Birthday Wishes

by StarFall825


Chapter 7

“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked, her face twisted in worry and confusion. “What do you mean you’re the reason I can’t fly?” Looking back at her  small wings, she pivoted them around before turning to face Cypress. “I can’t fly because my wings didn’t grow strong enough, how could that be your fault?”

“Well,” Cypress said, running his hoof through his mane. “That’s kind of complicated.”

“You don’t really know, do you?” Scootaloo asked with a wry smile, trying to lighten the tense mood.

“Funny,” Cypress said flatly. “This is serious though, Scoot.”

“I was afraid you would say that,” Scootaloo said, drooping in disappointment.

“Like I said, it’s complicated,” he continued. He opened his mouth to continue, but paused before speaking, instead closing his mouth with a sigh. “I’m sorry Scoot, but it has to do with your disease.”

Scootaloo’s forced smile faded away into a scowl.

“I know you don’t like to talk about it,” Cypress said, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“I’m not sick,” Scootaloo growled out as she slipped out from his touch.

Cypress sighed again at his daughter’s stubborn refusal to talk. “Let’s just move on; do you know why you’re a pegasus instead of an earth pony?”

Scootaloo kept scowling, but she raised a brow in curiosity. “Well, cause mom’s a pegasus. You’re always the same race as your mom.”

“Well, not always but yes, that’s the general rule. I’m also not certain if you’ve noticed, but most ponies tend to stick to there own race when it comes to marriage and families.” Scootaloo’s scowl disappeared as curiosity started to take over her emotions.

“They do?” she asked in surprised. “I hadn’t really noticed. Why is that?”

“All kinds of reasons, really. But... I’m sorry Scoot but, well, your disease is one of them.” Scootaloo’s eyes shot open in stunned disbelief and Cypress turned away. “I know this is a shock, but it’s something I’ve been trying to talk to you about for a while now. It’s just... it never seemed like a good moment. You’re wings didn’t grow properly because, well, because I’m not a pegasus.”

“So, wait...” Scootaloo stammered. “You knew this would happen to me?”

Cypress flinched at the hurt, confusion, and anger etching its way onto his daughter’s face. “Oh, no, Scoot—” he said reaching out his hooves to comfort her.

Scootaloo pushed his hooves away from her as she backed up on the gazebo bench. “That’s what you just said, that my... disease is because of you and mom, and that you knew this would happen!”

Could happen, not would,” Cypress responded quietly in the face of his daughter’s anger.

Same thing!” she yelled standing back up.

“No, Scoot, it isn’t. Do you think your mom and I wanted this to happen to you?”

“Yes!” she cried out, panting a few times from her outburst before blinking rapidly in consideration. “No? I don’t know!” A sudden spike of pain shot through Scootaloo’s head, the intensity and unexpectedness of it making her nauseous. “I don’t feel good,” she said as she lay down on her belly, holding her head with both hooves, eyes screwed shut against the pain.

She felt herself gently being lifted up and set down on the familiar width of her father’s back. A slight swaying motion started as he walked.

“Of course we didn’t want this, Scootaloo,” she heard him say softly. “Your mom and I both love you.”

“Then how is it your guy’s fault?” Scootaloo muttered, as waves of exhaustion swept over her between waves of pain.

“First, I need you to know that while, yes, we knew there was a chance of this happening to you, we did everything we could to make sure you were born healthy. We saw all the right doctors, took all the tests, and your mom took all the nasty tasting medicine she could. It was just bad luck; this disease is nopony’s fault, okay, especially not yours, or your mother’s.”

“But you said—”

“I said that I’m the reason you can’t fly.” Cypress walked on in silence for half a minute before continuing. “That medicine the doctors gave you? You know it was to fix the problems your disease causes, you just got the medicine too late. What the doctors didn’t tell you was that if I had brought you in sooner, than it would have worked.” Cypress waited, giving her time to absorb the news, but she just lay quiet on his back. “Scoot? Did you hear me?”

“...Yes.”

“Look, Scootaloo, I know this was a lot to throw at you all at once, especially after the day you’ve already had. The thing I’m trying to say out of this though is I’m sorry.” Cypress’ voice cracked over his last few words and Scootaloo cracked her eyes open. He was looking straight ahead as he walked, blinking his eyes rapidly.

“I’m sorry I’m not the father you deserve; you’re such a great kid, you don’t deserve this. I should have taken you to see a doctor as soon as I saw you having trouble, I just—” He paused, clearing his throat before continuing. “I just didn’t want to think that my daughter wasn’t perfectly healthy. And because of my selfishness, it will be years before you can fly, if ever.” Scootaloo rested her head back on her dad’s shoulders.

“Dad, I—” she started, but Cypress came to a halt, interrupting her.

“We’re here”, he said, sitting down so that Scootaloo slid down him to tumble onto her own back.

“Hey!” she yelped as she flipped herself back onto her hooves. “You could have given me a warning at least.” She sat back on the ground, rubbing at her head with a pained expression. Cypress gave her a small smile, amazed at her ability to remain upbeat even now. 

“I’m sorry, Scoot,” he said. “I forgot about your headache. How’s the pain?”

“It’s not so bad now,” she muttered, still holding her forehead. Scootaloo looked around at where they were, and glanced at her dad in confusion. “The Library? Isn’t it your turn to watch me today?” she asked.

“Sorry kiddo, work didn’t go as planned today, so mom’s going to have to watch you now. Let her know I won’t be home until late tonight, will you?” Cypress turned away, heading in the direction of his workshop.

“Wait, Dad!” Scootaloo called after him. He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. Scootaloo opened her mouth but paused, realizing she wasn’t really sure what to say.

Am I angry at him? She had to admit to being at least a little angry, but was it at her dad? She wanted to say it was okay, that she didn’t mind, but that wasn’t true.

“...Thanks for telling me, Dad,” she finally settled on. “Even if the news is bad... it’s good to know the truth.” Cypress nodded, expressionless, before turning back on his way.


Scootaloo pushed open the door to the library open, breathing in the musty smell of aging books that she had come to know so well. The familiarity and stillness of the tree library was doing wonders to calm her thoughts. A soft humming caught her attention, and she looked up into the second floor to see her mother flying along the rows of books, dusting them.

A soft sigh escape the filly as she settled on the ground next to the door, resting her head against the cool ground. The floor was covered with a thin layer of dust, but Scootaloo was too tired and her head hurt too much for her to care. After the day she had, all Scootaloo wanted to do was relax.

“Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo raised her head, blinking at the setting sunlight shining through the windows. To her surprise, she realized she had fallen asleep.

“Are you okay, dear?” A gentle hoof trailed its way down her neck in a comforting manner. Scootaloo looked up into her mother’s worried face. “Where’s dad?”

“He went back to his shop,” Scootaloo said, her voice thick with exhaustion. She closed her eyes again, pushing back against the hoof stroking her neck. “He said he had a lot of work to do, and that he wouldn’t be home until later tonight.”

“And, of course, he didn’t tell me; big idiot,” Dawn muttered so Scootaloo could barely hear. Scootaloo giggled while Dawn helped her to her hooves. “You didn’t answer my question though; you okay, Scoot?”

“Well, Dad did ask me to tell you, for him,” Scootaloo said, avoiding Dawn’s question.

“Huh, some messenger you are, falling asleep on the job like that,” Dawn said with wry smile as she started brushing some of the dust out of Scootaloo’s fur.

“Sorry,” Scootaloo said sheepishly. “I just had a really long day.”

“Right, well, I’m all done cleaning up here, both the library and you, so let’s go home.”

“H-hello?” A voice came from outside, and a soft knocking followed.

Scootaloo stiffened at the voice, then turned and ran for one of the back rooms.

Dawn stared after her in surprise, but was distracted by the front door cracking open. After shaking her head in stunned bemusement, she turned with a smile to the door. To her surprise, a small white filly was peeking her head around the door.

“Hi... um, are you Scootaloo’s mom?” she said so quietly that Dawn had to strain to hear her.

“Yes, I am,” Dawn answered, pulling the door open so the filly could come inside. “You can speak up though, this may be a library, but you don’t need to whisper.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, speaking ever so slightly louder. “Scootaloo left this at school; I brought it by your house, but no one was there, so I brought it here.” The filly held up Scootaloo’s saddlebag.

“Well, that was very thoughtful of you,” Dawn said with a smile, and the filly relaxed slightly. “What’s your name dear? I’ll make sure Scootaloo thanks you tomorrow.” Scootaloo in the next room felt her spirits raise the highest they’d been that day.

Maybe Sweetie Belle doesn’t hate me after all? she thought with hope.

“Oh, I’m Sweetie Belle,” she heard her say. “But, it’s okay; Miss Cheerilee asked me to bring it over since I was the only one who knew where Scootaloo lives.” Scootaloo felt her enthusiasm dampen a little, unsure if that meant Sweetie was mad at her, and just brought her things because Miss Cheerilee asked her to.

“Well, thanks anyways; it’s good to know my daughter has such nice classmates.”

“Oh, thanks. I, uh, I better get going.” Sweetie Belle turned and ran out of the library before Dawn could say anything.

“Thank you!” Dawn called out the door after her before shutting it. “Scootaloo!” she called out as she turned to see her walking back into the main room. “Scoot, what was that all about?”

“That? Oh that was—”

“Don’t you dare say nothing,” Dawn said, scowling.

“... I wasn’t going to!” Scootaloo said, looking away for a moment. “I was going to say that... that I had some trouble after school, but dad already knows about it.”

Dawn tried to stare her down, but Scootaloo held her gaze as best she could. “Fine,” Dawn finally said, turning to open the door. “I’ll ask your father about it.”

“Mom, I know about you and dad, and my... disease.” Dawn froze, then slowly lowered her head until her forehead rested on the door. She stood like that for several long seconds before turning her head to look at Scootaloo with a solemn expression.

“Your father told you, huh?”

Scootaloo nodded in response.

Dawn sighed, then waved Scootaloo over. When she came up beside Dawn, her mother helped her put on her saddlebag, then knelt down. “C’mon, Scoot, climb on up and I’ll take you for a ride to somewhere we can talk.” Scootaloo climbed up onto her back while Dawn finished locking up the library for the day.  

“Ready?” Dawn asked, and Scootaloo nodded. She then clutched on tight as Dawn jumped into the air, flying up and over the tree and the roofs of the surrounding buildings.

Holding tight as she could, Scootaloo leaned over her mom’s shoulder to look at the ground floating serenely past. A slight breeze rustled her mane, and she gave a long suffering sigh, resting her head on Dawn’s neck.

Dawn shook her head with smile. “It’s not a race, Scoot.”

“I know that,” Scootaloo said with a slight whine. “But couldn’t we go just a bit faster?”

Dawn just smiled and kept flying the same speed. Scootaloo sighed again, resigning herself to another boring flight. It wasn’t that long before Dawn slowed over a lone cloud on the outskirts of the town. She set them both down on the cloud, helping Scootaloo off her back. The two settled down, watching the sunset.

“So, what did he tell you?” Dawn asked after they watched the sunset for a few minutes.

“He said that my wings didn’t grow right because he’s an earth pony. He also told me that if he had brought me to see a doctor sooner, than the medicine they gave me would have worked.” She stared down at the cloud. “He says that he’s the reason I can’t fly.”

“Are you mad at him?” Dawn asked, her voice gentle.

“I... I don’t know,” Scootaloo admitted. “I’m mad, sure, but I don’t know if it’s at him, or just, you know, in general.” Scootaloo took a deep breath and looked her mother in the eye. “Do you think it’s his fault?”

Dawn carefully considered her next words. “Well, you know that I was a late flier. When you turned seven, and everypony else in your class started to fly before you did, your dad started panicking. He wanted to drag you off to a doctor right away, but I stopped him. I told him to just give you some time, and he agreed.

“After a couple of months though, he started to worry again, and so did I. That’s when we took you to Dr. Summer. And that’s when we learned about your condition.” Dawn took a deep breath before continuing. “Your dad may blame himself for this, but he’s the only one who does.”

“Then why does he do it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Because, no matter what I or anypony else tells him, he still feels guilty.” Dawn reached out and scratched Scootaloo’s head. “So, now you know everything; any questions?”

“Well, I do have one...”

“What is it, kiddo?”

“When’s dinner? I’m starving!”

Dawn threw her head back with laughter, scooping up her daughter and pulling her into a tight hug. “You little goof, I’ll make dinner as soon as we get home, okay?”

“Okay, mom,” Scootaloo said. “That’s fi—”

Scootaloo was interrupted as a powerful sneeze burst from her, then another. Each sneeze sent a throbbing pain through her head, making her groan and grab her forehead. Dawn pushed her away, holding her at arms length as she studied her.

“Scoot? Are you okay?”

Scootaloo shook her head, sniffling. “My head hurts,” Scootaloo muttered.

Dawn reached out and felt her forehead. “You do feel pretty warm; maybe you’re coming down with something. C’mon,” she said, scooping Scootaloo off the cloud and onto her back. “You can rest while I get dinner ready.”

Scootaloo held on tight, burying her face in her mom’s thick fur, trying her hardest not to sneeze all over Dawn’s neck. They flew along in silence, Scootaloo sniffing occasionally. Finally, Scootaloo broke the silence with an ear-splitting groan that made Dawn’s stomach jump in surprise.

“Seriously, could we please just fly a little bit faster?!”


Scootaloo thought about everything she’d learned that day, all through dinner, her bath, and now she lay awake in bed, utterly unable to sleep. Not only was her mind racing, she couldn’t stop sneezing and sniffling, and with every sneeze her head throbbed. After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, she made up her mind. Carefully opening her window, she slipped out of the house and ventured into the dark town.

It only took a few minutes to reach her destination. Grasping the handle with her hoof, she turned and walked—

Right into the door. With a startled yelp she jumped back, holding onto her nose. Reaching out she turned the handle again, but sure enough, the door was locked tight. Reaching up she knocked— make that pounded— on the door.

“Dad!” she called out. “Dad, open up! I need to talk to you!” Scootaloo stood waiting; it wasn’t long before the click of the lock could be heard. The door cracked open, the light from a single lantern inside spilling through to shine on her face, silhouetting her father in the doorway.

“Scootaloo?” she heard him say. “What are you doing here this late? Where’s your mother?”

“She’s at home; I snuck out through the window.”

You did wha— you did what?” He yelled out before remembering the time and lowering his voice.”Scootaloo, why would you do that?”

“I need to talk to you, Dad.”

“Okay, what about?” he asked sitting down and folding crossing his legs in front of him, trying to look angry.

“Um, it’s kinda cold out here, can we go inside?”

“No,” Cypress said, shortly. “If you want to talk, then do it here.”

Scootaloo looked at him in surprise, then sighed and went ahead. “I need to know, Dad; why do you blame yourself for my being unable to fly when nopony else does?”

Cypress raised a brow in surprise.

“I spoke to Mom; she said that the only one who blames you is you. I want to know why.”

Cypress looked down at the ground, considering his next words. “Scootaloo,” he finally said with slow deliberation. “It’s a father’s most important duty to keep his children safe, to make sure nothing bad happens to them. If he can’t prevent that, then it’s his job to make it right.” He raised his head again to look her in the eye.

“I may not have been able to prevent this from happening to you, but I should have made sure you were okay as soon as you were falling behind your classmates. Like I said, I ignored my first instinct, to make sure you were alright, because I didn’t want there to be anything wrong with you. It was selfish, and your paying for it.”

Scootaloo sat still and quiet through his explanation, sniffling occasionally. When he finished, she kept quiet for another minute thinking. “Dad?” she finally said, her voice quavering with restrained emotion..

“Yeah, Scoot?” Cypress said, closing his eyes against the outburst of anger that was sure to follow. Instead of loud shouting though, a small pair of hooves wrapped around his chest tightly. Cypress opened his eyes in surprise, looking down at his daughter as she squeezed him as tight as she could.

“I don’t know if it’s your fault or not,” she said quickly, almost too quickly to understand. “I don’t know if I’m mad at you, I don’t know if I even blame you. But I don’t want to hate you, and I don’t want you to be sad, or mad at yourself, or... or...” Scootaloo swallowed audibly, then looked up at him. “I don’t even know what I’m trying to say,” she said with a shaky laugh.

“It’s okay, Scoot,” Cypress said, smiling as he tousled her mane like he always did. Scootaloo grinned, revelling in the small bit of affection. “I think I get what you mean. Now, you need to get back home. C’mon, I’ll take you.”

“Don’t you have work to do?” Scootaloo asked.

“So? No way I’m letting any kid of mine walk around alone at night.”

Dad, I can take care of myschoof! Ohhhhh...”

Cypress blinked a few times. “Are you okay?”

“I might be a little sick.” Scootaloo said, sniffling.

“And you go out walking around at night?” Cypress grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder onto his back. “Do you want to be miserably sick on your birthday?”

I have been carried around a few too many times today... Scootaloo thought lazily as she felt herself drifting off to sleep.