//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Ponycare // by Bunnybooze79 //------------------------------// To take her mind off the previous discussion with Bon Bon, Rainbow Dash decided to get her grocery shopping over and done with. The marketplace was already bustling with ponies selling and buying wares of all kinds. With practiced speed she sped from one stall to the next and refrained from any smalltalk with any of the ponies there. Rainbow Dash never liked having to go shopping all that much. Being stuck in between other ponies and not being able to simply fly really wore her patience down. The no fly rule over hte marketplace during market hours also did not sit well with her. After having cleared away her groceries back in her home she made herself a salad and sat in her kitchen eating it while watching Tank fly about in her living room. She would have to take him out later for a short fly in the park, but that could wait until the evening. For now she still needed an answer and time was beginning to run out. A glance at the clock confirmed her thoughts. School would be over for today in just under two hours. She placed her salad bowl into the sink and gave it not another thought. Housework could wait until tomorrow. With a full belly she left her home and took course towards Ponyville’s park. Her best bet at getting answers would be to fly back to Twilight, but that would no doubt lead into a lengthy discussion. Something that she wasn’t in the mood for. Down below she spotted the familiar shape of Fluttershy who was leading a family of ducks to a nearby pond. Rainbow Dash dismissed the idea of asking her about the burning question on her mind. The timid pegasus was very uncomfortable talking about nearly everything and would no doubt prefer not to discuss such a topic with anypony. Rainbow Dash thought about flying back to the market and asking Daisy or maybe Rose, possibly the spa sisters although they would most likely have to deal with customers right now. In the corner of her eye the pegasus saw a bouncing pink shape merrily making its way across a field. Why not? It couldn’t get any weirder than what Bon Bon had said. With a sigh she altered her course and flew down to intercept the bouncing shape of Pinkie Pie. “Heya Pinks!” she greeted her friend and landed in front of her. “Hi Dashie! Whatcha doing?” the partypony now bounced in place and beamed at her friend. “Are you gonna do any new tricks? Can I watch? I am on my lunch break right now so I could totally cheer you on.” “Thanks Pinkie, but no. I actually have a question for you.” “Ooooh….are we playing a game? Who gets the most right answers? Or is it a riddle? I am super good at solving riddles!” Rainbow Dash began regretting asking Pinkie Pie about it, but decided to see it through to the end. “No,no nothing like that. Do you know what pegasi do with their wings and feathers?” This time she would be more descriptive about the question so as to avoid a similar situation like with Bon Bon earlier. “You mean preening?” Pinkie asked back and stopped bouncing for a moment. “Uh…yeah. You know what preening is?” “Of course! You coat your wings with your saliva and at the same time remove any loose feathers.” The partypony was still beaming at Rainbow Dash who for once was suddenly at a loss for words. “Hey, do you think Spitfire from the Wonderbolts got her name because she always eats really spicy stuff and when she preens her wings they start to burn like fire?” Rainbow Dash decided to derail Pinkie’s train of thought and change the subject before it got any weirder. “Don’t know about that. Uhm… Do you know what unicorns do?” “Yeah! They have to file their horns to keep the energy flowing properly.” Pinkie answered without even having to think. Rainbow Dash suddenly began to feel hope for finally finding her answer. “Then what do earth ponies do?” Pinkie just stared at her for a moment. Rainbow Dash felt her hope slowly fading away of maybe getting her answer. Perhaps there simply wasn’t an answer. “Oh you mean the Running.” Pinkie chimed up again and instantly hope came flooding back. “The Running?” “Yeah….you know the Running!” to emphasize Pinkie began running circles around the pegasus at a ludicrous speed. With a screech of her hooves on the ground she stopped in front of Rainbow Dash and gave her a big smile. “See? Running!” “Why?” was the only question that now popped into the cyan mare’s head. Pinkie rubbed her chin with a hoof before answering. “Well….every once in a while an earth pony will suddenly get the urge to run really really fast and long. They do that until they have no energy left and can’t do anything then anymore except to sleep. When they wake up they are full of energy again!” “That’s it? They get exercise and a good nights sleep?” Rainbow Dash began questioning the pink pony’s explanation. It didn’t sound all that special to her. “Think of it like a magic crystal that’s charged with energy. If you want to have it recharged you first have to empty it completely, only then can you fully charge it again. It’s the same with earth ponies and their magic. And it’s a really really deep sleep. You don’t even dream when you sleep that deep. HeeHee…deep sleep, deep sleep, deep sleep. I bet I can make a song out of that.” Rainbow Dash had to admit that sounded somewhat believable and interrupted Pinkie before she could brake out in song. “So all earth ponies get the urge to run a lot suddenly?” “Ha ha, no silly. Then you would have seen them by now right?” Rainbow Dash chose to ignore being called silly. “It’s an old name. Earth ponies used to gather in groups for the Running waaaaaaaay back in the old times. Now we only run together during the running of the leaves. Or when there is a super special super sale at Sugarcube Corner. And I don’t even need to go running every few weeks because I am always bouncing, jumping, skipping and hopping all the time anyway. So in the evening I always fall asleep with no energy left and the next morning I bounce out of bed fully charged.” Knowing Pinkie she meant the bouncing out of bed part literally. “So if an earth pony does a lot of work that uses up their energy anyway, they wouldn’t need to go for a run? Somepony like Applejack for example?” “Yeah! She is always working really really hard on the farm. So I bet she uses up a lot of energy and can sleep really deep.” Pinkie Pie began bouncing again happy that her friend understood what she had said. So Applejack had actually given me the answer as well, but just didn’t know that her heavy sleeping was her recharging her magical energies. Rainbow Dash focused back to the joyous pony in front of her. “How do you know that stuff?” she just had to ask. Of all ponies she had not reckoned with Pinkie being the one to answer her question. “Eh. Common knowledge I guess.” She simply replied with a casual wave of her hoof. Rainbow decided to leave it at that and not to ask any further. “Thanks a lot, Pinkie! You have really been a great help.” Rainbow Dash meant it with all her heart and gave Pinkie a large smile. It was instantly returned by the pink pony. “A smile is the best reward.” she said and merrily continued her way across the field while humming a cheerful tune. Still smiling Rainbow Dash took off and headed towards Ponyville’s school. This is going to be awesome! _________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash paced about in front of the school anxiously waiting for the bell to signal the end of the day. She was armed with knowledge you could not wait to pass what she had learned on to her number one fan. Her ears perked up when the bell rang and she stopped her pacing. Soon the colts and fillies began pouring out of the building, glad to be done with work for the day. Scootaloo left the building together with her best friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom chatting about cutie marks no doubt and what they would be doing for the rest of the day. The orange pegasus saw Rainbow Dash sitting outside the school perimeter and happily waved to her. She said goodbye to her friends once they passed the gate and trotted up to the waiting mare. “Hey Squirt! How was school?” “Meh, Monday….” She replied with a smile. “Guess what? I know what unicorns and earth ponies do!” Rainbow Dash took a heroic pose and was ready to tell the filly everything she now knew. “Oh? Yeah, I know all about that now too.” the filly answered. “Huh? But how?” Rainbow’s enthusiasm melted away like ice cream in the sun. “I was talking to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom during our break about what you taught me this morning. Sweetie Belle then told us about what she does with her horn and that Rarity even does that every day during the week. Anyway… Cheerilee overheard us and decided to skip history class for a lesson about ponycare. She told us about how earth ponies need to expend their energy to fully recharge during their sleep. He he… and I totally freaked out Diamond Tiara after we learned about preening by putting my wing on her back.” “Awww… I was about all morning learning that stuff as well to surprise you with it now.” Rainbow Dash huffed and let her head hang. She had really wanted to impress the filly with knowledge and that little bubble had now been burst. “Really? You spent all morning learning that stuff for me?” the filly asked surprised. She knew that Rainbow Dash was not all too fond of learning. The older mare simply nodded still looking rather gloomy. “Wow! I never had anypony to something like that for me before. Thank you Rainbow Dash. That’s really awesome!” She gave her idol a quick hug and a huge heartfelt smile. Instantly Rainbow Dash’s gloominess vanished at the sight. Whaddya know, Pinkie is right again. A smile is the best reward. “Wouldn’t do it for anypony else. Sooo… ready to head to the doc to ask about your wings?” Rainbow asked and tussled the filly’s mane. “Yeah. Let’s go!” ___________________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash led the way towards Ponyville’s hospital with Scootaloo following closely behind on her scooter. She kept an eye on the filly to make sure she didn’t speed to fast. After a few brief minutes they reached their destination. Rainbow led the way inside. Thankfully the waiting area was empty. Behind the reception desk nurse Redheart was reading a few medical reports. She looked up when the two pegasi stood before the desk. “Hello Rainbow Dash. Can I help you?” she asked in a friendly tone. “How’s it going Red?” the cyan mare replied. Due to her frequent injuries sustained during her stunts she was well acquainted with the hospital staff. “Is there a doctor free at the moment?” “Wow, this is a first! Normally when you need to see a doctor you are brought in via a stretcher.” Redheart said with an amused smile. “It’s not for me. It’s for her.” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at the filly beside her. Redheart looked at the filly with worry in her eyes. “Oh dear! What’s the matter? Are you hurt?” she asked concerned and was about to leave her position at the desk to examine the filly herself. For all sarcastic remarks towards Rainbow Dash, she was a very caring nurse that took the wellbeing of every pony seriously. “Nothing wrong with her. It’s just that we need some answers to a couple of pegasi related questions.” Redheart looked relieved and gave Scootaloo a smile. “Doctor Stable is on duty at the moment. Take a seat in examination room A and he will see you shortly.” Redheart said and pointed towards the mentioned room. The pegasi thanked her and entered the small room. Then they played the age old tradition that was the waiting game or otherwise known as counting seconds. Rainbow had reached number three hundred forty six when the doctor entered. “Hello Rainbow Dash. And hello young Scootaloo.” He shook both their hooves and sat at the single wooden desk in the room. “What brings you here today?” “You know about preening Doc?” Rainbow asked. “Yes I do. Does either of you have a problem preening?” he asked mentally going through possible afflictions. “I just learned about it today.” Scootaloo began while being a bit embarrassed about it. “When I got on my scooter later I could build up way more speed. Then we tried to see if I maybe could fly, but it was really difficult to move my wings in that way and it kinda hurt as well.” “Hmmm…” the doctor scratched his chin in thought. “I think it’s best if you show me.” He stood up and circled around the desk. His horn began to glow in a light blue aura which he extended to the filly sitting in front of him. Scootaloo felt the magic cover her back and the base of her wings. It felt warm and wasn’t unpleasant just unfamiliar. Then it slowly spread over her chest and lifted her up a few inches above the ground. “Ok. Now pretend you are riding your scooter. Don’t worry nothing will happen while I hold you with my magic.” Scootaloo immediately began buzzing her wings, but did not move anywhere. Behind her Rainbow Dash stood with her mane blowing in the wind that the filly stirred up. “That’s good, now try your movements for flying.” he instructed. Scootaloo only managed four flaps before her wings became too heavy and a nasty pain began to form in her back. He gently let her back down to the floor and trotted over to the large bookshelf on the far wall. Rainbow Dash gently rubbed the filly’s aching back with a hoof hoping to massage the pain away a bit. Scootaloo smiled at the gesture and did indeed feel better because of it. A few minutes passed while the doctor consulted a few books. He finally closed the last one he had been reading and smiled at the waiting pegasi. “Well considering the situation I would say everything is in order.” Scootaloo looked to Rainbow Dash for an explanation, but she merely shrugged. “What do you mean Doc? Why does it hurt when she tries to fly?” “Seeing as she only started preening today, her flight muscles are underdeveloped. Not all of them, otherwise she would not be able to ride her scooter the way she does. Unfortunately by using only those muscles the others are nowhere near the growth that they should be for a filly her age.” Rainbow Dash looked worried while Scootaloo was already reckoning with the worst news. “So… so I won’t be able to fly?” “Well no. Not at the moment or anytime soon that is for sure.” “But she could fly someday?” Rainbow Dash asked with hope. The filly at her side seemed not to be all that optimistic. “Yes, most certainly. All she must do is build up the muscles she has neglected.” In an instant Scootaloo’s head shot up, ears perked. A smile began to slowly form on her lips. “You mean I WILL be able to fly?” “Absolutely. I can set up a training schedule for your wings if you wish. It is important to first build them up when your wings are unpreened. The resistance is too much for them at the moment. Once they are stronger you can then train them with preened wings.” He smiled at the filly. The smile she was now wearing was infectious. “So I will be flying in a few days?” she beamed again with newfound hope. “Erm…no it will take longer.” “A few weeks?” The doctors smile began to fade. “Months?” now her smile began fading as well. “Seeing that you have never used those muscles much before and would only now start training them….” He trailed off a bit. Giving bad news to patients was never easy and was worse when it involved fillies or colts. “You have to reckon with two or three years. Maybe longer I’m afraid. You have to catch up on a lot of lost time. Do you want me to set up a training program for you?” he asked the now sad pegasi who let her head hang low with ears folded down. “I got this Doc. I know what to do and will help her.” Rainbow Dash answered instead of Scootaloo, seeing that she wasn’t in the mood for talking. They said their goodbyes to the doctor and nurse Redheart while leaving the hospital. Scootaloo still seemed utterly disappointed at the news. Rainbow Dash did not like seeing her sad so she felt the need to cheer her up. “Cheer up, Squirt! He said you will be able to fly eventually!” “In a few years….” She sadly muttered. “Meh, so what? With me as your personal coach we will cut that time in half I’m sure.” She put herself in pose and beamed at the filly. A small glint of hope shimmered in the eyes of Scootaloo. “Really? You would do that for me? Be my coach and help me with it?” “You betcha Scoots. I AM your big sister after all.” She playfully nudged the filly in the side causing her to giggle. “What if he is wrong?” doubts still plagued her mind. “What if I can’t fly after doing all that training?” “Bah! That isn’t the right attitude kid. Come on! Let me hear you say it!” “I will fly.” She said meekly. “Nah, you can do way better than that. Louder!” “I will fly!” she said with a bit more conviction. “I can’t hear you! I must have left the filly that would cheer for me so loud you could hear her in Canterlot back in the hospital somewhere.” “I will fly!” she said again this time puffing her small chest out and raising her head. “Must be around here somewhere….I thought I just heard her.” “I WILL FLY!” Scootaloo yelled with a wide grin on her face. “There she is! And you bet Squirt, YOU WILL FLY!” Rainbow Dash yelled and held out her hoof. “YEAH! I WILL FLY!” Scootaloo bumped the offered hoof with her own and buzzed her wings with newfound vigor. “KEEP IT DOWN OUT THERE!” they heard nurse Redheart yell from inside the hospital. Still grinning they quickly left the hospital grounds and turned towards Ponyville’s center. “Thanks Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo said while scooting along at a very relaxed pace keeping up with the slowly hovering cyan pegasus beside her. “What for Scoots?” “Doing so much for me. It really means a lot to me.” She said at the risk of being called sappy. “Hey, what are sisters for.” Rainbow Dash replied with a big smile. ____________________________________________________________________ They casually sped along the road past Rarity’s Carousel Boutique as an idea entered Rainbow Dash’s mind. She toyed with it for a moment and with a devilish grin she turned to Scootaloo. “What is it?” she asked and found herself mimicking her idol’s smile. Something about the mischievous twinkle in Rainbow’s eyes caused the fillies lips to curve upwards without even knowing what she was thinking about. “I have an idea.” Rainbow Dash stopped in mid-air and rubbed her front hooves together. “A really good idea. Wanna help?” “You bet! What do you have in mind?” Scootaloo stopped her scooter and looked up to the mare still hovering and looking more and more like a villain out of a Sunday morning cartoon. “Wait here! I just have to get something first. Oh this is going to be good.” With those words she took off like a rocket leaving a still grinning Scootaloo standing in the middle of the road near Carousel Boutique.