“All right, Owlowiscious, here's what I have so far.” Twilight said as she gathered all the notes that she'd taken while reading. “It appears that Scootaloo has a rare Pegasus disease that affects her ability to fly. It'll get worse, and eventually she may be unable to hover at all...”
She flipped the page and continued, completely focused on her notes. “This disease not only affects her ability to fly, but it also prohibits all Pegasus magic, including the ability to walk on clouds without falling through. Now, in almost all cases, the doctor is able to perform surgery at the time of the pony's birth that can cure the foal of the disease. However, the doctor is only able to perform this operation the day of or the day after the foal's birth. If a foal does not receive surgery within that time window, the doctor will be unable to help the foal.“
“In most cases where the doctors are unable to do the surgery, the family is forced to move to the ground in order to take care of their foal. However, there have been known cases where the parents would leave their foal at an orphanage or just in the street. This is because they were either unable to provide the funds to move to the surface, or they simply didn’t want a foal that couldn't fly.” she said slowly, trying to retain her composure while explaining about that part in her notes to Owlowiscious.
“It appears that there were a few pages missing from one of the books, but from what I was able to understand from the preceding pages there appeared to be a cure for the disease, even if the doctor hadn’t operated. But that particular cure can only be done by an Alicorn. Unfortunately, that was all the information I was able to acquire regarding the subject.” the unicorn finished, going over her notes one last time to make sure she hadn't missed anything.
"I wonder if Princess Celestia might know anything more about this...” Twilight pondered aloud. She then levitated a piece of paper and a quill to the desk in front of her. The scratching of the pen was the only sound within the silent library. Owlowiscious' eyes remained calm and still as he peered over her shoulder.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Recently, it has come to my attention that a little filly named Scootaloo may have a rare disease that cripples her ability to fly. From all the information that I have gathered on the subject, I have learned that the disease is not curable unless treated within a day of the foal's birth. However, my research contradicted itself. In my reading, I learned of another possible cure that can only done by an Alicorn. Unfortunately, that is all I know about it; the following pages had been torn out by somepony who'd checked out the book beforehoof.
I would like to know if you happen to have any information about this cure or if you happen to know where I could learn more.
“I wonder if she also has any information on Scootaloo that could help me understand all of this a little better,” she thought aloud.
Also, if possible, could you send me some information on Scootaloo? Such as where she lives, where she was born, and really anything that you think would be pertinent to my investigation at hoof?
Thank you in advance for any information that you find.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle
“Alright, I think the letter's good enough. Don’t you, Owlowiscious?”
“Hoot!” agreed the owl, fluffing its wings.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Owlowiscious, I have one last request for you. I'm going to leave this for Spike to send to Celestia with a note telling him not to read it, so please make sure that he doesn't read it. I don’t want him to know that I'm doing research on Scootaloo.” She tied the paper up and attaching a sign that read:
Spike, as soon as you read this paper, send this scroll to Princess Celestia. DON'T READ IT.
“Hoot,” he chirped in understanding, nodding in response to Twilight's request.
Twilight, realizing how late it was, decided that it was probably best to head to bed. After all, she had lessons with Rainbow Dash tomorrow. “Good night, Owlowiscious. I'm going to hit the hay... Make sure to put away any books you take out,” the unicorn said with a yawn. She was a lot more tired than she'd initially thought.
“Hoot!”
With that final response, Twilight went upstairs and into her bedroom.
When she at last made it up, she noticed that Spike was curled up in his bed, sleeping. Trying not to be too loud but still get her love across, she whispered, “Goodnight, my number one assistant. Sweet dreams...” The dragon smiled in his sleep, and that was enough. With a small grin of her own, she tiptoed to her bed and lay down. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep.