The Scars of the Past, the Foundation of the Future (Cyan Guardian 8)
The hospital hadn’t changed a bit since her last visit: blue floor, wooden celling and ornamented mint green wallpapers, accentuated with pictures of beautiful landscapes. A row of plushy cushions aligned with the wall offered a comfortable waiting area. Potted plants placed regularly made for a less sterile atmosphere.
The only thing new in this room was the nurse standing behind the oaken counter: a young caramel coloured pegasus mare with a dark brown mane hidden under her bonnet.
“Welcome Ms Dash. How can I be of help to you today?” she welcomed them in a warm tone, suggesting courtesy was more than just official procedure to her.
Rainbow placed Scootaloo on one of the cushions, before treading up to the waiting pony at a lazy pace.
“Good afternoon Miss... erm...” Rainbow gaze went to the nearly hidden white nametag adorning her opposite’s chest. “Warmheart; may I ask how you know my name when I have never seen you around here before?”
“Who would not recognise one of Equestria’s heroes?” The nurse put aside a stack of paperwork and retrieved the thick organizer of the clinic. “How may I help you?”
“I’ve got an appointment for the little filly here.” Dash pointed to Scootaloo who had just started to have a pillow fight on her own, abusing the cushioning as a soft playground.
“Ohh. I didn’t know you had a daughter. And what a cute one may I add. How old is she?”
“She turned nine a few months ago,” Rainbow answered, not even trying to hide her amusement over the irritated expression forming on the nurse while she seemed to realize something, her head flickering back and forth between Dash and the filly.
“You... you must have had her when you were—”
“Eleven” Rainbow did the math for the other mare, stating the number deadpan.
“I didn’t mean to impose on you. It just seems...unusual,” the nurse apologised with a slight bow, the effort of finding a politically correct term clearly showing on her face.
“I would rather call it near impossible,” Rainbow responded dryly. “I obviously didn’t birth her. To be honest with you, I just got custody of her a few hours ago for reasons I don’t want to spread through all of Ponyville.”
“Again, I don’t mean to impose on you. I am sorry if I crossed a line,” the nurse said, continuing the task she had abandoned a few moments ago, browsing for the right entry in the thick organizer waiting before her and seemingly finding what she was looking without too much effort. “I found the entry. I will bring out the doctor for you.”
The nurse trotted to the door next to counter, shortly waving at the ‘thank you’ coming from Rainbow before leaving the room. A minute later she appeared again, accompanied by a light grey unicorn stallion sporting a bright red mane and the usual doctor’s attire; a stethoscope and a white coat. Without any detour, he went straight to Rainbow upon seeing the waiting mare while the nurse returned to her work behind the counter, deliberately positioning herself far enough to keep out of earshot.
“Hello Ms Dash. Nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Gentle Aid.” He held out his hoof and shook Rainbow’s. “I am a Professor at the paediatrics department of the university hospital of Canterlot. I happened to hold a lecture this morning here in Ponyville and couldn’t help but overhear that Scootaloo’s registration mentioned that she needs to be examined for her inability of flight, which by coincident is my field of specialization.” He gestured down to his Cutie Mark, a blue feather surrounded by a light yellow magical aura.
“Before we begin I will need to ask you some questions, though.”
After everything that had gone wrong today, this sign of good fortune was most welcome. The doctors in Ponyville were all great in their jobs without exception, there was no denying it. But not many of them had a working knowledge of the treatment of pegasi-only diseases, and none of them had studied anything apart from the basics on flight disorders as far as Rainbow’s research of the past week could be trusted.
Rainbow had expected to have to take the filly to a specialist in Canterlot. The specialist coming to her aid by sheer luck made things a lot easier. Fate was a nimble and cruel thing at times, but right now it was working in her favour.
“I wanted to have a quick talk to you beforehoof anyway, so just ask freely.”
Rainbow glanced over her shoulder at Scootaloo, only to see her ward still had her fun in the waiting area jumping up and down on the cushions, up to little stunts while doing so.
“The registration mentions that you want us to have a full screening of the filly and thorough examinations of her reproductive system and her inability to fly. I did not find any data on Scootaloo in the hospital archives, nor did my assistants find anything in the central medical register in Canterlot. I therefore have to ask you for context, her medical history and a document stating the permission of a legal guardian for the procedures.”
As was to be expected, Rainbow thought, sighing not only inside her head.
“I just managed to gain custody over her. I hope I don’t need to write down my agreement.” She smiled at the doctor while grabbing into her saddlebags and retrieving Scootaloo’s full record and the form granting her custody. She handed both over to the doctor before she began to describe the events of the past year yet again, but in a much abbreviated form and adding all the details of the filly’s flight ability, or rather her inability to do so.
Listening carefully to Dash, Professor Aid took note from time to time using a quill and notebook he had magically taken out of his shirt pocket, nodding at each important statement or scratching his head over others.
“I have two requests for you,” Rainbow ended. “Could you not tell the filly I told you to have look at her flight inability? She is already very insecure about it and I don’t want her to jump to conclusions.”
The professor slowly closed his book with an audible thud and absentmindedly sent it back to its origin, watching the orange filly happily trying to build and climb a swaying cushion column. Pondering the implications of what he had just heard he slowly turned back to Rainbow, responding to her question.
“I would have made it a part of the normal examination anyway. So sure, no problem. What is your second request?”
“Is there a way to do the pelvic exam without er... actually inserting something?”
His head moved to the filly and back to Dash again, all the while alternating in a swaying sideway motion around its general path.
“I am sorry but no. We will be looking for remains of hopefully already healed wounds. We won’t see this kind of thing on a magic resonance tomography image. But I will include Warm Hoof. She is a very kind and gentle gynaecologist as I was told.”
“I can confirm that,” Rainbow mumbled.
Both of them hastily averted their faces, avoiding eye contact as both turned to a pale shade of red.
“How about I show you and Scootaloo to the diagnostic room?” Gentle Aid intervened, giving Rainbow an excuse to escape for a few seconds to get the filly
The room he led them to was first one to the left on the long floor leading to all diagnostic and operation rooms.
Rainbow couldn’t remember having ever been in it despite her many visits. It was bigger than the other rooms, containing enough space to give room for four ponies, two different examination areas and two large cabinets full of medicine and silvery shining instruments and still offering the possibility to run around the empty centre without a fear of accidentally hitting something, a very valuable option if you wanted to test the agility of a foal like Scootaloo.
What unnerved Dash was the gynaecological table, although it looked just like a regular one except for the height-adjustable hoofboard at the moment set to bare inches over the floor. Scootaloo would need to be prepared for that. Rainbow mentally reprimanded herself for not properly thinking of it before and therefore not allowing the filly more time to prepare herself for what was coming. The fast version would have to do.
She waited for the stallion to leave the room to get the second doctor before she placed Scootaloo on the normal examination table standing half as high as an average pony with a green hygiene paper sheet spread over it.
“OK. I will now tell you what will happen next. The doctor who brought us here will get a colleague and they will both perform a complete check-up of you.” Dash paused, inhaling deeply and slowly blowing out the air in thin stream. As well as she knew her ward in many aspects, other parts of the foals personality and upbringing were still complete alien to her. Sexual education was one of them. The terms and times to start varied greatly for all families, some including the topic from early on, others nearly waiting until the first heat season of their offspring. Only asking the filly herself could go for a viable option.
“What do you know of the difference between colts and fillies?”
Scootaloo froze for a second, trying to bring back the memory of one particular sleepover where Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had combined their knowledge on that subject, which wasn’t much. She hadn’t contributed much that night either. All she had been told in the orphanage was that colts and fillies peed in different ways. And she had found out that she had a hole in her girly region the hard way, thanks to Ms Birch.
“You OK, Squirt? Did I do something wrong?” Rainbow looked intently at the filly before her. Scootaloo hadn’t noticed she had started to grimace at the thought of her tormentor.
“No. I’m OK. Just thinking.” Scootaloo put on a happy expression again, really meaning it, before reciting the results of that one night with closed eyes following the words in her head, only partly comprehending their true meaning. “Colts have a thing they can extrude that is on their belly. Fillies have a hole under their tails. This is why they pee differently. And if a colt and filly really like each other he can put his thing in her hole to make a foal.”
She opened up her eyes again and looked up at Rainbow. “It hurts if he does it, doesn’t it?”
“No. If both really want it, it’s the best feeling in the world.” Although she had stuck with mares ever since, Rainbow could still remember her first coltfriend. He had been so unlike her, slow in all aspects but this single one and yet it had felt great. His lips had been so smooth.
She forced herself to end her thoughts as she could feel her wings ready to rise. Now was not the time for erotic retrospectives. She had a task at hoof.
“Your ‘hole’ is called a vagina. It is a part of the organs needed to make foals as you said. There are more special organs for that hidden inside you.” She tickled the sitting filly on her lower stomach.
“Normally, it is supposed to feel good when you insert things into your vagina if you do it very carefully, and the thing is small and smooth enough, but most importantly when you consent to it. What Ms Birch did is not to be excused and will be severely punished. The princesses themselves are currently working on that. Only you have the right to decide over your body. Especially this part.”
She paused again, inhaling deeply once more.
“OK, here is the deal. I fear that Ms Birch might have caused damage in this region, meaning they will have to examine your vagina as well. Which includes inserting things.”
Of course this was only part of the truth. The headmistress had definitely done damage. The big question was, if it was permanent and still visible, and if so, had it any impact on her ability to conceive or enjoy her sex life.
Some ponies considered it to be lying to withhold a part of the truth. She preferred to by liar than to scare Scootaloo.
Scootaloo's eyes had become big and watery and she seemed to be even smaller than usual. “Do I have to?” she asked barely audible.
Rainbow went up the table next to her protégé and wrapped a warm pair of hooves around her companion. Combining all her emotions into one gesture she softly nuzzled Scootaloo’s ear and began to whisper into the same one. “No one will ever again force you to do something you really don’t want to do. I promise.” Back to normal volume she continued. “I am just asking you to do so. I couldn’t sleep without knowing if you are OK or not. I can’t promise it won’t be unpleasant, but it won’t hurt. I know the mare who will perform it if you agree. Every mare has to go through such a check-up every year, so she has carried out the procedure multiple times on me.”
The orange pegasus snuffled. “So you say it won’t be very painful?”
Rainbow softly nudged the filly’s nose with her own. “I already said so, Squirt.”
“Then we can do it as long as you stay with me.”
As if on cue Gentle Aid returned to the room accompanied by Warm Hoof, a yellow unicorn mare with aquatic blue mane and a simple red cross as a Cutie Mark. A big white pony puppet followed them into the room carried by a silver metallic wagon.
Rainbow strongly suspected that they had been listening outside, but she didn’t mind at all. A premature entry would have ruined her persuasions.
“I am sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier. I am Gentle Aid. Just call me Gentle,” he started while still moving towards the two waiting pegasi. He shook the filly’s hoof as soon as he was close enough. “And this is my colleague Warm Hoof.”
“Hi Scootaloo.” She stepped forward to reveal the parts of her that had been hidden by the life sized plastic pony. “Call me Warm if you like.” She followed Gentles example and shook Scootaloo’s hoof as well. “I guess you know what to call me, Rainbow. Last time I’ve seen you I told you everything was fine if you ever wanted to have a foal. Didn’t think you would be so fast about it.”
“Me neither, me neither. But it’s good the way it is, isn’t it, Scoots?” She drew the filly in a short embrace again, before hopping off the examination table using her wings to make for a softer landing. “I’ll stay out of the way then, but I’ll be waiting right here.” Rainbow sat down on the cushion next to the table that had been placed there for her and other concerned parents before her.
“I’ll start with a good news then,” Warm Hoof began, smiling at the filly. “We have checked your documents and you are not due for a new shot for another year.”
“We will start with a basic physical examination.” The professor took over, seeing that the news had sunken in by the beaming expression on his patient. ”Could you please stand up and spread your wings, so we can have a look at you?” He produced a large clipboard from the wagon the puppet was still waiting on. Slowly, he circled the filly who had followed put to his request, almost straining her little wings. He took his time to visually inspect every inch of her extremities, marking down the answers to the categories on the form. The room remained silent except for his ‘hmm’ and the scratching sound of his feather.
“Do the scars still hurt, Scootaloo?” he asked after having a particularly close look at the crisscrossed tissue under the thick fur on the pegasus’ hindquarter.
“No. Just for the first month. I don’t even feel them when a stunt goes wrong anymore,” came the impromptu answer.
He took a note and continued his journey back to the front of the filly, paying special attention to the second wing after not finding a single clue on the first one.
“Everything is perfectly developed for your age. You can close your wings again, thank you.” The board flipped over to reveal the next sheet. “Next I will auscultate you, meaning I will listen to your lung and heart through this stethoscope.” He moved the device up to his ears. “Please sit up on your haunches and breathe as steady as possible. I am sorry if this is a little cold.”
Scootaloo complied to the requests, concentrating on every intake of air, bracing herself for the cold metal that turned out to be agreeable as it wandered over her chest and her back in an at least for her unpredictable pattern.
“All perfect here as well. I will prepare an agility test for you while Warm will do a magic resonance tomography.” He filled in the missing information on the clipboard and hooved it over to the other doctor jumping to attention from her waiting position next to Rainbow, ending their chat mid-sentence to prepare the filly for what was next.
“You will probably know it as an MRT. I will send out a magical field that will be partly reflected by your body. I can sense that and kind of see inside you this way. You won’t feel anything of it but you need to lie perfectly still while I do it. Got it?”
Scootaloo nodded. “Got it,” she responded, eyes fixated on the professor starting to build up a complicated system of machinery unlike anything she had seen before.
Warm Hoof’s horn began to glow bright enough to lighten up a dark cave, bathing the room in a faint yellow as she brought it down to the pegasus’ abdomen, careful not to accidentally stab the filly by any rash movement. She had done this once during her trainee year to a very grumpy lady. The harsh words still rang in her ears every time she had to perform this technique, ensuring her great work, even good enough that Scootaloo didn’t even notice the examination had already started. She was keenly eyeing the construction site before her instead: gears and gauges stacking up to small mountains of metal joined by a multitude of cables ranging from thick to thin and red to violet like a mixed up rainbow spread over the ground.
Gentle Aid waved Rainbow nearer, instructing her with a few hushed words the filly could not quite grasp. Apparently he had told Rainbow to fly a few inches over the floor, because that is what she did, involuntarily drowning the light of Warm Hoof’s magic by the number of magical light bulbs of the apparatus turning on all at once.
Thin black needles on white finely graduated gauges began to vibrate, blocked off at the end of their scale, threatening to shatter them. Whatever that meant, it was spectacular. At least it was so for Scootaloo. For the professor, however, it wasn't. He was frantically waving to Rainbow, asking her to cease her flight in order to save his equipment.
“I am done Scootaloo.” The joyful expression of Warm Hoof appeared before Scootaloo, blocking of the scenery behind it. “Everything seems to be in working order, next I will—” Warm stopped, seeing that her words were lost on the foal crawling over the examination table to get a better view at the lights flickering out on the machine. Hastily she stepped aside, laughing to herself about how excited the filly seemed.
“We will switch the examination order or I fear Scootaloo will burst or something,” she called across the room, drawing the attention of the other ponies to the foal nearly falling off the edge of her seating furniture.
“Just come down here Scootaloo,” Aid waved over the prying young pegasus who jumped down with a backflip.
“I designed this apparatus myself. It can measure the agility of ponies. It will tell me how strong your muscles are and a few other things. I would like you to run around it. Try jumping or flapping your wings very hard. Just play around a little.”
The eager energy bundle of a foal didn’t need to be told twice. She was already in between the machinery, trying to light as many bulbs at once as possible. Running was good, flapping her wings while doing so proved to be only slightly better, but showing off her dance moves including her patented wing-supported backwards flip was best, lighting up the room in many colours.
She didn’t mind that she couldn’t reproduce the results of her idol. That’s what an idol was for, someone better than you who you could aim to overtake. And she had way too much fun playing with her own set of disco lights acting on her command than to get grumpy. She was happy as a cat chasing a laser pointer.
What was left for the adults was to stand in awe and wonder, with the exception of Aid who had to constantly refill the machine with his own magic while having to make sense out of the mess in order to fill out pages three to seven, a task that left him running through the room at a pace only slightly slower than the filly.
Rainbow was sure a sportive cutie mark was waiting for her ward, if not for flying definitely for dancing or scooting or maybe even a combination of both, however that may look like. Scootaloo just hadn’t realised her potential yet, another challenge waiting to be tackled in the future, but one that would involve a lot of fun and bonding time to resolve, not just for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“OK, we’re done! You can stop,” the professor called out, drawing a loud ‘awwww’ from the frolicking pegasus and as a round of laughter from the other ponies.
“We still have a few tests left. Then I am sure Rainbow will play some more with you,“ Warm tried to appease their test subject.
“I sure will,” Rainbow chimed in, flying over to give her ward a head rub in a playful headlock, unintentionally bringing the lights up to maximum once more. “And I will treat you to any restaurant you like.”
“Sugarcube Corner!” The filly screamed as she hopped to the examination table again.
“Just be careful what you tell Pinkie, or we won’t be leaving the bakery for over a week of partying,” Rainbow mused, following a tablet containing a cup, a syringe and some disinfectant hovering over to them with her eyes.
“I thought you said no shots are needed?” Dash inquired.
“We will need a blood and a urine sample. And I need to get her weight and size. We will start with the blood if it’s OK with you.” Warm was looking at the filly for approval, who just nodded and held up her right front hoof.
The doctor looked at it for a second, finding a big vein she bathed in the vaporised alcohol solution.
Scootaloo couldn’t bring herself to look when the needle entered her flesh. She hated the feeling of it, she always had. It didn’t really hurt, not compared to her other countless injuries, but it felt wrong somehow. Like..., she couldn’t come up with a good comparison.
“You can look again,” Warm said, already injecting the blood into a set of test tubes Gentle Aid had brought over, a few drops each.
Scootaloo opened her eyes again to see a small patch covering the injection site. The needle was gone, but the feeling of it still lingered like a phantom.
A soft pair of hooves ended her worries by hoisting her down to the ground once more.
“The weighting scale and the tape measure are in another room. And I will show you where the restroom is. We don’t need Rainbow for that, do we?” Warm Hoof levitated the blood probes to the air behind her and the cup over to Scootaloo who snatched it with a hoof.
“No, we don’t,” the filly agreed, following the mare out of the room, cup balanced on her head.
“OK Ms Dash, I’ve got bad news and kind of good news, depending on how you see it,” Aid started as soon as the door was shut with soft plop. Being used to being the envoy of bad news, he left no room for Rainbow to reply before he set on. “The bad news is there is medical reason why she can’t fly yet and it can’t be cured.”
He saw Rainbow going deep inside herself, eyes closed and noisily swallowing a seemingly large lump in her throat, but he pressed on. “But there is a kind of prosthetic that will allow her basic flying skills, which is the good news.”
“Then what is the deal that you said it’s only kind of good news,” Rainbow demanded, maybe a little too harsh, jumping up from her cushion.
“Rainbow, Please sit down again. I will explain.” Rainbow didn’t follow his advice, but he went on nevertheless. “The ability of a pegasus to fly is not mainly based upon their wings as is the popular belief. The wings are just a medium to control the magic flow that creates the uplift. Every time you flap your wings, you force out a magic stream that is directed by the way you tilt and move them. While you don’t move them, the magic is still produced and a certain quantity is stored for later use, much like in a unicorn.
Big wings can help by adding aerodynamic forces to the magic flow but I have seen grown up pegasi with wings smaller than Scootaloo’s fly. Without magic you would need to have wings at least twice as long as yours to take off.”
Rainbow absentmindedly spread out her wings and contemplated what she had just learned, but still listened closely to the professor.
“And here’s the problem. Scootaloo’s body is strong and muscular. Her body control is more than just impressive for her age. Her wing flaps are perfect for flying as you have said yourself. But she can’t produce enough magic to actually fly. It might be enough to glide or propel herself forward on a scooter as you have described. Do you understand so far?”
Rainbow looked back up from her wing, to face the professor. “Yes, just tell me what I have to do, whatever it is, get on with it.” She stomped with her hoof to emphasize her determination.
“There are crystals that can store and release pegasi magic. A fully charged crystal could supplement Scootaloo’s magic for several years. The problem is all of the crystals are held by the military. I can hand in a petition to the princess, but I can’t guaranty success. I—“ He was stopped by cyan hooves wrestling him to the ground in a crushing embrace.
“Thank you thank you thank you!” Rainbow reaped in between laughs. “I will ask Celestia myself as soon as we are out of here. She can’t say no to her elements! If the gynaecological test comes out alright I am officially the happiest mare in Equestria!” Dash let go of the stallion and gave him a little time to straighten his outfit again. “You just had your part in fulfilling the second greatest dream in the life of a filly and you gave me leverage why I need to be the one taking care of her. Thank you.”
“Rainbow,” he said softly. “You don’t need any leverage. I can see you love the filly and she loves you as well. You know what. Up until now I could identify about 300 different types of magic in roughly 10,000 tested ponies. Even with the crystals a pegasus can only receive magic of its own type. Scootaloo’s type is extremely rare. She was the third pony I have ever identified it on...”
He paused for second, emphasizing the number. ”You were number two. Even if you were sisters the chances of that would be little to none at all.”
The door opened again, denying Rainbow the chance to fully comprehend what she had just heard. One of the lessons on friendship she had learned was that she and her friends were bound together by destiny even before they knew each other. The very same forces seemed to have a plan for Scootaloo as well, which was a wonderful thought to behold.
“Could you lend me a hoof with the puppet, Rainbow?” Warm asked, standing in the doorframe, the orange energy bundle jumping up and down next to her. “Blood and urine showed no abnormalities. Scootaloo is still slightly underweight, though, so I promised her she would get a few extra cupcakes and milk shakes the next weeks.”
“Sure thing,” Rainbow laughed, already shoving over the plastic pony.
“OK Scootaloo, before we start with the last examination, I want you to help me to do the same thing to our plastic buddy over here.” Warm knocked a few times against the head of the doll, revealing the partly empty nature of it. “This is a gynaecological table. You have to step on the hoofboard with your hind legs slightly spread and then lay down on your stomach, while keeping your hooves on the board.”
On cue Rainbow heaved over the puppet together with the doctor, placing it accordingly.
“We now want to control the parts that only fillies and mare have. This puppet is modelled after a real mare, so she has all the parts you have.” Warm raised the tail of the pupped to show the filly. “At the moment all this hair of the tail will get in the way. Just pin it to the side.” She levitated a soft foam peg over to Scootaloo who took it and eagerly executed the task.
“Very good!” Warm approvingly patted the head of her apprentice. “We need to look inside her. To make it easier we have an instrument for that.” She opened a box next to the table and retrieved a normal sized speculum from it, demonstrating it while she continued to speak. “We need to carefully insert this. Then we can slowly open it up a little to look inside. We will use lot of lubricants so it will go in easy and it won’t hurt.”
A bottle of clear sticky liquid was poured over the speculum by a magical aura that moved it over to Scootaloo who unwillingly took it, staring at it with wide eyes, contemplating the indications.
“Don’t worry I have a much much smaller one for you. Put it in here.” A yellow hoof pointing to the correct place encouraged the foal to tentatively begin her task, becoming bolder the farther the instrument had sunken in until it hit the dead end. She looked up again, awaiting instruction for the next task.
“Very nice. Now turn the little nub and open it up until you can see inside.” The doctor placed a headlamp onto the filly who had already begun twisting.
“That’s enough.” Warm placed her hoof on Scootaloo’s to stop it. “This is how you also look inside. I can’t see anything wrong with it. Now we will use this medical dipstick. Try rubbing the tip against the inner walls. If it turns yellow it’s alright.” Scootaloo quickly finished the task at hoof, staring at the stick that refused to change its colour to something different than boring white.
“Of course it will only do that on a real pony.” She took then stick from the filly and threw it into a basket. “Now close it again and pull it out. Then our plastic buddy is done.”
Dash waited for her ward to complete the task before she went over and embraced her. “Do you feel ready?” She whispered to her filly. “I think I am,” Scootaloo answered, leaning against Rainbow and hoofing over the speculum to the doctor.
“Then let’s get ready.”
At Rainbow’s command she and Warm set aside the puppet, placing it back onto the wagon. The paper sheet on the table was fast renewed, the hoofboard set to the right height and the filly correctly placed on it.
Rainbow placed herself on the other site of the table, her head only inches away from the foal's, hooves connected to the counterparts on her ward. “Ready, Scoots?“ she asked again.
The orange pegasus gazed into Rainbow’s eyes, gaining reassurance from them and the warm felling on her hooves. “Ready!” she said, trying to hide her wavering voice by mustering all her courage.
“I will tug away your tail now,” Warm announced. Scootaloo could feel it moving to the side, exposing her tender parts to the doctor.
“OK this will be your speculum.” The doctor magically moved the instrument in between the two pegasi, giving the smaller one time to inspect the long yet very small silvery object. It was the smallest one Rainbow had ever seen in her life, but of course she had never seen one designed for smaller fillies before, and part of her still wished it had stayed that way. Some things couldn’t be changed, but she could do her best to make it easier.
“This looks agreeable, doesn’t it Scoots? It’s so small you won’t feel much of it,” she tried to loosen up her protégé.
The wheels turned in the little fillies head. She could still say no. A part of her screamed at her to immediately do so. To run as far as possible, but she couldn’t do so. She could not disappoint Rainbow. She couldn’t disappoint herself. She was a daredevil after all. She was brave enough to take on every stunt. No one could stop her on her scooter. She had had the courage to flee the orphanage. She had even managed to overcome her fears and tell Rainbow and it turned out great so far, gifting her the prospect of a family. The decision was made. The speculum really looked small enough.
“Do it!” Scootaloo spoke with a firm voice.
The instrument disappeared again from the fillies vision and she could hear the squeezing sound of the lubricant behind her.
“Here we go. Please call out immediately if I should stop,” Warm announced.
Scootaloo could feel the sticky and cold lubricant against her. She closed her eyes and pressed down heavily on her caretaker’s hooves, bracing herself for the pain that would not come. Instead it just felt plain weird. She didn’t like it, far from that, but she could certainly tolerate the alien object in her.
“I will now widen it. Again, tell when I have to stop.”
The feeling didn’t change much for the filly, with the exception of Rainbow’s snout against hers.
“The medical dipstick is coming in.”
It felt like she had imagined it to be: A soft poke inside, but again no pain, just weirdness.
“Perfectly yellow.”
Scootaloo heard the clonk of the trash can somewhere near her.
“I found some scar tissue resulting from the incident. I need to treat it or it might tear again in the future. There is a spell to do so. When I am done you won’t notice you ever had them. You will feel a burning sensation and a foreign sensation in your stomach. Ready?”
Panic struck the filly. That wasn’t part of the plan. They hadn’t agreed on that. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t. She had to get up.
Something warm and wet moving over her snout stopped her turmoil. Her eyes came up open fast enough to see a part of Rainbow’s pink tongue flitting back into the mouth it belonged in.
“Please Scoots,” Dash caressed her trembling hooves. “Warm wouldn’t have brought it up if it wasn’t really important. Its discomfort now or real complications later. Can you take it for me?”
Just maybe she could nevertheless, Scootaloo thought. “If you keep holding my hoof,” she cooed.
A fast glance from Rainbow told Warm to start.
The doctor was right, instead that burning meant flames shooting through her and sensation translated to pain. Not as bad as most of her crusading mishaps, but still... Vivid memories kept flooding back...
Hot tears streamed from the filly's pressed shut eyes, leaving little salty stream on her cheeks that were constantly removed by a grooming tongue. If not for Dash, she would have screamed and squirmed.
It was moving inside her, going deeper.
“All done.” Warm called out.
Relief washed over the filly as the instrument left her together with the heat of the operation. It felt good now that is was gone. She could almost convince herself that it hadn’t been too bad now that the images had stopped to penetrate her mind again.
“You’ve earned more than just cupcakes.” Rainbow ruffled up the orange pegasus’ mane.
“A milkshake?” Scootaloo opened her eyes to see a leftover tear running down her idol.
“The world if you want it, Scoots. The world.” Rainbow muzzled her once more. “Now let’s get to Twilight for a short message to the princesses and then we will get you this milkshake.”