close your eyes. Hold onto my cape and don’t let go.”
Spurred into action, the two fillies did what they were asked. They twisted Scootaloo around, lining up her hooves with the path. A squawk, and they squealed, shielding their eyes as a flutter of feathers rustled past. Terrified, they clung to the cape of their equally trembling friend, the motion signaling her to begin walking.
Scootaloo carefully shuffed her hooves forward, skidding the dirt underneath them as she slowly led her friends away from the area. Every few seconds, she felt them press tighter into her, the Cockatrice apparently making a close pass at them. This only compelled her faster, and she hesitantly threw a bit of the caution she had built up over a lifetime out the window as she took quicker steps, just trying to get somewhere safe as fast as possible.
She only hesitated a bit when she found grass, reassuring herself that she had felt grass before she felt dirt when they had first set out. Swallowing her nervousness, she led on, her friend’s faces pressed into her withers.
The more steps she took, the easier she fell into her usual rhythm, the more confident she felt in her ability to get her and her friends out of the terrifying situation they had gotten themselves into.
Breathing became a bit easier for the guiding filly, knowing they had to be close to the cottage. Just as she was beginning to estimate a wall of shrubbery, her hoof touched down on something hard and rough, bringing her trek to a halt. Her throat moved in a little shout of surprise, nearly falling over whatever it was she stepped on.
And yet…something about it was familiar.
“Are you okay?” asked one hoof. “What is it?” asked the other.
Instead of answering, Scootaloo’s hooves went back to the suddenly-appeared tripping hazard, feeling the round, stoney object, the curves and edges of which resembled…
A face.
With a lump in her throat, and a sudden trembling in her hooves, Scootaloo’s hoof found the straight edge of a set of bangs, where a horn poked out from the center of the forehead, solidifying the identity of the pony whose face was stretched with a shock-induced, dropped jaw.
Scootaloo leapt back from the petrified Twilight, her throat opening in a scream.
She would have no idea that her scream, coupled with her friends’ once they dared open their eyes to see for themselves the reason for their friend’s shock, would be what would lead Fluttershy to their location.
Once the Cockatrice was dealt with, and Twilight’s safety confirmed to Scootaloo, the filly hardly left the unicorn’s side for an hour, both the restored mare and her friends reassuring her the monster was gone, her nerves finally settling enough to sleep by the time the sun began to peek over the horizon.
Scootaloo happily shook the mare’s hoof, feeling her sister’s hoof on her withers. “She said it’s nice to meet you, kiddo.”
The little filly giggled. “It’s nice to meet her, too!”
Rainbow Dash laughed, grinning at the mare who so graciously came around the table to meet the filly properly, and now let her little sister hold her hoof as the filly seemed to be curiously feeling the size and shape of her hoof. She chuckled, “She’s got the whole collection in Braille, she might be your smallest biggest fan.”
A.K. Yearling gave her own little giggle at the compliment. “Well I don’t doubt that for a second, kiddo.”
Scootaloo felt the shape of the A.K. Yearling’s hoof once again, her internal gears grinding as she felt an odd familiarity to them. With a curious vibration from her throat, she reached for Rainbow’s hoof. “Is it okay if I feel her face?”
“Uh…” Rainbow grinned sheepishly. “She wants to know if it’s okay if she feels your face. I’m sorry if that’s a strange question, but that’s how she sees what ponies look like. You can totally say no if that makes you uncomfortable.”
The cloaked author tilted her head with a little grin. “I don’t mind at all!”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t help the surge of relief in her chest, the smile on her face showing her gratitude toward the mare as she guided Scootaloo’s hooves toward A.K. Yearling’s lowering face. The pegasus patiently waited for the tiny hooves to roam her face, Scootaloo giggling as she bumped the big glasses and used it as an anchor to find the rest of the features.
As she went, her smile slowly faded from excited joy to outright confusion. With an odd hum, her hooves lowered, her head tilting. She reached behind her. “Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah, squirt?”
Scootaloo jumped at the response that definitely came from behind her, still sensing the presence of the pony in front of her. Her mind tripped over itself as she reached back for her sister again. “Why does she look just like you?”
Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion, her own head tilting as she looked up at A.K. Yearling. With a nervous chuckle, she translated, “Uh…she said we look alike, but…I don’t see it.”
Now, A.K. Yearling joined the party of befuddlement. “Huh, never heard that one before.” She hummed to herself, looking down at her deaf-blind fan, chuckling, “Eh, who am I to argue? Maybe she feels something we can’t see.” The pegasus’s eyes shined as she grinned, obviously finding the situation amusing, despite the filly’s continued confusion.
Her eyes flicked to the long line behind her prismatic-maned fan, internally sighing to herself, honestly finding fan signings a touch tedious—especially compared to her real profession. With a little chuckle, she stands, the back of her mind continuing to map out the next book in the series. “Well, it was great meeting you two. Maybe I’ll catch you next time?”
“Oh, definitely!” Rainbow nodded as A.K. Yearling situated herself at the table once again. “Thanks again!”
The tan pegasus nodded kindly, giving her a lazy salute. “Not a problem. Catch ya on the next go-round!”
Rainbow grinned, helping Scootaloo on her back, the filly already planning out her next little clay figure.
The next day, Rainbow Dash pulled a fresh baking sheet from the oven, where a new figure, a hat, and a tiny pair of glasses rested upon the aluminum foil. She couldn’t help her proud little grin at Scootaloo’s speed and skill, the little filly apparently bound and determined to show off the figure and all its moving parts.
Once said figure and pieces were cool enough, Rainbow Dash plucked the still-warm figures up and gently carried them into the living room, where Scootaloo was waiting for her at the coffee table, the filly having brought down the little figure of Rainbow Dash as she waited for her guardian to finish baking the figures.
Setting them down, she gently took Scootaloo’s hooves and guided them to the pieces, the filly nodding in determination as she gently took them and put the ensemble together, showing off A.K. Yearling in all her author glory.
Rainbow grinned. “Great job, Scoots! It looks just like her!”
“Thanks!” Scootaloo replied, taking a moment to feel the finished product before she took Rainbow’s again. “Can you go get the little you off my shelf?”
“Sure.” Rainbow trotted off, hovering up the stairs and into Scootaloo’s room. Coming back with the figure, she found Scootaloo had dressed it in the hat and glasses, showing A.K. Yearling in all her glory. “Here you go, kiddo.”
“Thanks!” Scootaloo gratefully took the figure, setting it beside A.K. Yearling. She thought over what she wanted to try and say to Rainbow Dash, finally deciding on. “You two look a lot alike.”
Rainbow Dash blinked, eyeing the two figures stood next to each other, a frown tugging at her mouth when she couldn’t see it. “Really? You think so?”
Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah! Watch this!” Carefully, she removed A.K. Yearling’s hat and glasses, leaving a bareheaded and baremaned author before placing the items on Rainbow Dash, creating what her hooves thought was the perfect identical double of A.K. Yearling. With a little chuckle, she turned her face up to Rainbow Dash and gestured to the figures.
Rainbow’s brow scrunched in confusion, though she chuckled in amusement. “Well, gotta be honest, kiddo, I don’t see what you see, but there’s no way I can pull off that look like A.K. can!” She offered her little sister a chuckle, unaware of the filly’s internal fit as she questioned whether or not she was crazy.
Twilight flopped onto her bed, breathing a heavy sigh as she rolled over and propped her hooves on her chest, letting her eyes slip closed as she replayed the events of the day.
Her mind sifted through the observed operation, reminding herself of the surgeon’s words with every step.
The skin being cut away.
The grinding, grating sound against the skull.
The magical zoom-in to ensure chemical and electrical signals were firing properly.
Speaking to the patient afterward before they were discharged.
Twilight let out a breath, her eyes opening again as she stared up at the ceiling, giving barely-perceptible nods to herself as she mentally checked off every box on her list.
All but one.
Clenching her jaw in thought, she turned over onto her side, beginning the first of many debates in her mind as she tried to decide how to bring this up to her friend.
She needed an angle.