Our Girl Scootaloo

Part 3 of 3

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The helicopters had come into view over the treetops a few minutes after Lalitha reached the field with her new friends and they shielded their eyes from the wind blown debris as the two machines touched down. A moment later all their friends piled out of the doors and galloped to meet them, catching each other in a tearful group hug. It was some time before they calmed down enough to speak coherently again, hardly a problem as the helicopters spun down, and more minutes still as the group fawned over them, just happy to have Applejack and Fluttershy back safe and sound.

At last Applejack said out loud what she had be thinking for the last hour or so.
“Finally, we’re all together again; we can go home now!”

As the group turned their attention away from the hero's of the hour Scootaloo was looking concerned. “I’m really glad you’re all right, but I’m not ready to go back yet. I’m going to need some more time, a week at least.”

“What do you mean you’re not ready?” Rainbow asked as she hovered over the group. “We have to get you back! Scootaloo, our Scootaloo is still missing.”

“Oh? And why not? Are you just going to leave our Scootaloo hanging out to dry?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah! We want her back! And I went through with this, so so can you.” Dashie agreed.

“Rainbow has a point.” Celestia joined in as she looked seriously at Scootaloo. “We have an obligation to save our Scootaloo.”

“And that give you the right to choose our Scootaloo’s fate?” Twilight asked pointedly as she stepped forward. "I know this isn't easy, but its for the best."

Scootaloo gritted her teeth as she bit back some painful internal conflict. “I don’t think you’ve thought this through properly. If you put your Scootaloo’s memories back into me, we'll wind up sharing a body just like Rainbow and Dashie.”

“Well, yes. I'm sorry about that,” Twilight replied, “but it's the best we can do.”

“We all came here to rescue Scootaloo, our Scootaloo.” Celestia reminded her. “Would you have us return empty hooved?”

Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut tight in obvious pain and stamped her hoof into the dirt. “So your Scootaloo would wind up sharing a body with me. And what would you have her do when I take my husband to bed?”

They all looked shocked as this thought struck home. Without opening her eyes Scootaloo continued.

“And what of my life here? What of my family? My daughters?” She sniffed, and when she opened her eyes it was clear she was fighting back tears. “I have a lot of hard choices to make before we go anywhere. You obviously haven't given this much thought, but I have. If your Scootaloo is to live again, it will just about have to be through Sophie Belle or Chaya.”

“Is it?” Scootaloo asked as a tear ran down her cheek. “Twilight, where would you be today if, when you were just three, someone had crammed the mind of a twelve year old Rainbow Dash into your head?”

“Would you be anything like the pony you are today? Would you even care about learning or books?”

Scootaloo actually shouted as the tears streamed down her face. “You don't think I know we have to save your friend?! That you came for her and found me, a complete stranger instead?! This is going to cost one of my children their future, and you don't think I know that?!”

Scootaloo dabbed her eyes with a gauze pad as she continued more quietly. “We can figure something out. There is always a way to make it work, but it may take time. I have a lot to deal with just now and I would appreciate a little patience.”

Scootaloo seemed understandably distracted on the ride back, and at one point handed control of the helicopter to the co-pilot so she could take a call. They couldn't make out who she was talking to, but whoever it was did little to improve her mood.

The flight back took the a little longer due to a headwind, but before long they had returned to the small airport from which the search and rescue team had been operating for the last three days. Fluttershy and Applejack were given a heartwarming welcome as the pilots and volunteers met them at the landing pad. The two soon were soon feeling overwhelmed as they shook the hands of and tried to be friendly with the hundreds of volunteers who were thrilled to have found them alive and safe.

Another person jumped in. “I have to know though, did we ever get close to finding you? Twilight and your friends have been pulling shifts out here on and off for days.”

Applejack looked surprised as she turned around to face her friends. “You mean that was you up there in those metal flying machines? You scared us half to death a couple of times! We thought somepony was comin to get us.”

Celestia smiled. “We were, but unfortunately the woods here are filled with, what did you call them...” She thought for a moment. “'White tail deer'. Herds of them, and all close enough to your size and shape that we had a difficult time indeed.”

One of the searchers held up a thermal camera. “We could see through the canopy with this easily enough, but all we kept finding were deer in groups of two and three.”

Rainbow jumped in. “Yeah, and not one of them had anything useful to say.”
“I told you deer are just dumb animals here cloud herder, but somepony didn't listen.”
“Hey, it was worth a try.”

One of the volunteers stepped in. “Oh, right, you wouldn't know that. On our world humans are the only species that can think and speak. No other species has ever made it up to this level.”

By this point Scootaloo had finally finished her call, gotten off the helicopter and joined them, and Applejack looked to her for confirmation. “Is that true?”

Applejack looked at her hooves. “I... I thought somepony had been breeding them that way.”

“Well in fairness, domestic animals are usually dumber than wild ones, but that's just-” Scootaloo stopped cold as she figured out what Applejack had been implying. “Oh my God! No! That's just...” She shook her head to clear the image from her head. “No. Humans have done some dark things over the years, but we've never enslaved and destroyed another thinking species. Good lord, that's about as close to pure evil as you could get...” She finished with a visible blanch.

“No. I know this is a lot to take in Applejack, but humans are the only intelligent species we know of. Our own brains, our own intelligence is a minor modification of human. We share the same origins.”

Celestia extended her wings to cover both ponies. “Let us continue this discussion later. You have both been through a great deal, and thanks to our hosts there is a delicious feast, a hot shower and two soft beds waiting for you back at the hotel.”

Both ponies looked grateful for a way out and allowed themselves to be led to the Limo.

On the ride back to the hospital the ponies continued to catch up, Fluttershy and Applejack listening in awe as Scootaloo delivered the obligatory explanation of how she came to be married with two foals. She was pleasantly surprised when the two of them hugged her and told her how proud they were.

Fluttershy was still shaken from all that had happened, but she did smile and put a hoof Scootaloo's shoulder.

“It's not the life I would have expected for ya, but you seem to have made the best of it and then some.”
Applejack added with just a hint of a grin.

“I've tried, but I've had a lot of help along the way from my family, and friends.” Scootaloo replied with a sweeping gesture that encompassed the agents. “And I've been able to give back so much.”

Scootaloo laughed. “Well, yes, I have saved a few lives directly, but my big contribution here has been the medical research.”

Applejack and Fluttershy both shuddered visibly and flattened their ears at the mention of the term as stories the Princess had told them about 'research laboratorys' and their treatment of 'lab animals' came to mind all too clearly.

“What? No! I volunteered to help! I lived with my dads when I was a kid, and since college I've been living in the dorms, or an apartment with my husband.”

“But... The princess told us we might have to bust you out of lab... Said they would poke you with needles and do experiments on you...” Applejack added with a grimace.

Scootaloo looked at the two of them earnestly. “Girls, I count my doctors as some of my best friends and they've been with me from the very beginning. They do poke me with needles once a month, and I have participated in quite a few experiments over the years but no one ever forced me to do anything.”
She looked at their alarmed expressions and sighed. “Do you have any idea how much of a difference this work has made? How many people are alive today because of my volunteering?”

“Yes. I mean humans.” She replied with a glare. “The same humans who took me in, who raised me, who became my friends, and helped me grow into who I am today.”

“Well pardon me for sayin' so, but we've both learned a thing or two bout humans in the last three days. I ain't saying they're all bad, but you will excuse me if'n I don't applaud you for savin' them,” she added coldly.

Scootaloo sat back looking hurt. “Well, things haven't exactly been all sunshine and rainbows here you know, especially after Celestia broke in and kidnapped my daughter.”

Both ponies jaws fell open as they looked at Celestia who hung her head in shame.

“I'm afraid it is true.” Celestia sighed. “I did not know what had transpired here and when I found Sophie Belle in her bed I mistook her for Scootaloo and took her away.”

Applejack's expression had gone cold again as she turned her attention back to Scootaloo. “And everything that happened on that farm. Was that an mistake too? Or was that just something we weren't meant to see?”

“You don't say.” Applejack replied flatly. “But ya did nothing, ya just stood by and let it happen. Gryphons and the like I can almost understand, but humans?” She gestured to the agents. “Yall' don't need to kill to eat!”

Scootaloo didn't have an answer to that, at least not one she thought worth fighting over at present. The mood gradually recovered as the topic shifted to the adventures the others had had, but it was clear enough that specism was gaining a foothold, and simply being told of their origins wasn't enough to counter it.

When they arrived at the hospital Scootaloo stayed behind with Agent Tyler until everyone else had left. As the car pulled away leaving them alone outside the doors Tyler tried to comfort the obviously tired pegusus.

“I'm sorry, Scoot. They seem willing to tolerate human culture and they like most of us, but it feels like every time we gain some of their trust they trip over another horror.” She sighed. “Give it time. They'll get used to us.”

“Maybe, but I don't think I'm going to have any company at my monthly checkup.”
She chewed her lower lip before continuing. “I think I know how to fix this, but...”

“But I had really hoped I wouldn't have to do this. I can teach them what it means to be human, but its going to hurt... a lot.”

If Scootaloo had been paying close attention, she would have seen a very brief expression of alarm flit across the agent's face. “If this involves weapons or-”

“I got a call from the Make A Wish foundation while we were flying back in the chopper.”

“I remember the last time you worked with them...” Agent Tyler replied. “I thought you were... very strong... The little girl had the best time of her life.”

Scootaloo sniffed as she remembered. “Yes, she really did... But afterwards...” She took a deep breath, but it was clear she was trying not to sob. “Did you know they buried her with a lock of hair from my mane?” She winced at the remembered pain. “Her mother said she clutched in in her little hand, right till the end...”

“It did hurt. It hurt enough I've been avoiding their calls for a long time now...” She shook her head, trying vainly to forget. “But it also made it painfully clear how important the research is. It's a lot harder to ignore the cost of inaction when they're right in front of you, clapping their little hands as their mother helps them up for the last pony ride they'll ever have... ”

“The Make a Wish foundation has another case... she's got brain cancer, and the bad luck to be in that fifteen present of the population different enough that they can't use my synthetic biology.” She sniffled, and continued angrily “The same fifteen present who might be eligible if we could get a broader sample of DNA to work with. Like say, unicorn or earth pony DNA.”

Scootaloo seemed to sag against her. “No... At least not from us. It took years to design that treatment and even if it only took months to adapt she doesn't have that long.” Scootaloo pulled back far enough to look the Agent in the eye. “But she wants something only they can give her. She wants to visit Equestria.”
“I know it's manipulative, but I need them to understand why I do this. To understand why it matters. Celestia apparently told them horror stories about the treatment of laboratory animals, and that's what they perceive this as...”

“Do you know I figured out the same thing almost as soon as I could read? I was in for my monthly checkup and I complained, asked my dad's why I had to get poked so much. One of the lab techs said something about lab monkeys.”

“They tried to hide it from me of course, but I remembered the words, and searched them the next day while my parents weren't looking. It had video of the poor chimps in their tiny bare metal cages, ignored by the researchers and left to live out their lives all alone... Kevin and Jayne finally found me an hour later, curled up under the bed crying my little heart out, begging them not to send me away. It took time, but they explained something that day. Something that's hard and awful, but true. They explained that the volunteering I was doing would one day save the lives of other little kids like me. That the horrible abuses I had seen were wrong, and inexcusable, but that they took place to help kids like me.”

“Did you know I've sometimes asked myself how much I'm worth by that scale?” She continued in a pained voice. “If I had to choose... Being found as a foal and kept locked up in a tiny steel cage for research... No friends, no one to love me, never meeting my dads...” Tyler could feel a growing dampness on the back of her neck as Scootaloo cried. “How many of the children that are alive today would I be willing to let die so I could grow up with my dads? How many of them is my happiness worth? Ten? Twenty?”

“You know I actually keep track?” She sobbed. “I'm up to twelve by now... twelve people who inarguably owe their lives to what I did, not what I am! So when it's dark, and the nightmares come, asking that question, I can answer 'Twelve! My life as free pony is worth at least twelve lives!'”
“But you know as well as I do the weight of lives on the other side of that scale. Do you know how it feels to know that who you are is that much more important than what you do? That feeling that nothing you could ever hope to do would ever be enough to balance it out?”

She choked back a sob and a note of anger entered her words. “The contributions I've made through research have saved millions of lives! They've altered the face of the planet! More than one planet in fact! And these ponies can't see past their own fear of the lab!”

Scootaloo managed a weak laugh. “Help? I'm going to show them what ONE looks like. One life lost. It's going to hurt all of them, but if it gets them to understand the importance, if its enough to get them all volunteering, then it may well be the only thing I could ever do to balance that scale...”

After everything that had happened, Fluttershy was physically and emotionally exhausted. She insisted on seeing Tom before bed, and seeing that he was well cared for she allowed the agent to lead her to the hotel a few blocks away. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but while many of the humans on the street took little notice of her, a surprisingly large number were acting strange enough that even she had to take notice.

Many would see her and immediately look away like they had been caught doing something wrong, and some actually started to cry. Many avoided her on the sidewalk, but one woman came over to speak to her.

“Fluttershy, I am so, so sorry. If there is anything you need, please just let me know.”

When she had moved on Fluttershy turned to the agent. “I don’t understand. Why did she say that?”

He sighed and looked down at her. “The video of what happened on the farm got out on the web. Tens of millions of people have seen what happened to you, and they’re sorry. Sorry for you, for the poor calves… It’s painful to watch. A lot of people are feeling guilty, and you’re a reminder of everything they might like to forget.”

Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to make of that. How could they know where meat came from, feel guilty about and it yet still eat it? She was just too tired and decided to worry about it another time.
The agent led her to the opulent hotel building, into the elevator, and up to the top floor where her friends were staying. He showed her how to use the key card for the door, checked out her room and left, wishing her a good night.

After crawling into the huge feather soft bed it took only moments to fall asleep.

Fluttershy was dimly aware of the grass under her hooves and the open fields around her, but something was wrong. She looked around and saw the mindless cows wandering the fields in the moonlight and with a start she began to run.

“Come on girls, we’ll find that missing chicken!” Apple Bloom's voice came floating on the wind.

She skidded to a halt, the hair on the back of her neck standing up: the voice had come from behind her.

As she whirled about she saw their shadows disappearing over the hill in the moonlight. She ran as hard as she could, the children’s banter getting steadily louder, but all the time the metal structure loomed larger and menacingly closer on the horizon.

As she crested the last hill she saw a gold backed cape and white flank disappear through the open door of the dreaded building.

Fluttershy’s heart was pounding in her ears as she closed the distance and bounded into the building. Inside, the mindless cows wandered about like zombies and she ducked and weaved between them, following the fading clop of tiny hooves on concrete.
The cheerful voices had faded away on the wind, and she could now hear something else– voices calling for help!
In a panic she burst through the door at the back of the building but this time the filthy cages were not occupied only by calves. John had a lasso around Sweetie Belle and was grinning as he dragging her closer and closer to the white corner of the room where the saws lay waiting.

Fluttershy awoke screaming as she thrashed and toppled over the end of the bed. The door of her room burst open and three agents swept the room for threats as a forth stopped to check Fluttershy.
Her eyes were dilated nearly to points and her heart was racing as she hyperventilated and glanced from face to face in a panic.

It didn't take long for young Agent Glover, a mother of two, to figure out what had happened. She motioned her people to return to their posts as she knelt down and comforted the shivering yellow pony. “It’s okay, Fluttershy, it was only a dream. You're among friends; you're safe.”

As this total stranger knelt and hugged her in the twisted pile of blankets on the floor, Fluttershy began to sob. She clung to the agent who tried to comfort her as all the stress and terror of the last several days came to the surface at once.

Fluttershy looked up the agent, tears still streaming down her cheeks; “Would... Would you have eaten those calves?”

Agent Glover had seen the video like everyone else, and the accusation brought tears to her eyes. “No Fluttershy. I needed the genetic treatment myself a few years back. None of my children or myself can eat meat.”

“It... It was just so awful!” She managed as she broke down again. Agent Glover took her in her arms and did her best to rock her back and forth.
“I'm so sorry Fluttershy. I'm so, so sorry.”

Eventually, after she cried herself out Fluttershy managed to get to her feet again.

The agent turned out the lights and slowly closed the door, leaving Fluttershy alone with her thoughts.

She walked to the window of her room, opened it and stared out at the world beneath her. Beyond the alley below, the main street bustled with activity in both directions and she could clearly see the hospital a couple of blocks away.
She rested her head on her hooves and continued to stare at the people and traffic below.

Fluttershy was walking through the woods with Applejack and Tom as they tried to stay hidden. Her stomach growled again and Applejack nodded and quietly set down her saddle bag so they could eat.
On her third hoofful of cattle feed, she looked down and noticed something among the grains and pellets. She reached in and pulled out the shredded, partially burned remnants of a red ribbon: Apple Bloom’s hair bow.

Fluttershy woke as her stomach churned, and she threw up out the open window into the empty alleyway below. Fresh tears stained her cheeks as gasped for breath and tried to fight down the now dry heaving of her empty stomach.

She was hiding, looking on in terror was Applejack talked with these monsters.

Applejack paused to examine the contents of a nearby feed trough and after a few bites remarked “Hey, that's not half bad, and very filling. Mind if I take some for the road?”

John laughed and used a handy scoop to fill the pockets on her saddlebag. “Take all you like, but don't spoil your appetite. Let’s go let them know we're ready for another real breakfast. I don't have to tell you farming's hard work.”

‘He knew.’

The realization shouldn’t have been novel, but she hadn’t had time to think it through yet. ‘He knew exactly what was in that, and he said nothing, he even gave us some for the trip!’

Her stomach was still uneasy, but something seemed to settle in her mind. She climbed through the window, spread her wings and was airborne headed for the hospital.

As she circled overhead, the particular room caught her attention, and she came to a hover outside of room 642.
Inside she could see two patients and a young woman who had fallen asleep in a recliner across the room. John lay in the bed closest to the window; any terror he might have inspired had been stripped away by his frail appearance, the paper hospital gown and his shallow, labored breathing. She knew he hadn't really woken since his heart attack, the one she had helped to bring on. He had been given the genetic treatment, and the doctors had said if he survived the next few days he would live, though how much of him was left after being out for so long was not yet clear.

Fluttershy gripped the window ledge with her front hooves continuing to hover as she peered down at him, only a couple feet away in his hospital bed by the window.

‘He built that whole farm. Everything that happened there happened because of him.’
She remembered how the Apple family lived on their farm, how it provided the money they lived on. Images flashed through her mind of what a public event must have been like when customers came to sample his ‘product’.

Her hooves gripped the brick ledge of the window tighter and her gaze seemed to intensify. ‘How could you be so heartless? What kind of monster would butcher innocent creatures like that?!’
The force of her grip was beginning to bite into the brick, tiny pieces breaking away and crumbling as she unconsciously bore down harder.

A slight breeze stirred around her, and she felt something trickle down her belly and run down the inside of her right leg. ‘You even spiked the food with chemicals to get more milk!’
Her face had contorted with fury but her gaze never wavered as she stared into him through the sixth floor window.

In the nurses’ monitoring station across the hall, a heart monitor began to sound a warning.

Our Girl Scootaloo 3 of 3

by Cozy Mark IV

Ch 3.16 Problems of Ethics